The weather was really nice so my people decided to do Howl-O-Ween.  We carved pumpkins and decorated the house.  They set it up so I could be on my bed behind the Jeep and the kids couldn't come up to where I was.  I had fun seeing all the kids and I even slept quite a bit.  The kids thought my "towel monster" costume was cute.  Howl-O-Ween was also the 1st leaf drop off day.  I like going to drop off leaves so I had a really fun day!

Every night before bed, I get a dropper full of something called "Rescue Remedy."  I like it because it's the one for pets and kids so it is sweet.  I ran out and my woman found out that all the places were out of it.  She went to several stores and no one had it.  She found a substitute that I like even better... Vanilla Flavoring.  It is like vanilla extract but made with the same stuff my Rescue Remedy is made with instead of alcohol so it tastes like sweet vanilla.  She ordered Rescue Remedy from the place that makes it so I had vanilla at bedtime for a week and, ever since, I've been getting a mix of half vanilla and half Rescue Remedy.

My man had the whole Turkey Day week off.  I got to go help pick up the turkey and spent all day outside the whole week.  On Turkey Day, I got to sample the turkey before anyone else, got to eat the raw turkey liver, ate a bunch of turkey before dinner (my people said feeding me turkey was really scary), and I kept going into the kitchen to try to get more turkey!

The day after Turkey Day I went to a local pet store and got freeze dried minnows, freeze dried chicken, and canned foods to mix my meds into!  I even found a treasure... a rawhide type treat that has no hide!  I kept going up to the basket that they were in and sniffed around in the basket until I found the one I wanted and grabbed it.  I slept with my treasure in the garage all day then panicked when it started to get dark because anyone could come into the garage and steal it.  So my man took me upstairs and helped me bury my treasure safely in the house.  I have lots of treasures buried all over the house.  Some of them have been buried for 5 years or more!
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2 weeks ago, we did some major work on my porch roof.  There is no more tarp stretched overhead.  Instead, I have panels that let in some sunlight but keep out most of the heat and keep out the rain!!!  My people said they still have to put a board on the front and attach a gutter but the hard part is done.  They worked all day on Friday and all day on Saturday to do it.  The weather people said it would start raining on that Sunday so we had to get it done Saturday.  Then, it didn't rain until Sunday night.  But my woman used Sunday to get my blinds back up and my rain shields.  She also bought some rope lights that change color and some string lights and now my porch is really colorful and bright.  She said she's looking at some really thick clear tarps to replace the shower curtains we use to block out the rain when it gets windy.  

We had our 1st wind storm of the season this weekend.  We also had some heavy rain too.  We couldn't have the rain shields down because it was so windy but not much rain blew in.  It's windy and rainy today and I'm still able to sit out on my porch!  

I've made some new doggy friends this past week.  A couple of puppies and a young dog.  The young dog always has to come up and say hi because my people smell like treats!  But the treats are mine!!!

Sunday I helped rake leaves for the 1st time this year.  Then the winds hit and you can't tell I did any leaf raking at all!  But I really like raking leaves so that's OK.  I got to spend all day outside helping do things and laying on my bed behind the Jeep.

Hi all!  Hope everyone is hanging in there!!

I had news from my rehab vet last month and it wasn't great.  She said my left knee, the one I tore my CCL 6 years ago, is now bone on bone.  That means I have none of the cushioning stuff left in my knee joint that I should have.  She gave my man some Tramadol for me to take and gave my people a prescription for me for Tylenol with Codeine.  My people still haven't given me any of the Tramadol and haven't filled the Tylenol prescription yet because they said they don't think I'm having any pain issues from my knee.  They did talk to my acupuncture vet and she is now doing cold laser on my knee when she comes out every other week.  I really like having laser done so my people are looking into either renting or buying one to use in between vet visits.  They also want to talk to my regular vet about what pain meds she thinks would be best for me with my various issues.

It was really hot the swims after we got back so I skipped going to the pool.  I got to do my 1st post-vacation swim at the end of August.  My woman was able to go in the water with me and we all had a lot of fun.  They decided to have me swim for 30 minutes instead of my normal 45 minutes and I didn't get exhausted.  I've been swimming my normal every other week swims for 30 minutes.  

We had some smoke come in from wildfires from southern Oregon.  We had to keep the windows closed and run what my people call the house fan so stuff goes through the filter.  I still have an air purifier in each room.  It wasn't bad like last year though and the air seemed to clear each night so we could have the windows open.  

We had some rain last week.  Real rain!!!  The 1st real rain we've had since June.  My grass is starting to get green and it doesn't crunch when I walk on it anymore.  

After we got back from vacation was really busy!  My woman had surgery 4 days later and had to go get a Covid test, see the surgeon, get her blood work done, do the pre-surgery check in stuff, and run errands.  I also went to my rehab vet and had home visits from my regular vet to steal my blood and pee and check me over and also from my acupuncture vet.  
The day of her surgery, I went along to drop her off at 6:30 a.m. at the hospital.  My man ordered us a little pizza to share for lunch and took me to Sonic for dinner so I wouldn’t spend so much time waiting for her to come back.  I also got to go pick her up the next morning from the hospital.  I also got to take her to her 2-week post-op check.  

I saw my eye doctor the week after we got home.  She said the cloudiness in my eyes is starting to go away and gave my people a stronger version of the eye meds I’m on.  I go back next January.

I was supposed to swim the Saturday after my woman’s surgery but we skipped it because I was still all tired out from my vacation!  I also missed my next 2 swims because the temperatures were too hot for me to be in a steamy, warm pool room.  

We had such a hot summer, I didn’t want to be out much during the day.  I spent my time laying on one of my many beds in my living room because I have my own fan that blows on me.  It was so warm that my air conditioner ran most days and we even had a few nights when it never got cool enough to open the windows.
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Hey everybody!  Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted.  A lot of stuff has happened but things are getting back to normal!!!

I helped my woman make a bunch of food for their freezer.  She said it was stuff to eat after she had surgery.

Then I had to get everything packed for our vacation.  

The place we stayed last year was going to have people logging next to it, and logging people parking right next to the rental house every morning to hike up to where they would be cutting down trees, so we decided to stay somewhere else.  So my woman found a place a little further south on the coast.  

The back yard was a wild and scenic river!!!  It had lots of places for me to swim and wade and was even deep enough in spots for my people to swim.  The water was nice and cold too – just how I like it.  The river had salamanders than hung out underwater and lots of frogs, tadpoles, crawdads, and small fish.  The next place up river was a fish hatchery and after that it was all public land.  No motorized boats are allowed and it was the wrong time of year for people to do things like float down river or be on a boat to fish so it was like having my own private river.
The house itself was OK.  My people said it could have been cleaner and they weren’t happy that there was a mouse issue and there wasn’t any place for me to go for a walk.  The mouse issue got better after the exterminator came.

Not too far upriver was gravel forest service roads for me to explore.  The roads by last year’s place were better but I had fun anyway.

We really liked the nearest town.  I got to go there every other day and get FISH AND CHIPS!!!  I found out I really like fish and chips.  My people would eat the breading and chips and I would get the fish.  I also got to walk trails in town.  My favorite place we went was the lighthouse because it was really, really windy and really cold.  I got to walk on the beach a couple of times too.  

I went swimming almost every day.  The days I didn’t go swimming were pretty cold, barely made it into the 60s.  While we were gone, home had some really nasty weather!  Our neighbors said temperatures were in the 100s and, one day, the high was 115-117.  We got really lucky because when it was super hot at home, it was so cold where we were staying that I didn’t want to swim!  My people said they don’t know what would have happened to me with that kind of extreme heat and my collapsing trachea.

There were lots of deer and I even saw a Grey Fox one evening on the property.  My people found lots of agates in the river plus some really shiny rocks that they have to try to identify. 

We went ahead and booked the house for next year because of how great the river was for me and how much fun everyone had playing in it.

NEXT TIME… My Woman’s Surgery, Post-Vacation Stuff
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Hi everyone.  Sorry I haven't been on in a while.  Lots of stuff has been happening at home.  I had a barkday, we have been building things, my woman was in physical therapy, my woman will now be having surgery so we are making lots of food to put in the freezer for the humans and me, I went to the coast for an overnight trip, I've been swimming and going for walks and getting acupuncture and seeing my rehab vet.

I'll post more later, with pictures, next week.

I hope everyone is doing OK.

I had a good Barkmas with lots of presents and treats and good food.

New Year's Eve was good.  I took one of my calming pills and slept through all the fireworks.  My people say there are advantages to going deaf sometimes.

I had my 6-month checkup at my eye doctor.  She said my eye problems are doing good but my lipid deposits have gotten a bit worse and that's making everything a little blurry.  She gave me a new eye med because the deposits making my eyes more likely to have problems with something called ulcers.

I haven't been doing much except going to the dog pool every other week, going to the rehab vet every month, having my acupressure vet come here every other week, and going for walks every day.

I did a virtual fun run to help raise money for the people we get our meat from.  Their little boy needs a new kidney because his aren't working much at all.  I wore my t-shirt like a cape.

I also got some new toy boxes to help organize my huge toy collection.

I had to switch to a different pool.  The one I really loved swimming at closed so now I'm back at the pool I 1st went to.  There's one that's closer but the water is warmer and the ramp is almost too steep for me and that's for the therapy pool that is supposed to have a ramp that is easy for dogs like me.  The water at the pool I go to now is warmer than the water at my old pool.  I like cooler water but at least it's cooler than the water at the other place.  

We are supposed to have a winter storm starting tomorrow.  I used to like snow but now it's hard for me to walk in so I don't like it as much.

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Happy Turkey Day everyone!  My man is in the kitchen getting our turkey ready to go into the oven!  I got to go pick it up on Tuesday.  I went for an hour walk this morning and ate breakfast.  My plans for today are to sleep on the front porch, bark at cats, eat turkey and pumpkin pie (my people can eat the vegetables and nasty stuff like that!), and take lots of naps.

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Hi every body!

We had really bad wildfire smoke, and weird red skies, last month.  My people made me stay inside with all the air purifiers running on high and the HVAC fan turned on to pull air through the filter.  I did not like only being able to go outside for walks and potty breaks.  My people also called my rehab vet and told them the air was too bad for me to go to my September appointment.  The air was getting better by then but they were still worried.  Everyone said they made the right choice because the next day they had to use my rescue inhaler.
I had my October rehab vet appointment last week and she said I should try a supplement to help me with my age-related muscle loss.  They haven't been able to get the stronger stuff in that is only available to vets but said there is one that other places sell that isn't as strong.  My woman ordered it and I started it on Tuesday.  It tastes really good and I don't have to have it put into anything like every other supplement I am on.

The leaves are falling out of the trees which means it's time to rake leaves!!!!!  I like raking leaves.  It also means I get to take leaves to a place and leave them there soon.  I like doing that too because I get to ride in the truck.

It's been cold the past few mornings.  We've even had frost.  Today we aren't supposed to get out of the 40s!  I like this kind of weather.

So, I'm now like a felon or something.  At least that's what my people and my human friends say.  Last weekend, I found a ball laying in the street and took it.  Some woman accused my people of coming on to her property and stealing on some website called NextDoor.  She even posted a picture of my people from a security camera and told people to be on the look out for me and my people.  She called the police, filed a police report, posted the police report number on the website, wouldn't respond to my woman when she asked what this was about, wouldn't remove her post when the police told her she had to, and wanted my woman arrested.  Because I found a ball in the street. 
It took forever for my people to be able to figure out who to contact.  A police officer came out, apologized to us, collected the ball I found, said he'd tell her again to remove her post and said if we have any more problems with the woman to let them know and they would get the city attorney involved to help us.  
People who saw the post accusing us of stealing from private property now know what happened and aren't happy with what this woman did, especially when they found out we have a record of finding things like bicycles, gold jewelry, and stolen mail and contacting the police so they can take the items. And my man and I caught mail thieves while they were stealing mail and got them convicted.  From what my man can see about the woman who did this, she likes to call the police because people walk by her house on the public sidewalk, smoke on the public sidewalk, and because she doesn't think the police drive by her house enough.
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I love my new Big Barker bed.  My people realized I don't need 2 of them but they got extra waterproof mattress covers and extra bed covers.  They also realized the covers would fit the bed this one replaced so they got a waterproof mattress cover and a couple extra bed covers for that bed.  That old bed now gets put on my porch and it's also the bed I lay on when I get my acupuncture.

I had my rehab vet visit and it went pretty good.  I didn't do too much damage to myself after going down the stairs on my knees.  We stopped for BBQ to take home and I got to get out and wait for my man to come out of the restaurant. 
After we got home, I started limping worse than before my rehab vet visit.  My people couldn't figure out what was wrong.  The kept looking at my paw and feeling around in between my pads and on my pads to see if I had stepped on something. 
That was Friday and, when it wasn't better by last Monday, I got an appointment at my rehab vet for today.  But, last Monday afternoon, my man was trying to do something to me and I put my paw over his arm.  When I did that, the light hit it just right and he saw something on the paw pad and behind it that was just a tiny bit different colored.  He messed with it and realized it was something stuck on the pad and the fur.  It even felt like my paw pad.  My woman used some olive oil and got it off.  My limp went away over a couple of days and it was decided by the various humans that I could cancel today's appointment.  
My leg felt so good, I started going on longer walks, chased some cats, hopped over some stuff, and swam like crazy this weekend!
My people aren't sure what I had on my paw but everyone is glad they were able to find it.

I've been helping my man work on our workshop.  We put up insulation and have been stringing wire.  He said we're almost ready to put up drywall.

My people ordered me a new bed today.  I have some old beds that are really nice but that company got bought out by a big company and the big company stopped making the really nice beds.  My beds are still OK but my people said the foam is starting to wear out from the covers being taken off so often now that I've gotten older.  The new bed will be the same size as my old beds and they ordered a waterproof liner for it that zips and an extra cover.  They are hoping it will be here by the end of the week.  They said that if I like it, they'll get me a 2nd one to replace my other old bed.

My woman had ordered me some freeze-dried emu treats from a company in Australia.  Turns out there was a problem with the order, even though we got an order confirmation, the payment never processed on their end, so they wanted us to keep placing orders until the payment went through.  My woman said no thanks because it took 5 days and 3 tries to get an answer about what was going on with the order.  She found them for sale from a pet store in Australia that ships internationally but they said it could take up to 12 weeks to get them because of how Covid-19 is affecting flights. 
So she looked and found a place that sells freeze-dried ostrich treats and decided to get me some to see how I like them.  I think they're pretty good and it only took a couple of days to get here.

My man has a 5 day weekend coming up!  This Friday is his normal Friday off.  Then we have the weekend.  Monday is Labor Day.  Tuesday is a "furlough" day.  That means he doesn't get paid but he doesn't have to work either!  Then he works 2 days and we have a 3 day weekend!!!

My woman bought me enough rugs from Costco that there is pretty much no bare porch for me to walk on now.  With my outside beds, it's pretty comfy.
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I found a treasure at one of the schools too.  A soccer ball!!!!