Bosco Dog Blog

I have totally figured out this cone thing. I'm totally fine with it. Joan doesn't take it off anymore for walks - I guess cuz I was always trying to rub my nose on her leg and that's not allowed. So now I'm walking around the neighborhood with this cone on! I get all sorts of comments. Lots of people smile. One person told me that her dog wouldn't allow it. Another man stopped to tell us another way to do it (using a sock) but then he looked at my bloody nose and realized the problem was my nose, not me licking or biting another part of my body. It was a nice idea ....

Lee said I look like the "Dog from Outerspace." Also a floating head and other not very supportive names and comments! Come on!

I've found that Joan will do a few things for me. For example, I tried to scratch my ear, but instead I just made a lot of racket with my nails scratching the plastic. So Joan came over and scratched my ears for me. She's so great! Then another time I even got her to rub my butt for me. I tried to lick my butt but you know it didn't work with this cone on. Joan saw and she took a paper towel and rubbed my butt for me! Wow, isn't that nice. I know a lot of people wouldn't do that for a dog!

They think the wound is starting to heal - at least it is scabbing. But it could be a while - it is slow. Plus, they realized I've had this since at least March 26 so it's already been a lonnnnnggggg time with it on my nose.

One thing I haven't tried yet is swimming with my cone on. That should be interesting. I still occasionally bump into some things out on walks but I'm totally good at home. Except when I get really excited and bang my cone into Joan's legs. She's not so happy about that.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Okay, I think we need to take that literally and not figuratively. I probably did eat some crap and got some nasty bug in my stomach. Joan thought I was better because on our afternoon walk, I did not even go to the bathroom. Then she left to teach her class ... and was gone and gone and gone. Well, it was only 8 hours but to a canine with stomach problems, that is too long (I know, she didn't know). Well, I felt bad but I really had to go and go I did. I went in the kitchen and the dining room (the farthest away from my sleeping areas!

Joan got home and I was really happy to see her - I don't think she was so happy herself but she did not get mad at me or anything. I was a bit ashamed. She just looked concerned. She didn't right away take me for a walk but she cleaned up my mess, started a load of laundry for the kitchen rugs, and then washed the floors with smelly stuff (smells better than it did before, though!). She opened the window, too! I was happy she cleaned it all up because even though I did it, I HATED it.

Then we went on a walk around 11:15 PM and we saw the nice Australian Shepherd (with his human) and I wanted to play but it was late. We greeted each other and then went on our separate ways.

Joan was up really late on the computer doing some "work" so she let me out a few times, but I had to wake Joan up around 5:30 - so I was making about 3.5 hours between bathroom needs. I think we are going to the VET today.

I also have 3 out of 4 paws red and raw from allergies. This is ridiculous! I hope I get lots of drugs to get me back into good shape.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, I do not recommend getting this bladder problem. I told you how I peed in the vet's house. I felt bad but I couldn't control myself. Then we got home and lucky for me, Joan stayed home with me. She let me in and out of the house over and over again all day. I'd go outside and literally squat for 10 seconds, then get up and then squat again, and over and over. I had to pee all the time (or at least I felt that way).

Joan said walking me was not very pleasant because it was mostly like: walk, walk, walk, squat ----, walk, walk, walk, squat ----------. over and over again. I think you get it.

On Monday night I could only last about 2.5 hours so I woke Joan up at 3am to let me out. She did!! Actually, she kinda jumped out of her bed when she heard me whining next to the bed. After that I made it until 7am. And she did leave me in the morning but came back within 3 hours so we were safe again. I'm definitely getting better - Joan left me for almost 7 hours yesterday and I was fine. And I'm not squatting as much on walks. These big wads of peanut butter that Joan gives me are good, I'll say. I love peanut butter. YYYYUUUUUUMMMMMMMM.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yawzaa. My paw is killing me. It hurts sooo much that I have to walk on my tippy toe toenails. Joan keeps hounding me to put this spray on it, and I try to run away because the spray makes it sting a bit. One night Joan was examining it with a flashlight, and she touched a really sore spot and I just kicked her in the face by mistake. It was just uncontrollable kick. I didn't mean it.

Tonight she stuck my paw in a bowl of warm soapy water. I didn't really want to do it, but it actually felt kinda nice. Then she dunked in more warm water ...then the spray bottle! I hope it gets better soon - otherwise I bet we're gonna have to go to the vet. I wonder if we'll have to drive 2 days to go back to our doctors near home? I was just kinda getting used to those people - they had lots of treats for me.

In any case, I'm sure I'm not exactly helping because it bothers me so I lick it a lot. Early early this morning, I heard Joan yell out from her bed, "Bosco stop licking" which I did, but I couldn't believe the ears on that girl. How could she hear it? Her ears are like my nose. Super sensitive.

She started giving me more pink pills too - she says it is all related to allergies.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My paw was my allergies acting up. Isn't that funny that my allergies make my paws and my butt itch? Ha ha. The thing is right after Joan put that sock on my foot, we went out to the car and she drove me to Bosco #2's house - the black lab I met last week. It was so weird because Joan also brought my bed with us. Hmmmm. Very tricky.

We went on a short walk and then we went into the house with Kim and Bosco and I was excited. 2 dogs is fun though I had to growl at Bosco #2 to keep him from overwhelming me with his fun. But then.... Joan left.

:(

But then it got better. I was a little tentative about being outside all alone so I'd go in and out a lot. Then Kim's daughter showed up and she was a thrill. I even (don't tell Joan) got to sleep on her bed at night!!!! I woke her up early with sloppy kisses. :::)))) hee hee. I even liked the man who came over and if you know me, you know that I don't usually like men on the first meeting!

Then one day, Eileen showed up and I was happy to see her, but where was Joan? Then Eileen took me home and left me there and still Joan was not there. She finally showed up many tortuous hours later. It was tortuous because our neighbors were throwing off firecrackers and I don't like firecrackers if you know what I mean. I mean, I really hate them. I gave Joan kisses galore etc.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm getting the shaft - only a couple block walks. But it is understandable, I guess. Joan spent all day Sunday sick in the bathroom - she really was a mess - and didn't even walk me at all. Our neighbor, Tim, took me for a walk on Sunday morning and then Eileen, Joan's sister, came over in the afternoon. She took me out as well as did a bunch of things for Joan. She came over again on Monday morning. Joan just laid there ...forever and forever. But the benefit was I got to join her on the couch or bed. She finally took me for a short walk today but she is sooooo slow, not her usual self at all.

There was also another peculiar incident on Sunday night. Joan had gotten sick again and was on the couch again...exhausted. I was on my bed. All of a sudden, something started flying around the living and dining room really fast. Joan started screaming and put her head under the covers and called someone on the phone. She was screaming describing this thing she called a "bat". Next thing I knew, Joan dragged me (since she was screaming, I was a little scared) upstairs and closed the door. Then someone else called us back called "Animal Control" but they told Joan she had to deal with it herself since it was in our house (why would we call if it was outside?) and she owned the house. A few more phone calls and then Joan left me upstairs with the door closed and there was much discussion on a speaker phone about getting this bat out of the house. All I know is that it is gone. A while later, Joan came up and got me and I could go out to do my business before bed.

We do not like other animals flying around our house uninvited! We know that bats are really good animals because they eat mosquitos ....but they also can have rabies so it is not that great of an idea to get near them. We like them to be outside, eating mosquitos, not inside trapped.

So much has gone on since Friday that I forgot to mention that Joan did take me to the vet on Friday and I guess my teeth are clean now. They put me in a cage and then I was shaking a lot because I don't like cages. They put me to sleep and then I woke up in the cage and was kind of silly. A while later, they let me out and Joan was there! My back legs didn't work exactly right when going downstairs but they got back to normal later on.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

One of my fans asked me about my gulpy cup that I can drink from because the water seems really fresh.

Joan's mom got it from sahalie.com.

http://www.sahalie.com/jump.jsp?itemID=2989&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C7%2C482&iProductID=2989

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The title says it all. On Saturday morning, Joan got up and let me out and gave me food but I could tell she wasn't gonna take me for a walk so I didn't eat any food. Instead, she let me up on the bed and we snoozed a bit longer. When we got up, I went downstairs, drank some water and them immediately vomited on the floor in two spots. Uh, oh. Joan shooed me outside. After I saw she was putting her shoes on, I ate some food. Then we went to the dog park. There were not that many friends there because it was a bit cold. At the far end of the park, Joan was throwing sticks for me to fetch on the iced up Mississippi River. All the humans were laughing at us as we skidded around on the ice. Joan chatted with some other humans and I chewed and swallowed a few sticks despite Joan telling me not to.

On Sunday morning, Joan woke up and came downstairs to let me out and at the back door, she saw a pile of vomited-up sticks. "Well that's not surprising," she said. She did not hear me do it like she usually does when I start to vomit because she had that loud air thing going in her room. (I slept on the comfy couch downstairs.)

Shall I also tell you that I'm getting the sense that Joan does not LIVE FOR ME. I mean, every night this weekend - even last night - she went out! Okay, so she was here with me all day or at least most of the day but that is just not enough. I'm getting needier and needier - I need my cuddle time on the couch with Joan.

Tonight I was on the couch while Joan was working on her computer in the office. I heard a LOUD POP and I ran like a cheetah and bulldozed into the office door. Joan looked outside and I guess the neighbor clears his sidewalk of snow with a 4-wheeler and it did something called a "backfire" and that is what I heard. It reminds me of that awful day, July 4th. In any case, I relocated to my bed in the office. It's a good thing I have so many beds (not even counting the couch, the leather chair, Joan's bed, the rug...) A dog's got to be versatile.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Hey Joan and I went to the dog park this morning which was very nice - though a bit icy and crunchy due to all the dogs and people who walk on it. When we got back to the car, Joan pulled out that funny yellow drink cup thing that her mom bought for me. This time, I really loved it. And I drank almost the whole container of water. It seemed so fresh - and I was thirsty! I'm sold now on it even though I was a little afraid of it at first.

At the park, Joan pulled a "dog whisperer" move. We watch that show a lot so I know all the moves. Some little yippy dog was barking and yipping at me and I was getting annoyed. Joan pointed her finger at the dog and said "shh, shh" like she does to me when I walk too fast or go after squirrels. The yippy dog immediately stopped making any sounds or bothering me. It was incredible. Way to go, Joan! Joan wonders if the dog's people would be mad at her for "disciplining" their dog but who cares - they were not close to us - and it got the dog off my back.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Joan came home with quite a story that I couldn't believe - actually I wish it were not true because it only portrays poodles in a continuing bad light (sorry Isabella). I guess Aaron's dog, Reggie, who is a nice loafing black lab had to go to the vet for his tooth. Reggie's other human, Cassie, took him there and while they were waiting to see the VET a poodle attacked Reggie and BIT him, JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!!!! I really cannot believe it! Maybe it is the same poodle - that would make me feel better - except it probably isn't and that is further data for me to not hang out with poodles. I'm sorry Reggie. Hey, I just got a picture of Reggie in email. Here he is, poor guy:

He also has to have his tooth pulled. I hope that never happens to me.

This morning, I pulled a 3-poop run with Joan. That really has never happened before and Joan was out of bags. Luckily (for her - it didn't matter to me since there's no stopping a dog who needs to go...), I went right next to a garbage can. So Joan just walked over, opened the garbage can, pulled out someone else's poop bag and added to it. She's so resourceful when I mess up.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've had to yelp and even growl at Joan. I feel bad but she's hurting me. She tries to dry my paws off and when she puts the towel on my back paw, I yelp and jump. OUCH - my paw hurts me - especially my toenail. Of course, those yelping antics then brought upon great scrutiny on my body parts. Joan started trying to look at my paw and my toenail. I then had to growl at her to warn her, No NO NO, please don't touch.

I guess she didn't like it - she reprimanded ME for growling at her! Let's just say there was a stare-down. I think I ended it by licking her. hee hee hee. I think she had managed to look at it enough, IMHO. I wonder what she'll do about it????

I hope NOT THE VET.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Joan was petting me and then she stopped, went into the bathroom, got the metal device, and then moved my fur and pulled a tick out of me (I didn't know it was there!). Then she rubbed alcohol on my back. Then she immediately went upstairs, vaccumed her duvet cover, looked at it intently and then folded it up, then took the sheets off the bed and took them to the basement (I don't go in the basement). Maybe it's cuz I got to lounge next to her this morning on the bed ...heeheheeh.

Once she found a tick on her head and she blamed me....

But we went up to the north woods in northern minnesota this weekend. I didn't know where we were going on Friday when we were in the car for a LONG time, but then I remembered once we got there. We hiked a lot this weekend - lots and lots of walking. Joan says it was more than 20 miles but it was fine for me - I could have gone longer.

It was funny that Joan didn't see a tick until the very last moment we were at the park, sitting under a fir tree next to the lodge eating a late lunch picnic. She saw a tiny tick on the bag next to her, pulled it off, and then we immediately got up and left! She says this is ironic in some way that we hike way out in the woods and instead, we get a tick 10 ft. from a paved sidewalk and parking lot!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here are pictures Joan took of my wound last week. It is healing nicely, but I'm still wearing the T-shirt which gets in the way sometimes. Joan has discovered that this is not my only wound. She already found one of my neck. She has since found at least two other scabs on my body - one near this wound and another near my hind quarters near my tail. So those poodles really got me bad.

The good news for Joan is that the poodle owner paid Joan for the vet bill. Yeah - I felt bad for Joan having to dish out all that money for healing me when it was the poodle's fault.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Joan removed my shirt this morning and we went on a walk. She was very happy about the progress of my healing wound. Then we got back to the house. She was filling the water can to water some plants and I was tracking a squirrel on the garage roof. Then I smelled something in the raspberry bushes so I went in there to investigate. Ouch, something hit my wound and I swung around to lick it and it was a salty metallic-y taste. Joan moved her hand to stop me from licking and then said, "how did that start bleeding?" She spilled water all over and not in the watering can.

Then she took me inside and washed my wound, put more of that smelly goopy stuff on it and put the t-shirt back on! My new t-shirt makes me a triathlete. I'm really good at running and swimming but I'm scared of bikes so I know I wouldn't do well at that!

Anyway, I guess it is a setback since the fantastic (Joan's perspective), itchy (my perspective) scab was pulled off. Joan says that the skin though is growing in, so the wound is not as large as it used to be.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Eileen (Joan's sister) came over last night. They started cutting my red t-shirt because it was kinda tight on my legs. But the cutting got out of hand and now they say I have a muscle shirt on one side.

Later that night, Joan put one of her tank tops on me - then I was a Pomona College water polo player (that's what it said on the back) - well, I'd really like to get in the water and I love balls so it could work. In the middle of the night, I guess my licking woke Joan up (I knew I should have slept downstairs). Joan turned on the light and realized that the tank top was down and I had access to my wound - which I was licking again! So downstairs we went and the red shirt went back on. Oh well. No more licking, I guess. I'm actually pretty happy when she puts the goopy stuff on because it makes it itch less. A little bit less.

People are gawking at us when we go on walks. Joan just laughs! At least I don't have the cone on. But I bet they think Joan is a weird owner to make me walk around with a t-shirt on. And now my half muscle shirt. Ha ha.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been licking my wound. I guess this is not acceptable. Joan says I've swallowed more neosporin than has penetrated my wound.

So...yesterday this is what happened. I wish the poodles had to step into my paws for a week and wear this cone!

These are called Elizabethan Collars so maybe I'm supposed to feel regal. But really I just feel stupid. I just stand around, not knowing what to do. I wouldn't even go outside to go to the bathroom. I kept running into things - the chair, the kitchen cabinet, the stairs, my bed. Joan took it off last night and put on a pad with her bandage wrap overnight. This morning she looked at me and saw the wrap and bandage on my bed off of me. Ha ha. BUT she was happy that my wound was crusty and hard.

After our walk, during which I took a few licks of my wound, Joan put the cone back on me at home. Then she got on the web to investigate collars because this one seems kinda big. (She borrowed it from our neighbors who have a bigger dog.) That's where she found a better idea! Even though I still feel kinda ridiculous, it is far better than the cone dog look!!

Joan says I'm very becoming and that I'm kinda a UofM dog now since I'm wearing the WebCT CE to Vista T-shirt that they gave out last year. Not that I even know what that means or you either but it is RED. No one's gonna miss me when we are on our walks!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Today Joan found another bite on me. I knew I had it but didn't complain. She was petting me and then she felt something and started digging through my fur. Sure enough, she felt the scab of where those d*** poodles bit me on my neck, below my ear. It's not too worrisome since it already has a scab, and Joan is making me take these big pills with peanut butter on them! Lucky for me, probably, my thick fur prevented further damage than a tooth scrape - but I bet Joan will take pictures and give it to that owner. I heard her talking on the phone to animal control asking them to put an addendum that I was bit twice on our report!

Other than that, she puts some goop on my big wound that smells. That makes me want to lick it. And sometimes I try and then Joan yells at me to not lick.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(Sorry I haven't gotten our trip photos up --soon!!). On Sunday, I woke up having to pee like crazy. Joan let me out and then we went on a walk. It was so weird. I felt like I had to go all the time, so I squatted about 20 times on our 1 mile loop. Then we went to my favorite place, the dog park, and there, I squatted about 60 times - seriously it was like every 10 seconds - 1 minute. I just really felt like I had to go but nothing would come out. Joan kept saying things like, "Bosco - again?", "What are you doing?" "There must be something wrong with you." That's not very nice.

In any case, this continued on the whole day - I had to keep asking Joan to let me out of the house so eventually she just left me outside. I managed to hold it overnight but we were up the next day and I had to go, go, go, go, go, go, go.... Joan left and a bit later, Alyssa (the daugher of Tim, my favorite guy and neighbor), came over and let me out in the yard. She's so sweet. She came over again later on and then, not long after, Joan came home. We went on another strange walk because everytime I squatted, Joan pushed a plastic container under me. She's weird.

BUT then we ended up at the VET! I don't like that place. There was a cat in a box there, and I was panting. Then there was another cat and weird smells. They made me get on this black pad and announced 48.5 lbs. Okay. Then we went into the room. The room with two doors, no windows, a bench (that I got up on), and a silvery high table/countertop (no food on it - nothing on it!). Despite this sparcity, you could HEAR a lot - too much. I heard people outside both doors and I would pace around the room. Then I'd jump on Joan's lap. Then I'd jump up on the bench. Then I'd jump down. Meanwhile, panting, dripping saliva, panting, shaking.

Then a woman came in. She picked me up and put me on the silvery table. She started feeling me everywhere which is like petting so it was okay - sort of - I still had my tail between my legs as I was a bit scared. She looked at my paws which I don't like especially because they are itching me like crazy. She put something in my butt (eeks!!) and then said 100.6 or something like that. Okay. Normal. Okay. All these numbers. She looked at my back paw and said that it was bad - because I have been licking it a lot. Then she left us in there. We were in there forever - like 40 minutes or more. More panting, pacing, jumping, licking, shaking, pacing, listening, whining. Finally, the woman returned and had a long discussion with Joan that pretty much said, they don't know what's wrong based on the examination of my urine that Joan collected on our walk. She gave us pills for my foot and we left (of course paid our big bill!).

I started to feel a bit better - not feeling like I had to go so much. The next day, Joan got a call and they said that I have what's called a "bladder infection" and that the pills I got for my foot will also fix my bladder. Yeah! That was the worst feeling because I know I'm not suppose to go in the house but then you feel like you have to go so you really have to distract yourself so that you don't think about it - especially when Joan is gone and I'm alone in the house.

All I know now is that I'm getting to eat a lot of peanut butter!!!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They are calling me "Misstick" and I'm getting tired of it. But I guess they are too. I'll tell you what happened.

American Dog Tick on the tile floor (hint hint)

So on Wednesday, Joan wanted to go on a hike - great! We went to El Chorro Regional Park near San Luis Obispo - it had an easy 3 mile trail for my people (Joan and her parents - Tom and Judy) and it also, bonus, had a dog park! So I ran around the dog park and went in the dog pools that were there (pretty tiny compared to my usual swimming hole, the Mississippi River!) and then we were ready for our hike. Joan and her mom chose this because it said it did not have poison oak - that dreaded plant. However, we started hiking and there was poison oak on either side of the trail so Joan kept me tight on the leash so we would stay on trail.

But then - Tom saw some ticks on her Judy's pants. Judy was the only one who wore pants. It wasn't so bad - they brushed them off. Well, we went up to a vista point and then continued on the trail loop but it had tall grasses. Joan pointed out the ticks on the ends of the grass just waiting for us! Then the trail got really narrow and had TONS of poison oak, so we turned around. Well, we got back to the car and Joan pulled two ticks off of my ear and head. We got back to the house and Joan made me go outside. She then took off my collar and started looking through my fur - super slowly. And then, every once in a while, she'd pull some of my fur out! I did not like that, but she kept doing it. One time Tom came out and asked Joan if she wanted an evening cocktail and Joan said something about needing a lot to drink after this was done. We were out there for at least an hour and half and Joan told her parents she removed and killed (smashed with a rock and then flushed down the toilet) 51 ticks. They are American dog ticks, as illustrated above. So that was 53 ticks with the ones at the car. You would think that would be all but NO. For the last two days, Joan has found more ticks on me and also many of them fall off me because Joan puts this funny stuff on my back every month that kills ticks. So we are easily up to over 100 ticks that have come off of me. They all stopped counting after they were in the 70s. Just right now, they came back from lunch and found 9 ticks on the floor. Joan has not let me sleep in her bedroom either, so I've had to sleep in the laundry room for the past two nights. Bummer for me. Here's a picture of me in my kitchen kingdom - can't go into that room with wood on the floor:

Here's a picture of us at the scene of the tick crime:

Tom started called me "Miss Tick" or misstick. When will I lose it? Probably never. Now, Joan isn't going to take me on any hikes that are in the grassy hills around here. She's sticking to sidewalks. Joan thought there were a lot of ticks in Minnesota, but this place has way more!

We did go on a short walk in a place called Shell Beach. It was so COOOOL. They had a drinking fountain for me! I loved it and drank a lot.

Here's a picture of Joan and me at this park - it is beautiful there (and no ticks!).

Joan and Judy left me yesterday with Tom while they went to a farmer's market in San Luis. Joan returned with this funny photo - if you know anything about CA, it is that it is smoke-free. No smoking anywhere, practically. And sure enough, you can't even smoke in the parking ramp!

All I have to close with is: Dogs - Don't go to El Chorro Regional Park unless you want to have hundreds of ticks on you!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Last week, Joan tricked me and had a party. I thought something was up because she put a cloth on the table and had flowers. Eileen came over and started putting red stuff in a big bowl and put it on the table. And then this huge cake - it smelled good and I wanted to eat it.

Then Eileen took me outside for a walk. We went down to the river near the dunes where Joan lets me off leash. Eileen did not let me off. It was raining, too, but I would have gone swimming anyway. When we got back to the house, there are a lot of people in the house! I was scared a bit. I poked my head out of the kitchen, while getting low to the ground, and saw Joan across the room. She was calling me, but I was really scared by all the legs that could potentially kick me or something. But I made it over to her, phew! After that, I relaxed a bit more. My favorite kid, Will, and his mom, Rachel, came by. Some of these people had their own dogs because I could smell them.

After the party, Joan and Eileen left. Then my ears started to get bad - at least one of them was itching me a ton. When they got home, Joan could smell that my ear was bad. But then she forgot to clean it! The next morning, I was flapping, flapping, flapping my ears constantly. I'm glad Joan started to fix them even though I don't like the wet stuff she puts in my ears nor the pink pill she puts in my food. The other day I licked the peanut butter off the pill and left the pill there. :-) My ears are feeling MUCH better now!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was sick this morning, like Joan was on Sunday. After the music and voices started coming out of the clock, I joined Joan on the bed. Joan was snoozing and then I stood up on the bed and was licking my lips. Now, Joan recognizes this as a sign. She says sometimes humans do that too when they are going to get sick - their mouth starts watering not to mention getting really hot.

But at this point, Joan did not realize what was about to happen. Then I jumped off the bed (later, Joan was happy about that) and then I went into the hallway and started vomiting on the carpet. This is one way to get Joan out of bed in a FLASH. She ran into the hall and started urging me to go downstairs. I followed her down but then got sick a bit more on the hardwood floor by the door and then she pushed me outside pronto. Wow, that was fast. While I was outside, she cleaned the floor and got the carpet wet. Then she let me back in, gave me some food, and then started spraying smelly stuff on the carpet. Meanwhile, I was not interested in my food. I just did not feel that great. Joan came over and handed me some of my food in her hand. I put it in my mouth and then dropped it on the floor. I licked the food a little more and then I started eating it. I could see Joan was happy I was eating.

We went on a nice walk along the river, longer than our normal morning walk. I think I just did not eat enough food last night or I digested it really fast. When my stomach is really empty, I sometimes get sick like this. Anyway, the day has become better since this morning.

ruff, ruff. ~Bosco

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can tell it is spring. Not because it is sunnier and warmer, but because my ears have started itching me a lot. I shake my ears back and forth and Joan then knows that I have brown gunk in my ears that needs to be cleaned out. I don't like having my ears cleaned but I let Joan do it because I know I'll feel better if she has. Sometimes it gets so bad that all my sensitive parts are hurting and itching - like my ears, my eyes, in between my toes, and my butt. That happened once and Joan took me to the vet, and he said "this is a classic case of allergies." So now, if it gets bad, Joan starts putting a pill in my breakfast. She thinks I don't know about it, but I see that it is a pink pill - I mean, it doesn't look like my brown food! But I'm cooperative and I eat it along with my food.

At some point, I gashed my leg. Joan saw it when she returned from her trip. It was only a small scab, but now I've been licking it a lot, so I think Joan is getting concerned. Last night she put some smelly goop on it and then tied a bandana around my leg - I think in desperate hope that I would not lick it. Of course, this morning I jumped up next to her on the bed and guess what, no bandana on my leg!

Yesterday, I got to play with my friend, Chloe, the yellow lab around the corner. She was out while her human was working on his fence and the kids were playing on bikes. I like Chloe a lot. Joan let me off leash and we ran around a bit in Chloe's yard. Chloe is younger than I am but I still like playing with her.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, as normal as I usually am. I think I'm almost over the horrific kennel experience. I was really exhausted and slept a lot - I even missed my "bug Joan for a walk" period between 3:30-5pm on Saturday because I was sleeping.

I've found a new place to sleep! On Joan's new leather chair! Right now it is really good because I can see out the window more easily - everything is smooshed together because that lit up tree is in the house still. So my access to the windows that face the street have been reduced. And I need to see what's going on outside. I don't know if Joan wants me on the leather chair so I only go on it when she leaves me in the house alone. The problem is I think she was on to me because she had a stack of clean clothes on one side of the chair and she came home and saw that the clothes were all over the chair and some even had fallen on the ground. OOPS.

Joan has been trying to cut my toenails recently, but I am on to her. After struggling with me for a long time, she gave up. But now I know what she does - she lets me fall asleep and then really quickly takes my paw and cuts one of my nails before I realize what she's doing. But now I'm on to her, so I'm not sleeping very soundly anymore.

On Sunday we went over to Boli, the cat's, house (Martha and Miguel live there too but they were not there.) We hung around and I kissed Boli on the nose a whole bunch. I like him a lot. Joan and I also went walking on the golf course and I played with another lab mix dog (black) for a while, and I ran around trees.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This morning Joan took me to the dog park where I can run around at my speed. Some woman complimented me, saying she liked my markings! Another woman thought I was a puppy. Ha ha. She was surprised to find out I was almost 5 years old. I am a puppy at heart, though.

I have to tell you something though. I found a dead fish that some dog must have dragged up into the forest from the Mississippi River. Joan was not nearby so I started rolling on it. What fun! Then Joan saw me and yelled at me to stop and go over to her. So I did. And she thought all was fine until we got back to the car and got in. After about 10 seconds, she told me that I stank. That's not very nice. She said I smelled like fish.

Then we got home and I knew something was up when I saw her get some towels and put them in the bathroom and then shampoo then my choke chain on me. I started to hide out. But Joan picked me up and took me into the bathroom. I knew it! She was going to give me a bath. I hate that. I got in the tub myself and I did not escape - I just let her wash me. FOREVER. She washed my neck twice where the fish smell was. And she still doesn't think it is gone but I think she was tired of being in the bathtub with me.

Was it worth it? Rolling on the fish for 5 seconds .... and a bath that takes 30 minutes plus drying off in the house when I'd rather be outside (except it's 30 degrees out - windchill- so Joan won't let me out because it is too cold for a wet dog). I'm really not sure.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night Joan put goopy stuff on me. She was petting me at the time, and I couldn't exactly figure out where she put it, but I could smell it. I was licking myself to try to figure out where it was. Finally, I found it - she put it under my eye. Well, I don't like it, so I very delicately (since my eye hurts a little bit) licked the fur on my leg and then passed my leg by my eye, catching a little bit of the goop. Then I'd lick my leg again and pass it by my eye again. Joan saw what I was doing, so then she rubbed off some of the goop so I did not ingest too much of it. I guess she learned that I don't like smelly goop on my body. AND that pretty much no matter where you put something on me, I'll find a way to rub or lick it off.

This morning, we went for a walk and near the garbage can on W. River Road, I smelled something in a plastic bag sitting next to the garbage can while Joan was throwing away my bathroom business. Joan looked and said, "What is that?" She didn't even want to look because it had fur on it. I saw it though, it was a dead cat. I'm not sure why it was in a plastic bag nor why it was next to the garbage can. I sniffed it a bit until Joan made me leave. If I die, I hope Joan doesn't leave me by the garbage can in a plastic bag (I know she wouldn't!!). On our walk some lady told me I was pretty. I always love that!!

~bosco

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Joan saw today that I kind of have what she calls a 'black eye' though you can't really see it that much since I have brown fur all over my body. She was petting me and first, noticed I had this black thing under my eye. She went and got a wet washcloth and started rubbing my eye to get it off. Then she realized it was dried blood -- then she saw that my eye lid bottom and surrounding area is very bruised. After washing it, she put some oily lotion stuff on it.

What she doesn't know is how I did this to myself. Though, I know. She and I have been running around the woods near her house - actually I'm running, she is walking. So I run like a wildwoman through the woods - and I probably hit a branch (like when I got my seroma ... but not that bad!!). The woods are beautiful right now with leaves all over the place. There are always people down there, too, but not too many. On Saturday we saw my kin- a brown lab that was 12 years old! She was cool. We also saw some tall poodles - they were stand-offish. Yesterday we a couple other dogs but I didn't attend to them very long because I wanted to run!

Last night my pad also was bugging me - I was licking it a lot and it was red in between my toes. She filled a bowl up with warm soapy water and then expected me to step into it. I was not super cooperative but she finally got my foot in there, and it actually didn't feel half bad. We stood there for a while and then she took my paw out and dried it off, but it smelled funny so I licked it a little and then did not need to anymore. It was nice to get what was bugging me off of my foot.

It's beautiful weather - I want Joan to come home so I can sit outside in the back overseeing my territory and soaking up the sun.

~Bosco

Posted by Joan Hughes at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I learned a new word today from Joan: parasite. She was petting me this morning and then the next thing I new, she had a metal device from the bathroom that she cleaned with alcohol and then she was parting my fur and yanking something out of me! Then the phone rang and I heard her talking to her friend, Becky, and said that she had just pulled out a tick - a parasite -from me. And she was grossed out!
She put the tick in a plastic bag, as she seems to "save" these things for future reference if needed if something happens. Then she called my vet and talked with them about the tick. She puts this wet stuff on my back every month that is supposed to make me not get ticks, so she was wondering how I got one. In any case, she then brushed me really good (I love that) and put more of that wet stuff on my back. She also tried to cut my toenails but I let her know that I was not happy with that today.
Later on today or tomorrow, I'll post more about the trip Joan and I took last week.

~Bosco

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Joan has been monopolizing the computer the last few weeks. She would go to work and then come home and work on the computer forever! She said she was doing something called a "grant". All I know is that she did not get a lot of sleep because I'd check on her and she'd still be working late in the night and up early, too. That's not the way I like to live. At least she was working at home because she would let me sit outside all evening as long as I wanted. I love it outside - just love it! I finally have a chance to get at the keyboard now that she's done.

We also got to go to the dog park on Saturday night, too. Finally. I haven't been there for 2 weeks I think. It was great because it was so hot out, and I like to swim in the Mississippi River. As is the usual, the park was different again. We haven't had any rain, so the river was really low and we could walk all along the river shore the whole way down the park. There weren't many visitors at the park on Saturday evening - probably because it was 100 degrees out - so the human people didn't want to be out.

On Sunday, Joan kind of slept late (8:30). In the meantime, my stomach was really empty so I had to throw up, but Joan did not hear me do it because the machine that I don't like that blows cool air into the room was on. I'm scared of it. Anyway, Joan found it, though, as she went to get my bowl because I threw up right there. Later, she stepped in another spot that she hadn't seen. Oops, sorry about that!

Hopefully now that the "grant" is done, I will be able to blog more often and hopefully Joan will take me on long walks again and start running with me since it has cooled down a bit.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I have been itching a lot lately. To combat this, I shake my head and my ears go flopping all over. I also lick my itchy areas, like between my toes and my butt. I also scratch my ears with my foot. And I rub my eyes on Joan or grass or with my leg. Joan has recently taken this head on and now we have our morning and evening rituals.

She gives me an antihistamine pill in the morning - she just throws it in my food and I eat it up with everything else. She also pulls my eyelids down and puts a dab of ointment into my eye and then closes my eye to get it to go on my eyeball. Then she pulls up my tail and sprays something on my butt! She also has to clean my ears every few days and she's brushing the heck out of me because I'm shedding a lot.

I am very patient with all of this (plus she gives me a treat afterwards), but it has really helped!!! I'm no longer licking my butt or my feet and my eyes are as goopy as before. She sure knows what she's doing!

Yesterday we went to dog park and I went crazy. I was fetching sticks out of the water like crazy. I loved it! However, the whole park was flooded in a way that made it only about half as big as usual because humans didn't want to cross the wet river area. Of course, I could have gone all the way down but no one would follow me. The rest of the day I sat in the backyard, watching for squirrels.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My ears are starting to bother me again. Last night I was shaking my head so much, and then I went upstairs and Joan said, "guess what we have to do?" I thought she meant go for a walk. But she meant go downstairs and clean my ears. I haven't even gone swimming yet, but these dangly ears I have trap moisture I guess any 'ol time.

Today I was nice to Joan because she came home sad. One of the older ladies she reads to passed away this week, and she just found out tonight. The woman was Joan's #1 fan and a delightful woman. Her name was Helen. Anyway, I can always tell when Joan is sad or upset, and I just am super nice to her. Sometimes I lick her if she's really upset because I don't like it. But usually, I just sit really nice in front of her to show her that I'm here for her, just like when she's here for me - like when she cleans my ears or gets sticks out of my mouth!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I probably should not even talk about this, but I see it everyday. I don't understand you humans go to the bathroom in a boxed in room with no view of anything but a wall. It is very strange when you consider the alternative. I mean! Joan and I get up and go for a walk. I tend to wait until I'm near the river and then I put my back to the street and look out at the Mississippi River. Now, how can you do better than that?! What a life I lead. I just shake my head at you humans.

I'm becoming very excited about the weather. Not that I don't like the snow, but I really love the sun more. I always seek out the sunny spots on the floor in the house to lay down in. I also am spending more time in the backyard and on walks with Joan.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today started for me (and Joan) at 3 AM when I woke her up because I kept shaking my head/flapping my ears/jingling my ID tags. See, I sauntered up to Joan's room, where I have a second bed, but my ears were bothering me so I kept shaking my head. This wakes Joan up. So at 3AM, we had a little one-on-one in the kitchen - and not the kind I wanted. I like it if she goes in the cabinet and gets me a bone or lets me outside. But instead, she started cleaning my ears. This consists of her squirting cold liquid from a bottle into my ear, massaging it around, and then cleaning my ear with a paper towel. As soon as I see that bottle, my tail goes down and I look at her with a sad look. So she cleaned my ears and then went back to bed. She also took off my collar so that my ID tags wouldn't jingle anymore even if I shook my head. In that case, all she hears are my ears flapping.

Since I made Joan get up at 3AM, I let her sleep in a bit. And I was sure rewarded. First, she fed me. Then, we went to the dog park where I got to fetch my purple bone toy over and over again. There were 2 dogs when I got there - a white one and a black one, and I liked both of them. Then later a lighter brown dog joined us and he wasn't so nice. I had to growl at him once, so then Joan and I just played fetch by ourselves, off to the side. Meanwhile the light brown dog got more aggressive with the other two dogs and eventually the white dog was on her back, submissive, and the brown dog kept going at her. Finally, the owner got a clue and left. Phew! I could relax after that. Though, I have to say that is exactly why I prefer to operate on the periphery of dog activity at the dog park.

Most of the rest of the day (besides my afternoon walk with Joan) was spent on the backstoop, sunning myself and overseeing my yard - making sure no squirrels came into it. Oh, and then Tim, the neighbor, saw that I was outside so he came over and had a few treats for me! He is so nice to me!

This evening I was sleeping on my bed while Joan folded laundry etc. All that overseeing the yard really tires me out!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't think I emphasized enough how much I hate getting my nails cut. I become a gymnast, contortionist, wiggly body, whiny dog, mean, growly dog - anything I can to avoid getting my nails cut. In fact, Joan did it again today and managed to cut 4 nails on my back foot but when she tried to do the other foot, I just tried my hardest to pull my foot away as I felt that metal cutter clink my toenail. She did one toe on the front and then gave up, and I had treats and a walk. Cool. I saw half of a dead squirrel on our walk. It was just the bottom half, including tail, left. Too bad for that guy. ha ha. ;-)
This morning Joan took me to the dog park. She was SOOOO slow walking. I guess the ground was pretty much a sheet of ice so she had to hold on to the fence and walk carefully. Why are humans so slow? I had no problem running around with or without ice. However, if Joan keeps cutting my toenails I might get to the point of not being able to grip like I like!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 07:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today much to my horror, Joan cut my toenails. They have gotten very long and I guess she felt the need to cut them. She always tries and manages to cut one toenail and then I freak out and start fidgeting and licking and just getting in the way preventing her from cutting any more nails. But today she surprised me with a new tactic....
First she brushed me - I love that! It is like a massage for people, I bet. Then, she brought several things over to the rug - the nail cutter, some treats, the leash (I got really excited when I saw that!), and another device I did not remember. So since she had been brushing me, she first put my collar back on - I was so excited because sometimes that means we are going to the dog park. But then, she put on the special device - called a muzzle! Geez - the last time I had this on was last summer when another dog I did not like very much came over to my house. She put that on and I was very sad. I just kind of stood there very disappointed in Joan. Then she put on the leash and then, egads, she bent over and started cutting my nails while stepping on the leash which prevented me from moving very much. Generally, it went okay - she managed to cut my front 8 nails and then she gave me 3 treats after taking off that horrible muzzle.

True to my generous spirit, I was not any worse for the wear. I ate my treats and was happy with Joan. Then she took me on a walk. She's been working with me to stop pulling and today I did a longer walk and was pretty good with not pulling. Of course, I still need the lure of food to keep me in check.

That's it from the city of Minneapolis for today. The only other thing is that I really wish all those homeowners would clear the ice off their sidewalks! Both Joan, and I keep slipping and it is no fun.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, Barry was right (see last entry's comment) - the sticks do make me throw up! Yesterday, I had the good fortune to go to the dog park again. I was suppose to go on Saturday but Joan was not feeling well enough then. [too bad for me.] In any case, I went down there and ran my legs off. It was all snowy and beautiful - but even though Joan tried to get me to not chew on sticks, I did it anyway a little bit.
Then, this morning Joan woke up to me vomiting again. And all that was there was sticks! So really, I should not chew those things up but I can't help it.
By the way, I was so exhausted after the dog park. It sure wears me out more to run through 8" or so of snow than when it is just dirt. When I got home at 5pm, I just napped all the way to bedtime.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday, I threw up all my breakfast at around 1 PM. Joan says she's lucky she had not left to do errands because it was kind of a big mess that she would not want sitting on the hardwood floor for too long. But the question is: why did I get sick in the middle of the day? I'm not altogether sure myself but I have some suspicions that reveal a bit more about me.

Hypothesis 1:
Sometimes my stomach gets upset when Joan leaves town or other things scare me. So my first hypothesis relates to a scare I had on Saturday night. I need to preface this with the fact that 2 weeks ago, Joan decided that I needed a bath. Though I love the river and lakes and swimming, I'm not a fan of baths, especially when they are in the bathtub versus outside. Somehow I knew what was coming. Joan brushed me and took off my collar. Then I saw her collecting various towels and my shampoo and then started putting a bit of water in the bathtub. THEN, she called me. I knew what was up - I'm no dummy! Since I did not have a collar, I was pretty good at slipping away from her. I ran upstairs and hid out on the landing. But then she went into the kitchen and she could have been going outside or getting me a snack so I ran down to see what was up. Ultimately, my desire for food landed me in the bathtub. She lured me into the bathroom, tail between my legs and my whole body shaking, and then picked me up and put me in the tub. So I got a bath. I was successful in escaping once and I shook my body so I got dog hair and water all over the bathroom. Here's a picture of me after the bath:

So back to this weekend --- on Saturday night, Joan turned on the bathtub and started filling it with water. I immediately started freaking out. I ran upstairs again and hid on the landing. Then I came down and I was shaking all over - I was really scared that she going to put me in that bathtub again! In the end, SHE (crazy woman) got into the bathtub!!! But it caused quite a scare for me and perhaps is why I got sick the next day.

Hypothesis 2:
On Sunday morning, Joan did not follow our usual routine. Instead of immediately satisfying my desire for a morning walk, she let me out to go to the bathroom and fed me but then she left and went swimming! So it could be that I was a bit discomforted by her break in our routine.

Hypothesis 3: After Joan returned home from swimming, she must have felt bad and took me to the dog park despite the subzero temperatures. While there, I was chewing up lots of sticks and getting into my usual mischief. So I could have eaten too many pieces of stick, as Joan noted that there were sticks in my vomit (I know this is gross).

So those are my hypotheses - what do you think? Why did I get sick? By the way, I'm totally fine now and haven't had any issues since then.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of my fine friends, Barry (he has posted comments on my blog), sent me an email suggesting that my owner, Joan, purchase this fine set of elevated dog bowls - see picture below.

Unfortunately for me, Joan recognized that such a fine bowl really is not the right thing for me since I am not very lady-like in my eating. She puts my bowl of food down and I literally inhale my food in about 10 seconds' time. Sometimes I eat so fast that I kind of snort while Joan yells at me to stop eating so fast. (I don't listen to her.) Then I think it is funny, after I'm done, to saunter over to Joan and then look at her, licking my chops, and then burp -- I just can't help it after eating so fast!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)