Pup of the Week: Blake and the Seizure Dogs

I am known as a trailblazer on both the mortal and immortal sides 

of the River of Life.  Truthfully, I am not a trailblazer in my own family.  I was my parent’s second dog.  Their first was a Shih Tzu named Blake.

One morning, while Blake was still a single dog, and I was a glimmer in my dog dad’s eye, the alarm clock went off, and Blake had a seizure.

Seeing your beloved pet have a seizure is terrifying for any parent.  A seizure is like an alien being that has possessed your sweet pup,  There is no sign of the dog you raised.  Your baby is a trembling, shaking, drooling mess.  Their eyes are rolled back in their heads.  All their parents want is for the episode to end.  Every second seems like an hour.

My parents were inexperienced pet owners, and they did not have the social media friends they do now.  They were at a loss, and scared.  Their vet told them to keep an eye on Blake and see if the seizures continued.

They did, coming two months apart.  During this seizure cycle I arrived to keep Blake company.  We got along like peas and carrots.  She taught me everything I know about being a dog, and gave me a booster shot of sass.

During the year that I was under Blake’s tutelage, she had several seizures, many tests, and finally a terrible answer:  Tumors.  They were in her belly, her liver and her brain.   After that we did not have long together, but she did teach me how to take care of my parents, and hopefully, I passed on those important lessons, to Pocket and River Song.

Blake never blogs.  She passed before blogging became popular in the dog world.  She sits at her table each morning, reading the paper, and writing on a notepad, saying she has no time for this new fangled computer stuff.

But Blake doesn’t rest.  She became the patron saint for dogs suffering from seizures.  Lately she is very busy.

Blake knows that there are many causes for seizures, and most dogs, unlike her, live long lives with the help of medication to manage the symptoms.  She also knows how scared dogs are when they are having an episode.  Blake makes sure she is with every pup having a seizure.

She was there with Jasper this week when he has his first seizure.  He is doing better, but his mother now lives with the fear that all seizure moms live with.  Will there be another?  If there is Angel Blake will be there.

She was with Baby when she had a seizure while taking a nap next to her mom.  Angel Blake is personally flying prayers up the mountain for Baby.

She was there with Tinkerbell when she had the seizure that sent her to the Bridge.  She stayed with Tink for several days as she became adjusted to life on the immortal side.

She was there with Maverick when the little boy had his seizure.  She held him and talked to him.  She made sure he was not afraid and would recover.

She has been there with Ciara during her long and frustrating struggle with seizures.  Blake, Ciara, and her family, were hoping that the phenobarbital would end these dreaded episodes, and while they have occurred less frequently, they are still happening.  Blake has pledged to Ciara to be with her until they stop.

She has been with Sydney, who, despite being a tiny dog, has waged a great war with seizures.  Blake is very proud of Sydney.  Every time she gets knocked down by an episode she gets back up show the strength her brother Moose has exhibited during his fight with Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.

And she has been with my good friend of close to nine years, and the sister of my long time friend and confidant Tanner Bub, Cocoa, as she had battled seizures for years.  Cocoa is a senior dog, and should be an inspiration to all dogs suffering from these terrifying episodes.  Hers has been a long life, and she has an abundance of time left.  Unlike Blake, Cocoa has managed her seizures into her senior years.  Seizures can be beaten.  Cocoa is proof of that.

I hope I have not missed recognizing any friends who suffer from seizures.  If I have I am sure Blake has not missed them.  If you baby does have a seizure know she will recover soon and should live a long life like Cocoa.

And l know that Blake will always be there with your pup.

February 1, 2015 Pup of the Week: For Brody The Pup Who Waited

            Hello Blake and Carly.  I don’t know if you remember me.  My name is Judge Foley Monster.  Back in my day I was kind of a big deal.  I have put this in my time capsule and if you are reading this it is the year 2095.  You have both had wonderful lives.  Blake, I congratulate you on being a world famous doctor credited with saving thousands of lives, and on your wonderful wife, children and grandchildren.  You have a beautiful family.  Carly I hear that you have decided to retire from the Supreme Court.  Your rulings have brought justice to so many.  And your husband, the Governor, has been wonderfully supportive of you and your three wonderful children, the youngest of which quarterbacked the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl win.

            I know that you have credited your Mom several times for guiding you towards success, and she does deserve a lot of credit.  But 80 years ago this very weekend I made a deal to keep quiet about something, sworn to silence by one of my very best friends.  80 years ago this weekend, Brody, the first of the many, many dogs you have had in your life, crossed the River of Life and came to Rainbow Bridge.

            I have never seen a dog so upset about his crossing over.  Brody had only one flaw.  He loved to eat.  Anything.  We all told him he had to stop.  He even endured two operations.  But he couldn’t stop.  And truthfully we never thought his bizarre eating habits would ever do real damage.  He could eat anything.

            But a rug did damage him.  It got stuck, it wouldn’t pass, he got an infection and it was too much for his body to take.  His Mom hated herself for doing it but knew it was the greatest gift she could give her best friend and she helped him cross over

            “Oh Foley,” he moaned when we met.  “I did it this time.  I couldn’t help myself.”

            I put my tiny paws around his fluffy neck and I hugged and licked him.  I told him it wasn’t his fault.  Soon hundreds of his angel friends were there, led by Benjamin who immediately appointed him Deputy of Fun.   Brody said he very much appreciated it but he had to watch over his family.  Ladybug quickly put on his wings and we flew to Tommy’s house.

                       

            The dogs who had gathered there rushed to meet Brody, and he hugged them all, but he kept moving towards the TV.  He tuned in to his Mom.  She was on the Tanner Brigade chat site and Brody’s friends were trying to comfort her but it was impossible.  She was saying how sorry she was, and, while watching her, Brody was saying he was sorry too

            He stayed there until she went to sleep and then Benji convinced him to go flying looking for fun.  But as soon as he learned that you two were awake Brody went right back to Tommy’s to watch over you.  And he has done that every single day for 80 years.  After two weeks Tommy built him his own room and kept him supplied with popcorn and other treats.  While we had parties, romped in the fields, and played in the snow, Brody watched over the two of you from the moment you awoke until you were asleep.

            And, after time, Brody learned how to jump into the screen.  Carly, when you were walking home that day and a coyote chased you then darted off, that was Brody scaring him.  Blake when you first learned to drive and skidded, thinking you were going off the road it was Brody who took the wheel and kept you safe.

            He made sure that you ended up with the right loving people to spend your lives with, sometimes chasing the wrong ones off.  He was there for the births of our children, and for every hard time you have ever had.  He hid the best he could but sometimes you could see him just out of the corner of your eye.

            Your Mom was the youngest adult member of our group and when she joined us we thought our family was finally in one place but Brody said no, not until the two of you were here, and he and his Mom, gladly reunited, went to Tommy’s to watch over her children while Hattie stamped her paw in anger, not wanting to wait any longer.

            And now that you are both in your 80’s Brody still will not stop looking over you, and will not stop waiting.  But, after 80 years I thought you should know the truth.  Brody has watched over you your whole life.  Instead of running and playing as we did he has waited, waited for you to grow older, and make sure you were happy.

            And when you do come here in another 20 years or so, he will be here to greet you.

            Brody.  The dog who waited.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Foley, less than a year old, with her sister Blake

Wordless Wednesday

A Blake Bear Tale About The Kitty With The Plastic Poo Tail

When I was a pup and first came to live with Mommy and Daddy there was already a dog here, the much beloved Blake Bear. Blake was a Shih Tzu who could have been Gracie’s Mom. Every time I see that pretty baby she reminds me so much of Sister Blake.

She taught me so much. Everything I know about being a dog I learned from Blakesie. She only stayed with Mommy and Daddy a little over five years, a much too short time, but there were mountains of stories she accumulated over that time, and, with no puppy sites to blog them on, she just barked them down to me.

This is one of my favorites:

You may not believe this, but the first pet that Mommy and Daddy had was a Siamese cat named Gizmo. Now don’t think too poorly of them. They were young and in love and susceptible to making grievous errors, thankfully none of them involved breeding.

Gizmo was a good kitty, but as he got older, he got meaner. He would hide behind furniture and jump out clawing at anyone who had the poor sense to pass by, attack naked ankles, hide in the linen closet and pounce out when the door opened, and snarl and hiss at everything that invaded his space.

And he had one fatal flaw that would eventually lead to his early exit to the bridge (and his parents longing to get Blake a playmate who would turn out to be…you guessed it, a Mini Monster.) Gizmo liked to eat plastic.

And not just sandwich bags. Gizmo once ate an entire trash bag. This didn’t buy him a ticket to the bridge, just to the vet where Mommy and Daddy left lots of money. It also made them hide the plastic, but Gizmo was good at opening drawers and ripping open boxes, in his thirst for plastic.

It is from here I will let Blake take over

“Gizmo used to Vick in this sandy box upstairs, which was great. It was like getting extra crispy chicken from the Colonel. Mommy and Daddy really tried hard to keep me away from it but I still found ways of sneaking in, like the morning I woke Daddy up early to pee, then snuck away from him while he was getting a treat, snacked on a little Gizmo Vick, then climbed back into bed with him and snuggled up, and a half hour later that Vick came back in the most disgusting thing you ever saw.

“Now this one morning, Mommy and Daddy and my human sister Kellie were all rushing about getting ready for their job when we heard a screech and then saw a blur, which was Gizmo tearing down the stairs with a long piece of trash bag attached to his butt. He had eaten a trash bag the night before, and had spent several minutes trying to push it out, but it had gotten stuck when she ran out of push, and now she was trying to out run it with little luck.

“Now for me, this was the greatest gift of all, a running kitty trailing a bright piece of plastic covered in poo. Mommy, Daddy, Kellie and I all looked at one another and shared the same thought. ‘Get that kitty.’ All four of us then took off after him. Mommy tried to coax him to her, but if you’ve ever been trailing two feet of plastic that you just pushed through your intestines you know, you have no interest in being coaxed; Kellie, who did not have much experience with kitties trailing two feet of poo covered plastic, was trying to grab hiscollar, but Gizmo had more moves than Adrian Peterson, without two feet of poo covered plastic coming out of his butt; Daddy tried to stomp on the plastic but kept missing; while I tried to grab it in my teeth, but it was flipping around like Eyeore’s tacked on tail on a blustery day.

“I must give credit to Gizmo, who kept darting, dashing, jumping and swirling while the four of us tripped over one another like a game of Twister if Twister involved a cat with a tail of plastic poo.

“Finally Daddy and I worked together. I ran beside him and nudged him towards Daddy and he stomped down his foot, and it landed on the plastic, and Gizmo kept running and another foot of plastic slipped right out of him as he let out a yell like Bernie Madoff spending his first night with the Aryans.

“Gizmo ran up stairs and the four of us stood around this truly magnificent piece of trash bag trying to decide who would pick it up when I decided on the obvious choice. Me! I got my mouth on it before Daddy ripped it out of my mouth and put it the trash, which was kind of silly because that’s how all this began in the first place.

“Then Mommy and Daddy went upstairs with the kitty travel bag and I heard an ferocious fight as Gizmo clawed and hissed and spit and bit until they corralled him in the bag and took him to the vet who gave them a wonderful piece of advice: Stop letting him eat plastic.

”Well they were never able to stop him. He started figuring out how to get in the closed trash bin, and then snuck down to Chad’s room and ate another bag, which did him in. It was sad, but really, the cat was mean, plastic eating mean. And anyway, when he went to the bridge to eat the plastic trees, I got to meet my bestest friend, Foley Monster.

And I got to meet my best friend too, Blake, even if I didn’t get to know her for long, so all my friends at the bridge, keep you eyes and ears open for Blake and give her a big kiss, and for the kitty trailing the long plastic stand covered in poo.