79,977 Views And Labrador Retrievers, One SAD Story

79,977 is what the counter down @ the bottom right hand side says.  I can't remember if I started out with zero or 50 or what but I didn't put the counter on right away so it's all legit.  Of course I want to thank everyone who follows and everyone who comments and those who just lurk. (I do one of these sappy posts if I happen to notice every 10,000 views, I check it hourly don't stress about it.  There are lots of lurkers.  In fact last time I looked there were only about 100 steady repeat visitors. (yes I know these things)  BUT that means I've warped the minds of about 78,877 people right?  Anyway thanks, I used to do these posts all the time then I tried to go to wordpress and was getting more traffic here without updating hardly at all so I will continue to have both blogs for the time being and as far as I know keep this one forever or until blogger decides it hates me.  The other one is animalsthatgivepause.com  and there are a few articles on it in September through December that aren't on here.  In case anyone cares.  Or has actually read this far.

Anyway as I said before Labrador Retrievers are the most popular dog in America.  I had a Golden Lab, Mugsey, I know most of you know that but there might be some whom I haven't bored to death yet new people here so hush.  Here is his page.

And now Voila, I the great and powerful OZ, time to take the meds again  will show you pets from petfinder and LINKS OMG real LINKS you can click on.  You won't want to be here in the morning so enjoy me now, I forgot to fill up my thermos cuz hubby was sick and I was worried about him.  Me without coffee = something between a cross sow bear waking from hibernation and a lion being teased.  Seriously now, look @ these pictures and try to resist?

 

This is Beyla a young golden lab by the looks of her.  She does look like a girly Mugsey.  BEAUTIFUL isn't she.  Let me tell you labradors will take a place in your heart.  Beyla is available for adoption and is in Ardmore OK.   There are almost 20,000 labrador retrievers for adoption on petfinder.  Almost enough to go around?

This is Marilyn, so named because of her beautiful eyes.  Like Marilyn Monroe ya know?  She is in Wolfe City TX.

 

This puppy is about 6 weeks old and is in New Jersey.  I don't know the whole story but there are 6 puppies, you can see the others in the background.  They are from Puerto Rico.  They are terrier lab mixes.  Someone blinded the mother on purpose and threw her on the street where she became pregnant with this litter.  A horrible story but hopefully one with a happier ending for the puppies.

 

Misty Colored Memories Of The Way We Were

I'm really good @ coming up with catchy titles that have no actual bearing on my subject matter in any truly constructive way? In other words people aren't going to be looking for memories on the search engines to come up with a video of a bichon and a lab playing but....that's the way I roll.


BTW, I don't normally say or even think that's the way I roll, it just came out. Maybe I'm ill? This is sort of a tribute to Mugsey, I was looking for pictures of Dispatch and came across these. Sorry they are long.. enjoy.

Oh and I know I'm not supposed to let the bichon latch onto my arm growling but it's soooo much fun and I doubt he turns into killer dog but you never know. Plus he has been fixed and he has to get his jollies where he can.... don't cha think? My brother says the bichon thinks he's like dominating me and preparing to hump when he grabs me like that...I think bro is just trying to gross me out? Bro would love nothing better than to gross me out horribly. He will be 70 soon (he's old enough to be my dad) and he will NEVER GROW UP!! Maybe I should tell him he HAS to get a computer so he can see what nasty things I'm writing about him?

Animal News for October 1, 2009

You know you have to go to my new improved wonderful stupendous blog here to read these stories don't you? it's not here, you have to click on the link above to go there. If you don't know it yet I have a bunch of animal stories about a lost dog, a yorkie and a thief, my lab/golden retriever, my bichon frise, my daughters yorkie poo and a cat emancipator. Oh yeah the Gosselins and a woman eating goldfish and the dog flu too.
So go to my new blog PLEEAZE? I mean I've had like 1500 visitors a day here when I blogged about Obama's choice of a Labradoodle or a Portugese Water Dog. So how many do I get on my new blog like 6, a day. I'm not complaining or anything (yes I am WHINE WHINE) but I would really like to make a go of my new blog since I own it? So if you want these stories or are the tiniest bit curious go HERE.
Or if you want to read about my probably wrong opinions or my boring life you can go visit Tresa's Blog.
Right now I have to go pick up my medicine which I ordered @ a pharmacy that didn't take my insurance (duhhh) so I had to have it transferred, grocery shop and fix supper for the guys which I enjoy believe it or not! The cooking thing, not picking up medicine.

Mugsey My Golden Labrador Update

I was with Mugsey this morning @ 10:15 when he was put to sleep. He was worse. I asked the vet about other treatments but he said there was no hope, if it was his dog he would have him put to sleep. The vet had taken Mugsey to his HOUSE to put him in the hot tub twice because he thought that might do some good and would help him be more comfortable @ least. The vet shed a tear too. He said a cart was an option but I knew Mugsey wouldn't be happy and he was incontinent and just miserable.
Mugsey was fine, not scared, the medication made him shakey. He wasn't as good though as when I took him in. You never realize how much of your life is tied up in an animal till you lose them. I complained about him flopping over and hitting the box springs on the bed from the floor every night and jarring me awake. I would love to feel that again. I petted him for like 20 minutes before the vet got there and every time I would stand up from crouching down he would try to stand up to go with me. That was the worst I think.

I am fine. I've talked to my husband several times today. We are getting Mugsey's ashes back and scattering them over the farm where he loved to run (husband insisted even though it costs more and husband is shall we say thrifty). I hugged the vet and I am NOT a hugger. The vet tried to give me a beagle that was throwing a fit because she didn't like being cooped up and tried to give me a white lab that someone had dumped by his house pregnant last winter. My husband said he wants a puppy IF we get another dog soon. I can't hardly bear the thought but I know there are 1000's of puppies that need homes.

I'll never forget when we got Mugsey I was delivering lunch to the crew when they were cleaning up after Katrina. My stepson said what about the yellow puppy when I got there, I said what yellow puppy, I saw him and that's all she wrote, my husband fell in love instantly too, he's the one that suggested I look @ him to his son. Mugsey turned into a sweet lovable clown that got in trouble quite frequently but we learned to adapt. When he wasn't doing his jumping running dance of joy around the car when I got home I thought something was wrong. I wish I'd petted him more and given him more treats. I got a garbage bag out and saw a cabinet with big dog treats in it and no big dog.

I think I feel guilty because I didn't always put Mugsey first after he was grown, but he liked to be outside and he came in when we were home, he would get in trouble for chasing cats and dragging things in the yard, his pile of treasures just disappeared recently, rocks, sticks, bones, and empty plastic bottles. He was my husbands dog too but he only had him overnight by himself once, he's been with me the rest of the time. I feel bad too because it was my husbands dog (supposedly) and my dog (Dispatch) is fat sassy and healthy. I've got more pictures of Mugsey than any other dog besides Dispatch and I've had 3 times as long to take pictures of Dispatch. I've cried more for Mugsey than I ever have any other dog too (and most people who have died), but usually if they are killed or die it's quick. I feel bad because I didn't buy him more stuffed animals to destroy, he loved nothing better than to chew a hole in a stuffed animal and start pulling stuffing out, would keep him occupied for hours.

I must get to other things, I've been trying to work and cut back on bad habits and loafing (reading and napping), I need to make today go by fast.

My Labrador Mugsey

It has been over a month since I blogged @ all. I did comment on a few blogs but I've been busy to say the least and decided to give myself a little vacation. The last few days I didn't think I could write on here without breaking down again but I'm alone now and can wade through it. My birthday, my grandsons birthday, and his sisters birthday are all 3 days right in a row. We were celebrating them last Friday night @ my daughters house with lasagna and 3 kinds of birthday cake. My other daughter was here with her new puppy a yorkie/poo. I put Mugsey my golden lab outside when we left to go celebrate, he likes the air conditioning but he likes being outside playing too, I did consider leaving him inside with Dispatch but with the new puppy in the bedroom thought it might be too much, I really wish I'd left him in now. I know you know what's coming and I sound like I'm making an excuse but I've only seen him in the highway once and that was 2 years ago crossing to go see the neighbor dogs, he's never gotten even close since then to my knowledge. The highway is like 100 yards from our house, we have no fences and I've never seen Mugsey anywhere on the farm except @ the two houses and ponds when we go.

We got home Friday night and no Mugsey, he's sometimes down @ my cousins house in THEIR air conditioning or just being spoiled down there so I didn't think much of it. We watched a movie the kids had gotten for their birthday and I went to bed, still no Mugsey, I called and called and walked around the house, found a missing kitty but no dog. I laid down but couldn't sleep so two grandsons and I went driving and walking for awhile till after midnight. My cousins dog was outside so I knew Mugsey wasn't in there. Not much we could do till morning.

I got up before kids who were sleeping on the floor in the family room and my daughter was with me, Mugsey was outside by the car door and she was laughing @ him because we had been SO worried. He sat up but never got up. I have NO idea where he was or how he got to the house but her little dog seemed to have trailed him down the driveway later that day. I think he was in a fairly deep ditch right across from our driveway, we looked further on down the ditch but not in the very bottom of that one. I also think a delivery vehicle hit him in our driveway and drug him over there but I could be wrong, the vet assistant said he had been hit on a gravel road and our driveway is gravel. It makes no difference, he was rolled under a vehicle and the vet said it's a miracle he's in as good as he is and he made it back home in pain which breaks my heart because I didn't find him that night.

I fell apart, I admit it, this is my husbands dog but he's mine too. He's ate more lawn fixtures than you can count and insists the pump is NOT going to stay in the yard pond but he is only 2 years old. I called the vet and then called the emergency number, the vet said bring him over and we have normal office hours today, I'd forgotten and called the emergency number. We got him in the car, he didn't seem to be in any pain, just couldn't walk. We never thought about him biting because he was hurt which seems stupid now but we just got him on a blanket and slid him in the back seat. My grandson went with me, my daughter was going to go but I was able to drive and the two little kids were still there.

We got to the vets and it probably took an hour before they came and got him out of the car, they did come and look @ him and see he was fine, not in shock and not writhing in pain, just tired and not walking. We waited, I tried not to cry, I NEVER go anywhere without a little eye makeup on but I knew it was pointless to even try to put it on till yesterday. The vet assistant finally came out and told us they thought his hip bone had sort of separated, not fully but they thought that was causing him pain and not to walk and we could go home and he would be fine soon. They would do further x-rays and call if they found anything else but he needed to be @ the vets over the weekend.

I know this is long but it's how I tell a story. My husband was fine, called several times though. It really helped having the kids @ the house (the picture above is a wienie roast about a month ago, notice Mugsey right in the middle) but then there was other things happening which just added to the bad things, lets just say it wasn't a good birthday weekend. The vet called later in the day, I didn't think he would call so late and I'd convinced myself he wasn't going to call with bad news. Mugsey had twisted his spine and that's why he couldn't walk, they weren't even sure the hip was separated. NOTHING was broken. His spinal cord is intact, the vertebrae show they slipped around a bit and it was swelling there. Thus he couldn't walk. The vet said prednisone and rest till Monday and we would see. If it continues to swell where his spine was twisted it will eventually paralyze him is my understanding.

Monday the swelling hadn't gone down and had gotten a little worse, his spinal cord is still fine, he has reflexes and wags his tail but just can't use his hind legs. The vet said give him a couple more days, he's doesn't seem to be in pain and it will either get better or worse and we might try acupuncture, surgery is possible but not a good alternative or really an alternative, he would probably still be crippled. So we are waiting for Thursday, the vet was supposed to call the accupuncturist to see if she thought she could help. He is too big a dog for me to carry all the time, he has to be able to walk and run or he won't be happy.

Why did I choose to write this now? I called the veterinary clinic while ago when it started thundering to tell them Mugsey is afraid of storms and they needed to go reassure him and tell him it was a party, he is better if you do that, I was having him chase balls and saying it was party time when it thundered, Victoria Stilwell is right it does get their mind off of the storm and makes it a happy time instead of stressful. BTW while we were in Louisiana the dogs and I were addicted to animal planet. I took Mugsey for walks around the RV park so many times I got the beginning of shin splints.

I have gotten almost all the way through this without crying but a few times. I need to be able to talk about this without breaking down in public which is quite embarrassing and isn't doing the dog any good. I never realized how fond of Mugsey I was, I was always griping about him but I was the one who raised him and took care of him and gave him baths (most of them, my daughter gave him the last one). Dispatch is OK, the other puppy was here and distracted him from missing Mugsey since the puppies favorite pastime was trying to hang off of Dispatches ears by his teeth, kept him distracted. He does seem to be looking for Mugsey when we go outside though and he knows when mama is upset and follows me like velcro.

I have no great moral out of this experience other than to hug your pet, toss a ball for your dog tonight or give it an extra pat on the head. And hope for good news Thursday. This is a picture of him in Louisiana @ the RV park. Sorry it's so blurry but another phone picture. He had FINALLY learned when we stopped on a trip and got out and I said go potty he was supposed to.... well go potty.