Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Clown Face!

This picture of Payton makes me laugh. Thought I would share it with you all. Have a great Day!

Peace,
Jamie

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Yeah! More Snow!






















Yesterday I took this picture of the girls chillin out on the couch together. They give me the worst faces and body language when I try to get them to pose for me. When I snuck up on the moment with my camera it was much more precious.


Last night we got a pretty good amount of snow so I took some pictures of them playing in the fresh snow this morning. The shot of all 3 of the girls shows Kylie in the corner scaring away a squirrel. I had to laugh when I looked at the individual shots I took of them. They look like mug shots! Top to bottom is Payton, Taryn, and Kylie. See what I mean? They don't like the camera in their face.


I get such a kick watching them play in the snow. We can all relate to that childhood exuberance after a good snow fall, especially if school was cancelled too!
Hope everyone is taking the time to have some fun this holiday season!
Peace,
Jamie




Monday, December 1, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi all! I know this is a few days late, but I wanted to wish my friends and family a happy thanksgiving.
I don't have time to post much today. Payton, Kylie, and Taryn are all healthy, happy, and hyper. We have had a little bit of snow the last few days and the dogs are currently romping in the back yard enjoying it. Payton seems like she has fully recovered from her accident and is making up for lost play time with her sisters.
Gotta run, have a great day!

Peace,
Jamie

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

One Week Checkup

I took Payton to the vet yesterday morning for her one week check up since we brought her home from the emergency vet. She got a really thorough exam and everything sounded and looked good. Her lungs both sounded good, her heart sounded good, and her ribs and legs all felt good. She got her staples out and had blood work done, which came back normal. When the vet was examining her she said "I can't believe she didn't loose any teeth." Well, upon further examination, she has a broken front tooth in her top row of teeth. It's not one of her canines, which is good. Since her blood work came back normal I will be taking her in tomorrow morning so that they can put her under in the afternoon and pull her tooth. I will be picking her up after five and hopefully that will be the last vet visit for this incident. Having her tooth pulled seems like a bummer, but we're just happy she lucked out and didn't have to have surgery for internal bleeding.

I ended up taking Taryn on a separate trip to the vet because her left ear has been bugging her and was all red inside. Turns out she has an ear infection that needed treatment. I had just given Payton her last dose of meds on Monday night, and they sent me home Tuesday morning with a handful of meds to start treating Taryn. We had Kylie at the vet a couple of days before Payton's accident because she had some sort of virus and was vomiting uncontrollably. So that makes all three dogs with health issues in the last two weeks. I am happy to report that all three girls are doing great today. Payton even went out on her first walk since she was hit and didn't seem to get tired. She looked like she wanted to head out again after I returned with Taryn from her walk.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Peace,
Jamie

Friday, November 14, 2008

First Snowfall Fall 2008

We have our first snowfall this morning. It's always fun to wake up to a snowy scene. Kind of weird that we are just now getting snow on 11/14. The problem is that all of our labs love water, especially the white frozen kind. Kylie grabbed a tennis ball and tried to start getting Payton to chase her. I had to put the brakes on that. I brought Payton inside and she stood by the door and pouted. Kylie is really missing her play time with Payton too. She tries to entice Taryn into chasing her and playing "Labrador Gladiators", but Taryn isn't really interested in that kind of play. I feel bad for our "litttles" (that's our nickname for Kylie and Payton). I can't wait till we can let them go crazy in the snow and crack up while we watch from inside with a warm cup of coffe. Take care everyone!


Peace,
Jamie

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Getting Better All the Time.......

I was a little apprehensive and anxious to come home from work today because I knew that Payton would be in need of some pain meds. How happy was I to find Payton all smiles when I entered! She's got this sweet big smile when she is a happy girl. Mark calls it clown face. I say she's showing us her "teefs". She didn't let our her big "woo-ooh" that she usually does, but I feel it's coming. I was relieved to find her doing well. She is starting to act more like her old self all the time. She has improved greatly every day and is starting to spend more and more time on all fours. You can tell that she gets tired and sore easily and quickly. She is doing alot of laying down and sleeping. I'm sure some of that is the pain meds, but the rest is her knowing she needs to take it easy to get better. I haven't really had to hold her back much. She's doing things in her own slow time. This morning though, I did sense that she and Kylie were thinking about getting frisky and I had to bring Payton in the house.

We are not 100% normal around here quite yet. Payton is requiring alot of special attention right now. It has kind of been like taking care of a new puppy. Up in the middle of the night taking her out and giving her pain meds, and keeping her separated from her sisters when they are playing. Her time out of the crate is supervised every minute that she is not in it. I was really tired at work today from the stress and the lack of sleep. It's for such a good cause though! I am just thankful for all of the progress that Payton has already made. Man she's tough!

The positive outcome of this all is the well wishes from you fellow bloggers. Nice to know that there are still decent people out there! We will be visitng all of you in the blogosphere soon!


Peace,
Jamie

Monday, November 10, 2008

Payton is Home!

I got a call about 7:15 this morning that we could come and get Payton and bring her home. This largely was based on the fact that both Mark and I are off work for the next couple of days. We will be able to keep a really close eye on her and she will not be left alone. She is on pain meds so she is really lethargic. I fed her some canned food, the same she has had the last couple of days at the vet, and mixed in her pain meds right when we got home. Payton is currently resting comfortably in her crate with her favorite blanket. I was going to take a picture to post but she doesn't like having a camera pointed at her when she is trying to rest.
She has a few superficial wounds on her leg and shoulder that required staples. The vet tech said that she was totally relaxed when they were putting the staples in and she was wagging her tail the whole time. This tech was great! She was the first to respond at the emergency vet with a gurney and rushed her off to be treated. She got Payton on an IV and was treating her shock. She told me this morning that Payton was so sweet the whole time and she was really focused on getting Payton back to us. We are thankful to her and the whole staff at ACCES 24 hour critical care. They treated Payton with professionalism and compassion. They also are aware of the bond between pets and their family and are sympathetic to owners emotional states. I watched them deal with a lot of families bringing their loved ones in on Saturday night.
This situation made me glad that I had an emergency plan in the event of one of our dogs needing to be rushed to the vets office on an evening or weekend. Our regular vet is less than 5 minutes away. This emergency vet was about 12 -15 minutes away. It is the closest one to our house. I had their number in my cell phone and called them to let them know we were on our way. It happens to be my first contact because it's a #, 24 hour ACCES.
Everyone should know where their nearest emergency vet is and have their number handy.
So Payton won't be able to play for a while. We figure she was always the instigator so hopefully she'll take it easy on her own. We'll be watching every minute she's not resting in her crate to make sure no one is getting frisky.
I'll keep you updated on her progress. Thanks to our friends and family sending us your love and support. You helped through a tough experience!

Peace,
Jamie

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Payton Update

We just got back from visiting Payton and I'm happy to report that she is doing much better. I had called a couple of times today to see if it was a good time to come up and visit and each time the office said that they were dealing with emergencies and to call back later. The last time I called they said to come on up and that she was doing good. She was out of the oxygen chamber and had something to eat. She had also gone outside to do her business. Yeah! All good signs. She was very happy to see us when we arrived and of course looked like a goof with the cone around her neck. Mark got to take her outside to go potty again while I talked to the vet and it looks like we will be bringing her home tomorrow. We looked at the X-rays and she had broke 4 ribs and had alot of internal fluid. It will take about 8 weeks for a full recovery. She looked great even though she had a tube coming out of her nose and still would have to go back to her IV after we left. She just wanted our hands inside the cone to rest her head on our hands, just like she did in the oxygen tank last night. I know that she is going to be alright. We will be so thankful when she comes home. I guess we will be celebrating Thanksgiving early this year, just like we did almost a year ago to the day when we adopted our baby Payton. I remember last Thanksgiving being really mellow, just Mark and I, and all day long I was feeling that Payton was an example of what Thanksgiving is all about. Being Thankful. We were thankful about finding her and she was thankful that we found her.

Peace,
Jamie

Our Worst Nightmare!

I am still in shock about witnessing the horror of watching Payton get hit by a car last night. I am not in a position where I can give details, but Payton has been in doggy ICU since 6:00 last night. She doesn't have any broken limbs but she has internal damage, fractured ribs and some internal bleeding which seems to be better since last night. Her biggest problem was going into shock and labored breathing. She was in such bad shape when I got her to the emergency 24 hour vet that they couldn't stabilize her to even take any x-rays for a couple of hours. She went into an oxygen tank and was hooked up to a couple of IV's, one with fluids, and one with an opiate for her pain. She also got an injection of something to help with her protein levels. We were able to go in and visit her before we left for the night and it broke my heart and gave me hope at the same time. Her tail started wagging (slowly) when she saw us. They opened a little door so that we could reach in and pet her and she put her muzzle out the opening while resting her head on our hands. She looked me right in the eyes and seemed to say "I'm sorry, I'm going to be all right". Mark and I both were in tears when we left.
We got a phone call last night that was one of those good news bad news calls that left us with mixed emotions. The Vet told me that if the internal bleeding didn't stop and they had to do surgery that Payton might not make it due to her weak breathing. I was dying. I had been the one that had to keep my head on straight and get her to the vet, which seemed like a million miles away, and comfort Payton and Mark. After I got that phone call I lost it for a little bit. I had been saying over and over "She's so strong. She is going to be fine" and now I was crying and questioning what I could have done differently and blaming myself.
This morning she is doing better. From blood work it looks like the internal bleeding has stopped and she won't need surgery. Her body temperature is coming up and her breathing is not so labored. She is breathing at 95% inside the oxygen tank but only 75% outside. Right now she needs to be able to breath at close to 100% before they take her out of the oxygen tank. She will probably come home tomorrow unless she doesn't improve.
It's so quiet around here this morning without Payton. She has a lot of positive energy and every morning she wakes up stretches and gives us some really vocal yawns as if she's saying "Good morning world, here's Payton". I missed all of that fun energy this morning. Taryn and Kylie even seemed a little less exuberant to start their day and have breakfast.
We will visit her this afternoon. It's probably more for us than for Payton. She is crashed out on pain meds, but we just need to see her and touch her and let her know we are thinking about her 24/7.
I'll keep you posted on her progress.

Peace,
Jamie

Sunday, October 5, 2008

I can't wait for Grandpa Don to come BARK!

So Mark's Dad Don came to visit us about three weeks ago. Taryn and Kylie had met Don before but it was the first time that Payton was going to meet "Grandpa Don". We are never really sure of how Payton is going to react to strangers because she has not taken to a few friends that spend time at our house. Payton doesn't like some Men (actually most men) and displays it by barking and growling at them the whole time that they are here. Unfortunately Grandpa Don fell into the "I'm useasy about you so I am going to bark at you until you leave" category. She started from the second he walked into the house til the second he walked out of the house. She even barked at him when we were out playing in the back yard. It was so bad that she would start growling and barking when she would hear him get up in the morning. Taryn and Kylie are the total opposite with all of our guest, overnight or just for a visit. They are overly welcoming (meaning they have a little problem with still jumping up some times) and are way more interested in our guest while they are here than they are with us. I felt bad for Don but he handled it OK. He mostly tried to ignore Payton. At one point, after a few days, Payton actually went up to Don and sniffed him close enough where I saw the tip of her nose touch him. I thought "this is it!", but as soon as Don turned to look at her she started growling. We definitely have a way to go with Payton's socialization. We don't have alot of visitors so I need to get her out more. I think she needs to spend some time alone on trips out too. She leans on her sisters for confidence too much, and she needs to be strong and confident even when her sisters aren't around. Payton is such a great Lab, but she is still a work in progress. I wish that I had the opportunity to start shaping this girl at 8 weeks old like my other dogs, but I am grateful that I have been given the chance to help her and I am confident that she will completely get over her shyness and insecurities. Being a dog owner is a commitment similar to marriage. You take them on for better or worse. All of our dogs have made our lives better!

Peace,
Jamie

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Baby Payton Turns One!



I know it's been a while since I've blogged but I haven't forgot about posting. I can't even come up with a legitimate excuse. Just haven't blogged.
This was a big occasion so I needed to share it with our friends that check in to see what the labs have been up to. Our "baby" Payton turned one! Of course we got her the obligatory dog birthday cake from Three dog Bakery. I got the cake a few days before we served it since the bakery is close to work and I was going to be off for a couple of days. I swear all three dogs new exactly what I had in the bag the second I walked into the door. The cake sat on the lower shelf of our refrigerator and the dogs took every time the door was open as an opportunity to sniff the cake box. The excitement built until the day the cake was served. As you can see Payton tried to eat the cake in one bite. She looks like a big girl in this picture, but to us she still has a baby face. I haven't weighed her for a while but she is visibly bigger than Kylie who is about 16 months older than her. I don't think she'll be as big as Taryn. We'll see. Taryn looks pretty small in her first birthday photos.
Payton has been with us almost 8 months and I couldn't imagine our house without her. She is such and character, warts and all, and is such a good little sister to her lab sis' and such a good dog for us humans to be around. Happy Birthday Pay!

Peace,

Jamie

P.S. Promise I'll try to post more often!

Friday, June 6, 2008

The Streak Has Ended

Payton had an accident in the house yesterday. She was only 3 days away from making it to the 30 day accident free goal. If you remember Mark said that Payton had to make it 30 days and then she wouldn't have to be crated when we leave the house. The nice thing about this prospect would be removing the crate from it's spot in the living room, giving us more space. Anyway, I think Payton really doesn't want her crate to be removed so she sabotaged her incident free streak. Payton loves her crate. We leave the door open and she often goes in there to take naps or chill out and chew on a bone or toy. I think she'll be a little displaced when the crate is moved. We have already decided that we'll put a bed where the crate used to be and move it to a different location a few feet at a time.

The accident happened when Mark was home for lunch yesterday. Payton didn't do her business after lunch and Mark didn't want them out in the muddy yard because I get mad when I come home after a long day of work to find mud on the floors that I had just cleaned. Guess Payton just slipped off for a second while Mark was getting ready to go back to work and she pooed in the basement. Oh the horror! So now we begin what hopefully will be the 1st day of our 30 days with no incidents.

No, I don't have any pictures of the poo to post, Sorry!

Peace,

Jamie

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

More space claiming



One of the issues that we are having with redecorating the living room is that our dog crate is getting a little squished and creating a tight space in our entryway (pictured above). So we have been thinking that it would be great if Payton could sleep outside the crate when we are away and we could move the crate to another part of the house where it wasn't so in the way. I have mentioned our challenges with housebreaking Payton in a a previous blog and I will let you know that we have had accidents since that blog. Kind of makes it hard to give her free run. Mark proposed that if Payton could go 30 days without an accident that we could start giving her some time out of the crate when we are gone. I am happy to report that Payton has gone four days without an "incident". GO PAYTON!

Peace,
Jamie

Claiming Our Space



We have a pretty good sized house for just two humans, but sharing the space with three dogs makes things a little tight. Mark was worried when he agreed to look for a lab to rescue, and add a third dog to our household, that I wouldn't know when to quit. I remember telling him right after Payton joined us that "three dogs is max for this house".
We really haven't used our living room much since we moved into our house. There are a couple of other rooms that are better options for hanging out and watching TV or visiting with friends. One of the rooms was our office. We had a TV and a couch in the office and there was only a couch in the living room. With no TV we just really never went out into the living room. Lame, huh? We can only hang out in a room that has artificial stimulus? So the living room became the dogs "flop house". They have had free run of the living room while we are at work. They (meaning Taryn and Kylie, Payton is still in the crate when we are away) are really good girls and don't destroy anything, but they have been sleeping on the couches. I keep the couches covered in sheets so that they don't get damaged. This has worked until now.
We recently had to add another desk to our office because I am having to work at home alot more. Adding another desk meant taking the couch out of the office and we had to move our place to hang out into our living room. TV and all the comforts moved into the living room. Unfortunately the dogs have not gotten the message that we have moved into their space.
We were getting frustrated with the dog hair every where that we wanted to sit in our newly claimed territory so we have resorted to drastic measures. These pads are supposed to keep the dogs off of the furniture. We just implemented them today. So far they are 1 for 2. Mark came home and one prickly pad was on the floor and there was hair all over the couch. I came home later and everything was as I had left it. Funny thing is that we are only trying to claim the love seat. We are letting the two dogs sleep on the sheet covered couch at their leisure. I'll let you know how it goes.

Peace,
Jamie

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

A Tired Dog Is a Good Dog


Why are all the girls being so good today? Because they are very tired! Most dog owners know the saying "a tired dog is a good dog" and I have found that to be soooo true. I was off today but had a hair appointment and went shopping. I got home from my errands just a few minutes after Mark had arrived to fix himself some lunch (lucky guy works just a few minutes away from home so he comes home for lunch everyday. Today was gorgeous and he was able to ride the motorcycle to work!). Anyway, Mark warned me when I walked into the house that Payton was especially wound up when he arrived. She was extra anxious to get out of her crate and was jumping up on him which she really doesn't do. She was demonstrating the same excitement, and rudeness, to me so I said "somebody needs a W-A-L-K"! Of course I can not actually use the word until we are ready to go. Unless you want to deal with three dogs going bonkers until they actually hit the sidewalk.

I played with the "chuck-it" and the girls in the backyard a little bit before I put their leashes on. This helps with the initial excitement overload that they usually get at the beginning of a walk. Once we get about half a block away from home they fall into line. Do I walk them all at the same time?!!? Yes I have developed a system that allows me to walk the threesome all at once. When we first brought Payton home I didn't think that I would ever be able to walk all of my dogs at once. Taryn and Kylie were a challenge by themselves. I need to have them both on gentle leaders when they are on leash (If you have a dog that pulls I would recommend this product. It is not a muzzle, but it goes around their nose to keep them from pulling). Luckily Payton is the easiest dog ever to walk. She does not pull or strain or object to the leash in the slightest. The only challenge with her is that she wasn't walked before she came to us so she doesn't fully understand what we're doing when we take off. She wants to look over her shoulder at me to see what my cues are. She is focused after a few minutes of just moving forward.
So here's the pre walk drill: I put Kylie and Taryn's gentle leaders on, put them on a coupler (it attaches both of their gentle leaders to one leash) and I put Payton's leash on and we are ready to go! It is a really cool feeling when all four of us are moving forward together. It is like we're on a mission and we are united and invincible. I am able to totally stop the self talk that is constantly going on in my head and just live in the moment. I hope that happens to the girls too because it is a really cool feeling. Another benefit is that we are burning calories and toning our muscles as we go. My whole body feels it when I return from walking all three of the dogs. I took all three to PetSmart last week and felt like I had worked out with weights. The stimulus of the store made them harder to handle, thus a harder work out.

It is only supposed to be 42 degrees tomorrow with a chance of snow. Gotta sneek in the fun in the sun while it lasts. Hopefully Mark will take me on a ride when he gets home from work!


Peace,


Jamie


P.S. For those of you who cannot tell the girls apart, Kylie is closest to the shed, Taryn is clockwise from her, and Payton is front and center.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Spring Snow!


Hi guys! Well, per normal, just when you think we are in full Spring mode here in the rocky mountains we get snow. This picture was taken just a few minutes ago. We might get 4 inches before tomorrow's commute. The crazy thing is that it was 80 degrees yesterday. When the snow started this afternoon the thermostat in our house was reading 75 even though we had the heat off all day today. Still haven't turned it on because the bricks soaked up all of the sun we have had the last two days. This is really typical in Denver. I am reminded every April why I wait until after mothers day to plant any flowers. The dogs are excited to see that the snow is not totally gone yet for the season!


Peace,

Jamie

Sunday, March 16, 2008

My Birthday!



Actually we have two Dog Birthdays in March so we celebrate both Taryn and Kylie's Birthdays on the same day. We usually pick a day that is about half way in between both Dog's Birthdays (you could NEVER get away with this if you had human kids!). I'm kind of silly and I like to make a little bit of a big deal about the Birthday "party". I made a trip to PetSmart and bought some doggie staples. I then stopped by Three Dog Bakery to see if I could by a couple of cakes or individual "special" baked treats. This bakery is really fun, they make all kinds of baked cakes, cookies, cupcakes, s'mores, carrot cakes, and a ton of other dog safe treats. I have bought cakes from this bakery for the last three years, Taryn's 1st B-day, Taryn's 2nd and Kylie's 1st B-day, and now Taryn's 3rd and Kylie's 2nd B-day. This year we had two other guests at our party. Payton of course was a party goer and also our neighbors golden retriever Baily. We have blogged about Baily before, he is such a great friend to our girls. Baily also turns 3 this month so it is appropriate that he joined our party.

I usually order our cakes ahead of time from the bakery, but I wasn't able to this time. Luckily they had two cakes ready to go and it just took a few minutes to personalize them. I had to buy some party hats at the bakery and also a party favor for Baily to take home and enjoy. The dogs had a blast per normal. Taryn really seemed to know what was up. This is her third party. She recogognized the smell of the yummy doggie Birthday cake.

I hope to post pictures later of the dogs in the party hats. Those are on my neighbors camera. We of course will be having a party for Payton on July 6th! What a joy all of our dogs are to us!



Peace,


Jamie

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Size Doesn't Matter!



I've mentioned before that Kylie is the Alpha Dog in our house and pretty much has been since she joined our family. The funny thing is that her older sister Taryn weighed about 70 pounds when we brought Kylie home and Kylie was probably pushing 10 pounds. What made Kylie the Alpha Dog? Attitude! Attitude is everything Baby! Little Kylie came into our lives with a big attitude. She knew that she was second fiddle to Mom and Dad, but she wasn't going to be second fiddle to another dog. Since we have added Payton to our household Kylie seems to be a little unsure about her place in dog society. She definitely shows signs of being threatened by Payton's confidence. Payton just turned 8 months old and I have been noticing that she is giving her older sisters a little bit more heck these days. Payton settled into our home really well and Mark and I believe that she is fully integrated and her past is a thing of the past. One of the reasons we believe this is her feisty nature with her Sisters. It's fun to watch the dogs do the "dance" of play fighting. They are just testing each other like puppies do in a litter to see what the pecking order is. Lately it has been hard to identify who is doing what to who because it seems like it's always the three of them wrestling. Sometimes it's individual, sometimes they gang up on one, and then change who the target is a second later. Don't worry, everyone is "smiling" and having fun playing, but we know that it's more than play. There is a rank being decided and reinforced every time our dogs play like this. The top picture is of Payton and Kylie playing. Payton is the one on top, obviously not intimidated by her older Sister. The bottom picture is of the two of them a few seconds later right before they curled up and took a nap together.
I guess that the reason I am sharing this is that one of our Dog friends Mango has just been introduced to his new little brother Dexter. Mango is a full grown Mastiff who I think weighs 130 pounds. Dexter is an adorable Black Labrador who weighs 15 pounds. Mango's Mom posted some cute pictures of their first afternoon together on Mango's blog. In one of the pictures it looks like Dexter is getting feisty with his gorgeously massive brother Mango. I think Mango has his paws full. It makes we wonder if Dexter will be top dog in his new home.
Peace,
Jamie
*Just got a message from Mango, he is a little offended that I described him as being 130 pounds, he is actually 230 Pounds!!! Whoa, even when Dexter is a full grown Lab Mango will still be at least 100 pounds heavier. That is one big Mango Man!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Pee and Poop!



We brought Payton home at 5 months old and she was pretty much potty trained. She had a couple accidents when she first arrived, but we attributed that to nervousness and not knowing how to let us know when she needed to go outside and do her business. We started working on potty training with her on day one and she seemed to do just fine. For us potty training is a very proactive situation. You have to keep an eye on your pup at all times and close off any areas of the house where they could quietly sneak off and do their business. You also have to be proactive about taking them out after they have woken up from a nap, had a meal, been playing vigorously, got startled by something, or it's just been a little while since they've gone. For little puppies we take them out every half hour that they are awake, or after any of the above mentioned activites. For teenage dogs with well developed bladders they can be awake in the house and only need a potty break every 3 to 4 hours. When sleeping, puppy's can only go about 2 hours without releiving themselves, so you need to get up and take them out throughout the night. Eventually as they get older and their bladders develop they can go longer and longer without having to go outside. Soon they will be able to make it all night without having to drag you out of bed into the harsh elements of the cold night (remind me again Mark why we bring home our puppies during the winter months?). Crate training really helps with this process because they do not want to soil their "den" and will alert you when they need to go. All of our dogs LOVE the crate because from day one we made the crate a really positive experience (i.e. treats and praise every time they enter the crate whether voluntarily or after being asked to "go to your crate".)

All that being said we thought that Payton was fully potty trained after being with us for almost three months. Uh Oh! We are not quite out of the woods yet. Monday afternoon Mark warned me that Payton was a "hold out" and didn't poop after lunch. I needed to keep an eye on her because she was due. So we went on a walk, no poop. Let her play in the backyard, still no poop. I had her inside with me when Kylie got really frisky, picked up our big squeaky Air Kong football, and started zooming inside the house. I was laughing my you know what off as I watched Kylie get her sisters just as excited about the football as she was. I watched as they all flew by me to chase Kylie down the stairs into our finished basement when it dawned on me "this is a lot of stimulus for a young Payton who hasn't pooed yet!" I ran down the stairs maybe two seconds behind them but it was too late! There it was, right by the pool table..... fresh poop and Payton looking really guilty off in the corner of the basement. Well, my bad, and now a training opportunity. So I go over to the poop and ask Payton "What's this? Did you do this? Nooooo, we go outside!" I pick up the poop and take Payton outside to set it out in the yard so that she can see where poop goes. Well, situation dealt with and we move on right? Nope. At the end of the day I am getting ready to go to bed when I step into something wet and yellow on our bedroom carpet. Pee! What is going on here? I thought we were past all of this. Anyway we realized that Payton is not fully potty trained and we need to back up a little bit. She is always in her crate when no one is home, but we are back to keeping an eye on her at all times, being more proactive about taking her outside before she has an accident, and closing off hiding places in the house. She still sleeps in our room with us at night. We have a baby gate to keep them all in our room with us but Payton could still wander off to the corner of her room to do her business. Since Monday if she wakes up in the morning and doesn't go right back to sleep I get up and put her in her crate knowing she can stay in there for a few minutes until I am ready to fully get up and take all the girls out. You're probably asking yourself "Why don't you just open up the back door and let her go out and do her thing?" Well, we don't have a back door. Yep, three dogs and no back door. So for one of us to take the dogs out in the morning, namely me, we have to get dressed first. A back door is definately on my wish list. Someday maybe!

I know I have blogged alot about poop and pee this morning, but I think it's OK considering my sister in law recently blogged about one of her boys barfing and she included a picture as evidence (Hi Christi!). At least I spared you any pictures of the subject matter! : - )
Peace,
Jamie

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Cute Pictures




Hi Everyone! Not much going on around here. We did take Payton to the Dog park for the first time on Sunday, but in all the chaos I didn't get a chance to pull out my camera. Someday I will elaborate on the dog park experience, (why do some people have to get so upset when your dog wants to play with their dog? It's a dog park! They should be able to do what they want!) but I'll save that for another blog. Let's just say the dogs had a blast. Some of the humans needed to take a "chill pill"! Anyway, since I don't have much to report I thought I would share some cute pictures of the girls. Top to bottom this is Taryn, Kylie, and Payton. I think these are about the best pictures of them individually. Still waiting for that killer group shot.

Mark and I are celebrating Valentines day today since I will have to work tomorrow night. We are going to our favorite Sushi restaurant, Japon. It is such a fantastic restaurant. We usually only go there for our special occasions because it is easy to walk out of there with a $100 check. Sometimes the bill gets so big because our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and we end up with a sushi doggie bag. Sushi is not very good the next day, so it is a real treat for the dogs. Taryn has had the pleasure of sampling sushi, but it will be a first for Kylie and Payton. I'm sure they will dig it just as much as Taryn does. Have a good Valentines Day everyone!


Peace,

Jamie

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Bump Watch Update


Well, after a few weeks of watching and waiting it seems that Payton's Seroma has gone away. Our vet, Dr. Lutz, said that it could take a while but eventually this fluid would be absorbed into her body. Payton never even knew that it was there so it wasn't too hard on us to wait. It is just nice to look down at her and not see that bump, just her loving face!


Peace,

Jamie

Thursday, January 31, 2008

You Tube Videos

I added some You Tube dog videos that I think are pretty funny. The last clip is of an Aussie watching the TV commercial for the Dyson slim Vacuum. The reason this one cracked me up is that our dogs, especially Taryn, have the same reaction to the commercial. There are quite a few videos of dogs reacting to this commercial on You Tube. All of the dogs are different breeds but they all get a rise when they see, and hear, this commercial. Some things in the canine world are universal no matter what breed, at the same time dogs have qualities that are breed standards. That is one of the reasons that we have Labs. The standard personality of Labs is just the right fit for us.

Peace,
Jamie

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Sister Sweetly



One of Taryn's favorite things is sitting on our ottoman and looking out the front window (as seen in a previous post). She sits there for hours watching the world go by. Mind you, we live on a very quiet street so there is not a lot of action. She was window gazing this morning when Kylie decided she would like to join her. Pretty funny since Taryn takes up the whole ottoman! I snapped a couple of cute pictures of them together and wanted to share them. Heart warming isn't it?


Peace,

Jamie

Monday, January 28, 2008

Bananas!


I've complained before about how hard it is to get the Mile High Labs to all sit and let me take a picture of them. The other morning we discovered the key to rallying the girls and keeping them in one place for more than two seconds. The girls actually showed me themselves. Bananas! If you look at the kitchen counter in the background you will see that I have left the unused portion of the banana I sliced into my cereal laying on the counter (if you click on it you should get a larger image). Taryn has always enjoyed a small bite (very small so that we don't induce loose stool) of banana and we oblige her because she is so polite about waiting for it. Kylie is like a soldier when it comes to meals and treats. She loves bananas and will wait in formation until I finish my cereal and share a little with her. Now we discover that after only sampling bananas once before that Payton is a connoisseur as well. In this picture they are all keeping an eye on the banana to make sure it doesn't sneak off before they get a little nibble. Taryn is the closest because she digs it the most. When there is a banana on the counter she won't budge from the corner of the kitchen. This is serious business Y'all!

OK, I'm pretty sure there are many things that we could substitute for the banana, they are labs of course, but banana is definately their favorite. Not all people food is good for your dogs. If you are unsure about feeding your dog something check out my link to dangerous people food.


Peace,

Jamie

Monday, January 21, 2008

Bump Watch

I have actually had a health problem with Payton that I have been wanting to share but haven't been able to yet. She has a fluid filled bump on her side that our Vet is calling a Seroma. It is not bothering her in the slightest but it is bothersome to Mark and I that she has it. We have been waiting for it to shrink and go away along with giving her a couple doses of antibiotics daily to ward off infection. It seems like the bump got really big, shrank to almost nothing, and is bigger today. The Vet said that if it doesn't go away on it's own she will have to drain it internally. Not a good option, so we are waiting to see if it does go away on it's own. It's not easy to just play the waiting game. I will have to take her back to the Vet if she doesn't heal in the next couple of days. Like I said, it's business as usual for Payton. She doesn't even know that it's there. So she is not in discomfort while we wait to see what happens.
Of course I need to let you know how this may have happened. I was extremely worried when I discovered the bump because I have read about "bloat" being deadly. I went to a web site and refreshed myself on the symptoms of bloat. http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/bloat.html Some of the symptoms were similar to what Payton had. Bloat should be dealt with immediately. When I called the Vet about Paytons bump she asked to see her right away. We actually live only a few blocks away from our Vet so we were right there. After feeling the bump Dr. Lutz asked me if Payton played hard. I told her "Yes, all the time." Dr. Lutz said that her bump was a Seroma. Probably caused by playing hard with her sisters(I know that Payton and Kylie had a big game of American Gladiator going on right before I discovered the bump). She described it as an internal abscess that is just under her skin. She said that if her bump were bloat it would be hard and Payton's bump is soft, it feels like fluid. Dr. Lutz did take some X-rays to be sure it wasn't something else. Nothing unusual showed up in the X-rays except that she was due to poop which she did right when we got home. Of course her vet bill was over $200 with the X-rays. Luckily we have pet insurance to help out with emergency vet visits so that we never have to weigh the cost of treatment with the needs of our dogs.
*UPDATE* Paytons bump is getting smaller. It is not totally gone, but Dr. Lutz put her on one more week's worth of antibiotics to give it some more time to heal on it's own. I will keep you posted.

Peace,
Jamie

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Can't They Just Sit Still?



We have been trying since the day we brought Payton home to get a great picture of the three dogs together. I keep getting pictures of their backsides while they are waiting for Dad to throw them something, or pictures of nothing because they all have moved. This morning I thought I had the "money" shot lined up. It was the most calm and focused the three of them have been for the camera. I took the shot and just as I did Kylie looked away and Payton lost focus on me. Taryn, bless her heart, was the only one cooperating. Oh well, it's still a really cute picture. I love the snow on the end of Payton's nose. She always has her nose down in the snow looking for buried tennis balls or frisbees. We just got a fresh snowfall last night for all of them to play in. They're just like kids when it comes to snow. It's never too cold to have a good romp! I'll keep trying for that elusive portrait of the three of them.
Peace,
Jamie

Monday, January 7, 2008

I Hate to Leave!



Mark and I have been off work for the last three days. We were celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary and both of us were due a few days off together. The time off was fantastic. Just what I needed. I obviously would have liked another day off but I needed to go back. The hardest part is always leaving the dogs. They do not have separation anxiety, or worry when we are leaving for a few hours, but they always seem to turn on the cute right when we are getting ready to leave. You look at a face like the one to the left (Kylie) and think "How can I leave these guys? I want to call in sick and take them to the dog park, or on a really long hike!" The problem is that not all of us have the priviledge of working from home (I'm really envious of people who work at home even though I know it has it's disadvantages) and we have to leave the house to go make a living. If we didn't we wouldn't be able to pay for dog food, frisbees, vet bills, and the hundreds of other expenses that come with dog ownership. Still, my dream is to spend all day every day with my husband and my three dogs. I wonder if the dogs think that too, or are they tired of us being around the house and can't wait to get back to their regular napping schedule? Either way, they seemed really happy to see me when I got home. Our family is most content when we are all together.
Peace,
Jamie

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Payton's Poop Sheet

















Payton is the latest addition to our pack. She was born on 7/6/07, so she is almost 6 months old. We've had her for about a month. We were linked to her through an organization called Safe Harbor Lab Rescue. Payton's name was Violet. Safe Harbor had rescued her and her four sisters. It wasn't a horrible living situation, but the owner could not care for all of the pups. All of the girls were named after a flower. Payton's sister Tulip was just adopted a few days ago. She was the last one of the litter to be adopted. If she is anything like Payton I know that family got a sweet dog. Payton has been so easy going. You don't see a lot of behavioral issues even though it took her 5 months of her life to find her forever family. She is very calm, totally different from our other dogs (if you've been to our house you know that our dogs take a while to calm down when guests come over. They also bark at squirrels and cats in the neighborhood a lot!). Mark and I agree that Payton is the most affectionate dog we have ever been around. She just wants to snuggle all of the time. If one of the other dogs is getting pets she has to be right there to make sure she gets some. She has found her temporary role in the pack. I say temporary because I think she might challenge Kylie for her Alpha role some day. Payton gets along well with everybody and every dog. She instantly took to our neighbor and her Golden Retriever Bailey. She's a charmer and she knows it! She will steal your heart right off the bat. Our girly is smart too. She already knows her name, sit, stay, and she is very polite at meal time. The crate is not a scary place for her. Payton has no problem settling down for a few hours while we're at work. At night we bring her bed from the crate into our room and she sleeps down on her bed next to her sister Taryn. When I look at her the first word that always pops into my head is "precious"! I think it would be fun to organize a flower pup reunion on their birthday.
Peace,
Jamie

Kylie's Poop Sheet











We brought Kylie home about a year after we got Taryn. We actually picked her up on Mother's Day 2006. She was born on 3/20/06. We found her with a breeder in Niobrara, Nebraska. We had put down a deposit on her about 6 weeks before we brought her home so there was a lot of time to prepare for her. Also a lot of anticipation! We wanted her home immediately. We were able to go to the breeders web site to view updated pictures of her growth and progress. The breeders had sold most of their litter to people in the Denver area and brought all of the puppies here from Nebraska. It was fun picking her up because we got to meet her puppy brothers and sisters and her human sisters who said that she was the special one of the bunch. They had spent a lot of extra time with her and had started calling her Kylie as soon as we had decided on a name. Kylie was little but mighty! She took over as Alpha Dog a couple days after she arrived. We were prepared for this possibility, but it sure was funny to see this tiny pup take charge of her big sister that was 5 times her size. Kylie is almost full grown now and has remained on the small size for Lab standards. She weighs a little under 50 pounds. She is completely healthy, just smaller. Her size makes her extremely fast and agile. It is really fun to watch her play in the backyard or dog park. She flies around. She loves to be chased. She has yet to find a worthy apponent. Her other favorite game is to intercept the ball or frisbee that is being thrown to Taryn and entice Taryn to try and get it from her. She has spin moves like a football player. The picture above is her going after a squirrel on the power line. We wonder some times if she is on the small size because of all the energy that she expends. At night she curls up at the foot of our bed and you barely know she's there. Kylie added a lot to our household when she arrived. I couldn't imagine life without her.
Peace,
Jamie

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Taryn's Poop Sheet





Taryn is the oldest of our three dogs. She was born on 3/2/05. We had decided it was time to bring a dog into our family. It was going to be a Lab. I had researched a few other breeds, but kept coming back to the Lab for it's temperment and activity level. We are not into mini dogs, we are not equipped for a maxi dog. The Lab seemed perfect. Our first intention was to adopt one from our local animal shelter. The staff there was uncooperative and discouraging about any of the dogs we asked about. I was so emotional after visiting the shelter. Mark agreed that we should look elsewhere. We found Taryn and her family in Arvada, CO. We were the first people to meet the litter and pick a puppy. She was one of two black females in her litter. The family was keeping the other one. She was pretty shy at first, which is a crack up to think about now when she is all over our house guests, but she was receptive to our contact. We were in Love! Thus began our head on journey into dog ownership. Taryn has been everything we wanted and expected in a Lab. She is athletic, energetic, smart (the smartest dog I have ever met in my life), and a big love. She is 76 - 80 pounds depending on what time of year it is. We do a lot more dog park visits in the Summer which keeps her lean (favorite sport is "chuck it" retrieving). She is not our Alpha dog but she still demonstrates a lot of leadership abilities. She is gentle and patient with puppies and helps show them the ropes. Taryn is absolutely adored! She is our beautiful big girl.

Peace,
Jamie

New Year, Why Not Start a Blog?

Happy New Year. I hope 2008 has already treated you well. I have been wanting to start a blog for some time, but I felt I didn't have enough action in my life to share. Well there is a little more action around here these days. We recently decided to adopt a new Labrador to add to our family. For those of you who don't know we already have two fantastic female black labs. Our oldest is only 2 1/2 years old. Her name is Taryn. Our other girl is Kylie, she is almost exactly one year younger than Taryn. Our love for our two dogs and their breed has always drawn me to a labrador rescue here in Colorado called Safe Harbor Lab Rescue. They are located in Golden which is a town West of Denver. I go to their web site frequently to view the available dogs just in case they have a dog that could fit in well with our family. We decided to fill out an adoption application because we thought it would be a lengthy process to get approved and find a dog. We were wrong about that! The agency contacted our references almost immediately to interview them about our dog parenting skills. One of our references was our next door neighbor because she gets a peek into our daily lives with our dogs. She also has a dog that she rescued from a family that had way too many dogs to care for them properly. Her dog Bailey is great. He is one of our best friends and comes over often to play and hang out. I have gotten off the topic... anyway SHLR contaced me very quickly to plan a meeting with a dog. The meeting didn't go too well. This gorgeous boy jumped our fence after less than 15 minutes here. He wanted to go play with Bailey next door! We knew that he scaled the fence way too easily and wouldn't work out well here. We then fostered a female black lab post her spay surgery. She was a sweetie, but had some issues. Not the dog for us. We were getting a little discouraged when the adoption coordinator recommended we meet Violet, a 5 month old black female lab coming straight from her litter of 4 other black females. All of the girls had been spayed and vaccinated, SHLR provided all of her medical needs. We fell in love with this little girl instantly! I'm a softy, so I was ready to adopt after one look into her eyes. Mark is always a little more guarded and doesn't want to make an emotional decision. The little girl was smart. She instantly approached him and turned on the cute. He was butter in her paws. So the newest member of our family is Payton, formerly Violet (that's her in the picture above and in the header). All of her litter was named after a flower. They were a puppy bouquet! It is really common to rename rescue dogs. New life, new name. She seemed to know her name after only a couple of days. She is extremely smart, loveable, and easy going. She was acting like she had been here forever after only a couple of hours. Very impressive for her age. Taryn and Kylie get along with her really well. She has qualities that both of the dogs can relate to. I will blog as often as I can and share dog info and stories about my life with my girls.


Peace,
Jamie