A Very Good and Brave Boy

I held him and looked into his eyes and told him what a good boy... what a very good dog he has been. I told him how much we loved him and how lucky we all were to have him. He looked back at me deep into my eyes... and sighed happily as he went on his way.

Star Shine Love Sprinkles

Oh how my heart aches.
It aches out my fingertips and down through my toes into the earth below.

For too long we have been trying to ignore Cosmo the Magnificent's issues. He is much older inside than his 9-10 years suggest. His teeth have been bad forever, he has a nerve condition that cause what we call "spells" where he becomes temporarily paralyzed and/or for days he does nothing but sleep. During the spells he does not eat, nor does he have energy to lift his head sometimes. I actually thought we were going to lose him during this last spell. But then it clears up... kind of... and we think he is better. Or we pretend he is.

He is not better.

After we moved into the house he had been becoming increasingly aggressive towards 'outside' people. First it was towards acquaintances and extended family members so we limited his access. We stopped taking him to other peoples places, and if people come to the house we put him in another room. We even joked about his craziness, and tried to chalk it up to him just being an odd fellow. That is not what it is.

It has gotten worse. Now his aggressiveness has turned towards us.
Primarily David.

The same David who he guarded with great force and bravery after David had his atv accident. When David could not get around Cosmo would sit with him in his chair,
sleeping with his chin on David's injured leg, and not let anyone near.

The same David who Cosmo followed around for days on end while he was building the house.

The same David who he used to love to sleep in with in the mornings, and would cuddle with on cold stormy evenings.

The same David who Cosmo would wait for everyday watching out the window
when it was time for David to be home.

It really was quite amazing. I have seen stories about this kind of thing on t.v. before. Somehow Cosmo seemed to know just when David was on his way. David did not have totally set hours for when he would be home in the evenings, but many times Cosmo would get up from where he was sitting with me, go to the window, and wait. Whenever he did that I knew that within 10 minutes or so David would be home.

I checked once. Cosmo had gone to the window several minutes before David even neared our driveway. We lived close enough to the highway that Cosmo must have gone over to sit in his spot about when David was taking the off ramp. I don't know how he knew, but he did. His David was coming home and was going to be there waiting for him.

He has now attacked his David.
On more than one occasion...
and this morning was the worst.

I am serious. Cosmo literally attacked him. Not a little dog nipping at ankles kind of attack. This morning when David got up out of his chair, Cosmo who had been just laying there, threw himself over 4 feet across the room at David snapping his teeth, snarling, and growling.

David's quick reactions ended in him receiving a nasty bite on the underside of his arm. It almost broke the skin. David had deflected the attack fortunately. You see, Cosmo was not aiming for his arm. Coz was flying at David's face/neck.

It is bad enough as it is, but to think it could have been someone else,

someone older, or a neighbor child.

It is like Cosmo simply does not recognize David any longer and is reacting to this unknown threat.

I must say that it is not just David though. He has bitten me as well. He was sitting next to me snarling at David and so to correct him I told him 'no' and went to put him on the ground. He turned and bit my hand snapping and snarling as he did it. My own little boy dog.

I did a little internet search trying to figure out what could be wrong with him. I wanted some kind of explaination, some kind of hope for recovery. Maybe there was some herbal remedy I could give him. Well, I beleive I found the explanation but not the hope.

Cosmo has like 9 out of 10 common symptoms for what is called Canine Cognitive Dysfunction... Doggie Dementia... Senility. I feel the worst of these symptoms is aggression. The others are simply very sad. There are medications etc but all are very expensive and frankly... they don't really cure the animal. They only prolong the inevitable.

If Cosmo was a larger dog we probably would have been searching our hearts and minds and trying to come to a decision about what to do much earlier. In fact his size is what has given him a reprieve so far. Also that the episodes at first were farther apart. They are much more frequent now.

However, if we would just think about it... if we could push the denial about the situation out of our minds. The length of time between incidents is not important. Our own dog is biting us.

I can not imagine if a 90 lbs German Shepard/Labrador Retriever like Delta started to behave like that... snapping, snarling, biting, and attacking. The decision would have been made much much sooner... it would not be easier.. but one hell of a lot sooner.

We have a phone number of the local vet, we have discussed our options, but we have not called yet. I am a dog lover, and I love him but we can not be afraid of our pets in our own house whether they are 90 lbs or 20 lbs. Time to dig down for some courage and for some responsibility to ourselves and to him and his quality of life. Boy oh boy. I am going to have to dig deep for this one. Cross your fingers for us. This might take a little bit.

A Prickly Addendum

So... this is a quick addendum or post script if you will to the previous post.

I had mentioned that I cabled the dogs out on the hill on the lakeside and

while I was writing my post I hear this loud... ::tonk:: sounding noise.

Delta had walked... and then jerked on the end of her cable
and was standing staring at something down by the woodpile.

I looked.... and what I saw was a brown ball of fur that seemed to be moving.

Oh geez what now?!

But nothing really to be concerned about, sorta.
It was a baby porcupine.

It was very cute... and squeaking... and moved very... very... slowly.

However, usually where there are babies, there are pissed off Mamas so I took both the dogs inside and got my camera. Click on this movie link below and then just hit return/back in your browser window to come back to finish reading the post.

From Movies

While trying to take pictures and trying to convince myself NOT to touch and comfort the poor little thing I kept looking around behind me just in case.

I know they are slow moving critters... but so am I.

Also, a pissed off Mama porcupine might be faster than one thinks. I had to chuckle though because he saw me (of course) and walked towards me and slowly.. slowly... turned around to show me his tail. This helped to convince me not to touch him because not so hidden inside his pretty brown fur were short pointy spines.

I did not feel like having to explain to a doctor why I grabbed a porcupine. It might be one of those... "you're not from around here are you. Hay?" conversations. I sure did not want to embarrass my peeps by saying, "Well no actually.. I am from California. How did you know?" That response for some reason seems sufficient enough explanation for folks up here without any further expansion.

I was all excited about our visitor.
I told David and his first question was a sympathetic sounding...

"Did you kill it?"

::blink::

"Well dear yes I did. Of course. But I was not wearing my gun so instead I smashed it with a board I had handy."

"No I didn't kill it! I took pictures of it. Geez."

Just a side note for folks who do not know. Porcupines will eat your house... there are many places around here where you can see their teethmarks on the sides of houses. They will eat your trees... ditto for the teeth marks on the sugar maples.... they will absolutely destroy your garden... and as you can guess they are not afraid of dogs. They do not need to move fast. Quills are pretty expensive to have removed at the vets and are quite painful for a dog or a Californian.

A Little Ride

Been packing my knapsack again!
I gotta tell you I just love that.

We put a camper on the truck and plan on taking a drive over to see these fellas...

or at least the place they used to hang out. They look like some party animals. I wonder if they like tequila? I will have to bring some just in case but I have a feeling they are partial to rum or ale.

WAIT!
LOOK UP ON THE SHELF!
There is hope for these New Englanders yet!

Anyway, we have our sights set on Maine... Connecticut... Mass-a-cho-sits for a few days.
Heh heh... well that is the plan anyway.
Let me back up a bit and tell you the story...

After getting the truck we did a ton of research and had many discussions until we finally decided that a Palomino Bronco pop up truck camper would be just the thing we needed.

Light in the truck bed, easy to drive around in, easy to set up, and easy to take off.

So... after David made a few phone calls we found ourselves traveling to Iron Mountain... Iron River..... one of those damn places I always mix them up. Anyhoo, we have been there before and on this trek you have to drive out of Michigan, into the odd happy land of Wisconsin, and then back into Michigan again. Along the way we saw a Michigan Field Moose (look closely.. he is there in the center) :

and an odd Blue Wisconsin barn.

I like it. I am guessing the owners are Finns as Finns are known to paint their houses either bright ass blue or bright ass yellow. Dunno what that the issue is with that but you can bet your lunch money on it.

The truck is a great ride. The Infinity was giving up the ghost so it was time for a change. Delta loves to kick back in the back row seat of the truck but Cosmo is traumatized that he is not allowed up front... he complains that he can not see out the windows back there so he squeezes his face in between the seats to peek through. This is a gentle shot, most of the time he forces his face between the seats so hard it makes his eyes squinty and his teeth stick out. Well... makes his eyes squinty anyway.

pitiful

So we get to the camper dealer in Quintucky (name has been changed to protect the innocent) for our 2 hour orientation... which quickly turned into over 4 hours past closing time and dog patience... but that is all ok now. We eventually did have help with the install:

and in the end it looks pretty sharp. The top is down in this picture below that is why it looks so flat on top. duh. Just kidding, sheesh!

Here are pictures I took of the inside after popping it open at home to clean and start getting packed.

It has a 3 way fridge w/freezer, 3 burner gas stove, sink, Queen bed, dinette/extra bed, shower/toilet combo. It is going to be cozy for the four of us... I have to tell you that after the other day it was almost 3 of us but I will expand on that in a minute.

Anyway, the New England states. Very exciting! David has been to most of them but when he was much younger and he has never been to Maine. I, of course, have not been to any of them and since we are halfway there... why not? We are going to get some good use out of that camper I think... hope it all goes well.

Now for the rest of the story. The 4 musketeers were almost 3 the other day. Delta and Cosmo, in this warmer weather, have been wandering a bit farther and farther from home. To tell you the truth other than the occasional naughty crossing of the road I thought Cosmo the Magnificent was staying relatively nearby chasing squirrels back into their holes.

How easily we are deceived.

They went out for a hunt and were gone quite a while. Then Delta came back by herself.... all muddy and wet from the lake and very tired. I waited and waited but no Cosmo. He had been missing before by himself but he was always just over in the next lot. So I was not super worried yet.

Then the next thing I know Jerry is ringing and ringing the doorbell. He said to grab my dog whistle and come with him as Cosmo was about 1/2 a mile back on the dirt road heading the wrong direction and had taken off running from David.

Oh dear.

You see Jerry, David, and Jim were on their way back from a friend's house and as usual Jerry was driving about 25 MPH down the road... uh huh... when a black and white blur was noticed by David along side the road and he hollered, "THAT WAS COSMO!"

Jerry stopped the truck in a cloud of 25 mph dust and David jumped out and ran back calling to Cosmo. Unfortunately, it freaked Cosmo out and he ran off into the woods. Jerry came to get me and Jim stayed on the road to corral Coz or David from that viewpoint.

Anyway... David said that Cosmo took off from him like he did not know him and seemed afraid. (He has been a bit disoriented at times lately) Anyway, David called and called and lost sight of him for a little bit and David started to think.. well... maybe like an old Indian Cosmo is going off into the woods to sing his song but then he found him. Cos was all freaked out and collapsed into his arms and licked his face... which he never does... and David carried him back to the road. At this point Jerry and I rolled up. Coz was exhausted.

From what we figured we think that he and Delta took off across the road and came back out again and he got turned around and started walking the wrong way down the road. Had David et al not been on the road that way we never would have found him. I would not have thought he would have gone that far.

Lions, Wolves, Coyotes, Eagles, Bears, Wolverines, Fishers, Moose, Bobcats...
we would have been one less Cosmo.



So...

Guess who has been chained all day when he goes outside?
I plan on taking that boy with me to the freedom trail in Boston whether he likes it or not...

::sniffle::

and maybe I will put the arm rest down so he can see out the window in the front.

Giddy up horsie!

There has been so much going on lately I dunno where to start!

Lets start with the most recent and
then I will feel free to just jump around all over the place...

Let's start with today... Monday. You may remember the great unsuccessful Moose Hunt of 2008. Well, today the dogs and I went up to L'Anse. Halfway between the highway turn off and L'Anse is Alberta. Alberta was home to a Ford Motor Company sawmill /company village. You see back in the day Mr. Ford built several sawmills up here because he used the wood in his newfangled automobiles. To support those mills he built villages around these mills because he thought his workers should live in a certain way with certain rules and this way he could assist them in employment and in living a proper life... not to mention making himself a decent profit out of the whole scheme.

Anyhoo... I rounded a corner on the highway and I noticed a horse down by the road. I thought. to myself.... oh bummer, someone's horse got out.

But then I thought... wait a minute..

Dis here is da U.P.
Dere ain'no horses up here!
Dose Finn's use 'em in da pasty meat, dontcha know.
Ooooo ya.

Then the beast lifted its head and looked at us.
"That's no horse!" I told the dogs. "It's the MOOSE!"

I stopped the truck in the road and Cosmo the Magnificent immediatly transformed into Atomic Dog and very much like an atom he began bouncing off the walls, windows, and ceilings in every direction barking as went.

**BING BONG BANG BOOM YIP YIP YIP**

Morris heard the racket and looked calmly at us chewing the grass he had just pulled up. Delta leaned her head down quietly and snuck up on the window transfixed on young Morris. I am not sure what exactly either of them thought they were going to do. I was more worried about the truck! Morris would have punted Coz back to the Redwood Forest had he gone out there.

Well, I was stopped and the driver in the truck coming the opposite direction had stopped... and the three of us sat looking at each other. I was not sure what to do because I have heard of Moosies going after vehicles in a fit of rage and or lust... and even though Morris appeared to be a young fellow it IS technically spring time even though it snowed again two days ago... and I was driving a very attractive new Ford pickup.

So there we were, in a stand off. Just sitting there on the highway. Eventually other vehicles were going to show up... so... I inched forward and Morris decided to wander back into the trees.

I WIN! I WIN!

Well... not really... I am sure Morris just had better things to do
than to stand around and gawk at the humans all morning.

Since we are talking of vehicles... look at this. The Infinity had served it's purpose and served it very well... but here is the new ride.

You just might see a camper on that thing one day who knows?! We are so close to the east coast, and who knows what time may bring as far as travel and business opportunities so we have been eyeballing the New England states for some cool camping ideas just in case we are taken off in another direction.

Next:

David has been a busy beaver. I don't think he has really ever taken much of a break from house and or yard construction. Here is just one of the latest projects. I think this adds a wonderful addition to this property... it is a dock.

Now there has always been a boat launching area that is kind of a dirt path down into the lake. You can not really see it from this photo because it is further towards the right (west). However, getting boats down there requires a lot of atv traffic in the yard and that has been creating a bit of a wash down by the marshy shore. Also, technically that boat launch is on the lot next door.... that is our lot but still... we would like to try to keep the lots independent.... maybe. Anyway, we would like to get some grass growing back in that area around that dirt launch and for several reasons we decided a nice dock would be a great addition.

As you can see the area down by the shore is tufty marsh grass dirt clumps with water in between. Some of those tufts are solid all the way down and others are not. You see we found that back in the day... like in the 50's or even earlier... people used to take their GLASS and cans and garbage type stuff and ... well... just dump it in the water. Out of sight out of mind I guess. I suppose it is that whole peeing in the pool mind set. However, when the glass breaks and is then hidden by years of mud and grass it makes for unsafe situations. Frankly, it is also just kinda creepy.

So David pulled as much glass and garbage back out out as he could easily get to... found some interesting old bottles by the way... and then built "floating" platforms from solid ground clump to solid ground clump. We are adding stepping stones in between.

Those platforms follow a naturally formed "marsh tuft line" out to the dock section in the water. It looks great and makes that little center pond area a neat visual feature... you can see it better from this view taken off the deck of the house.

Delta loves to jump off the last dock end to swim after sticks.

We also finally finished the railing on the deck. We had left it open as the view from inside the house was so wonderful but new that eventually it had to be finished off. We looked into some railing types that did not block view and decided we liked the wire railing. So... David built one and we love it. You do not even notice it from inside and I feel a little better about Cosmo the Magnificent walking around out there.

Speaking of Cosmo the Magnificent.
Oh dear.

We had a bit of trauma the other day. We had just come home from somewhere and he and Delta were running all around the front yard all excited. He went into the house and the next thing I know I hear David calling me into the house. When I went inside there was Cosmo dripping blood out of his mouth down the front of his legs with one of his wild wildebeest teeth sticking straighter out of his mouth... hanging halfway in and out of his gum. Oh boy. He had smashed his mouth on something and one of his nasty teeth was going to have to come out.

Oh man I was getting a bit traumatized... poor little boy...
we needed to help him but dang I was fresh out of nitrous oxide. Er.. umm... I mean I did not have any kind of pain killer available for him and he was just staring at me,
smacking his lips over his bloody tooth. We knew what we had to do...

So David got some pliers and
I tried to control my crying as it was stressing Cosmo out...
and David got a hold of the offending bicuspid
and yanked.



Both David and I hollered... Cosmo was fine. He acted like nothing happened.
Stopped bleeding, ate his lunch and that was the end of it.

Here is his little tooth below.
The left part to that dark line was the part normally sticking out of his little gum.
The larger end was inside his gum.



No wonder he is grouchy.

Here is the after picture. His teeth look much better now... umm.. don't they?



Can you hear the jaws music?