Happy New Year!!!

The bestest gift is to have someone you love to share the holidays with.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Christmas Day

Christmas day has come and gone. What a wonderful day. It was just me, Pete and my 84 year old father this year, plus Zack and the cats of course. We were up early just like little kids...okay may be that was me...

Zack was sure ready to open his gift just as much as we were - he seemed to know which one was his...

Oh boy a Tugga Wubba Kong

He wasn't going to give that up any time soon ahahahah

The cats got "catnip" which I put on the stairs - it sent them in a tizzy

Fat Cat of course ate the stuff. Cuddles rolled in it.

I think Fat Cat must have inhaled too much catnip (or ingested in her case) which sent her doolally and she was spaced out for a while LOL!!!

Then our friends Martin & Karen with their Labradoodle Dylan came over for Christmas dinner and spent the evening and then it was lights out and Zack (and the rest of us) just crashed. All in all it was a brilliant day, lots of fun, food and drink.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE

Zack wants to sing...

We woof you a Merry Christmas
We woof you a Merry Christmas
We woof you a Merry Christmas

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! WOOF!!

Frisbee Found!!

Yesterday I caught Zack digging like a mad dog in the snow and ice and then realized he was on a mission. He was after his long lost frisbee as it had been missing in the garden for a couple of weeks.

He unearthed it and then took off, happy as Larry, tearing round and round the garden.

and round

and round

I then went in the house as I was getting abit dizzy taking pictures of Zack doing circles

not but a couple of minutes later I heard a tapping at the patio door

I think Zack wanted to make sure that I knew he had found his frisbee

Zack Attack

Zack was very curious when we were putting up the Christmas tree.
As soon as Pete laid down to do the lights Zack made his move and dove on in with lots of kisses.

Free & Clear

I few blogs back I mentioned about the issue I was having with Zack's new winter coat. The tailor did wonders with the "amendments" cutting back the belly area and sewing it up. The last few days it has been cold and snowy again and I put Zack's coat on to keep him warm. Now Zack's wotsit is free and clear of any "encumbrances" he has been christening every lump of snow, bush, tree or post with no misdirection or problem!! Yay the coat is now brilliant in every way.

Fun at the Park

The last few days warmed up enough to melt some of the snow, especially all the pathways. Whoo hoo Zacky was sure happy and so was I not having to trudge through ice and snow.

He did his usual stalking of the magpies.....

but he never seems to catch them...

Weekend Away

It was a long drive for a fleeting visit to see my sister for the weekend but it was the only time we could see her before Christmas. On the way there we stopped at Timmies for a coffee in Fernie and Zack had a quick pee break too. The fresh mountain air was lovely.

Once we got to my sisters Zack patrolled her house checking out every nook and cranny, even checking under the tree to see if Santa had come ---- bit early Zack



But then oh boy my sister pulled out a stuffed bunny and he was well away shaking the devil out of it

Zack showed off some of his "moves" to my sister so she could see how smart he was ahahahaha

We had a good visit on Saturday night and Zack settled into his usual spot with Pete for the evening. Now Zack is getting older he actually is a pretty good little dog and travels very well. The more we go to "people's houses" the more he gets used to it.
Zack's favourite spot this whole weekend was keeping an eye out the picture window for any "country critters" that would happen to walk on by... he loved that he could see out - he was so cute.

The mountains were gorgeous with all the snow and very picture postcard but the roads coming home were a bit dicy. We got home safely tho and Zack was very happy to be home and charged round the house as if he owned the place ---- well he does doesn't he? LOL

We're Off

As we didn't make our trip to visit my sister in Montana last weekend due to Zack being sick we are going to try and visit this weekend. Zack is all better and all that can stop us now is the weather through the mountains. Fingers crossed it won't be too bad. Zack will wonder what has hit him when we get there as my sister has a cat that is bigger than he is (yes bigger than my Fat Cat) Oh Boy!!

I want some more!!!

Zack must be back to his old self as he was hanging out at his food dish wanting more yummies....

He eats off a plate instead of a dog bowl --- but that's a whole other blog!!!

Do they know?

I am sure animals sense when the other one is sickly as Fat Cat followed Zack around this weekend when he was poorly, sniffed him all over and was always snuggled up with him most of the time. She gave Zack's face and whiskers a regular wash. I am sure Fat Cat knew he needed some comforting and a warm body to snuggle with.

Zack seems so much better today, he has to stay on his meds for another week and then fingers crossed it will be back to normal.

Relief

It is about 36 hours since Zack had his flare up. This afternoon thank god Zack seems alot better. He is up and about, ate a small amount of food and has kept it down. He even went outside and grabbed his kong so I know he is on the mend. What a relief. I was very worried yesterday as I have not seen him that bad since he was a puppy, he was so out of it and trembling - it's amazing what a good sleep and a few drugs can do.... May be I needed some of what he had!!!!

It is so weird how it starts and with weird symptoms, no diarrhea just vomiting and noisy guts and pain. I didn't hesitate to get Zack checked out at the vets as there is always the worry of a foreign body and I always think in the back of my mind of a torsion because of his pain (heaven forbid), but that is rare in little dogs (thank god). May be now he is older his body is able to recover from these "flare ups" of irritable bowel better than when he was a puppy. His problem is high up in his stomach not so much the poopy thing more of vomiting and pain.

I am just so relieved to have a little bit of spark back in Zack's eyes and hope he gets up to his mischievious little self as soon as possible.

Worried

Today Zack, Pete and I were supposed to leave to visit my sister in Montana for the weekend, but our plans changed. Last night at about 2:30a.m. Zack started throwing up. Again at 7 a.m. He had a normal poop but I could tell he was in pain. We were at the vet clinic by 8 a.m. this morning. His symptoms reminded me of when he was a puppy and all his health issues and I was worried it was back. He has been so healthy for about a year and seemed fine when we went to bed - I just don't understand it. Anyways, my vet gave him a good check over and said she thinks it is a bad flare up of inflammatory bowels. She gave him three shots to help with pain, vomiting and acid and sent us home to keep an eye on him. Zack then gave us another scare by shaking uncontrollably and after checking with Zack's vet again, thank god that has settled down. It is about 12:30 p.m. now and Zack seems to be comfortable -no more vomiting, no more shaking, just very quiet (which is partly due to the drugs which had a sedative in it). Now we just have to keep him quiet and on meds for the next few days and see how he goes. If it continues or he gets worse this weekend, it may mean Xrays, blood work and heaven forbid another trip to Calgary Western Vet Clinic.

I love my little brown dog and thought his health issues were all behind us, but I guess it is something that will flare up once in a while and we will just have to deal with it. Poor Zacky.

Dilemma

This winter I bought Zack a new red winter coat and it was not cheap. He has been wearing it in my latest blogs and I love it. It is a perfect coat in every way except one and that is it interferes with his "winkle" and his "peeing". I thought it was just right when I first put it on him, it is in front of his wotsit and I thought all was good. However, the last few times I have taken Zack out it must be close enough it interferes as when Zack pees he just wees "up" all over his coat and belly and not away from him. I have tried everything to pull the coat away from that area but to no avail. They do not seem to make coats for small male dogs that are shorter in the back - not every dog is a dachshund and it makes me mad. I do not want to throw away the coat as it is brilliant so I think the only option is to cut a chunk out from the belly and have it stitched up. I am so not domestic so I will have to take it to a tailor to have the piece cut out and sewn up so poor Zacky is not compressed in any way. Blimy what a rigmarole for a little wotsit.

It Won't Stop Snowing

I woke up this morning to god knows how many more inches of fresh snow and it's still snowing. The only blessing is that it is the warm fluffy snow (if there is such a thing) and actually it is lovely outside and not too cold. Zack and I went for about an hour walk this morning and didn't see a soul but the "die hards" like me and Zack were out there enjoying every minute of it. When we got back Zack was still playing in the back garden - he stole my glove - then found his white ball and was having a blast.



I caught Fat Cat watching us at the back door - it is waaaaayy too beneath her to step foot outside with snow on the ground!!!

Zacky is snuggled up on the couch now twitching and sleeping off his morning antics. I wonder if he is dreaming about those snow bunnies. LOL.

Yay for +1 Degrees

After being cooped up in the house for so long because of the cold Zack had a bit of devil in him when we were finally able to go out again. The ears say it all. It has been a heatwave at +1 and we are making the most of it.


I don't even think he needs his winter gear on any more. No coat or boots tomorrow. Yay.

Lazy Day

I was off work yesterday and home with Zack. While I was painting I don't think Zack moved off our bed at all. He was so cozy, bless him.


I wonder if this is his usual spot when we are at work? Probably.

Indoor Dog Park

On Sundays Zack's Doggy Daycare has started an indoor dog park. Thank heavens for them as with the weather being in the mid - 20's it has been far too cold to exercise Zack outside. We took Zack this past Sunday to blow off some steam and he had a blast as usual running round with all the dogs.

The Bostons were chasing him everywhere. Their faces crack me up in this picture.

Zack kept kissing Lindsay the Basset


Then as some of the dogs had left Zack found himself with no one to play with and took time out in the one chair in the dog run. He was so funny.

Hopefully this really cold weather will warm up so we can get back to our usual walks.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Luckily the saying is not true as Fat Cat is still with us but on this day she was sure curious about the camera.

I was trying to take pictures of Zack but she started to come over and bug me and then started in on the camera actually grabbing it with her paw.

Maybe Fat Cat is jealous about Zack's blog. Maybe she just wants a blog of her own, however, I am not sure how exciting a Fat Cat blog would be as she never moves off the couch or bed only to eat, poop and occasionally chase a fly - then that is a waddle at best LOL.

So today's blog is dedicated to my beloved Fat Cat (aka Asia) who is the laziest, most needy cat I have ever owned and is Zack's best four legged friend.