Jake and the chicks

My person Cheryl has a pretty cool job, sometimes. Granted there's a lot of desk work involved in getting a newspaper out (I know, I used to write a column for said newspaper). But sometimes she gets to get out of the office and meet neat people and pets. Today she went to this little bitty town called Icard and interviewed some really nice ladies who are opening a feed and seed store. "Do they have dog feed?" Lexie wanted to know. "They have feed for any animal you can think of," Cheryl explained. They also have a store mascot. His name is Jake and I think he's a Jack Russell terrier. One of Jake's jobs is to count the live baby chicks. They keep the chicks in these wash tubs under hot lights in the store. These chicks are pretty spoiled because when the people are not in the store they get to listen to music. (Sounds like Duchess. When our people leave her alone in the house sometimes they leave the radio or TV on for her). Anyway, Cheryl thought it was neat that Jake would look but not touch the chicks. If Lexie were that store's mascot, she would eat all of them in one swallow.

Here's a link to Cheryl's story: http://www2.morganton.com/content/2010/mar/26/farm-girls-turned-entrepreneurs-work-make-dream-co/

An update on Duchess

Duchess visited the vet specialist on Monday. Her protein levels are slowing coming up and so is her weight. We can tell she's feeling a ton better, too. The latest issue we are dealing with is hair loss. She's especially lost a lot of hair on her tail. Wes says she looks like an opossum. Her meds make her so hungry she gets to take her food to bed with her at night so she doesn't disturb the whole house when she wants a midnight snack. She's on a special prescription dog food and even has her own Pet Smart card with her name on it. There's been a couple of times that Lexie has gotten jealous of all the attention Duchess is getting. So much so that one weekend Lexie started limping to gain some sympathy points for herself. It worked until the next day when she forgot which foot "hurt" and started favoring the other one. We're still saying our puppy dog prayers for the little white not so fluffly thing. The next vet visit is in two weeks. Speaking of vet visits, I think it's about time for our annual check up. Yuk.

What we are doing with our extra hour of daylight

Though we lost an hour of sleep Saturday night, I'm liking this daylight savings time deal. On Sunday afternoon we played an extra long game of fetch. On Monday afternoon we picked daffodils, which are a little late blooming this year. And this afternoon we took a walk. It was our first walk since winter set in so we all were a bit out of shape. We, or at least Cheryl, have great intentions of walking everyday from now on. (We'll see how long that lasts.)

Overcome with fear

We’ve always suspected Duchess was a drama queen.
A few examples: When our people leave she does this horrible death howl for at least 10 minutes. When she gets taken to the doggie cleaners, she shakes like a leaf. And when she has to stay inside when it’s our feeding time she retaliates by going through the trashcan.
But the stunt she pulled Saturday topped them all.
The little white fluffy thing has been puny lately and our people and the vets are working on a diagnosis and cure. Part of the trial cure is special dog food and prednisone.
Cheryl had to make a special trip to the special vet in another county to pick up said dog food and drugs.
Thinking it would be a positive experience for Duchess to go in and come right back out, Cheryl took her inside the building with her to retrieve the items.
With Duchess cradled in her arms, Cheryl walked through the door.
Duchess panicked. Gave a yelp. And then passed out. She went limp in Cheryl’s arms. She fainted!
The nice vet helpers grabbed Duchess across the counter and rushed her back to the doggie ER where they immediately hooked her up to oxygen and checked her vitals.
Our guess is Duchess thought if she blacked out the rest of the world would too, since it revolves around her, and no one would be conscious enough to know she was in the vet’s office.
It backfired on her.
She ended up staying in a place she didn’t want to be at longer then she had to be.
After pumping her little brain with enough oxygen, Duchess came to, realized where she was and got better really quick.
Meanwhile, Cheryl is out in the lobby thinking the worst. To keep her mind from going to bad places, Cheryl struck up a conversation with some strangers. They talked about the weather, the war, Pax Hill Road in Burke County and a road with the same name but different spelling in Caldwell County – anything to keep their mind off what was happening to their doggies in the back.
After about 20 minutes, the vet called Cheryl in and gave her the skinny on Duchess. She did indeed faint because of lack of oxygen to her brain. He could take x-rays and run tests to find out why or prescribe her prednisone, which was why they were there in the first place. To keep from traumatizing the dog and the pocketbook even more, Cheryl decided to take Duchess home and watch her.
The vet’s instructions were to keep her activity level down and bring her back if she had any more episodes.
Once Duchess was out of the vet’s office, she made a miraculous recovery.
We haven’t worked up the nerve to tell her that in two weeks she’ll have to go back for more blood test.
Maybe the doggie doc can prescribe some doggie prozac. If not, we might all be needing some happy pills.

'Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth'

A new item on Duchess' diet is sweet potatoes and she gobbles them up. Who knew dogs love sweet potatoes. Like Daddy, like Duchess; Wes loves them, too.

Love is in the air

From me, Lexie, Duchess and our people ... HAPPY HEART DAY!

Top dog

The AKC has released its list of popular dog breeds. You would think the Golden Retriever would top the list, but no, it's another kind of retriever that made it to No 1, yet again.

Here's the list:

1. Labrador Retriever

2. German Shepherd

3. Yorkshire Terrier

4. Golden Retriever

5. Beagle

6. Boxer

7. Bulldog

8. Dachshund

9. Poodle

10. Shih Tu

Here's what State Point Media says about Goldens: "With their friendly temperament, intelligence and eagerness to please, Golden Retrievers are popular as family companions. This active and energetic sporting breed can adapt to many different living situations but requires daily exercise in order to thrive."
While the statement is true, I would like to add that we also never meet a stranger, are good hunters, are great diggers, enjoy collecting sticks, eat blueberries right off the bushes, can catch tennis balls, and I could go on and on. The only bad quality I can think of when it comes to Goldens is we get a little crazy when it storms. But other than that, what do labs have that we don't?