Archive for Jake

Long Weekend!

November 15, 2009 at 7:25 pm · Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake

Daisy was good again today-I used the spurs again and she pretty much did everything I asked without a whip.  I think that I need 2 things, though-first, a little bit longer spur.  The ones I have are pretty short.  She’s already not really listening so I’m going to have to increase the size a bit to make them a bit more intense to make her listen.  Second, I’m going to need something I can use for shows.  The cool thing about this is that they are required in the upper levels, so it’ll look like we’re a little more advanced in a strange wey :)   I’ll have to find some fancier ones, though. 

I went out for dinner last night with Kurt, Vanessa, Kellen, Vanessa’s sister and her husband, and Vanessa’s friend and her husband for Vanessa’s birthday.  Kurt wanted something alcoholic so he ordered something called “Joe’s Drink”.  Sounds manly enough.  Nope-it came in a martini glass with all sorts of fruit attached to it and it was a reddish girly drink.  he was embarrassed.  That was probably the best part of the night :)   We had some sushi, too.  I have tried it before, but only a couple times and I hadn’t had any with real seafood in it since I can’t eat fish.  We had some with crab in it and it was very good!  I’ll have to explore this sushi thing more LOL!  Kellen was adorable-laughing and smiling the whole night.  It was SOOO cute!

One thing that was really cute last night was Bandit-I was getting ready to leave and he thought he was going to come, too.  I guess he really likes going on the weekends to see his girlfriend at Mom’s house.  He was very disappointed when I made him stay home, but he survived.  He’s really doing good-last time we were at Mom’s, he let everyone pet him.  He was shy, but he did it!  I guess he’s starting to really like the attention.

Lastly, Jake’s swelling is gone completely.  I gave him some Benadryl yesterday in addition to the regular stuff he gets and it seems to have done the trick.  Either the Benadryl worked or regurgitated wheat product is already part digested and doesn’t take as long to get though LOL!  Maybe a bit of both….

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Jake is Swollen Again

November 14, 2009 at 5:51 pm · Filed under Jake

Poor Jakey :(   His leg is swollen up AGAIN.  I don’t know what he got into this time, either.  I have a feeling that while I was at work yesterday or the day before, Bandit got sick and threw up and Jake probably ate it.  Ugh.  Dogs are so dumb.  And gross.  So that’s my theory anyway-I haven’t given him anything that would make him swell up otherwise.  Jake WAS sick yesterday because he was eating something outside, but I’m not sure why.  I guess it could have something to do with that too.  Updates later on…..

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Jake is a snot

November 1, 2009 at 7:27 am · Filed under Jake

Jake loves to take the stuffing out of stuffed animals.  It’s one of those gifts that God has granted him with-he can remove stuffing from a medium stuffed toy in about 10 seconds.  I have a soft pillow that I got as a gift a few Christmases ago that I just love.  The thing has lasted through the dogs playing with it-it’s been brought outside, taken upstairs, the victim of tug-o-war between Jake and Bandit, etc.  Well, a certain little black dog that shall remain nameless got an inch-wide hole in it a few weeks ago.  The pillow was taken away and put up on a table so I could fix it, but like most other things that need fixing around here, it sits and waits.  Last night while I was at the Halloween party at the stable, the pillow found its way back into the play arena.  I’m thinking that Bandit ripped it off the table because he’s the one that gets into stuff like that.   Anyway, this morning I’m having my coffee and sitting with the dogs.  Jake grabs the pillow and sees the hole in it.  He jams his nose in there and I say, “Jake-don’t do that or I’ll spank your butt!!”  He stops, looks up at me, thinks about it, then grabs the pillow and walks into the other room!  I look at Bandit, who is still laying on his corner of the couch and tell him that his brother better not be doing what I think he is.  I give Jake a few more seconds and I walk into the room Jake went to as he’s beginning to jam his nose back in the hole.  When he saw me coming, the nose came out of the hole and he put his head down like “I was a bad boy….”  I took the pillow away and he glares at me as I walk back into the other room.  The pillow is now back up on a table, waiting to be fixed again.

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Pictures :)

October 25, 2009 at 12:48 pm · Filed under Bandit, Jake, Uncategorized

Daisies

Daisies

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves

Jake Loves The Fall, Too!

Jake Loves The Fall, Too!

Bandit in the Sun

Bandit in the Sun

Jake Napping as Mom Plays on the Computer

Jake Napping as Mom Plays on the Computer

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Back up and running-Bonus flu advice:)

October 25, 2009 at 7:23 am · Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake, Uncategorized

So Bandit knocked my computer off the table last week and I thought he destroyed it. His legs got tangled in a cord and he took off-the computer went with him, at least until it hit the floor. I was surprisingly NOT mad at all. I guess I’m used to doggie things happening around the house! Anyway, it wouldn’t turn on for a while so I took it apart :) Yes, that’s right-I went in and unscrewed things, took out the memory, looked at the motherboard (but thought better of actually removing that), put the memory back in, then turned it on and it worked! For a few minutes at least. It kept freezing when Windows was running. I tried everything in the book to get it to work again, but soon realized that it kept trying to fix some index that wasn’t happening. It only froze while I was in Windows so I reinstalled Windows and here we are-good as new. Actually LIKE new, too. I’m glad I backed up all my stuff before it hit the floor because I would have lost a lot of information. I haven’t put all my files back on here yet, but it’s running, I got a better version of AOL, and it actually seems better than before.

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet around here. I’ve been working with Daisy a lot-planning on doing more today, Bandit’s pimple has pretty much gone down and is growing hair back, Jake’s leg looks good (as good as it will anyway), and Tabasco is coming out more frequently now. I don’t know what prompted her to come out more often, but she’s getting along with Bandit and she seems a little more at ease. Maybe it was the catnip-playdate :)

I started taking Lyrica for the pain in my hips, too. It works GREAT!!! I have had pain in my hips for a while now and we decided it was arthritis. A while after that started, the pain would go all the way down my legs. It was so bad sometimes that I couldn’t sleep-it actually hurt more when I was sitting or laying down. So we decided that it was a pinched nerve in my back. I’m not one to take drugs myself, but I was hurting really bad so I tied this one. Now it’s so much better! I find that it was really putting a damper on everything! When I got off Daisy before, I’d hobble back to the stall-now I walk normally. When I got up in the morning I would limp down the stairs and now I can just hop up and go. Muuuuch better :)

One more note to everyone here-go get your flu shot. This year has already been worse for our office than the peak of the seasons before! We have people coming in and throwing up about 2 or 3 times a week, and that’s for a cardiology office! I know that the flu shots are in short supply right now and they’re running out everywhere, so go out and see if you can find some somewhere. As far as H1N1 goes, if you can, get it. May as well be protected as much as possible. They do not recommend that you get both at once (mostly because if you have a reaction it’s harder to tell which one did it, but a lot of people have gotten both at once and are fine), and they do NOT recommend the H1N1 in the nasal mist form for people with any kind of chronic illness (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc). The mist form is weakened viruses and the shot is dead viruses. Go for the dead. You don’t want to chance getting something where the weakened virus could come back somehow. Also, believe it or not, the hand sanitizers work BETTER at killing germs than just washing your hands. I personally have been using hand sanitizer, then washing my hands after that. When you use the sanitizer, use about a quarter sized amount, wipe all over your hands including under your nails and stuff, then let it air dry-don’t wipe it or wash it off till it had dried. Keep healthy, everyone! And if you’re sick, STAY HOME!!! Don’t go spreading it around-it’s going to be bad enough without the extra help. Plus, if you’re sick, your immune system is weakened, leaving you more susceptible to other viruses.

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Bandit’s Zit

October 14, 2009 at 6:11 pm · Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake

Yes, I guess dogs get pimples, too. I’m not 100% sure that’s what this is, but it seems to be getting better and that’s what it looks like, so that’s what we’re calling it. This thing started as a little scratch or something last Sunday, so I think it’s actually a small abscess. It grew under the skin and when I played with it, it was kind of pussy. YUCK. It came back and is still there, but the scratch has healed over and it’s just kind of red now. I’ve been putting antibiotic ointment on it and the swelling has gone down quite a bit. If it doesn’t go away within the next few days, we’ll go to the vet and see if it’s anything to be concerned about. It is very confined to one small area, so I’m not too upset yet.

Jake is doing good-the swelling on his leg has been back and forth, but it’s mostly good. Nothing exciting there. He has had a LOT of energy lately-he’s picking play fights with Bandit all the time and just having a good time. It always makes me smile when he does stuff like that :)

Daisy has been a little sick the past few days too. She was just not herself yesterday, and today she was bloated pretty bad. I lunged her today and she was pooping and all, so I don’t think it’s anything serious. She got her Adequan shot yesterday, too. I gave it to her in the neck, so I was really proud of myself :) She is SO much better getting it in the neck than getting it in the butt. She would tense her butt up so hard that it was difficult to get the needle in. With the neck, it must not hurt as bad or something. She doesn’t tense her neck up at all and she just takes her treats as she gets her shot. Good girl. I’ll go riding tomorrow and we’ll see how she goes then. When we lunged tonight, she was a little stiff and inflexible at first, but she started to loosed up after a little bit. I think she should be ok by tomorrow.

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Updates On Everything :)

October 10, 2009 at 2:09 pm · Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake

I guess I haven’t written anything because of the lack of good coffee. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it :) I’m going to call the place and see if they have any suggestions as to where to bring the machine or if it’s just cheaper to get a new one. Hopefully I’ll get around to that today.

Anyway, all the critters are doing good. Jake is fine-still always hungry. I’m watching him doze off now. It’s sort of funny because he really wants to stay up so he keeps closing his eyes, then opening them, then shaking his head just a bit. He just now gave in and put his head down. Bandit is asleep on the window ledge. We did a fun thing today-Bandit loves the cat, but the cat never wants to play. She will hide behind the couch where Bandit can see her but can’t reach her. So today, I put some catnip behind the couch, too. She’s been meowing back there and sticking her paws up to touch his nose on and off for hours! They have had a great time.

Daisy is doing well, too. Monday is her shot day and I’m not looking forward to it. I’m going to give it in her neck myself for the first time, I hope. She doesn’t like it in her butt, and that’s the more dangerous end, so this way should be better. In the past, when Diane has given it to her in the neck, she’s been fine, so I’m hoping for the same reaction. She’s been going good with aspirin, but I’d like to get rid of that. Otherwise, she’s been fine. We’ve been working a lot on the trot and less on the canter and it’s been working. Hopefully by next year I’ll have a really nice steady and collected trot. The canter has improved, but I haven’t done enough to really know for sure that it’s a lot better.

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Nooooooo!!!

October 5, 2009 at 11:49 am · Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake

My coffee maker broke this morning :( I got about half of what I usually drink out of it, then it died. I’m emailing the company now to see if it was under warranty, but I’m pretty sure it is way over a warranty time. It was a Tassimo, too, so it’s not going to be too cheap to replace. The good news about it is that the price on those things has come down dramatically, so it won’t be TOO bad. Anyway, I dragged myself into work, made like 3 more cups, and I’m back in waking mode again.

It was a nice weekend-I rode both days, and Daisy was pretty good. We cantered quite a bit yesterday because she had so much energy, so I’m hoping it wasn’t too much for her. Diane wants to do a lesson tonight, too, so I’m really hoping she’s ok from yesterday. I’ve been concentrating on keeping her head down because that’s where we have our issues for the most part. Once her head goes up, she stiffens and we get all icky. We’ll see if we can get her head trained down more this winter. It’s funny, though, because when she DOES carry her head for me, she looks great! I know it can be done.

Bandit went with me to Mom’s house last night again. He was pretty comfortable, too-he gave Pop a kiss on the fingers as soon as we walked in! He was still shaking, but it was ok. Kurt sat next to him and petted him on the loveseat, too! It was a big night for the little guy. As soon as we got home, he crashed :) He actually went upstairs first-just like Max used to do! He went and put himself to sleep before I was up there, then when Jake and I finally made it up, we snuggled all night. He’s such a cutie. Jake never wants to snuggle, so it’s not like there’s a jealousy thing, either. In fact, if Jake is in my spot on the bed and I want him to move, you can’t just tell him to move. You have to be more cunning that that. You have to make him NOT want to be there anymore. So I’ll look at him and say, “Ohhh, Jake! I’m going to snuuugle with you-what a sweeeeet boy…” Then you move in and lay down right next to him, petting him and telling him how cute he is. He gives me a disgusted look for a minute, then turns his head away. Finally he gets up and moves to the other side of the bed. Score-Mommy.

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Dang Sneaky Dogs….

October 1, 2009 at 8:47 pm · Filed under Bandit, Jake

Well, Jake’s leg is swollen up again.  This will again confirm that grains are bad for mast cell cancers.  I got home last night and my pantry door was cracked open.  I have to admit-this is my fault.  I was rushing out the door and something fell and blocked the pantry door open just a little from the inside.  I couldn’t get it open any more or shut anymore so I figured it would be ok-I was in a rush.  Nope.  Jake strongarmed his way in. 

When I got home, there was a bag of Splenda on the couch on the dog room-opened of course, and spilled pretty much everywhere.  This was much like the flour incident from last winter, but this stuff is sticky.  Fortunately there wasn’t as much to spill.  I go into the next room and there are two formerly full boxes of Special K ripped to shreds on the floor, the now empty bags on the couch in that room.  I had a bag of pita chips that was unopened, and I guess the guys couldn’t get it opened either because they had tried over and over, effectlively mushing the chips into a powder on the inside of the bag.  One of them also ate an entire bag of unpopped microwave popcorn.  I assume it was Jake-I’ll know by tomorrow, if you know what I mean. 

Anyway, He had plenty of stuff that would have been an allergen and here we are tonight with a swollen leg again.  He had an upset tummy this morning, too-you could tell, again, if you know what I mean.  My whole upstairs smelled of doggie farts.  He got some Tums this morning along with his usual dose of allergy pills and an extra Benadryl.  I feel bad for him, but dang it!!  And the clincher is that he was STILL hungry when I got home!  I know Bandit was the one with the Splenda because that was on his couch and and Jake most likely wouldn’t have let Bandit near his claimed stash.

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Jake And Bandit-The Balls Of Energy, And Daisy-The Filthy Mare

September 19, 2009 at 7:24 pm · Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake

Bandit and Jake are playing like puppies right now.  Bandit has a toy, Jake runs and grabss it, Bandit runs and grabs Jake, then Jake gets mad at Bandit.  It’s been going on for 20 minutes now.  Hopefully they’ll sleep tonight!  It’s so nice to see him play like that, though :)   He really cracks me up.  The problem is that Jake takes a break every 2 minutes to let me know he’s hungry again.  My face should be chapped by now after all the dog kisses.  I’ve never seen a dog that was more into his food.  Another funny thing is that Bandit-the one that never eats anything-is also expecting food now, too.  He loves that Pedigree food!  Fortunately Jake doesn’t care what he eats.  He’ll eat the grain free stuff no problem. 

Daisy was good, then bad today.  We rode for a while-she did pretty well.  She got her leads again, so we’re about 80-20 now as far as taking the bad lead versus not taking it.  She had her feet trimmed after that, then I gave her a bath.  I scrubbed her pretty well and spent about an hour cleaning her up, mane and everything.  We went back inside for a break so she could have some water and do her business.  I turned and was talking to everyone with her right behind me when Diane asked “is she rolling?”  Apparently Ms Stealth had snuck her way to the floor of her stall.  It was cleaned, but the shavings were still icky and she had some stray pieces of hay in there too.  When she got up, it was clear that she was still wet enough to be tacky and hold all the crap from her stall on her body, mane, and tail.  Her mane went from wet and slicked black to infused with shaving flakes and hay holding it out six inches off her neck.  She was covered in filth.  Everyone laughed as i went back out to hose her off again.  There is still crud on her now, but I couldn’t get it all off.  I guess my plan is to go out and ride tomorrow and give her ANOTHER soapy bath.  The show is next weekend, but it’s still good to have her fairly clean before her real bath.  I guess I’ll be scrubbing more poop off her tomorrow before the Bears game. 

Oh well-back to fending off a hungry Jake for another hour before real second dinner :)

Oh well-back to

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