I realize that this post isn’t going to make me very popular with the animal lovers among us. So, I am going to start with how I got to where I am today with regard to my dogs. I’d also like to point out that no, we are not rich. Any money that we have put into our dogs has been either added to a credit card- or made possible by sacrificing something else.

To begin, I grew up with animals. I had a horse, dog, birds and fish. Our family dog was Shadow- who lived 16 years. We got her as a puppy lived a long and happy life even with epilipsy.

In college- I stupidly brought a puppy home to my apartment. I named her Obie.

I had Obie through some very rough parts of my life- and her devotion was so intense that I worried what it would be like if I met someone and wanted him to share my life. Hesitatingly, Obie accepted my husband and we lived all moved here to SC together. I knew I could not have children while Obie was alive- she was too aggressive and jealous of others, but we were only newlyweds so that didn’t matter. Sadly- I was devestated to lose Obie to cancer in January of 2007 when she was 9 1/2 years old. It was by far and away a loss I have still never gotten over. I miss her every day.

In May of 2007 we brought home our yellow lab Napa.

The first major sign should have been when I took Napa to get fixed. It was discovered that one of her kidneys was adhered to an ovary. We had to see a specialist and paid hundreds of dollars to have it fixed. (OPERATION #1).

Napa destroyed whatever she could. We took her to puppy school, hired an in home trainer, and read books. I know now that we we weren’t consistant enough with our training, so anything that happened was our fault.

Not sure why, but I thought Napa needed a friend. We went to the humane society to ‘look’ and ended up adopting Henry- a sweet little red lab mix.

With two seriously active dogs we paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars for them to attend doggie day care and have a personal dog walker while we were at work. We loved our dogs and didn’t want them sitting around home, bored all day.

This is what they did when I worked.

Soon, we were going to become a family. In Feburary of 2009 I had Brody and the focus was taken off of the labs. Both were big dogs and we still cared for them very much. Henry had recently been to see an orthepedic vet for a limp that wouldn’t go away (ahem) but for the most part no major crisis. Until we saw some blood that spring.

Long story short, Henry was diagnosed with anal cancer. We had many tests run, saw specialists and looked at chemo options (OPERATION #2 removal of some cysts). I ended up finding a holistic vet two hours away that put him on an all natural vitamin regimine which costed around $300 a month. Take away the dog walker and day care and that’s what he got instead. I didn’t mind. I drove there with my newborn to pick up the meds and it helped with long afternoons.

[click to continue…]

{ 12 comments }

If you could move anywhere in the US, where would it be? My husband and I have been talking lately about our (well, MY) ideal living locations and it has become clear that I am pretty biased. I know that every place has its pros and cons…but I tend to become quite rigid in my way of thinking and can’t shake it.

I’m curious about where you would prefer to live and why. I realize that Hawaii might sound appealing- but that’s not really an option for us! Where is your ideal place?

I lived out in the Pacific Northwest a lifetime ago. From what I remember I really liked it- and I was able to see much of the area based on the company I was working with at the time. It was gorgeous- really, and there was always something to do. I was in Montana and thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen- and with Seattle, Portland, etc. right next door…well the options were endless. I think if I could I would love to live there again. Even with the snow.

I find that I am dead set against the Midwest (we’re from Michigan) and I am no longer able to stand the cold. We have been here in SC for the past six years and I can’t imagine going back to that. Ever.

So, just a question to put out there….where would go? Or is where you live now your ‘forever’ place? I know we will probably move at least two more times before settling down for good- so I’m curious.

{ 7 comments }