Work

Today Petey came to work with me. Over the years he has really settled down, it is an absolute pleasure to have him in the office with me. It makes me smile all day long. Everyone in the building comes down to say hi to him, and he makes them smile too. All our employees know and love him. After I took him out for a potty break he ran up the stairs to the second floor offices, and muzzled his way in to a box that was sitting in the hallway. He grabbed a pigs ear out of the box and ran down the stairs lightening fast right back into my office! He was so proud of himself. How lucky to have tenants who run a dog treat internet business.

This morning there was a dozen Red-Wing Blackbirds under the feeder, can Spring be far behind? Yesterday I booked a flight to FL for March, so I can see moms new place and do a little early Spring birding and Kayaking. I'm really looking forward to it.

Coyotes

I just read something so disturbing I feel as though I am going to vomit. There are states that allow coyotes to be hunted with dogs. When the dogs catch up to the exhausted coyote they tear the poor animal to pieces alive. The dogs wear GPS collars so the hunters can catch up and put fresh dogs on the chase as their dogs tire, the coyote doesn't have a chance to get away. What makes people so sick and inhumane that they could do this to any living creature? We don't allow dog fighting but doing this to a helpless living creature is acceptable?

The first day (1/1/10) we looked at the property we are trying to buy there was a coyote up on our little mountain barking a warning that we were on it's turf. This made me so excited and happy. Coyotes in my backyard! I can't wait to hear them howling at night. I still can't believe we are hopefully buying the beautiful piece of property that is teaming with wildlife. Most of the land would be considered waste land as it isn't build-able. Its very wet with a river at its bottom. We will be putting our log cabin in the very top corner of the property and leaving the rest wild. I can not wait to live there, and be surrounded by all the wild animals that make me feel alive every time I glimpse one of them.

Today was in the 50s and pouring! Petey and I didn't get out. Over the weekend we did go to our land on Saturday and Sunday and walk the entire piece. Petey loves it up there, lots of smells and room to run around. He will have his own swimming spot.

*The Coyote's Important Statics

Weight: 15-45 pounds
Length with tail: 40-60 inches
Shoulder Height: 15-20 inches
Sexual Maturity: 1-2 years
Mating Season: January-March
Gestation Period: 58-65 days
Number of Young: 2-12, 6 average
Birth Interval: 1 year
Lifespan: 15 years in the wild
Typical diet: Small mammals, insects, reptiles, fruit and carrion


*Coyote Facts
- Only 5-20% of coyote pups survive their first year.
- Coyotes can run at almost forty miles per hour and jump over an eight foot fence!
- Coyotes can breed with both domestic dogs and wolves. A dog-coyote mix is called a "coydog."
- The coyote is more likely to be afraid of you than vice-versa.
- The coyote maintains its territory by marking it with urine.

My Cousin put this on my facebook wall a few days ago....I really like it.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not b...rethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth. -Henry Beston, naturalist and author (1888-1968)

Lily gave birth!

I was at home today as my 3rd son broke his shoulder blade yesterday. I turned on the bear cam and it looked like Lily was having major contractions. I couldn't stop watching. Finally around noon she gave birth! You could hear the cub crying, it sounded just like a human baby. It was amazing to be a part of seeing something so special. I love bears,I never tire of the utter excitement I feel when seeing one, it always feels like the first time. For the last 21 years living in my house between two roads I've wanted to move onto only one road in my town. I always look up there at houses, land, wishing I could live where the bears are all the time. We have never found any property that seemed worth us leaving our home where we have raised our family. Miracles do happen, yesterday we signed contracts on a large beautiful piece of property on that road! I hike in the park at the top of the road three or four times a week. The property fell into our laps, as if heaven sent, I believe my dad may have had something to do with it, as his best friends son emailed us the listing, he came across it by accident, our Realtor never showed it to us, nor were there any signs on the property. It has a river, streams, ponds, a vernal pool, pine stands, wetlands, and our own side of a mountain. I have to pinch myself when I go to see it, someday I will be living there! We won't be rushing into the building process, as hubby wants to pay everything off and put in the septic and well as he can pay cash. He hope to design some energy efficient things into the log cabin we will be building. I will be able to do wildlife Rehab no problem, putting lots of soft release pens on the property. We looked at the property on New Years Day, and called to say where do we sign! We knew instantly that this was where we were meant to finally build our log cabin we have dreamed about for 30 years. As always we didn't question our gut feelings, and now three weeks later, I want it closed, so it is ours to enhance and preserve for wildlife. I'm excited to put some food plantings in and hang some bird boxes. The property should be home to wood and bog turtles too, how exciting to have them living in my backyard. My own vernal pool..what can I say about that other then....WOW! I can't wait for The big day with the Mole Salamanders.

Now on to more good news. Petey's second Holter came back good. Doesn't mean anything has changed, but the Cardiologist who is handling his case wants to treat this as fairly early. He has the disease, his heart is not normal, but for now he is only putting him on an ace inhibitor. He will have another Holter and Echo done in four months and we will see if we need to add more meds. My vet said Petey will be on a cocktail of meds before this is over. For now I'm to treat him like a normal dog, feed him his raw, give him his fist full of vitamins, exercise him normally and keep him THIN. My vets office doesn't think Petey will be leaving me anytime soon, and I hope they are right. I already have his 4th Birthday collar picked out! No one knows for sure how the disease will progress,he could go in 6 months or six years so they want me to stay positive and let him LIVE his life how ever short it might end up. The vet, tech and secretary were all so wonderful to crazy me. I got hugs and they told me to stay in the now. Love this dog and don't give up on him. And that's what I plan on doing.

Juliet

This is Lilly's 7 year old Aunt in her Winter den. She hasn't given birth to her cubs yet either. What fun to be able to watch Lilly on the cam while all the bears here are hibernating. I'm looking forward to Lilly giving birth and watching her cubs for the rest of the Winter.

Lilly the Bear!

Here is something really cool to check out! There is a Cam in a Wild Bears Den in MN. She is due to give birth to her first cubs any day now. I love bears and hope to become a bear educator this coming year. http://www.bear.org


Petey's second opinion was no better then the first, if anything it was worse. Because of the arrhythmia he is a candidate for sudden death. He won't be on meds until tomorrow. The Cardiologist has the results of his new 24 hour halter, and will prescribe a couple different meds to deal with the arrhythmia and to try to slow the disease down.

The one thing I've noticed the last couple of weeks since Petey's diagnosis is just how thoughtless and basically unkind people can be. Why is my dog of less value then a human being? People have said such ridiculous things to me. At least your boys are healthy, can you imagine if it was your hubby who was fatally ill, just think about all those poor people in Haiti, and then the stupidest remarks, he is just a dog and you can get another. Why is my pain and sadness something others think they can control with asinine remarks? I am hurt and filled with anger right now. Of cause I am grateful for all my life's blessing, I've always felt like I won the lottery of life having the best hubby in the world and four incredibly awesome sons who bring me more joy then I ever imagined possible in one life time. But all of that doesn't change the fact that my dog is very sick, I'm going to lose him soon and I'm trying to cope with the pain of knowing that he isn't going to be with me much longer. The only people who seem to understand how I'm feeling are true dog lovers and of cause....people who have known and loved Dobermans. Two people in my life although are suffering their own life challenges offered the best comfort of all, sincerity that I will pass on to the next person who needs that from me. I will take from this experience with Petey and learn...Peoples pain is their own, you can't compare anything you have gone through or are going through with what others feel. Everyone's pain in unique, and very personal. Sincere love given to others is the only way to help someone feel better in bad times. If there is one thing I've learned in this life...the bad times come and go. The only guarantee we have is that nothing stays the same, everything changes all the time. I hope that I can take this lesson out in life and truly become a much more sympathetic compassionate person to everyone in my life. Love is all there is...spread it.

Quality Life?

I spent the last four weeks in a state of numbness. I feel as though I missed the holidays, and for what reason? Petey's diagnosis put me emotionally in the toilet. He has DCM, but has no symptoms yet, why am I mourning his death before he is even gone? What has changed from four weeks and one day ago? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I have knowledge of a condition that most Doberman owners don't know about until it is too late to do anything about it, and potentially add more time with medications. I have no idea of how long he will live, it could be years. Owning and loving this breed we all have about a 50/50 chance of having our dogs diagnosed with it in their lifetime. Despite my sadness, Petey is still living each day as if it is his last. He has no idea that his heart is damaged and will shorten his life. I know that I've been a good Dobermom since the day he came into my life, I have no guilt or regrets, but now I've become even more conscious of what a quality life is for *him*. I've been trying to look at the world through his eyes. It's been fun. I spend more time cuddling and petting him, I stop what I'm doing for an impromptu game of tug, I was able to get a 100# of fresh venison because that is his favorite food, he wanted to roll on smelly deer bones the other day and I let him, tonight after work I walked him in the dark with a flashlight, up in the park where all his doggie friends left their pee-mail. He loved running in the dark! Everyday becomes a new adventure for Petey and I. In three short years he has completely changed how I look at dog ownership. It has been my honor to share his life.

Yesterday was my Dad's 5th death day anniversary. I shed a few tears and I spent most of the day thinking about him. I still miss him as if he only passed yesterday. Tomorrow I want to pick up some of his favorite foods and have a little feast in his honor.

Sunset Cascade Lake Park

It still amazes me to live minutes from a beautiful scenes like this. I've lived in this town for close to twenty one years and not a day goes by that I am not in awe of it's beauty. Growing up in suburbia and having so little nature around as a kid taught me to appreciate the little things. Any small sighting was reason to celebrate, everyday a chance to see something new. Nature is the one true gift you can give yourself everyday...and it is free for the taking.

As I write, I'm sitting looking out my kitchen window there are no less then two hundred birds in my yard and at least a dozen squirrels, all trying to survive another day. Feeding backyard birds is the best way to bring nature to you. It is instant joy every time you look out a window. If I could give one gift to someone who is house bound because of illness or age it would be to set up a bird feeder in a spot they could easily view it and keep if full for them. How much nicer would it make someones day to view something living instead of just TV.

Today it is very windy and in the teens. Yesterday was the same, but Petey and I got out for a nice little hike, at dusk, nothing out and about but us, beautiful none the less. Today we will do the same. Have to keep the boy happy and strong.

Happy New Year!

Up until the last couple of weeks 2009 was such a great year for me. Petey's DCM diagnosis kind of put me in the toilet the last three weeks, but I'm to the point of coming out of the sadness and coming to the realization that if I had known about the DCM in his lines, I never would have bought him. I never would have had this wonderful boy in my life for the last three years. All the pain I'm in now and will be in when he passes, is well worth having known him. This past year, I've really enjoyed all the time I had out in nature locally and also went on several wonderful vacations. All my free time this year was filled with the beauty of nature. I'm never bored or lonely. Nature fills my soul up every time I step outside. This year my New Years resolution is to live in the moment, fill each day with joy. Stop worrying about the future, I have no control over what or when anything is going to happen.

2009 I am grateful for;
My hubby
Sons
Extended Family
Petey
Love of Nature
Vacations
Roof over our heads
Food in our bellies
Health
Fitness

Looking forward to 2010....bring it on!