REALLY MOM !

You went HERE and didn't take us - REALLY MOM. We know you have been a little loopy lately but what possessed you to go without us? My dogness - we could of sniffed our noses off there. YOU HAD BETTER take us next time or ELSE !!!

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Denny Update

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We have been been trying quite a few of Cesare Milan's tips for working with stressful dogs - that help a little but not a lot - obviously I am not a dog whisperer or have his magic touch :(

Thank you Sara for mentioning that book...I did get it awhile ago and it is excellent. I have read through it twice and have been using that as my guidelines. I also found another great book on understanding dog psychology and that also helped a lot.

We are just back from the vets and after MUCH discussion we are going to give Denny "Clomicalm" - just a half dose of the medication (based on his size) to see if it helps...he has a sensitive tummy so we thought we would try a half dose and work up to a full dose if he can tolerate it. We are not expecting miracles but if they help him be just a little less scared of everything we will be happy. Thankfully - as you can see in the photo - he liked the taste of the tablet. We will give an update in a couple of weeks.

[Note from Reilly]
We are sorry we haven't got around to everyone's bloggies the last few days - can you believe Mom & Dad went off to a place called "Little Rock" and left us home to guard the house! "IT'S" Mom was here so NO we weren't alone but it was still a big job for us. You can see some of Mom and Dad's adventure on Mom's bloggie http://farawaygaze.blogspot.com/ although why you want to I don't know - considering we are not in ANY of the photos!!!!!

Denny Day

Hello it is me Denny and today is all about MEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I am all grown up now and becoming quite the educated doggie .....like Weilly...... but for some reason this big old world REALLY scares me! It doesn't scare at Weilly at all and I am trying to be just like him, but for some reason it just isn't working. I see monsters and scary things EVERYWHERE!!!!!

Mommy has tried soooooo hard to help me, she takes me with her when ever she can, she introduces me to new people and new things all the time (which I don't like at all but that she says is good for me) and she has been trying really hard to teach me all the things Weilly knows BUT I am so scared of EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME that I can't even focus on mommy enough for a few seconds to learn what I need to learn. She says I am constantly looking around and worrying and even a treat won't hold my focus - no matter how yummy it is.

Mommy says she KNOWS I am smart and could easily learn all the stuff Weilly knows but we just have to figure out a was to get past all my scarries. So mom is wondering what others have tried? We don't have any holistic vets here so mom is thinking about talking to Dr. W (my dogtor) and seeing if some relaxant medication would help. Mom is a bit worried as she doesn't want me snoozing all the time or 'zonked' out as she calls it....but we don't know what else to try.

We have tried the calm collars, aroma therapy and natural medications but in all honesty they didn't make the SLIGHTEST difference. We have tried some different foods, vitamins etc......but nothing. Mommy is getting very upset and worried because she says it just isn't right that I can't enjoy life .....yes, even going for a walk in the park with all the wonderful smells scares me. Mom has even tried taking me on paths where there are no peoples or other doggies...but even a twig snapping or leafs rustling have me so scared that I am constantly looking around all worried.

(Note from mom) I am taking Denny to to dogtor today to see if what is happening is a follow on from the neurological reaction he had to the Certifect. Many of you may remember how we called Denny "the honey badger" when we first bought him home as he was fearless and would take on anything. These days he is the total opposite and it is so heart wrenching to see my little boy living a life of fear.

If you have any suggestion we would love to hear them as Denny is just the sweetest little boy and we want him to love and enjoy his life - not be afraid of it.

The Pee Mail entry list

Don't forget pupsters and others to send me a message about the link to your post - include the link in your message please.

The rules are simple

1. Simply take of photo of YOUR doggie checking out their FAVORITE pee-mail spots. We don't want photos of doggies LEAVING pee-mail - just of them checking it.

2. To make it a little interesting and challenging - we would also like a caption either with or on the photo.

3. The Competition Runs runs from May 16th through to June 16th 2012

4. Anyone can enter - YES - from anywhere in the WORLD and you can email us your photos if you don't have a bloggie. Send to cowspotdog@mail. com

5. NO trying to bribe the judges - well just don't mom about it if you do !!!!

THE ENTRIES TO DATE

MISS KATIE ------ Sigh - have you ever seen such a beautiful girl checking out pee-mail http://dawnking.interspike.com/?p=14328

FINN - Finnackles busy checking out here finds http://finnhoward.blogspot.com/2012/05/peemail.html

Mitch and Molly - http://northfordmaggie.blogspot.com/2012/05/peemail-competition.html

Beckett and Keltic - (Helen) - new spots are the best to check! http://helenshomeworld.blogspot.ca/2012/05/pee-mail.html

Khyra and Khousin Merdie - Noses to the grindstone we see- http://khyraskhorner.blogspot.com/

A bone a bone my kingdom for a bone

Today was a special day at the cowspotdog ranch

Some words from Mom

I took Mr Reilly in for his yearly shots today and also wanted to pick up some flea, tick worm medicines. For us, the safest things we have found to use on the boys is Front Line Plus for the Fleas and Ticks and Interceptor for all the worms. Why one of these companies can't just make a single medicine that covers all I don't know!!

Anyway - the makers of Interceptor recently had some FDA trouble - I understand it was about them accidentally mixing up some human medicines (which would be very scary if you were one of the humans taking one of those medicines) - they DIDN'T mix up any pet medicines but the investigation from the FDA did result in the stopping of production of ALL pet and human medicines for a short time and as a result it is nearly impossible to get or find interceptor at the moment. They are saying it will be at least 6 months before it is back in full production. Everywhere we tried online was out of stock.

Now we could ........and have........ used Advantix Multi in the past but that actually only covers fleas and worms and doesn't do ticks - so then you have to add a tick medicine to the regime. Mr Denny is unfortunately very sensitive to these medicines and had quite a bad neurological reaction to Certifect so we have to be ultra careful about trying him on new things. Reilly on the other hand can't have the heartguard chews - he can have the tablets but they have stopped making those too! Dogs with allergies are such fun :) :)

The other issue at the moment is the some of the worming medications also contain flea medications which means doubling up on them if you use a spot treatment. Best option - talk to your vet about ALL the options and then pick the best one for your doggies

In our area at the moment ticks are a huge problem and although Reilly and Denny haven't had any of them we have pulled three of Jackson - I am assuming it's because he is so low to the ground that he prone to getting them - although you would think the boys long coats would make it ideal for such nasty critters to jump on them. It could also be that Jackson's Mom is not very responsible about getting Jackson his medicines on time!

For those that don't know - there is also a HUGE issue about getting the specif medicine to treat heart-worm once a dog gets it - NOT I REPEAT NOT the medicine to prevent it (that is available). It appears the patent for the medicine they use to treat it - ran out and now no-one is willing to make it because without the monopoly on it they can't make enough money off it anymore (like a gazzillion bucks instead of a trillion!!!). This is sadly and I find disgustingly the same thing that is happening with many human cancer treatments.

It is a sad and sorry world we live in when peoples health and pets health all fall whim to all mighty dollar. PREVENTION is without a doubt the safest way to go at least for our pets for it would be awful to hear of any our buddies falling sick to something you can no longer get a cure for - but you could of hopefully prevented it in the first place.

I only wish there was were more preventative cures for people cancer........of coarse the easiest and hardest one for that is life style change - and although we all know "what we should do" me included - we always seem to find excuses why not too. But here is something that can benefit both you and your doggies - get out there and enjoy life! I know I have been doing this this last couple of weeks and both the boys and I (well Reilly and I at least - Denny is just scared the whole time) are enjoying it greatly.

Wordless Wednesday

Anything Wuzster can do Jack Jack can do better and look cuter doing it !

The art of exercise - Wuzster Style

Mommy says I am starting to look like a bit of a Chunky Monkey and Mr Vet said I was a hefty little boy -personally I don't think they have any idea what they are talking about and in fact were being a little rude!!!!

Anyway - Mommy says I need to get more exercise. Okay Mommy, that sounds like a plan to me....I think I will start with the treadmill. Dog oh dog look at me go - I should be greyhound sleek in no time! Yes - I will get plenty of exercise on this machine !!!!

Mish Mash Monday # 5

We haven't had much at all do with CATS but our natural instincts say we are mortal enemies (just take Alred on Berts Blog for example!) . Needless to say when I saw one of these dreaded creatures at the Vet's office - caged as it should be for what a ferocious beasty it was - Mom just had to try and get a photo of the meeting - of coarse it didn't quite work out the way she wanted - lets just say there was a lot of hissing, spitting and barking going on.......and that was just me!

Name game results

The results are in and this week we will be known to one and all as fluff butt, wuzster and jack jack. Now what you may not know is there is a little story behind each of these nic names. Mine - fluff butt comes from the fact that I have a big fluffy butt (no its not because I am gassy all the time)!!!! Mom says I look like I a wearing pantaloons! REALLY mom - you really had to tell them that. The wuzsters name is self explaining -he is just scared of EVERYTHING . Jack jack comes from the fact that he is as bouncy as a jumping jack. What about your names - do they have a story behind them?

2nd Annual Pee Mail Competition 2012

In honor of Sweet Maggie who now watches over all us from up there over the rainbow bridge - we are holding our second annual pee mail competition. We KNOW Maggie is so happy that her brother Mitch has a new sister Molly to play with and that her Mom and Dads hearts don't hurt quite as much as they did and we KNOW Maggie is checking pee mail in heaven every day so you had better be good doggies as she will know about it! Oh for those that don't know - Maggie and Mitch won our first competition.

Now for our competition - it is easy

Simply take of photo of YOUR doggie checking out their FAVORITE pee-mail spots. We don't want photos of doggies LEAVING pee-mail - just of them checking it. To make it a little interesting and challenging though - we would also like a caption either with or on the photo.

So get out there and do some PeeMail checking and tell Mom or Dad to take the camera with you - Bonus - it means you get to go walkies!

The Competition Runs runs from May 16th through to June 16th 2012

The Prizes 1st prize will be your very own fire hydrant for your garden - ( it stands 14" high) how cool is that!
We will also have some small 'fire hydrants' gifts for the 2nd and 3rd places. Don't forget to tell your buddies and share on your bloggie - anyone can enter - YES - from anywhere in the WORLD and you can email us your photos if you don't have a bloggie cowspotdog@mail. com - so go out there and have fun (and maybe leave some peemail for Maggie - we know she would love to hear-sniff from you!

Remember to come back here and leave the link for your posting!!!!

The name game

We are joining in Sarges NicName Game - like everyone else - we often wonder what our REAL names are - we seem to get called so many....so here we go - don't forget to vote for your favorite

Reilly - Riles, Riddly, Riddly Diddly, Big Dog, Fluff Butt, Mr Reilly, My Boy, Mc Fluffy

Denny - Denster, Den-Den, Small Dog, Wuzster, Baby Boy, Sneak Thief,

Jackson - Jackeeeee, Jack Jack, Dorky, Poopy Butt, Ground Hog, Little Dog, Baby Cakes

Wordless Wednesday 05/16/12

Mish Mash Monday # 4

With everything happening lately we got behind on our Mish Mash Mondays. We will try catching up now. Trying to take a photo of the 'little guys' can be hard when the only thing they want to do is PLAY!

Happy Mother's Day

As a special treat for our Mom - we have given her, her very own bloggie for Mother's Day! It's not an interesting bloggie like ours is, it's just Mom sharing some of thoughts and interesting stuff she finds or knows about. She hopes you will pop over and have a look at it and maybe become a follower. You can check it out here - it's called "Upside Down Right Side Up"

Happy Mother's Day to all all the Mom's out there. We think Jazzi has the right idea and one we should ALL follow - give your Mom a Chewy Bone that she can give to YOU...... to keep you quiet for the whole day !!! What a win win :)

Dog Tired!

We had the biggest surprise yesterday, Mom packed us all in the car and off we went for the WHOLE day on an adventure. It took an hour to get where we were going - a new park! It was called the Davidson Historical Park and was the site of a strange and mysterious town. Seems all the people of the town just "disappeared" - this happened over 100 years ago so no-one is really sure what happened. It could of been Indians, a Plague or UFO's! All they know is the people just seemed to have left. No bodies or skellie-bobs were ever found and the houses hadn't been burnt (like they normally do if there is a plague). It was a really pretty town at one time and so well set out, and 'dog oh dog' what a gorgeous place it was built on. Right next to river, high enough not to be flooded and surrounded by trees.

Anyway - we arrived at the park and went for a looooooong walk, following the different walking trails and it was BOOTI-FUL ! So peaceful and quiet and best of all - we the only ones there!

"It" and It's Mom also came with us and you can see one of the many cool bridges we came across. We walked and walked and while Mom enjoyed all the fresh air and listening to the birds - we SNIFFED and left pee-mail EVERYWHERE!! We even got to chase some of those pesky squirrels! Of coarse the Wuzster was his normal self and was scared of everything! We even went to visit a little cemetery in the woods and there was gravestones dating back to 1801. Mom said they were pretty old.

There was also a big lake at the park, so when we finished exploring the paths, we headed over to it. Mom went back to the car and bought back some boxes over to a picnic table and 'dog oh dog' - she had packed a picnic for us all!!!! We found a nice bench in the shade right next to the water and relaxed while we had some lunch. There was cheese and meats and crackers - Mom had some salad fixings but we didn't want any of that. She had a big bowl of spring water for us too. Our Mom sure does know how to spoil us. She even had some beef jerky for us and we had that for dessert!

After our picnic we went for another wander and here we all are on the dock , the lake was so calm, no wind and we could hear frogs calling. This is actually a man made lake and they fill it from the nearby Black river.

There was also just one pair of ducks at the lake and they the NERVE to come over to our picnic and let me tell you - I told them off good and proper when ever they got to close. No way were they going to get any of MY food! IT's Mom of coarse wanted to feed them - can you believe that - what a waste of noms! [MOM] for some reason Reilly really didn't like this pair of ducks and kept chasing them away.

Oh I nearly forgot - Look at IT - what bad table manners he has, standing up there ON the table with his paws. He was trying to pretend what a good boy he was waiting for his lunch - but don't let it fool you - we know he was just being bad mannered and wanted to see what was happening across the way.

After our lunch we went on another walk right around the lake and finally went back to MY car where I was ready for a bit of rest and another big drink. Mom got us all in the car and we thought we were heading home - but nooooooo.

We went exploring some more. Mom decided to "just drive down this road and have a look" and guess what we discovered. Another park right next to the river and this pawsome little historical village. It only consisted of about 10 building that had been beautifully preserved and one of the buildings was this amazing old court house. Now it might not seem to odd - except there was nothing else there - just the few buildings and the park. There was no people living in the area surrounding the buildings, it wasn't a town or anything....just some amazing building in the middle of no-where. The other funny thing about this court house was it was built right on top of the hill and the only way to get to it, was up the wooden steps and there of been like 100 of them!!! Mom couldn't get a really good photo of them all ......but it was done in levels and had little rest stops as you went up. It was very cool but a lot of work getting to the top.

We also had a walk along the river which was really nice but we were all getting pretty tired by then, so after another big drink we all got back in MY car, Mom turned the air conditioner on for us and we settled back for a good long nap while Mom drove for the hour to get back home. We were still so tired when we got home we slept for the rest of the day and evening - dreaming of our adventure.

A sad tale to tell

Ellllooooooo it is me Denneeeeeeee.  Come closer .....I have something terrible - simply terrible share.  It was MY birthday on the 18th of April - MY very first birthday, the only first birthday I will ever ever have - and no-one remembered.  Sure, I have heard the excuses........

[MOM] Denny - Mommy is sorry sweet baby boy - but you know we were all off in Australia at the time and we were having so much fun, you were seeing so many new things and exploring so much.  
[DENNY] Yeah Mommy and what!!! You could find the time to get me a cake -they have them in Australia you know...... and wish me a happy birthday???
[MOM] well  you forgot too Denny!
[DENNY] Reeeeeeeally Mom - are you saying I SHOULD have remembered my own birthday - that is YOUR job - a decent Mommy would of remembered
[MOM] Glares at Denny - Well Dad didn't remember either!
[DENNY] Well Dad doesn't even remember my name yet - did you really expect him to remember my birthday, he doesn't even remember yours!
[MOM] I am sorry Denny, how about we go to the pet store and the park!
[DENNY] I am scared of the pet store and the park Mom - did you FORGET that too!
[MOM] Well we are going anyway - Mr GRUMPY!

So off we went to the pet store and Weilly got his itchy back scratched all over - he loved it and he got treats. I was hiding behind Moms legs the whole time which is why you can't see me. Great birthday treat Mommy - told you I am scared of the pet store!

 











Then we went to the park and .....okay I admit it was nice. Mom took us around the lake and through the trees. There wasn't many people there even though it was a beautiful day....... so I was happy.  And then I found this thing that smelled sooooo interesting -
[DENNY] "Can I take it home Mom?"
[MOM] ....."Eeeeewwww Denny - leave that alone, it's a dead squirrel!"
[DENNY] But MOM! it smells so good and I want to roll on it!!!

Needless to say MOMMY wouldn't let me have it and I can see no good reason why not!  She DRAGGED us away from it and we went off and did some more exploring. I REALLY REALLY wanted to go back and get that squirrel thing though.


We then came across some BIG rocks we had never seen before and I have decided to call them Dennyhenge because there is a big circle of them. See I staked my claim on them. I am king of the castle and Weilly's the dirty rascal!!!! It was nice in the shady wood area, Weilly was quite happy to just veg in the vegetation.

 






On the way back from the woods we saw this big scary thing in an open area of the park.
[DENNY] what's that Mommy? 
[MOM] it's a tent Denny - an event tent for celebrations 
[DENNY] oh....is this for MY birthday Mommy?
[MOM] no Denny
[DENNY] why not MOMMY - you did forget after all
[MOM] Because your birthday is past now
[DENNY} And who's fault is that......

And so the conversation went on all the way back to the car with Mom wondering if Denny will ever make it to 2 years old!!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Sweet Handsome Beautiful Denny Boy

Biting off more then he can chew

This was a treat Mom was keeping for us until a later date - but "IT" somehow "FOUND" it in the bag from the pet store - personally I say he STOLE it from the bag.  We know some of you like seeing "IT" - I have no idea why  - all's I have to say is "Dorky in breed and dorky in nature" Oh Mom says to check out his foot action - look how he stands with both front feet on the bone (it's the only thing having those short legs and big paddle feet are good for)

Sunny Sunday

What a bright sunny day - so bright even we doggies need sun glasses or hats!  And it is HOT!  Yep, sort of day where you race outside, do what you gotta do and then race back inside and ker-flop right in front of the air-conditioner. That is how much my Mom and Dad love me, they installed one in Mom's sun room at floor level just for me!!!

Our Visit To South Australia

Okay, we can see why Miss Asta likes this - Smilebox makes it much easier to show off a group of photos at once - so here we go - our visit to South Australia.  Even though Aunty Kris lives in the desert it was actually very green. We got to visit the local parks, the beach, the Arid Land Gardens and Redcliffs Lookout. We went up into the Flinders Ranges and saw lots of small towns and some giant CHICKENS running around with sheep!!!!

Then we caught the Ghan Train which runs from Darwin to Adelaide (it takes 3 days) but the bit we rode on was only 5 hours. We then started our tour of Adelaide and our first trip was to the zoo where I came across these big things that kinda look like me....black and white and cuddly. We will have more pics from the zoo and the rest of Adelaide tomorrow.

Photo album personalized with Smilebox

To hot already

The Mom is still getting over the jet lag thingy and is being a bit slack about sorting out all our photos so we thought we just share some of us that she took this morning. It is in the 90's here today (and it is still only spring!!!) I got to check out the front garden with Mom and the dweebs were "pretending" to be smart and sit in the shade.  And check out what we found under MY tree this morning. It stands about 6" high and is very weird looking. We are thinking it is probably a toadstool and not a mushroom.  Mom said the black on the bottom was almost like lace - she also wouldn't let us near it just encase it was poisoness.

I must say to I am not to happy about this new blogger look and editing either - I am sure I will get use to it EVENTUALLY - but you know how we old doggies hate change.

On the way

Here we are at the airport all ready to go - come on Mom and Dad, it's a long walk - let's get going. No MOM - you can't take the moving walk ways - they aren't even turned on this early in the morning. This was the start to our trip - which in total included 8 plane rides, 43 hours flying, 20 hours of waiting and lots of ear popping - which we didn't like at all! Mom had to rub our ears until we stopped shaking our heads. We couldn't hold our nose and blow like Mom and Dad could to make them pop.

Next was the waiting - we did A LOT of waiting! But we were very lucky thanks to Dad's platinum frequent flyer status we got to wait in the Executive Lounge and there was free drinks and snacks - what do you mean they don't have dog cookies or bones Dad?  Can we have some crackers and cheese Mom? We were going to need LOTS of energy for all of our flying.

We flew from Memphis to Chicago and then Chicago to San Fransisco and then San Fransisco to Sydney and then Sydney to Adelaide. Here is the BIG plane we took from San Fransisco to Sydney and our seats were right under the "I" in 'united'. Thanks to Dad being a 1K flyer he was able to upgrade our tickets to Business Class - it was the first time we have ever flown Business and we are spoiled now, it was so comfortable and our seats went all the way down to lay flat so it was easy for us to sleep on the longest part of our trip. The flight attendants were so nice but you know what - they couldn't keep their hands off of us!!!, they kept saying how cute we were and how soft our fur was and kept wanting to pat us all the time - My dogness - you would think doggies don't fly business class very often!


Mom also got these cool photos out of the window - the first one is when we flew over the Rockies and they had snow on them. Oh Mom - can we stop and play in the snow PLEASE! The second photo was of the horizon and shows the curvature of the planet - "what do you mean the earth isn't flat Mom - are you crazy?" Remember you can click on the photos to see them bigger.