Uh oh...

The human is not in a good mood. Not only is his work starting up again (which is guaranteed to make him grumpy), but he came home from a day-long meeting to find this mess. The picture shows just one of three rooms decorated by foster bro Boone! Boone literally broke out of his crate (we didn't know that skinny bones was so strong!) and attacked the trash. We told the human: 1) he shoulda taken the trash out sooner, and 2) he shoulda fixed that cabinet door so it actually closes.

[And, Pippa, we're sorry about the no-dogs pic. We woulda been in this one if we weren't hiding in our crates. Well, except Boone: he was in a time out! :)]

On a serious note, we're sad to report that Boone tested positive for heartworms. Our vet is optimistic that he will handle the treatment well--he just needs to gain weight and get a little healthier first. Even then, the treatment sounds really painful. Poor guy. Everybody, please send good vibes Boone's way.

BOONE Town!

It was bound to happen sooner or later: we have new brother! A foster brother, to be exact. His name is Boone ("...a big man ...as tough as a mighty oak tree"), and he comes from Kentucky. As our human's emotional decisions go, this one wasn't too irrational. At least he hasn't put us in a permanent situation. On the other hand, logging the last leg of our roadtrip to pick the guy up in Kentucky was not so rational. Um, were we, like, eight hours out of our way?!

Anyway, we're not quite sure what to make of Boone yet. He's pretty nervous--understandable. And he's so, so skinny. He was removed from his previous home due to the neglect he, his female friend (also a white shepherd), and a rottie friend suffered. (The rottie didn't make it, btw.) We're okay helping the guy out--for now. But if you know anyone who might be interested, Boone will be available for adoption through Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue. His girlfriend will, too. Rescue Boone, and rescue us! :)

Time Out!

Did we mention that this roadtrip was Tuchuck's first? Well, he had a swell time--though not always doing stuff he was supposed to do. For example, with one fell swoop, he effectively eliminated any travel for us in parts of northern Florida, Georgia, Idaho, and Illinois. How, you might ask? By eating our road atlas, that's how! The little maniac also ate Narra's blue ribbon from the agility trial (jealousy!), his NEW Sense-ation harness, as well as a bunch of other things. All the human's fault, you say? You're absolutely right, we say.

Well, the human is not beyond punishing us for his own shortcomings. Sigh. Little Tuchuck was in and out of the crate so often for time outs our heads were spinning! Poor kid, he missed a little hike around Clearwater Lake in the Ocala National Forest. Weather was beautiful, as was the water. And we FINALLY got to run around off leash. Except you-know-who. Hee hee.

Mojo Rising

After the beach, we headed inland to visit a senior shepherd available for adoption. For whatever reason, the human seems to think our number is 4. It used to be. It doesn't have to be. Whatever. He saw this dog Mojo posted on a rescue board, and, of course, we had to go meet him (super sarcastic tone, in case you couldn't tell).

Mojo seemed nice enough when we (Jacks and Narra) met him, but he also seemed pretty okay at the shelter. They love him there, and he's been there since October, so it's kinda like home. He's also there with his brother Seger, a collie mix. Both dogs are estimated to be between 8-10 year old. You can see them on the Seminole County Animal Services Petfinder site.

Life's a beach

We've fallen a little behind on blogging, so much has happened! We're going to try to catch up, post by post.

First, we neglected to mention in our last post that Narra rocked it at the agility trial! We're talking blue ribbon!!! She and the human have earned them before, but the human was especially pleased with this performance. He said something about great teamwork and speed, oh, yes, speed!

Our celebration was to find a warm beach! We visited our friend Caramel on our way to St. Augustine, Florida. We'd never been there before, and Dogfriendly.com gave it an honorable mention in its "Top 10 Dog-Friendly Resort Areas in the US." Imagine our surprise when we arrived at Anastasia State Park (where we camped) only to find signs saying "No Pets on the Beach"!!! After just walking around the park, we eventually left and found a public beach where we could play. You'll notice in the picture, however, that this was not an off-leash beach. Does "on leash" mean we can't walk each other?! :)

Caramel Candy!

We visited our friend Caramel in Georgia. She has a great fenced-in yard that we could run around in. She even lives with cats--though we were not allowed to chase them. :)

Brotherly Love

Unlike the city we call home, we show true brotherly love! As you can see, Tuchuck is enjoying his first road trip--especially when he gets to curl up with big brother Jacks between the seats. (BTW, that's Tuchuck's new Sense-ation harness he has on. We love it!)

On the road again

It's about time--and we mean that in regard to a number of things. First, our human chose to abandon us for the start of the new year. He dropped us off with his parental units and headed up to a place called the Vermont Studio Center for solitude and some concentrated work time. Like we prevent him from doing work?! We could've told him he wouldn't like it--and we would've been right. :) Apparently, in that idyllic winter wonderland (near Stowe), there's not much to do other than work. In fact, his life was not un-monastic. He maintained three activities: work, eat, sleep, each of which had its own specific place. We believe in an alternative formula that is qualitatively different: play, eat, sleep--wherever and whenever you want!!!
Once the human came down from that mountain, we immediately had him clean the van and take us on the road--where we are now! Lovely North Carolina, for an agility trial, same one where Narra went loca last year. The human said something about making up for last year's performance. We'll see... What we really want to see is where we go next. All we know for sure is that it's south, and it's warmer. That'll do.

But check what he had done to our van! It was covered in wet paint! So was our human. At least the van cleaned up well.

2 Dogs 2000 Miles

We try not to talk about Buko too much, but the fact remains that we miss him all the time. Life only looks like it's back to normal; under the surface, we're still pretty lost and confused. And our human is still in a lot of pain. We came across this story today, and it touched us immensely. As much as it hurt, it was also a little comforting.

2 Dogs 2000 Miles is about Malcolm, a 6-year old Great Pyrenees who lost his battle with osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer. Malcolm's human promised him that he'd do what he could to rid the world of the disease, and now he's fulfilling his promise. The human and his two dogs will hike from Austin to Boston to raise awareness about canine cancer and to promote canine cancer research. So many have lost loved ones to this disease, and we hate it for taking our Buko. We wish everyone peace and look forward to a cure.

Truth

As a counterpoint to the lame e-card by our human, we share this print from Saturn Press, a letterpress in Swan's Island, Maine. The image was typeset by hand. Credit our human for finding this truth at some artsy place in Burnsville, NC. Go figure.

That's more like it--sort of

Leave it to our human to do nothing or to go too far. Just as the holiday season winds down, now he decides to be a little festive. No, he did not dress us up. :) But he did make us into a little, pseudo e-card. Bah humbug.
In addition, he even made a holiday video of us. Oh, please. Just a little romp in what little snow we had a while back. You can check out the video here.

Anyway, Happy New Year again!

Bring on the New Year!

Happy Holidays, everyone--and warm wishes for a very Happy New Year!!!

Okay, yes, our picture doesn't look too holiday-y. As you can see, we didn't have a white Christmas, and our human isn't so much into decking the halls. Plus, we're not really into human mythology or human attempts at self-definition. Which is not to say, however, that we have anything against any reason for a good party with lots of food! Eat on!!

Cheers!

Too many goodbyes

We've been saddened by an extraordinary number of goodbyes this fall. Not just our Buko, but other friends and friends of friends. We thought we'd take a moment to share a sigh then a smile...

LEWIS, we just heard... Glad to have met you--you were almost our wise older brother.

THRAWN--we didn't know you until it was too late, but you touched so many.

DAVE and ANNIE, our Border Collie herding idols, wishing you the sheep of your dreams--thanks for sharing your flock.

and "Uncle" MAC--the DOGNY model!--you were special for many more reasons than just being Narra's uncle.

Let It Snow!

Hey, how awesome--SNOW!!! We hardly ever get the white stuff this early, but we got a nice surprise today. And this was Tuchuck's first snow (unless, of course, he came down from like Everest or the Arctic Circle--who knows where the kid's from or where he's been). Regardless, we love winter play. More please!

And more updates: Zion continues do well and has been pain free for two weeks now. We hear he loves the snow, too! Rock on, buddy! And NoName from the SPCA got adopted! His adopter was a GSD handler in Iraq, so we think he went to good home. We hope he got a good name, too. :)

"On the Boulder River"

Yes, Wally, we are ART--yet again. While life is always art for us, at this time of year, our human makes us (literally) a special work for the Canine Partners for Life benefit auction. This year, he made a painting of Buko and Jacks on the Boulder River in Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. We love it there--we may even take Tuchuck next summer.
UPDATE on our buddy Zion: the neurologist thinks he may not have a degenerative spinal condition. Instead, it may be something called an invertebral disc protrusion in the spine. We don't know what that means, but Zion is on meds that may remedy the situation and relieve the pain. We're very hopeful, but still keeping our paws crossed. Hang in there, buddy!

Needs a home--and a name!

Don't say you thought this guy was Zion with his ears up... he ain't. In fact, he's got no name--and no home. You can check him out at the Delaware SPCA in Stanton, DE, illustrious former home of Buko and Tuchuck. Call the shelter at 302.998.2281. You can refer to this guy as tag #587.

Our human evaluated "no name" for rescue. The findings? He's cool (the dog, not our human)! He's just a youngster who doesn't know the rules and, consequently, feels a little lost. He wants to be a good boy, but someone needs to teach him how. There's more pictures of him here. [Due to technical difficulties, this webpage may not come up--please keep trying.] You can also check out his Petfinder page.

BTW, if you're wondering about our friend Zion, he has an appointment with the neurologist (it's Buko's doctor!) tomorrow. Hopefully, they can figure out what's wrong and fix it. Everyone keep your paws crossed that Zion will be okay.

Get Whitey

Our reference to eugenics in the previous post was in no way meant to be glib. We abhor bigotry, especially the kind that masquerades as "objective" science. Bad enough that Buko had to endure prejudice against white shepherds, but we've now learned that the same bias exists against white border collies! Poor Tuchuck, we'll protect you, little bro.

Today, in our ongoing efforts to serve social justice and stick it to the man, we met Zion, a handsome and sweet white boy available for adoption through Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue. We all thought Zion was super and liked him a lot. It certainly didn't hurt that he reminded us so much of Buko. Even though Tuchuck never knew Buko, he seemed to like Zion as much as we did. Jacks especially liked Zion, perhaps because Jacks has been most affected by Buko's passing.

What shall we do? Do we bring in one more to join our pack? The human isn't sure. We aren't either. All we know is that we miss Buko, and no one can change that. Stay tuned.

Party hat minus the favors...

Ladies, you can come out now. The little man had his man bits removed, so you're safe! In fact, look how stupid Tuchuck was: he left in the morning intact, and when he got back, he had traded in his manhood for this silly hat. What a deal, huh?! We're not into eugenics or anything, but that kind of smarts you shouldn't be breeding anyhow! :)

Still, the little guy had enough brass--figuratively speaking--to think he could take Narra... "Bring it on, diaper breath," Narra says. "Let's see what you got (or what you don't got!)." Ha ha ha! Jacks is not amused...
And the winner is...

Crazy Wisdom

Someone recently suggested to us that our picture of Tuchuck trotting (with hair flowing in the breeze) was reminiscent of an image from Tibetan Buddhism. Uh, what have you been smoking?! The boy has barely learned not to crap in the house, he's pretty far from any kind of spirituality.

Regardless, we were curious enough to check out the pee boy's doppelganger: turns out to be Dorje Trolo, an enlightened samurai, a manifestation of Padmasambhava, who brought Buddhism to Tibet. Dorje Trolo manifests "crazy wisdom" or wisdom "gone wild." According to teacher Chogyam Trungpa, crazy wisdom equates with being "completely awake," being able to tune out the confusion of the world around us and tune into a kind of primordial knowledge.

Uh, yeah, right. The "crazy" part fits Tuchuck pretty well--but he adds to confusion, forget enlightenment. But, hey, we would like to see him ride a pregnant tigress!

Happy Birthday, Buko

Seven years ago today, brother Tsamba welcomed brother Buko into the fold, and our family grew from there. Buko had come some time earlier as a foster dog, but Tsamba and the human soon realized he was meant to stay. Since Buko came from the SPCA, no one knew his birthday, so we celebrate it today, the day Buko's life with us began--and the day our family started. When we celebrate Buko and his life, we celebrate all of us and all we share. And especially today, we try to be happy for all we have, even though we miss Buko so much. Happy Birthday, brother Buko!

Tsamba and Buko: the early days"The boys": Jacks, Buko, Tsamba, and Buddy

Dr. Feelgood

Our house has been a sad place lately--and we just haven't known how to help our human feel better. We've been sad, too. Big brother Buko was always our guide and our heart, and, without him, we've all felt a bit lost. The human has tried to keep busy doing different things, but he frequently has those moments when, as our friend Pippa puts it, it's difficult to see.

One of the activities the human sort of resumed was his involvement with rescue. He actually went back to the shelter where Buko came from to help two GSDs looking for homes. While at the shelter, he happened to notice a dirty, urine-stained puppy who, for whatever reason, interested him. He returned the next day, with Wally's apes' help, to meet the little guy, and the rest is, as they say, well, you know. The decision-making process was drawn out for a couple days because the human couldn't make up his mind about adopting. And rightfully so! He needed us to give the final word--and the word was a hesitant "okay."

So, here we are... with a new a little brother named Tuchuck. He's a 6-month old border collie, but we don't hold that against him (at least, not the breed part--we would be okay with his growing up fast, though)! He's named after a mountain in northwest Montana that overlooks Glacier National Park (Tuchuck's name at the shelter was Glacier). Tuchuck Mtn was a place we all enjoyed on our recent roadtrip, and the name reminds us of a happy time we all shared together.

Anyway, happy is what we needed, and happy is what Tuchuck is! Our original hesitation has proven ill-founded as Tuchuck learns quickly and now fits in really well. He's a fun kid, and we welcome that back in our life. (And he doesn't take bad pictures either...)

Goodbye, Buko, my special boy

Hello. Human, here--aka "Boy"--hijacking the dogs' blog for a bit. I haven't been able to write about it until now, but one week ago tonight, almost to the very hour, I had to let Buko go. As you might've read on the dogs' blog, he suffered a number of health issues since Labor Day, although, clearly, they must have begun long before then. The final diagnosis was numbing: cancer. What had presented at various times as orthopedic and neurological problems had ultimately proven to be a type of soft tissue sarcoma, well beyond any treatable stage. In his final hours, Buko experienced GI distress that caused obvious, acute pain and sent us to the ER. As much as I had hoped for him to drift peacefully off in sleep, at home in bed, we had to say goodbye on a surgical gurney in the hospital. How anyone manages the pain of such a loss is completely beyond me. At times, going on seems impossible. I keep waiting for the happy moments--and they were more than I deserve--to push the pain aside.

My Buko... He was my first "failure" at fostering, the first dog I ever entered a competitive ring with--a first ribbon, a first title. He never rolled his eyes at me when I was spaz, he held his breath when I held mine, and was always up for anything I wanted to do--he always tried, just because I wanted him to. And even though he didn't like it when I used bad words, he always knew when I felt bad and wanted to make it better. He was the purest, most sincere form of unconditional love I've ever known. And maybe one day I will be the kind of man he thought I was and actually be worthy of him. What I ever did to deserve him, I'll never know.

I miss you, Buko. I hope you know I will always love you as much as you loved me.

More Buko

Down the road and back again

Reminiscing... and enjoying our time together. Some early video of Buko with big bro and best friend Tsamba (whom we lost two years ago to kidney failure). The song is Nancy Griffith's "Don't Forget About Me," from her album Flyer(1994).

(Belated) Happy Birthday!

"A belated 'Happy Birthday!' to me," says Narra. It's a week later, but Narra celebrated her birthday by running in an agility trial. She loves nothing better than the wind through her hair! Our human is overly focused on ribbons and such, but this girl knows what it means to have fun. That's her present to herself. Who needs ribbons and bows?! You go, girl!

[photo credit: Barry Rosen Photography]

A note on terminology

We would like to comment on our recently adopted use of the term "boy" to refer to our human. Rather than go into lengthy, culturally specific explorations of the word's usage, let us simply say we use it as a term of endearment. Since humans are so fond of infantilizing us canines, we thought we'd return the favor. (hee hee) We do understand, though, that this practice (in either direction) is not malicious. And we certainly do not intend to reference centuries of "benign" infantilization heaped upon certain humans by other humans... Let's just call it a joke between us and our boy. :)

Besides, it is kinda funny, isn't it? One of our favorite (albeit slightly uncomfortable) uses of the term "boy" accompanies photographs of eccentric Henry Chapman Mercer with his "boys," his Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. (Mercer's castle Fonthill is a museum open to the public, along with the Mercer Museum and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.)
And, of course, you've gotta love the scene in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey where Golden Retriever Shadow is re-united with Peter, telling him, "You're my boy, Peter, and I love you..." Sniff.

[photo credit above: Collection of the Spruance Library of the Bucks County Historical Society]

Woe unto me

It's been a difficult week. Not only has our boy had to return to work (he says it pays the bills), but Buko has been pretty miserable. The emergency vet thought it was a cruciate ligament injury of some sort, and we were all really worried that Buko would have to have surgery. (BTW, the human joined an online group called Orthodogs that's been really helpful. Thanks, Orthodoggers!) As it turns out, our regular vet doesn't think it's an ACL/CCL issue. While the cruciate ligament may be injured, there seems to have been another type of injury causing unusual swelling. The short of it is that Buko has a new meds regimen that we hope will help. He still can't walk much and doesn't want to come out of his crate too often, but at least he seems to like eating again. Now, you know something's wrong if this guy won't eat!

Buko says, "That Jackson always wants to copy me!"
Narra says, "What about my birthday?! I didn't even get a party or presents or anything!"

We didn't even get a stupid t-shirt

Another Saturday, another day to be left behind. Although this one wasn't so bad because, well, we just weren't that interested in hanging out with a bunch of northern breeds... Our human, his parental units, and some family friends went to Hike N Howl, an event to support northern breeds rescue: Delaware Valley Siberian Husky Rescue, MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue and Referral, and Harnessed to Hope Northern Breed Rescue. Our human didn't "hike" to raise money, but he did want to buy a "Hike N Howl" t-shirt to support the cause, but there weren't any in sight (they can be bought online, though)! That's okay, we're just glad he didn't come home with a puppy--or an adult, for that matter.We gotta ask: why would you go to a husky event and only take pictures of Great Danes???