Isn't She Cute??????

Isn't this 11 day old Basset Hound puppy simply adorable???? We wanted to adopt her so badly. She is from the same breeder that we got Stella from (our 6 month old Basset Hound).

After much serious discussion though, we decided that 5 dogs are enough. Stella is now 6 months old and I'm finally getting back to "normal" and getting bears made!

I finished this group of Pocket Bears earlier this week. These guys have already been adopted. I'm sorry I forgot to post here on my blog! I was a bit distracted while we were trying to decide whether or not to get that cute puppy.

In case I don't post before next Monday - have a great Memorial Day weekend! I want to thank ALL of our veterans and active service people for all they do for our country!

My Girls.....

I think I've mentioned it before.... we have 5 wonderful dogs :) And yes, I work full time from home on the bears. Besides the fact that I am easily distracted... (HA! an understatement!) having 5 dogs can sometimes make it hard to concentrate on getting work done.

Yesterday afternoon was one of those times that it was hard. I had been out running errands and when I came back I let all of the Girls outside in the back yard.

Evidently Pandora bumped into Cleopatra as they ran out the door. They are both whippets... Pandora is around 5 - Cleopatra is our oldest at 10 (and boss dog). Cleo hates to be bumped into and let Pandora know it. Well, Pandora was tired of taking "crap" from Cleopatra.... and so... 5 minutes later a trip to the vet was necessary :(.

Pandora did not get a scratch on her - but Cleo needed attention. Cleo is ok and wasn't even crying - and Cleopatra is a wimp when it comes to pain. But I saw 3 deep punctures on the back of her neck, a cut on her face and back. So off to the vet we go to get them cleaned up and get some antibiotics...sigh....

All is well now. Cleo takes pills once a day and I have to put a warm compress on the back of her neck with some medicine 3 times a day. I get a little woozy when I do that. I can't wait till those close up! (there's a good reason I did not become a veterinarian!)

Cleo did not need stitches, although one could have been closed with one stitch. But the doc wanted to keep them open so that if an infection did start, it would be able to drain easily (eeewww!!!) I thought I'd spare you and not post of photo LOL!! It looks much worse now than when it happened since they shaved around the wounds.

Right now Pandora, Athena (our other whippet) and puppy Stella are sleeping quietly in their crates so I can try to get some work done. Cleopatra is no bother, so she gets to stay out with me. Sequoya our Chihuahua is sleeping soundly inside my sweat jacket (aka the joey pouch). She's much quieter in there than if I put her in her crate!

Now I'm off across the street to take care of Lucy - our neighbor's Scottish terrier - then back to cutting out bears for the show!

The New Puppy ;)

I just love our Basset Hound puppy Stella (we got her the Sunday before Christmas) but boy I obviously had forgotten how much work puppies are!

We got our first puppy (Cleo our whippet) 10 years ago. Athena (another whippet) we got 9 years ago. Both of them were almost 3 months old when they came to us. The 3 dogs since then (Isis, Pandora - both whippets and our Chihuahua Sequoia) all came to us as adults.

So you can see... it's been a while since puppies LOL! That and we got Stella at around 7 weeks old instead of 11 or 12 weeks old ;)

I have a show and workshop to get ready for in New Hampshire this April. So.... what can I say.. all the Girls are in "their room" till this afternoon today... and we'll probably be doing it that way for most of the weekdays if I'm to get everything done in time LOL!!

Farewell to a Wonderful Friend....

It was finally time for Isis to go home. It wasn't unexpected, but we are sad because we miss her. She had almost 2 1/2 years of stolen time. We are SO glad we had that opportunity to spoil her extra rotten. She was such a crazy whippet :)

She went the best way possible... playing outside with her sisters. She just had a heart attack while she was playing in the sunshine. She actually had RACED out the door to play ;) She had been feeling her old self and enjoying life. It was the best possible way for her to go. I wasn't home... but my daughter was :) I'm so glad Isis had family with her at the end and wasn't alone.

We'll miss you - you crazy whippet ;)

Current Bear in Progress

Although I have a couple more Half Pint bears to work on, I felt the urge to work on one of my medium sized bears. Here's a preview of what I'm working on... I can't wait till he's finished! He'll be between 10" - 11" tall. I just love the soft wavy white fur on his chest!

I wish I could let you know when he'll be finished, but I have a little trouble with determining how long a bear will take me to create.

Part of the reason for this "trouble" is my furry family... our 5 dogs. They are awesome! If you remember, one of our Girls, Isis, has congestive heart failure, but is doing well on meds. She's given us a couple of scares in the last 4-6 weeks and had a couple of visits to the "dogtor" (Thanks Tobi for that word, love it!) But with some more medication adjustments she is doing well again!

I'll let you know when this new bruin has been born!

Who's been keeping me busy... Isis!

Yep, that's my sweet Isis girl... asleep in a basket :) We had been noticing her slowing down over the past several months. (she has congestive heart failure) and lately she had been having some IBS problems. But then a couple of weeks ago she stopped eating or drinking. I wouldn't force her to eat, but I knew water was vital so I'd squirt water onto her tongue many times a day.

As you can see in her photo, she can't "not eat" for very long! Besides which, that is usually the sign that they are ready to "go home". We wanted to give her every chance though... and took her to our fabulous vets - Dundee Animal Hospital. We assumed we would be given the worst news....

But our Isis girl, she is stubborn with a capital S! She always has been, and it has certainly come in handy during her illness :) After Xrays of her heart and blood tests to test her organs, (as she is on some fairly strong meds) it appears she was dehydrated. She did start this on the hottest, most humid day of the year... poor thing! (even in the a/c)

The doctor gave her some fluids under the skin - which is tricky with heart patients... so she gave her 1/2 the normal amount. Also some meds for her upset tummy - which actually works on the brain, not the stomach.. cool. And help for her IBS.

The next day she was feeling better... not totally, but eating and drinking! After a few more days I called the doctor back and told her she felt a bit better, but still had problems with the IBS even on the meds. After a 15 minute phone consult, she had me just zip into the hospital real quick to see one of the techs for another dose of fluids, and some more stuff for the IBS. (probiotics) She also decided to go ahead and cut her digoxin in half. That med is the only one that she is on that would cause the IBS.

Boy did we see a difference within a day! Now our sweet Isis girl is behaving like she was 6 months ago! Full of piss and vinegar, trying to playfully beat up her favorite "sister" Athena :) This is certainly a dog with 9 lives!

2 Years Since Isis' Accident!

I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but one of our whippet dogs - Isis, had an accident 2 years ago that left her paralyzed and then the steroids to treat that almost killed her because she had a heart condition that we didn't know about.

The vet gave her days, weeks, maybe a couple of months to live. 2 years later, she's still going strong!! Last weekend was the 2 year anniversary of her accident. We just LOVE this little Girl and treasure each and every day we get to have with her. I posted more about her on our Whippets' Blog.