Journey

Needles and Thumbs

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Journey

Hey everybody, sorry I took some time off from posting Barks. Mom’s got me on a busy schedule. There’s appointments with the chiropractor and acupuncture vet (I call that needles and thumbs), PEMF treatments, cold laser and massage. We have certain walks we do each day to build up my stamina. It’s hard because I can’t run and I’m not in as good shape as I used to be.

If it were up to me I’d quit all this nonsense and go back to chasing eagles. But Mom really wants me to take the time to let my knee heal, so we keep to the routine. It’s been three months since I popped my ACL. It’s definitely a lot better after months of being on the end of a leash, but I still have some more healing to do.

What I miss most of all is playing bump and run with Finn. He misses it too. Sometimes he shadow boxes with me, standing on his hind legs and barking at me. How I wish Mom would drop the leash and let me have a word or two with that little trouble maker.

The good news is I might get more freedom in another month. It seems four months of leash restriction is the golden rule for ACL injuries. That means my release date would be May 25th. I can almost smell freedom. The only problem is I can’t be trusted to use good judgement. I hate to say that about myself, but it’s true. As soon as Mom lets me off leash I’m gonna take off like a flash. I’ll race to the front fence and bark at the neighbor dog. Then I’ll run so fast my ears will stretch out behind my head like Superman’s cape. Oh how I love to run.

One more month seems like forever, but I’ve been on restriction for three months already so I know I can do it. I’m healing up just in time for the summer. With the early mornings and lots of light in the evening, Finn and I can be outside for hours. We’ll scan the skies for eagles to chase and bark at any noise we don’t recognize. I’ll watch Mom mow down by the henhouse while stays inside away from the noise of the mower. Did I tell you he HATES the mower? If Mom even looks like she’s going to mow Finn runs inside and crawls under the bed. He won’t come out until she stops mowing and he can see for himself the mower is back in the shed.

That’s it for this Bark. I’ll get back to telling about my early years while I’m still able to remember all the details. By the way, did I tell you I’m going to turn eleven on May 8th?

 

 

Journey

Crazy Needles

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Journey

Hey, I’m sorry everybody. I have to interrupt telling you about my younger life to bring you an update in real time. Did I mention that I tore my ACL back in January? Yep, unfortunately I did. Thankfully it’s only a partial tear but it’s still bad enough to make me limp if I try to run.

Mom has been taking me to a real nice lady vet who does both chiropractic and acupuncture treatments to help with my injury. It’s a great practice called Cedarbrook Veterinary Care This week I had my first ever acupuncture treatment. I wasn’t quite sure about the acupuncture but I knew nothing bad was going to happen. And hey – if it helps me recover faster, I’m all for it.

We showed up for our appointment and it was super exciting. There was the vet, her helper, and a little boy. I really wanted to play with the kid but they wouldn’t let me. I can’t help myself when I’m around new people. I rolled onto my back and tried to love on everyone. I do that when I’m nervous and for some reason I just couldn’t calm down.

It took three people to gently restrain me while the needles went it. It sounds a lot scarier than it was. I hardly felt anything and then I gradually began to relax. The nice vet said that happens with acupuncture. Here’s a picture of a few of the needles. These were close to my injured ACL, but I also had one at the back of my head.

Journey

I was told to go home and relax. I could take short walks on leash but there was to be no jumping or quick starts and NO chasing eagles. When I got home I was so drowsy I slept most of the afternoon. The world felt kinda dreamy to me. Mom said that’s the good thing about acupuncture. It helps you heal and relaxes you.

I’ll tell you more about my ACL injury in the next Bark. For now I’m taking life easy and hoping my body heals so I can get back to business chasing critters and playing bump and run with Finn.

 

 

 

Journey

My New Hobby

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Journey

Ash died in June when the days were long and the nights were short. That summer me and Mom got up early each morning to enjoy the sunrise. She drank coffee as I wolfed down my breakfast. Then we were off to check on the alpacas. Without Ash to protect me I had to stay real close to Mom or the nasty alpacas would stomp me. I barked and tried to act tough, but they knew they could boss me around.

Nosy Alpaca

After morning chores I had time to myself. I wandered around sniffing the fence line checking to see what animals had made incursions during the night. There were always bunnies, squirrels, raccoons, and once in a while something big and scary like the neighborhood bear.

There were a lot of empty hours to fill by myself. It was lonely being the only dog.

One day while I was feeling sorry for myself I felt the ground vibrate. Then it happened again and soon a mole popped out of the ground about ten feet away. I made a leap and tried to grab the little beast, but he disappeared laughing down his tunnel. I was annoyed. The alpacas didn’t respect me and now this little whippersnapper mole – that was just too much disrespect.

I could sense which direction he was going underground and waited quietly for him to reappear. Bingo! I grabbed the little fart and held on despite how bad he tasted. Just then Mom came to check on me and found me with the mole in my mouth. Since I wasn’t sure what to do with the mole I tossed it at Mom figuring she’d know how to handle it.

The mole was stunned and didn’t move. Mom picked him up and was going to toss him over the fence to save him from me when he bit her and wouldn’t let go.

“Ouch, you little bugger!” she yelped. He held on tight and dangled from the web between her fingers. I’ve heard bad language before but Mom really surprised me with the words she knew. The mole finally let go and scurried off under the fence while I yelled good riddance.

Me and Mom had a talk that afternoon. We talked about how cute the moles are and how much destruction they can do. Mom reminded me she’s tripped and fallen a couple times when she stepped in a mole hole. She asked me if I thought I could help drive the moles out of our front yard. I promised her I would try. And try I did, day after day during that lonely summer. In the end I became a world class hunter. To this day I’m the best hunter that ever lived at Asherpark.

Journey