Forever Poodles

I guess things happen for a reason.

Ram and Roxie this afternoon.

Rim (now named Ram) went to live with Sandi's cousin Cyd, and her family in North Carolina. They have a big, white Standard named Roxie. Several years ago Cyd and her family went through some very difficult times full on pain and sorrow. Through all those dark days Roxie was there for them. Giving them all love and joy without wanting anything in return. She guided them back from the darkness. Roxie, in her own way, was a therapy dog. Helping Cyd and the rest of the family past those bad times. Roxie was an Angel. She was their forever dog.

The other day Cyd took Ram for his first check up with the Vet in NC and took Roxie along too as she had been acting a bit strange. Without going into too much detail, Cyd learned that Roxie has a very serious illness that is inoperable. If it progresses much more Roxie could be in great pain.

Roxie has a few more days with her family. They are doing their best to keep her comfortable and pain free. Sandi and I always thought Ram would be a great therapy dog, helping those in pain or need. I think Roxie is Ram's first patient. I hope that Ram's presence somehow helps Roxie on her final journey. In a few days Roxie will hand her family over to Ram and hopefully he can become their next forever dog.

Rest Time

The cats take full advantage of Gypsy leaving her super soft new bed unattended. Here is The Sheriff taking a break from patrolling the area in search of imaginary things.

Another Red Boy B-day



We had another cat birthday in the house. Sandi keeps tabs on the birthdays. I'm really bad about remembering these things. Just ask my kids. My goal for the next year is to remember every birthday.

 

 This is Moose, the other red boy. Moose just turned two. The other cats follow Sandi around like she is the Mother Hen. Moose seems to be a bit more aligned with me. As you can see he likes to sit in my chair when I'm not in it. When I am sitting at the desk, he usually tries to help out by walking over the key board.

 

 When Rim was in the house, Moose kept to himself upstairs most of the time. He wasn't scared of Rim, I think Moose just didn't like all the activity. Since Rim has relocated to the south, Moose is out more, playing with all his favorite toys.

One thing Moose is really good at is getting comfortable. He absolutely enjoys lounging around on the bed, stretching and rolling around. When I walk into the room he lets out a little meow and rolls onto his back, wanting me to rub his belly.

Cat In The Hat

Sandi and I aren't just poodle people...nope we're about the cats as well. This red boy is Tang on his fourth birthday. Tang won the kitty lottery when Sandi decided to bring him home. He was a little red thing and from the beginning Sandi thought something was going on with his legs. After several vet visits, x-rays, and other (expensive) tests, it was decided he had to have surgery on his two rear legs to correct the issue. After each surgery he had a fairly long recovery period and Sandi had a little hospital bed set up for Tang in the master bath. She would sit up with him making sure he wouldn't put weight on his repaired leg at night. He is fully recovered and gets around great if not just a bit slow. He just can't run as fast as the other cats. Tang is always on patrol, keeping an eye on things. Thus the nickname "The Sheriff" fits him well. Even while the other cats are taking a nap, The Sheriff will be on patrol. Tang has a weakness for my ball caps. Whenever I leave one out, he will find it and settle into it for an extended period. Not sure why. The other night I decided that my team, Washington Nationals, would need a bit of good luck. They've been on a bit of a slide recently loosing a few games in a row and not playing very well. This calls for my lucky Nats ball cap to be worn during the game hopefully bringing them good luck. Before I could put it on, The Sheriff found it and settled in. This being his birthday night, I let him keep the hat.
The Nationals won the game and looked great.

Play Time

Just a short sample of fun times with Dino.

Dino Returns

 NEW DINO

 

If you have read past posts you know that the best toy in the world for Gypsy is Dino. Actually Dino is really the only toy that she cares about. From the time she was a puppy she has only played with this one toy. I remember the first time she made Dino squeak she started to whimper as if she hurt it.

Sorry about that Dino!

When we couldn't find any replacements in the pet shop for Dino we had a major panic attack. After some searching we were able to purchase a good supply of replacements (at a high cost) off the Internet.

Money is no object!

 

Then Rim came along.

 

He thought it was great sport to take Dino away from Gypsy, causing great stress and anxiety. She would get Dino back only to have him take it away again. Fun game for Rim but no so much for Gyp. She would go after him with what anger she was able to muster (not much) after awhile. The biggest confrontations they had were over Dino. Finally, we decided to pick Dino up for the winter and keep him out of sight. So, with Rim living the good life down south, we broke out a new Dino for the Diva Gypsy.

 

The old Dino went with Rim.

 

 

Gypsy is again playing with Dino, running laps, and making him squeak non-stop. I'm sure the neighbors appreciate that. She is getting back to her quirky self.

Tar Heel Rim

We have been getting constant updates on Rim from CUZ in NC. Seems to be fitting in pretty from the looks of it right? His co-couch potato friend is an older Standard that has no problem taking over the role of alpha dog in the house. They are getting along very well and Rim is having a big time. He was never allowed on the sofa in our house so he is loving life.

Poodle Problems

I guess some of you have been wondering why the lack of blogging? Let me explain...

I've tried to be honest with the Gypsy/Rim situation in the house. Gypsy is a quirky old gal and has had difficulty adjusting to having a big playful guy around like Rim. I was hoping maybe when we got him a maternal side of Gypsy would come out but that never happened. She would have periods of time where she would seem to like having him around but, as he grew older she really didn't want much to do with him. She would be depressed for days at a time. She would refuse to eat, lost weight, and she lost some hair in spots we think from stress. Please know that none of this was due to anything Rim was doing with bad intent. He is just a big, playful boy that wanted to be close to both me and Sandi. The problem was Gypsy is used to being close to us and she would just lower her head and go off by herself and get depressed further. I could give you many examples of the things that caused Gypsy to stress out with the presence of Rim. None of them with malicious intent on the part of Rim.

So Sandi and I began the discussion of what would be the best thing for all concerned. We came to the conclusion that probably the best thing for both Gyp and Rim would be if we could find another home for Rim. I had mixed feelings about this at first. Rim was not behaving bad, he was actually being the normal dog and Gypsy is the one that was being difficult. Sandi met with our Vet and discussed the situation and the Vet confirmed that sometimes rehoming a dog can be the best thing to do. The problem was, where could he go? We had to make sure he would go into a perfect situation.

Several weeks ago, while attending a funeral, Sandi was talking to her cousin (aka: Cuz) about the Gypsy/Rim dilemma. Cuz lives in North Carolina and has an older female Standard Poodle. A big gal that unlike Gypsy, is very Alfa. The more they discussed the Rim issue, the more Cuz thought it would be a great idea for she and her family to adopt Rim. In addition to the big white Standard she has a few young boys that were excited beyond belief about getting another dog. One of the problems with Gypsy was that she never tried to be the Alfa dog with Rim. She didn't want Rim to be Alpha but couldn't be Alph herself. I think we had a dysfunctional pack. In NC Cuz felt that her dog would make it quite clear to Rim that she was the queen of the house. So Sandi and I agreed that having Rim move in with Cuz was a great idea and the best thing for all concerned. Cuz has plans on continuing training with Rim and get him into being a therapy dog. He will excel at just about anything Cuz throws his way.

Sandi and Cuz met in Virginia a few days ago and made the Rim hand off. It was a sad day for me but I kept telling myself that it was the best thing for Rim and Gypsy. Cuz took a picture of Rim laying in the back seat with his head propped on her sons lap on the drive to his new home. That made me feel better. Cuz and her family are thrilled with Rim and he is adjusting with ease. Gypsy is wagging her tail again. Believe me, we had not seen the tail wag much for the last few months. She is still a picky eater but I am working on that. We took a walk by ourselves this morning. Something that Gypsy and I hadn't been dong much of lately. Gypsy had the spring in her step again, smile back on her face during the entire walk. She is happy again.

We will see Rim from time to time. Cuz and Sandi are talking about a poodle reunion in a few months. We've been swamped with video and pictures of Rim playing in his new yard and making new friends. I'll keep you posted on Rim (aka: Meatloaf)

Birthday Kitty

How's this for a Birthday portrait?

 

Chloe (aka: Queen Mother, aka: Canned Ham) had her eighth birthday over the weekend. She spent most of her special day looking for sun spots. She knows where all the best sunny spots are in the house as the sun travels over head. I've written about Chloe before. When we got her from the Humane Society I don't think she weighed 3 lbs. Hard to believe right? She had a tough life up to that point. She had liver issues and it appears that the tip of her tail is missing. Chloe didn't weigh enough to leave the Humane Society but Sandi begged them to let her take Chloe home. They did and Sandi nursed this little thing back to health. I think she did a pretty good job. Now Chloe is too fat to escape from the deck. I tell people she won the "Cat Lottery."

She moves from sun spot to sun spot, happy to sit and watch the other cats like she is monitoring the situation. On occasion she will chase one of the boy cats around but she can never catch him. Her legs are just too darn short. She does come running however for lunch meat. We can open the fridge as quiet as possible and go for the turkey breast and she comes running looking for a hand out. We will give her a tiny piece, just because she is so special.

 

I get the feeling that Chloe really does appreciate everything that Sandi has done for her. We hope to have Chloe around for many more years.