Time Marches On -- and Another Dog Passes On

I have not posted to this blog in eight years.

Since then, our darling Trooper, the apple of Dave's eye, left this world. After a brave, extended fight with multiple cancers that included surgeries and chemo, Trooper died in November 2014. This amazing dog actually beat the cancer, but in the end, the chemo beat him.

Just today, we said goodbye to the irrepressible Zoe, who was the life of the party and the head of the pack since 2003. Cancer also got the better of her. Hers was a sudden and precipitous decline, less than a week from diagnoses to last goodbye.

So Angel, first to our household in 2002, is last dog standing. At 16, struggling with crippling arthritis and numerous other scourges of old age, it's not likely she'll see another winter.

These three dogs--they've been our family in every sense of the word. Life with them was joyful; life without them is painful.

Left to right: Angel, Trooper, Zoe

Are Dogs Patriotic?

I don't know, for sure. But they certainly aren't fans of July Fourth celebrations. The problem is the fireworks -- even louder and more incessant than those dreaded summer thunderstorms.

Our three nervous nellies will be hunkered down in the basement during tomorrow night's official town spectacle, and will be whining, barking and jumping late into the night, as local hooligans set off bootleg bottle rockets and firecrackers.

For dogs, the Fourth of July is not a holiday at all.

Zoe gets the short end of the stick - again

Fabulous Zoe, our fearless top dog, is at the emergency vet getting patched up. During our walk with Zoe, Angel, and Trooper through the Passaic River Park this morning, an off-leash dog came charging down the trail. Zoe, who always leads the pack, was the first dog the off-leash bully encountered, so he attacked her. By the time the owner caught up and corraled his dog, the damage was done.

But we didn't realize the extent of the injury to her right rear leg until we got home. She's a hurting pup, for sure. As I write this, she's under anesthesia, getting stitched up on one side of her leg and a drain inserted in the puncture wound on the other side. She'll be recovering for two weeks and will have to wear the dreaded Elizabethan collar. What's even harder is that we will have to keep her quiet (Zoe is a highly reactive dog) and separated from her two dog siblings.

Dave thinks he knows where the attacking dog lives. We need to warn the owner to be more careful with his dog, before another dog pays the price. Speaking of price, it's a good thing we have pet insurance -- this five-second attack will run us $1,000 in medical bills.

Zoe is the white dog in the photo.

Dog Mobility

Top of mind: Having three large dogs limits mobility. I wouldn't trade them for anything, but it is making vacation (off to the Carribean shortly), Thanksgiving at Dave's parents, Christmas with Dave's daughter, Danielle, and the holiday visit to Dave's family hard to plan for and very expensive. The way I see it, we'll be spending an extra $1,200 on dog sitting between now and year's end.

Sweet Shadow

Shadow, the little Lassie-come-home miracle who had brightened our lives since April of 2006, died on July 29, 2007. Dave and I are bereft.

Shadow was pure joy: Always wanting to engage, flirt and cuddle. Following us from room to room. Never taking seriously her place in the pack (number four of four) .

We grieve Shadow.

The Dogs Have a Yard!

We did it! We bought a ranch-style home with a yard, and now the dogs have their own playground!

Zoe sets the pace. She's the first to dash out the sliding glass door into the yard. Then she engages the others with a series of play bows, snatching up toys in her mouth and daring the others to chase her. Trooper and Shadow are up for the game -- Angel is less interested and prefers to poke around and sniff for a little while and quicklyasks to rejoin the people in the house.

Big upside: Happier and better exercised dogs.
Downsides: Dealing with mud in the house; Dave and I get less exercise because we walk the dogs less frequently.

And Shadow Makes Four

Four dogs in a townhouse!

Shadow joined the pack in April. Dave rescued her from Newark, where she'd been on the streets for a good part of the winter. We fostered her for a week while finding her a "forever" home. Unfortunately for the adoptive couple, "forever" only lasted two days. She got out and turned up on our doorstep the next morning.

We don't know how she found her way back, but since she picked us, we adopted her. It's a Lassie-come-home story.

Shadow was very skittish. You can see the fear in her eyes in this photo taken on the second day she was with us. She has become very cuddly and loving with Dave and me and her circle of trusted dog walkers.

So we've been trying hard to sell our townhouse and buy one with a big yard for the dogs! We're selling it ourselves, so I've used my marketing background to create sales materials. Here's the website: http://www.berkeleyheightstownhome.com I created it using a beta product called Microsoft Live. It was very easy. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a website. Best of all, it's free!