Front Porch Updates
Category Archives: Pets
Rain after Timber
It’s very strange to have rain so early in the autumn, but it was pretty intense a few hours after our sweet Timber died. I needed to be near my dogs after crying over our most senior canine leaving us, so I took the time to groom a few of them in this special part of our home. It was thrilling to enjoy the first really heavy rain since we got the back deck cover.
Glen Cove Waterfront Park September 2023
Checking out the area in anticipation of an event GCCA is having for the “End of Summer” party.
Grooming Polar and Matty
September 2023 Dogs
When a tree falls in the forest…Timber 2005-2023
It’s a sad day in our home. We lost our most senior dog, Timber, who was well over 18. Several days ago she must have had a stroke. Suddenly, she was no longer able to use her hind legs, so we said goodbye to her this morning after making her as comfortable as we could in her remaining hours.
Some of you may recall that she survived cancer over six years ago, at which point we thought we’d just have a matter of weeks or months of palliative care, but the surgery to remove the huge tumor from her leg was a success. Indeed, she thrived right up until very recently.
We’re happy we were able to give her a much longer life than she would have had when my sister’s in-laws were stricken with their own immense health issues about seven years ago. There had been talk among those extended family members of “taking her to the pound,” to which I said, “Hell no…not on my watch.” I had known her from various holiday gatherings since she was just a puppy. We are so grateful to have so many pictures and videos of her from many vacations and trips to beaches and parks these past seven years.
In hindsight, this video of her tongue acting like this at the beginning of September might have been a sign of her having a stroke, cute as it is:
Here are pictures of some of Timber’s last days. We put bells on her collar so we could hear and find her when she wandered off to strange parts of the house and yard.
Dogs and Me September 2023
Snoopy First Time at Wardlaw
Snowball’s 12th Birthday
Just over two years ago we got a call from our veterinarian who was upset that she was asked to put down a blind, diabetic dog in a nearby town just because his guardian got tired of him. He was only NINE years old. When he first arrived, he was calm but kind of a mess. His blood sugar was all over the place so we had to do some testing to determine what he would need and get the supplies. We literally had to put a diaper on him because he had uncontrolled urination from his unchecked diabetes and of course, he wasn’t familiar with the layout of our house.
We got him on a steady regiment of long-acting insulin and he rarely flinches when we administer it to him when he eats. He has grown into an integral part of our family and is PERFECTLY house-trained. He has a great appetite and obediently sits for his treats, knows his NEW name Snowball, and has amazing hearing, detecting our cars and gates before anyone else. Not only does he know the layout of our entire house and yard, but he is always clean and extremely patient when I groom him. He slimmed down long ago because of his improved diet and exercise. His fur is never stained with urine and of course, we never keep him in a crate, which had only set him up to fail at his previous home. I’m so happy that he’s thriving at 12 today, even though he did recently get diagnosed with glaucoma on top of his pre-existing blindness, so we also have to give him eye drops to decrease the eye pressure and make sure he’s not in any pain. He regularly shares his bed with other dogs and he’s a handsome devil. When we were asked last year to take in another blind dog from the same veterinarian, we didn’t hesitate, so now we have Snowball and Matty, and they are both amazing.
Happy birthday Snowball!
Dog Reunion at Hugh’s House
Our dogs loved hanging out at Hugh’s renovated yard with a new lawn with his dogs, whom our dogs know well. His front yard and backyard look fabulous with new fencing, gravel, lots of new plants, and a level, grassy area that his dogs are in heaven over.
Three years ago today Hugh helped us enormously in our move to Vallejo, becoming his neighbor.
