Simon's First Birthday

Our little bitty Simon celebrated his first birthday on the 28th with a day full of romps, treats, and the destroying of his birthday toys. It is hard to believe how far he has come from the little bitty shy puppy we brought home, to the fully grown, mouthy, confident, pain in the butt best friend to Torean. Simon has developed a very loving personality when he isn't trying to chase kitties, or chew on big brother's tail, or find something he knows shouldn't go in his mouth. Which by the way is nearly every day. His birthday started early in the morning with a bag of treaties, then as the day progressed he got unlimited time with Torean, plenty of photos taken, and yes, he got to wear the birthday boy ribbon and the birthday hat which he still has not forgiven us for. Little did we know, that like Torean, Simon would end up changing our lives the way he has. Here is to many more birthdays for both dogs, and pictures from his photo shoot. Enjoy!

                                                                     Simon's First Photo

Itty Bitty Simon Is Turning One!

Yes, the time has flown by and Simon is going to be turning one next month. Since I doubt mother nature is going to be cooperating, we will be planning Simon's birthday for indoors, and to celebrate I thought I would share some of Simon's very first pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Our itty bitty baby who has grown up so quickly. Here is to you, Simon Baby Shark.

So Time To Catch Up

Well, apparently I have slacked off again so it is time to catch up on blogging AGAIN. Life in the house is as fun as ever having two puppies on the loose, and with all the snow outside, you can guess where they want to do most of their sparring now. The once pristine yard was been decimated, and Torean has discovered the fun of being an Elkie, and burying himself up to his bun in snow every chance he gets. Simon, being a shorter coated monster, can not stay outside as long as Torean can, but he has as much fun as he can before he has to come in. Simon had to endure a painful week long separation from his favorite playing buddy as he got neutered and micro chipped and all I can say is Wow, what a difference between breeds. When Torean was neutered he went through one soft collar and two cones of shame in his quest to lick his wounds, and the third cone bit the dust the day we decided he had healed enough. Simon on the other hand was an angel when it came to his incision. He only had to be disciplined twice the first night he was home for licking, other than that he made it through the entire healing process without a cone or pain medicine. For the most part he seemed oblivious to the fact that he had been neutered, all he craved was time with Torean. And let me tell you when the two of them finally got to play together again, nothing was safe, and we came close to filling a memory card with pictures of their teeth baring antics. Simon sure has changed from when he was a tiny puppy to now, when he is rapidly approaching his first birthday and we are starting to see more changes in Torean as well. Torean is still full of beans and mischief whenever he gets a chance, but a new mature dog is starting to surface from time to time. He is more content to sit with us instead of wandering off to scrounge or see if Simon has spit out any tasty morsels he can have, and when he had to go to the vet for shots and to have what we thought was a cyst looked at, Torean blew us all out of the water. During the ride over Torean was content to sit across my lap looking out the window, and aside from his mega sniffing when we got to the vets office, Torean was an absolute angel. He met his new vet like a champ rapidly becoming comfortable enough with him that the vet was slathered with kisses, tail wiggles, and he even asked to play games with the vet. The cyst under his leg turned out to be a benign tumor that was already shrinking and has now completely vanished. Torean left the vet with a clean bill of health after charming the vet and the nurses and we could not have been more proud of him. Torean got a massive bone as a reward for being such a good boy and so did Simon when he healed. That is the basic rundown of what has been happening since my last blog posting, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Have a great week!

And so it begins..

Yes, it has happened. Torean has gotten his first cyst under his left leg. And it was only by pure accident that it was found. Thankfully we already had a vet appointment made for Torean so hopefully this will be taken care of. Torean seems oblivious to it all, but I think he knows the dreaded vet is coming. I am hoping this will be Toreans first and last cyst, and what a place to get it!!

The Dreaded Grains

Yes, grains are apparently the enemy for our beloved and mischievous Norwegian Elkhound puppy. Since Torean has been on his salmon and sweet potato dog food we have seen a tremendous change in him. His bowl is cleaned when he gets his food, and his coat has become so soft and fluffy. It is a relief to see the changes in Torean after our first incident with the hot spot. I hope we never have to go through it again for his sake. Having to be good in a collar is such torture you know, and we dread the inevitable knee knocks from him. Through all of this we have come to realize that Torean's grain allergy is pretty severe so we have to be extra careful he does not get into them, including keeping him from surfing his favorite spot,  Simon's crate. When Torean does get grains he almost instantly gets to gagging and throwing up to the point we are worried sick about him. When it passes he is back to his normal self, which as you know from previous blogs, means giving us gray hairs when we are not shaking our heads at him. When Torean and Simon are together, the aforementioned emotions increase in fold, and we are resorted to basically emptying the room out to save things from total dest ruction. Calm has not entered their vocabulary yet, but their bond is stronger than ever. Torean will be lost when Simon visits the vet for his neutering and micro chipping, and the healing separation will be awful for all of us! Simon is growing very well with his own quirks and habits including tormenting our shoes and the cats who have lost patience with him. His vision is still spotty but he functions so well now that we often forget he has problems seeing, especially when he is raising trouble which as you know by now almost always involves Torean. With Christmas coming and two puppies in the house, the Christmas tree does not stand a chance in hell of surviving, and the fragile ornaments will stay put away until they both calm down. But come Christmas morning, the discarded wrapping paper will be fair game for them along with their christmas stockings to keep them busy. I hope to have plenty to put up during that time, and if I do not write until them, enjoy your Christmas everyone. Happy Paws!!!

The Love of a Medicine Pet

I can't believe it has been as long as it has since I wrote a blog. I am definitely slipping, or suffering from severe writers block. Not sure which actually, but here is my attempt to put one out tonight since I love writing this blog so much. And as always, the topic will be about Torean, our goofy, loveable, socially obnoxious LoveHound. Tonight Torean has done something that never fails to amaze me, and can almost bring a tear to my eye. The love a medicine pet can show. My husband threw his back out again this morning, so he is stuck in the chair with his heating pad so that he does not hurt himself more and end up on the floor in pain like last time. It has been this way all day so I took Torean outside to his kennel so he could enjoy this beautiful day. The second I brought him inside Torean calmed right down, and marched over to my husband sitting on his feet and looking at him with nothing short of absolute love. Now Torean is sound asleep on his feet. The second Will shifts or moves Torean is instantly awake to make sure Daddy is ok before he goes back to sleep. The last time Will hurt his back I waited until he was mostly recovered before I let Torean see him. Torean ever so gently jumped up on his lap and laid down, ears back so far they were almost touching, and he laid there like an Elkhound puddle until I finally had to put Torean on the floor so I could adjust the heating pad for Will. All of our animals, past and present have had some form of medicine petery (is that even a word?)but none of them had had it to the extent Torean does. He has been devoted to Will from the second he chose him, and it only deepens as Torean gets older. Torean loves all of us, don't get me wrong, but he definitely has a soft spot for Will. A special dog we love more and more each day <3


  Since I have not written awhile I might as well update on what our therapy hound has been up to. A few weeks ago Torean got his very first hot spot and we had to take him to the vet to have it looked at. It turns out that Torean has a possible grain allergy, so in order to make sure he stays healthy, Torean is not getting any grains whatsoever. He is on Aqualuk dog food, and so far it seems to be making a huge difference in him. Torean has an appetite again, and his fur has become so fluffy and soft. But during his recovery he of course had to wear a cone, which meant limited play time with Simon, and limited time outside to keep the wound clean. Torean decided to take out his boredom on our knees, and his cones. Two plastic cones, a blue soft collar, and a donut all bit the dust within a few days of him wearing them. Torean proved that he was not only determined, but very flexible. He proved that the donut could not stop him from licking that tasty hot spot, and the soft collar could be moved back so he could do the same thing. He also proved that he was too smart to take his pills. Pill pockets did not fool him for long so it became a twice daily battle of giving him the pills then distracting him with a treat so he would swallow the pill pocket to get the treat. All of this became a joke at the vets office but it was all worth it to have our baby boy healthy and happy again. Ok, I am done being gooey about Torean :) Have a great week everyone.

Lessons We Learn Having Two Puppies...Part Two

Since I am still struggling a bit with writers block, I thought I would branch out from another blog and bring up the new lessons we have learned as Moose Mutt and Baby Shark are getting bigger.


Lesson Twenty One (continued from the other blog post)

   When playing with Moose Mutt, do not put your face down near him because you will either get a face full of warm puppy fart, or a deliberate sneeze (anyone with an Elkie will get this)


Lesson Twenty Two,

   When Baby Shark is full, or feeling very hyper after a session with Moose Mutt do not think that picking him up to put him in his crate is a good idea, because Baby Shark will either sink his weight straight to his butt so you nearly drop him, or he will let some very nasty puppy farts in hopes this will get him out of crate time.


Lesson Twenty Three,

   When it comes time to flea Moose Mutt and Baby Shark it is a good idea to separate the boys because word will get around that the dreaded vial is out and you not only have to chase down the remaining puppy but the cats in the house as well. And nobody wants to go that route.


Lesson Twenty Four,

   Do not assume that a basket full of toys will be shared equally between Moose Mutt and Baby Shark. No, they instead choose to pass their time by fighting over the same poor toy that eventually will have to be taken away to be sewn up extending its life just a little bit.


Lesson Twenty Five,

   The store sales on dog toys are your best friends, so is buying a particularly durable toy in bulk so that the children can continue to fight over their beloved same toy.


Lesson Twenty Six,

   When the boys are fighting it is wise to put up feet, and any valuable electronics because chances are the fighting will come to you, and you may or may not get caught up in another deliberate sneeze because Moose Mutt does not always get his aim right.


Lesson Twenty Seven,

   When taking both children out to play, be prepared to have long leashes on both dogs, and be prepared that you will spend most of the play session untangling leashes, and that both boys will play until they are tired and you have to carry the growing little Baby Shark inside, which is a chore in itself.


Lesson Twenty Eight,

   Moose Mutt loves his Kong Wobbler and he is incredibly skilled at launching it across the room. Be prepared that you will inevitably be hit by it more than once, or that he will shoot it just right and knock Baby Shark over thus starting another play session.


Lesson Twenty Nine,

   Baby Shark is just that, a baby, so it is expected that he will think the cats are his own personal play toys, and that he will think biting the grumpy one in the tail is great fun, which causes the grumpy one to become offended and use you as a launching board so that she can make it into the dining room for safety. Once Baby Shark gets a warning scratch across the nose he will then come to you with that wondering look on his face, with the awe I was just playing attitude.


Lesson Thirty,

   And this is another good one, poop bags are your friends, and whoever invented the decorative bone you can hang from your belt loaded with poop bags, is a genius. When taking Moose Mutt or Baby Shark for a walk, do not think that one poop in the yard will be enough, no, after walking and playing, they will decide that the neighbors lawn makes an excellent potty spot and you will then become a balancing expert holding said dog and picking up poop. I have become quite skilled at this thanks to Baby Shark, who finds the pickup process hysterical.


Lesson Thirty One,

   And the final lesson for this blog, cords, cords, and more cords. Cords are a nightmare when you have a three month old puppy, and even more so when Moose Mutt comes into the monkey see monkey do stage of having a baby brother. If Baby Shark can do it, Moose Mutt thinks he can to, and it is double the trouble and the gray hair. Nut brothery at its finest I tell you.


   This concludes another blog about the adventures of having two puppies, and again, please, in no way think that I am complaining about Simon or Torean. This is another blog meant to be nothing other than silly. Both Torean and Simon are precious to us, and even though Simon is facing a future where he could eventually go blind, he has not let anything stop him. He is facing the world with the exuberance of a puppy, growing like a weed, and loving life. We love these two with everything we have, and I would not have it any other way.