Walking in the Neighborhood

I can't help but think of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood any time I say the word neighborhood.  (Yep, defiantly a dork.)  My wonderful hubbs took pics of the neighborhood walk the other day.

Sitting, waiting, and wishing Mom had a treat!

Looking right and left before crossing the street.

Sniffing the grass.

How's Annie

We had to submit a new urin sample to the vet today to see if Annie needed more antibiotics or not after her UTI.  The vet called back to say that Annie's now and and doesn't need more meds.  I'm still watching her walk around itching even after a fish oil pill a day..  I'm almost debating trying the raw diet in the afternoons and kibble in the morning.  Maybe it will cut down on her itchyness and Paul's lickyness.

Summer is about to kick into high gear this weekend with highs in the 90's for us!  Hope everyone stays cool and safe this weekend!

wordless wednesday

I know this is not the world's best picture, but Paul decided to crawl up next to me on the couch tonight for some Mommy Paulie chill time. 

Things that Paul Eats

Paul is a stress eater, plain and simple.  When he's nervous about something, he likes to chew on things: his leash; window sills; furniture; or the car seatbelt.  Like I've said before, the boy likes to eat whatever he can get his jaws around.
The trick is to keep him interested in something that doesn't stress him out, have Annie with him, and keep him in an area he's used to.  And keep your fingers crossed.
Luckily, for when we can't do all of the above, we've discovered Lupine.  Paul has eaten over 40 leashes, 2 collars, and 2 harnesses.  Lupine guarantees their product even if your dog eats it.  And to help keep their business model in good shape, we purchase at least 1 new leash and collar set each year for the dogs (so far we've bought over 10 sets).  And we've taken the old collars and donated them to the local animal shelter.

The above photo is somewhere in the 30's of Paul's chewed leashes.  These ones were chewed when Annie and Paul's Aunt Karen (person, not dog) ran outside to let her beagle go to the bathroom real quick.  She left the leashes on Annie and Paul and came back in to this.  Even when we've got our fingers crossed, he still eats through the leashes.    

Stats

Greetings to Alaska and Germany!  I'm starting to goof around some with the behind the scenes info of the blogger world.  I've always loved math and science and I'm getting such a kick out of which posts are viewed, when they're viewed, and where they are viewed from.  Also, as a computer teacher, I'm enjoying seeing what OS and web browsers are being used to view the blog as well (yea, I'm a dork).
I'm wondering, are the views from people I know (or at least know in the blogville world)?  And how well does this blog translate into other languages?  I've had some students from other countries over the years who don't speak English when I meet them.  Often, I've wondered how much of my "overgrown real life cartoon character" personality scares them.
So please post a comment below and let me know any of the answers to the semi statistical questions above!  I'm really excited to hear!

UTI

OK, so maybe this raw diet isn't all it's cracked up to be.  I took Annie and Paul out for their last pee before I went off to school this AM.  When I looked down at the grass where Annie had peed, I noticed it was bright red.  Quickly called my principal (who knows my dogs are my kids and was completely supportive), called the vet, and changed into jeans and a t-shirt from my slacks and button down.  I then had to prevent Annie from peeing for the next hour and make sure she had liquids in her.  I took the water from the last of the cooked chicken and fed that to her right before we left for the vet.  Add in a 20 minute car ride and she was ready to pee when we pulled up to the vet.
The vet tech and I took her out to the front lawn and proceeded to collect her urin (which had to be funny for someone to watch).
Long story made short, the vet said to stop with the raw diet and go back to the kibble that I know Annie's allergic to because the raw diet may be causing the urinary track infection.  (blah!)
So we're back on the kibble and the itch is slowly coming back.  Ann's taking an antibiotic to clear up the UTI and 1000 IU of fish oil each day.The vet said it's supposed to be every other day, but she's itching like crazy on the off day.
I noticed as well that Paul tends to lick himself more now that we've switched back to the kibble.  So he's also getting the fish oil each day.
This is very frustrating to me, I just want to feed the pups without causing them to itch like crazy.  My big frustration is that the hubs and I will be sleeping with the dogs in their room this weekend and I know neither of us will get much sleep with the licking and scratching.

nearly wordless wednesday

I'd love to tell you what's scaring Paul, but I haven't a clue!  He's in his thundershirt with my arm firmly tucked under him.  So between Birdy flying Home [here] and Knox's Gotcha Day [here], I'll sleep like this tonight.