Jane, Guinness and Murphy's Blog (120)

Guinness is six!!!!  He's the little guy who brought me here to DK where I've made so many amazing friends.  He has brought us so much love and joy, and I'm so grateful to his breeder who was committed to producing Doodles with great temperaments.  We met his Mom who was the "family dog" and were able to talk to the owners of the Dad who worked as a therapy dog with the owner who was a Psychiatrist in Boston.  The puppies lived right in the house and were well socialized with children.  When…

Some of you may have seen to post from Sheri (Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom) about her DK bucket list and a visit this weekend.  Well today was the day.....and I was the lucky Doodle Kisses friend that she visited.  I've known Sheri ever since I joined DK and have always admired her.  She was such an inspiration as she went through so much with Sophie's illness and still always managed to help others.  She has fostered for the DRC five times, and who will ever forget what she did for Honey and…

My "big guy" turned four yesterday.  I kept thinking all day about the amazing journey he has taken us on....yes, quite a "ride".  I remember getting the "DRC call" telling us that he had been surrendered by his owners at 11 weeks. Karen and Jacquie knew that I had tried to adopt another "poodle mix" puppy from our local rescue but the dog was placed with a different family.  I was heartbroken...I had even bought a little pink puppy sweater.  It was a Friday night that the call came.  It was…

Murph had surgery today because he's had infected anal glands that were not responding to two rounds of antibiotics.  They have been uncomfortable and even painful for him and so he "licks" which irritates the problem even further to say nothing of giving him some rather disgusting breath.  Apparently they were even worse than our Vet suspected so she had to give him more sedation than originally anticipated.  He's home and doing fine tonight, but he's totally in "la la land".  I had a…

Many of you may have noticed that Karen the Queen of the Food Group has been MIA.  She's been here in CT visiting her best friend (me) and her "boys"...G & M.  It took great courage for her to get on that plane after not flying for 16 years but with a "little help from her friends" she did it!  We had such a fun weekend, and we were so busy that I never thought about taking out the camera.  We did think of it yesterday morning, but at that point G & M had gone off to Daycare because…

I think just about everyone knows about our journey with Murphy...the training and behavior therapy to help him manage through his reactiveness and aggression.  Well I think we're through the outward manifastation of his fear and insecurities....no more horrible barking, lunging and "freaking out" on walks when he sees other people or dogs.  Over the past few weeks we've been seeing some new behaviors that make me feel almost worse.  Murphy has now been trained to know not to "react" to…

I was reading last night about some of the "holistic" vet medicine techniques that are beginning to become more prevalent, and I came upon a quote that I really love and thought I'd share.  It's by Dr. Michael Fox....

"Much improvement is needed and will be achieved when certain bioethical principles that constitute the rights of all animals under our dominion become part of the heart and moral fabric of society.  These principles are: right breeding (to avoid harmful…

Pretty much everyone knows how naughty Big Murph has been and how he's had us on our last nerve.  We were actually so "burned out" from the hours and hours of training, Vet visits, monitoring his every thought and move that I'll confess I looked forward to getting away for a week, without the Doods.  I knew they'd be fine at their Daycare because we know the owner well and they go there once a week.  She is a trainer and knows how to handle Murph...he gets away with nothing there.  They've…

On Monday DH and I visited a Butterfly "farm" in Massachusetts.  Our DS is away at camp for two weeks, and so I'm arranging some day trips to places he would never be caught dead in.  DH was being a really good sport about coming with me, although I'm sure it ranked right up there with dental surgery for him.  To add insult to injury we had to go right by "Yankee Candle Village" to get there, so yes I did convince him that we needed to stop here.  Room after room filled with candles, dishes,…

I just had an experience that terrified me.  Guinness and Murph were playing here in the den, and I was on the computer.  They were doing their "shark biting" thing and having a good time.  Then I noticed that there was a problem....they both started thrashing about and Guinness was making an ungodly noise.  I jumped up and realized that their collars were somehow stuck together and Guinness could not breathe...he was strangling.  The problem was that they were thrashing so much that I…

Two years ago today, Murph came home.  He rocked our world!  He is the love of my life (well one of them), and I've been totally in love with this boy from the moment I laid eyes on him.  He is naughty and fresh, but he loves his Mom like nobody's business!  He was meant to be my dog, and he teaches me and helps me to grow every single day.  I have learned patience (I've never been known for that), confidence (I CAN train this big oaf), unconditional love (I never asked for a perfect…

How cool is this......

This morning for the first time in over a week Guinness was wagging his tail....really, really wagging.  Always when I first wake up I lean over and say "good morning" to my boys who are sleeping in their beds right beside me.  Guinness always has started wagging his tail when he saw that I was awake, but all that stopped when he was so sick.  He wouldn't even pick his head up....but this morning he was happy, and he felt good.  I can't even describe how awesome it was to see that little…

I mentioned somewhere in the past couple of weeks that I was ordering new dog puzzles for Guinness, and someone asked me where I was getting them.  Well with the holidays not only did I forget to respond, but I also forgot who asked, and now I can't find the post.  Guinness seems to like puzzles, but I've been frustrated because he figured out the ones I have in about 5 minutes, and then it was just about how fast he could get his paws on the treats.  It was no fun.  Karen actually turned me…

Today is Murph's second birthday.  At least we think it's today....we originally thought it was 12/17, but then in going through some of his paperwork it showed 12/21 as his BDay.  Murph was a DRC rescue, as most of you know....he came to us as a 10 week old puppy.  He was clearly one of the cutest Doodle puppies I had ever seen, and when I found out his name was Murphy, I knew he belonged here.  Remember this picture of "Little Murphy"?…

Guinness and Murph are both ALDs.....true Guinness is a mini, and Murph is a big guy, but they're both ALDs.  I was thinking today that they are as different as day and night.  Here are a few examples of what I mean...

Last night I gave each of them a marrow bone.  Guinness took it right to his downstairs bed and dug in.  Murph kind of dragged it around for a while, and then settled on the foyer rug with it.  Guinness went first for the little pieces of meat on the outside and…

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, THE GIFT OF HOPE FOR HUNDREDS OF HOMELESS  DOODLES MEANS SO MUCH MORE…

We’ve all seen and read DRCs rescue posts and updates here on DK….One heartbreak  turned “Happy Tale” after another. Every day Doodles of all ages, colors, sizes and coat types are being rescued from…

Most of you know that two weeks ago we had to make an unexpected trip to Maine because DH's Dad passed away.  The boys went to Daycare for a couple of days while we were gone.  Of course, I was worried sick about leaving them.  It seems that all that worry was in vain, because they were partying the whole time we were away.  There were a few dogs boarding that weekend, and the owner of the Daycare planned a little Howl-ween party for them.  She had no idea that they were charter members of…

Well I finally have my power back.  The past two weeks have been a true adventure for our family.  It started out with my DH's Dad having a serious heart attack....so DH left for Maine and was fortunate enough to be with his father when he passed away.  Then he drove back to CT to get DS and I to go up for the services.  I boarded the boys at their Daycare, so I knew they'd be okay, but I was still concerned.  We left on a Thursday and planned to be back Sunday morning to pick them up. …

I belong to a family comprised of "die hard" Red Sox fans.  This time of year is very stressful for many of my family members.....especially my DH and DS.  I know nothing about major league baseball, but the Sox seem to have a way of playing with the emotional well-being of my family every year at this time.  We took the boys out for a little B-Ball practice today.....we want to be ready in case they're "called up" to bail out the Sox.  Muprh is a pretty darn good athlete..and he knows it. …