A transplanted Southern Californian living in North Dakota Idaho, with some insights on life with deaf dogs, a gluten free spouse, and the occasional mischievous garden gnome. Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy.





Monday, July 31, 2017

Scraggly Tito Picture

As I mentioned in his Birthday post, Tito is shedding in droves and it looks pretty funny. 
The picture may be a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea, it looks like he's got a furry cape on. The hair literally falls off  him as he walks around, like a boat throwing off a wake of white hair. On the bright side, the sleek Tito coat underneath makes him look quite svelte.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Tito's 17th Birthday

It's Tito's birthday this July! We can't be exactly sure what day, or even what month he was actually born though. As a thrice returned to the pound deaf mutt with questionable parentage, Alycia had to simply take July as the most likely month he was born and treat that as his birthday month.

Tito is 17 years old this year. Seriously. I'll repeat that since it wobbles the mind to even write it. Tito is 17 years old. Tito has been with Alycia for 16 years and (aside from Alycia) is my longest tenured non-family live in companion. He looks and acts dang good for 17. Except for a few health issues and some occasional quivering/shaking in his back legs, he's about as healthy as can be expected at this age. 

We wrote back in March about Tito's health issues, a seizure and subsequent numerous vet visits. Between his age and health issues I was afraid that a big change in his environment (moving houses) would hasten his demise. In fact the opposite has happened and Tito seems downright reinvigorated. I don't know if it's dry air, the altitude, or the sweet new backyard, but he's improved noticeably. He's still on his medication for the congestive heart failure and he still has an occasional hacking cough, but he tries to play with me, Alycia, or the other pups nearly every day and he's been going on our short afternoon walks a few times a week, even though it's 90+ degrees outside.
Aside from his birthday, Tito's other overpowering characteristic is his shedding. It's hard to tell from the picture above, but Tito is shedding like a crazy. Chunks of his undercoat are coming out and he looks even more bedraggled than normal. Even though he's deaf and has obviously lost some vision, he somehow still knows when the camera is out and this is the best picture we could get.

Tito is probably part Corgi, a breed known for shedding. Every summer he usually sheds a reasonable amount and loses some of his undercoat, but this summer has set a new standard. There are huge Tito hairballs everywhere. Swept up one day, they magically reappear the next. They aren't so much hairballs as hairboulders. Shaak Ti and Shadowfax shed as well, but nothing in comparison to Tito. Plus the other dogs will actually let us pet them and when we're outside we give them both thorough massages to get the loose fur out.
Tito being Tito though, he won't let us brush him. We have (or had) dog brushes galore, and I think even one of those Furminators somewhere, but we can't use any of them. If he just gave us 2 minutes to brush him he'd probably be much more comfortable. But we're left to try to occasionally sneak up and grab handfuls of loose undercoat. As you can imagine, he's not too fond of this technique. The picture above is one such "Tito-grab" worth of fur.
Tito looks so bedraggled and scraggly that he reminds me of these bighorn sheep that we saw a few years ago in Glacier National Park (more pictures from this old posting). It was early June and the sheep were losing their winter coast and looked very scraggly. They were bickering over something tasty that was left in the campsite fire pit, an activity that Tito would likely have been proud of.

So the next chance you get, please wish Tito a happy birthday, after all he's 17 years old. Celebrate in true Tito style: snarl viciously and unexpectedly at a loved one, snap at a stranger, urinate on something you probably ought not to, or eat way too much meat in a single sitting. Tito salutes your efforts.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Shadowfax Demands Attention

At some point in the afternoon (every afternoon), Shadowfax begins to stir from her sunbeam slumberings. She'll usually explore the backyard, patrol around the grounds, and maybe bark at some squirrels for a bit. Ultimately though she will get bored and demand more personalized attention.
Typically I'm sitting in my chair, getting some work accomplished when she'll plop her big ole pittie noggin on the footrest. This is her "Ummm...yeah, so I'm bored and want some attention now" face.
"Hold on just a second, was that a squirrel?!?!?" These are also great photos that capture Tito and Shaak Ti in the background. More on Tito in future posts, but he's about to celebrate a big birthday. 
Meanwhile, Shaak Ti sleeps through it all. Today she had a big morning of chasing squirrels and barking vociferously at them. In her defense, the squirrels have seemed to recognize that the dogs cannot climb trees and are not threat from a branch that is 8 to 10 feet off the ground. The squirrels now just sit there, taunting our poor pups. Not cool.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Shadowfax Helps with Moving

The dogs have acclimated very well to their new homestead, settling into their routine and happily making themselves at home. Shaak Ti has loved having a multitude of warm places to sun herself, and Shadowfax has enjoyed exploring her new yard and barking at all the squirrels.
We have been in the house now for about three weeks and have most of the boxes unpacked. There's still a good deal of rearranging and reshuffling to do, and a more than a few things are still waiting in the garage. We'd moved a few things out of the guest bedroom and were arranging furniture the other day. This white sitting chair had to be temporarily placed near Shadowfax's bed. She decided it was useful to have there so she could watch the goings on without the burden of having to hold her head up on her own.
Don't fret though, after a few hours, her napping spot was back to it's regular configuration and she was able to sprawl out.