Archives for October 2012

Halloween 2012

October 31, 2012 1 Comment

Since we had to bring Aspen down to guelph for her tooth extraction, we decided to spend some time with friends.

With it being Halloween, we dressed everyone up and walked around the neighbourhood so the dogs could experience the interesting sights and sounds of the night.

Cessna was a monarch butterfly

Cessna lies in front of a black leather couch wearing orange, white and black butterfly wings.

Rogue was a lion

Rogue wears a mostly tan coloured costume. it covers her torso. It has a tail that hangs down by hers and a hood-like thing that goes on her head with ears and a mane. She's standing and looking towards the camera with her mouth open and tongue sticking out.

Canyon was a wolf

Canyon stands looking towards the camera wearing a brown hat that has pointed ears.

Piper was a ballerina

Piper, a 4.5 month old Australian Shepherd wears an orange, green, black and purple tutu. She's standing, but not really looking at the camera.

Sadly Aspen wasn’t able to join us on our walk because of the surgery, but I’m happy to report that she’s recuperating well and should be back to herself in a a week or so. Dr B gave her some new antibiotics to take because she didn’t feel the lymph node had decreased in size enough, but we told her it was half the size, so hopefully these new antibiotics will finish off the fight against whatever infection caused the inflammation. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Filed Under: Aspen, Canyon, Cessna, Friends, Rogue, Vet Time Tagged With: ,

Fall In Muskoka

October 27, 2012 2 Comments

Canyon sits in an over-sized Muskoka chair. He's looking over to his left.

Cessna sits in the grass with leaves. You can see the slightly moss covered bedrock rise up behind her.

Rogue stands in a very large Muskoka chair. The chair is painted white. She's looking towards the camera and licking her nose.

Aspen stands on a lawn covered in leaves. You can see a forest in the background. The trees have mostly yellow and red leaves on them.

Filed Under: Aspen, Canyon, Cessna, Northern Life, Rogue Tagged With:

Farewell Our Berner Friend

October 20, 2012 2 Comments

I have some sad news to share.

Our friend Jesse of Berner Tails, has left to cross the Rainbow Bridge.

Jesse had been ill for a while. he had eaten something that his stomach did not agree with and the vet could not figure out how to help him.

Please take a moment and give his blog a visit.

Filed Under: Grab The Kleenex, Loved and Lost, Social Networking

It Could’ve Been Worse

October 19, 2012 2 Comments

The past couple of days have been a bit of a blur.

On Tuesday evening while combing out the tangles from Aspen’s fur, I found a firm lump under her chin to the left of her trachea. I immediately called Huib over and showed him what I’d found. We were extremely worried about our golden girl, but the vet office had already closed, so we decided to call first thing Wednesday morning.

We were in luck. Dr B had an appointment time available for Thursday at 2:30pm.

Thursday morning at 6am, we piled the dogs and our stuff into the car and headed south. We arrived in guelph about half an hour before we were due to be at Dr B’s office, so we stopped at Tim Hortons for some coffee and so I could check my online discussion forum.

At 2:30pm we walked into Dr B’s office with Aspen, expecting the worst.

But, she immediately calmed our fears. It turns out Aspen had broken her upper left canine tooth and it had become infected. The lump we felt was her lymph node inflamed. Dr B said the tooth looked to be freshly broken, so was impressed at how quickly we had reacted.

To be sure of the diagnosis, and to make sure there were no more issues with Aspen, Dr B took samples of the fluid/tissue from the swollen lymph node and some blood for the lab. She also sent us home with two weeks worth of antibiotics and an appointment for Aspen to get her canine removed on Halloween.

Aspen started her antibiotics last night and has been eating oatmeal and soft fish, so that she doesn’t injure her tooth further and so that her belly isn’t bothered by the antibiotics.

Dr B called us this evening with the lab results. The inflamed lymph node is indeed a result of the infected tooth. She also received the blood results and the only issue she found was with Aspen’s thyroid levels. She told me that Aspen’s thyroid levels are so low, that they don’t even register on the tests they run. We will be discussing thyroid medications in two weeks.

I know it sucks that Aspen has an infected tooth and that she needs to have it removed. and I know it sucks that Aspen needs thyroid medication, but it could’ve been much, much worse.

Filed Under: Aspen, Vet Time Tagged With:

Food For Thought

October 15, 2012 1 Comment

As mentioned earlier, I am taking an online course through the University of Guelph, called The economics Of Food Usage.

We are entering week six of the course, and I am finding there to be a lot of repetition in what people are writing in their discussion posts.

The most popular answers are:

* Food contamination;
* environmental Degradation;
* Social Inequalities; and
* Genetically Modified Organisms.

I’m not sure why, but it seems as though the above are the only possible responses to questions being posed in this class.

this week is my group’s opportunity to lead the online discussion, so I was doing some web searches to find some interesting resources I might offer on supply chain management – I know, so boring, but that is what we were assigned!

here’s an interesting link I came across that discusses the recent debates on GMOs and Monsanto:

I Learned I am the Problem

An interesting viewpoint, isn’t it?

Filed Under: No Paws Included, Random Thoughts, University of Guelph

Wildlife Candids: Raccoon Edition

October 14, 2012 Leave a Comment

Two young raccoons hug an evergreen. The raccoons are one above the other, hanging out most of the way up the tree.

A closer picture of the two raccoons. They are now at the very top of the evergreen.

Since we get an opportunity to see tons of wildlife in action, I thought I would begin sharing our candid shots.

Filed Under: Northern Life Tagged With:

It’s Assistance Dog Blog Carnival Time!

October 12, 2012 1 Comment

It’s that time AGAIN!

It’s time for round 9 of the Assistance Dog Blog Carnival.

this round is being hosted by Martha of Believe In Who You Are, and the topic she has chosen is MOMENTS.

You don’t have to be a service dog handler or puppy raiser, you just need to write something that is related to service dogs.

I hope you will take the time to visit Martha’s blog, and maybe even join me in this round of the ADBC.

Filed Under: Assistance Dog Blog Carnival

Book #8 Of 2012

October 11, 2012 Leave a Comment

On the weekend, I finished reading “Persuader” by Lee Child.

Let me start out by saying, it was awesome! Even though I have tons of reading to do for school this semester, I couldn’t put the book down, so finished it as quickly as possible.

Jack Reacher is a retired military cop. he is approached by two federal agents, Duffy and eliot. they had been told that he was looking into the license plate number of a person they suspected of illegal activities. They want to know why he is interested in this person and what he knows about him. Reacher joins Duffy and eliot, in their investigation and in the process, hopes to finally avenge the death of a former military underling.

I’m sorry for the vague description, but I really don’t want to give too much away. It was an action-packed book from start to finish. I can’t wait to read another book from this series.

Since I have a lot of reading for school, I don’t know if I will get much more leisure reading done until early November.

Filed Under: Bookworm, University of Guelph

A Rogue Fall

October 9, 2012 2 Comments

Rogue walks among fallen trees wearing her new, black with teal and white sort of flowers, RC Pets coat.

Rogue stands on a tree stump looking over her right shoulder into the camera.

It’s getting a little chillier these days, so Rogue finds it nicer to explore the outdoors wearing her new winter coat.

Filed Under: Aw...the life, Northern Life, Rogue Tagged With: ,

Canyon’s Sporty Cart

October 5, 2012 1 Comment
Canyon stands wearing his red & black drafting harness, attached to his red with black cart.

Drafting Isn’t Just For Bernese Mountain dogs Anymore

Now that I have finally figured out how to share pictures with everyone, I thought I’d post a picture of Canyon with his new drafting harness and cart.

It has been quite rainy since it arrived in august, so we haven’t done too much with it.

But, I’m hoping we’ll be able to start drafting in the spring or if the snow isn’t to bad, then maybe during the fall or winter months.

Filed Under: Canyon Tagged With: