June 2013 - Life Gone To The Dogs

Hike: Leona’s Puppy Diary Part 2

13/06/29 at 12.48pm / by Randy McBride / 0 Comment

Leona makes it up into the mountains on her first hike

6-29-2013: After much excitement preparing to hike Leona finally arrives in the mountains where she enjoys her hike.

I know it might not be the most dignified thing to admit, but I will often become so thrilled with excitement just because someone else is. Now this is what had been going on with the idea of going on a hike. I was so young back then, only nine weeks old, so how could I know what a hike was? I am almost fourteen weeks old currently, and I can tell you all about a hike now. As The Man drove the car I could pick of the fragrance of so many new things. I was bored when we left the house, but as we went up on our drive all the fresh scents began to come in the car and I started trying to figure them out. I could not see the other dogs from my crate, but they started breathing faster and faster as we went. As the car slowed down and we turned Lincoln starting talking. First I heard him yip, and then I heard a “Wowowo” coming from him right before he starting howling with excitement. Lincoln was overcome with so much joy that I began jumping around in my crate to find out what it was that he loved so much.

The car soon came to a halt and The Man climbed out. As he opened the door to the car I was overcome with all those exhilarating fragrances. What I had smelled in the car before as we drove up the mountain to go on a hike I was now overwhelmed with. As I think back on that moment in time I remember that I had no idea what all those fresh scents were when that door opened. I am a fourteen week old dog now, so I can explain all about the smells that we experience when we go on a hike. Maybe I am not as big as those other dogs, but I am a smart puppy and I know so much about going on a hike.

Dirt! The first thing I found when we got out of the car was dirt! It was just awesome to find this new kind of dirt. What? You are acting like dirt bores you. This was just some amazing dirt. We have dirt at our house. I know The Woman tries to take it all away, but it is still there. The dirt at our house has a lot of the kinds of odors that humans and dogs make. This dirt has a little bit of the smell of humans and dogs. I am an English Springer Spaniel, so I can still smell those familiar scents. This dirt had the smell of different kinds of plants and some new types of animals. It is sometimes hard for us dogs to tell you humans about things. I do not know if you have this problem, but for us your words do not communicate all that we experience. I love my humans, but trying to inform them can be hard. It can be very difficult for a puppy.

I was in a state of being awestruck as The Man opened the back door of the car and those big dogs moved in one giant wave out of the car, washing me to the ground as they swept on past me. I quickly came to my senses and determined I needed to get some payback in on those big dogs. I am not called Devil Dog by The Man for nothing. It did not matter that this was only my first hike, I was going to remind those big dogs I am a force of nature to be reckoned with, and I was going for their legs and ears.

Without hesitation I began my pursuit. My mom is an easy target, so I made my move on her. She was wildly running around, not paying the least bit of attention to me. She was an easy mark, and I was going to show her what a Devil Dog can do on her first hike. As she came speeding by me I leaped at those ears she has, and I was plowed to the ground. I could smell the dirt all around me as I rolled through it. Even if one is a puppy you cannot let the pack see you are weak. I am Leona “Devil Dog” the English Springer Spaniel and nothing can stop me. Not even an out of control crazy momma dog like Lady.

I picked my next target as Leroy came running by. Daddy has big pretty ears, and I need to bite on them. He rushes by and once again I lunge in the air towards those incredible ears, with the same results as I had before with my mom. Pulling myself from the ground I need time to think. Going on a hike is so much fun, but I cannot let those big dogs push me around. They are all racing around like only an English Springer Spaniel can, and I need a way to wrestle one of them to the ground. The Man is walking quickly down the dirt road though and I want to stay close to him. Whenever there is anything scary he will protect me, so I stay close to him as I plan my next attack.

Next I try to chase the big dogs, but they are way too fast for me. I thought that they probably would be since when we are in the backyard at the house I can see them running around playing with each other at a pace faster than a little puppy can keep up with. However I was hoping that since we were on a hike this might be different. I could see the look of sheer delight as they were breathing in the wonderful aroma of fresh mountain air. Maybe that would make them be distracted, and I could get them. As I ran for a short distance after Libby down the road though I knew I could not catch her, so I went back to The Man. What is a puppy to do on a hike if the big dogs are too fast to keep up with?
Looking around I became aware of the fact that there was a potential target that was slower than I was. He was really big, but if I took him out those other dogs would know I was not a puppy to be messed with. Giving it no more consideration I lunged from The Man’s feet. Sometimes when I have bit The Man’s feet he has yelped with pain. He is not really seriously injured, but after a few strikes on him like that he started calling me Devil Dog. I was going to show him that I was still a Devil Dog, even on a hike. As my teeth went for his foot they encountered his shoe. He did not yelp in pain, instead he laughed at me. A big hand reached out and brushed me to one side as he continued his walk. Making The Man laugh brings me a great deal of delight. When he laughed at me it was clear that my attack on him had provided me with better results than I had hoped for.

Leona checks out a stump on her first hike

With that we continued up the mountain on our hike. I discovered bushes, trees, rocks, dead logs and birds as we explored the mountain on our hike. I always stayed close to my Man, and I could see him keeping a watchful eye on me and the other dogs as we were on this great adventure called a hike. When we arrived at a stump The Man let us play with it for a while. From the smell I could tell it had been a tree that died some time back. The wood was rotting, but it seemed like this was the home of some small animals. I followed some of the big dogs around as they showed me how to track down animals. If I am going to be an English Springer Spaniel I need to know how to use my nose to find things, and my pack was showing me how to do that. Before we turned around to come home I got to climb up on that stump and look around. Going on a hike is just so awesome! When we started this day out I had no idea why those big dogs were so overwhelmed with joy when The Man said we were going on a hike. I learned that going on a hike is better than drinking milk from mom. I hope that I get to go on a hike all the time now, but The Man keeps saying he has to protect me from parvo so he is being careful with me for now. I cannot wait until I get to go on a hike every time The Man goes out.

Hike: Leona’s Puppy Diary (Part I)

13/06/28 at 11.27am / by Randy McBride / 0 Comment

Leona goes on her first hike.

6-28-2013: With all of her litter-mates gone Leona gets to go on her first hike with the big dogs.

Shortly after all of my brothers and sisters left I heard The Man saying that he wanted to take me out for a hike with the other dogs. The Woman reminded him that I was still a very young puppy, only about nine weeks old and he needed to be careful about taking me on a hike. They kept mentioning the word “parvo” as they were talking. I do not know what a hike is or what parvo is. From the way that The Man talked though a hike is fun and parvo is bad. He said something about a puppy dying from parvo. I do not know about dying either, but since it makes my Man sad to talk about it I think it is something I am not wanting to do right now.

Almost every day since I have been around the big dogs The Man, and often The Woman, will take them away from our house. Before they leave the house I can see Libby jumping around in the air, twisting her body like she is the happiest dog in the world. Mom will start running in circles and barking at The Man. Mom will leap high into the air and nudge The Man’s hands with her nose. Then my dorky daddy, Leroy, will start to bark while his tail waves back and forth so fast. Meanwhile Lincoln will start racing around, running so fast that I want to be able to run like that too. I can sometimes see when Lincoln gets running so fast he will turn and race right at The Man, bouncing high into the air as he crashes into The Man. The Man will usually have to take a step backwards when Lincoln is doing this. Lucy gets so excited that I can hear the whining coming from her as she runs to be with The Man. Then there is Latte. She takes off like she is searching for something that is very important. Latte loves to eat, so when she first acted this way I thought she was looking for some hidden food, and I wanted to get some too. Instead of something tasting to eat she will come running back from outside with a toy in her mouth, and her tail is moving so fast like everyone else’s. This always happens whenever The Man says “Do you all want to go on a hike”?

On this day The Man said those magical words about a hike again. It was so exciting and for the first time I was out with those big dogs when he said it. I was leaping in the air and barking too. I did not know what we were doing, but it had to be fun. It is fun to run and bite those big dogs, and I kept trying to get Libby’s ears. I like her long silky ear, they are fun to chew on. The Man picked me up and all the big dogs stopped moving. I could see that most of them sat down as we were at the front door of the house. I heard The Man use the word “Heel” and then he opened the door. All of the big dogs started out the door with him. As we were going out the door I could hear Lucy barking, she had not been going on a hike since she had her puppies. The Man walked out the door, and all of those big dogs followed him. I heard a quiet beeping sound and he opened the back end of the car up. All of the big dogs jumped right into the car, except for Libby. She just sat there looking at The Man and the car. The Man reached out and touched her, then used a really firm voice and said “Libby, load up”! My aunt Libby jump straight up into the car without having to get a running start. I tried to get in the back of the car with those big dogs, but The Man kept his strong arms wrapped around me. Once he gets his arms wrapped around me it is so hard to escape.

The Man then walked to the side of the car, holding me in his big arms and his hands kept playing with my face. I like my face being played with, so I bit his fingers to show him how much fun I was having. He is pretty fast with his fingers though and usually I miss when I try to bite them. I saw my crate in the car, and The Man pushed me inside it while handing me a tasty treat. I like treats, so by him giving me one made me feel good, for a little while. I have been in this care before, but being alone in the crate is so boring that I started to whine a bit as The Man started to drive. He said “Leona, we are going on a hike and you are going to love to hike”.

Leona helping Lincoln hunt on her first hike

Author’s note: The picture is of the hike itself, not loading up in the car. Pictures of hikes are more fun, and easier to take for me when I am trying to get every dog safely loaded in the car. Another note, decades ago we lost a puppy to parvo. It had been infected from where we purchased her. She was a beautiful Golden Retriever, and it killed her. This has made us be very wary of our dogs getting parvo. Parvo is a problem in Central Oregon, which is why we never take puppies out from our home that are going to be sent home to others. There are other safeguards that can be done regarding parvo, but that is another article. For now we are going to have fun with Leona as she experiences the joys of life.

Goodbye: Leona’s Puppy Diary

13/06/17 at 6.00am / by Randy McBride / 0 Comment

Leona tells about saying goodbye to the rest of her litter.

6-16-2013 after saying goodbye to her littermates Leona knows her life has changed

When we started having visitors come and see us I did not know it would mean I would be saying goodbye to my littermates. Even when those people were here I did not know what goodbye was really going to mean. My sister Ellie was the first one I that we said goodbye to. The people that came to get her showed up just a couple minutes after Lucy had her last puppy.

At the time it was fun to get to come out and play with my sister. I was having so much fun, but I could tell The Man was acting really sad. After the people left our house with her I saw my man cry for the first time. I was so young then that I did not understand that Ellie had left us forever. She was a good sister and I hope that someday I get to see her again. We had so much fun wrestling, and she was a really good dancer too. I heard The Woman last night talking to The Man about visiting Ellie. Humans must have really good noises to be able to find her since I cannot smell her scent any more.

The rest of us soon learned that if someone was getting a bath that meant they were leaving. I remember that one morning there was only Whidbey, Linus (Little Lee) and myself left. Both of them got baths that morning. We decided to have a lot of fun after they had their bath.

Linus had his bath first and The Man put him back in the pen with me. Well I wanted Linus to remember that I was his special sister, Devil Dog, before he said goodbye. So I jumped on him and we wrestled.

Leona saying goodbye to Linus

Linus said goodbye soon after we got done wrestling and that only left me and my sister Whidbey. I am a lucky puppy and I had two great sisters. Whidbey and I had a lot of fun that morning, but all too soon her people showed up for her goodbye. We were able to go play in the backyard with each other before she said goodbye.

Whidbey and Leona playing before their goodbye

When Whidbey left I was sad. All of my brothers and sisters had said goodbye, and I was all by myself now. It was scary for me and a lot of new things happened after they left. The Man took me and let me play with my dad in the backyard. Leroy did not take a bath, so I knew we were not going to be saying goodbye. I decided I needed to be a really good puppy so The Man would keep me forever. I do not want to say goodbye to my home.

During the day The Man had me get in my crate. This was not the same crate that my whole litter had stayed in, but there was bedding that had their smell on it. He had me stay inside for a while. I did cry a little bit, but not too much. I am a brave puppy so I can stay here and not say goodbye.

When night time came The Man took the crate to a room I had never been in before. He gave me a treat and I jumped in. I am a good puppy and obey my man so he will want to keep me forever. The Man and The Woman laid down on something close to me that kept them off the floor. This is their bed I figured out. The Man was so close to me and if I ever started to cry he would reach out and touch me. After saying goodbye to all of my littermates having The Man close helped me be brave.

Now my crate stays out with the big dogs and I sleep near them at night, not in The Man and Woman’s bedroom. It has been so different here after I said goodbye to my littermates. We were such good friends and they helped me learn how to wrestle good. I still can wrestle with the big dogs, but not all of them think it is fun. We do so many new things now that the others have said goodbye, but I hope that The Man and The Woman have good noises so we can find them someday. I want to show them all I am still a little Devil Dog and can beat any of them wrestling.

Lucys litter: Leona’s Puppy Diary

13/06/14 at 6.06am / by Randy McBride / 0 Comment

Leona learns that Lucys litter has arrived

6-14-2013 Leona tells about the arrival of Lucys litter of puppies

One of the big dogs that live at our house is named Lucy. I think she is really nice, but she will get upset at us if we bite her. However she is never mean to me. I noticed that Lucy was getting bigger and she seemed to smell a bit like mom did when mom had milk for me. The Man never would let me test to see if Lucy’s milk tasted as good as my mom’s though. I am a good taste tester, but The Man is not smart enough to know that. When I smelled this I did not know Lucys litter of puppies was soon to arrive.

It has been a while back but one morning The Woman did not leave like normal. Instead her and The Man got Lucy and left the house. I do not like it when my man leaves me at the house, but I still had my brothers and sisters to play with. So soon I forgot about The Man taking off with Lucy instead of me. He is so dorky, he forgot I am his Devil Dog and special!

When they finally came home the humans were talking about Lucys litter of puppies. Well I am a very smart puppy and have a really good English Springer Spaniel nose, and there were no new puppies in my house. Humans can be so stupid sometimes. They will talk like things exist which do not. Lucys litter did not exist. I even saw Lucy waddling around the house.

As the day went on I spent most of my time wrestling with my brothers and sisters. I liked to wrestle with them. My man calls me Devil Dog and laughs when I jump on those bigger brothers of mine. I like hearing The Man laugh, and I like jumping on my brothers. I am going to be the best Devil Dog there ever was when I grow up. I still have not seen any other Devil Dogs yet. Maybe I am the only Devil Dog in the world. The Man has told me that I am very special, so maybe I am an English Springer Spaniel Devil Dog.

Late that day I could sense Lucy was getting tenser. All the big dogs had gotten really quiet and Lucy was off in another part of the house. I know now she was in my whelping room, but I did not know where she was for sure the night this was all taking place. None of the big dogs seemed to like it that Lucy was not out with us, but they were all so quiet. All through the night I could hear The Man getting up with Lucy. He is a nice man I think, he was trying to make Lucy feel better. I even think he let her climb in his bed with him to make her feel better. The Man never has let me climb in that bed, so he must really care about Lucy too.

In the morning The Man got food and water for all of us, but he did not stick around to play like he always does. He is fun to play with. Even the big dogs like to play with The Man. He seemed to hurry when he took the big dogs outside and came back with them. I am not sure why he takes them outside first thing every morning. It smells like the big dogs have went potty, but that is silly since we can just go potty right here in the garage.

I heard The Woman say something about “coffee” and she left the house. Humans seem to get all happy when they talk about coffee. I have smelled it and it does smell strange. When The Woman left The Man was with Lucy. I wish I could have been close to watch what happened next. I heard The Man say “Good job Lucy, here is your first puppy”. I smelled something I had smelt before. I then remembered what it was, it was the same smell that I had smelt when I was born. When I was born my brothers and sisters cried, but I could not hear any crying coming from Lucy’s litter.

Lucy’s litter of puppies seem to take forever to come. The Woman got back with that coffee stuff. She seemed happy and upset with The Man. I heard her say “Why do they always wait until I leave to deliver that first puppy”? The Man just laughed at her. My man likes to laugh. I will remember to make him laugh a lot being his little Devil Dog.

It really was strange how quiet all of us were as we waited on Lucy’s litter to be born. There were eight puppies and five big dogs in our room. All of us were quiet waiting for Lucy’s litter to be born. It is never silent like it was that day.

Since that day I have got to meet Lucy’s litter. I love those little puppies so much and want to play with them. The Man is telling me we need to quit writing for today though. Lucy’s litter was three puppies, not the eight puppies that were in my litter. I heard The Man say that they are really big, so they do not cry. I do not cry like I did when I was a baby, so The Man might be smart. Even if he is not so smart I know he is fun to play with, and if anyone tries to hurt me he will attack them. He growls at those big dogs if they get rough with me. I even see how he looks at Lucy’s litter and makes sure I do not hurt them. My man likes puppies.

Lucys litter of puppies 2013

Leroy: Leona’s Puppy Diary

13/06/13 at 9.29am / by Randy McBride / 0 Comment

Leona’s tells about her dad, Leroy

6-13-2013

Leroy is my dad. Leroy is MY dad. OK, I know Leroy is the dad of my brothers and sisters too, but he is my dad. Weeks ago I put in my dairy that my mom was the best dog ever. Mom is really wonderful, but I was so young back when I thought that. I am almost 12 weeks old now and I know the truth, Leroy is my dad and he is the best dad in the world.

When I was about six weeks old The Man took me and all of my litter-mates outside to play. There was a big dog named Leroy that was put outside with us. Sometimes big dogs growl at puppies, they just do not know how much fun we are. Leroy acted so fun instead. He would run over to us. When you are only six weeks old and a big dog like Leroy comes running at you it is scary. All of us would take off running, but he never chased us in a mean way.

Before long we figured it out, Leroy wanted to play with us. Soon we all learned that he liked to have us run after him. I also heard The Man say “Leroy is such a good dad with the puppies”. Leroy is the best ever. Even mom has growled at me, but Leroy never has. Leroy will play with me anytime I want.

Since that first time in the backyard with my dad, Leroy, I have learned a lot. Leroy likes to let me grab his ears and pull on them. Other big dogs sometimes get upset when I do this to them. It is scary when they get upset and I have to quickly remind them that I am just a little puppy that cannot hurt them. But I never have to do that with Leroy, my dad.

Sometimes we play with toys in the backyard. Lincoln and Latte really like toys, and they will knock everyone over to get the toy. I have learned that they can knock me over really easy, so when they are going super-fast I do not get in their way. My dad is a big dog though and if he wants the toys he can get them. He is smarter than those other dogs too. I want to be smart like my dad when I get older. He waits until the other dogs run and get the toy, then he grabs it and pulls on it. Leroy is so big and strong! I am going to be strong like my dad when I grow up. He will just start pulling and not let go of the toy until he has it. The other dogs will growl and him, but he just keeps pulling. When he gets the toy we run to the other part of the yard and he lets me play with it. My dad is so nice. Mom never would share her food with me, but dad will share a toy with me.

Leroy is around me so much, even more than my mom. I still really like my mom, but Leroy is way more fun than mom ever was. I even look like my dad, not my mom. How cool is that! I have a lot more to tell you about what I and my dad do, but The Man is getting sleepy. I guess he thinks he was busy today and needs some rest. I live in a very exciting house. That is why I want to get The Man to help me write my story down. I also want everyone to know that Leroy is my dad, and he is the best dad in all the world. Other than me I think he might be the best dog in the world too.

Leroy with Leona and Whidbey

My Second Vet Visit: Leona’s Puppy Diary

13/06/12 at 9.15am / by Randy McBride / 0 Comment

Leona visits the vet a second time

6-12-2013 Another Vet visit

It has been some time since I was able to add to my diary. After I made another visit to the vet The Man did not seem to want to write as much as he had before. I have been playing hard and so much has taken place since the last time I could get him to help me write my story. Yesterday he seemed pretty happy that he was done with all his school work for the term and now has the summer off. He took me aside and promised me that no matter what he would continue writing my story. We have a lot to catch up on, but The Man wanted to start with this visit to the Vet. I am a good puppy and since I cannot write on my own I have to do this like The Man wants.

It has been some time back when The Man decided to put me in that car again. This time there were no other dogs with us, and it was the first time I had ever been away from all my brothers and sisters. I tried so hard to be brave, but I cried and was scared. I remembered that the Vet was the person who chopped my tail off. My tail was so short that I did not want any more of it cut off. This time mom was not even with us in the car, I was all alone with The Man. He tried to comfort me on the drive to the Vet, and I think I did pretty well. I was such a baby back then.

When we got to the Vet’s office we went inside a room. I tried to look around to see if I could find my missing tail, but it was nowhere to be found. Evidently someone wanted my tail really bad to cut it off and steal it. It was such a pretty tail too.

There was a new lady who can in the room that I had never met before. The Man called her Dr. Karen. She was a really fun person, but then she started poking at me in so many ways. She gave me some treats and while I was busy eating them I felt something sharp hit me, but that food was so good I did not cry out. Meanwhile The Man and her kept talking about why he was wanting to keep me. I was not sure what this meant, but there was something about the way The Man was acting that made me understand that he thought I was special. He had always been around for me before, but now I could feel how he felt about me.

Dr. Karen kept grabbing and pulling on me, then pushing on me. She was not mean, but she did seem to be checking me out pretty close. I wanted to show her I was a brave little dog, so I did not cry when she was doing this to me. I then heard her say to my man, “She is going to need to be monitored for bilateral luxating pattellas. I do not remember everything The Man said then, but he got very scared. I do not like it when The Man is scared.

Dr. Karen and The Man talked for a really long time about what was going on with me. She kept reassuring him that everything should be OK with me, but we needed to watch. There was something about my muscles not holding my knees in place and she could move them. The Man was saying something about what would that be like for me having puppies. My Man is a crazy man, I am a baby still so why would he even talk about me having puppies? Sometimes humans just do not make any sense. Dr. Karen told him that I needed to be monitored, and if things did not lock in place she would recommend me not being breed.

On the drive home I was braver than I had been coming down. My Man was not feeling very good and he tried his best to make me feel safe. He picked me up and gave me lots of hugs. I bit his noise to show him I liked him too. It was good when we got home. My mom was waiting for us, along with my brothers and sisters. They tried to beat me up when I got in the pen with them, but I showed them how tough I am. I now know that I am The Man’s special puppy and nothing can change that.

Author’s Note: Leona needed to have future checks done to see if she will end up with bilateral luxating pattellas. This condition can occur in about 1% of Springer Spaniels. The highest probability is that Leona will not end up with this problem. Writing this weeks later we are seeing evidence of her knees setting up properly. Both parents have been checked for genetic issues and are good. OFA has said that two good parents might not be a good pairing. For us the verdict is still out. This litter was born extremely early and was half of the weight of a normal litter when they were a week old, so they are slower developing in some ways. Leona’s treatment involves moderate exercise and keeping her trim. There are conditions with similar sounding names that are extremely dangerous for a dog, fortunately this is not the case for Leona.

Happenings while living and raising Springer Spaniels