Four years later - 2 dogs and a new home

It's been a fast 4 years since I last posted.  Life has changed a lot, as we now live outside Boston, and we've had a second dog, Brix for over 2 years.  What hasn't changed is how significant the dogs are in the rhythm of our life.

We walk with the dogs and explore our neighborhood and around area parks.  At home, the boys seem pretty happy.  Miles owns the couch, while Brix is the king of the many dog beds that we keep around the house.

Water Dog

Miles really seems to be coming out of his shell recently. I hope it is agility training that is doing it. He seems to be having more fun with the agility obstacles when we practice, which is pretty cool. Now, he is comfortable getting on the table obstacle; doing low jumps; straight tunnels; and the dog walk (which like a doggie balance beam). At tonight's class, I think we'll start to learn the teeter-totter, which should be interesting.

This weekend on our hike we came to a stream, and for the first time, Miles voluntarily got into the water. Granted, it was only up to his ankles, but he crossed the rocks back and forth on the stream and seemed intersted in exploring. This is a really fun development, and luckily we had the camera on hand to capture it. Too bad Bodie wasn't there, he would have loved it.

Pirates Game

If there is one good thing about our city's baseball team being in the middle of its 17th straight losing season it is that they can have events like "dog day at the park." Sure, they don't pack them in every night at PNC Park, which is a shame since it is a great baseball park, but at least they are trying things to bring us in. On Tuesday, we were allowed to bring Miles and watch the game from one of the club level decks.

It was great experience for Miles. I don't know how much he enjoyed the game, but I think it was great to have him interact with a lot of different dogs and people.

He met big dogs and little dogs and overall was very well behaved. Every once in a while he gets a little growly with another dog, and it happened once at the event. Additionally, he met a lot of people and he was really good with all of them.

Overall, it was a great experience and a lot of fun. Hopefully, the Pirates will be good enough next year that they can't have an event like this, but if they aren't I look forward to taking Miles again.

Agility dog

It has now been four weeks since Bodie passed away, which is very hard to believe. While we still miss him, life has taken on a new rhythm at home. Miles is getting longer walks since the pace has picked up a bit. However, he seems a little less comfortable with without his pal at the dog park.

Hopefully, Miles can find a way to learn to interact with other dogs without his teacher. In terms of learning, Miles has just started agility class which I think will be a lot of fun. I have no interest in ever having him compete in this "sport" but I am excited to teach Miles to have fun and play with the obstacles.

The first class was very successful. Miles conquered the "table" which is really just a low platform, but it is a first step. He also worked in the tunnel, which was a new experience for him. I think that having him overcome his apprehension on the obstacles is good learning for him.

Overall, I think the training will loosen Miles up a bit and make him a little less nervous.

Goodbye Bodie

Bodie

August 16, 1995 - August 14, 2008

It is with an incredibly heavy heart that I write about Bodie passing away. He was in all respects the perfect dog. His number one goal was to please us, well really Beth. He was always happy, always willing to play, and said "hi" to everyone he saw.

Bodie will always be special to me. When I met Bodie I was scared of dogs. He taught me not to be. He taught me to be comfortable in the dog park. He was the first dog I ever walked and certainly the first I ever spent any real time with. His variety of ailments over the last two years also taught me a lot about veterinary medicine.

Bodie had become an integral part of my life. Much of my daily routine was built around feeding, walking, and playing with Miles and him. On weekends he loved to take long walks in the park. Being on a trail gave him renewed energy and as long as we had water for him, he would just keep walking. I think he really loved his new house. He was able to sun himself on the deck, he didn't need to stress about going up and down stairs, and he had plenty of outside space.

Bodie Last Day:

It was a typical day for Bodie. Breakfast, morning walk, and presumable a long nap. Ute came and took he and Miles for another short walk. At 3 I loaded them in the car for the "pet hotel."

Despite everything appearing fine, last Thursday turned into a very eventful day. Beth and I were headed for Colorado, so I dropped Miles and Bodie off at the "Pet Hotel." Just minutes later I got a call from Chris, the owner, saying "something is wrong with Bodie." Chris saw that Bodie wouldn't get up and after feeling his gums were cold thought he might be having a heart attack. Thankfully, he acted quickly and took Bodie to the Emergency Vet. I picked up Beth but instead of heading to the airport we headed right to the vet. It turns out that he had a build-up of fluid around his heart which was putting pressure on it, making it impossible for him to get adquate blood flow.

Dr. Costello immediately recognized the issue and they were able to relieve the pressure on his heart. By the time we arrived, Bodie was recovering and when we saw him, the typically Bodie smile was back on his face. However, x-rays showed that this would not be a one-time occurance. Bodie had an aggressive form of cancer, and most likely it had been a ruptured tumor on his heart that had produced the pressure. After hours of discussion, Beth and I made a difficult choice. Instead of making Bodie endure another episode like this, or additional discomfort and pain from the sickness we opted to let Bodie go for a final walk; spend time lying in the grass with us; and then we put him to sleep.

Despite his smile and wagging tail, it was clear he was not well. His head was heavy, his breathing labored, and overall he was tired.

If you had asked me 18 months ago if I could ever be this emotional about a dog, you would have quickly heard, "no." But after having had the honor of spending time with Bodie, I'm a dog person, and I have him to thank.

Thank you Bodie. We'll all miss you.

The Hunter

It's been a while since I updated this blog, and a lot has happened since my last post. Most significantly, we moved into a new house which has a yard and great access to Frick Park. Both the dogs seem to love the house. Bodie enjoys not having to walk up an stairs, ever. Miles likes running in the yard, and in the park.

We have also learned that Miles has a habit of "hunting" small animals. Unfortunately, for the rabbits that live in our garden, he has proven to be quite proficient at catching the baby rabbits. Since moving in, we have been allowing him to roam the yard without a leash. There didn't appear to be any problems with this. However, while I was traveling last weekend, Miles took advantage of this freedom to conduct a little hunt.

Beth called and informed me that he had caught, and as you would expect, killed it. Beth was able to get him to drop the rabbit but the damage was done. We started keeping him on the leash in the yard, but I got a little relaxed about this, since it was quite a pain. A couple days later, while I was outside with him a rabbit must have come out of the bushes and it basically only took a single lunge for him to catch it. A couple shakes later and the hunter had another kill.

From reading online, it doesn't appear that this behavior is anything other than instinct, and isn't something to be worried about, but it is certainly not something I encourage.

I guess I continue to learn about Miles and his personality.

Poor Bodie

About two weeks ago, Bodie had to have surgery to remove a growth on this leg. We were told that the growth contained mast cells, which is essentially cancer. Luckily, after biopsy of the removed growth, it appears to not be cancer. While he was under, several other growths were removed, and all appear to be non-cancerous. That, of course, is the good news.

The bad news is that once again, Bodie is in recovery from surgery. The day before we left for vacation, we had his stitches removed. Everything seemed fine, until about midnight. It was then that we noticed the wound on his left "armpit" had opened. We tried to close it with a "butterfly" but that would stick to his skin/fur. We covered it with gauze and wrapped him with an ace bandage to try and keep the wound from being exposed.

All night long, Beth and I traded off laying with Bodie to keep him from moving around and at 8 am we took him over to the vet. Luckily, the doctor who had performed the initial surgery was on site and she was able to staple the wound back together. The whole procedure was quick, but it means that Bodie is in the kennel wearing the e-collar and not allowed to play with other dogs.

Hopefully, over the next week the wound will heal and this will be the last of the complications with the surgery, but being in the kennel for so many days seems to bring on issues on its own. We'll see when we get back...fingers crossed he is ok.