A Visit to the Vet

My mum and pop took me to see my vet last week.  My mum usually takes me so I was surprised that my pop went along, too.

I like going to see this new vet because I get big, long, thick pretzels with peanut butter or cheeze whiz on them.  Oh, yum!  I don't pay too much attention to what they're doing when I'm licking the good stuff off the pretzel.

They didn't hurt me even though they put needles in me and took stuff out of me, in my neck and the big lump on my thigh.  And then the lump started bleeding and my mum was alarmed, but the vet and the other person took care of it all.  And I just kept licking the cheeze whiz off another pretzel. 

Mum and pop looked a little worried but I felt just fine.  Then we left and came home and they gave me lots of hugs.

I don't know what that was about but I sure love those pretzels with stuff on them.

-Hannah.

P.S.  If you want to know, I'm not wearing a muzzle.  It's a Gentle Leader collar.  It's supposed to keep me from pulling but sometimes I pull when I'm wearing it.  There's so much to sniff!


Nancy here:
Hannah was scheduled to have surgery last Wednesday to have her teeth cleaned and have a mass removed from her thigh.  When the vets did a pre-surgery exam they decided the better course was to do blood work for her kidney values and take samples from the lump on her thigh and from her lymph nodes to send for testing.  They -- and we -- have health concerns for Hannah.

One Thing I Wish I'd Taught Hannah

Hannah in January, 2017

Hannah, nearly 13, has lost her hearing.  Most sounds escape her attention thought she will usually respond to a loud clap of the hands or the beeping of a smoke alarm.  No knocks at the door, no thunder, no sirens disturb her days nor her naps.  She lives in a silent world.

I sometimes think she misses hearing our voices.  I've always talked to Hannah to explain where we're going, what's going to happen next, who's coming over, to tell her what I'm doing, etc.  In the car I let her know when a left turn or a right turn was coming so she could adjust her balance, and she always did.  Some people think dogs don't understand but I'm certain Hannah understood a lot of what I said.   

When she first arrived as a rescue girl I taught her hand signs at the same time I taught voice commands.  It wasn't a purposeful decision, just something that seemed to add interest to her life.  She knows both the voice commands and hand signs for sit, down, stay, come, and wait.  (She's an Airedale so, of course, she's not always reliable, but she knows them and usually does as asked.)

But now that she's deaf, I realize I neglected to teach her a hand sign for Good Dog! or Good Girl!  I don't know what it would have looked like but I believe she misses hearing those exuberant words.  Even though she's deaf I still talk to her.  "What a good girl you are, Hannah!"  Or, "What a great job you just did."  She gets plenty of pets to go along with the "good girl" but I sense that she misses hearing it.  I wish I'd taught her a hand sign so she could know when we say it.  Even more I wish Hannah could still hear.

What a great, good, dear girl Hannah is!

--Hannah's mum.

Airedale Pooper Scooper

My mum is always on the look-out for Airedales everywhere she goes.

She found this cute Airedale  . . .

on the tag of this pooper scooper. 

We are the cutest dogs but why would they put 

one of us on a tag for a pooper scooper?

By the way, Mum didn't buy one.

Hannah.

My Mum Quit Talking to Me

One day a while ago my mum quit talking to me.  She doesn't say a word these days.  I see her mouth moving but there's no sound.  Did she lose her voice?

It makes me very sad because I love my mum best in the world and I loved to hear her voice, especially her laugh and all the silly noises she made when we were having fun together.  We still have fun together but it's not as much fun as when she talked to me and made sounds. 

I don't know why she doesn't talk to me.  She used to tell me what a good girl I was and now I think maybe she thinks I'm not a good girl.  But I still am!

It all makes me so sad.  It's like I'm in the world alone except I can see everyone and I can even see their mouths moving, but there just aren't any sounds.  I wonder what's wrong with everyone.

I hope my mum starts talking to me again.  I miss her voice.  Have your people ever quit talking to you?

--Hannah.

Airedales at the Ohio State Fair

Mum was humming "Animal Fair" when she wrote this post.  She only came up with words for the first two lines of the song, though.

Mum went to the 'hio State Fair,
And she saw some Airedales there....

My mum sees Airedales nearly everywhere she goes but I think this is the strangest one.  She said it was on the sidewalk.  I told her it wasn't really an Airedale.

And then she saw this sign.  She didn't buy it.

My pop saw some Airedale socks there but he didn't buy those, either.  We Airedales don't need socks!  Good thing he didn't buy them.

Do you ever see sidewalk Airedales?

--from Hannah.

Quieting the Firecrackers' Snap, Boom, and Crack

This time of year -- from Memorial Day to the Fourth of July to Labor Day -- is an awful time for our Airedales.  In the U.S.A. firecrackers snap, boom, and crack many summer evenings, and summer storms frequent the days and nights with thunder and lightening.  So many Airedales are terrified by these unfamiliar sounds.  It has been so for our rescue girl, Hannah, too.

Hannah turned 12 in March.  Her eyebrows have grown blonde and her gait has slowed.  She needs a boost to get into bed and help to get off the bed. 

I noticed a week or two ago that Hannah doesn't respond when called or given a command.  At first I thought she was ignoring me but as I've watched her these past weeks I've realized that she has lost most (and maybe all) of her hearing.  My dear Hannah is deaf!  (I now live with a nearly deaf husband and a deaf Airedale!)  I'm grateful that I taught hand commands along with voice commands because, it seems, that's the only way to communicate with my deaf Airedale.

There is one very small blessing to Hannah's deafness:  neither fireworks nor thunder cause her the least concern.  I'm grateful for this peace for her.

Hug your Airedales!

--Nancy.
.

Paper Airedale on Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

Mum is always lookin' out for our breed.  She saw this Airedale . . .

. . . on the cover of The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook.

Even though the cover says it's "made with all organic ingredients" she didn't see anything in the box except the book and the cookie shapes.  She didn't buy it.  She told me we have ingredients for biscuits.

But Mum, I would like some organic dog biscuits now, please.  Don't you think I look cute?  Don't you think you could get busy and make them for me?

I hope your mum or pop makes you biscuits when you ask!

--Hannah.

A Model Airedale

The Airedale may not be "perfect" but...

...the Airedale is a perfect model for these patterns.

My mum loves to see Airedales as models.  And she thinks we're all perfect, especially me!  She has this pattern but she's never made me a coat.  It's too hot for a coat now but maybe next year.

I hope you're all having a great day and staying cool (unless you're south of the equator, and then I hope you're staying warm). 

Hannah and Nancy.

Hooray for Hannah, Our Airegirl!

Today is National Rescue Dog Day so we're celebrating Hannah today.

Hannah came to us as a foster girl nearly 10 years ago.  (The fostering was a fail:  we adopted her instead of finding her another home.)  She was 2 years and a few months old.  She'd been kept outside, chained to a dog house with her brother.  She was afraid of paper, the TV, the click of computer keys, doors, everything -- it all frightened her.  As far as we could tell she'd never been inside a house and maybe she'd never know the attention of a human being.

She wasn't house trained so I was a little uneasy about our oak floors.  She chose a room off the kitchen as her safe room.  I put plastic under the rug, blankets on top of the rug, brought my pillow and spent the night on the floor with her.  From then on I was her best and favorite human.  And it didn't take long to house train her.

It's an awesome thing to adopt a rescue dog with so many problems and fears.  It's equally awesome to watch her become comfortable with many of the things she feared and to see her learn and grow.

We love you, Hannah, you sweet girl, and we're so glad we adopted you.

--Nancy.

Airedales at Work, 1933

Hannah says, I would like to do that kind of work but I would not like to wear that thing over my nose and mouth.  It would be hard to work with that on.

--Hannah and Nancy.

Merlin's Adventure

My mum thinks little, round Airedale puppies are very cute.  (She thinks I'm cute, too.)

I hope you like this video and have a fun day.

--from Hannah.

Someone Drew an Airedale

My mum was walking through a store the other day and saw this!  It doesn't exactly look like me but I know it's one of my breed.  My mum says she wishes she could draw like that.  I asked her why, when she has the real Airedale -- me! -- right here in front of her.  Ha ha.

I hope you are havin' a good day.

-- from Hannah

I'm Bored

My mum won't let me do hardly anything except eat and sleep.
No walks.
No playing.
No rubbing my muzzle after a drink.
No stairs except to go outside to pee and poop.
No going upstairs to sleep on the bed with mum and pop.
No nothing but sleeping and resting and walking in the house.
Isn't my mum mean?  I'm an Airedale, after all, and we like to play and do things!

Two Fridays ago I didn't feel so great.  My pop called my vet on Friday for an appointment and they said they were booked and couldn't fit me in.  (My mum says she's thinking about switching vets.)  Pop made an appointment for Monday afternoon.

On Saturday morning I stood up, leaned against Mum, tried to take a few steps, and fell down.  I felt miserable and they knew I couldn't wait till Monday to see a vet.  They were really worried about me.  I wouldn't have gone to the emergency vet if I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything afterward.

When they brought me home they fed me chicken broth in bed and were very careful about me.  The vet said I had "cervical pain" probably caused by a bulging disc and that my white blood cell count was high.  Mum says they gave me an anti-inflammatory medicine, a pain medicine, and an antibiotic.  I don't know what those mean but whatever they are, they brought some home and gave them to me in peanut butter.  I love peanut butter!  And I feel better now -- better enough that I could jump and play and rub my muzzle. 

Mum says the doctor says I have an exercise restriction for 4 weeks.  (I think that's a long time, isn't it?  It's already been a long time and Mum says it's going to be more time.)  I can't run, jump, play, go up stairs, and I have to have as little activity as possible and the vet said "she should be confined to a kennel or small room."

That vet was nice to me but I don't like being confined and I don't like hearing Mum say "no" to me all the time.

Sigh.  I'm bored.

--from Hannah. .