Living

With great pleasure I announce that our dear boy James is celebrating his 13th Birthday today.  Every day is special with James in it, but today is extra special because just four months ago, I really didn’t think he would make it to his birthday.  He exhibited symptoms of brain cancer, and his rear legs were so weak, he had great difficulty walking.

All that has reversed.  No cancer signs, and, at times, he bounces around like an adolescent.  Time.  TLC.  And, a new boy to be his buddy.  Ever since Lily’s brother King joined the pack in September, James has picked up his spirits.  The two boys have really bonded.  When resting or just hanging out, they are entwined together, choosing to share a dog bed sized for one rather then lie separately.  It’s fun to watch the two of them together.

James on left side of bed, King squeezing in on the right.

James came to live with us when he was five years old.  He came to accompany his sister Julia.  Judi Hunter, their breeder, didn’t want to separate the pair.  We’re so glad she felt that way!  What a BONUS he was.  His sweet, old soul personality showed me that he would be a wonderful therapy dog.  Little did I know back then, though, just how wonderful.  In the twenty-one years I have been visiting healthcare and educational facilities with my therapy dogs, never has one dog covered the ground that James has in the past eight years.

He started with nursing home visits, added visits to two psychiatric facilities, then began work as a visiting Therapy Dog Hospice Volunteer.  It was here that I felt he fulfilled his calling.  He helped usher folks in the final months, weeks, and days of life into the next.  He soothed, comforted, and alleviated pain.  He did what no human can do… he was just there…  lying along side his dying friend.  These truly were his finest hours.  From hospice work, James piloted our highly successful Bright Spot Reading Buddy Program, which is now in nine elementary schools in western Massachusetts.  Up until a year ago, he attended my therapy dog training classes, posing as a model Therapy Dog.  He accompanied me on every speaking engagement sitting right by my side as I spoke.

James officially retired from Therapy Dog work in June, although I renewed his certification.  With his newly rejuvenated state, I am thinking he may enjoy interacting with the kids in his role as a Reading Buddy.  He loves interacting with the children, and I think he thrives on it.  It seems he’s looking for a job again.  I’m listening to him.  If that’s what he wants and needs, that’s what he’ll get.  As always, I thank Judi Hunter for sharing her special boy with us.  He has brought great joy to our lives and the lives of countless others.

I think of our sweet, little English Setter Trudy each Thanksgiving when preparing to carve the turkey (my husband’s job).  Trudy, of all our dogs, was particularly turned-on by the aroma of a turkey cooking in the oven.  I imagine her lying in front of the fire, all cozy, rounded up in a ball, catlike-style, dreaming of that tasty bird cooking in the oven for hours.  Trudy was such a well-behaved dog.  There she would lie, snooze and dream, while the turkey cooked.

One Thanksgiving, Trudy was fourteen years old at the time, assuming her usual place by the fire, Trudy acted on her true intentions.  When my husband had finished carving all the meat off the turkey, he tossed the carcass into the waste basket – and within an instant, Trudy moved like a leopard-on-the-hunt, grabbed her prey and made off with it.  We stood there, mouths agape, in disbelief.  None of us could believe Trudy could move that fast anymore.  Trudy was always full of surprised – right through her sixteen-plus years.

Thinking of you today, Trudy, and always.

Annie smiles as she gets her spa treatment

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house.  We always have Thanksgiving here.  I love preparing the feast.  Right now, I have a long list of To Do’s on the kitchen counter as I work on preparations.  I enjoy checking off each item:  rolls made – check; pies made – check; house cleaned – check; extra beds made up – check; table set – check; and most important, dogs trimmed and bathed – check.  Yes, the dogs need to be spruced-up for the holiday.  They loved to look their best.  Truly.  They seem to smile extra-broadly when they’ve had their full-spa-treatment.

King offers a smile as he poses for a photo post spa treatment

We’re pretty much set now.  Our first family members arrive tonight, with the rest coming in on Thanksgiving morning.  We will miss our daughters Eve and Margie and their families.  With Eve and family in Boulder, and Margie and husband in San Francisco, I’m just as glad they’re not facing the crowds at the airports, especially in this bad weather.  Thanks to FACETIME, we’ll all get to see one another and chat on Thanksgiving Day.  So much to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day – and every day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from our house to yours.

The thermometer read 10 degrees at 7:00 this morning, our usual walking time, and the wind was howling.  I didn’t think we would walk at all, but James kept sitting at the door, ready to go, bumping against it slightly, as he does, so the door latch rattles.  He knows this will get my attention.  By 8:30, the thermometer read 20 degrees and the wind had lessened, so we prepared to go.  I wore my full-length down coat and my leather, down filled snowmobile mitts.  Off we went, dressed like this, I stayed warm, and James, all charged-up, forged ahead of me.

I knew this wouldn’t be a shortened walk.  James really isn’t happy with me when I need to cut the walk short due to an early meeting – or in this case, frigid weather.  He gets back at me by refusing to move once I turn him around.  He simply won’t budge.  And, he knows I can’t carry him home.  It’s a very slow trip home when this happens.  He’s perfectly content once we have walked all the way past the Strawbale Cafe to the stream ahead.  There he sniffs around in the field where in the summer corn was raised.  It’s at this point, too, that we often meet other neighbors out walking, some with dogs, others alone.  James loves it when I stand chatting with friends.  He lies down for a rest.  Today, we met no one else out walking.  Not surprising to me!

Content to reach his destination, he complied on the return walk home by trotting happily along by my side.  Once more, he stopped to check on the barn cats who by now have become quite friendly toward him.  They seem to sense that he is a friendly boy, just interested in looking at them.  They now come as close as 10 feet in front of us.  James stares at them, they at him.  Each motionless.  Fun to watch.  Then on we go!

No photo of today’s walk.  With my hands bundled in the leather, down-filled snowmobile mitts, I looked like a boxer ready for the ring.  Hard to take a photo with my hands like that.  The photo above is where James heads after his morning walk.  There he lies, in front of the fire for most of the day.

I woke to gray sky and rain, as predicted.  My work schedule for the day was full, and that was fine with the expected weather so bleak.

Well all that changed by 8:30 this morning.  Folks living here in western Massachusetts were blessed with an unexpected, magnificent day.  Love that it’s November 18th and our weather spiked into the 60’s.  Forget the work schedule!  James and I headed out the door and took an E-X-T-R-A long walk.  He was in his element.  What a special guy!  Striding out, full-trot ahead of me.  Head held high.  Tail out straight.  Smile on his face.  He was moving.  Twenty-nine more days, James, I said, ’til your 13th birthday.  This guy just keeps improving – healthwise – every day.

It seemed everyone was out walking this morning.  The unexpected gift of this jewel-of-a-day had motivated neighbors all along our route to head out for a walk.  Who could resist?  We stopped to chat with several friends.  James taking a respite lying at my feet.  One neighbor was out walking her little dog, so James and Stella got to interact, while Sylvia and I chatted, and chatted, and chatted.  Suddenly, I remembered that Annie, Lily, and King were at home waiting for breakfast!  Time to head back, get to work – but, cut off early for another terrific walk.  This time with Annie.  After all, how many more days will we have like this?

I have been away for a few days, visiting my grandson in Boulder, Colorado.  Actually, I was gone a total of four days, but judging from the greeting I got from James, Annie, Lily, and King when I arrived home late last night, you would have thought I had been absent from their lives for a month.  They attached themselves like velcro.  Lots of hugs and kisses.  It was a great welcome home party!

My biggest surprise of all was James’ greeting.  He looked up into my face with both of his soft, gentle brown eyes wide open.  Both.  Wide open!  James’ right eye has been drooping since August.  Our biggest fear has been that he might have brain cancer like our English Setter Beatrice had.  Her first symptom was a drooping right eye.  However, my husband felt it could possibly be Horner’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder of the eye and facial muscles resulting in a drooping eyelid.  Supposedly, most cases will resolve within several weeks or months.  Perhaps…  I hope…  this is what’s happened.  At any rate, James seems very happy to be looking at me with both of his eyes wide open.  Fingers crossed!

I am thrilled to report that James is doing very, very well for a Senior Dog approaching his 13th birthday (December 17th).  Just a few months ago, I didn’t think James would reach this milestone birthday.  But, each day, as we head out together for our morning walks, his energy level keeps increasing.  I’ll take that!

James was long over due for a bath and trim.  I always procrastinate when having to bath and trim an older dog.  Normally, it’s a tough deal for them to go through.  Now, that I came up with my method of trimming and bathing the dog in our enclosed dog tub, things have changed.  When up on the grooming table, James felt vulnerable.  He had grown unsteady on his feet, so being on a table, 4 feet off the ground, he was extremely ill-at-ease.  Surrounded by the tub’s enclosure, though, he feels security.  Today, he stood steadily in place as I used a 5F blade to buzz his fur into a puppy style, then gave him a soothing shampoo, followed by conditioner.

Once out of the tub,  James galloped around like a youngster and made a beeline out the door to play with Annie, Lily, and King out in the back field.  A joy to watch!

It’s official…  King passed his evaluation to be a certified Bright Spot Therapy Dog!  I had no doubt that this sweet, gentle soul would pass his test with high marks.  He’s got what it takes – a wonderful, outgoing personality.  He’s been practicing daily at the nursing home, making short visits practicing the skills and techniques he needs to know.  I explained to folks that King was practicing to become a certified therapy dog and that he needs to pass his test to get certified.  Last week, one resident said, I say King passes!  We love him!  And, she was right.

He cozies right up to each person at the nursing home that puts out his or her hand to pet him.  He looks up into each person’s face with his soft brown eyes.  He’s a big boy, so his size enables him to easily grant a kiss when asked for one.  All residents adore him.  And, so did the evaluator when she put him through the steps of the evaluation.

The initial part of the test involves demonstrating a solid response to the Sit, Stay, Down, and Heel commands.  Then, the evaluator has the dog stand for examination of teeth, head, ears, feet, tail, then withdrawal of food.  None of this presented a problem for King.  Once through this part of the test, we headed down the corridor, King right at my side in heel position, to interact with residents.  King was in his glory, beaming up into each person’s face, eliciting smiles and laughter everywhere he went.

King is my 7th dog to become a certified therapy dog.  All of them are, or have been, wonderful.  Each of them very different in personality and approach to vsiting people.  I have to say, from his performances so far, King is kind of a combination of all of them…  he’s got the whole package.  I envision a long and varied therapy dog career ahead for this very special dog.  Thank you, Judi Hunter, for sharing your wonderful boy with us here on Bridgvale Farm.

Mother Nature has been active this week.  The leaves have turned a deep bronze tone.  Many have fallen.  The resulting barren branches allow a clear view through the woods.  The dogs have been excitedly scoping things out, their noses high in the air catching many scents, no doubt.   The woods seem alive with activity.  The signs are everywhere…

photo: wikipedia

As James and I enjoyed our early morning autumn walk, we spotted a mound ahead of us along the side of the road.  To me, it looked like a large, smooth rock about eighteen inches in diameter.  Smooth and dark grayish-brown.  This certainly is out of place, I said aloud to James.  I wonder how it got there?  I noticed that James was staring intently, as we moved within twenty feet of the mound.  As we continued approaching, the smooth, round rock-shape started growing.  It’s smooth surface became spiky.  James grew more interested, moving slowly and deliberately, as Setters do.  Oh, yes, the now-spikey form started to move when we were within ten feet.  Definitely a porcupine – and James started to lunge in it’s direction, as the creature suddenly turned and scrambled down the hill.   I had to quickly convince James that confronting the porcupine was not in his favor.  I consoled him by saying, Let’s go see the barn cats, boy!

photo: wikipedia

Fortunately I was in my car with Lily when siting our next woodland creature.  It was 3:00 in the afternoon.  Lily and I had just finished our Reading Buddy session at Westhampton Elementary School and were driving home.  Just two driveways down from our house, we both spotted a large black bear in our neighbors’ pasture where normally two beautiful horses are grazing.  Yow, he was a big fellow!  Lily was shivering in silent excitement.  Her eyes were riveted on the bear.  Shielded by the safety of our car, we sat together watching the large bear amble slowly across the pasture,  then the driveway, and into the woods.  It clearly was aware of our presence.  He wanted to get to our side of the road and was making a wide berth around our parked car.  Well beyond us in the woods, he then reappeared and crossed the road, heading down the hill.

The biggest surprise of all was discovering the magnificent white bearded iris blooming in my garden.  Three more buds to bloom.  Autumn has many surprises in store.  The porcupine and bear, although surprising to run into, are certainly not out of place at this time of year.  But, the iris – that took my breath away.  Ah – a sign of spring!

Annie smiles as her fur piles up on the table and floor.

Each of our wonderful English Setters has a different personality, and different needs.  When it comes to grooming, Annie goes for the cute, short puppy cut.  Annie is a free spirit.  She doesn’t care to spend much time on the grooming table.  For her, a puppy cut is perfect.  It requires no brushing and only an occasional bath when she gets dirty (perhaps every three months).  Most of Annie’s day is spent out in our fenced-in back field.  As long as one of her buddies is out with her, she remains outside.  Our official scout, Annie takes her role seriously, patrolling the yard.  James, Lily, and King enjoy being outside for short periods of time, but prefer being inside near me.  They go out in shifts to keep Annie company.  Inside, they lie at my feet while I work.

King’s wonderful breeder Judi Hunter sent him off to us with a gorgeous, long, silky coat.  He arrived with instructions on how I can keep him in show-coat condition.  He looks magnificent.  I want to keep up his beautiful coat.  He’s very proud of his appearance and loves being on the grooming table getting brushed and trimmed – and getting lots of my undivided attention.  He even walks right into the tub every day to have his feathers washed and conditioned, then blown dry.  Such a sweet, sweet guy!

King in the tub

Annie was bathed the day before and towel-dried in preparation for her morning at our Bridgvale Farm spa.  It took me a mere 30 minutes to shear her down.  Once trimmed, off the table she jumped and began frolicking around outside.

                                                                        In contrast, King obliged by hopping into the tub for his special conditioning treatment.  After a shampoo and conditioning, I pinned him into a large bath towel and let him semi-dry while I had lunch.  One word from me and King was up on the grooming table, standing like a statue as I blew him dry with a hair dryer and brushed through his silky fur.  A few touch-ups with scissors, stripping knife, and clippers finished the job.  A labor of love taking about 90 minutes.  While King was on the table, I talked to him, pet him, and fed him his favorite treats.  A very happy boy!