Bosco Dog Blog

I got my cone off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, Joan took my cone off and not only that, she took me for at least a 4 mile run where I got to go swimming. I cannot tell you how HAPPY I WAS!!!!!!!!

Then we got back home and she decided to put me out front and wash me. I didn't like that too much, but she really massaged my neck and back and ears, so that was nice. Now I smell clean and she didn't put my collar back on the entire night. I was free, free, free, free!

My nose is looking great and so far, I'm not scratching or rubbing it. If I keep that up, I think i'm done with that cone. FOREVER I hope.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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)

Well, all those threats have come to pass. Yesterday, Joan got a phone call and the next thing I knew we were in the car. Dog park? No. Vet? Yes. She opened the door at the vet (I know where we are when we are there, now), and I didn't immediately get out. I thought I'd just stay in the car for a change. Joan had to call me out. Geez. Didn't work. I started shaking and did not want to go in. Worse, when we went in, the guy tried to put this e-collar on me (elizabethan collar, thus, my regalness). Instead, Joan took the collar and some new medicine and we got back in the car. I was thinking, okay so maybe I won't have to wear that.

And I didn't for a while. Joan left the house for several hours and, however, when she returned she put the e-collar on me! It is ghastly. It is hard and when I knock into things, it makes a loud noise that I do not like. Plus, I can't see anything. I have to turn my head all the way around all the time to what's going on.

But it was kinda late and we needed to go to bed.

Joan let me sleep on her bed, though, which was very thoughtful of her. I was knocking into the walls and doors, so she helped me up on the bed cuz she (and I) thought I might catch the collar on the bedcovers and knock myself back down. I was panting a lot cuz this thing is WEIRD and STRANGE. I moved around a lot on the bed the whole night, which I don't think made Joan all that happy but I had to get comfortable. I did manage to sleep a bit and wasn't too ornery to Joan except that she had to sleep around me.

I guess this all happened cuz I would use my paws to rub my nose/snout and then the scabs would come off and bleed and essentially not it heal. Plus, the vet gave Joan a spray to put on my nose, too, and it will only help if it doesn't get rubbed off!

This morning, I wouldn't go to the bathroom outside and just stood around even though Joan went out there with me and told me to go. And then she gave me my breakfast but I didn't want to eat that either cuz the collar would bump the floor or something else. So, Joan took off my collar and I ate my food quickly, shook my ear a lot (she cleaned my ear too), and then we went for a long walk sans collar (yeah!!!! jump for joy!!!!) though I could tell she wasn't gonna let me roll around in the grass or do anything else with my nose except sniff.

Now, I'm back home and the collar is back on again. However, I'm proud to say that I'm gonna master this thing. I already learned how to walk through the house without bumping the doors, even when I'm walking right beside Joan. And I learned how to walk down the porch steps without bumping it. And I'm enjoying the sun and yard again - though not exactly super relaxed.

But of course, this thing isn't gonna kill me and who knows, maybe my nose infection would! So we gotta get rid of it and soon!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

First, I want to tell you how the sun down here made me get sunburned. I'm sure all my Minnesota friends are gonna laugh at that cuz it is pretty funny that a dog can get sunburned but it happened. Look at these pictures and you'll see the bridge of my nose is sunburned! There are also some pictures of what Joan thinks is cactus spear inflammation under my chin. (TEXAS!)

Well, Joan just returned late last night. She was gone (AGAIN) for a couple days - she said she went to the Big Apple which sounds like a great place to me, cuz I love apples. YUM YUM. But she said, NO, I would not like the Big Apple, just like I would not like that place, Vegas. At least Joan returned happier than from Vegas. She actually likes the Big Apple. I'm telling her, I really think I'd like the Big Apple. Anything edible and big sounds good to me!

It is getting warmer here which makes our afternoon walks a bit tougher. I pant more. But heck, I don't care - it is still lovely.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 6:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

At Heidi's house they have a big pool in the back. So far, I didn't go in it. But then all the humans went into the small pool that has lots of water blowing in it and it is really loud. As much as I'd like to go in there, I decided I'd try the pool, so I stepped down on the first step into the pool. Oh, the water felt great! I didn't want to go any further, so I decided to just sit and roll around on the first step to get all nice and wet. I mean, the humans were all wet, so couldn't I do it, too?

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yep, I ate the easter bunny ... or at least a descendant, perhaps. I didn't really EAT him but I KILLED him, or at least that is what I was accused of over at Heidi's house. Here was the explanation to Joan:

"We found a dead bunny in the back. Bosco and Kona had definitely been chasing the bunnies around. We found the bunny dead; I'm sure it was one of the dogs and it wasn't Kona...."

So you are left with this riddle ... who did it?

NOT ME!

;-)

Renata, the mom, gave me pets and said I was a good dog, though. She said her plants thanked me! WOWO, good dog.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, Joan did it again ... she left. Well, I did not actually see her leave but she packed ME up and drove me to Heidi's house a while back. She said she was going to Vegas and Minnesota again for work stuff. I know what Minnesota is but I don't know Vegas. Joan tells me now that I would HATE Vegas with a passion. In any case, Joan dropped me off a while back - I was fine oh fine with it. I like Kona, the beagle, and of course I like Heidi, my caretaker. (She lets me sleep on her bed ... I heard her tell Joan that they don't really need her to bring my bed over! Ha!)

Well I got into some trouble over at Heidi's house ... I'll tell you a bit about it. Here's the first story ...

Heidi would let Kona and me out the back gate into the greenbelt. There's a trail back there but we didn't walk anywhere but would sniff around and just explore a bit. Well, we sniffed out some mice. We were following them as they ran back to their "house." I went full tilt after them. I discovered they lived in a very thorny house which humans call a "cactus." It ends up I had lots of thorns in my face and around my snout. I didn't cry or anything but I did squirm around when the humans tried to take the thorns out of me.

Joan has found a few more thorns in me - one on my tummy and at least one near my ear. She hasn't yet been able to get me to cooperate for removal. They don't bother me, so I hope she forgets about it and just lets them fall out naturally.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last weekend, Joan and I stayed over at her sister's house with the kids plus, Brandy the dog. Bella dog was at a kennel because I guess Joan says she won't take care of the kids if I don't get to come along - and we know that Bella and I do not get along so that's the deal. I LOVE Brandy - we had a fantastic time together. It is great to have a cousin like her - she's so easy going. On Saturday, all the kids were off doing their own things, so Joan sat by the pool in a lounge chair reading, while Brandy and I patrolled the yard. It was sunny and warm and we also laid in the sun.

The next morning, Joan took me on her Sunday run. This turned out to be a 5.5 mile run so after I pulled, trying to go fast at the beginning, later I found out I should have taken it easy. But overall, Joan said I did a great job, especially because I did not stop to pee or smell or poop, which might have bothered the other runners.

On the way back, though we stopped at this house and Joan made me get in the front seat which is kind of weird, and she put the backseat down, and then this big wooden chair was in the car and we drove home with it. Joan put it in the backyard and then she left and came back with another one. She says it was a good deal because it was only $10 and she really wanted a chair like this. Well, she put my bed on one of the chairs and look what I get: bonus!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night Joan forgot to feed me. Well, she did feed me a little bit but only gave me a bit because I think it was not dinner time. But since I had convinced her, through bumping and nudging, to take me for an early walk, when we got back it was not dinner time, but I still wanted dinner. So she gave me about 1/2 of my dinner. But then she FORGOT to give me the rest ... I kept trying to remind her, nudge her, lick her, look cute, rest my head on her lap, jump up on her lap, lay at her feet .... nothing reminded her and I went hungry but with some pets and outside time (she interpreted my moves all wrong!). It was not until this morning, when she finally remembered she didn't feed me all my dinner. Duh! So I got a big breakfast. And then we went on a run that included going off-leash at the dog park nearby ... that is one of my favorite running routes. I also like the one down by the creek where I can also go off-leash but also jump and play in the creek.

On another topic: SQUIRRELS. Well, it took those damn MN squirrels about 3 months to find me down here, but I think the residents of our old house have found us and moved into the trees here in Texas. Not all of them though. In MN, we had easily 10 squirrels at any one time in the backyard. Here there are only about 3-4, SO FAR. Maybe some perished on their trek down I-35. Today I have had to be outside all the time to police these creatures. They are really bugging me. I have to bark at them, run after them, jump up 6 feet into the trees to try to get them, bark again, jump up on the garage, run around in circles, bark, sit on the deck with a watchful eye, locate another one, crouch down and get tense, then run and bark, and jump. I think you get the idea.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday Joan took on some bugs in the backyard. Or they took her on...

First, she went outside to pick up these hard things that fall from the tree - she calls them pecans. While she was doing that, the mosquitoes swarmed her and bit her. She put spray on herself but she didn't do her arms ... she put that spray on me when we were in the mountains of Montana last year - I was sure happy to have it then. (off topic)

Anyway, there was a spider that made a web in front of our kitchen window. Joan saw that it caught a cricket - probably the same cricket that has tried to get in our house several times --- they all want to get in: mosquitoes, crickets, moths, caterpillars, spiders, salamanders -- don't they realize, this is my house - not theirs! No other pets besides me! Well, Joan took a shower and returned to see that the spider had eaten the whole cricket. She tried to take a picture and the, surprise, surprise, mosquitoes started attacking her again and she was hopping around like a crazy girl and she finally got this picture of the spider but at this point it had moved up to the roofline of the house. Not the greatest picture, I'd say.

As of today, Tuesday, the spider had only moved an inch to hide under a leaf. He can stay up there forever just don't come down and try to get into the house with the cricket, salamander, mosquitoes, caterpillars, or moths!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I wanted to go inside but Joan was outside so I followed her out. But I kept getting bitten by these mosquitos. Joan finally noticed, and we went inside and she finished eating her dinner in the cool house and I was protected! It reminded me of the time I went on a backpacking trip (yes, I even wore a backpack) with Joan and one morning after leaving the tent to go to the bathroom, I stood at the door of the tent to go back inside. Luckily, Joan let me! In that case, it was something called "black flies" but I also got bitten by horseflies then too, on my tummy!

You can kinda see the puffy bumps around my eyes.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Man, oh man, I saw one - actually many - of these things that are called frogs (the thing that jumped on Joan's lap the other day) up close! They are all over our yard. Last night while Joan was relaxing on the deck (actually I don't know if she was relaxing with all the mosquitos around but ... she also made her dinner on the grill) anyway, I saw a movement and ran over to investigate and it was a frog. A BIG FROG, Joan says. As big as the one on her lap. Geez. They are funny looking. I don't really perceive them to be baaaaadddddd like the squirrels in my old backyard but they are just interesting. They have funny skin and no fur, like me. And they jump. That's freaky. Anyway, I better just get used to them because we seem to have a lot of them in our backyard. At least they are not in the house. It is a frog-free zone. At least that's the way I'd like to keep - Joan better be careful before she brings any plants into the house. Frogs seem to catch a ride in them.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, I did it. I got Joan reaaallllly mad. It all started 2 days ago when I was simply hanging out in the backyard, checking out my territory when a squirrel invaded it. The squirrel likes to run along the side of the garage (Joan says it is made out of stucco so that might help you imagine how the squirrel stays on). In any case, I couldn't just let that go. So I ran out and started tracking the squirrel who just kept running back and forth along the garage. The problem (for Joan) is that as I track and jump at this squirrel I am running through the garden beds. So there was some damage and casualties after Joan came out and grabbed me and made me go inside.

1 giant hosta - lost about 1/2 its leaves and the others are hanging on by a thread.
1 smaller hosta - lost only a few leaves.

Joan was MMMMAAAAADDDDD. Especially because she says people come by to look at our house to live in and they might not like to see the damaged hosta. (Oh well, I say, would they rather have that squirrel think he owns the yard????)

Yesterday, Martha was over and she looked at the damaged hosta and told me I was a "good bad dog." She told me one more time and it might be "hosta la vista" for me. Martha - what is she saying? I don't know. Joan laughed at that and agreed.

So this morning Joan let me out and I was surveying the yard when the squirrel repeated the same trick. Joan was inside so I ran after the squirrel and was jumping, jumping, running, pivoting, running, jumping until the next thing I know Joan is outside in her bare feet yelling and screaming at me. Lucky for me, I had no collar on since Joan had given me a good brush, so I could easily slip by her. She really thinks she can catch me when there is such an important task at hand?! Really. I just kept running and jumping and trampling until all of a sudden Joan had me by the back of my neck. Wosh. That calmed me down. I guess she IS in charge. I immediately sat down.

Then she walked me inside. She went back out to survey the damage:

1 giant hosta - decapitated.
1 smaller hosta - 1/3 of its leaves gone.
1 plant just emerging - trampled.

Boy, was I in trouble. I might find out what "hosta la vista" really means. But instead, we went on a walk. Joan IS really cool and forgiving!

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

Well this morning, I did it. I jumped over the fence. Joan didn't see me do it because she was in the basement getting me my breakfast. But unfortunately for me (I don't always anticipate the future very well), Joan came up the stairs and saw me while I was roaming around the fenced off area! Oops. She came out and talked sternly to me. It was funny - she thinks she is so important. So I came back out of the disallowed area, but I decided to not jump over the fence on the way back and I worked my way around and through the raspberry bushes and there was a little slit I could slip through and get back to the back door. Joan was disapproving but she didn't actually seem all that mad or anything. She just tries.

It's getting really nice here, and I love to sit in the sun. Since Joan cut off the yard from me, she put out a mat for me to lay on in the backyard because the brick patio is a bit hard. She's always looking out for me!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Joan left me last week. I can't believe she does that. Somehow she packed up her box on wheels and hid it outside without me seeing. BUT I saw it when the strange car drove up and took her away. I watched her wheel that thing out to the car. Then I knew she'd be gone. But for how long???
Everyday, I wonder, is that Joan? wag, wag, wag.
NO.
Is that Joan? wag, wag, wag.
NO.

Lucky for me, my friend, Izzy, came to take care of me. She'd come over and watch Disney Channel on that big black TV while I wagged, wagged, wagged and got pet, pet, pet.

Then one day, I heard a car and wondered, is it Joan? wag, wag, wag. YES!!!! I heard the key in the door and I jumped against the door closing it on Joan. When she finally got it open, I gave her lots of kisses and body wiggles. She tells me she was only gone for 4 days but it seemed like 40 to me!

The bad news is that this weekend, Joan put up a fence that now pretty much blocks off my entire yard from me! She was on her hands and knees digging up the dirt and throwing these little seeds all over and then spraying it was water from the long snake (I stayed away from that.) She keeps watering it every morning and I'm still not allowed to go over there even if there is a squirrel or bunny rabbit or other intruder on the other side. Now, I could easily jump over this plastic fence but I'm humoring Joan. UNTIL I DECIDE NOT TO. I'm sure there will be a day where I will HAVE to jump over the fence. She seems to blame me for the need for the fence. Something about mud and no grass because of me running around in the winter. Whatever. Squirrels just need to be chased. No arguments.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The bunny is back. The bunny is actually around all the time but in the summer, it lives in the front yard and snuggles under a bush in the front yard. I only sometimes get to go near it or near its bed when Joan takes me around that way - it doesn't happen much because I'm on leash.

However, in the winter the bunny lives in our backyard and Tim's backyard. I sometimes see it late at night when Joan lets me out to go to the bathroom. Sometimes it is sitting near Tim's truck (maybe because it is warm) and I bark really loudly at it and jump or prance around. I've got to let it know who is boss back here!!! (I'm boss, of course.)

The other night it was near our garage so I ran after it and I went alongside the garage which is a NO-DOG zone. OOPS! A couple years back Joan trained me (through shocking me-I hated that and so did she - she almost cried). In any case, I don't wear that collar anymore because I've learned to not go over that way and I don't jump the fence anymore. BUT I ran after the bunny and then Joan came out, but I already knew I had done wrong. I turned around and rounded the garage corner and stopped and looked to see if Joan noticed. YEP, she was there about to yell at me to come back!

The other thing that I have to share (though Joan doesn't really want me to share this) is that the bunny leaves me treats -- bunny poop! The other day Joan found out. It had snowed and Joan was back there picking up my poop and then she saw it - tons of bunny poop (it is really small but lots of it) all in the backyard and in the raspberry bushes - that's why I go in there, too, but Joan told me to stop that too. In any case, Joan spent some time picking up all the bunny poop that day so I couldn't eat it. I wonder if she'll do that everyday?

I heard her talking to her sister on the phone. And she said something about the vet and then doing a test for parasites .... hmmm.... I know that those nasty ticks I get are parasites, but I think this has something to do with the bunny poop but I don't know what yet.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay this morning the squirrels were really bothering me. They were taunting me to the max. I was crouched on the patio while this one squirrel just kept screeching at me and then he got lower and lower on the tree and then onto the ground until I couldn't stand it anymore and I had to run after him and he went back up the tree. Joan got this on tape - you can listen to the squirrel for nearly 2 minutes. Unfortunately, I am a stealth hunter so I did not make a ton of noise or anything when I went after the squirrel. But you'll hear towards the end of the sound file - you can hear me run towards the tree, you can hear my paws on the side of the tree as I jumped on it, and you can hear me huff and puff - and of course the squirrel going kinda crazy.

Listen to the Squirrel

Then Joan came out and expected me to go inside because she needed to leave. What the heck? I'm in the heat of the hunt and she expects me to 'go to the bathroom' and retreat into the house? I just ignored her and kept my stare up at the offending squirrel. She kinda got insistent though so I went inside - not without one more look up at the oak tree to dominate that rodent.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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)

Dirt is really cool. And I'm not talking about in style kind of cool but more like temperature cool. It has been very hot here and Joan was outside this morning picking those red berries off the bushes. Meanwhile I decided to dig up this one spot a bit and sit in the cool dirt. This is the spot that no grass grows because I run through it so fast and at an angle that I dig up the grass. That is when I see a squirrel outside and then Joan lets me out. I run down the stairs and pivot turn right on this grass area (now dirt) and then head off toward the oak tree where those squirrels usually hang out.

Now I'm inside with the loud machine that blows cool air into the house. I don't really love it because it makes noise but I don't hate it either.

Yesterday, Joan and I went to the dog park. There weren't that many people there because it was really hot. But I wasn't that hot because I immediately soaked in the MIssissippi River. After that, we drove a different way and ended up at the airport and then I saw Eileen, Joan's sister. I got really excited!!! I had to give her several kisses when she got in the car. I also licked her arm several times. She wasn't super into it so I settled down. Then, we went into her apartment and I could smell CATS. But I couldn't SEE any cats. I really wanted to make friends with them but I guess they don't want to be my friend.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love the summer. This weekend, unlike last weekend, was summer sunny the whole time. And I got to spend most of it sitting in the backyard watching my territory. Joan did take me to my dog park on Saturday where I went swimming - but the park was flooded again and we couldn't go as far as we usually do. On Sunday, she took me down to the dunes by my house - two men were there with their boat and they had a plate of food so I was very interested in them! Joan tried to keep me from bothering them, but they didn't mind me checking them out. I went in the river down there, too. I just plop in and sit until I feel the urge to run some more. Joan also planted plants in the front and back so I got to watch her do that while overseeing the yard. No squirrels allowed - or cats! The black and white cat came a little too near to the yard and I went crazy barking. (The funny thing is that I like cats when they are in houses but not when they are outside and near my yard.)
This morning Joan and I went on a run which was fabulous, and then she was working on the computer while I again, sat outside in the yard - heaven! UNTIL she rode her bike to work and left me inside. I watched her ride by the front of the house. While she was gone, some woman came up to the door to pick up some things Joan put on the stoop (I barked at her) and the man who drops paper in the metal box outside the door came by, too. I don't bark at him.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I forgot to post these pictures I had Joan take of me last week. When she returned from her trip to Guatemala, she found out that it had snowed her A LOT. Like 20" while she was gone. The next morning she knocked down some ice and gave me a new toy...see the pictures below:

and also...

Not only did I like this as a toy but I also liked to chew on it and even melt it a bit and swallow the water. Sometimes I also eat snow if I'm thirsty and there's no water around. By Tuesday morning, though, my ice toy had pretty much melted. Too bad.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)