Our Thank you For The First Day of Autumn

The first day of Autumn will forever bring new meaning to us. A few days ago, we made one of the hardest decisions we'll ever make again.
We'd been watching our Princess struggle day by day. She'd been showing her age in the last few weeks and we knew her time was near.
She was uncomfortable every day, though we knew it was mostly due to her age.
In dog years our girl was 103 yrs old. Who wouldn't be uncomfortable at that age.
Her bones and muscles were getting tired and it took much longer for her to walk around the yard. 
She spent most of her days snuggled in her outdoor crate or cozied on one of her foamy indoor mats.  

To remain standing and be uncomfortable on her wobbly legs, was easier for her than to go through the greater discomfort of trying to position herself safely, to sit down. 

We often watched her just standing in the yard, while other dogs frolicked around her. I would like to say a Very Special Thank you to Royal K9 Korner mom's and dads for being so understanding of our situation. You did not hesitate to make alternative arrangement for your sweetie. Thank you so much for your thoughtful gifts and your kindness during these very stressful last days. You are all so appreciated!

Princess Mollydawg still looked just fine physically. If only we had X Ray vision.

Molly was tired of taking the meds to keep her regular and was refusing to eat certain foods. Especially if she suspected a hidden pill inside.  I'd found various ways to "trick her" into taking her meds which she caught onto quickly.  As the days went by, the meds became the most important part of meal time and because of that, her refusal to eat became the priority. Without adequate food intake, she would not last regardless if she had meds or not.

The Princess was just plain tired

Without the meds, she would be in pain and suffer constant diarrhea and vomiting. So every 2 hours we played the game of, "Oh look yummy cookies! If she refused, we'd try again in an hour. I was presoaking her kibble and grinding it up for easier digestion. 
Every 8 hours we played, hide the pill/liquid/powder in the meat/cheese/canned-food/peanut butter and gently force it far enough at the back of her throat for her to swallow with the least amount of discomfort as possible. DONE! The next few hours would be fine. She was on special GI foods and getting extra fiber powders and extra cellulose pills to help with her diarrhea. She was taking liver support pills and kidney support pills and an anti vomiting pill.
Our girl was getting everything she needed to keep her as comfortable as possible in her last days.

Our Veterinarian Dr. Quinn Gavaga (With Dr. Ross Dickinson who moved away a while ago) have been Molly's doctors since she was 8 weeks old. She was so well known and was given the very best advise on supporting her through her old age. Although  the medical staff has changed a bit over the years everyone who has ever helped us with our girls has gone above and beyond to support us. 

Thank you SO MUCH!

Daddy and his girls chillin outdoors while Dr. Q tends other patients.

 
The one constant has been Kara-Lee. She is the most wonderful kindhearted person we have ever met. Thank you so much all your years of kindness, support and comfort for us on so many difficult days.
You are the BEST! 
Last week our Molly started to refuse all food! She began accepting only bits of dry kibble and I worried it could cause her to have tummy pain. Yet, she was eating on her own!  We decided to let her be the judge of what she wanted to eat and her appetite picked up. She was slowly munching on a few bits of dry kibble  She started to accept her meds in Peanut butter and we were relieved. We thought that hurdle was crossed! She was feeling better.  Our Princess has often been in poor health in the last couple of years. Even last Christmas we prepared to lose her. She surprised us and yet again bounced back up. Maybe this was just another bad bout. After all she still enjoyed her daily hedge rubs and grasshopper hunting

Of course that was not the case. She relapsed and was going through a severe bout of diarrhea and vomiting again. Off to the Vet we went. At that appointment Dr. Quinn told us her pancreas was no longer doing it's job and her kidneys were shutting down. They were at 10% and Molly's bloodwork showed high toxicity levels. The doctor suggested she was just days away from some very painful days. Daddy brought her home and we cried and talked and cried and talked some more. 
We were losing our precious Molly!

A Healthy Princess Mollydawg. Still full of life and energy.
Ready to take on the world by the tail

Her days were dwindling. We knew what she deserved. She has been a loyal, loving, companion and we owed her a calm, peaceful exit from this realm. We refused to allow her to endure even one day of pain. If it meant we would have to say goodbye sooner, then it was a hardship we would bare and not her go through the pain. She deserved a calm quiet peaceful entrance to Rainbow Bridge and we would see to that.
We spent the next few days just being together. The visiting dogs were all asked to leave and we soaked up as much of our Molly as we could absorb in just a few days.
On the morning of our last truck ride to our last vet visit we took our sweeties for DQ ice cream. It used to be a special favourite for The Princess. This day she was very reluctant to eat it but appeased us with a couple of licks and then turned it over to her daddy to finish off.

It's okay daddy, Im done now

Lady May -  "I still want mine though okay daddy?"

We strolled through the park in Cache Creek and headed off to Ashcroft Park as well. Molly had an opportunity to visit with a little baby whose mom was kind and allowed Molly to be stroked. Normally our Princess would have relished being able to kiss the little girl and enjoyed the attention. This time however, she did not pay any attention to the child at all. She simply turned her head away and began to walk away. She was giving us ample signs to recognize what she was feeling. She was tired!
We let Molly determine where we walked and when it was time to head back to the truck. She wanted to stay ambling around the tress and gardens longer than Lady May. We put Lady May back in the truck and stayed out with our Princess. We were only a few feet away from the truck just sauntering back and forth. After a few more shrubs to sniff and a couple of flowers, she seemed to become a bit confused about where she was heading. We knew it was time to head back in the direction of the truck. She layed in down beside Lady May. An unusual position for Molly. Normally she must be standing so she can see out he front window.   Lady May gave her sister a little ear sniff and the two just rested while we head back into Cache Creek.

Princess Molly - "Im tired Lady May
Lady May - " I can tell my sweet sister. I think it's time for you to go to sleep now"

At the hospital the resident kitty was outdoors to greet us. Molly walked straight passed her with only one tiniest bit of " I see you"

In a quiet private room Daddy held our dear Molly in his arms and Lady May cuddled close to mommy. Dr. Quinn spoke soothing supportive words and gently guided our darling Princess Mollydawg onto Rainbow Bridge at 1:30 pm.
We lowered Molly onto a big fluffy blanket and allowed Lady May to visit her sister one last time. She showed little interest and seemed more aware of having missed her lunch.  We stayed with Molly and sobbed for a short time. Our Molly was no longer in her earthly body. We knew she had left this realm.
Our Precious girl was being reunited with so many others who have passed before her.
She is in spirit form now. We know she will visit us in the wind and we will try to find comfort knowing we made a decision for her that she deserved. No Pain.

Just exactly what she gave us for 15 1/2 years.
Love,
Devotion and Bravery!
Run Free beloved girl
You were such a GOOD GIRL!

Our Molly's Prayer Flags blow in the wind along side King and Duchess Sammy

 

Lady May sat quietly by as Daddy hung up
her big sisters prayer flags

Royal K9 Korner is Keeping Busy

Finding the time to sit at my computer to do any updates has been a challenge lately.  I've gone thru my pictures and realized there are so many that I've not shared.  The days are dashing by faster than I seem to be able to keep up with. Our regular visitors continue to keep us busy and give us smiles with their antics.  

Muffin and Suzy help us enjoy a BBQ at Aunty Kathi'

Lady May, Princess Mollydawg, Miss Suzy Q, Marchioness lil Molly and Miss Hazel wait so patiently for me to get my camera in focus. If they quit moving it would go faster, so its not my fault.

All The Royal Ladies wait patiently

 

Bentley takes a moment from ball zoomies to rehydrate

Miss Sadie and Suzy Q crashed for the night

River joined us while our daddy launched his boat one day. She is definitely a water girl.

She was kept on a tight lead because there were unknown dogs around running freely

River came for a ride to Seton Lake

We're working on developing acceptable levels of tolerance with our new visitors. Not all dogs immediately hit it off socially.
We are going super slow with Macy. We know she gets along fine with other dogs on her daily walks and at the dog park. However she has shown me, she is not ready to be trusted around our other pack members yet. Macy came for a trial sleep over and was a wonderful polite girl with our Royals. We've welcomed her back for a few weeks while her mom and dad head down to fight the fires in the USA
We have a few visitors scheduled to be here in the coming days and we will be practising safe distancing via multi gates during those days.
Take care Macy's mom and dad. Thank you for your service!
We promise to keep Macy safe until you return!!

Enjoying some quiet front porch time

3 year old Macy has hit it off really well with Lady May and Princess Mollydawg

The weather has been more than cooperative. We couldn’t have asked for better. We've done a few small reno's to the property to get ready for the winter months. We added a hard top to our gazebo, so there is no need to remove and replace the soft cover each Autumn and Spring.  The carport gate is often closed due to projects happening using tools that make the area unsafe for the dogs in wet weather. Summer is ending fast now. Often our visitors still want to stay outdoors and play but I don’t always want to stand in the rain that long. I sometimes limit their wet weather play time. Now we will have a dry shelter year-round. 

Yay me! Thank you, daddy!

Mylu just chillin' while I hang the new curtains in the gazebo

We've had some health ups and down in the last little while. Our two aging Royal girls are struggling to stay healthy.  I plan to write a more detailed post soon. 
The Princess is now 15 1/2 yrs old. Her pancreatitis has taken a turn for the worse and we're learning to accept the fact that her time in this realm is limited.  We are sad to see her lovely aged face some days. Mostly she still greets our visitors with a wagging tail and a happy step, though they're a bit unbalanced now.
Our 11 yr old Lady May's daily pain meds are starting to affect her as well.  She had a sudden and extreme bout of vomiting and diarrhea a few weeks ago. Of course, it was on a Sunday when there were no emerg. vets on call close by. It warranted a rush trip into Kamloops in the wee hours of the morning.  She was in very serious condition by the time we get her in.
Thank you so much to Oriole Road Animal Hospital  doctors and staff. You were amazing!!   Thank you so much to the RK9Korner visitors who had to find alternate daycare while we were away on such short notice. You are amazingly understanding customers!! Our Lady May is in recovery mode now and is doing much better.  Too close for comfort!

Thank you so much to Oriole Road Animal Hospital  doctors and staff. You were amazing!!

We stayed again at our regular Scott's Motel. We were so lucky they had a room available!

After 3 days we were finally able to bring our darling back home with us. It was a very scary time!

So both our girls given us a good scare and a reminder of their ages and health issues.  We press on knowing for the time being they are enjoying their daily visitors. Having an extended pack means they are always looking for rest of their pack and even seem to search the gates and yards on days when there are no visitors.  The more visitors here the calmer they seem to be.
That's good cuz we're pretty booked up until Nov!
There should be lots of smiles and tag wags all round!
Today is vet appointments for both our Ladies. Paws crossed for pawsitive results. 

Royal K9 Korner Welcomes Young Macy

3 year old Macy

A few weeks ago, 3 yr old Belgian Malinois, Macy and her dad came for a Meet 'n Greet. Macy was rescued and adopted from the Vernon SPCA just a few months earlier.
As with many rescues, Macy comes with very little info into her past and also some possible issues. Her caring mom and dad are helping her understand she is safe with them and prepared to work on Macy's needs as they become apparent.

They are teaching her with love, patience and strong leadership.
We look forward to many visits with Macy as she develops into a well rounded dog with great social skills. 
On her first visit, Macy wanted very much to have a romp with our Princess MollyDawg, who rejected the invitation gracefully. Macy seemed to sense that Lady May was not one to invite and she kept her distance.

Macy: "Hey come on let's PLAY!"
The Princess: "pffft, fergit it kid. Yer on yer own"

Lady May: "Don't ask me to play, cuz I WONT!"

Macy's mom and dad are local firefighters and may be needing daycare for Macy at the drop of a hat. There could be extended visits for Macy, so we want to make sure she is a good fit and is comfortable being left suddenly and for a lengthy visit.
Macy has already met several local dogs at the park in town. A few of them come to daycare already.
Our most frequent visitor, The Marchioness lil Molly,  doesn't go to the dog park, so we decided to set up a special meeting between these two.
As normal, I have my gates set up and safety zones in place. Since Macy had previously met The Royal ladies, my focus was off them and concentrated on a safe meeting between the boisterous and often strong willed Marchioness lil Molly.

Macy started her visit the way many newcomers do. She worried about her mom leaving her and was quite vocal about needing her to come back NOW!
After short outdoor time, I brought Macy indoors to ensure her safety while she calmed herself and to distract her from her sentry duty at gate. It was going to be a longer day visit than first anticipated. Her mom was called out to Fire Duty. We decided it was fine for Macy to stay with us and not have to be moved to another sitters home, or go back to an empty house to wait for her mom's return later that night. We are set up to keep her safe and we felt she needed the stability of a lengthier stay.

I allowed Macy time to settle before we did an introduction with The Marchioness. She already had enough on her mind without having to cope with meeting yet another new dog.

When is my mom coming back for me?

What if mom doesn't know I'm in this house?
The Princess:"Dont worry kid, your mom will be home later. I promise"

Since Macy accepts the presence of The Princess we all walked around the yards together.  It didn't take very long for Macy's attention to shift into play mode instead of  "The Gate".  Soon ball play was on and we saw the happy face of Young Macy.

You're going to throw it right Lady?

I don't get it. What's with the water in this thing? This is sure a big water bowl.

I'll just stand here in the cool shade okay?

Okay, Im tired. Can I meet the new dog later please.

That's exactly what we did. We had Macy safely behind a set of 3 gates. . The two girls could see each other, and become more familiar with the others presence while Macy had time to adjust to being without her mom and dad.  Even though our Lil Molly is very familiar with greeting new comers, we wanted to make sure there was a minimal amount of anxiety on Macy. 

lil Molly: " I can still see the new dog ya know?
If you give her cookies, I'll KNOW IT!"

When the timing was just right, I invited Macy through the first gated area that lil Molly was behind.
To my surprise it was not lil Molly who reacted but our newcomer, Young Macy. She was not at all ready to meet any new dogs and made no bones about it. We made a couple more attempts at different times during the day. It was clear this day was not going to end with having a safe and happy foursome resting quietly all together in the evening. We did however, manage to get to only one gate separating them.
Good girl Macy. You did very, very well!!

Macy on the far left. Not quite ready to be included safely to the others.
Soon dear one, Soon!

Our day was simply a day of in and out and back and forth with separate play, in separate yards. Fortunately Macy felt comfortable enough to have Lady May in her presence as well as The Princess. So she at least had the companionship of other dogs.
Macy is a very happy dog that complied to all my requests. There were some instances of her looking at me and asking, "Do I really have to do this?" Yes sweetie you do. I only give instructions for something if its really necessary.  If I'm asking you to walk with me, there's a very good reason for it. If you dont comply, we will simply stay put. You do not get to decide when, where and how we walk. I have loads of time to just stand here, and when you are ready, I will let you know if I'm ready to walk. 
Then we'll play ball and have loads of fun!
So we did just that all day. Two dogs in, two dogs out. This gate open, this gate closed.
Macy is not particularly fond of sharing yet so we also attempted to work a bit on that. 
We'll be continuing exercises in that regard on her future visits for sure.  I'm looking forward to watching Macy's social skills evolve. I know she'll need every second of my patience and I'm up to the challenge.

You are a darling Young Macy. Welcome to our extended pack!!

It's been a Full Summer for Sure!

We are continuing to Stay Safe and follow the outlined COVID-19 safety procedures for reopening to new intakes. We've had our regulars back visiting and a few newcomers to our daycare. It's beginning to look "normal" around our yard again. We'd like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone for all your understanding of our changes in system during this time. We are beginning to relax some of our procedures and ask that you bare with us a while longer until we can fully lift all restrictions. With your help we will get through this scary time safely!
We will soon be welcoming a few newcomers and I hope to get them posted in the next blog.

We're finally enjoying some good ole fashion hot Lillooet weather! Yay Summer!! It was a long time coming and we are doing our best not to complain. Just relish the opportunity to have fun in the sun or chill in the house by the A/C  The dogs are having a blast outdoors in the pool, taking advantage of the shade or soaking up a full load of Vit. D. in the HOT Lillooet Sunshine.

I know it's taken me forever to get around to finally posting a blog. I'm going to try to be quicker on the updates. Is this a New Years resolution? Gee I hope not 'cuz I will have failed.

In the meantime here are some photos I've taken over the last while.
I'll try to find a minute to get some posted to our Facebook albums. I Promise!
Enjoy!

When it's just too hot for outdoors

lil Molly: "Hey! Are you following me?"
Hazel: "Nope not me"

When is River gonna visit?

Hazel & lil Molly check out who's been here

Hazel - "When ur done resting can we go in the pool please?"

It seems to take forever to fill the pool each morning. These girls just cant wait!

We have our bath station all set up and ready.
Notice the dogs have all disappeared?"

Miss Hazel just chillin by the A/C
This beats bath time hands down!

Lil Suzy Q and Hazel checking the warmth of the concrete

First thing in the morning and Sir Bentley is already beat!

Hazel and Sadie enjoy the A/C

Miss Sadie having a good laugh at Hazel having to wear a harness and lead.
Yep, Miss Hazel's recall was a bit "off" that day

Nothing like a great game of TUG!

lil Molly let's the youngsters enjoy the pool

Miss Hazel and Miss Sadie waiting for others to arrive