First Walk

We took the widney to the park yesterday. Oh my goodness. He was so poorly behaved. I thought he was barking aggressively at some of the other dogs, but Steve says it wasn't an aggressive park. He said it was higher pitched which, in my mind, means he just wanted to play. He did get down on all fours several times upon seeing a friendly dog. Sometimes I let him meet other dogs, but usually not when there are too many ppl around. We barely walked a mile. There was a tiny hill here and there but when I woke up this morning - man, it felt like I'd walked ten miles. When Sid came home, he passed out. That is, after his second adventure. We ran a long errand and took him with us to Yonkers, NY. It seems as though Sid does better on concrete with some crowding than he does in the woods. I guess the freedom of the woods makes his brain go nuts or something. Enough from me, here's Sid.

Voice of Sid: I can't believe I got to go out twice today. My humans took me everywhere with them. It was so cool and so much nicer than being trapped in the house. All I ever do is sleep when no one's around or if girl is sitting in front of her monitor. But yesterday, we went to the park and I completely spazzed out. I couldn't help it. I saw other dogs like me and I wanted to say hi and play around. But, sigh, they wouldn't let me so I started barking to get the other dog's attention. My humans didn't like that and kept hushing me. I'm a little tired today but I hope they take me out in the car with them again.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: The mine field is getting worse. We finally had days where I felt as though I could go on poop patrol. I'm confident that his turds aren't stuck to the ground from the cold. I think I can easily scoop them up. But, a big but. Our pooper scooper thing broke. Steve tried to shake it free from the position it's been sitting in for months and it broke. So now we have to go buy one or our yard will continue to look like a war zone. Yey! Crap!

Almost Spring

It's over 50F today. Ah, nice. Steve suggested that I take a neighborhood walk with Sid but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead, I threw the leash on him several times so far and walked him around the yard to smell things. I even let him take one out of usual range. This last round outside all I wanted to do was sit on the stairs and have a cig so I did. I took Sid with me. He sat down close to me and when I checked on him his you know what was sticking out. We sat outside for at least ten minutes with him in that position. I guess the spring really is coming.

Voice of Sid: The girl keeps making excuses. Why won't she take me for a damn walk? I mean all winter long it was the weather. And now, it's because - oh, I don't even know. So she took me outside in the yard a couple of times. She probably knew I was going to do this but I had to mark my new territory. I wasn't sure if I could do it but out it came. I felt satisfied. Later I was still so happy that my thing popped out. I felt it in the light breeze but I couldn't make it go back in. The excitement is all over with now. I'm back to vegetating on the couch. Hey, I'm not complaining.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: Yes I knew he'd do it. I took him out in the far yard, the side yard. He kept trying to pull me towards the neighbors, but I stopped him at the border. More our side of the border. There he squatted and produced his masterpiece. It was regular, light in color (good color) and of medium mass. Bravo Sidney!

Too Cold

I've been a bad mom. I haven't taken the wid out for a walk all winter long. Yes, it's been months. I just couldn't tolerate the cold this year (and the last but who's keeping track?) Sid & I have gained weight. We must exercise. And I feel badly. I know he's bored. He needs new scents and new sites. I must provide that to him this coming spring. I'm really looking forward to it. I miss my park, FDR park. When Sid was a puppy, I'd put him on a really long lead and throw balls around for him to fetch. It was the cutest thing to witness and it did a good job of draining away some of his manic energy. Boy, yeah, he was a handful. Still is, but much improved and thank goodness for that.

Voice of Sid: *yawn* Hey, how ya doing? I'm sleepy. Nothing much to do. The girl is always sitting in front of that monitor and ignores me most of the day. Then the guy comes home and does the same thing. I'm lucky if I get 5 minutes of cud sometimes. They usually make up for it the next day and they make it an extra super duper treatment. Lately, the girl's been massaging my butt area. It feels so different, so nice. But for some reason it makes me have to sit down. I'm going stir crazy. I can't wait til it gets warmer out. I miss my park. I miss going to the park with the girl.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: Oh man. The yard is like a mine field of turds. Everywhere. Little ground uncovered. It happent again where he poos, it snows, poos again, it snows and again and again. So when the weather got warmer and all of the snow melted away, the multi-layers' worth of poo was revealed. I was gonna go on poop patrol last week, but the darned rake and picker upper thing was stuck in the ground. Iced. So I couldn't and every day I struggle to find a new spot for Sid and worry that's he's going to step on something.

Playing in the Snow

Steve took a mini vid of Sid playing in the snow in our unshoveled driveway. I thought it turned out cute but he wasn't satisfied with it so it won't be posted. Shucks. So we let him run around our yard without a leash on. He was having so much fun running back and forth between me and Steve. We were at a good distance apart. I loved watching him. I swear, he looks like he's smiling. Anyway, he was playing in the snow the way he did on the beach in Nantucket. He sometimes plays that game in the living room and flips the rug around all this way and that. Sometimes he's a pain in the you know where.

I combed him today. I haven't been keeping up on that. I have been focusing on his ears which are completely better now. He still licks his feet and thing but not nearly as much. We discourage him from doing it every time we catch him. It turns out that the discoloration on the tips of his feet are due to proteins in his saliva. I thought that was interesting. I washed his paws once thinking that they were just dirty or urine stained. Anyway, enough from me. Here's the wid.

Voice of Sid: *big goofy smile* I had so much fun last week playing in the snow. I played my favorite game. I swear I can play it for hours and I didn't care that it was cold. I ran back and forth between the girl and the guy and I was going at top speed. I was faster than a bullet. *proud look* Next time it snows I hope they let me do it again. I was good and I didn't run away so maybe they will let me. *paws crossed*

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: He made two in a row the other day. The second one was right near the house. It was in the triangle where we've previously had a lovely vegetable garden filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, celery and flat leaf parsley. Anyway, his second one was really little. One little piece sat sideways and the other longer piece leaned up against it standing erect. It was artistic looking. The next day I thought he was going for a second one again but all he did was sniff the artsy one and take a little nibble off the top. I was so surprised. He usually only eats it when it's fresh. I guess it smelled unusually pleasant.

Doctor's Orders

Sid's scratching has minimized and he seems more comfortable now. He still licks his feet but not as bad. I give him benadryl (generic) three times a day. I wrap it in fat free cheese singles. He eats them without a problem. My cats used to eat all around the pill and leave it completely intact. It was clever of them to do that. Anyway, I also have to clean Sid's ears with Epiotic solution every 3 days. And give him tresaderm twice a day. All that stuff is supposed to take care of everything. Oh, and can you believe that Sid's gained so much weight? Five pounds or so. I've been cutting back on his dry food intake. I've also been making an effort not to give him too many table scraps. The vet really prefers us not to give him human food like Steve says. She says they don't need it; they don't need variety. So Sid misses out on a lot of things now. But last night I gave him some chicken. Not too much and there was hardly any fat in it. So that's what's been going on in Sidney's world.

Voice of Sid: *snarl* They put me on a diet. It sucks. I used to get treats all the time. The girl always saved the last bite for me. I usually sit and stare at her eating for a few minutes then I go about my business cause I know I'll be getting some. I make it look like I'm bored and couldn't care less about it but the whole time, I slowly sniff the air and imagine what I'm going to be tasting. Some things are familiar and somethings aren't. I love trying new foods. It makes the day more fun. And the girl keeps putting stuff in my ear. God, I hate that. I wish she'd just leave me alone but I have to admit that my ears do feel better. Aaaah. I can relax.

*Please do not read if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: Sid's been ingesting my long hairs again. Yesterday, his turd was dangling down by his feet attached by my hair. I was worried that I'd have to pull it out of his butt but it finally broke free. This morning however, it didn't fall too far from his anus. And I made an effort to stop him, but in the end, he ate his nugget. Eeewe. *dry heave* Now he's making a lot of noise eating his ass.

At the Vet

Steve decided to work from home today so that we could take Sid to the vet. His recurring yeast infection has returned. Now it's in both ears and he's been trying to eat his feet. The vet we saw today is the same one that Sid knew as a puppy. As a matter of fact, Sid attended puppy kindergarten there. Gosh, was that the cutest thing ever or what. Watching six little babies playing around with each other for ten minutes. Taking a potty break. Then coming back in for the real work. Ya know. Sit, down, off...etc...The very same vet used to be a little mean to us when we went there in his earlier years. I felt like she hated us and thought we were the worst parents in the world. But today, she said he was a very good boy. Then as I was leaving, the receptionist whispered to me that the vet said he's a very nice dog. Yes, the same mean vet was saying sweet things to the staff about him. I was so happy. So proud.

Voice of Sid: They took me to the place I went to kindergarten. They're so nice there. I love coming back every year for my check ups. They did the usual. Weighing me and would you believe I gained a whopping five pounds? I need to stop stealing food. *pause* Nah! The nice lady looked at my hurting ears and spoke sweetly to me. Then they held me still again while she stuck a giant Q-tip in my ass. It didn't bother me. Did I like it? Hmmmm. I peed a little while they were doing all this stuff to me. I felt a little embarrassed. But it always happens and everybody says it's okay.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: As soon as he got back from the vet, he took one. I knew he would. Yes, the car ride. Does it to him every time. No matter how short the ride. We're just five minutes from the vet.

McDonald's

We had a few errands to run and decided to take Sid, the wid. First we stopped off at our local little market for cigarettes then we headed off to McDonald's. I gave Sid his first taste of an egg mcmuffin with a piece of hashbrown. Then we had to go to the hardware store within the same large parking lot. We had to leave the first parking space we chose because there was a little dog sitting in the driver's seat of the car next to us. Sid would've flipped. Then I thought we were in the clear, but as I was waiting for Steve to return from the store, I noticed that Sid was quite enamored of the sea gulls all over the place. I've seen them there before. I don't know why they gather there. When we got home, I took Sid down the driveway so that he could take care of business and that he did. Then I took him in and fed him his breakfast. I washed out his food bowl while he sat and waited patiently behind me. His thing was popping out as he watched me prepare his food. Yes folks, he had a woody. He didn't move. He just sat and watched. By the time, I got the plain yogurt out to add to his food, he couldn't stand it any longer and walked towards the counter. I fed him right away.

Voice of Sid: Oh boy! I got to go on a car ride with my humans. They can be so good sometimes. We stopped off at a lot of different places and I saw some interesting things. There was this little dog in the car next to us. I wanted to eat it. Then I saw the sea gulls, I wanted to eat them too but I was trapped in the back seat. The girl gave me a piece of her food like she almost always does. There was egg and cheese and potato stuff on an...what did she call it? Oh yeah, english muffin. It was Mmm mmm good. I wish she gave me a bigger piece. It was McDelicious. When we got home, oh man - car rides always do it to me. I was pinching my ass and breathing heavily the whole time. When I got home, I pulled the girl fast down to my landing strip and I *eh hem* took care of business. Then when she was getting ready to feed me, I got happy. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow then she fed me quickly.

*Please do not read any further if you find fecal matter offensive!!!

Doodie Update: I could not believe it. This is a first. Sid is usually very careful about the location of his pile in relation to locations of other nearby piles. He usually leaves ample space between the piles but today, he made a pile right on top of another pile. And I was all, well I'll be...He quickly stepped over and around it. I don't think he got any on his foot but he was awfully close. I don't think he even saw it. I'm going to blame mother nature for this. I haven't had a chance to do poop patrol cause the snow keeps covering them up. As the snow melts, more will be revealed.