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My Dogs and Me

Kiera, Graidy, Wink and Me

The New Normal

It’s been a month since Kiera got hit with Vestibular Disease. As most dogs resolve on their own within two weeks, it’s looking as though Kiera has probably improved as much as she’s going to. Which means she’s permanently left with the head tilt and unsteady gait. Which means no more stairs. Which means we now live with ramps everywhere inside and out.

Which gives me a new business to start. Because the ramps that are available for sale are… … Read More

Geriatric Canine Vestibular Disease

I’ve been nursing Kiera through a mean case of Vestibular Disease for the past two weeks. Oddly enough, it came on at the Vet’s office while we were there for her annual exam. From the time she jumped out of the car and got into the exam room, from all appearances, it looked as though she’d had a stroke. Her head tilted, her gait was unsteady, her tongue hung out to one side. By the end of the visit, she … Read More

Saved by My Dogs

I was in the middle of a really frustrating dream in which I had an important meeting to get to and this well-meaning but bothersome person was causing me more and more problems. Just as I was about to lose it, a big, wet, dog tongue came into the dream and slurped my face. Then another. And another. Until, in the dream, I was laughing so hard that I woke myself up.

Both Kiera and Graidy were huddled on top … Read More

A Beautiful Sight

Border Collie

What’s so beautiful about a dog eating, you might wonder.

What you can’t see, is that Kiera has already finished, while Graidy continues to eat.

What’s the big deal about that, you might ask.

When I first met Graidy, he was a sack of bones. And that was after he’d been eating well in rescue for more than a month! I can’t imagine how emaciated, how close to death, he was when he was first found as a city street … Read More

What? Do You Guys Think You Live in a Barn?

This morning, Graidy was annoying Kiera, as he often does — he’s a playful goofball and she’s always on the job — so she took matters into her own hands. She pawed open the sliding glass door, and Graidy dashed out to see if there was anything fun outside to bark at. (He’s also easily amused). Okay, maybe that’s not so unusual, since I’ve previously told you that Kiera can open nearly every door in this house. But then she … Read More

The Time Has Come…

… the Walrus said, to talk of other things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings…

Anything but how time is starting to catch up with my beloved girl…

Kiera is closing in on 13 years old. Her recent visit to the vet confirmed what I had been observing. Kiera is now 90% blind.

So we make changes. And we adjust. And we now use baby gates to prevent her from getting stuck on the stairs … Read More

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