Heading home

As much as I love a good walk, there is always something so nice about getting on that last little bit of the path home, when you can see your gate in the distance and you know that big bowl of cool water is just waiting for you. Our grass has turned a lovely shade of green now and the trees are finally starting to get some leaves....they seemed to take a long time to wake up this year. We even have a pair of doves nest making in the tree near our back door which I am not too happy about, they coo and make funny noises all the time. Mom thinks they are cute!!!

I forgot to mention - there is no rush if anyone wants to take part in my photo challenge.....I will leave it open for a couple of weeks as it's still not that warm in some places and I know our peoples don't always like to go out when it is cold or raining. I will put up some reminders every now and again.

Hmmmm No Fire Hydrants - Well How About....

Okay - I am seeing a theme here about some of you poochies not having any fire hydrants, (personally I think this is outrageous and you should take it up with your city councils - I mean to bark - what's a dog to do without a fire hydrant?????) Anyway.... there must be a regular 'thing' along your walk where you check the pee-mail messages??? A mail box, an electrical box, an electric pole, a favorite tree, the neighbors car tires ...... come on guys......I know you are creative, there has to be something you can find. You do go for walkies don't you???? Just out of curiosity I went on my favorite cowspot Moogle and did a search and look what we found.....fire hydrants you can buy for your own!!! - how woofitty is that...your very own hydrant. Make a note for Crispmas everyone. Okay, so no more excuses.....cameras, leads and noses at the ready - off you go!

Who is up for a challenge?

Okay, it's not difficult, and it will get them hoomans off the couch and out for walk - and what could be better then that? The challenge is - show us your fire hydrants !!!! Now of coarse we poochies KNOW where every single one is in our neighborhoods - for don't we all stop and check and sniff the pee-mail to see who has been there....but them hoomans, they walk past them and don't even notice half the time. So out with the camera and leads....and off you go!!! Here are two we found...actually we found 5 in our neighborhood....most had red tops tops but we did find one with a green top. Well - what are you waiting for.........get out there and start looking! Oh, did we mention that there will be a prize for the best photo - no...well there will!!

With such sadness

Is is with such sadness that we share the news that Charlie (Carlie Cewe) has passed away. She really was an amazing little gal, having lived on three continents and spending her final years in my moms home country of Australia. Even more amazing is Charlie passed away on ANZAC day (Australia New Zealand Army Corps). This is a very special day in Australia as it day to remember fallen heroes (much like Memorial Day in the USA) Charlie was certainly a hero and gave 15 years of unconditional love and devotion to her family. Please visit her website to see the beautiful tribute her mom has posted. We know Charlie is running and playing and forever young again on the other side of the rainbow bridge and that she will wait patiently for many many years to see her family again but our hearts still ache and we will still miss our little buddy and on ANZAC day - we will all remember this little hero. Dog Bless Charlie.

THANK YOU LUDO AND DEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh wow - I don't think I have ever been so excited!!!! I got this big parcel and it was addressed to me (okay and to mom too - BUT mainly to me!!) and it came all the way from England. Mom says that is a very long way away. Mom has been there and even lived there for awhile but she says I haven't. Anyway, I gave the parcel a real good sniffing all over and that I scratched at it with my paw. Mom thought it might be a good idea if she helped me open it....and look what was inside. There was a letter from Ludo and his mom Dee and there was a stuffy cow for me and guess what ?????? it moos!!!!!! It scared me a little when I first heard it, but now I love it.

And look what Ludo's mom Dee made........it is a miniature me!!! Is this totally amazing or what!!! My mom absolutely loves it and can't wait to show my dad when he get home tonight. It is so perfect, it has my markings and my patches. Mom says she wasn't sure if this is how I was originally sat on the block as I had come unglued and the little lead had broke but mom glued it back together so it might not be quite the same as when when Dee made it. Mom says this is going to have pride of place on our mantle as it's not every day we get our very own personalised figurine. Oh...did you notice the little ball too....isn't that cute. Thank you so much Ludo and Dee, you made our day very special :)

It's me

Yes, it is me - well who else did you think it would be? We have been having some simply wonderful weather which means it has been warm enough for us to go for walkies each morning and what could be better than that? Well yes, to go walkies each evening too, and car rides, and trips to the pet store and trips to the park....oh right, we do all of that! What can I say, my mom spoils me :)

Silly mom also forgot to show to show you the wonderful cup that the dad found at Wisconsin Dells when he went there recently. This is actually a ceramic travel mug not one of those metal ones and of coarse it has a sheltie on it, so what could be better. It sort of ....kind of.....okay if you squint a lot....looks like me :) And look at that neat paw print on the back of the cup. Mom loves her cups of tea but has a bad habit of forgetting to drink them so dad thought this would help to to keep them warm. Talking of Dad - he is in a place called Phoenix - Arizona at the moment and he says I would not like it there at all as it is very hot - 99 degrees there. He says mom would like it though as they have planted lots of Australian gums trees there and he said the air smells of eucalyptus. I have no idea what he is talking about....I just heard the word hot and that was enough for me not to like it.

Leptospirosis

I went to see my lady vet yesterday to have the first of my leptospirosis shots. This is a bacteria that is found in most animals including livestock and wildlife and is passed via the urine into the water sources and can live in the soil for many years. It is especially recommended for dogs that are living in an area that was once farm land (where I live it was a dairy farm just 5 years ago) and it also recommended for dogs that go to State parks where there is wildlife - something I also do a lot. This is a contagious disease that can be passed from one dog to another and to humans too and as there has been quite a few cases around here lately mom decided it would be better to be "safe then sorry". I had my shot and then we had to wait half an hour to make sure I didn't haven't any any reaction to it.....I didn't and everything was fine. I have to go back in two weeks and have the second shot and then I will be covered. I am also one happy dog today, the temperature has shot up and mom had to put the air conditioning on - which meant I got to lay on my nice cool vent - oh how I have missed my cool vent - sigh!

The convergence

It was such a nice sunny afternoon that we decided to go for a drive. We had no idea where we we going, we were just "following the road to see where it takes us" is what the mom said. Where it took us was this really cool place called the Convergence. It is where the Missouri River on the right of the picture meets the Platt River on the left. When they combine they become the Mighty Missouri. Mom was quite fascinated by what looked like the remain of old docks - that once would of been quite impressive as they appeared to of been quite long. They were on both sides of the river. The river must of been much deeper then it is now for there are a lot of sand bars and it looks quite shallow even so it water runs very fast. We followed the road along the side of river and I was so busy sniffing I didn't see how far mom and dad had got ahead of me, when I noticed I came running as fast as my little legs would go....mom said I was worried where they were but really I knew they were worried where I was - you know what parents are like - they ALWAYS worry.

We kept on walking and eventually came to this area where there was a river beach. I have never been to a beach before, there was lots of sand and it felt a bit funny under my feet, but it was great fun to run on and felt very cool. As you can see it was also pretty windy but I didn't mind at all - I was having to much fun. Mom was just telling me that she was checking this river out on Google Earth Maps and this sub branch of the river where I am ..... isn't there on the maps and she thinks this probably happened as a result of the winter flooding. That is a very big wide area the water cut away and there is not a lot of water left now. We also saw a lot of people doing something called 'fishing' at the river - it looked to me like they were just sitting there with a stick in their hands.

On the way back I heard something rustling in the bushes and had to check out what it was - of coarse silly mom had to poke that camera thing close by and it scared what ever it was away. It certainly sounded very interesting though. Did I mention that there was some amazing smells on this walk - things I had never smelt before. The one bad thing was there was also some big prickle things - they looked like little footballs but covered in spines and they stuck to moms coat and mine. Luckily mom had a comb with her so when we got back to the car she check me all over and combed all those nasty things out. On the way home we drove through the small town of Plattsmouth and mom just had to stop and get a photo of the court house. I don't know why as it was just a building but she seemed to like if for some reason. You can click on any of the photos here if you would like to see them bigger. I am definitely off to have a snooze now and dream about things hiding in the bushes.

My Own Herd

Well no-one guessed what my little herd is that mom got me so I will just tell you or show you. I have a herd of wabbits. I know - they are not as much fun as Ludo's rabbit-dogs, they don't jump around or even twitch their noses but real wabbits cost $200 here and the mom couldn't afford that so we got the 'other' kind of wabbits. The little black one has already left my herd though - and no I didn't eat him. He decided he wanted to be the only black and white thing in the herd so he moved in with "she who lives here but is rarely seen -dads human daughter". Hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Pawwwttty

Wow.....I went to Ludo birthday bash and it was totally pawsome !!! Here we are are the local village pub I must admit I don't remember a lot of what happended after that - I think someone slipped something into my pina-cokibble drink or maybe it happened after I hit my head on the wall while chasing a a red light. After the pub we went down to the beach and played some games and I even got to join in the conga line.....how cool was that - dang I wish I could remember it though.

If you want to see more of Ludo's Birthday bash - check out his blog for even more amazing pawwwty pictures. It makes me wonder how he is going to surpass this for his next birthday....but I am sure he will. Maybe we should start suggesting places for the next one. Where would be a really cool place for Ludo's next birthday pawwwty?

I have my own sheep!

Mom decided that no self respecting sheep dog could not have it's own sheep to she got me one - Taa Daahhhh .....meet Ali Bah Bah. Now of coarse Ali is no ordinary sheep - for one thing he has squeakers every where - one in each foot and one on each side and one his head. Personally I think it is squeaker overload and can you imagine what it like when he walks - squeak squeak squeak squeak. I think for some reason though Ali will be doing a lot of just laying around munching grass as his legs seems a little floppy to me. Now I know - you guys are probably thinking he was whispering sweet nothings in my ear but actually he was telling me what the secret code is for herding ...I will share it with you guys just in case you come across any sheep "bah ram ewe - to your flock you must be true - bah ram ewe - to your flock you must be true" It was quite hypnotic listening to him chant it. And it's really odd but I am sure I have heard this before - something to do with a sheep herding pig maybe. Now mom being a bit silly - decided one sheep wasn't really a lot to herd so she got me three others things to herd (they are all the same so they really are a little herd) Can you guess what they are? Check back tomorrow and see the photos. Hmmm I wonder if we shear of Ali's wool and make it into a carpet - if anything magical would happen. And tomorrow - we are going to start a fun new game. Woofitty woofs.

Happy Birthday Ludo

Happy Birthday Ludo !!
It is Ludo's birthday today and he is 1 year old. We have been lucky enough to watch him grow over the last year and he is so cute and so very smart. We always enjoy his little training videos and his romps on the beach. So happy birthday little guy and not to many of the those yummy treats or your mom will be be putting you on a diet!

I got mail !!!

I got mail....a card from Josh and Jess that even had there paw prints in - that smelled very interesting and I gave it a lot of good sniffing and also a card from the Ragtails gang (Marie). These were to say thank you for the little sheltie charms I sent them. It is very exciting getting mail. Mom will be adding these to my "Life of Reilly Book" where she keeps all my special memento's.

I be the happiest dawg ever

Contemplating the good things in life at Reilly's Lake

It was quite warm this afternoon and mom was feeling a little better and she said let's go for a drive. So off we went and guess where we went - to my favorite lake. There was a lot of activity going on on the far side, lots of cars and noise and we didn't know what it was so we stayed on the quiet side. Mom sat on a park bench in the shade and I sat under a shady just staring out over my lake....it just felt so good to see it again. I am thinking though that "Offutt Lake" is a dumb name and that Reilly's Lakes sounds much better so from now on that is what we are going to call it. We watched the hawks soaring in the warm air thermals and every now and again they would dive down to water. One of them actually caught a fish and mom was happy about that because at least some of the fish survived after they poisoned the lake last summer to get rid of those bad zebra mussels. The mom would sit for awhile and then we would move along to the next bench where she would sit again. I didn't mind as I had my long lead on and I got to explore and sniff each place. When we ran out of benches to move to, we got back in the car and I thought we were going home, but guess what? We went down to the river!!! I like the river too as there are usually lots of people and other doggies there taking walks along the trail. That is what we did, we walked and then sat, then walked and then sat again. I got to say hello to a spaniel like Ludo's Aunt Penny - but this one was white with brown spots. And then a chocolate lab puppy came over and said hello he was very bouncy and happy. I got lots of pats too which made me happy. The river actually separates Nebraska from Iowa so I can be be in two different States in a matter of minutes if I want too and we go over the bridge you can see in the background. I like going over that bridge - it is a toll bridge and you have to stop and pay $1 to cross, well the last time I went the nice lady leaned out the window and gave me a cookie!!!! That means I get cookies at the all the Pet Stores,the Vets, the Bank and now the Bridge - gosh do I have them wrapped around my paw!! Of coarse mom doesn't like to be impolite so we always take the cookies but she doesn't let me have them - which isn't fair ....but she says it's for my own good - hummmppffff is what I say to that. Oh, do you notice how pretty green it looks now - so much nicer then that awful winter color. When we came home I had a big drink and then we went to see Franklin as he went to his annual vet check yesterday and we wanted to make sure everything was fine - and it was, he got a perfect bill of health.....I wonder if that is some type of cookie too? YAAAAAAAwwwwwnnnnn - time for a nap I think, I have had a very big day.

Watching the world go by at the River Walk

She's a hero

My dad and his daughter Valerie are off in Wisconsin this weekend visiting his other daughter Elise. She came to visit us at Christmas and I liked her a lot. Anyway, they had been to visit the "House on The Rock" and on the way back saw an accident happen on the other side of the road. A women in a white car had stopped to make a left hand turn and SUV just plowed straight into the back of of her. The SUV stopped completely but the white car spun around and around and started smoking. My dad stopped immediately and as he did so Elise jumped out of the car and raced over to the white car which was now on fire. She pulled the woman out of the car and helped her get away from the car. Dad went straight to the other car and checked on the women in that. She had banged her knees pretty bad and the air bag had hurt her chest but she seemed okay. He checked around her car and there didn't seem to be any danger of fire near her. Elise's friend in meantime was calling 911 and just as Elise got the women from the white car back to dad's car, the white car exploded in a ball of fire!!!! All of this basically happened in a time frame of about three minutes. My poor dad - he is so proud of Elise and he was also so scared when he realized what Elise had done, especially when the car exploded......a few seconds either way and both Elise and the women she saved could of been badly burnt or worse. I think without a doubt Elise was an absolute hero and we give her 4 paws up!

Colitis - an on going problem

Both Ludo and Ricky mentioned they have colitis and I wanted to let you all know about my experience with this and just to help their moms be aware that it can have on going problems.

I started suffering with this after going to Colorado on vacation eight months ago and still suffer with it. The vet also thinks I picked it up from sniffing around where wildlife had been.

It has left my tummy and intestines extremely sensitive and it is why I have to now eat a limited ingredient diet ALL the time. My food is Venison and Sweet Potato and is made by Royal Canine. It can only be purchased from the vets and is rather expensive at $26.00 for a 5 pound bag.

Luckily after much hunting mom found Natural Balance L.I.D (Limited Ingredient Diet) it is also a venison and sweet potato food and I can tolerate that okay too. They also do a salmon and sweet potato but I don't like fish. We get that at Petco and it is $14.00 for a 5 pound bag. Because this food doesn't have all those fillers in it, I don't need as much, just a half a cup in the morning and half a cup a night. The bag says a dog my size should get 3 cups a day....but without all those fillers it is higher in calories so we found I didn't need that much.

The other thing we really found that helped is not to give me straight dry food. Mom always adds a quarter cup of water to my food. This stops the dry food from absorbing all the good bile in my tummy and also stops constipation. We have found that any food that has chicken, chicken meal or rice/ rice flour in it triggers off the colitis again. I also can't tolerate beef or lamb and even chomping on a yummy beef bone will upset my tummy now.

The mom spent over a $1000 dollars at the vets before they finally found what it was and it was only when they sent all my samples to the Vetinary School at Texas University that we finally got an answer.

The other thing that is very important is the bedtime cookies - I get two of them and they stop me from throwing up that icky yellow frothy stuff. There are cookies and treats available for sensitive tummys, you just have to read the ingrediant labels carefully. We have found some vanilla pretzel cookies at Petco (at the cookie bar) that only have 3 ingriediants and I love those and the girls in there know they are the only ones I am allowed to have. The hard thing for moms and dads is to be very strict about treats and table goodies - no matter how pleadingly we look at them.

Hope you guys feel better soon and please if it continues, talk to your vets and ask them about food sensitivies and if it could be triggering your upset tummies.

Thank you

I just wanted to let you all know that my mom really appreciated your kinds thoughts. The mom has this thing called SLE (systemic lupus) and also rheumatoid arthritis. She has had this she was 20 years olds and goes through these things called flares ups. Don't tell her I told you but when she's in a lot of pain she gets very grumpy and is a bit like a bear with a sore head. I am not really sure what a bear is or why it would have a sore head but that is what dad says she can be like. Hmm I wonder if the bear ran into a wall? I have done that once or twice when I was playing with my red dot light and not watching where I was going......dog oh dog you see lots of red lights flashing when that happens :)

Oh.....did you know lupus is latin for wolf.......hmm do you think my mom is part wolf - maybe that is why she is growly when she's hurting??? Anyway, mom is in a pretty bad flare up at the moment so it's hard for he to do things as all her joints are swollen. I just know she is finding is hard to walk which means I don't get to go for a walkies and I love my walkies. We did go visit Franklin today though so at least I got to go out of my yard. Mom's fingers are also very bad and she can only type with one hand at the moment. Mom say's it will pass and I sure hope so because the spring is here and its a great time for going to the park and having fun. In the meantime, I will just be here for my mom, looking after her and letting her pat me when she want too......but NO cuddles....... cuddles are yukky unless it's with my dad, I love dad cuddles.

Sorry I have not been around much

Hi guys. I am sorry I have not been visiting everyone but my mom isn't doing to to well at the moment so I am spending lots of time with her. We are both thinking about everyone though and missing you all and hope to be back visiting soon.

Wordy Wednesday - Nails

Lookie lookie - my grass is turning green again - how cool is that after all that brown yucky stuff over winter. Now.....Before I get to the Wordy Wednesday Word I wanted to say something.

Okay - here I am trying to give my best puzzled look in this photo. I wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful and encouraging comments on my new look blog but I am a bit perplexed about a theme I noticed. My buddies kept mentioning what a clever mom I have and that she was talented. HUH WHAT???? Sure the mom helped a teeny tiny bit but I made my new blog!!!!! (didn't you see me at the computer???) I am the super talented clever cowspotdog just like you all are the super clever talented creators of your blogs. Or are you trying to say YOU don't do your blogs - goodness next you will have me believing there is no Santa Paws. Okay - Having got that off my furry chest - the word for today is Nails. Eeeeeewwwwww I can feel you all shuddering at the mere thought of getting nails timmed.

Nails
I get my nails ground not cut and we were wondering about what others prefer. You have probably all seen the commercial for the Pedi Paws thing (if you live in the USA) it is a nail grounder specifically for pets. Now the mom is very fussy about checking these things out and one of the things she noted and that they don't tell you on the commercial is - there are actually two different grinders, one for small dogs which is the $19.99 version and one for bigger dogs which shelties and anything larger fall into and that one cost $59.99. In the stores mom has only seen the small one for sale and she thinks there are probably a lot of disappointed buyers out there.


What our dog groomer and vet both use though is a small Dremel and this is what the mom uses now. It has adjustable power and can grind any size doggies nails. Like any kind of nail trimmers you MUST BE VERY CAREFUL. Mom says the number one thing to keep in mind is that the fur around the nails MUST be clipped away so you can see exactly what you are doing. Then it is simple a matter of slowly shaping from under the nail tip to over and around the end until it is the desired length. The great thing with grinding is that is doesn't squash the nail like clippers do and it doesn't leave any rough scratchy edges. Mom has been using this for the past year and I am very happy as she has not once caught the qwik or made my nails bleed. So for you doggies out there who don't like having your nails cut with clippers, there is another option.