Welcome to our new blog! Borias and I have been meaning to move to wordpress for some time now, and happily, the move has been made! I have a little time this three-day (birthday) weekend. I kind of want to skip over the birthday part. I’ve been feeling older, and so has Borias. Very disheartening to say the least. I’m hoping part of it is the heat, he’s having bad allergies, and was on antihistamines. That made him drink more, and it’s harder for him to hold his bladder then. It wasn’t helping, so we’re stopping those now.
It’s shocking how fast dogs age. Seemingly right in front of your eyes. Ten is by no means ancient, though many people seem to think so. “Oh, that’s OLD for a Shepherd!” they’ll gasp. I tell them his mother lived to 16.7 years old. So there. He’s from tough stock. His bad back takes it’s toll, though. I saw an eleven year old GSD running after a frisbee, during a photoshoot the other day. Made me wonder if it weren’t for his herniated disk, would he be doing that, too ? I’m grateful that he has mobility still. But I’m bummed to see the vigor and stamina wane. Gone are the days he could walk to Hillcrest, the park, and back home. We could cover a lot of ground in our day.
He still likes to dance, though. It’s just a little less crazy and spazzy. And watch out! He’s the pigeon police!
August 1, 2011 | Categories: Assistance dogs, Borias, disability, dog photography, German Shepherd, German Shepherd. Service dog, German Shepherds, heart dog, older dogs, Service dog, service dogs, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »
I’m no stranger to hospitals, unfortunately. However, it’s been many years since I’ve had to stay in one, long before I’ve had Borias. He’s been to the ER with me several times in his life, but never had to stay in one with me.
Until recently.
I came down with a kidney infection, that hit me like a ton of bricks. One minute I was sitting here editing photos I took of Borias at the beach, then suddenly I was shivering uncontrollably with chills. I had been drinking the night before, and my kidney was feeling a little tender, so I chalked it up to excess, and went out and got some cranberry tablets the next day. But I had only a brief respite until I felt even worse.
So a friend of mine, who has Leash Your Fitness, Dawn, works at UCSD Thornton in La Jolla, and told me to come there, as I wouldn’t have to wait. So I left Borias at home, thinking I’d only be a few hours, get some antibiotics, and be home. Well, that’s not exactly how it went down. I was given some pain meds, and had to submit to an IV- which I hate, because my veins suck. It took several tries, and a different person had to be called in to finish the job.
Then I got the bad news, I needed to be admitted so I could get fluids and antibiotics.
They wouldn’t let me go home with the IV needle in me, so in order to go get my dog, I had to have it removed, and put back in again somewhere else. Argh. But, had to go get my boy, so at 3 am, he and I went back to the ER, where I was to sleep til morning and a private room was made available. They wouldn’t let me stay with Borias unless it was in a private room. Fine by me. Except they kept bothering me every hour on the hour to “check on me”, so it was hard to rest. I also had to get an CT scan, and get wheeled there on the gurney. That kind of freaks Borias out, not knowing quite how to walk along with it. So the nurse suggested he get on the gurney with me, and lowered it so he could get on. It was SO cute, Borias riding in front of me down the hospital hallways!!
Thankfully some great neighbors bought some kibble to feed Borias, and would feed my cat for me while I was there. They even brought me some photography magazines to read. I was so grateful for this…my whole family was in Hawaii for my cousin’s wedding. So nobody in my family was around to visit or help.
I felt like crap, and with the pain meds I think, got a really bad headache- which ended up lasting the whole time I was there, 3 days! The fluids also made it hard for me to breathe, since they overdid it. Had a big scare where I felt like a fish out of water, not able to take in any air. They gave me a diuretic to ‘fix’ that. Sheesh. The hospital wasn’t very happy about me taking out my own dog, and said I should have an ‘assistant’ do that. Um well, that’s kind of what my dog is for? So I blew them off, and would take Borias downstairs to relieve himself on the grounds.
He did great. Probably got quite bored, laying around in the room all day without much of a walk. But being 9 years old probably helped that a bit. I entertained him at one point with a tiny paper pill cup, which I would toss for him to bring back to me. He knew I felt bad, too, and would come check on me, looking deep into my eyes with his soulful gaze. He’s such a great dog.
So after three days, I felt better, and they decided it was OK to go home. Boy, was Borias happy about that! My cat was sure happy to see us, too. He’s an independent fart, but I know he’s distressed to be alone that long. Sure wish I could get him a buddy for situations like this. I’ll have to work on that…
So, it’s clean living for me. I make sure I feed Borias the healthiest foods, and supplements, and yet I wasn’t taking care of myself. Dumb. No liquor, and a LOT more water for me, and back to a plant-based, whole food diet. A week later, and I’m already feeling a lot better
November 21, 2010 | Categories: hospitals, kidney infection, service dogs, UCSD Thornton | Leave A Comment »
This past Thursday evening, Borias and I were privileged to attend the Dogswell Wag awards, honoring dogs in categories such as most heroic rescue, most charitable, most talented, etc. Our friend, Surf Dog Ricochet, who’s raised thousands upon thousands of dollars for charities through surfing, was being awarded for most charitable. She’s a great dog, going from Service dog, to SURF-ice dog! And Borias thinks she’s super cute. (He has a thing for Goldens!)
Also very cool, the ceremony was hosted by Debra Skelton, from MadTV. I met her before I got Borias, when we were waiting to meet Mark Hamill at a comic signing. He ultimately made an appearance on MadTV because of that meeting with her, which is really cool! Debra is an amazing advocate for animal issues.
Perez Hilton was also there, but I must’ve not recognized him, and didn’t chat with him. Loved meeting all the cool dogs. Though I must say, the dog who was rescued from the LA flood waters seemed pretty unhappy to be there, and had to wear a muzzle.
Borias and I had our pic taken on the “green” carpet. Here it is.
February 21, 2010 | Categories: Debra Skelton, Dogswell, Dogswell Wag awards, Hollywood, Les Deux, MadTV, Mark Hamill, Perez Hilton, Rip Curl Ricki, service dogs, Surf Dog Ricochet, Surfing dogs | Leave A Comment »
Thought I’d share some pics from a zoo trip this past week. Borias loves the zoo so much. Great place to walk him around, seeing all the animals. It’s so interesting seeing how they react to them, and vice versa. It’s amazing, I just realized that Borias has been going to the zoo since he was 5 months old! I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been.
You would think that he’d get used to all of the animals by now, but some still freak him out a little. The big cats who look like they want to stalk and eat him specifically. One can be pacing back and forth, and that’s fine, but if they glare with eye contact in a certain way, he wants to bark. He also succumbs to the teasing of the primates. The worst being the Bonobos. The little chimps throw things at the glass, leap up and hit it, and generally do whatever they can to get a rise out of him.
It works. He crinkles his nose at them, like he’s saying “don’t tease me!” Falls for it all the time. Everyone gets a huge kick out of watching the interaction. I know I never get tired of it.
February 1, 2010 | Categories: German Shepherd, San Diego Zoo, service dogs | Leave A Comment »
