Arnie – Page 8 – The Dackel Princess

Time, Keeps Flowing Like A River…

I started off early today snapping pictures. It was sunny and warm in the morning and the bees were working the trees. I grabbed my camera and got these two shots. I’m actually fairly proud of them.

Then I came in and spent a little time watching and playing with the puppies. They just get cuter and cuter!

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Three little piggies all in a row! lol! That’s Birgit, Baron and Bel.

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Little Birgit. (She will be called Ali)

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Then Birgit and Baron fell asleep.

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Bogie flipped over and fell asleep. He is quite a clown!

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And then I look at a picture like this and I see how huge the puppies look next to her. Look at this picture taken the day after they were born three weeks ago.

Isn’t that amazing?

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Arnie is doing great and is back to acting like his old self. I’m still giving him his medications, and he is on the rice and chicken diet! Oh yum!

My sister, Mel and my Mom should be here in time for lunch! I can hardly wait.

Busy Day

Thursday was a busy, busy day. It started at 3 AM when Arnie woke me. He was sick to his stomach and releasing bodily fluids from both ends. He was tired and listless, and I was worried. He did not want me to let him alone, and just wanted to be held. So from 3 until 6:30, I was only able to get an occasional snore. At 6:30 I gave up.

At 8:30 I called our Veterinarian, and I brought him right in. He was dehydrated and so they fixed him up with an IV and some medication. He spent the day at the Vet’s office getting fixed up. Seems my boy picked up gastroenteritis.

Once I was sure that his being sick wouldn’t affect the puppies I relaxed a little, but all I wanted was for him to get well and come home.

I worked cleaning up and playing with the pups, but also took a little time just to be quiet. Feeling as tired as I did, I thought I needed to do this.

I took a few pictures of the litter today. I love the ones of the entire litter because you can see how huge the puppies have gotten in two and a half weeks. All of them are over two pounds now!

Just look at those big bodies! One note here. I ran out of black rick rack for Birgit’s collar, so she is now pretty in pink!

Arnie came home just before dinner. He still has his IV in, and they sent him home with one of those silly Elizabethan collars. Which he hated, so we took it off and he has left the IV completely alone.

He goes back in tomorrow for the rest of his medications and more fluids, and should be able to take his medication by mouth by the weekend.

So, it was a busy day. I’m tired, but grateful that my boy will be just fine. By tomorrow night he’ll be dining on boiled chicken and white rice. I wonder if he will want a little white wine with that?

Greta, Anneliese and Arnie

My day started at 5 AM, when Anneliese woke me to go out. I crawled out of bed, put on my robe and slippers and coat and walked her in the yard and then returned to bed, hoping upon hope to sleep another hour or two.

Forty-five minutes later I was awakened, and gave up all hope of sleeping in. The robe and slippers came back on, and my jacket once again. I put Arnie and Anneliese on leashes, but left grown ups Greta and Fritz to walk freely, as they are usually good.

Not today! Greta and Fritz raced off, up the hill and before I could get out a good yell were gone!

I finished the walking of the two pups and brought them in. I grabbed the keys for the Jeep and headed up our driveway. I got half way down our street and there were Fritz and Greta walking along like they owned the road!

I yelled (quietly, after all it was Sunday) at Greta and Fritz, put them in the Jeep and drove back home.

As I came in the door I caught sight of myself in the window and cringed. Thankfully it was still very early, and hopefully no one saw me in my robe and jacket and slippers, with bed-hair and the sleep still in my eyes!

The day progressed and eventually I did shower and do my hair, but even then I wasn’t feeling too great. I definitely need a hair trim!

Enough about me. I know you all want to hear about Anneliese.

She is 22 pounds now and literally waddles when she walks. She doesn’t want to run around playing right now, she wants more than anything to lie in her little bed, with her ducky baby and rest.

Do you see the ducky under her? She just loves that thing, and hardly leaves it at all!

Occasionally she leans forward a little and nibbles on some dry food. Of course we keep the dish nice and close to her.

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I love to look at her big fat belly! I used the clippers and shaved it today, to make it easier for the babies to find a teat.

She seems to enjoy all the attention, but then Arnie started to feel badly. Poor guy needs some attention! He was lying in the new doggy bed posing for me, so I simply had to take his picture.

No doubt at all that this is Arnie! lol! He sure knows how to make himself comfortable!

Three Dog Day

Today I needed to take the three dackels in for their yearly exam. All three did well, I mean, we all knew Anneliese would, and Greta and Arnie were totally fabulous too.

They had their blood tests for heart worm and they were heart worm free, and Greta and Arnie had their shots. Anneliese will have hers after she delivers.

Yes, we are thinking in very positive terms, as far as little dackel babies go. In fact I have an appointment on March 21st to have her examined and her little belly palpitated, to see how many little babes are in there. Then about a week before her due date, we will have an x-ray done to see just how many are inside.

Greta has finally lost the weight she gained from her last litter. She was a reluctant dieter, and I had to prepare meals that would help to cut those calories and lighten her up. In one year she has lost 2 pounds!

Arnie was just perfect all around. He has to be the most loving dog that there is. He was jumping around spreading his kisses to all of the staff. He is a remarkable boy and I am so happy that we kept him!

Of course we will need to sell all of Anneliese’s babies. I’m prepared for that. I think. Maybe. No, I am. I know I am. Although I am sure it will be very hard.

Strange Sunday

I woke up Sunday morning, stumbled to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker, and glanced at the thermometer. 40 Degrees!!!!! (F) Forty degrees? No, certainly I must still be asleep….I went back, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and looked again. Yes, 40 degrees. I almost fell over. I absolutely cannot remember the last day it was 40 degrees here.

I broke out my shorts, but thinking better of it, put them away and settled on a pair of unlined corduroys, and a light weight top, and when I went out later on to see my friend Tracey, I wore a light weight jacket!

Ah, how wonderful it is to have this warmth at the beginning of February!

Our town is full of fishing enthusiasts, as we were celebrating “The Ice Fishing Derby”. It’s an annual event, where crazy people, dress in several layers of clothes, cut a circular hole into the ice on the big lake, and fish. Some people bring their “Bob Houses” where every creature comfort can be found, be it a stove, a bed, TV or this year, a hot tub!

Click here to view a slide show of the Bob Houses.

As I drove with Arnie to my friend’s home, we saw all sorts of “manly” types walking down the street carrying buckets of bait, and coolers full of their favorite adult beverage.

I had a nice visit with Tracey and her three children, while Arnie played with her little pug dog. It had been far too long since I had spent time with her, and it was so nice to visit.

Arnie and I arrived home in time to make lunch and then work at vacuuming up Fritz hair. Here we are in the middle of the winter, and my shepherd is shedding like it is spring! The Ground Hog may have seen his shadow, indicating six more weeks of winter, but he forgot to tell Fritz!

As the day wore on, the wind picked up and a cold front moved through. We had both rain and snow, but nothing that really amounted to much. In the end, tonight we have the loveliest full moon and the clearest of skies.

Anneliese posed for me so I could show you all how much melting we had, as well as the beautiful moon!

Have a good week everyone!

A Three Dackel Day

Here is another post about my dackels.

It started this morning when I went into my bedroom to wake Hubby. I’d gotten up about an hour before, but I needed to shower and dress for an appointment, so I went in to wake him and say good morning.

As I walked in and pulled up the shade, what did I see?

Yes the adorable Miss Greta, curled up underneath the covers with her Daddy! I stopped and stroked her and talked to her, and I could feel her tail wagging. Greta can be the sweetest little Angel. When she wants to be! lol! In the mornings, when the puppies have gotten up and she is alone in bed with her Daddy, she WANTS to be.

Later in the morning we were having a tough time with the puppies. They kept sitting up on the back of the sofa barking at the birds.

Eventually I had to pull the shades because the barking was so loud. I truly think it is a plot by those wild birds to drive the dackels insane. Or perhaps the plan is to drive me insane, because the barking really drives me up the wall!

Later in the afternoon the temperatures began dropping. Anneliese was chilled and shaking, so I brought out her little doggy sweater. She loves the sweater!

She wore it around the house, snapped at Arnie when he got to close to it, and just kept it on. She stretched out on the carpet, snuggled in the chair next to me and eventually wanted to go outside.

So I let her out and I watched. My crazy dackel ran through a foot of snow with a joy, seen only when observing little kids playing in the snow, after school has been called off! She ran and ran and eventually I called her in. The sweater was totally covered with snowballs! I lifted it off her and hung it to dry. And Anneliese climbed up in the chair next to me and fell asleep.

Ah, it sure is a dog’s life, isn’t it?

Therapy

I put Hubby to work today. Yesterday he mentioned that he’d like me to make him a Splenda (sugar free) Apple Pie. I was too tired to make it last night, but this afternoon I had him up and peeling apples for the pie. I think he enjoyed using his New England Apple peeling, coring and slicing machine. It certainly was good therapy, with a tasty payoff!

Once he filled the bowl with sliced apples, I mixed up the Splenda and spices and put them into a pie shell and baked it. We’ll have it for dessert tonight after dinner.

During the day today the pups played and were enjoying their usual good life, when the phone rang and it was Mr. UPS Man. He was at the top of our driveway and had a box of goodies for the doggies. I drove the Jeep up and picked up the box, then came back and let each of the dogs have a fresh, yummy basted bone!

As you can see, Anneliese really enjoyed hers! lol!!!

I noticed as I was getting the picture of Anneliese that I was being watched. I turned around slowly and then backed up just a little.

I mean, how cute is this? Mr. Arnie tends to be my model. He is sort of a ham that way, and has been since he was just a little guy.

It was a nice day, a quiet day and I was happy about that. Later this week things will get busy with doctor’s appointments and the possibility of more snow, so it was nice to have a day of rest.

Happy Birthday Puppies!!!

Yes, today is the 2nd birthday of the two pups, Arnie and Anneliese!!! Can you believe it! They are now full fledged doggies! All grown up!

Arnie as a baby.

Arnie, all grown up.

And my sweet little Anneliese!

And here she is a full grown lady!

It seems like just yesterday that they were born, and now here we are. They are all grown up. I’m planning Anneliese’s first litter of pups, and Arnie is ready for a girl-friend anytime someone wants to…….

Best of all is that they are really nice, really sweet dogs and I am proud of the job that Greta and I did raising them!

Happy Birthday!

Puppy Dog Eyes & Cell Phones

You may be wondering what these two things have to do with each other. Today my puppy dog’s eyes actually enabled me to get a new cell phone. Here’s how it went!!!

Hubby and I drove down to Portsmouth, New Hampshire today to get both Arnie and Anneliese’s eyes examined and certified. Dr. C. is the son of a former co-worker of Hubby’s, back when they were both pilots in Hong Kong. Hubby can clearly recall this Veterinarian as a very small baby, and now he is a Certified Canine Ophthalmologist.

The two dogs are both fabulous, as are their corneas and their retinas! Now both Arnie and Anneliese can be bred, just not to each other.

After we finished up with that we hit the stores. I got a new cell phone! Yay!!! It’s the super cool full keyboard LG enV²® in Maroon.

I am a happy girl! Now once we got that we went grocery shopping and I was walking through the produce section of the store and I heard this nice cool whistling music and I thought, oh that’s nice and then I wondered where the music was coming from because they were playing Christmas Carols on the store speakers. Then it dawned on me! It was my new cell phone.

Duh!!!

Tonight I plan to learn a little more about my new phone so I can talk to people without cutting them off (sorry Mel!) and actually answer my phone when it rings (sorry Hubby) and send a text message with correct punctuation (sorry Em!).

Still today was good. Healthy eyes and a new phone! Yay!!!

Amazing Arnie

I try very hard not to be partial to any one of my dogs. The truth is, that in their own way, each dog is fantastic and wonderful and holds its own little piece of my heart.

But my Arnie is really something very special.

Arnie is the only one who is totally happy with himself all of the time. He runs around the yard with a wild abandon that the others simply do not. I will bend down and put out my arms for him and call his name and he will run full steam right into my arms, full of love and full of kisses!

At night as I turn in my sleep, I can feel his warm, furry body pressing next to me as we both slumber. He is my sweetheart, my joy and my little love.

I knew he was different from the start, although I never did plan on keeping him. I only wanted female pups in the house. However, the doggy fairies had different ideas and the next thing I knew he was here with us and we knew he would never leave.

I looked at his little face, and saw in it something special. He also has the most laid back personality of any dog I have ever had. I knew it then, and the same is true today!

Oh, there are days he is full of mischief, but mostly he will sit on the arm of my chair or cuddled in my lap and give me the look, the look, that tells me that he is happy that he is home and loves us as much as we love him!