Getting on with it

Here's a run down of current conditions:

Theo is doing as well as can be expected I guess. He's getting some additional pain meds now that do seem to have helped some, although we had to get up at 4:00 a.m. to this morning for an extra dose. The vet's suggested three times a day for the gabapentin and tramadol is likely to become four times a day instead. Having recently seen my mother suffer with a tumor on her spine, I'm not inclined to let this go on too long and we will give him as much pain relief as possible. 

Della has resumed farm dog duties, at least to the extent that I allow her to do so. I'm still not letting her and Serena out together because she doesn't need to engage in that level of play, but she does enjoy being outdoors with me when I'm planting. She has finished her antibiotics and I stopped the pain meds on her as well. I don't think she's hurting. This Saturday will be two weeks since the incident so her stitches will be due to come out early next week. 

Both recent spays, Greta and Callie, are doing fine, no problems. Greta seems to be fully recovered as does Callie, who now spends the days with Delgado out in Daneland. I bring Callie in and crate her at night still. Delgado and Greta spend the nights downstairs without being crated and both have been very good.

I tried Delgado without his cone one evening, but he went right back to licking that paw with the missing toe so I put it back on him. If he's not reclaimed by the owner on Saturday, he will become our dog and will officially be a foster on Sunday. I actually hope that's the way this plays out. 

We have one of Della's pups, Killian, with us until Saturday! He's a very sweet boy who was happier to see his mother than she was to see him. Is that how parents feel when one of their kids moves back home after college? 

Della is feeling good again and she's not fighting the cone.

Theo gets around amazingly well on just three legs.

A lot of a farm dog's duties are supervisory and can be performed from a soft bed

in the open back end of the van.

Serena is being very tolerant of the changes in her own activities.

Killian, meeting Theo

Maya and Greta checking out Killian

Killian is big enough for Theo, Greta, and Maya to all sniff him at the same time.

Killian and Della

I told her it's only for a few days. She looks skeptical.

Gracious Greta

Greta was left behind when her former owners moved, just abandoned. She had puppies when she was rescued and taken to the shelter. They went their separate ways and Greta came to us. She is 3-5 years old and has now been spayed. People constantly amaze me, more often in bad ways than good, but I really can't fathom why anyone would neglect and then abandon this wonderful dog. She took a couple days to get used to the other dogs, I expect she had always been an only. But she now lives with 9-10 others and gets along fine, although her main interest is her people, not other dogs. That's just so shepherd. 

Her house manners are flawless and have been from the start. I guess we crated her in the beginning, but that was obviously new to her and she soon convinced us it was unnecessary. She is not crated at night nor when we leave the house. We had that one flight incident in the beginning, but she wasn't homed here yet and hadn't yet bonded to us. Again, that's just shepherd.

She's the easiest dog to walk on a leash that I've ever had, all my personal dogs past and present included. I took her out on a three mile walk with Maya again this morning. That's when these pictures were taken. 

I'm still trying to put some weight on her. In addition to a good amount of regular dry dog food, she's eating Satin Balls now along with Theo. I'm mixing up another 10 pounds of the stuff tonight. Her appetite is good and her poop is good. I think she was just so depleted from trying to raise puppies without any food that it's taking her body a while to recover.

Interested in a nice, quiet, easy going, female shepherd? I would have sworn there was no such thing, but Greta has proved me wrong. She'd be quite happy as an only dog and will be a constant companion to that lucky person. Greta is ready for adoption and is available through Green Dogs Unleashed. 

The heat is rough on black dogs and she's really not in shape for it. 

I cut my planned route short to get over to Sparky's Watering Hole for a cool dip and drink.

Her walks will be earlier in the morning from now on.

She was thinking about laying down in it. We stayed until she was cooled off.

There's never a good time for bad news

Theo's long awaited appointment with a specialist happened today and it was pretty much the worst possible news. He's limping due to a tumor on his bone, likely osteosarcoma. X-rays taken a month ago were inconclusive, but those taken today showed a rapidly developing tumor. To confirm what I'm sure he suspected, the vet took an x-ray of the lungs as well and it showed that it had already spread there. How much longer? Two weeks maybe, maybe more, depending on how the continued development affects his quality of life. 

Theo's quality of life has already suffered a lot by not being able to play ball, and not running the fence line with the Danes, and not running around with Max. We've been keeping him downstairs during the day to avoid multiple trips up and down the stairs during the day, but he has been coming up to sleep with us all at night. We are upping his pain medication but how long we let it go just depends. I do not believe in waiting until the bitter end and letting them go "naturally." Nature is cruel to the old and ailing and I think we have the responsibility to make it go a smoothly and painlessly as possible. That's never an easy call to make and people may differ on when to make it, but it's our responsibility to make it. 

Theo is nine years old, as of April 5th. That's not bad for a large dog, although we always hope and try for more. This is not a case where learning about this earlier would have made a difference. I would not have opted to have his leg amputated even if there hadn't been any sign that the cancer had spread. Nor would I have pursued any other aggressive course of treatment for cancer in a nine year old dog. This has undoubtedly been developing for some time but it hasn't affected his mobility or quality of life until lately. For that I'm grateful. 

For now, it's all about Theo for the next few weeks. Theo got Satin Balls for dinner, and canned food, and his regular dry. I can't let him run and play ball as he'd like to, but we can and will love him and spoil him as much as we can.

Even at nine years of age and suffering with cancer, 

Theo is a damn handsome beast.

A couple of our nice, big, bolster dog beds are falling apart, but 

this one is now seeing use as a to-go bed in the back of the van.

My days with Max and Maya

The adoptions of Betty White and Thor happened on Saturday morning. Rain was forecast for later in the day, but that still left me with several hours to do some outdoor work. Della and Theo are laid up and Serena stays with Della. I can't let Maya out loose in the yard, so that just left me with Max to keep me company. I did some mowing and Max is the only dog, lame or not, who follows me as I mow. Then I did some planting in various parts of my container garden. Max isn't always close by, but he always has eyes on me. I have to make sure Max always has a stick in his mouth or he will try to grab one of my tools. There's enough fallen sticks in the yard that it's never too hard for me to find one, but they seem to be very difficult for him to find. He drops them randomly, wanders off, and then can't find a stick when he needs one. Max may be crazy but his core is pure shepherd so he makes pretty good company, although you can't talk to him like I can most any other dog. 

After the rain Saturday evening, things were quite wet on Sunday so I decided to wait on doing any more mowing or planting and took Maya out for a hike instead. It had been a while and we were both needing it. It was great hiking weather and I stuck to trails that avoided most of the mud. We went a good five miles and she's napping this afternoon and I'm wishing I could join her.

That's a hose, not a black snake.

The flamingo garden should be nice this year. I'm planting primarily

cannas in the back and lantana in the front, with a few other things as well.

I planted that willow oak when we moved here, 21 years ago this month.

I submit that buttercups are the happiest flowers on earth. 

The effect is lost on Della at the moment, however.

Maya was happy to be hitting the trails again today.

Maya is really good about hopping up onto benches or tables

for photo opportunities when I ask.

I took this picture and submitted it to a Virginia mushroom identification group

on Facebook and had an almost immediate response. 

It is Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae in case you were wondering.