Every summer, our family makes the trek from San Diego to Seattle for a little family vacation. Usually we fly, but twice in the past years we’ve driven so the dogs could come as well. I’m not going to lie- it takes some preparation and work to manage a road trip with kids and dogs, but the fun of having the entire family together at our little lake cabin makes it all worthwhile. And as it turned out, dear Brody passed away this winter, so I am even more glad we put in the ... Read more »
Brody
Did You Know?
Did you know when we woke up this morning how things would end? I doubt it. I went to the gym and you hung out with the kids, because it was a Saturday and they were home. We vacuumed, because as usual pieces of you were starting to accumulate on the ground where you lay. Did you know how hairy you were? Did you know that yesterday, I was supposed to go to spin class but when you saw my shoes you got so excited I stayed home with you instead and we took a walk? It was the longest walk we took ... Read more »
Merry Christmas from Brody
Whenever I've lost someone close to me, I have the same dream within a month: in this dream, they return to me, healthy and whole. We have just that moment to be in each other's presence once more; and then they are gone. It has happened with pets, with my grandparents, and with my mother. It is comforting to think in some form, they are well. Then I wake up with a bittersweet taste on my tongue. In that brief moment it was real, my brain fooled into thinking they were there with me: ... Read more »
Cancer Is Fun
That's sarcasm, by the way. Cancer sucks, I hate cancer, cancer can go suck it. Anyway. When you have a dog, but especially when you have a dog who is a breed with a 50% occurrence of cancer in their lifetime, you learn to be vigilant. And by vigilant I mean you pick over your dog like a chimpanzee searching out ticks, and with good reason. So far, as you know, I've lost one dog to lymphoma, one to probable melanoma, and Brody's had the following removed: low grade melanoma on his lip ... Read more »
EOTW: Back to School for Brody One Ear!
Today we bring to you our second Ear of the Week: Yes, the kids are back to school this week, but why should they have all the fun? Just because a dog only has one ear doesn't mean he can't be fully functional. Really, in many ways this ear surpasses the original one. His old ear didn't have a pen holder, after all. He's already learned that the hat and the camera mean fun time and treats, so rest assured no one is more on board with this ear project that Brody himself. Now ... Read more »
Lend me your ear
Get it? Because we're short one over here. Warning: Blood ahead. When it comes to my dog, I am just as nuts as any other client. I can't think logically, I panic, I just gnaw on my fingernails and try to figure out what's the best thing to do. For this reason, I had no interest in doing Brody's surgery whatsoever and instead entailed the services of my friend, board certified veterinary surgeon Dr. Tracy Frey of Soft Surg and the lovely staff at Animal Urgent Care, who took amazing care of us ... Read more »
Save tons at the vet! How to keep your dog from dying of cancer
As a veterinarian, I've seen lots of cancers: lymphoma. Melanoma. Osteosarcoma. Hemangiosarcoma. Mast cell tumors. Wait, those are just my own dogs I'm talking about. When I factor in my clients, I think I've seen it all. Dogs get cancer, at very high rates: about 50% of senior dogs die of it, if the statistics are to be believed. Why? Well, if you read overly simplified, graphics-intensive websites by people who really don't know what they're talking about, they will tell you that they know ... Read more »
The best day of the year is here!
It's National Dog Day, a day to celebrate the love and bond we share with our canine companions. It's hard to top. What could possibly be better than National Dog Day? Having your birthday fall on National Dog Day. Especially if you've always proclaimed that dogs are pretty much the best thing ever. It is also, in a strange twist of fate that I cannot tell if it is coincidental or not, is also National hot dog day, which is a fact I'm not as excited about so I will choose ... Read more »
Dog: World’s Worst Coach
I am training for a half marathon. I thought about training for a full marathon, but then the reality what that was like the last time I attempted it kicked in and I remembered that oh yeah, I don't like to run. I think you can do a full marathon once when you don't like to run, just to say you did (Rock n Roll 2001 for me), but after than there's really nothing to prove other than, "oh yeah, this hurts." A half marathon though, is doable. Still not fun, but manageable. I have decided, ... Read more »
A Feast For Crows
I am a horrible horticulturist. Dogs I got. Cats I can do. Plants? Fuggitaboutit. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal, and every year an unfortunate crop of plants are sent to their doom as they peer out in horror from the back of my car on their way to purgatory from the relative safety of the nursery. This year, I decided I would bring the kids into the fold and have them start a few seedlings. Maybe they have better juju than I, I reasoned. Perhaps they inherited their father's talent for ... Read more »
Love Is…Making Moments
I've learned a lot in the process of writing this book, going back and reflecting on what three very special dogs have done for me in my life. It's almost done, the first draft at least, and I can rest easy knowing that if I get hit by a bus tomorrow there's enough for a talented editor to work with so that this, at least, will live on. Happy Valentine's Day, by the way. Speaking of dying and all of that, though, the one thing that really jumped out at me when I was writing, and just living ... Read more »
Zombie on a leash
Those of you who watch The Walking Dead know about Michonne, arguably one of the most kick-booty characters on television today. When we first meet her, on her own after the zombie apocalpyse, she is holding her own thanks to her katana and a pair of neutered (as it were) zombies she has put on a leash and uses to avoid detection by other zombies. Even though we are now on Season 4 and Michonne has long since lost her zombies, it remains the only instance in which zombie power ... Read more »
Headless dog cakes and other sundry sacrifices
Before I get into the details of this weekend, it's important to understand the massive pile of guilt from under which I was trying to emerge. One year ago this month, the chaos began. The endless lines of people rifling through our home in an endless stream had already been going on for seven months, but one year ago was when we agreed, from exhaustion more than anything else, to sell the home. All for the promise of a better education for the kids, which necessitated a move out of the ... Read more »
Flashback Friday: Depressed Puppy
So I was looking through old Brody photos for a Flashback Friday and found this one: Which was awesome all by itself, and then I realized he was the perfect candidate for some captions. So I turned him into a Depressed Puppy Meme. Hope you have a better long weekend than this guy! ;) (If I recall the true sadness was not being allowed to chase my mom's hellkitty around) Feel free to make your own caption, they always entertain me. :D ... Read more »
There goes the neighborhood (again)
After several months of leading the kids around our new and blessedly quiet neighborhood hoping to find some children running about, the spring temperatures have brought them out of hiding like little hibernating bears. We have both two little girls and a little boy within the block, and now the kids self-eject from the house as soon as their little feet can take them in the morning to go bike riding. As an added bonus, the little girls have a 12 week old Golden Retriever who comes by on his ... Read more »
Gaming the system
Raising kids is a lot like raising dogs. There's a lot of responsibility, a lot of poop, ridiculous amounts of cleaning, and no small amount of frustration. Regardless, the benefits far outweigh the costs, and with a little consistency and training, it's all good. Training being the key component. My son likes Legos and chihuahuas, two things I kind of like but wouldn't really say are my "thing". He is his own kid. I realized he was fascinated with mechanical devices more than biological ... Read more »
Dr. V, Mega Commuter and Expert Snake Avoider
I read in an article on CNN the other that that a scant 8% of the population is comprised of 'mega commuters', that unlucky club whose commute consists of 90 minutes each way, three hours on the road a day. I felt sorry for them, until I realized I was one of them. When we moved in December, in search of better schools and a better commute for my spouse, I hadn't taken into account what we would do if our home school district didn't have space for us. Of course they would, right? Except they ... Read more »
Smooth Criminal
It's been a mystery in the house ever since we moved in: who's been raiding the cat litter? Until we get the cat door installed between the house and the garage, we've been stuck leaving the door open and trying with varied success to block the perp from the garage. Suspect One: Brody Has been seen lurking in the vicinity of the garage door, occasionally licking lips and acting guilty. Suspect Two: Koa Despite outward appearances, the more sneaky of the two. Spotted with evidenciary ... Read more »
