New Life

There’s a wren nest in the back corner of my deck, just under the roof, that’s been used every spring for the last four years. This time, though, I was actually able to snag a few pictures. I had to break out the telephoto lens and stand in a somewhat contorted position to get them, but that’s okay.

Here’s Mom (or Dad) with part of dinner. If you look closely, you can see the babies in the nest. They blend very well.


I realize the bird’s butt isn’t the most attractive thing to see, but the focus of this picture is the four open mouths in the background. For such little things, they sure are loud.


For some strange reason, Duncan has decided that he just has to chase Mom and Dad every time they fly out of the nest. He looks so pleased with himself, I don’t have the heart to fuss at him. And the wrens are more than capable of confusing him. The other day, he was chasing one of them and it flew into the open space on the propane tank, under the lid. Duncan must have looked for that bird for five minutes, never realizing it flew out the other side. Duncan’s even started standing watch on the deck, sitting under the nest and just waiting for someone to fly out. I’ve never seen him this focused on anything before.

Countdown

Did you see the fancy countdown timer over on the side of the screen? Isn’t it handy? Now I don’t have to try and figure out how many days there are until the surgery, I can just open the blog and look. One less thing to stress my poor, over-taxed brain.

At Least That’s Over

Mary took me shopping Saturday to get the last few things I need for Reyna’s recovery period – blankets and sheets for her crate so she’s comfy, and rugs for the floor so she doesn’t slip. And by “took me shopping,” I mean Mary went with me to ensure that I didn’t just give up after the first store. Which I probably would have done. Well, maybe after the second store. First stop was the Goodwill on 64, where I found a comforter, a couple of sheets, and a spread to protect the floor from the dog crate. Then on to PetSmart to buy kongs and kibble (on sale!), and then to Big Lots for rugs. Unfortunately, that Big Lots didn’t have any decent rugs for reasonable prices (considering my particular needs, of course). So, off we went to the Big Lots on Glenwood, where we spent a considerable amount of time looking at the various rugs and trying to figure out how many and what sizes I’d need. Thankfully, I had the living room and kitchen measurements with me. And I kept my receipt, so if it turns out I bought too many, I can return them. Then it was off to lunch, BJs, and the other Goodwill near my place. I found a couple more comforters and sheets for Reyna’s crate, so she should be set. And if she has an accident, I won’t feel bad about throwing a $3.00 comforter in the trash. So, thanks to Mary, all the shopping is done, and it was relatively painless. As painless as several hours of shopping can be, anyway.

Last Of The Pasture Photos – Until Next Time

Branching Out

This is in the woods behind John’s house (actually not in the pasture!).


I’m not sure what they found that was so interesting. And I really didn’t want to know.


Here’s Reyna, admiring the chickens. Trust me, they’re in there, even though you can’t see them.

Water Dog

Anyone who has spent time with Reyna on a warm day knows that she just loves water. Swimming is one of her absolute favorite activities, but digging and splashing in a wading pool or a bucket is right up there at the top of her list. The bucket at John’s was a bit smaller than she’s used to, but that certainly didn’t stop her from having a wonderful time. And after all, a lady has to keep her face and feet clean. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Always When I’m Not Watching

Reyna has never been one to roll around on the ground - unlike Duncan, who does it almost daily. She’s rolled maybe five times in her life that I know of. I’m not sure if its because she doesn’t like to be on her back or what. Its certainly not an issue of getting dirty, because she does that on a regular basis. At John’s last Sunday, though, she surprised me by rolling for several minutes. Naturally, since she was doing something unusual, I didn’t notice it until Duncan went over to check it out, and I was sitting down, so I couldn’t get any good pictures. Once I saw what she was doing, I got up and tip-toed my way over, fully expecting her to stop as soon as she realized I was watching her. And that’s pretty much what happened. I did get a few pictures at a distance and from a bad angle, but even bad pictures of such odd behavior are better than no pictures (if you enlarge the pictures by clicking on them, you'll be able to see more than just Duncan's butt and a brown and red blob in the distance).

Going down for the first roll...



Those are her front feet sticking up.


And yes, that’s her head.


Going down for the second roll...


Back foot and tail in the air


And then she just stayed in this position for a while.

Nuthin’, Mama

Duncan appears to be almost as interested in the Horses! as Reyna, but he doesn’t bark at them like she does.



Instead, he just tries to get under the fence and into the paddock so he can have a contact visit.




And then backs out when he realizes I can still see him.

Horses!

Reyna is completely fascinated by John’s Horses! She talks to them and generally acts like she wants to play with them. She does get a bit carried away on occasion, though.

One of my favorite pictures from our last visit is this one. Reyna sat like this for several minutes, just watching the Horses!, ears forward, totally focused. And doesn’t she look snazzy in her RuffWear harness?


Unfortunately, Reyna spent more time talking trash to the Horses! than she did sitting quietly.





Even close to the end of our visit, when she was hot and tired and relaxing, she just couldn’t control her need to mouth off. Thankfully, Indy didn’t seem too bothered by her attitude.

The Uncertain And The Funny

Over the last few weeks, I’ve questioned occasionally whether or not I’m doing the right thing for Reyna, if such a massive surgery is really the best option. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve waffled back and forth about it since surgery was presented as an option. And I’m certainly not considering putting her to sleep as a better choice. No, the problem (such as it is) lately is that Reyna was having a very good couple of weeks. This was extremely obvious two weeks ago at John’s. While I’m always thrilled when she’s feeling well, it throws that niggling little thought into my brain, does she really need the surgery? Rationally, I know that she’s probably doing better because of the meds and the warm weather. And I know that, if I were to take her for a walk, she wouldn’t get very far before she started limping. But there are still those thoughts. Maybe, since its getting warm, she’ll do better for several months. Maybe, she won’t be so bad come winter if I can keep her on the right meds. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Of course, if I want to go to the other extreme, maybe she’ll die on the operating table, maybe there’ll be a horrible infection, maybe she’ll dislocate the new hip, maybe, maybe, maybe. All of the really horrible possibilities aside, there’s always the question, is this surgery, at this time, really the best choice for her? I don’t know. I’ll probably never know. All I can do is make the most informed decision possible and hope I’m doing the right thing at the right time. Reyna actually helps with that, whether she realizes it or not. Just about the time I’m really considering the possibility that maybe I should tentatively look at the option that we just might be able to push the surgery out (all very nebulous, you see), the good times stop and the limping comes back. So, on we go with the surgery preparations.

Speaking of limping, Duncan has been limping a bit more frequently, himself. I’ve checked his foot and leg and can’t find anything wrong, so I think its his right rear hip – the one that’s always been a bit off kilter. I haven’t been able to track it long enough to determine if certain activities set it off (like too many sits in a short time), or if he’s positioned funny when he sleeps and the hip gets stiff. It seems like he tends to work out the gimpiness, but not always, and not completely. I’m pretty confident he’s not dysplastic, because the last time the vet checked his hips he said there was so much muscle there that he couldn’t even force the hip to move around in the socket. I’ll keep an eye on him, maybe have the vet take another look this month, maybe even get x-rays done, just to see what’s in there. But, as John said Sunday afternoon, Duncan’s hip is a whole ‘nother surgery, so I’ll stress over it after I get Reyna fixed.

And speaking of John...the pups and I went over to his place Sunday afternoon for some romping time. Both pups started going bonkers in the truck before we even got to John’s driveway, and Reyna almost jumped out the back window because I was too slow at opening the door so she could go see the Horses! This time, I had my camera. I took a total of 520 pictures, but by the time I pulled out the bad or fuzzy pictures and the ones just of John’s place (no dogs in the photos), I only had 482. Since I have about 37 pictures topping my list of favorites, I’ll be kind and break them up over multiple posts (yes, I hear all those sighs of relief).

One of the funniest things that happened Sunday occurred near the end of our visit. Reyna, Duncan and I were walking towards the house from the woods, headed back to the pasture. I heard John pulling up in his truck, so to keep Reyna from deciding to go after it, I looped back around the house. That’s when Duncan spotted the steps to the back deck. I didn’t get my camera up fast enough to get a good picture of him on the deck, but I did get a couple of him coming down. In the second picture, if you look closely, you can see that his front feet are not touching the steps. Duncan decided he didn’t need to actually touch the last few, so he took a flying leap about 5 steps about the ground. His landing was not pretty. He hit the ground with his chin and chest, front paws tucked underneath, and slid about three feet on the grass (notice the grass stains on his paws). He didn’t seem the least bit phased by what happened, even though he limped for a few minutes after. The poor boy even had grass stains on his chest.

Reyna

I spent part of last Sunday (a week ago) afternoon raking up leaves and acorns and dumping them in the woods behind the fence. Reyna hates it when I do yard work, primarily because that means I'm not playing with her. She can get a bit annoying with the way she constantly puts her ball directly in the way of whatever is being done, demanding that I throw it for her. To aggravate her just a but, I put her ball in the yard cart and refused to get it out for her. She didn't find it nearly as amusing as I did. At least it occupied a few minutes of her time.

Duncan

These pictures were taken last Sunday (a week ago) while the pups and I were outside in the yard. I was working, they were lounging. As usual. These are some of my favorites of Duncan from that afternoon.

I love the action shots of Duncan - particularly when he's playing with Reyna.


I think I caught Duncan right as he was shaking his head. Even Reyna thinks he has a weird look on his face.


I don't know if he smelled something or just got a leaf or branch up his nose.


And I have no idea what made him stop so suddenly.


After a hard afternoon of playing, the poor pup has to take a break. Especially since he has a long evening of napping ahead of him.

Back By Popular Question

Several folks have asked how I’m doing with pulling together the money for Reyna’s surgery. And since I haven’t been shy about sharing that in the past, I certainly can’t consider them nosy for asking. So, to make things simple, I’ve added the fund thermometer back to the blog (along with the donate button, just in case anyone is interested). I’m not as far along as I’d hoped to be by now, courtesy of some unexpected occurrences, but that’s okay. Whatever I still need by May 7, I’ll take as a loan from my 401(k). After all, its not doing anything useful right now, anyway. The nice thing is that my target amount is lower than before, because I know what the cardiology consult cost. I had added more into my initial budget for that than I ended up needing. Not that I’m complaining. Another plus is that the estimate for the hip replacement hasn’t increased since October. I guess the vet school is doing well enough that they don’t need to use the economy as an excuse to raise the price.