A day in the Life of Halle

Halle, my oldest, can be so routine based, so obedient about not getting on the bed or couch unless invited.   From first impression, she seems to be the sweetest dog, the most obedient, the good girl.  She however has a dark side, a side that enjoys rolling in something vile, not listening and repeating the same bad behaviors.

Alarm goes off, Halle raises her head, and glances toward us and waits patiently for us to awaken and rise from bed.  She lies nightly between Joshua and I.  She enjoys cuddling with us during the night.  She is not that invasive and stays toward the foot of the bed, most nights.   

 As the morning sun begins to shine, Halle drops her head to the ground and rubs her head along the floor. Scratching her head and ears on a rug, she anxiously awaits for Joshua or I to scratch her back near her tail.  This is a very cute and interesting trait of Halle’s that she has been doing since she was a puppy.  She is always so excited to awaken and start a new day.

We all venture down stairs to prepare for our day.  Halle and Cadet usually follow us into the bathroom.  If I stretch before a walk she will watch as I stretch and patiently wait for her walk.  Sometimes pawing me in the shoulder or licks my face to urge me to hurry.

We then go for a walk.  Halle loves the fact that I spend more time outside because of Noodles.  I usually walk .5 miles in the morning or run 1 mile with the dogs.  This gives Halle plenty of time to roam around the yard and sniff out what the night brought onto our property.  After about 20 minutes playing outside.  I call the dogs to come inside to have breakfast.  Halle usually is close, but can be stubborn.  Not because she doesn’t care to eat, she would prefer to spend the day outside with smells. This behavior is limited to warm temperatures.  During the winter I can barely get her out the door to potty. 

After breakfast is inhaled, Halle goes willing to her place (dog crate).  She spends the rest of the morning and afternoon in a crate during the work week.  I have tried for years to let her out of the crate and to allow her to roam freely in the home.  She has let me down each time. Her crate is the safest alternative to her and our house.  She has always been trained that her crate was a safe place.  A place she could go and not be punished and be 100% safe.

Out of all my dogs, Halle has been the one to help me improve the most in my life.  Halle helped me learn to take solo adventures in my early 20’s.  I would go to Indianapolis by myself with Halle, go to a dog park or go hiking in the woods alone.  I had never before really spent much time alone doing recreational activities.  Halle has also been a huge reason for learning my anger problems.  I can get angry and not necessarily be fair in my punishment with the dogs.  Throughout my 20’s I have learned to calm myself and realize that bad behaviors are more often than not, my fault.  I was not giving Halle focus, not picking up or putting away temptation items, or not giving proper exercise and training needed.    I still have a ways to go with my anger issues, but I have changed dramatically.  I am learning that dogs are just that, dogs.  They are not humans.  They do not roll in a pile of stinky to make me angry, they do it because that is what is instinctual.

My dogs have been wonderful friends for me throughout the years we have shared.  They have helped me try new activities, they have motivated me to exercise, and they have helped me strive toward better nutrition.  I enjoy our daily routines and even the crazy “why did you do that” moments.  I couldn’t imagine my life without havening experienced each of my dogs.  They have all shaped me.  I still have to thank my dog Halle, she has and continues to make me a better person.  

Mid March entry.

The weather is beginning to break from winter.  Cold days are getting less frequent.  The sand hill cranes have been flying overhead returning to their summer homes.  Daffodils are beginning to unfold their spring bloom.  Our spring work schedule has kicked into full blast.   We have booked our schedule for the year.

 

Our pup Noodles has been invited to a handful of jobs this season and has begun to be Langston’s understudy.  She has attended two different jobs.  She has had the opportunity to work on a job in which we walked around the entire property pruning and maintaining the landscape.   The second job was a pond cleaning.  This was actually more difficult for her than the large job.  The first job mentioned was a property with acreage and only fencing in the back yard of the property.  Noodles kept eye on Joshua and I and remained close by.  The second job was a small fenced in backyard with a few landscape beds.  The problem being, the landscape beds surrounded the pond.  Noodles wanted to be next to Joshua and I and had difficulty staying close without walking through a landscape bed.   Noodles still needs to learn landscape bed boundaries.  She doesn’t understand that we are in the beds and she cannot follow.

 Noodles has been more active in playing in the yard.  She has continued to play with the ball that we bought her a week or so ago.  She is also playing more actively with Cadet.  This has all been a lot more fun and entertaining because we have been able to drop her 20 foot lead and give Noodles a bit more freedom.  This has been so much fun to walk and play with Noodles.  Her having more freedom and being able to play with the dogs and chase a ball at her own free will has been entertaining. 

Langston is still very active and having a good time.  He still runs out back with a ball in his mouth just waiting for someone to either grab the ball and play a game of tug or throw the ball for him to fetch.  Cadet and Halle are enjoying the warmer weather.  We are having to step up on making sure they stop sniffing in the wood shed and in our limestone pile.  We are worried that if they continue to poke their heads about these areas, they may get injure themselves.

  

Feb. 28^th

Thunderstorms continued throughout the night.  The Tornado sirens started around 1 am and the dogs began getting edgy.  Noodles lay in bed scared and Langston was nervous and in need of attention.  We had very little sleep throughout the night.  Cadet and Halle seemed untouched by all these events. 

With little sleep, we still managed to pull off a very productive work day.  Arrived home and got greeted by our wonderful pups.  The evening walk was relaxing and rewarding.  Nice casual exercise and new training with noodles.  She accomplished a new command.  We are calling the new command two feet.  She stands on her hind legs and attempts to take a step or two.  We have ways to go until the command is fully understood or mastered. 

With a good walk, training and full bellies, we all relaxed in the living room with the tv jabbering in the background.  I spent the evening working on photographs for our portfolio while the dogs munched on a rawhide and dozed in and out of consciousness.

March 1^st.

The temperatures never got as high as expected, but comfortable.  The sun shined all day making for a pleasant day and a great mood.  Joshua and I finished up an inside stone facing job we have been working on.  Always great to see a project completed. 

Arrived back home after a long day.  This was one of the longest days that Noodles has had to deal with us being gone.  She was extremely full of energy and very excitable.  During our walk she had a hard time focusing.  She still did a great job training and we walked a bit of the energy from being home all day out of her system.

We had a little loss of focus towards the end of the walk.  Something distracted Noodles and she completely tuned out Joshua and I until a tug of her leash redirected her attention.  This reinforced that her training off leash is going to be a long time away.  When something distracts her attention, whether it is another dog, a squirrel or a stinky place to roll, she can tune out the world and focus only on what is entertaining her at the moment. 

After our walk, I relaxed by combing Noodles.  I never figured that I would ever enjoy grooming a dog as much as I do.  I have actually worried in my past, that if I were to adopt a dog with long hair, that I would not have the discipline to groom.  No problem.  I love grooming her, it is very meditative. 

Cooked the dogs dinner of ground beef, mixed vegetables and rice mixed with eggs.  I was a bit lazy and didn’t juice there carrots.  Will add that tomorrow to their left- over’s.  I have been trying to increase Langston’s protein intake because the special high protein kibble I buy for him was not available at the pet store. I also try to give him carrots often with dinner.  I have been told that beta carotene is a good anti-cancer agent.

 Cooking dinner for the dogs for me is a never ending struggle of trying to find the right recipes.  I have had so many opposing sources on proper diets.  I do not feel comfortable experimenting with my dog’s health to find the right diet.  I have done a lot of research and plan on discussing diet with my Vet as well as, as many professionals in the topic as I can.   Raw, cooked, grain, no grain.  I am not sure which is the best, but plan on attempting to find a solution?  I do not plan on taking my dogs off kibble, but would prefer kibble only for breakfast and whole food for dinner.  In the future I may make a complete switch, but not with 4 dogs. 

March 3^rd

Spring has sprung.  As landscapers, our business picks up in March.  We start spring maintenance; start getting phone calls from prospective clients for estimates.  Usually, estimates start around mid March.  This year, we started getting calls in February.  This winter was awful and as soon as the sun peaked itself from behind the clouds and the temperatures rose above freezing, people started getting the landscape bug.  We have had three estimates and already two confirmations from those estimates.  Not only the exciting news that we are finishing booking up our year’s schedule, but Noodles and Langston have been given permission to accompany us on the two excepted estimates.

Noodles, is being trained to be our work dog.  Langston is the most amazing work dog.  He is calm and attentive.  He follows us around a property and patiently waits when we are working.  He can comfortably wait for 8 hours in one spot while we build wall.  Noodles, has worked on a few jobs and has showed similar traits.  We have been training and socializing her to become a work dog.  The jobs she has worked, she has been very patient and attentive.  She seems to be happy to just be near us.

March 5-6^th

We spent the weekend away from the Hollow.  Joshua, myself and the four pups, packed ourselves into our van and drove back to our home town. My grandmother turned 80 the past week and we had a party for her Saturday evening.  We arrived to my Mother’s house early enough for the dogs to settle-in.  Joshua and I had discussed that Noodles could benefit from the party.  There were a large number of people and children attending.  She has been used to a pretty solitary life with only one owner in her past who had very little guests visiting.  Joshua and my life is not much different.  We have occasional guest, but usually our home is just the two of us, a pretty calm and quiet setting.  Noodles had no problem passing the test.  She enjoyed the attention of the children and adults but didn’t bother those that were indifferent to her presence. 

 

One more test passed, one more weekend of fun with the family and pups.  Happy to be back in the hollow, relaxing on the sofa with my husband and pups.  Good week.

Muddy Paws

The snow has finally melted.   Looking out back, I can see the grass and the patio.  The weather is chilly, rainy and still winter.  Our creek, which can be dry during the peak of summer, jumped the bridge due to large amounts of rain this last week. The creek has not flowed this heavily for at least a year.  Despite all the rain and winter, we have been given moments of relief with sunshine and mild temperatures.  I had a moment on one walk with the dogs of remembering a day in kindergarten.  My teacher was teaching us about the four seasons.  She discussed winter and spring.  I remember photographs of the seasons and how winter is snowy and cold.  Then suddenly everything begins to melt.  The rain begins to bring in the beautiful green spring and animals again begin to frolic about. 

Boots and paws squish into the muddy muck created by winter.  The sod is peeled away from the lawn with the slightest touch.  First season in the hollow, I was frightened of the damage.  My two big boys would run and slide destroying the lawn.  I figured no grass would survive.  Seasons have come and gone and is fine.  They can do some destruction and our natural lawn will recover on its own.  Overall, the muddy mess of boots and paws are hard to frown upon.  After a miserable winter of snow, ice and frigid temperatures, a muddy mess with mild temps seems like heaven.

I am not the only one smiling because of the relief in the weather.  The dogs are happy winter has slowly begun to fade.  The snow has melted, causing the earth to be exposed.  The smell of spring is tickling their noses.  Halle has always been overwhelmed, in spring, with the smells.  I enjoy watching the dogs walk, sniff and explore the ground that has been hidden from sight and nose, for months.

During our evening walks, I have been venturing more into to lower section of our woods.  This is enjoyable for all.  We cross the creek, truck through the woods.  Halle usually wanders off a bit into the woods.  This has been great for our whistle training practice.  A sharp blow of the whistle, Halle races back toward me expecting a treat.  Noodles and Cadet have also been improving on whistle training.  Langston seems to ignore the whistle.  He doesn’t need to come when called.  He never really ventures too far.  He patiently waits for all the silly dog games to end so a serious game of fetch can continue.

Training has been amazing this week, not just whistle training.  Noodle’s is beginning to down without a treat.  She has progressed with the crawl command, crawling about 3 feet.  She is healing without a lead and playing fetch.  Great progression this week led to a fun outing on Sunday.  Joshua and I wanted to take Langston out for the weekend.  He has not been able to work this week with us so we wanted to take him for a walk and a trip to the pet store.  We decided that Noodles could also benefit from a walk downtown and lunch outdoors at the Laughing Planet.  

We headed downtown and walked a few blocks to our lunch destination.  Langston sniffed and greeted people along the way.  I have forgotten how much he loves the city.  He has always enjoyed greeting and meeting people on walks.  Noodles on the other hand, had nothing to do with anyone.  She kept her focus on Joshua and I and ignored passer-bys and greeters.  Reaching our destination, we sat and quietly enjoyed our lunch, while the two dogs laid down and patiently waited for us to complete our meal.  After lunch we headed back to the van and off to the pet store, where Langston picked out a tug toy.

Spring may not be here, but it has fooled us.  My pack and I are excited about the warming temperatures and beginning to spend as much time outdoors as possible.  It has been a good week.

First warm days of the Year.

The bad weather has finally ceased and warm air has excited us all.  Sticks have been placed in a pile on our five acre property and the doggy doo, once hidden by the snow, has been uncovered and properly disposed.   Play sessions and walks have grown in length and intensity.  The whole pack loves being out now that the weather is breaking.  With the warm weather, the slippery surfaces have begun to fade and Langston’s three legged adventures of skating across the constantly reoccurring ice, had faded.

The week of wonderful weather continued so we decided to plan a hike the upcoming weekend.   Saturday arrived and we awoke and started getting ready for the hike.  The one thing I had not even considered was Langston.  I was aware that we were only hiking with Halle and Noodles, but did not think about, in detail, how this would affect my buddy.  Langston had not been able to work with us for over a week because of our current project.  Now we were loading up our hiking packs (which he is very familiar) and Halle and Noodles.  He refused to lie down and sat by the door.  This was heartbreaking.  Joshua and I both really needed to go for a long hike in the woods for our own psyche.  Halle and Noodles also deserved this privilege. Langston, since the amputation, has not been able to walk more than 1 mile.  It was still very difficult to leave Langston behind, the friend that has always accompanied me in the woods. 

Our van loaded, off we headed to the woods.  Tears shed for the first half of the drive.  I couldn’t erase the picture of Langston, confused and sad as to why he was being left behind.  The other upsetting topic in my mind was that the night before, Langston coughed.  The coughing has continued since Friday night.  Cancer in his lung is beginning to bother his breathing.  This seemed to come out of nowhere.   This hike, though joyful, was beginning to feel like a life transition.  I was leaving behind my friend, my hiking companion and moving on.  Guilt ridden, but also realistic I acknowledge that this unfortiunately is life.

Entering the woods, after the first mile, I was able to clear my mind and enjoy the moment.  I was walking with my wonderful husband, Halle, and Noodles.  The weather was pleasant for a February afternoon.  We walked a little over 3 miles in about 1 hour and realized that we, as well as our close to 10 year old Halle, were all a little out of shape.  We haven’t hiked a distance in awhile.  We arrived home and played outside for another hour with Langston and Cadet.  Even though I was heartbroken for leaving my best friend at home for a hike, he seemed untouched.  Dogs are amazing in dealing with life.   They roll with the punches without much complaint. 

Needless to say, I am aware that Saturday was a transition.  My friend is getting tired.  He is losing his everyday drive.   He is coughing.  Cancer is progressing at a faster rate than I had ever expected.  We still play fetch.  We still walk, but change is apparent.  He is beginning to lag behind; he is beginning to lie down for awhile between throws.  I know I must prepare myself.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I will always treasure what I had with Langston.   He will forever join me on my hikes.  Maybe not in a physical presence, but he will always be with me.

My fourth dog, my friend.

 I never thought that any dog would ever touch my heart the way that Langston has touched mine.  Noodles is quickly working her way into the deep, hidden walls of my heart.  She has been a wonderful friend, companion, and a distraction walking into my life the day after finding out that Langston's cancer had moved into his lungs.

 We adopted Noodles from a friend.  He had a few dogs and Noodles had not seemed to fit into the dynamic of his pack.  We baby-sat Noodles last winter and realized that she did fit in well with our dogs, but we did not even consider her becoming a member of our pack.  That summer we found out about Langston's bone cancer.  Grief stricken, we approached our neighbor and asked what he thought about us adopting Noodles.  We asked him to think it over, and we wold revisit the topic at a later date.  In early January, everything with Noodles just fell into place.  Our friend was in need of some relief and we were in need of a major distraction after learning Langston's cancer had spread.

Noodles moved in on January 4th, and we immediately had a few issues to work through: kitty food, kitty poop, and tasty recyclables were all irresistible.  Issues not much different then those of our other lady of the house.  Halle has never been able to turn away kitty food or kitty poop.  After a few days of "no's" and constant reminders to ourselves to wash out recyclables, these problems faded.  Noodles quickly learned that some things were ok, others were not.  We still have to make sure the room to the cat box is properly secured.  Not just for Noodles, but for all the Toostie Roll fans in our home.

The next new adventure for Noodles was food.  I try at least four nights out of the week to have a home-cooked dinner for the dogs and they usually get yogurt in their kibble for breakfast.  The first night of real food, Noodles looked at her bowl as if I was trying to poison her.  She, like most pups, was used to kibble.  After trying breakfast with yogurt and real food dinners, I quickly had created a picky monster.  She started refusing plain kibble after a week.  Thankfully, she has changed this habit.  We also have a routine for feeding at our house.  Our dogs eat half their meal in the morning and the remainder in the evening, they wait to be given the command to begin eating and then they have 10-15 minutes to eat before the food is removed.  Like all our other rituals, Noodles quickly adjusted and has fit in better than I could have imagined with the rest of the pack.  Very smart, girl.

After giving Noodles time to adjust to the initial move-in, new food, new pack members, and her new daily routines, we began basic obedience training. Noodles had not appeared to have had any formal training before we adopted her.  She was well socialized and very friendly with people and animals, especially cats.  I have been certified in training dogs and thoroughly enjoyed my training sessions with Halle.  I was very excited to start training again with Noodles.  Joshua and I both started with basic commands: sit, down, stay, come.  After a few days of training, I was stricken with the training bug.  I searched the internet for a book on training that I had lost.  "Training your Dog. The Step-by-Step manual" by Joachim Volhard and Gail Tamases Fisher, a helpful guide on how to break down training sessions.  I realized that I had grown disorganized in a basic obedience training lessons.  The book arrived and lessons began.  Noodles is very intelligent and adores training sessions.  We train her constantly throughout a day and try to have at least one formal training session a day.  She has mastered the basic commands and we are beginning whistle training, follow, crawl, stand and rise.

 So, why all the crazy training?  We use training for bonding, attention, fun and distraction.  Also, Noodles is a runner.  She plagued her old owner with running away.  We hope through constant training that we can break her of this habit.  We have Noodles sit calmly and wait until we release her before she can go outside, though she is always leashed.  She has progressed so much since her initial days as our dog and we are hoping to take her to a dog park this summer for off-leash training and enroll her in agility training.

 Noodles like many things in life, has proven me wrong.  When finding out about Langston, I told Joshua I would never be able to love another dog with the same compassion that I do for Langston.  I have been graced with Noodles for less than two months and she is quickly moving into the same category as my favorite buddy.  Thankfully, Langston loves her as much as I do, and even allows her to cuddle with us during our special time in the morning.  The other dogs go downstairs and Langston and I sit and meditate for a few minutes.  Noodles, from day one, joined these meditations.  She is a special lady and I look forward to growing memories and experiences with this wonderful dog.

The Two Strangers

Joshua and Cadet.  Buddies!!

  Life was routine for myself and the three dogs. We had morning walks, evening walks and playtime.  Weekends were full of long walks, relaxing outdoors at a local coffee shop, fetch at the park.  I took the dogs with me wherever I could.  I had never spent a night without them.

 Langston, who was still angry about Cadet's arrival in my home, still had time alone with me.  We would walk every Saturday morning, roughly 2 miles to the Farmer's Market.  He would patiently wait for me outside the market.  I would quickly walk through, grab my produce, fruit and bread.  I always made sure to grab a baguette and blueberries, when in season.  Before our walk home, I would sip on coffee and we would both enjoy blueberries and bread.  This was probably one of my most favorite moments of every week.  I enjoyed our companionship and he enjoyed some alone time with me.  With 4 miles under our belt, Langston and I still had to walk Cadet and Halle.  So leashes in hand we headed off to the park.

  My routine continued until late spring.  In late Spring of 2004, I met my future husband, Joshua.  Life changed a lot for my dogs during this transition.  We would still go for our walks, but spent evenings over at Joshua's.  He had a large back yard so the pups and I would play fetch and have fun there, instead of the park.   Halle and Cadet took up with Joshua as if they had never known life without him.  Langston on the other hand, not so much.  Langston was very jealous.  He had always been the alpha male in the pack, the shoulder to cry on, the twinkle in my eye.  Who was this strange fellow and why was he taking time away from him, with me.  He was used to be the center of attention.  This was a difficult period of adjustment.

  Needless to say, we had a long road ahead.  Langston enjoyed Joshua's company, but was an emotional wreck inside.  He started having stomach disorders with vomiting and diarrheal. We later found out, this was Langston's way of showing me that he was jealous and unhappy. Time passed and Langston realized I was not going to leave him behind and he very much was still the apple of my eye.  He and Joshua are great friends now, but Joshua still gets grumbled at if Langston wants to be alone with me.

George

  Throughout all of the adjustments my dogs had to take by Joshua and I beginning a relationship.  Joshua's cat George had a bigger challenge.  George, the second stranger,  was not so sure about this women with the three dogs entering into his life.  He would watch us from afar for the first couple of months. He was a terror to other cats and didn't much tolerate dogs.  He would hiss if the dogs tried to interact with them or slap them in the face.  My dogs grew up around cats and have never fully understood why all cats don't like them.   Eventually, and 1 million slaps later, he tolerates the dogs.  He and I on the other hand are good buddies.  He will cuddle on me in the mornings and begs for me to groom him.  George acts somewhat like one of the dogs.  He walks with us on our property on a leash and lays by the woodstove with a dog Kong at his feet.  Even though we all had to adjust, we have all been treated to a wonderful life together as a pack.

Langston and Joshua at the Lakes in 2010. Langston was recovering from his amputation of his leg because of bone cancer.

   Joshua and George have brought so much joy into my life.  Joshua has helped me become a better, calmer person.  He has a wonderful attachment and love for our dogs, as well as they do for him.  Even Langston.  Many stories could be told about our meeting, as I am sure they will throughout the blog.  When we all became a family, I never realized just how important Joshua's support would be become.  Now that my dogs are seniors, I am unsure what I would have done without Joshua in my life.  The stress of aging is difficult.  My three dogs, not very long ago where spry, crazy pups.  Running around without a care in the world.  They are all entering the senior stage of their lives and all have some sort of medical issue.  Joshua's strength has been wonderful during some of the hardest times. Halle has chronic bronchitis.  There have been asthmatic fits that we were unsure if she would continue breathing.  Cadet has epilepsy.  This is very scary and would be very difficult for me to experience alone.  The seizures are frightening, but so is the unresponsive 105lb dog during and afterwards.  Langston was diagnosed with cancer last year.  Having Joshua as my shoulder to cry on, my friend to confide in, has made this all tolerable.  Animals are a joy, but their lives are short.  This makes loving them wonderful, but it can be painful.  I adore Joshua for his love for me and our pack.


Even though, Joshua started out as a stranger to my dogs, he is as close if not closer to them as I am.