With a little help from a dog, he finally stopped drinking...

Sometimes it takes a dog to do a job that nobody else can do. Heal.

My brother was out of control, drinking, and whatever else, after his father died. He and his father were close, and the morning he found him lying on the floor, his body already cold, my brother stopped caring about himself or anyone else.

He had always had a dog, he's an animal lover. He's also always had cats and rescued anything that was wounded, hungry or in need.

This time he would be rescued by an animal, and his wounds are beginning to heal already.

Jambar died too.

After going through what all us pet lovers do, we take our animals to the end and drop them off with God, thanking them for all their time and patience with us.

My brother stayed up all night with his last dog who was dying. He buried her, his long time companion, out in the yard.

There would never be another dog like her: at least that's what he thought only a few months ago.

After the death of his dog, his fiance worried about his drinking, he started to get himself together. Nobody could tell him to stop drinking, he needed a reason.

Being that we are 1/8 Canadian Cree, my brother had always had an interest in the North American Indians.

He arranged while separated from his fiance, to go to a pow wow out of town. He had decided to get a dog, but did not know what dog. The Lake Isabella animal shelter had a nice, big, doggy my brother took a liking to, but he never made up his mind.

Then he saw an ad for a half chow and coyote. His former dog was half coyote and that interested him.

He found out that this dog who is more Sharpe than chow, was only miles from the Indian reservation he was heading to.

Kiah has made all the difference in his life, as she came along and latched onto my brother, his dog, you can tell.

She's a young dog, full of energy, and my brother cleaned the whole yard for her, raising fences, making it dog friendly.

He's been sober for almost three months now, and every time I think of his dog Kiah, which means "love," I thank her with all my heart for helping heal my brother's heart.

Now, my boy, Walter the Boxer, known for his liking of little dogs, has a friend his own size to play with. My brother brings Walter with he and Kiah so they can play and romp and then, as I appreciate, sleep soundly.

Walter is definitely already attached to Kiah and they will be long time friends I'm sure.

We are all in Kiah's debt for her presence that has brought about a great change in my brother. And Walter, who lost his best friend last year, Johnny Rotten, is happy to have her around too...

Here's some pix of her and Walter doing their romping dog thing...

And the chase is on...

He dreams of his own pack of little dogs: and he hit me in the eye. Walter, the Boxer, still looking for Johnny

New plans for the new year: Walter the Boxer needs his new pals.

It has been a difficult month plus since we lost our good friend, Johnny Rotten, likely to the virus, Parvo. And neither Walter nor I have completely recovered. And Walter, does not particularly like or even acknowledge his other syblings, the cat, Patches, (shown here trying to get Walter's attention) is one he seems to have nothing in common with.

After watching Walter mope for weeks, nothing to do, nobody to play with, and especially not the cat, I gave it a try to play with the big, emotional lug, one morning.

Unfortunately, in a moment of competing for the rawhide chew (which I honestly didn't want), Walter, pushed his paw into my eye hard enough to knock me off the bed. Yes, I had a shiner for several days and even had to report it to the doctor as my eye bled.

So, yes, it's no longer a question of getting the dogs for him, it's now a question of how soon can this be accomplished.

My sister came for a visit with her dog, "Princess," a spoiled beast and Miniature Pinscher, and this creature came in wearing a matching pink jacket and booties. We were all taken aback.

But, fun is fun, and Walter and Sky, my blue and gold macaw, decided to attack and play with my sister and her twisted dog.

 

After all the excitement, a few chomps from the bird, Walter jumping all around in some sort of frenzy, I recognized the necessity for Walter to have playmates.

We have chosen a small dog from the shelter, and we have one waiting to get a little bigger so he can join our gang, they are Ricky and Brennan. Coming next month.

This is Brennan, he is being specially grown to be a the lap dog for me, and part of Walter's "small dog" gang. He's getting an extra Parvo shot and some training before he comes over in a few weeks. He's only a couple months old, so he needs some time. Walter has been visiting with him regularly and they are beginning to see that they have things in common.

Time's running out for Johnson: the holiday ordeal

When I woke up after a nap early this morning, Johnson had started down the road of Parvo: bloody stools.

He is still hydrated from the fluids given under the skin, but he's fought a tough fight, and now it's time to ask the question: is it enough?





Walter, my Boxer, and Johnson's whole reason for being here, is depressed and worried.

In this picture, he's watching his friend and companion go through hell, as I could not stop the vomitting either.


The house is a wreck, the laundry is going cleaning all of the bedding I'm using to make Johnson comfortable.

I've seen Parvo before, so this is not something new, but even if you've seen it, it's still the most terrible thing to have to witness. And especially the fight my little guy is putting up, hurting, and miserable.

But it's a question of how long to let this go on. Animals have a different nature, they will fight to live. They are here because they love us, their owners, and their pals, like Walter.

I don't know, and I won't make a decision yet. We have a Monday appointment with the vet, and hopefully, we can make that appointment.

Without the fluids Johnson would already be gone. I'm not sure though that prolonging is necesarilly the answer, but this thing can be beat if caught in time. And it depends on the dog.

My Johnny "rotten" wants to live it seems, so I'll keep trying. It will be another long day, but I'll do all I can to make it easy on him.

Poor thing took a drink of Pedialyte on his own earlier, but it came up ten minutes later. He can have absolutely nothing on his stomach. And the standard, other horrible feature of Parvo is the bloody stools. It's hard to take, but that's the only way out of this thing is through it: it has to run it's course.

All the Parvo symptoms are here, none of this is questionable or surprising. It's all about hydration and giving him the will to live.

I told him his mama has been fighting health problems for years, and if he wants to stay with us, he's going to have to make it out of this, somehow, some way.

I love that dog so much. I didn't cry much at first, as I'm trying to be strong, but this morning, seeing him so uncomfortable, I broke down several times.

It's been 20 years since I've seen an outbreak of Parvo like this, but this valley has some unique characteristics regarding pet diseases.

I've tried the Benadryl to stop the vomiting but it didn't do anything. I just want him to relax and sleep, as that is the best thing for him.

But he's so uncomfortable he can't stay still. I just noticed when I sang to him his "Johnny rotten" song, he layed his head back down. Maybe I'll just sing to him. Noboby else finds my singing voice that comforting, so Johnson is certainly a special friend.

Hopefully....more later

Go ahead take their pictures: Kristin visits my animals

The digital camera in the hands of young pre-teen, can only mean one thing: pictures of the animals.

Kristin, pictured here, came over to to play with my animal farm yesterday, but she also had a camera, was able to take some really good pix of my pets. They loved it and they didn't want her to leave.

Sky hangs hangs down off her cage to get a better look at her visitor, while Walter and Johnson sit politely for a couple of portraits.

Sky, the blue and gold macaw, looking ecstatic about having two of her favorite things: a human friend and a camera.

Kristin, meeting Sky for the first time, was a bit nervous, but that didn't last long as Sky talked to her, making happy sounds, which is standard for Sky, and that's usually it, the kids can't stay away from her.

Sky, shows off for Kristin, giving her a good look at her blue and gold outfit she is wearing.

But Kristin likes these two monsters, the Curr's, but had to spend a bit of time waiting for the two active mongrels to finally lay it down so she could get their photo.

Yes, Walter the boxer and "buzz saw" Johnson, were behaving well for company. However, moments after this picture was taken, they were up and running through the yard barking and barking at the wind. Oh, my neighbors love it. (actually thank you to my neighbors for being kind to the mismatched, barking duo, and they love the treats.)

Walter and Johnson take a snooze after the KVHD board meeting...

I went to the babysitter to pick up the boys, Walter the boxer, and Johnson, the tiny rascal from hell, but we were tired after the Kern Valley Healthcare District board meeting so we took a nap.

After a couple of busy days, staying up late and keeping the dogs up late, (a writer's life is usually just beginning at midnight, and the dogs, and the parrot and the cat, stay up with me) the boys and I were so tired we just fell into the recliner and went to sleep.

They play day and night, there's always jumping around, running through the yard into the house and then across the keyboard of the computer, chasing the cat, finding disgusting things to bring to me then running when I try to take it away, but when they finally do go to sleep, I think they are two of the sweetest looking dogs.

Now that's just when they're asleep...

Walter the Boxer he lives for fun and frolic, but is also quite sensitive

Walter, also known as hell on wheels, is a sensitive chap, who has more expression in his eyes that most of us human's do.

He has a new friend, a small chiuaha mix, named Johnson.

Johnson is almost 5 months now, and Walter is about 15 months, which is still young for a boxer.