Drake, our "old man" dog...

Thought I would introduce Drake, our oldest dog, this evening. He's a registered Black Labrador Retriever...the only dog we have that has papers! He's a sweet, gentle dog who knows some neat tricks like speaking, begging on command and shaking hands. Drake is quite a gentleman!

We've known Drake since he was a puppy, but he hasn't always lived with us. He was my sister-in-law's dog for several years, but she had to bring him to us about six-seven years ago. Drake is now 12 years old and, as you can see in the photo, he's really showing his age.

Drake suffers from severe arthritis and takes a daily supplement for it. He's also given an anti-inflammatory when needed, which seems to be more often as the days go by. Drake is also becoming very absent minded and hard of hearing.

When Don fed the dogs last night Drake didn't get up to go eat. That worried us, because Drake LOVES to eat! The poor old fellow wasn't even reacting when Don called him, so we decided to feed him in the house (he usually eats in the garage). By mixing some canned food with his kibble Don was able to get him to eat a little bit of his food.

When we went to bed Drake didn't come upstairs with us. We were sitting in bed fretting over Drake's behavior when I realized that he'd slept all day long...he didn't go out for a potty break until Don got home from work. We were very afraid that last night might BE Drake's last night. Don even got up at some point in the wee hours to check on him.

As you can imagine, we were quite relieved to wake up this morning with Drake sleeping on the bedroom floor. He's been better today, not quite so confused and seems to have his appetite back...evidenced by his begging treats every time I've been in the kitchen!

Perhaps it was just the change of weather. We had storms move in during the night and Drake may have just been achy and tired last night due to the barometric changes. Whatever it was, I am grateful that he is feeling better because it would hurt my heart to much to lose Drake right now.

When the time comes, and I know it's coming, my wish is that Drake slip away peacefully in his sleep (right now he is sprawled out on the love seat snoozing with Conan).

I also hope that he sees one more Christmas...or more!

Remembering Huck...

When Don and I moved here the farm was just a cow pasture. There were no buildings, drive, power, etc. on the place...just ponds, grass and trees. One afternoon in mid December we headed out to meet a man about building our half mile driveway. As we turned onto our road I saw a black speck running down the middle of the road. When we got closer I saw it was a small puppy. In that instant I knew it was our dog Huck. Don tells me that I blurted out, "There's Huck!".

When we got out Don asked the driveway man if it was his dog and he said no, the pup had come from the bridge. I had to wade into the swampy side of the road to grab the little shivering wet puppy, but grab him I did! We stopped for dog food and supplies on the way home and, once there, I spent an hour sitting on the bathroom floor pulling cockle burrs out of Huck's fur. Poor guy even had them embedded in his arm pits (um, guess that would be leg pits).

We took Huck to the vet the next morning and were told he was a Border Collie mix about six weeks old. His intelligence and looks won us over and we have been huge Border Collie fans ever since. He learned things so quickly! Potty training was a breeze. If he went out and did his business I would give him a treat. One day I realized he was going out every few minutes, coming in and running to the counter where I kept his treats. Next time he went out I watched. Smart fellow squeezed out a few drops then dashed in and went straight to the treats. HA...I was onto his game!

On Don's off days we would take Huck out to the farm with us (we were renting a small house in town while our house was built). He would get so excited and run circles around the truck. It got so bad that we had to start spelling certain words...R..I..D..E and F..A..R..M were two of several words Huck soon learned the meaning of and would go bouncing off the walls with excitement again.

The first summer we lived here on the farm Huck was bit by a water moccasin and almost died. He spent a week at the vet's (vet even took Huck home with him over the weekend). The bite on his front leg caused Huck's chest to swell so severely it was compressing his heart and lungs. We were so grateful that he recovered and came home!

Unfortunately our wonderful Huck became ill again the next summer. He was losing weight and couldn't seem to keep his food down. I was in Alabama a lot because my Daddy was losing his battle with colon cancer. It was an extremely difficult time. Six weeks after we lost Daddy in August we lost Huck to stomach cancer. He was just shy of his third birthday. Every year the first of August and the middle of September my heart breaks again.

A couple week's before we lost Huck (I was in Alabama) Don said Huck went out to the edge of the back yard and sat staring into the sunset. When Don called him, Huck just turned to look at him and then gazed into the sunset again. The afternoon we buried him under the persimmon tree there was a gorgeous sunset. We like to think that every beautiful sunset is Huck letting us know he is still here with us on his beloved farm.

I wanna be a star....

As soon as I saw her the theme music to Project Runway went running through my mind. Obviously our pup Aislinn is an aspiring fashion designer. Check out this adorable orange poncho she created in the short time I was outside feeding the ducks and chickens!

While I was outside feeding my feathered friends I was composing today's blog in my mind. I'd intended to write about the corn field being harvested today, the Autumn coolness in the air and it being time to dig up my sweet potatoes.

My mind changed the minute I came in and laid eyes on Aislinn. She was sitting primly in her crate wearing her stylish new poncho. She fashioned it by chewing a hole in the middle of her blanket (which is actually a dust cloth I bought at Dollar Tree). Maybe this is what she intends to wear for Halloween.

Aislinn is incredibly difficult to photograph as she is never still. There's no way I could even attempt to take her photo outside the crate. As soon as she's out Aislinn is off at full speed around and around the house. She has an all out bouncy joyful run that is a delight to see. In fact, Aislinn is just a pure delight and we are very grateful that she came into our lives.

Hmmm...I wonder if she'd make me a new outfit if I gave her a tablecloth to chew?

Welcome home Aislinn...

Tuesday night Don and I were headed home when we spied a small black animal running up the road in front of us. I thought it was a cat. When the little critter got to our driveway it dashed off the road. Don turned in and I got out to check on the animal. What I found wasn't a cat, but a very small puppy huddled against our garbage can and shaking like a leaf.

Her name is Aislinn (ash-lynn) which is an Irish name that means "beautiful lady in peril"...exactly what she was out on that deserted dark country road all by herself! Aislinn gave us lots of kisses on the way up the drive to the house and continues to do so.

Don took her to the vet Wednesday morning. To his surprise the vet announced that Aislinn was a pedigree! Don asked what breed and Dr. Slocum replied, "Full blooded mutt!" adding that she has a lot of terrier in her. He said Aislinn is about 10 weeks old. She only weighed 8.3 pounds (poor little thing's tummy was growling when we found her).

Don said she literally screamed when the vet gave her a shot (immunization, one of three puppy shots)...not a whimper, growl or yelp...a human sounding scream! Then she gave Dr. Slocum a bunch of kisses to show she wouldn't hold a grudge and he gave her a bunch of treats.

Aislinn has been a perfect angel. She hasn't had an accident in her crate and always does her business when we take her outside. She loves running and bouncing around the yard with the other dogs, but they haven't quite figured out what she is...puppy? cat? crazy bouncing toy? As usual, our dog Brenna has appointed herself Aislinn's surrogate mommy and won't let the other dogs get to close.

I've been wanting a new kitty and earlier Tuesday night I tried to sweet talk a feral cat in the Wal Mart parking lot to no avail. I think Fate sent Aislinn to me for a reason. She's not a cat, but she's going to be small and I'm going to make sure she's a Mama's girl!