Posts Tagged "Pets"
Madison
Susie:
Losing Niamhe felt like losing part of our hearts, part of what made us “us” so when she passed away July 2nd 2010 we were in pieces. A few things pulled us through. The first was each other, Nathan and I may not have had the longest history but from the first day we became a couple, we became a team. The second thing was knowing with 100% certainty that we had truly done all that we could for Niamhe and she died knowing we loved her more then any dog was ever loved. Our hearts ached because we loved her so much (and continue to) but that being said our responsibilities also include Lacey (and to a much less extent Olive who would be thrilled chasing her own tail for hours on end). The bottom line is that Lacey was returned to her breeder early in her life and then adopted by Nathan who quickly became her hero, or has he calls her, his “littlest friend” with this relationship came an understanding … Nathan would make sure Lacey never felt alone again . Nathan did an amazing job of this and when I entered the picture (the clouds opened and angels sang! Kidding) I also started to be aware of Lacey’s needs. Much like me, she is scared and needs constant reassurance and recognition when she does something good. I got it and quickly she and I became very close. She was a huge support to me when Niamhe passed away, even to go as far as licking my many tears. I had to force my self to remember she lost her too, she lost her best friend, her sister and her protector.
We decided pretty quickly that we needed to get Lacey another dog/companion and although we flirted with the idea of different breeds we quickly decided another Italian greyhound made the most sense for Lacey so the search began….
The first thing we did was reach out to the breeder that Nathan got Lacey from, she was unfortunately unable to help so we turned to PetFinder.com, we came across a bunch of IGs in Beamsville and we were off
to the races (so to speak). We excitedly filled out the application and sent it off. We didn’t hear back so we followed up with multiple phone calls and heard the 4 words that would come to haunt us over and over in our search: “no backyard, no dog”.
As most of you know I had been hounding Nathan to move to a new house with a backyard for about 18 months. We are great (dog) parents and we always go to Trinity Bellwoods park but it didn’t matter they kept repeating “no backyard, no dog”.
So that door closed. The search continued.
One by one our options dropped off; one didn’t like cats, one decided to stick with her foster family, one never contacted us back, it was like dating. We were back to the drawing board, but like my dating adventures, although a twisty, windy, and funny road, all of those situations led me to the right one, they led me to Nathan and they led us to Maddy.
Over to Nathan …
Nathan:
When we found the posting about Madison, her name was Masie, and she had recently been rescued from a puppy mill. She was living with a foster family in upstate New York, but she had a broken arm (I know, dogs have four legs … For those of you that are picky i will be referring to the injured area of her front right leg as her arm) and she had been de-barked. She needed a family that would not just love her, but be willing to deal with recovery associated with the injured arm.
We filed the required application and, for the first time, the yard thing didn’t come up because this little sweetheart is somewhat uncomfortable outdoors.
We had a phone interview and made arrangements to drive down and meet her. The deal was that, as long as everyone got along, she would come home with us.
So we set out for Binghamton, NY. Google maps said that the trip would be just over 5 hours, but between traffic and a nightmarish line at the border, the trip actually took us closer to 8 hours. We ate a few times along the way and almost ran out of gas, but we made it.
Of course, there were far more stops than usual on this drive because we brought our Italian Greyhound, Lacey along with us to make sure that she and Maddy got along.
The date for the girls to meet was set for 12 noon the next day. We took Lacey out for her morning walk with an eye on finding some breakfast. We came across a local favorite greasy spoon where Susie went in to find some take out that we could take to a park. Because they don’t get many IGs in Binghampton, Lacey drew a lot of attention and I got to meet a number of locals. Despite having a bit of a desolate feeling on a Saturday morning, the people made our visit quite warm.
Soon enough, we were sitting down for our first meal of the day. Susie had asked for the special, which read as a typical ham and eggs breakfast. It wasn’t
until I took the bag from her that I noticed the heaviness of the bag. I couldn’t believe how much food was in that bag. We each got about a half dozen eggs and more toast than we could ever eat, but the piece-de-resistance was the two ham steaks in each of our boxes. We could have easily shared one and had leftovers.
After a bite to eat and a good walk we started to make our way towards the PetSmart in Vestal, NY. We checked in at the Vet’s counter and met Stacey, who was Lacey’s foster mother before we adopted her. Susie got an on the spot interview, which we incorporated into the video at the end of this post.
We needed to wait for Jen, the adoption manager, to arrive so we did some shopping to make sure that we had everything that she would need at home. Soon enough, the ladies came out with Maddy.
She was shivering because she was still a little damp from her bath and she seemed a little scared to boot. Stacey put her down and immediately she was begging to be picked back up. She and Lacey got along just fine and Susie spent almost as much time on the ground as the dogs.
It was a surprise to us how bad her arm looked. We were assured that it had healed, but it was healed in a very awkward position. Apparently she had broken it and the previous owner just didn’t bother to get it fixed.
The last stop before we hit the road towards home was to pick up a Canada t-shirt for Maddy so she looked “a little more Canadian” coming across the border.
The drive home was just as long as the way down, even though we picked a different route. We were still nervous at the border, despite having all of the required paperwork. The guard didn’t even ask us about the dogs in the car.
Since Stacey and her family had been calling her “Masie-May”, and we wanted to call her “Madison”, we started with an intermediate name of “Maddy-May”, which would evolve to “Maddy”, on the way to her new name. Funny enough, the sequence got a little out of order with a series of names that we never expected, including: “Maluki”, “Mookie”, “Muqs”, “Muku”, and now “Monkey”.
Anyway, when we got home, we started to learn a bit about Madison’s personality. She immediately bonded with Susie, but we quickly found out that she was terrified of me.
It wasn’t me that she was afraid of, but I learned the first week that it was men in general. And, even more peculiar, specific fear of Chinese men. Her reaction to people on the street leads me to believe that the folks running the puppy mill were Chinese men.
We also brought her in to see our vet down at (link) Leslieville Animal Hospital. Dr Steve has been with us for a few years now and he saw us through the last months with Niamhe as a total pro so we trusted his opinion when it came to Maddy’s arm.
He took a look and we took some x-rays. Right away he suggested that we should look into a few specialists that had expertise in complex fractures.
Dr Steve made a few calls and got us an appointment at the (link) Ontario Veterinary College. We got in surprisingly quickly.
We saw Dr. Reynolds at OVC and she walked us through the x-rays. We were lucky that the break turned out to be above the growth plate, but unlucky that the bones in the arm had fused together. The surgery for the repair would entail severing the forearm from the fused mass, cutting out a wedge, then reattaching the arm in a straight position. They would definitely need to put a small metal plate in the arm.
What happened next was a real surprise. Once we agreed to go forward with the surgery, they took her from the assessment room into the back and prepped her for surgery the next morning. We never expected to be going home without her.
They kept her for a few days for surgery and recovery before she could come home. One thing that I can say about the OVC is that they are an amazing team. It’s a teaching hospital so we had both an experienced veterinarian and a 4th year student for every appointment.
A few days later when we went back for the pickup we got a full explanation of the surgery along with a complete review of the before and after x-rays.
The two pictures above are the before (right) and after (left) of her arm. As you can see, it ended up much, much more straight than it was before. There is a metal plate in there for support, and she has some wire and a couple of screws to keep the plate in place. They did a really amazing job … You can’t even feel a bump under skin despite all that’s in there.
They warned us that she would look a little funny because she had to be shaved and had an anti-septic applied to her skin, turning her 35% pink.
When she came out with her yellow cast on an arm that was dead straight we were incredibly happy. It was still a long way to go with the recovery. We had to change her cast regularly and keep her from doing any kind of exercise. The exercise was the hard part … Not because she particularly wanted to go outside, but because she, even to this day, has a tendency to bolt when she gets scared … And she gets startled a lot.
Today, she’s come a long way. She sleeps right in the middle of the bed between Susie and myself. She’ll come and sit right next to me on her own. She loves attention and she is very affectionate.
On the flip side, she still bolts when startled. Sometimes I can imagine how easily a girl with that tendency could break her arm. I’ve seen her run head first into closed doors, jumping blindly off of furniture, and sliding across hardwood floors when trying to cut a corner too sharp. She hates to be picked up, which is very different for an IG. I would say that being picked up causes her the most stress of all.
I was holding off on writing this post because I wanted to finish with a video of her running at an off-leash park. I took her to a nice fenced in dog park a week ago when the weather started to turn and she was as uncomfortable as our first day together. It turns out that she needs the leash to feel comfortable at this point. She wouldn’t leave my side and she constantly jumped up to be picked up, which is completely opposite of her usual personality. While it was kind of nice for me to be her safe place, it was obvious that she was terrified.
We’ll keep working with her at the park and update when she fully comes around. From the beginning we’ve known that there would be an adjustment period for her to feel comfortable and, honestly, I think we’re way ahead of schedule from our original expectations.
I was sick and stuck at home recently and spent an inordinate amount of time with the dogs and cat. The really nice part was seeing Maddy playing, both on her own and with the cat. She actually played with a chew toy for the first time that I’ve seen. She’s really coming out of her shell more and more each day.
She really is a sweet girl who really just wants to feel safe.
The Maddy video:
Read MoreThe Stouffer Mill B&B
In our search for a pet-friendly B&B in the summer we found that there were very few options in Ontario.
Fortunately, we had enough options that we could make a list of places that we wanted to visit over the next few getaways.
The most recent stop on the tour was the Stouffer Mill B&B.
The drive up from Toronto on a Friday night was close to brutal. Between the traffic, the distance, and a quick stop for a bite to eat at a Licks on the road, it took us almost 5 hours from door to door.
The last kilometer of the trip turns off of the highway onto a small unpaved road that is the driveway for the inn. The way is marked by a few signs, but is otherwise pitch black. When close, a motion detector flips on the gate lights and
signals to your hosts that you have arrived.
On arrival, Jesse and Don greeted us and gave us a tour of the house. Even though it was late, we were actually the first guests to arrive for the evening. The drive we had experienced was considered “not bad” for a trip to Ontario’s cottage country on a Friday night.
The house was very impressive. Shaped as a dodecahedron, the main floor consisted of an open concept kitchen, living area, dining area, and piano room. Also, on the main floor, was the hosts living chambers, but we never saw that area.
One floor up are all three of the guest rooms and a well though out shared guest living room area. Each guest room is labeled with the names of the guests the have reserved that room upon arrival so you know exactly where you are headed.
We were two couples and we had the Blueberry and Cranberry rooms. The rooms were beautifully decorated with an old world charm.
Continuing the tour, we were lead up to the top floor of the house where there is a surprisingly generous sized games room, complete with a hot tub!
Our first night saw us fairly tired, but we had brought a few bottles of wine along so we made the most of one of the last indian summer nights of the season with a game of “I Never” on the front patio.
Folks, no matter how much fun it sounds like to play “I Never”, don’t play as two couples. You just share and learn way too much. Leave “I Never” to the single people.
The next morning, after a solid nights sleep in a very comfortable bed, we awoke to the smell of Jesse’s fresh baked muffins. Breakfast was served in 4 courses, including ham, eggs, yogurt with berries, muffins, and pancakes. And of course, we were treated to fresh coffee and a unique juice blend of Jesse’s own devising.
We decided to take the dogs out into the beautifully maintained hiking trails on the property of Stouffer Mill. A morning hike is the perfect start to a warm fall day and they have 5km of set trails for your exploration.
It seemed that we were there at the peak of mushroom season. We must have seen hundreds of mushrooms. The hike took us through the property to a lake, and then up a ridge and around the property looping back to the main road. I’m not sure how, but the menfolk got separated from the womenfolk and wandering off the beaten path to the very edge of the property.
Luckily, before the separation, I caught my wife trying to upgrade to a new prince charming:
After our hike, we decided to visit nearby Minden, ON to see what was happening. On the way, I convinced the group to stop to see if we could find a nearby geocache. After about 30 minutes of searching we were able to find The Blairhampton Triangle. They are not kidding about having to do a little bush-whacking.
The next stop was the town of Minden where there was a live band playing a variety of music for a small crowd. The ladies went off to do a little shopping while the men hit up the local patio for some sun and pints.
Afterwards, we did one last geocache grab to cross Danny McGee off our list of things to do in Minden.
We had a little time to kill before dinner so we decided to try our luck at mini-putt at Carnavon Family Golf. We made it a little more interesting by putting couple against couple with dinner on the line. After tossing the lead back and forth a few times it came down to the final do-or-die putt and the bet was settled.
We were treated to our victory meal at The Pepper Mill, where we had pretty much everything on the menu. Now that I’ve eaten here I really have no interest in returning, but considering the options in the area, this really is the best place to eat dinner.
On leaving the restaurant we still had a few minutes of sunlight left in the day so I guided our group to our last geocache of the trip. It seemed like it would be a quick grab and go. The GPS said it was only 150m off of the main road and I could see a very open hiking trail leaving the highway. I talked the whole group into doing the hike in to see Life’s a Beech.
Wow, reaching this cache took us hundreds of feet in elevation to a lookout over Beech Lake. It was a pretty challenging hike that saw us barely making it out of the woods by the time the sun went down, but we got to say that we were 3 for 3 on the day.
Back at the B&B, we got comfortable in the guest’s living room area overlooking the main floor and Jesse, our host, started to play piano. She is very talented and we very much enjoyed her playing while we chatted above. She even took requests if you asked nicely enough.
After another great night’s sleep, our final breakfast was another 4 course masterpiece with more home-made muffins, a crust-less egg torte, a different yogurt with fruit, and French toast.
All said and done, I would be pleased to return to Stouffer Mill B&B if Jesse and Don will have us. In fact, because of the hiking trails, we are thinking about a return trip this winter to try out the extended winter trail that includes snowshoeing across the small lake at the back of the property.
Read MoreOlive
At the end of April 2010 we added a new member to the Adelgreene clan. Her name is Olive and she is a beautiful little tabby.
Susie had been wanting to get a kitten pretty much since moved in together, but I have always had allergies to cats. Earlier this year, Susie’s sister found her perfect feline companion in Olive’s brother and, after a few weeks of knowing that there was a runt kitten that needed a home I broke down and called the owner.
What I did not do was tell Susie that we were getting a kitten. I told her that I had a surprise for her and, for some reason, she assumed that I had gotten her a bicycle so I knew that she had no idea.
We went to meet Olive together. She was such a cute little furr-ball!
It took her a few days to come to terms with her new home, but we were happy to find out that she was already litter trained. The other thing that we learned very quickly was that she is very affectionate. She loves to play and she loves to cuddle.
The odd thing was that she didn’t purr. It was probably three days before we heard her purring for the first time. It wasn’t for me, and it wasn’t for Susie. It was for Lacey, who was cleaning her thoroughly. By the time she was done, Olive was soaked through and through … She looked just like a gremlin.
Olive is the bravest animal I have ever met. She has no fear of dogs or people, and absolutely no fear of heights. The first time she climbed up on our screen door I was shocked, but now it’s common to find her walking along a one inch railing around our balcony. Of course, it scares the hell out of us.
The other day Susie was looking for Olive and it turns out that she was sitting on top of the air conditioner on the outside of our kitchen on the third floor of our stacked townhouse. There’s barely enough room for her to fit through the gap but, sure enough, there she was sitting 40 feet in the air as comfortable as can be.
She loves to sit in front of computer screens. I’m not sure if it’s the warmth, or if it’s just her picking a place where she knows that she will be the center of attention, but she keeps walking on laptop keyboards. Somehow she always manages to step on “Return” and “Tab” over and over, which means that she has renamed almost everything on both of our desktops at least once.
At first I was sure it was the heat, but now she climbs on my chest every time I lay down on my back with my iPad in my hands as well. I’m almost convinced that she’s sitting where she’ll get the most attention.
I know that there is no way a cat could possibly understand how to work a computer. The very thought seems a ridiculous notion. The weird thing is that I don’t understand how a cat could possibly find and play Jason Mraz on iTunes on several different machines. I even deleted Jason Mraz from my library entirely and she managed to start a movie that I had never seen before that had Jason Mraz singing the opening credits.
Now, Olive is almost 6 months old and she is already a little bigger than her mother, who we met when we picked her up back in April. We’re hoping that she doesn’t grow much more … She’s perfect right now.
N
Read MoreLaceypalooza 2010
After losing Niamhe last week Susie and I were devastated. What we didn’t immediately consider was how much our younger dog, Lacey, would be affected by losing her lifelong companion.
After almost 8 years of constant companionship, Lacey has had as much of a change in her life as the rest of us. To keep her mind off of things, we decided to take her on a little getaway in lieu of our planned excursion to California.
We called it Laceypalooza. It was three days of doing all kinds of new things in all kinds of new places. She loved it and came home completely exhausted.
Laceypalooza
We knew we wanted to go away for Monday to Wednesday of this week and we knew that we wanted to be able to drive a reasonable distance so we turned to Trip Advisor for some recommendations. The top result for our search of “pet friendly” B&Bs was Green Woods Inn in Kingston. A quick call and hosts Tessa & Nigel knew to expect us. Tessa even suggested that we take a drive through Prince Edward County on the way to get a bit more flavour than the 401 would usually offer since we weren’t in a hurry.
On the way out we stopped plenty as we drove the coast of Lake Ontario. Our original vacation saw us landing in San Diego before driving the coast of CA on our way to celebrate the wedding of some friends in Santa Barbara so Toronto to Kingston became the California coast of the East. We went from flirting with being at the B&B before check in to needing to call ahead to arrange a late arrival.
Since we knew it was getting late, and since we were riding the Taste Trail, we decided to do a French style dinner of cold meats, cheeses, wine, bread, and fruit. We were able to get everything we needed on the way to Kingston. On arrival it was easy to see why Green Woods Inn was rated the top choice for us. The grounds and house were beautifully maintained and the hosts were as gracious as can be. We got settled and picnic’d with Lacey on the floor of the room while watching our home TV via Slingbox on the iPad.
In the morning we had a delicious breakfast of a fruit plate, followed by Eggs Benedict, served with a home cured salsa crostini and a sauteed mushroom crostini. We headed downtown Kingston with no real plan or direction and found ourselves wandering the waterfront before hitting the shops on Princess street.
Just before lunch we found out that the traffic was being diverted from the 401 because of an accident. Every car, truck and transport was being forced through the city … and most of them straight down Princess St. Few were stopping so the sidewalks were not all that busy, but it meant that a return to the B&B would take hours of frustrating traffic. A random gentleman explained the situation to me and told me that if he were me, he would find a shaded patio and have some drinks to pass the time.
I concurred and found Susie on the dog-friendly patio of Chez Piggy. We settled in and made it clear to our server that we intended to stay a while. We had a great lunch and lots of fun with our server Kait, who looked just like Sheryl Hines. We decided that, since we were trapped downtown, we would do a little more shopping and find some outfits for dinner so that we could return and continue the fun at Chez Piggy for dinner.
Sadly, Kait was sent home early, but the Chez Piggy team did not disappoint. It seemed that everyone already knew about Laceypalooza and Lacey got tonnes of extra attention.
After another delicious breakfast at Green Woods (yogurt with fruit, followed by fresh crepes) we bade our hosts farewell with promises to return and hit the road. We could have headed straight home, but instead went back acoss the ferry into Prince Edward County to follow the Taste Trail west across the top of the county. A quick snack at Buddha Dog in Picton gave us the energy to explore and find Lacey Estates winery for some great photo opps.
The soundtrack for the video are the two songs that seemed to be on the radio every time we hopped in the car.
N
Read MoreGoodbye Friend
Niamhe (1999 – 2010)
We met in a parking lot in Fergus, ON on a Friday night. You were so incredibly happy to get out of your crate in that van full of shelties. You were excited and full of so many kisses that you just had to start distributing them the second you saw me.
I was told your name was Devastation, or Diva for short. I saw immediately why you had such an ostentatious name. You were stunning. Gorgeous. Perfection. I was regaled with tales of you winning ribbons and becoming a Champion Italian Greyhound. Even so, I didn’t see how I could ever go with you to a park and call “Come, Diva” so we started trying out names on the way home. When I said “Niamhe” (pron. Neev) you looked at me right away. Really, you picked your own name.
Our first night together you were very affectionate, but I worried because you wouldn’t eat. I later learned one of your two weaknesses: ground beef. The next day I happened to make a meatloaf and we were off to the races!
You loved being with me, but couldn’t stand it when I’d leave you alone so I got you a friend to keep you company during the day. Lacey was your constant companion from that day forward and you two adored each other.
One of your favourite things in the world was to run. And you were the fastest dog in the world. Nobody could catch you and you loved it! You would tease them and make a sport out of it, but I could always tell when you were doggin’ it.
You hated the winter. As soon as it dropped below freezing you would do anything to avoid the cold. Burrowing into blankets, piling yourself on top of Lacey, whatever it took to keep warm.
The kisses never stopped. You were the most affectionate creature I’ve ever met. We spent hours grooming each other …you even cleaned out my ears when I let you.
You’ve been there with me through everything these last 8 years. We lived in 4 different homes together, you’ve seen me married, divorced, single and married again, you’ve seen me as sick as I’ve been and you’ve seen me happy and strong. Through it all you were always supportive and happy just to be with me.
I always treated you like the princess that you knew you were. You got the best spot in the bed every night. You wouldn’t get up in the morning until I would rub your belly for just long enough. I carried you to bed every night because you fell asleep on the couch and were too tired to make the trek up the stairs.
You got sick the last week of May. I thought maybe you had too much sun at the park, or maybe ate something that you shouldn’t have. You got sicker over the next week and the vet thought that you had a flu so we got you some antibiotics and vitamins. Then you got dehydrated and had to be hospitalized. The tests were going to take a long time so we brought you home where we knew you would be happier. That’s when we found out about your cancer. Whether it was lymphoma or bowel cancer we will never know.
We had so many ups and downs. So many moments of celebration when you seemed yourself and so many moments of despair when you didn’t. You lost more than 20% of your body weight in the last two weeks. Nothing was getting digested and you just stopped eating.
The nights were the worst, for all of us. I always told you it wasn’t your fault, but you still felt bad every time. You never gave up and I think you were fighting for me. You saw me sad and still wanted to be there for me … To comfort me.
You gave me your last kiss at noon on July 2, 2010. I love you Niamhe. I never thought our time could be cut short. I will always think about you and I will miss you every day for the rest of my life.
You died on a Friday. It was the hardest day of my life.
N
