Sunday, March 15, 2015
On a recent outing to our most nearby (and old standby and probably our favorite) park (City Center), we met a couple with a blind dog. This dog was an 8 year old female black lab named Roxy. We could not immediately tell that Roxy was blind (which now that Henry is blind we have greater tendency to notice this more). Roxy was walking a quickish pace and seemed confident (traits that have diminished in Henry since his loss of vision). Since Roxy was trotting along we were surprised to learn that she was blind.
This story, however, is not as much about meeting Roxy as it is about a secret place we learned about from Roxy's parents. By the way, Roxy's mom works at the pay booth for our local dog beach and we are glad she told us this since we knew we had seen her a few times before but could not place where we knew her from. Anyway, Roxy's parents told us of a nice walking path where Roxy regained much of her walking confidence. It is a park called Doris Leeper Park. It is not too far from our home but in an area where we don't usually frequent. We have driven by the sign but never really investigated. Well, after hearing about it from Roxy's parents we decided to give it a shot. And boy aren't we glad we did?!
The park is on the small side and it really is just a loop (with a handle). So, what made THIS park so special, though? It was perfect for Henry, that's what! It was the perfect type of terrain, well shaded in most areas and not too long (although we accidentally did make it a little too long by not looking at the map first and choosing the wrong way at the fork in the road, ugh). The fact that this park was not paved and yet was still relatively smooth made all the difference in the world! Henry was able to bob and weave without falling off the sidewalk (and thus not getting discouraged). At this park Henry built up quite a little trot (much like Henry of old). We were able to unleash him which made him feel empowered and proud. No wonder Roxy's parents loved this park! It built confidence in their blind dog and now it was doing the same for ours! HOW WONDERFUL!
Like I said, we did not initially look at the map, so when it came time to pick a way, we picked the wrong way (and we walked that way for a good distance). When we realized it was the wrong way, we turned around and went back to the split and chose the correct way. It was shortly after that when Henry was in need of being carried the rest of the way. That was fine, though, we are happy to carry him when he gets too tired. But we know that next time we will choose the right way and he for sure will be able to make it the whole distance and that will be an even bigger confidence builder to him.
We were lucky to have met Roxy's parents and we are very appreciative to them for sharing their stories and insight. Henry & Roxy are very similar in their needs so to have an area where we can be meeting Henry's needs even better is a true gift for us. #HenryStrongAllDayLong
Thursday, March 12, 2015
We have been working uber hard to get/keep Henry in his "happy" routine that this has meant that Cupid' routine has been a little upended. The morning routine used to include a 10-15 minute stint of her getting her special brushing time. Sadly, now, this time has been the first thing to be sacrificed when we start to slip in Henry's routine or if he gets extra needy. Cupid makes no bones about her displeasure with missing out on her brushing time. She is so smart, though, that she has actually figured out the plan. And the plan is to get Henry settled on his pillow and sneak out of the house right after he is chilling on his pillow.
With this discovery, Cupid has taken to blackmailing and sabotage. On days when she does not get her brushing she will be sure to cause more racket just as Henry is starting to settle. She will meow extra loudly, go in and out of the doggy door causing curious noises to Henry, get up close to Henry and sniff him, "conveniently" be starving and need to eat (her food is near Henry's bed) and this of course creates wafting smells that entice him or worst, she will be sure to poop (disgustingly creating the MOST enticing smell of all for Henry).
Cupid's antics have secured her place in the routine pecking order now, though. We are finding ways to get ALL pet care needs done. She cannot go without her brushing for even ONE day. We will all pay the price if the little girl has been without her luxury.
Seems crazy, though, doesn't it? She LOOKS so sweet and innocent! She has a name equated with LOVE. She is a senior plus. And even with all of these factors, she is still one mischievous and manipulative wittle puddy tat.
#CupidSmartPants #CupidTooBigForHerCalicoBritches #CupidIsASpoon(StiringEverythingUp) #CupidWillNotBeIgnored #CupidStrong
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Hooray for whiskers! We are so pleased to announce and show that Henry's whiskers are really growing back! We knew that this may not have happened since this is not common post chemotherapy. But maybe since he only had half his prescribed doses, then we got lucky that the whiskers are growing back! This not only helps cosmetically, it helps him to "bring" the smells his way and helps him to sense things hopefully before he bumps into them (and instead of bumping into things).
We are hoping that these close ups will have you focusing on his whiskers and not his yucky dry nose. Boo!
#HenryStrong #WhiskersForHenry #HenryHasWhiskersAgain #ChemoRanItsCourse #CancerFreeHenry
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
One day last week we noticed that Henry had a little knot on top of his head. For lack of a better description, it was sort of like a mini version of what Fred Flintstone would get when his bowling ball lands on his head (for those of us old enough to remember when cartoons were actually funny). Anyway, I digress. The bump was not really THAT big, but it was, of course, of concern. We texted our vet who recommended a quick check.
So, off to the vet we went. We actually scheduled Henry's sonogram for this trip too, rather than wait another 3 weeks and take more time off work. So, just trying to kill a couple birds with one stone (although we'd never kill a bird or any animal except maybe a snake---sorry snakes and snake lovers). ANYWAY....by the time we got to the vet a few days later for the knot on his head, it had already shrunk in size substantially. That was a good thing. Our doc explained it was just a cyst and right now there was nothing to worry about it but we will watch it to be sure nothing crazy happens.
The better news, however, was Henry's sonogram. Henry's kidney, liver and spleen all look lovely. And our doc was very impressed with how well Henry is doing. He HAS seen Henry at some pretty low lows so for our doc to say how good he is doing sure means the world. Coincidentally it was our doc's birthday! He was turning 47 and offered us some cake to take home. Sadly we didn't have anything to carry it in or we would have snagged a slab. But there was no way a beautiful piece of cake was getting all the way home unwrapped AND undisturbed by Henry. And Henry had taken bite of that yummy cake we would have had to turn right around and have our doc give us a thumbs down and we certainly DO NOT want THAT!
We are just looking for all the #HenryStrongs and #TeamHenrys that we can muster!
Monday, March 9, 2015
Looking forward to your captions in the comments.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Last week we came home early so that we could take Henry to the vet. (He had a little knot on his head. And we will get to this story soon---the short version is that everything was fine.) But when we got home we discovered that Henry had parked himself underneath the side table near the sofa. This space is commonly used by the cat. On this day, however, Henry was camped out there. He probably got himself stuck in there and just ended up settling in there. Grammy, ever the one to try to catch a good photo, got down right near Henry, pulled out her iphone and took a snap shot of the silly pug. I, on the other hand, also always trying to capture the moment, whipped out my iphone to take a photo of Grammy taking a photo of Henry. It just seemed like a funny little photo opp!
#HenryStrong #GrammyStrong #HenryIsAGoodBoy #GrammyIsAGoodLady
Thursday, March 5, 2015
In case you haven't been reading for a while (she said tongue in cheek), you may not know that Benjamin and Luna passed away over the summer, subsequently Henry had some health problems and is now blind. Ok, glad we caught you all up. 
It is funny how all the puggers were so different in talents and personality. Luna was a little spitfire, alpha female who was quick to capture the love of many mostly be she had a "story" while Baby Benny was most known for his velvety wrinkles and in person, he simply loved you unconditionally (and he love all the ladies the same---with all his heart and oozing sweetness). Henry has been more of an adventurer and possessed a certain wisdom that neither of the others had. But what this is really about is the NOSE.
If we were to rate the quality of their sniffers, it would be that Benny would hold the top spot smooshy heads and curly tails above all the rest. Then it would be Luna who would mostly spot out only super stinky stuff. Then at long last, Henry pulling up the rear as we have wondered if he had any sniffer at all! I mean, c'mon Hank, are you even a dog with your lousy nose?! Just kidding! We know you are a dog, but holy moly pug.
In fairness, this comparison was pre-loss of B & L and post Henry going blind. NOW, Henry's nose works in double time. Don't get me wrong, his nose in no way can hold a candle to Benny on his most congested day but Henry is starting to pick up the pace that he needs to keep in touch with the world at large. You see, if a crumb of a crumb of a cheerio would make it's way under the oven, Benjamin would scratch and whine and throw a fit until he got that fleck of cheerio. It would not be uncommon that we would be stooped down by the oven with a flashlight and a yard stick to try to fish out whatever tiny tidbit of food may have made its way under there. We would not be able to spot the item and would tell Ben that there was nothing there and he would argue his point more staunchly. He'd be ever so demanding in his point. And invariably he was correct! We were never right. There was ALWAYS something to be found if Benjamin told us so. I'm telling you, he really should have been one of those narcotic sniffing dogs or dogs that find dead bodies. (ew) We'd never go for that but he would have been GREAT! We helped him miss his calling.
Luna, too had a pretty good sniffer. But seriously, unless it was fish guts, bird poop, cow manure or some other equally delightful disgust she didn't have much interest. But she could still smell it from a mile away.
And then like I said, poor Henry. Unless you literally put it on his nose, he would likely not even know it was there. It was crazy. Now, though this is how we find Henry in the house. We listen closely to hear where he is because all he does these days is sniff. And it is pretty loud. It's like he has to take really deep breaths to suck in the air so that he has a chance of catching a whiff. On a windy day now though, he will change the course of his route by being pulled off into a whole different direction because he caught a pleasing scent. This is rare, though. We are still having to hold his dinner bowl in front of his nose just so he knows it's dinnertime. If that was Benny, you could put the bowl down in the garage with 4 doors closed in between and he'd try to claw his way from room to room to make his way to the meal.
Henry may be #HenryStrong, but his nose ain't no Benny nose! #HenryKeepSniffing #StilLoveASnifferlessPug
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