Slippery Slope

Bear here.

Tidbit may be on the start of a downhill slide. He seems to have more trouble walking on the uncarpeted floors. Then again, so am I and I saw Webster slip and fall the other day. He is not even 5 years old. Mom bought a runner and put it between the office and the area rug in the living room. That helped Tidbit and me too. Mom suspects (and she's right) that I fell there a while back. Before the runner I was hesitant to come out of the office and would bark to express my displeasure. Mom said she is going to get a couple more of those things and I'm glad.

Tidbit seems to have a little more trouble eating. Mom has to make sure his ground up food is in smaller clumps. Sometimes he leaves food too. He still has a feisty attitude when he is around Webster, though. I don't think he is ready to give up yet. Good for him.

It is so hot here. I like to go outside—the heat feels good on my elbows and knees—but I can't stay out as long as I used to. I'm so glad we have air conditioning!

Abby here.

Oh, boy, I got in trouble this morning. Mom was getting ready for work and let Tidbit and I out into the front yard. It was still mostly dark but I could see that rabbit! I got my carnivore on! The chase began!

Mom yelled at me to come back but all I could hear was the wind rushing past me as I sailed after that bunny. I could smell it. I was so close!

Then Dad came out with the super flashlight. I came running back. I lost the bunny anyway in the woods. Mom was really mad at me and said, "That's it for you." I guess that means no more early morning trips out into the front yard.

I couldn't help it. I'm a dog and that was a rabbit...!

Soft Toys

Abby here.

Mom got "put out" last night when she walked outside and found one of her socks. The back door with our door in it is right there in the laundry room. On laundry day, clothes are in piles, just waiting for me to sort through them for the right one. It's too easy to race by and grab a sock. I tried to grab a pair of sweatpants once but could only get them halfway through my door.

Clothes, soft toys... same thing to me!

The Schedule

Webster here.

Our days have pretty much settled into a routine. A schedule of sorts. Here's what how it goes around here on days when Mom is here:

Almost dawn to dawn
Anytime in there, Mom gets up. She's programmed to get up no later than 5:30 to go to work in Columbia and can't seem to sleep in even when she can. That's fine by us. When it starts getting light outside, it's time to get up!

Dawn
Bear and I get to go outside and take our trek through the woods. We stay out for a while then Mom lets us in when she hears us at the front door.

8 to 9 (Mom says and she can tell time)
Abby jumps on me or Bear or Joey or Tidbit (and gets yelled at for that). She is pretty wired since she's had her breakfast while Bear and I were outside. We play a bit, sometimes we all go back outside in the front yard, then start looking for places to snooze.

9 to 11
Everybody naps. We're good at it. I get the loveseat, Abby can now hop up on the sofa, Bear lays on the floor, Joey snoozes in Bear's bed and Tidbit is wherever Mom is.

11 to 1
Wrestling time. Abby usually wakes somebody up—usually me—and we all get to go outside in the front yard again. Abby spends a lot of time in the back yard too. We play with toys and just run around. It's a big yard.

1 to 3:30
Nap time again. One can never get too much beauty sleep. It must work because Mom is always telling us how beautiful we are.

3:30 to dinnertime
Joey is usually the one who starts in on Mom first. He looks at her like he's starving. She never falls for it. I don't know why he keeps trying. If Mom is home she usually caves around 5 and feeds us. If she has to work in Columbia, she doesn't get home until 6 or 6:30. We are so happy to see her on those days! After dinner we play a little and get to go outside in the front yard again.
The front yard isn't so different from the back yard. It just doesn't have a fence. Mom stays outside with us and usually throws a stick for me or Abby. Just a change of scenery!

7 to 10
We nap again. Abby is charging her battery. She starts her bark-a-thon around 11. Usually barking at the deer in the yard. If Mom has to get up early, she scoops Abby up and puts her in the crate. Kind of takes the pressure off of me to go help her bark. We can all sleep on those nights!

Well, that's pretty much life at the Dog Place!

Chillin'

Bear here.

The weather here in South Carolina is finally cooling off. Today's high is supposed to be 71. Mom told me.

Mom and I have a love of cooler weather in common. Since I'm part chow I have very thick fur and get hot easily. I have lots of natural insulation that way. Mom says she has lots of natural insulation too in the form of... oh, she say's don't go there.

Dad has seen me asleep on the back deck in the winter with frost on my fur. We have pet doors and can go in and out anytime we want, so I like to go chill out on the deck when it's nice like this. I'm a lucky dog, I know.

Dad says he is going to take Webster and I squirrel hunting today. He'll have to get to the squirrel before I do. If I catch and kill one, I bury it!

Growing Up

Abby here.

I asked Mom to change my picture. I don't look as much like a puppy any more. I'm growing up to be a cute girl dog!

Webster got to go with Daddy on a job today so I don't have anyone to play with right now. I guess I'll take a nap.

Slow Improvement

Tidbit here.

I'm slowly beginning to feel better. It's been a long process. On September 25th (Mom keeps track of these things for me. It's nice to have a secretary) I was in bad shape. I went in for my chiropractic a couple of days later and got a laser treatment too.

On Wednesday, the 29th, Mom started doing what she calls the "raindrop technique" on me. She uses her Young Living oils for that. She makes me smell like a pizza. I put up with it the first night. The next night I wouldn't stand still. I groused the whole time. She had the oils and case on the floor
and as she was putting a drop of oil in her palm, I head-butted the oils and knocked them over. Then I took a wobbly step forward, stuck my nose under the case lid, and expertly flipped it shut. Finally, I stepped on the case. I thought about peeing on the case just to get the message across but decided to give Mom a chance to figure it out without that.

She told me that Dr. Kim (Bloomer) said those oils that I don't like are exactly what I need. I decided to be the bigger of the two of us and let Mom continue each night. She just rubbed my back like she normally does when she pets me but used the oils too. She did it for 7 nights in a row. Now I get it about every other night.

I have to admit, I feel a lot better now. I can almost run normally. I'm still real stiff in the morning and sometimes still wobble when I'm trying to poo (Mom says that's TMI, whatever that means). I'm just glad I'm getting better and am not getting worse.

Signed,
Tidbit the Oils Fan