Can't Believe She Is Now Eight Years Old

It was a cloudy and cool day in western Washington state on this date in 2012. A back yard labradoodle's standard poodle was giving birth to her puppies. She had quite a few. As they all grew older and were ready for sale they went like hotcakes on a hungry Saturday morning. All but one. This baby was a female and as she grew older the junk breeder noticed she had a cast eye. No one seemed to want her. She wallowed around in their yard for months until someone reached out and asked about her. The breeder (questionable designation for this person) had decided to put her up for sale at a much reduced price.

Honey at 4 months old

A family, close to Seattle, saw the online post and said they wanted her. They met in a shopping center parking lot and this poor baby was covered in vomit. Immediately the buyer decided whether or not this was a good decision, but took her anyway, paid up and left. The buyer was so shocked as to her condition she did not want to leave her with this person. She saved this puppy's life.

Fast forward and we find this baby girl, now named Honey, is with a loving family and flourishing. She loved her small humans and their one other labradoodle in her new home. Her new family had spent a lot of money on vet bills trying to get her into a healthy state. Seems she came with worms and other very nasty stuff in her body. But, nonetheless, they loved her and she was getting better. Until.

Her new Mommy noticed she was having a very hard time getting up once she lied down. Again, off to the vet.

Here I will stop. Long story short, Honey was diagnosed, eventually, with a genetic problem that was, most likely, caused by inbreeding.  Her back knees did not connect. To correct this would take a enormous amount money which her parents did not have. So, instead of euthanizing her, which was an option, their vet recommended to place her in a re home/rescue group. This group was Doodle Rescue Collective of who I was a volunteer. From there it is history.

So today my beautiful Honey has turned 8 years old. How can that be possible? It seems only yesterday I plucked her from the loving and tearful arms of her fosters in Ohio and drove her to Texas for her operation. The operation that replaced both of her back knees. That trip sealed the deal on our now 7 year relationship.

Honey, you have been such a commanding figure, and will remain to be, in our Clan. I, and all the others, love you.

Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, GA

A few days ago I decided to take a visit to our local, but most popular, cemetery here in Savannah. The Bonaventure Cemetery. I have always wanted to visit this iconic spot during the blooming of the azaleas since most of the paths are lined with them. I was not disappointed.

I have been here often and, even though it is a very visited tourist destination, it always seems to be a quiet respite for me. I have walked among the residents and have wondered of their lives here in our beautiful city.

John Muir, the famous naturalist and author, wrote in his book, "A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf" a chapter called "Sleeping Among the Tombs" after he spent 3 nights sleeping in the cemetery waiting for money to be wired to him so he could complete his journey

He wrote:

"Part of the grounds was cultivated and planted with live-oak (Quercus virginiana), about a hundred years ago, by a wealthy gentleman who had his country residence here But much the greater part is undisturbed. Even those spots which are disordered by art, Nature is ever at work to reclaim, and to make them look as if the foot of man had never known them. Only a small plot of ground is occupied with graves and the old mansion is in ruins.

The most conspicuous glory of Bonaventure is its noble avenue of live-oaks. They are the most magnificent planted trees I have ever seen, about fifty feet high and perhaps three or four feet in diameter, with broad spreading leafy heads. The main branches reach out horizontally until they come together over the driveway, embowering it throughout its entire length, while each branch is adorned like a garden with ferns, flowers, grasses, and dwarf palmettos.

But of all the plants of these curious tree-gardens the most striking and characteristic is the so-called Long Moss (Tillandsia usneoides). It drapes all the branches from top to bottom, hanging in long silvery-gray skeins, reaching a length of not less than eight or ten feet, and when slowly waving in the wind they produce a solemn funereal effect singularly impressive.

There are also thousands of smaller trees and clustered bushes, covered almost from sight in the glorious brightness of their own light. The place is half surrounded by the salt marshes and islands of the river, their reeds and sedges making a delightful fringe. Many bald eagles roost among the trees along the side of the marsh. Their screams are heard every morning, joined with the noise of crows and the songs of countless warblers, hidden deep in their dwellings of leafy bowers. Large flocks of butterflies, flies, all kinds of happy insects, seem to be in a perfect fever of joy and sportive gladness. The whole place seems like a center of life. The dead do not reign there alone.

Bonaventure to me is one of the most impressive assemblages of animal and plant creatures I ever met. I was fresh from the Western prairies, the garden-like openings of Wisconsin, the beech and maple and oak woods of Indiana and Kentucky, the dark mysterious Savannah cypress forests; but never since I was allowed to walk the woods have I found so impressive a company of trees as the tillandsia-draped oaks of Bonaventure.

I gazed awe-stricken as one new-arrived from another world. Bonaventure is called a graveyard, a town of the dead, but the few graves are powerless in such a depth of life. The rippling of living waters, the song of birds, the joyous confidence of flowers, the calm, undisturbable grandeur of the oaks, mark this place of graves as one of the Lord’s most favored abodes of life and light."

- "Camping in the Tombs," from A Thousand Mile Walk

I was fortunate to capture these images for my collection. I have many more, but these are just the teasers.

If y'all are ever in the Savannah area, please make the a stop on your itinerary. It is a beautiful place and will complete your visit to our beautiful city. 

                                                 (click on images to enlarge)

November 2019-A Bad Month for Boomer

In the second week of November I noticed Boomer's bowels were not quite right. Not bad, but not his usual self. I started him on boiled chicken breast and rice mixed with his normal kibbles along with a tablespoon of pumpkin a few times a day. This seemed to do the trick, as it usually does.

Over the Veteran's Day weekend he did fine until the early morning hours of the 12th. I am a light sleeper and I awoke to his nails clicking on the hardwood floors. It was 2:45 AM. I knew something was not right so I got up and turned on the lights in the living room where he was pacing. He had the strangest look on his face. Then I saw it. In the hallway by the laundry nook was a wet spot. Did he urinate on the floor? Is it possible? He had never had an accident in the house. I walked over and it was much worse than that. I turned on the light in the hallway and to my horror he had had a massive explosion of diarrhea in 3-4 places. It was then I realized my feet were damp. Yep, he had walked in it and had tracked it into the living room and here I was, stepping in it. Not for the feint of heart dear friends. I rushed him outside and he, again, began having episodes.

I was very concerned now and brought him back inside once he seemed finished.  I then began the huge cleanup. It was so bad I had to get my paint respirator and spray the inside of it with lemon scented Lysol to mask the odor, plus I had rubber gloves on. Heck, the visual was enough to gag an elephant. Once the mess was cleaned up I had to go through the entire house, less my bedroom, and wash the floor several times. Oh! I did wash my feet first and put on shoes which I washed lastly. That's when I noticed it was getting light outside. Time=6:55 AM.

It was now time to take the rest of the Clan out for their initial potty excursion of the day. Thankfully, the temperature was fairly cool, 59°F/15°C at the time. Kinda woke me up a bit. Boomer, however, opted to stay in and sleep.  I watched him closely during the morning, and not noticing anything unusual, I fed him lunch along with the rest. This time it was two tablespoons of pumpkin with the  boiled chicken and rice. No kibbles. He gobbled them down.  The rest of the day was non-eventful. 

His dinner was the same as lunch and, thankfully, no further episodes. That night was the same as most others except I stayed up a bit longer to make sure they would have a late potty call before bed. No problems. We were all exhausted. Not so fast.

Again I awoke to Boomer pacing and this time I jumped up right away. Again! Time=1:30 AM. Here we go again. Not as bad as the night before, but the same routine. This time we were able to settle back down by 3 AM. Then the pacing started.

Again, I jumped up and this time it was as bad as the two times before combined. Time=4:20 AM. This time I called the vet and and left a message I would be coming with Boomer and without an appointment. By the time I finished all the cleanup, I tended to the others, packed Boomer up and off we went. Time=8:20 AM.

The vet was new to the practice and not had seen us before. I did bring a fecal sample and after analysis she came back and asked had he gotten into anything like garbage, etc? Nope. Are there acorns he may have eaten? Acorns I thought? Well, we have thousands upon thousands of acorns on the ground at this time of the year here (remember, it's the Berry OAKS Doodle Ranch). I told her I had never seen him eat anything off the ground, especially acorns. Unlike the "Dirt Eating Diva" Honey, but that's another story.

In the end she gave me medication to control diarrhea, Endosorb, and an antibiotic, Metronidazole. Hopefully, this will get Boomer back on track. He still seemed very active at this point. He ate his lunch and dinner without a problem. Now the big test,. Can we get through the night. We did.

Friday, the 15th started off great. Boomer's diarrhea was starting to abate. He was still on his chicken rice diet and ate his lunch with gusto, as he usually does. Later on that afternoon I noticed him starting to not look well. Just before his dinner time I saw him standing in the middle of the living room staring at the floor. I knew he was not feeling well. Come dinner time he ate a few bites then walked away. Of course it is Friday night and the vet's office will not re-open until Monday morning at 8 AM. But..there is always the emergency vet open 24/7. 

We all settled in and seemed to have a decent night's sleep, although I was up many times checking on Boomer. He did not seem comfortable, but he slept. This was taking a toll on me now as well as the other Doodles. 

We went through the weekend OK, but Boomer did not eat well. Just a bit here and there. By Sunday, though, he seemed to perk up and eat a decent dinner, however, Monday morning brought another accident in the house. This time he had urinated in the hallway sometimes during the night. I had stopped the antibiotics after Friday's non-eating incident. Boomer does not do well with antibiotics save a few. This was getting very concerting to me. I called the vet and she asked me to bring him in Tuesday morning. He did well throughout the day Monday, but he still was not right. I could tell as his other mates could.

That night went OK without accidents and the next morning we headed back to the vet. She took blood samples and found his platelets were very low. Given his autoimmune disorder she surmised he was having some sort of autoimmune attack on his own body. She wanted to keep him that night and and give him fluids and a steroid to kick start his system. So it was his first night in the hospital (Tuesday the 19th). The next day the office called a said he was ready to come home. He came with some Prednisone to inhibit his autoimmune attack. That day went well and he began to eat again. 

Thursday and into Friday went very well until Friday night. Friday at dinner he would not even consider eating. I took it to be the meds. On into the evening I could tell he was feeling worse. I spent lots of time with him. Later on he started drinking his water and, it seemed he could not get enough. I thought it was the meds, too. We all went to bed and slept well, at least I though we did. Two-to-three hours for me was good considering. 

The next morning, however, was not what I had wanted to wake up to. Seems he had urinated in the hallway several times over the night. When I took him out that morning he kept urinating over and over again. Of course it is the weekend. That day he did not eat again and he kept drinking lots of water. I could tell he was in some sort of discomfort now. I called the vet, but no call back. Saturday night was a repeat of Friday night, however, I had put down an old shower curtain covered with some old towels and, thankfully, no cleanup.  Boomer's a good boy.

Sunday went sorta OK, but by the evening things were not going well at all for him. He was groaning and seemingly struggling to breathe. I tried to hand feed him some canned food, but he could not eat it. Almost like he could not swallow. The vet called me back and I told her the symptoms. I took his temperature and it was a bit above normal, but not high. I slept on the floor with him that night holding him. I, truly, though I was going to lose him. 

The next morning, November 25th,  we were at the vet's office at 7:45 AM. They open at 8: AM. A vet tech came out a few minutes after we arrived to empty trash and I told her Boomer was in bad shape. She looked at him and ran into the office. Seconds later the vet and 2 vet techs ran out to my car. He was able to walk, but not well. I had collected a urine sample the night before and the immediately started testing it along with another blood sample they had drawn. They rushed around him like it was a trauma clinic. For me it was. They asked me to wait in one of the exam rooms (note: not the waiting room). I did not have a good feeling about this.

I had been sitting in the exam room thinking the worst of thoughts when the vet came in. She said he had a very acute case of pancreatitis. She said she is keeping him. She didn't ask, she demanded, well not in those words. She knows me and I know here.....and most importantly....I TRUST her. I went in back a spent a few moments with Boomer, but he had been given a sedative to help with the pain. Regardless, he was able to give me his signature kiss on the ear. He spent two nights there.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I slept for the first time in close to 3 weeks. I knew Boomer was in the best hands. I had visited him the day before for a half hour. They were kind enough to give me an exam room where we could be alone. They walked him in with multiple IVs in his leg and that sight alone brought me to tears. But, on a good note, he looked better. I could tell that by the way he greeted me. I brought him his favorite stuffy bear and he shook it with delight. He was still a bit sick, though. I felt better about him now.

Sure enough they called me on Thanksgiving Eve afternoon to pick him up.  I rushed there. He was looking so good, but stinking from his ordeal. No matter, he was in my arms and he was frisky. This will be a Thanksgiving I will be so thankful for. He did come home with a regimen of antibiotics that he can tolerate. He had to wear an e-collar for his IV catheter was still in his leg. This will stay in until the vet sees him again the Friday after Thanksgiving, and BTW, we had a great Thanksgiving. So very thankful that Boomer was on the road to recovery.

Friday after Thanksgiving, he had his catheter removed, but not before another blood test. His results were almost perfect, but the antibiotics should take care of that. That was Friday, November, 29th.

Fast forward to today, Monday, December 9th. We we went to the vet this morning and Boomer was very excited to see everyone. He knew they were not going to keep him again. The whole crew came out to give him some love. I love these people. They are awesome.

They took all of his vital signs and a blood sample. I had to wait about 10 minutes for the results, but when Dr. Mandy came in, she was smiling. My heart melted. She said his blood was PERFECT and everything else was spot on. I could tell she was as happy, as I was. As we left I told her "Thank you from the bottom of my heart". She welled up and gave me a hug. She made my day. I believe we made hers.

Bottom line..........BOOMER in the house and is his old self. 

This year our Thanksgiving was especially great. Let's move on. The Christmas holidays are now on us. What is the next adventure for the BODR Clan. Stay tuned for it is coming up soon.

Post Script: During this ordeal both Boomer and I lost 10 pounds each. Good for me, not so much for him. Now to put his weight back on. He has already gained two since his last vet visit.

Symbiosis---with Dogs?

Symbiosis: Living together is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms. No I am not infected with some sort of bug, but I am, according to the definition, in an extremely close relationship with my Canis Lupus Familiaris, or as we like to call them, our family doggy furbabies.

In our family, we have always been close to our babies. They depend upon us, and we recognize that, but we also depend upon them. We share a support community, a mutual admiration society, and most important, love. Lots of that.

BODR Doodles

On the first day Boomer entered the ranch house he went straight to the sofa, curled up, and went to sleep. Right there and then I knew he was an inside baby. It wasn't a real sleep for the others were sniffing and wanting to interact with him. I moved them out of the room so he could rest, but it wasn't really a rest, it was sort of a retreat where he felt comfortable.

A few minutes later, maybe thirty or so, he lifted his head and saw the toy box. He stared at it for a long time, not moving, just staring. He then looked at me and I gave him the OK to go play. No words, just a hand sign pointing at the toys. And, by gosh, he went right to them. He took every toy out of the box and sniffed, licked, tossed, and rolled with them. It, actually, brought me to tears to see him this happy in the poor physical state he was in.

Guinness, Rosco, and Honey enjoy their toys, but only certain ones. Boomer? He loves them all. As you can see in the photo, he likes to cover himself in them at times. He stayed like this as I was making my dinner tonight, but once finished, he moved to the sofa, his favorite place.

The others? They have their individual needs. Anyone that has more than two furbabies know they are not the same and you must cater, at times, to each of their individual needs. Sometimes it is not easy. I want to please them all, but it is not possible to do that every moment, so I make time for each, which really gets the others upset, but it has to be. In the end it all works out.

I have learned it is not necessary to pay attention to the one that wants to constantly nuzzle or have your attention all the time. You have to ignore them, at times, but is how you speak with them and interact with them as a group that gives them comfort. Give them a routine they are comfortable with. That is what they want. That is what we all want. Comfort. In our lives. I give it to them. They give it to me. I am so blessed.

(Click on the photo for full screen)

Boomer...Going Strong

When I pulled, now Boomer, from a gentle shelter in Kingsland, Georgia, I had no intention of doing anything other than getting him healthy and fostering him until Doodle Rescue Collective (DRC) could find him a "furever" home. That all changed but just a few hours once we arrived back here at the ranch.

Boomer was, obviously, an indoor dog. His first move on entering our abode was to hop up on the sofa and immediately go to sleep. He did  meet and greet the others in the Clan, but all he wanted to do was sleep. That, and the rest of us, let him sleep. He must have slept for 4 hours before I announced it was kibble time. Of course he did not know what that was, but following his roommates, he was all in.

That evening was nothing but making sure he was comfortable. WHAT?  He make himself comfortable without our help and,  not only that,  he interacted with the rest of the Clan like he had been here forever. Hmmm. Even Guinness, the"I don't like other dogs", cuddled up to him. That was a first.

Well, needless to say, I foster-failed and Boomer became #4 in our Clan. That said, let's fast forward to today.

It is Boomer's grooming day. As most know, he has a very serious dermatology problem. Right now we have it pretty much under control with medications and home grooming. So far we are a head of the game. But, on to today. It was his time for his grooming appointment and he was very apprehensive and why, I do not know. He did not want to get out of the car. He started shaking violently as we went in. I held him close and, as he was about to go into the back, he turned to me with a look as if...."please don't leave me". My heart broke. It was hard to leave.

I had errands to do and then back to the ranch to attend to my babies there. I did get an early call saying Boomer was ready for pickup so I high tailed back there and found he was all nicely trimmed, prim, and proper, and he was so relived to see me. On our 40 minute journey back, he slept, but once we got close, he perked up and started to get excited. We were home. HE WAS HOME!

The rest of the day was playing with his Clan mates, eating, and resting after a hard day...for him. Tonight, he will sleep well.

Tomorrow...it is Honey's turn at the groomer. And the next day it is Rosco's turn. Going to be a busy week here at the BODR. But...I would not have it any other way.

There are many parts of my day that I cherish. One is waking up and having the Clan all over me clamoring to get out for their first constitutional. Another is the quiet time afterward when I have my coffee and browse the internet. But, one of my favorite times is when I get to feed my babies.

We do that two times a day, once around noon and again around 6 PM. They get their daily subsistence divided into these two meals (along with their many meds). The portions are carefully measured, therefore, they maintain their weight and health, as they have for many years.

Their noon, and first, meal is straight forward without any pomp and circumstance, but their evening meal, most often, contains some frolic and drama. I guess I will have to do a video on that. It gets quite funny and I love it.

Once their bellies are full from the evening meal all they want to do is sleep....well...until I announce 'Last Call", then it is pandemonium to see who can get outside first. Once back in they then transitions into serious sleep mode.

But, maybe I am not ready. No matter, they sidle up against me and wait for my move. When it is time, they routinely take their nighttime positions as the lights go out, at least for the time being (Honey and Boomer are restless nighttime roamers).

Living here at our Doodle Ranch, this environment, this home, this cradle of love, is the best I could have ever asked for, given our circumstance.

I know many of you feel this way. You may have a cat, a dog, a rabbit, lizard, bird, or any other creature. Just, please, give it the love you would give any other family member for they are family, too, not just a pet.

First Signs of Spring

Each year, toward the end of January, a large group of male robins descend upon our area. I am told they winter-over in Florida and this is the beginning of their annual migration north. They hang around for a few days feeding on the insects in our yards. This is their vanguard.

Several days pass and the males are joined by an even larger group of robins, both male and female. This second group always has some other species mixed in with it, mostly male and female blackbirds and cowbirds. Their numbers are well over several hundred if not more. They are constantly singing and squawking making our area sound like an aviary in a zoo. It is very pleasant to hear. They will be around for, maybe, another week and then they will disappear as quickly as they appeared. 

We have very mild winters here and our spring usually comes early. This is its first sign. It is welcomed.

Looking For Dinner

The BODR is in a rural part of Northern Bryan County, GA. Although we are not isolated, we are sort of in a small community with quite a few residences close by. That doesn't mean, though, we are not in the country. We most certainly are.

Last night, as the sun was making it's exit after a very rainy day, the sky and land took on a very orangey glow. It was almost dark as I walked past our kitchen window and something caught my eye in our yard. At first, I thought it was a large Red Tail Hawk. We have many around here and they like to stalk out our bird feeder, but no, it was an owl and a huge one at that.

I rushed to get my camera and tripod for the light was almost gone. I set it up and took many images in the near darkness. I was surprised they came out. I did, although, have to enhance them in Adobe Lightroom.

We have heard the owls around here a lot, but I have never seen one. This one is a Barred Owl. Any one interested, this image was taken at 1/2 sec exp/300mm/5.6/ISO 12800. And to top it off it was taken in my kitchen through the window.

Love the Ranch.

Time is Precious

It has been a while since I have made a post here. Just been so dang busy. With my daughter, Veronica, settling in with us and getting everyone situated to our new situation, the days just do not have enough hours in them. Believe me, they are tiring to us all.

I do admit, though, her being here has made me more motivated and animated than I have been in a long time. These past two weeks has seen me out and about more than I have been in the last year totaled. And that is a good thing. We have been doing lots of errands to get her residency here established, to get here fur-baby, Gizmo, settled with our vet and his meds straightened out. Along with that we are dealing with Spring yard work, other home projects, and, generally, getting settled. We do, however, take occasional breaks to get out and relax.

My biggest concern and task, though, is Boomer. As I mentioned in previous posts, his sebaceous andenitis has flared up again. It started with me noticing, back in mid-February, several spots that needed attention, but my attention did not help and, very quickly, his hair, his beautiful body of hair, started to fall out in huge clumps.  It was everywhere. Just rubbing him and my hand would be filled with it. I could not brush or comb him for it would cause him to bleed. Thankfully, I was able to get an appointment with his dermatology vet very quickly. He upped his meds to where they were last year and, with the vets recommendation, increased his oil soaks and medicated baths to twice a week. That is two hours of oil soak and as many baths as it takes to remove the oil. All-in-all it take 2-3 hours. But, to me it is worth it.

Early February 2018

April 10th, 2018 before shave.

Once we saw the vet we came home and I shaved him down completely. I hate to see him like that, although, he has no comprehension of how he looks. I believe, though, he feels a lot better. This will be another struggle we deal with daily here at the the BODR.

April 10th, 2018 after shave.

On another subject, I have been contemplating starting a video blog (Vlog) on YouTube. I, already, have a channel there with several videos I have made in the past and have always liked making story videos. I queried my FB friends and got an overwhelming yes, but only if I continued to post the stories here on FB. No problem. I can handle multi-tasking. Currently, I am working on what the vlog will look like and its content. It may be a while, but it is coming along.

We are looking forward to the Spring, finally, settling in and transitioning to our typical summer. Cannot and will not complain about our summers here. Well....except for the gnats, but they can be tolerated. Today we had a long soaking rain and were glad for that. We had been in a kind of drought for a while and the 6 hours of perception was welcomed. Unfortunately, I will need to cut this large lawn more often.

Tomorrow Veronica and I will visit Joyce as it will have been our 25th anniversary of our being together. From there we have more errands to do before we get back to the BODR. Hopefully, I can get the lawn mowed and start some of the yard work this place so badly needs. But, Doodle play time will not be compromised.

Well.....that's about it from the BODR tonight. Looking forward to the development of our vlog. I will make sure all will be informed as to its progress.

So...from all of us here, to include the O'Doodle Clan +1, have a great evening and a great day tomorrow. Nite for now.