Summer!

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.