Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Meatloaf Gets a Fixin'

Meatloaf attempts escape from her crate in route to the vet clinic.
Today, Meatloaf became a pet.
The term 'getting fixed' in reference to an animal being spayed or neutered has always sounded weird to me. It's like something is wrong with that cat and we need to fix it. This animal can reproduce and that is a problem but I can fix it. I'm pretty sure reproduction is a natural thing so I believe we might actually be 'ruining everything', and not really 'fixing it' at all.

Here is a normal kitten and we made it so she will not become a cat and bare offspring, but instead, a pet.

Please don't get me wrong. I love pets. no buts about it. Pets are great. relationships with domesticated animals have been some of the most fulfilling of my lifetime. I would not want to live without dogs, and a cat or two is great as well. However, a mountain lion and pack of wolves would not fit into my current lifestyle. I also do not want our pet population overflowing, there is lots of animals that need help and we all need to adopt, not breed.

It is just strange terminology. That is all.
We keep these animals as pets and we have a mutual, consensual relationship. They give up their reproductive rights and tame their wild instincts to live in the lap of luxury. This kitten, Meatloaf, can spend the rest of her days on the family farm with the dogs, cats, pigs and chickens. She can enjoy the outdoors and have food in her bowl, clean water to drink, a warm bed to sleep in; or should say a warm my face to sleep on! I get it. If they decided to be pets, I get it.

Now that is done, more about Louie.
The Meatloaf kitty was all the rage when we got home from the vet this afternoon. Louie couldn't shut his sniffer off, it was on overdrive. Full on sniff-mania. Uncontrollable. So of course we immediately separated the dogs and the kitten. I took Meatloaf next door to my dad's house so she could have some quiet time. I came home, fed the dogs and sat down for dinner.

Louie just laid there on the floor, whining. The high pitched whining that is so hard to ignore. Especially because when he was younger, that's the sound he made when his eyes hurt. I knew that if they hurt there may be pressure spiking and irreversible damage and vision loss to the eye. There was a lot riding on that sound, I thought at the time. So if Louie whined, I was at attention. Now that he's better, it's hard for me to tell sometimes what he's crying about.
What is it Louie? Is Meatloaf in the well?

Then I notice, Louie is 'staring' at the crate I took to the vet and dropped off Meatloaf in.
Louie thought there was something still in the crate! I knew this because when I touched it he jumped about a foot in the air. Suddenly it made perfect sense. I sat down on the floor next to him, one hand on Louie and the other hand I used to mov the crate. I opened the door slowly. I moved it around so it made different noises, picked it up and held the door open so he could stick his whole head in there. There was some serious deep sniffing going on in that crate. I took the towel on the bottom of the crate out and set it on the ground. Louie's nose was a vacuum, sucking everything and in, sorting it out and analyzing the data.

After a few minutes Louie comfortable to accept the crate was empty. I think he even knew Meatloaf had been to the vet. I know that sounds weird, but Louie has spent a fair amount of time at that vet clinic due to his eye condition. He's also spent most of that time there without being able to see anything. Louie knows when we get close to the building, he'll get up and get ready to get out of the car. I am amazed by him more everyday.

Meatloaf is staying at my dad's house tonight because that is what Louie would want to do to the kitten, hold her down and smell her and lick her. Not a good time for that now, sorry Louie. I know Lou will want to clean her owie but she has stitches and she needs to heal. Louie is going to have to tough it out for a few days before he gets to inspect and check out his kitten again.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Intimate Close Up

Super close up of Louie's sleeping half fish mouth.
Louie's ultra close up.
I really like my new camera. There is detail in this photo that could take pages to describe.

This is my Louie.
Louie nose, Louie lip, Louie sunken eye half closed, Louie whiskers, Louie white goatee. This is what I wake up to in the morning. Super close up, all you're missing is his hot stinky breath as he snores away. I always have him go to sleep on his own bed but somehow every morning my husband and I wake to Louie sleeping in between us.

Louie also has a way of sneaking away the covers. If he is lying in the middle of the bed on top of the blankets, soon enough the blankets will be balled up underneath him.



Paul's theory is weird.
My husband Paul says Louie must have retractable little finger like claws in two lines running down his under belly. The  tiny fingers gather the blanket and drag it under him little by little, until Louie is lying on a pile of blankets with two cold humans on either side. Louie's creepy bug arms aren't real, but his cover stealing ability is very real and amazing.

I love this photo showing Louie's blue eye.
He looks so calm and relaxed, enjoying a sunny spot. Note the fur on his chest, above the white spot and just below and under his collar. This is the softest, silkiest most velvety part of the Louie. It was my secret, but now it's out. Lucky for us, he loves to be pet there. Give it a try.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sunny Spot on the Bed

Sun spots.
In other posts I've talked about Louie and his love of all things warm and sunny. He may not be able to see the sun but that sure doesn't stop him from enjoying it. It also doesn't stop him from finding any tiny square of sunlight peaking through the curtains.

This photo was taken on an overcast day. As soon as there was a break in the clouds, Louie moved into the sun spot. How does this happen? Well, of course he can feel a temperature change but how does he know to go in the bedroom and find a specific 2 feet by 2 feet square spot on the bed? Can he smell the sun shining through the window? I have to wonder...





Louie is surely total blind.
The surgery helped the pressure and pain of Louie's glaucoma, but left his eyes irreversibly blind. A very good trade I can say, now that we have a few years behind us post-surgery.

There is no way Louie can see the sun or the change in light.
Maybe it's as simple as the smell warmth? I think there's so much we can take in and our brains sort out without us even knowing. Louie minus his sight means having to pay much more attention to his other senses. Still, I am blown away be Louie and his sunny spot finding ability.

I love just watching him.
I watch his train of thought as he figures out something. Louie can do it, whatever it is, I have no doubt. He takes his time and figures things out. Don't rush Louie, and don't coddle him please. The more I let him solve the puzzles, the better he will become at everything. Figuring out how to do something on your own is a million times more valuable than being shown how to do something. I watch and wait, and I am there for Louie when he needs direction, but I try to wait for him to ask for help with a whine or a bark. By allowing him to do things on his own and just observing, I will learn how to do things in a different way myself. I can 'see' through Louie's eyes, or walk in Louie's 'shoes'. Louie doesn't wear shoes and he can't see, just to be clear, but you know what I mean. I learn something from Louie everyday.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Goodbye, Dry Autumn Days

Louie out by the barn.
Louie loves living on the farm. He loves smelling around, more than enough room to roam, no cars driving by, no scary skateboards on the sidewalk like when we lived in the city. It's like living at a resort. This is ideal living for a dog. Louie loves it.

 
We were lucky this year with a long summer.
There was a slow start but August and September were gorgeous here in the northwest. We had records days in a row with no rain. Louie was in heaven. These photos are from the last really nice day we had before the rain started again. Louie loves to go outside and laze around in the sun, or smell around the barn with the pigs and the chickens. When it rains, this is a different story. It's hard to even get Louie out the front door to go to the bathroom in the morning. I'm lucky if puts two legs off the porch to pee.
These are my favorite kind of autumn days.
Sunny crisp and cool. Bright colors of the fall, red and golden leaves and green, green grass. Louie seems to like to root around in the dry leaves as they crunch and rustle under his feet. We don't get these kind of fall days very often. Because we get so much rain here, the leaves are usually blown off the trees all at once with the first big storm and anything left on the ground is soggy and stuck to the ground. That is what today is like.

We woke up to pouring rain.

The best part about a rainy Saturday is that the dogs will let us sleep in, at least until 8 or 8:30. Usually they are demanding to be fed by 7am at the latest, but when the mornings are dark and rainy, they want to sleep in too. Louie will be waiting by the door ready to run out, and when I open it and he hears the rain falling onto the porch it stops him in his tracks. The gutters are a bit clogged and there are larger drops that fall in front of the doorway. Louie readies himself and 'runs' out the front door like he's going under an invisible fence. He ducks down and arches his back to get under this imaginary wall of water. It's really cute. He doesn't like the big drops and he's trying to duck under them before running as fast as he can to the covered porch. I have to remind him that I let him out so he can go to the bathroom. 'Come on, go potty Louie. You gotta go potty outside.' I swear he sighs and rolls his eyes before starting out onto the edge of the grass to relieve himself. I love him.

Here is to dry autumn days, crunchy leaves and crisp, cool air! I am glad we got to enjoy this time before the rains came again. 

 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Blind Louie Gets His Ears Rubbed

Okay, here is our first youtube video.
Louie is offically famous, Paul and I have watched this like two times now already.

Louie loves to be pet, and his is very vocal about it. He's also not shy to really lean into your pet to get maximum awesome achieved. Louie knows how he likes it and he's not shy about telling you.

This is a video of how excited dogs get when Paul gets home from work. Paul is petting Louie and Lou just gets more and more into the ear itch until he loses himself completely. Paul's hand does hurt, but no bones were crushed in the making of this video.

This is actually only half of the video, it went on for about a minute and a half. I thought that was a bit much.

Meat Snorp

Sans Louie.
Louie stayed the night at Grandpa's house last night. So this morning I woke up to Snorp at the foot of the bed. That almost never happens, because Snorp doesn't like to be too snuggley and always has an escape route planned. When Louie is here, he will be on the bed first and take far too much room to include Snorp and stay within his snuggle requirements.

There was Snorp and there was Meatloaf the kitten. He looked at her, she rolled over on her back, exposing her warm and fuzzy belly. Meatloaf slowly reached her hand toward Snorp. Snorp seemed skeptical about this kitten attempting to gently touch his face. He's just that kind of suspicious kind of dog.

Contact!
Snorp shook his head about to get her off of him. She had claws! Not fair. Snorp knows he has to be gentle with the kitten. He punched her back with his nose, mouth closed, no teeth. It only encouraged her further. Meatloaf began batting around his snout with both hands. Full on boxing match, two kitten paws against one dog mussel.

Soon enough, the cat paws win. Snorp jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. Meatloaf scrambled around to flip over and get her feet under her and chase after the big 100lb hairy black beast. Fearless Meatloaf. She chased Snorp from the room.

Sulking.
Snorp came back in a few minutes later, looking bothered and embarrassed. It seemed that he didn't really want to 'play' with this cat, she was kind of mean. He came back up on the bed, but didn't relax like he had before. He sat up, ears perked up and alert, waiting for the next attack.





My gentle giants.
I'm so proud of having such a gentle dog. He knows he could eat that fuzzy little squirrel thing in one quick second, but he doesn't, because he knows this is our pet. He tolerates her. What a good boy. Louie is gentle in his own way, it's just much more clumsy than Snorp style.

Being sick, I've only been taking photos and writing from my bed for the last few days. Thanks for your patients while I recover. I will soon have more exciting stories and photos of Blind Louie and family.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Sick Day

Sick day.
I'm sick. I hate it. I was trying to pretend it wasn't happening yesterday as I gargled salt water to help my sore throat, but it has manifested.

Screw you cold!
Pack your snot up and get out of here! I wish it was that easy. Fortunately, I have a warm Louie glow worm in the blankets for extra heat. Louie likes sick days more than I do. He prefers to laze about for hours on end, warm and snuggley. I think if Louie didn't need to use the outdoors for a bathroom, he wouldn't want to leave the house on chilly or rainy days.


Halford (front) as Meatloaf reaches for him.
The cats are a different story.
Halford and Meatloaf are learning to get along. Meatloaf wants to play with Halford and Halford wants Meatloaf to leave him alone. I don't know how all this will work out in the end, but I sure am enjoying watching them go at it. There are no claws, but lots of boxing and wrestling. I love it. Halford makes horrid sounds and Snorp runs over to break it up.

When I woke up this morning, Halford was sleeping at the foot of the bed. Meatloaf was sneaking onto the bed toward Halford. He laid down slowly, and started to stretch out toward him. Meatloaf is very calculated little girl, slowly reaching her paw toward Halford's until they were touching. Halford quickly balled his paw up, exposing his dangerous claw. He barely opened one eye to glare at her. Thanks to my new iPod I caught this adorable moment on camera, as it was sitting on my bedside table ready and waiting to take more pictures of cats. I think there should be some cap on the amount of cat pictures I can take and post on instagram. I think there may be some clause in the agreement that banishes cat ladies and the like. Although I agreed, I did not read it.

Miss Innocent, pretending to sleep as she reaches for Halford
I hope you enjoy my cat photos, remember that Louie is never far away from the cat action. He Loves to listen, and gets to snuggle with Halford whenever he wants. Meatloaf is still getting used to Louie all up in her personal space, and I like watching that. Serves her right, she's always bugging everyone else. I like to see her have to deal with annoyance as Louie searches for her with his face.

Especially on a sick day, I love and appreciate my animal family. Now I will drift off to a medically induced sleep after a dose of over the counter nighttime cold meds. Hooray!

Cheers to getting better fast!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

ipod

I got an ipod.
I have long resisted temptation and curiosity. I have believed that I could not learn how to use it. Now I have given in. They have their hooks in and soon enough I'll be walking into traffic with my head down, staring at a screen that I'm flicking around with my thumb. Look at the pupils, apple shaped with a bite out of each one.

The biggest reason I bought the newest ipod 5 is because of the camera. It's about at good as the digital camera I currently have and it has a flash. I can also easily record video... and that's where this is relevant to this blog: Millions of Louie shots!

Louie and Snorp are already sick of it I'm sure. I've been making them sit and pose since I got this in after work yesterday. Life as a blind dog model is exhausting work. 'Scoot over, sit, stay, good boy.'

Today, I even made Louie do the old 'bone on the nose' trick. One of the many amazing skills he possesses. This is when you put a small milk bone on the dogs nose and make them wait until you clap your hand or say 'Go!' and they toss it in the air and catch it.

Alright, so, Louie doesn't usually catch it, but he has before! Poncho was the king of this trick. My dad would have him wait so long sometimes I'd forget he was waiting. Poncho almost always caught the treat in his mouth after he flipped it, right on cue.

I have Louie sit first. I put my left hand under his chin, making his head level to the ground. Then I take the biscuit in my right hand, I let him smell it and then I place it on his nose. When I do this, I gently tap my finger on the spot where I put the cookie. I do this because one time, I set the bone down and it was so light and he didn't know it was there. When I said 'Go!' he just slowly tilted his head to the side inquisitively until the cookie fell off. So cute.

After the treat is on his nose I tell him to stay, wait a second or too and say 'Go!'. Meanwhile, Snorp is standing right next to Louie. He doesn't like to play this game so much so I just held his treat in my hand and had him sit and wait. First he tried to take the bone off of Louie's face. I stopped that. He waited. Then when I said 'Go!' Louie flipped the treat and Snorp snatched it up as soon as it hit the ground. (I wish I could say he caught it in the air but I'd be lying. I think I'll try to practice that actually, note to self)

I was quick with the other cookie into Louie's mouth, as he was searching the ground for his missing treat. I don't know that he was aware it wasn't the same one he had flipped into the air.



So now I hope to share videos with you, and my photos will be looking a lot hipper. Or a lot older and crustier looking. I guess that's the same thing now. Forgive me as I get used to my new photo editing. Thanks for reading.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Fish Mouth

1 tooth, straw hat, wheat sprig, banjo music, yodeling...
My favorite Louie lip.
Louie gets fish-mouth sometimes. That's what I sometimes call it anyway. There it is in it's almost full glory. Sometimes his shiny, jet-black bottom lip will get stuck out and over his top one. It's the cute, pouty fish lip thing and it's my favorite. I don't know how else to describe it. It seems to be a thing a lot of dogs would 'fix' when it happened. You know, like licking your lips or yawning. Louie just leaves it there, let's it hang out to dry a little.

ultra closeup: fish mouth scar
Story of the scar.
Louie has a little pink patch of scar tissue on his bottom lip. We were walking up some concrete steps when he tripped and hit his mouth on one of the steps. It bled a little but Louie didn't even cry. Such a trooper. When it healed and the scab fell off the spot was pink. A little pink spot on his shiny, jet-black bottom lip. It's a little bit raised too. Louie had the fish mouth thing down long before the stair tripping incident. Droopy sad dog black fish lip. I loved it. The pink spot just helped add even more wonderful character.

Normal Louie mouth
One toothed yokel.
Now when he does the fish mouth thing, he looks like a silly one tooth cartoon dog. He should have a straw hat and a sprig off wheat hanging out his mouth saying "Durp! A-yuka yuka yuk! Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, golly. Ain't that the truth." That's my best stereotypical hillbilly accent, in writing of course. I hope you liked hearing that in your mind and looking at that photo of Louie above and to the left. Don't forget to imagine the straw hat on his head! I have absolutely no computer animation knowledge so you'll just have to try this imagination animation.
Thank you and enjoy.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Plus Sized Model

Louie is a big fella.
He weighs in at about 110lbs. He has a massive chest span and a giant, hard and heavy head. This giant rock-hard head comes in handy for bumping into things and not hurting himself. Screen door? No problem, just walk on through and head on outside. Okay, so we need to buy my folks a new screen door. Maybe one with a solid bottom half so that doesn't happen again.

Louie loves to dress up.
I think Louie's number one priority (other than food) would be comfort. Cozy, warm and snuggley. Louie loves to cuddle, wants to be covered with blankets and doesn't mind being sat on by any person or animal. The warmer the better. When we go camping, I have to watch him to make sure he doesn't actually try and lay down and go to sleep in the fire instead of next to it. When it's sunny out, Louie will find a sunny spot to sit. When it's blazing hot out he will find a sunny spot to lay on black asphalt next to a forest fire. So you get it? Louie likes to be warm and covered. Being cold means whimpering and crying like a baby. At night time, Louie will risk everything to get under the covers. I'm sure he'd give his right arm to be guaranteed to be allowed under the covers with his people in their bed every night for all eternity. If there is a heaven for Louie, it's on fire, but somehow it miraculously doesn't burn him to death while he naps on the flaming couch.

Plus Sized + Loving Clothes = Disappointment
This is an equation I can fully understand from my own personal experiences. I am almost five feet eleven inches tall. Try and find me jeans that aren't capri's on me in a regular store and you will fail. It's okay, I'm used to it by now. It is really awful that I can't ever find Louie clothes. Every store has a zillion different outfits for tiny dogs. There will be one broke old pink sweater in large size. The large size for dogs doesn't even come close to fitting. The head hole will barley fit onto his mussel, let alone over his big old head.


6mo old Lou in his Large size sweater.

The last time Louie fit into a large he was about six months old.
Louie loved to wear the sweater we got him. We'd put in on and he'd want to run around all proud. We had buckets of fun playing in the snow that year. Louie loves the snow and the sweater made it okay to stay out and play for longer.  He does have a very short coat of fur, so I understand it might not be very cozy to be outside in the snow naked.




Louie's year-round hot dog jacket
He grew out of that one quickly.
The next time I was able to find something to fit him was a year or so later around Halloween. I found an extra large costume that was just some fabric with two Velcro straps, one that went around front and one that went under his belly. The one that was supposed to go under him didn't fit when I got it home. I made an extension and let it work. It wasn't long after Louie had surgery and he loved wearing his new clothes. He wore it out, literally, until the strap broke and the stuffing was falling out. People thought I was the weirdo for letting my dog wear a fricken hot dog costume all year round but hey, it fit!

My mother is wonderful.
Yesterday, while shopping she noticed one dog jacket labeled extra, extra large. She bought it and brought it home for Louie to try on. To my amazement, it fit! Pretty much anyway. It was the same idea as the hot dog costume only like a fleece blanket instead of that hot dog pillow riding around on his back. He loves it! The strap that goes under the belly is still just a little bit tight, I think I will try and sew an extension on this one just in case he's having a 'fat day' like we all have from time to time. Ladies, you know what I mean, am I right?


I took a ton of pictures of Louie in his new jacket.
He sure doesn't mind modeling for the camera. He loves it when I ask him to do things, he's on the job. Louie, sit, stay, look this way, stop, stay, good boy!




Saturday, October 20, 2012

You Want Breakfast?


Breakfast:
the most important meals of the day.
If you ask Louie, this is fact. Although he would probably say the same thing about dinner. Actually, I only call it breakfast when speaking to him.

"You want breakfast?"
Louie has a schedule. We feed the dogs twice a day. At about 7am and about 6pm. The 'about' part is what Louie does not understand. I don't know where he keeps his pocket watch or how he reads it, but Louie always knows when it's mealtime.

When Louie was an only dog I didn't give too much thought on where I fed him. I knew to keep the cat food out of reach, up on a special bench just for cat feeding, or else. The or else part is Louie would eat all the cat food and have raging diarrhea for two days. He thinks it's worth it apparently because he'll do that any chance he gets.

The current eating arrangement, 2012
When Louie was a solo dog, I had a bowl of food next to a bowl of water up against a wall. Louie knew where it was, and when it was time to eat I would measure his food and pour it into his bowl. Pretty basic. Our first cat, Jack, loved to eat dog food out of the bowl with Louie. Louie would fully tolerate this, but he learned to eat quickly. The quick eating never changed. Louie loves food. He has a sensitive tummy and gets the runs easily, but he knows somethings delicious are also painful and he'll run the risk without hesitation.

When my husband Paul and I moved in together, each of our dogs came with us. Package deal.
They were both used to eating alone. Louie has no food aggression. I'd love to say I was such a great mom and trainer, but I really just give credit to Jack for forcing him to be so tolerant. On the other hand, Snorp did not like being bothered when he was eating. We found this out after the dogs first feeding in our new home.

The dogs bowls were side by side. We put the food down and Snorp began eating. Louie smells and hears food and goes for what he thinks is his bowl. Unfortunately he was just a little too far right toward where Snorp was eating and he bumped heads with him and was trying to get in on his bowl. Snorp was not having it! Can you believe this new guy Louie? What manners! He let Louie know with some nasty sounds of his disapproval.

This happened a few times, so we decided to change the eating arrangements.
We fed them at the end of a semi-narrow hall. Now, instead of putting the food and water against the back wall next to each other, we put Louie's bowl against the right wall and Snorp's against the left wall. I began always feeding Snorp first and saying his name as I put his food down. Louie's bowl always sat in the same place, in a corner where it couldn't slide around. I would pour his food into the metal bowl, he would hear the sound and since he knew where Snorp was already chowing down he could feel free to go ahead. Add a water dish next to each bowl and problem solved!

When we all moved into our current home on 'the farm', there wasn't an ideal eating space for the dogs inside.
We moved into a 600 square foot house. Yup, that is small if you didn't know that. There isn't even standing room for two dogs and one human in either the kitchen or the bathroom. The rest of the house is carpeted. The dogs are sloppy eaters and drinkers and I wasn't crazy about feeding the in our carpeted little living room.

Our covered porch was the best solution we could think of. We have an outside storage room where we keep the food in a metal garbage bin with a tight fitting lid. Now that the dogs have been living together, eating in the same room back to back everyday for a few years, would this work any better? Only one way to find out!

Test it out.
So we put a big water cooler in between the two bowls on a carpet. Louie's bowl is next to the house while Snorp's is next to the railing of the porch. The bowls are also shaped a little different, although I'm sure Louie could tell them apart just by smell alone. The wall is a good indicator for Louie, he can lean against it so he'll know where to turn when he's done eating. This really allows him to lose himself in the moment, and fully revel in the act of romancing his kibble. Snorp eats on the right. He can see, it's no miracle. I put his bowl down and he goes to it. What is the miracle? Louie never tries to eat from Snorp's bowl anymore! He knows his place. Only after they are both done eating and Snorp leaves the area does Louie do a full inspection and cleaning of Snorp's bowl and it's proximity.
Louie had a motto 'No crumb left behind.'

Nap time with Louie, 2009

Friday, October 19, 2012

Louie's Troubles with the Truck


Louie loves to ride in the car. LOVES.
I've always had a sedan since I adopted Louie. When he was small I would hold him on my lap. As he got bigger he moved to the passenger seat, and when he got huge, to the back seat he went. Louie loves to stick his nose out the window and sniff the whole wide world in. It sometimes gets a little noisy back there with all that sniffing.

When I met my husband Paul, Louie was almost entirely blind by then. Paul had a two door '90s Ford Ranger with two little jump seats in the back. I never actually thought it through until we were going to get into the truck for the first time together, Paul, Snorp, Louie and I. Louie had never been in a truck like this before.



Louie had been in a truck before.
My dad had an '02 Tundra with a full backseat and a rear door on one side. As far a Louie was concerned, this was just a much taller car that he needed to use the stairs to into. No big deal. He could still stretch out in the back seat or stick his nose out of the window crack. Louie loved riding in my dads truck. When he was really young, my dad left him in the truck and ran in somewhere for a bit. When he came back out his front passenger seat looked a lot different.

The seat had already split at the seam a little. My dad gave Louie a dog biscuit, it got stuck in the crack and then unattended, let the digging begin. It was a heated leather seat, did I mention that? It was the bells and whistles model. There were springs and wires and stuffing and leather sticking out everywhere. Louie didn't even look guilty. He was simply looking for his treat.



Paul's truck was a whole different story.
With a two door, you have to tilt the front seat forward and squeeze into the back. Louie didn't quite see it. Can you believe that?

He tried to jump into the front seat and just bumped in to the part that was tilted forward. Okay, so that isn't it. I kept reaching my hand over him into the back area and snapping my fingers. I said 'Come this way' and snapped again. Then I hit my hand on each side of the 'tunnel' he'd be going through. I tapped the back of the front seat, side of the truck and the floor. 'Careful' I said. I put my hand on his back. Louie jumped in.

Now, I would love to say that there it was just as graceful as I made it sound. Louie's big body had a hard time squeezing into the back. He kicked one of his back legs frantically for a second trying to get his footing and hop in. If you know Louie, you know that is not unusual. It takes him awhile to get on and off of things, for good reason of course. Sometimes, it's pretty fun to watch. Like I've said before 'blind dog's are sit down comedians.'


Snorp and Louie in the back of that two door Ford is another story.
They get in okay, but Louie always expands. There s no other way of describing it. It's like when you leave bread dough in a bowl to rise. If you stand there and stare at it, nothing. but if you forget about it and come back to it then all the previously negative space is now filled. That is Louie. Where does Snorp fit in? Let's just say he makes it work.

This picture, Louie resting his head on our arm rest.
I had to ask him to get up because he was lying down in the back and Snorp was standing in the only available space very uncomfortably. So Louie sighs, slowly stands up in the very middle of the back of the truck, sits and lays his head down and resumes sleeping. Standing up and sleeping. Snorp has the tiniest bit more space and the empty space on the other side of Louie? It's just that. It doesn't always make the best sense to onlookers, but it makes perfect sense to Louie.

Sometimes, Louie makes room for Snorp and then everybody's happy!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Please Submit Your Questions

Hello Life with Blind Louie friends!

I am really enjoying writing this blog. I would love some feed back and interaction with our readers.
Please ask questions!
I will answer questions about the famous Blind Louie in my upcoming posts. What will be the next chapter?
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Thanks for reading!
Lanni

Dog Poems? or Dork Poems?

This is normal.
A normal family portrait. 
Paul and I, husband and wife.
Sitting on a love seat.

Louie.
Moves in and expands.
Resting his head on the back.
Paul struggles to keep his space.

How can you not laugh at this?
Blind dogs are sit down comedians




The middle of a sunny day.
Front door open and a nice breeze.

I made my bed that morning.
I went about my day.

Walking in to my room,
two in the afternoon.
There is Louie.

He's rearranged the bed.
Covering himself the best he could
but alas, he has no thumbs.

Cruel world.



Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Cat Fights Vol. 1, Looking in

Louie & The Loaf, lying in my lap.
This was Meatloaf of the day that we found her. 
 There she is, a tiny sick, weird-looking kitten snatched out from under an old trailer. No sign of mom or siblings in sight. Gross snotty face and icky ears. She was an instant favorite.

This is Louie lying in my lap as I sit on the floor.
 He would not leave Meatloaf's side the first two weeks we had her. It took full time monitoring to get her to dry out at all. Louie wanted to clean that gross little kitty. She would purr and purr and eagerly allow it. Then of course, Meatloaf thought she could nurse from her new mommy. I watched the scrawny kitten wriggle her way under Louie. I could see Louie's eyebrows move inquisitively up and down. Then, suddenly. Eyebrows up! and up Louie jumps as fast as he can. I guess Meatloaf found that what she wanted, she wasn't going find there at all.
Imminent death is upon us.






This is Halford sitting on the front porch.
  A cat that has had the run of our family homes for over three years. A cat that is smart, comes when he's called, asks to be let out to use the bathroom, and basically acts like a dog. He is glaring through the window that lines the side of the front door.
   I sit on the floor in the living room. Meatloaf and Louie in my lap. I feel calm and happy. Louie has finally settled down and stopped trying to lick the kitten. Everyone is comfortable. I take a photo, it's just that cute of a moment. I look up and at little to my right with a slight smile on my face.
 Five feet away, we lock eyes.
Halford.
Sitting on the front porch,
glaring through the window that lines the side of the front door.

For just one split second, I was very afraid. This was a death glare. A wild animal. Halford was ready to kill, stalking prey, in the moment. He wanted that rodent out of his house and now. Halford, the only cat that got Louie attention was, Halford. and that was that. Luci didn't want anything to do with him and Louie came to terms with that. They left each other alone. I can only imagine Halford wondered why we were coddling a mouse, when in fact he brought us them dead and left them at the back door all the time.
Happy Halloween, From Halford

Monday, October 15, 2012

Navigation


Sometimes you poop on a ball and then, sometimes, there's poop on your ball.

Imagine this, you closed your eyes and you're playing fetch. (Keep those eyes closed! In your imagination, you'll need them open to read this.)You know the ball you're looking for is close but you can't find it. You're sniffing around for it and the urge to release your bowels comes over you. You poop. Very carefully you make sure not to step in it, and then begin looking for that ball again. When you finally find your beloved ball, you also find it's right where you pooed! Sometimes, what you're looking for is right under your chocolate starfish.

This is Louie, more than once. It's always a party pooper. Game Over. No more fun with that ball. No one wants to touch it and neither does Louie.

 A Thoughtful Pooper.
Ever since Lou was a puppy he was a very careful pooper. Not in the way another dog might be where they carefully choose their spot far away in the long grass and circle a bunch of times before squatting.
I'm talking about after he goes. When Louie poos, he makes sure to find a spot that is clear of objects and on grass or dirt (most of the time). The fun begins when hes done. He totally freezes for a second and then suddenly pounces forward like a bunny. He gets a really good jump away from his turd and then he turns around, and takes a wide path around and away from his leavings.

Yes, I am a dog mom.
I could go on for pages with different observations. If I can get this many laughs and this much enjoyment from dog turds then I must be in love. In all reality, I am ALWAYS amazed when watching Louie, even if he's just taking a crap. He's just figured out how to get around so incredibly well. It would be easy for anyone to forget he can't see. Even a receptionist at the vets office didn't believe me. I tell ya, what he can't see, he can hear, smell, feel, taste and sense. That last one, I don't know what it means. Some crazy psychic voodoo stuff. Blind Louie the incredible!

Louie is a Free Range Blind Dog.
I've read a lot on the subject of blind animals and everyone has given me advice. People said I should put Louie down because he's blind, that he shouldn't be outside, that he can't be off a leash or do anything independently ever. This is not the case at all. I will not allow that. Louie is a happy, healthy free range doggy. He memorizes paths, if we move patio furniture we point it out to him before letting him on his way, but for the most part Louie navigates for himself. I normally have an eye on him, but not always. I always know where he is, but I don't always watch. Louie is pretty predictable, because he memorizes pathways from place to place. There is an intricate map of trails blazed through the yard, but they are invisible to the naked eye.

Lou will bark if something startles him or if another animal or human shows up. I know to go and check on him if I hear him barking. Louie will whimper if he is 'trapped' someplace. When Louie forgets where he is, he cries a little and I can go find him and reorient him.This sometimes happens when he sleeping on our bed during the day. If he's in the room alone, and the TV or radio isn't on, he may not remember which way he's facing and which direction to jump off. Usually he remembers, but if you hear pathetic crying coming from our room he just needs reminded which way to go.

Trailblazer.
When I first got Louie, the house we were living in he literally wore a foot path in the front yard. He would take the path from the porch out into the yard, then branch off from that to relieve himself. There were several different branches off, but he would always turn around and find the path he rode in on and follow it back to the porch. That's when I first notice this amazing ability.

Louie had our house mapped out, but moving was no problem either. Any time I bring something new for the house I choose thoughtfully with every family member in mind. I don't have a glass coffee table with a one of a kind crystal vase sitting on the edge with a cup of coffee over a white carpet. I don't buy pointy furniture, so I don't have special padding on corners like some books have suggested. I don't have a coffee table at all, only a little end table that sits between two chairs with soft arms. Louie can walk and gently glance off the furniture to guide him through. If I took in a blind dog, that was more recently blind or went blind when they were older, I would definitely have to take a different approach at first, but pads on the furniture and the like would be just training wheels. Louie is always on leash in unfamiliar place, until he gets an full picture of his surroundings at least. He doesn't mind the leash one bit, he knows I'm just here to help guide him.
Exhibit A
Tidy up for Lou.
Louie helps me want to keep a clean house. I can't leave my shoes lying about or he will trip over them. It's not that he would hurt himself, rather he would just be startled and not be as confident of navigating in his own home. This is most important. Louie needs to feel safe where he is, and to make sure this happens, I try to set Louie up for success.

What Personal Space?
Louie does not understand the personal bubble.
He thinks that he fits anywhere he wants to go and no one would ever mind making room for this 100 pound beast. Usually, he wants to go wherever a person is. Take exhibit A for example. My husband playing Nintendo and his dog Snorp lying on the couch next to him. It's really a love seat, not a couch. Louie wants to sit there too. He waits for a minute, and then decides to slowly creep up and just sit. He sees absolutely nothing wrong with facing the opposite direction that everyone else is. It's no big deal that his face is only an inch away from the couch or wall. There he is. Make room for Louie! Scoot over world here he comes!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Goodbye Old Friend

Louie and his Uncle Poncho, 2009
I've mentioned Poncho before in Other Stories I've written. I just barely touched on his death in a more recent entry. This is going to be a more difficult story to write, but it is part of our story. Life grows on.

18 year old me, Poncho reluctantly accepts my hug.
I give Poncho big credit for helping me with Louie in so many ways.
First off, you could call Poncho my 'practice dog', and that would be terrible. I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful family who will help pick up the slack during my life's little learning experiences.

I got Poncho when I was 18 and not yet a responsible adult. (Still working on that one, by the way.) I learned from Poncho that if you want an amazing dog, you have to put a ton of work into them. They need MUCH more than food, water, shelter. They need exercise, entertainment and training. They will chew your stuff up, poo on the floor, tear up books and get into the trash if you don't work with them, supervise them and give them enough stimulation.

I thank my dad for helping me raise Poncho. Poncho's amazing obedience was because of my dad. I was working a lot, I didn't have good roommates. I just wasn't really in a position to train a puppy. My dad dog-sat Poncho for me during the day while I was at work for the first year and a half before he just became full time dad's dog. Poncho loved my dad more than anyone, or anything else. They went everywhere together. I would steal Poncho when I went on a camping or hiking trip, but other than that, he stayed by my dad's side from them on.

Time Flies! 
The years went by quickly. A zillion amazing moments. Poncho grew up, I got older. I got a new job, moved a couple of times and got a puppy. Poncho helped show Louie the ropes. There was a lot of running and playing going on and it usually ended with tongues hanging out the sides of dog mouths. I loved it. They loved it. I took Poncho and Louie to the off-leash dog park and let them socialize.The fun never ended.

Poncho went on hunting trips with my dad and brother (appropriately named Hunter) that dogs usually weren't allowed on. They went into the mountains on horseback and camped out for weeks in several feet of snow and Poncho trotted along by their side. He would go to any lengths for his people, and he loved every second of it. A very loyal dog.

Poncho was in seemingly good health.
He was ten years old, so he didn't exactly get around as well as he used to but considering his age he did very well. He had a nice gray beard and was calm and relaxed. That really showed his age, no more hyper puppy that I remember from when he was my dog. He was mature.

He had a check up with the vet and everything seemed up to par. Sometimes we talked about him being an old man, and joked about how he was too old to do stuff, but he still went everywhere with my dad. Everywhere. Either he was by his side off leash or in the truck.

The Day That Came Too Soon.
I was at work and it was about 3:00 on a chilly but sunny February afternoon. My cell phone rang, it was my dad's number. He never called me during the day because he knew I was at work, so I answered the phone felling like something wasn't right. All I heard him say was something like 'Poor Poncho died, I need help.' I don't remember much after that. I drove straight to where my dad was. He was at a job site, a rental house he was working on. I found him on the side of the house, my brother Hunter had just got there too. Poncho was laying on his side in the grass. My dad was kneeling down and bending over him, hugging him and crying. I'd never seen my ultra manly dad cry like that.

I asked my dad what happened? He said they'd just got there, Poncho jumped out of the truck when he got out and went around the side of the house. My dad heard a little yelp and Poncho just fell over. When my dad got to him, he was dead. Heart attack? Most likely. How could this happen so suddenly without some kind of dramatic accident? No blood or gore, no poison or sickness? No warning at all!? Animals can just be fine one second, then fall over and die the next? This couldn't be right. I knew it was, but just didn't seem real. Just like when I'd lost other loved ones. They can't be dead, I just saw them this morning...

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye, to Yesterday.
I made my dad take Louie home with him so he wouldn't be alone and Hunter and I carried Poncho, putting him in the back seat of the car. We drove to my vets office and asked for cremation. I know we did this but it's hard to remember. I was in such shock. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

We drove back to my dad's and stayed with him until my mom could get home. We had just lost a beloved family member of the last ten years. Someone who was there everyday with us. Someone my dad talked to constantly. It hurt me more then anything to think how big of a hole my dad now had in his life. This was going to take a lot to get over.

That was February 2012.
It didn't take long for my husband Paul and I to decide to move and be closer with my parents. My mother stays with my 90 something year old grandmother during the work week about an hour away. My dad was just out there all alone without Poncho. He was very lack-luster and talked about Poncho all the time 'Five more good years, we should have had at least that.' We moved into the house next door by mid July.

Seven Months Later
My dad is finally seeming like himself again, he now has our two dogs he helps with everyday. Plus the cats, pigs, chickens and oh yeah, us! It's never easy losing a pet. We all know that the odds are against them for outliving us. I use this to remind me how lucky every moment I have with my loved ones. I will appreciate what I have while I have it. I will love every dirty paw print, chewed up stuffed animal, and accidental inside diarrhea I clean up. I will love every awful deviled egg fart Louie rips in the car before putting his nose out the window. These moments make me laugh (and gag) and I love it. We are lucky. Tell your loved ones you care.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Pig Happy Family


Blurry, but a great example of why we need a 2nd bed.
There is always something fun and adorable going on around our home. All I have to do is look around. I'm surrounded by such wonderful people and animals. I feel like quite the lucky gal!

Lately, there has been the ongoing Louie obsession with the new pigs. We got two piggies about a month ago, they are helping us clean out the garden and later, we will make them into sausage. We've named them Bacon and, what's his ham? oh, Pork Chop.

Thank you piggies, in advance.

I had a tough time at first getting used to the idea of getting to know an animal that would be slaughtered and eaten by my family and friends. My dad is a hunter so I'm no stranger to wild game, but I never knew Bambi and watched him grow into a buck before eating him. It's just jerky, and it tastes so good. It took a little time but I'm now feeling a bit better about the whole idea. I know what is going into these pigs, I know where they came from, how they're treated and I will know who makes them into meat. This is special. We are lucky. Humanely raised, well fed, healthy pigs that will be our breakfast one day. I'm okay with that.

Louie is completely infatuated with the pigs.
He REALLY loves cooked bacon too, but that's a totally different kind of romance. I think as soon as he understands the pigs are no fun to play with he'll get over it. We've let him in the pen a few times, supervised of course. He doesn't seem to like it much when he actually touches them, they're a bit unpredictable and easily startled for him to enjoy their company. I thought that he would be over it after he got up close and personal, but that wasn't the end of it.

Where's Louie?
I couldn't find Louie in his usual spot in the yard the other day when I checked on him. I went outside and looked around, and sure enough, there he was by the pig pen. The pen is right next to the chicken coop in our little barn. One wall of the pig pen is shared with the chicken coop. There is a corner where the two meet. On the inside of the pig pen wall in that corner is where the pig feeder is. There was Louie, laying on the ground with his nose pressed against that corner. He was 'staring' at the pigs while they ate. Did you know Louie can 'see' through walls and fences? Yup. Can't hide anything from a blind dog, he's like Superman! Or whatever super hero has x-ray vision, I was never really into comic books of that sort. Sorry, if I've offended any nerds. I'm a nerd too, I swear. Just not that kind. I can't answer you Star Wars trivia but quiz me on stand-up comedy, Simpsons or horror movies and I can hold my own. I also just might beat you at Mario Kart and I'm awesome at Tetris. So, now that I'm done defending myself, we can get back to the story:

Exhibit A
Louie doesn't see the wall, he just has a boundary.
When I see Louie standing in a corner with his nose pressed against a wall, I just picture it like I would be if I were standing in front of a screen door. I'm still taking in what's on the other side, I just can't access it.

Louie spent a better part of the day, on and off, watching the pigs through the wall. As I've said before, Louie is our pet and Snorp is our real dog. Snorp does dog stuff, like digging, all the time. He usually digs in dirt that's already turned up, like in the garden. Snorp will usually dig a a tiny little indent with his foot, set down whatever he's intent on burying and then use his nose like a shovel and toss the dirt over the object. Like digging your face in and throwing that forward with your nose. He's got it down to an art. Unfortunately, that also leaves very clear evidence to what he's been doing. (See Exhibit A) Yeah, that's going to be pretty hard to explain. Sorry Snorp. Nice try being sneaky.

So one day, a few days after I had discovered Louie's new hang out spot in the corner outside the pig pen, I heard my dad out back giving Snorp a talking to for digging.

I went out to investigate.

There was sad, guilty looking Snorp with his dirty nose that he'd been sporting around for half the day after burying some sticks. I asked my dad what hole he was referring to, he pointed to a neatly dug hole into the pig pen, right in the corner where Louie had been camping out. Well, just wait one darn second! The blind one isn't always innocently lying about day dreaming, let's investigate before we prosecute.

I asked my dad, just for kicks, to check out Louie's right paw. It was even dirtier than Snorp's face! I explained to my dad that Louie had been posted up in that corner all day and, lying there with one little scratch at a time, chipping away at this neat little spot where he could fit his nose under the fence. Then Louie decided he'd show us how awesome he is by, just then lying down and placing his nose into the hole. I leaned over the fence and looked down. Louie's nose was perfectly at the corner of the feeding trough where the pigs would stand and eat, leaning up against the fence. The pig looked down and touched noses with Louie under the fence. Louie had found a way to be close, but not too close, to his new pig friends.

Reality.
In all reality as cute as that sounds, I'm pretty positive Louie could just hear the pigs eating right there. They are very loud eaters. You know, they eat like fricken pigs! Louie heard all that lip smacking and snorting and thought he was missing out on something tasty. His little passage would be right where crumbs would fall. Too bad the pig feed was like sawdust and it was all in vain. Nothing good there after all.

We all had a good laugh about sneaky, food loving Louie and gave Snorp a good pet for not getting into trouble. We sadly had to fill the hole in. Louie re-did his handy work again the next day, so we filled it again and this time put rocks down in that area after . Louie is getting used to having the pigs around. I think he's let go of the idea that they may share something to eat with him and instead of stalking them, he just goes and checks on them a few times a day to make sure they're still there.