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!!!!

My emu got here Thursday and my beef that my woman ordered also got here on Thursday.  After my woman ordered the beef, my man found almost 10 lbs. of beef in the freezer so I ended up with a lot of beef.
My woman cut the emu up into cubes for grinding and was really excited that she didn't have to cut any fat off.  I was really excited because I got to sample some pieces that were cut up small enough for me to eat them.  I was so excited about the emu, my woman had to check to make sure she still had all her fingers and that I didn't lick a hole in the plate!

It was hot here this weekend and it's still hot but not as bad.  Saturday I went swimming at the pool and the water felt really good.  Yesterday I got to play in my wading pool to cool off.  My people tell me I get to play in it again tonight after we eat PIZZA!  

Sunday my people ground the emu and beef plus the last of the lamb roasts they found in the freezer and up.  It only took a couple of hours and I got to sample more emu!
I get to start eating emu for dinner tomorrow.  It's been so long since I had it that I will eat a little emu mixed with beef and lamb tomorrow.  Each dinner I eat a little more emu and a little less beef.  By Sunday, there won't be any beef in my dinner.
My people have to get some more lamb and pork to grind because I had way more beef and a couple of weeks of emu that didn't have anything to go with it.  
They put 1 lb. of emu in a bag for me so the next meatballs I get will be made with emu!
I now have over 24 weeks of ready-to-eat dinners in my chest freezer and 1 week in my fridge freezer.

I had acupuncture last Tuesday and I was not happy to have needles in my knees.  Then I wasn't happy to have them removed.  I go see my rehab vet on Friday so I can get fixed up after my stair incident.  

I got new gutters and downspouts last week.  I did a bunch of supervising of the guys who were here.  Pretty much all of my supervising was done while laying on my rugs by the front door and with my eyelids closed.

Saturday morning I decided to go down my front porch steps too fast when they were damp and slipped.  I went down the steps on my knees instead of my feet.  My woman sent an e-mail and some photos and videos to my rehab vet.  My rehab vet wasn't working on Saturday but she looked at the stuff we sent and gave us some ideas to try to help me start to feel better.  I'm moving better but I don't try to go down the steps that fast since then.

Yesterday was food grinding day.  My people made a mistake, misread how much beef we had, so we ended up being 10 lbs. short on beef but I still ended up with 17 weeks of dinners. 
My woman is in the process of getting me 10 more pounds of beef and they will be cutting up the rest of the lamb and pork roasts we had in our freezer. 
She also ordered me 14-16 lbs. of emu!!!!  I had emu years ago but the raw food co-op never got any more in.  Not sure when the emu will get here because there's a dry ice shortage and they use dry ice to ship the meat.
She also found out where she can get elk locally since I like elk better than venison.  I was able to get elk once through the raw feeding co-op but every other time, it was only venison we could get.

A bit sore after my slip on the steps.

Hi everyone. 

I got to go on a local vacation this year.  My people had it planned for like 9 months because I can't go to Montana anymore with my collapsing trachea.  The altitude and dust makes it too hard for me to breathe now.  They weren't sure we'd be able to go because of the Covid-19 stuff.  I don't know what that is except my man now goes upstairs to work instead of leaving and I sometimes go up and work with him.  My people and the people who owned the place said things were pretty good and it looked safe to go, so we went.

My woman found what she thought would be a great place for me close by.  On lots of land, not a lot of neighbors, a place to swim right there on the property, and mountain roads to explore.
It turned out to be perfect.  

The house was the best one we've ever rented.  It had carpet so I didn't slip when walking or getting up and a low bed with a waterproof mattress pad and the couches were covered with dog blankets and there was a dog bed I liked. 
It was quiet and chilly enough that we had the windows mostly closed each night and only had a couple of days where it was in the low 70's.  My people wore their coats a few days.  At night we heard weird things making weird noises; my people called them "owls."  I got to see an "owl" 1 morning when it landed in the yard.  There were also lots of deer, including a fawn that decided I was another fawn while I was laying next to the covered porch sleeping and came running up to me.

It had a nice yard and the only people driving on the road were the people who owned the property.  There was a really old logging road on the property that I got to explore.  It was so old the gate was rusted shut and the gate supports were starting to rust out.  I could go for a walk for hours without ever leaving the property.

There was a place to swim that was only a 2-3 minute walk depending on the number of sniffs I needed to stop for.  I never got to swim at the same time though because "Swim" had really weird hours so I'd have to wait for "Swim" to get home from work.  My people said something about "tides."  Not sure what was up with that.

We found dirt roads that went into the mountains so I got to bounce along on bumpy roads and get out to explore.  We made it to the top of some of the mountains too.  My man said they were about 800 feet tall.

I spent 1 day at an e-vet type place because I started peeing blood on my morning walk.  It took us about 2 hours to get to an emergency vet that was open and then we went somewhere else because they said we'd have to wait 6-8 hours for me to be seen.  The other place was about 45 minutes away and was much smaller and just as busy but they saw me after about 2 hours.  Even though there were dogs ahead of me when we got there, they went ahead and had me come in.  My man even got to come in with me because of my collapsing trachea.  My woman waited in the parking lot for us.  I wasn't having problems with peeing everywhere like last time so they checked for stones.  No stones, just another UTI.  By the time we got checked out and paid, we'd been there for over 3 hours.  Then we had to make the almost 3 hour drive back to the place we were staying.  I missed "Swim" too.

I wouldn't eat the chewable antibiotic that dogs are supposed to love and nothing my people tried could hide it enough for me to want to eat it.  Then my woman tried cat food.  Cat food is da bomb!!!!

I also discovered a new delicacy.  It was so good, my people bought me 6 of them to freeze and bring back in the cooler so I can snack on them at home.  ELK BURGERS with BACON!!!!!!  I also had fish and chips but I said no to the clam chowder and the seafood pie and the crab melts 'cause a girl has to watch her figure.  

We weren't sure how this trip would compare with a decade of Montana vacations.  We all had a lot of fun and would love to do it again.  It was easier on me to only drive for a couple of hours and be there instead of having to drive for a couple of days.
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After we got back, I saw my vet and they said my UTI was gone.  They also said I had a skin infection and that can make me more likely to have UTIs because of the way my girl-pee-butt is.  So I had to take 2 weeks of an antibiotic for that and I get wiped twice a day with medicated wipes to help keep me clean there.  

I also had a bit of a skin infection on the insides of my rear legs from going through tough grass then into the water for swimming.  I've had that happen before when I've gotten little cuts on a leg even if I don't go into the water.

My skin looks much better and I get wiped once a day to help try to keep me from getting more UTIs.

I was happy about the antibiotic because MORE CAT FOOD!!!!!  

Now that the antibiotics are gone, I get my Denamarin tablet crunched up and mixed in with a little cat food.  That's the only way I'll take it.  My people said even if I didn't have anything to mix in with it, I could still have cat food because I really like it and I need the calories 'cause I'm skinny.

So far, the only chewable anything that dogs are supposed to like that I will eat is Heartgard.
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Since we've been home, I've been swimming at the dog pool, played in my pool, had acupuncture, seen my rehab vet, seen my eye doctor, got 3 new dog beds for laying outside that are like the one at the place I stayed, and done some projects at home.

Hi everyone.  We're coming up on my leastest favorite time of the year: fireworks month.
We have people who set off the big, loud, scary, illegal fireworks all year but it gets really bad in our area for almost a month around this time.  
I hope everyone stays safe!

My last 2 rehab vet appointments my people drugged me so I wouldn't get upset and need a steroid shot like I needed in the beginning of May because of my breathing.  My people gave me half of a pill like I get for fireworks.  I didn't get upset at either visit and it didn't make me really sleepy and unsteady.  The only bad thing is it makes me so relaxed that I pee while the vet is working on me.  The vet said she'd rather have me relaxed and comfortable and pee each visit than have me get stressed.

I also have a new thing that dispenses treats.  It's called an "AeroDawg."  My people say it's in case I have a breathing issue and need medicine that I breathe in.  I'm not sure I believe them though.  So far it just gives me chicken when I put my nose up to the thing and breathe in.  My woman picked up something she called a "rescue inhaler" at the pharmacy after I got my new treat dispenser.

My UTI cleared up with no more antibiotics needed so that made everyone happy.

I've been swimming, playing in my pool, going for walks, spending time on my shady front porch and my back deck, and hanging out with my people.  I'm very happy my man is home all the time now though I do decided he should be done working around 3:30!  Sometimes 2!!

It's really hot today, it was hot yesterday too, so my people don't leave the front and back door open for me to go in and out through my dog doors.  They say my breathing gets bad when I get too hot.  

Enjoy some pictures of me playing in my pool yesterday to cool off!

I turned 13 years old exactly 1 month ago!  I got toys and barkday cake made out of chicken liver and topped with cream cheese and bacon!!!  It was nummy.

Not much has been happening.  My man went back to work a couple of weeks ago... all the way up a half-flight of stairs.  I was kind of miffed that he was too busy to sit in the yard with me or go work on projects with me but I'm used to that now and I realize sometimes it's nice to get some sleep!  My people got my porch all set up with shades on the front and side and it has stuff on the top too so it doesn't get all sunny and hot anymore.  I also have a bunch of rugs out there for laying on.

I've been going on walks and I was going to the farmers market with my people but last Saturday my woman said she was walking through it instead of driving because there was going to be too many vendors and too many pedestrians and too many cars to drive through it.  My man and I stayed home.  She came home with Nilla Bean Cheesecake for me!!!!!!!
I've been getting acupuncture every 2 weeks too.

My people and I did my paw prints in clay my woman baked.  My people are going to make a sign with my name on it and hang my paw prints under it.
My woman also taught my man how to make my "Get Fat" meatballs.  They are actually little tiny burgers.  He made them out of chicken my people ground.  Best meatballs EVER!

I have a new friend.  A really big German Shepherd named Dillon.  He's from Italy.  He gets a little insistent with the but sniffing so I have to open a big ole can of "Back Off."  So he jumps away from me looking shocked and snarling as he goes to hide behind his woman.  The humans said it's the dog equivalent of "Your mom wears combat boots" with Dillon unable to think of a comeback so he says something like "Yeah, well you too!" 

I saw my rehab vet on Friday.  It wasn't a good visit.  My breathing got bad enough that the vet gave me a fast-acting steroid shot to help with inflammation in my airways.  My tongue and gums were getting too dark and my breathing would calm down then start having problems again.  My rehab vet was really upset about having to give me a shot even though I really didn't notice.

Sunday I woke up around 2:30 a.m. and had an accident.  I ended up having accidents on my people's bed and all my beds but 2.  Also on 1 of my porch laying rugs, and the floor, and the carpet in several locations, and a couple of my area rugs I have for laying on.
I had some blood in my pee on my morning walk and with 1 of my accidents in the house. 
I ended up going to the e-vet by us and getting some pills for a urinary tract infection.  It was weird because my people couldn't go in the building.  We all waited in my car for about 2 hours until it was my turn.  I had 1 accident in the car, mostly on waterproof sheet on my bed but some of it did get my bed where the sheet had pulled away from me moving.  I peed 3 more times after that.  Because I have problems breathing when I get upset, they had my people walk me to the door and brought me back as soon as they were done with me because my breathing was starting to get a little bad.  I peed on the way into the building too.  My people think they had me for maybe 5 minutes so the vet could examine me, they could see if they could do the needle thing to get a sample (they couldn't because I couldn't hold my pee), and get a sample of my pee in a cup (not a problem since I couldn't hold it). 
We waited in the car for about 30 minutes for the test to run on my sample then another 10 minutes to get my meds.
I go see my vet on Monday to have the needle thing done so my pee can be cultured and my people said something about them stealing my blood for more tests since it's time for that stuff and I already had an appointment for that at the end of next week.
I took my 1st pill as soon as we got home and made it through the night with no accidents.  I've only had 1 accident since then but my people said it was their fault for not waking me up to go pee in time.  I still have some blood that shows up when I run out of pee marking things on walks.
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Since my last post, a lot has happened here.  I promise I'll make it short!

I finally got to see my rehab vet on Valentine's Day.  I had to cancel my visit in December because I had the pneumonia caused by my megaesophagus and then she had to cancel my January visit because she was bitten by a dog.
She thinks I have something called a "bulging disc" in my lumbar spine that is pressing on the femoral nerve on the right.  She says I have muscle loss along my spine, especially on the right side and some other stuff that makes it likely.  
I went back earlier this month and when they did the thing where they pick up each paw and put it down on the ground so the top of the paw is on the floor, I left my right rear paw like that for a second or 2 before fixing it.  That means my nerves aren't working right.
I ended up having a bunch of acupuncture done on that visit.  I also got barked at by Chariot from Angels With Misplaced Wings while he was waiting to start his underwater treadmill session because he could see me waiting in my room!
My people picked up a second Assissi Loop and are using 1 loop 2-3 times a day on my lumbar spine and are using the other loop twice a day on my right shoulder.  I like the loop, it feels good even if my joints do crackle when I move afterwards.  My woman says that's a good thing.

My man had surgery a couple of weeks ago.  He had hernias that needed fixing and had to stay in the hospital.  He was gone for 2 nights and I had people stay with me so I stayed calm and didn't have breathing problems because of my collapsing trachea.
My friends Megan came to my house at 5 a.m. on the Friday my man had surgery and stayed with me while my woman was gone.  She was here until about 4:30 p.m. and she stopped me from having some breathing issues.
My neighbor Daniel came over on Saturday while my woman went to see my man at the hospital.  He also came back on Sunday and stayed with me and, when my woman came home, she had my man with her!!!!  He was supposed to be in the hospital for 3-5 nights but he was healing fast and they said he didn't need to stay there.
My neighbor Sharon came over when my people were gone for my man's 1st post-surgery appointment.
I get to have my man home for 5 more weeks too!

I have a new friend I like to play with.  His name is Cooper and he kind of looks like me but he's much smaller.  And he's crazy.  I like to get him running and then "chase" him when he runs by.  He likes to play with me like my BFF Jonny used to like to play with me.