And Then There Were Two

Shawnee's mom here hijacking Shawnee's blog for a minute.  We've been expecting this day for oh, about 6 years or so.  You see, Dixie was only supposed to live half of a life because of a heart defect which was only partially repaired with surgery back when she was 10 months old, fresh out of the shelter.  She was a foster failure only because nobody would adopt her when it was disclosed that she was not expected to live a full life.  If they only knew how many wonderful years of a very full life they missed out on.  Their loss, my gain.

Dixie (1999 - November 4, 2012)

 

Every day of the last 6 years has been a bonus for Dixie.  Her cardiologist would call periodically to check on her and he would specifically ask "Is she coughing yet?"  No, she never coughed.  In fact, it was not even her heart that failed her.  It was her legs.  Over the past couple of years the muscles in her back legs wasted away to the point where she was having difficulty getting around and it was becoming progressively worse.  She did not want help.  She always had an I-can-do-it-myself attitude.  In spite of her protests, carrying her up and down the deck steps was happening more frequently and I would have to support her hips so she could eat otherwise her legs would slide out from underneath her even while standing on carpet.  She eventually had no choice but to accept my help.

Shawnee and I came home from hiking last Sunday to find Dixie collapsed on the kitchen floor, unable stand at all.  Her paws were ice cold and I do not believe she had any feeling in her legs.  She was awake but not in pain.  She let me wrap her in a blanket and carry her to the car without struggling like she normally would have.  I took her to the emergency clinic where she snuggled into my arms as she peacefully left the deteriorating body that could no longer sustain her.

 RIP Dixie Doodle.  We love you and miss you.

Dixie's Adoption Story on Dogtime.com

Hiking After Hurricane Sandy

So furrends, there be no place to hike in Noo Joisey coz the pawlice has all the parks locked up and CLOSED!  Yes, even the park by my house, see:

I had to make mom turn around and I walked her back home :(  So where to hike?  Well, we figgered that we would go see how the trails be doing in Pencilvania coz the boy and the girl was in Pencilvania and they sayed all looked OK there and there was plenty of gas fur the hikemobile there without waiting in line fur hours and hours like here in New Joisey.  So we went to the Appalachian Trail in Pencilvania coz rilly, can they close that?

According to the pee-mail, the Appalachian Trail in Pencilvania be open fur bizziness, COME ON IN!

Wowser, look at all these rawks!  But they taked us up to...

... like the graffiti say, Bake Oven Knob with...

... seeniks!

Wot a shame with all the graffitis but that be coz this be so close to the parking lot and it be a pawty spot, boo.

Oops.  Looks like that Hurry-Cane Sandy woz here.

And here.

Ummmm, mom, you know I do not do blow downs coz the branches grab my furs and I get stucked.

Good thinking, mom, bringing the snippers...

Ta da!  Mom cleared the way fur me.  Thanks, mom!

Looks like that Sandy did not nom up these powah lines like she did in Noo Joisey and Noo York.  There still be peeples with no powahs by us!

That Appalachian Trail be pretty cushy unner my paws here but I has a feeling that is not going to last.  They do not call this Rocksylvania fur nuttin, you know.

Ummmm, seriously?  Mom, wot do that sign ofur there say?

Oh. My. Dog.

But these rawks taked us to more seeniks even though it tooked us 1 1/2 hours to go 1 mile!

Owie!  I is a hiking casualty.  A rawk jumped up and put the bitey on me and made my bloods and guts leak out! (Seriously, Allred, I is not trying to one up you!)  But it woz too cold and windy on the rawks to stop and fix it so I had to forge onward.

Forging onward.

Furget the owie, I see more seeniks!

Like this!

Finally we woz out of the rawk field and yikes!  Looks like mom be planning on doing surgery.  I cannot look!

The only way I made it through surgeries was...

... by chomping down on a piece of chickun jerky.

A water chaser and I is good as new.

I made it all the way back to the car with no more owies. 

All OK Here!

Just wanted to let efurrybuddy know that we is all OK here.  Sandy Frankenstorm swipied our powah but Anna the GSD's mom sent powah line fixer peeples up here from Alabammer so we is all good now.  We did not has any flooding and with no powahs fur the sump pump our basement did stay dry coz there was not much rain by us.  The other side of our town flooded big time coz of the storm surge but we was high and dry.  The wind was skeery crazy but we only got a few branches down.  We was watching the sky light up during the storm thinking it be lightening but we found out from the neybor that be transformers blowing - yikes!

Surveying the grounds after the storm.  Geez, you would think mom nefur rakes the yard, BOL!



A big tree branch blocking our street but some neybor men moved it out of the way.



Anudder big branch next to our front yard.  That be about it in our 'hood.

The hornet nest in our tree did not fare so well :(

We hear it be a big mess in Noo York City but we has not had televishuns so we needs to catch up on wot be happening in the werld around us.  I think we was furry, furry lucky.  Irene made a bigger mess at our house than Sandy did.

Last Hikes Before Hurricane Sandy

While we is sitting here all shuttered up waiting fur that Hurry-Cane Sandy to thwock us, I is going to make good use of my time by telling you about TWO more hikes I did last week.  We did FOUR hikes last week fur a total of 27 miles.  We woz trying to get all the fall colors afore Sandy noms them all up.  So I needs to catch you up.

On Thursday mom had to be in south Noo Joisey at 6 am fur 1 1/2 hours so I waited in the car while mom woz bizzy then we walked on a rail trail afore going back home.

I tried to bring you all back some Howloween from this walkie coz with Hurry-Cane Sandy I will not be able to do the skeery Howloween hike I promised you.  So be skeered NOW.  Boo.

I seened a kitteh-pillar

And some feral kittehs.

Here do be a Howloween feral kitteh fur you.

A Howloween punkin.

Yowzer.

Then on Furiday we went to Pilly-delphia to hike in a city park wot be like hiking in the woods like we usually do coz it be furry rugged with ofur 50 miles of trails!  I wonner if Lucy the Cat's peeps woz efur there when they lived in Pencilvania?

Let me point out that in this park there be wanted posters fur a RAPIST!  Can we pick 'em or wot?  Anyways, that happened way earlier in the year so he be long gone.

I alreddy snootered out some falling waters.

These leaves woz crunchy unner my paws.

So here I is enjoying the pritty colors when...

... wot do that be wot I hear?

There be dogs swimming in the waters!  But mom say I is not allowed coz that creek be one of the most pawlooted creeks in Pencilvania.

This be furry interesting how the trail has fancy steps.

So as we is hiking along, there be a whole school of school childruns.  Me and mom stepped off the trail and let them pass coz there woz LOTS of them.  All the childruns was all SQUEEEEEE ofur ME!  Wot funs.

We went by a stable with lots of horsies. I wanted to go say HEY at them butt...

Yikes!

Here I is next to the GREAT BEECH tree wot is a state champion tree in Pencilvania.  I think it be like ofur 300 years old!  Lots of peeps has cutted their names in the tree - GRRRRRR on them!

This be a deaded magnolia tree wot woz 250 years old in 1979.

Here I is with some trail ambassadors wot we met.  They hike around the park and help peeps wot is lost and stuffs.

This be the Forbidden Drive - it be called that coz cars is furbidden, not peeps.  But most peeps is on this trail so we went back on the woods where there be no udder peeps.

On this trail it be just me and mom and...

... and a chip monkey!

Pawsome hike and it be hard to tell we woz in a city!

So that be it fur now while we ride out Hurry-Cane Sandy.  I has been thinking about my buddy Yoda the Dog in Furginia and do be hoping all be well there coz that Sandy went by him furst afore coming this way.  And me and mom hopes efurrybuddy else be safe too.  If'n you want to see wot be happening close to us in Noo York City, here do be a live cam.
http://earthcam.com/usa/newyork/statueofliberty/?cam=liberty_hd