for max

Flapping my ears in Arnold

Lookin' out for "squirrelez"

Beachin' in Big Sur

Sniffin' dads smelly shoes.

Snow shoein' in Yellowstone

Rompin' in Half Moon Bay

Bein' all handsome 'n stuff.

Hoggin' my daddy's chair.

Sittin' with my daddy.

Chillin' in Tahoe.

Hikin' in Slick Rock

Crawlin' in the logs.

Snugglin' with my sissy

Hangin' with my peeps in Boston Habor, Maine.

Freezin' my tootsies in the Columbia River Gorge.

Snugglin' with my monkey.

...and my blankie.

I like my King Kong with peanut butter....mmm good!

I like to rest my chin on things.

I really like to sleep with my nosey buried.

What you lookin' at?

How's 'bout a swim???

Me and my bro

Don't I sit funny?

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Why are you still lookin' at me? I didn't just eat that whole container of ice cream...

A Dog's Prayer

by Beth Norman Harris

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footsteps falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside, for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements.

And I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth. Though had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land, for you are my god and I am your devoted worshiper.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the great Master see fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you. Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.

On Thursday August 20, 2009 I was helping Travie in the kitchen and when he went into the garage I snuck out there too. He didn't see me so when he went back in the house, I helped myself to a brand new 30# bag of unopened dog food. I was really enjoying myself until mommy came looking for me and found me with my head buried in the bag. I didn't think she could see my since my head was buried so deep in the bag but she did...I didn't want to stop eating but she made me. Over the next couple of days I pooped and vomitted a lot and didn't feel much like eating or drinking. My mommy got worried when I stopped drinking water and was still sick so she took me to the same doctor that took care of Libbie. They thought I had bloat but I didn't...I guess that was a good thing...and I thought bloat was some kind of food...Instead, the xrays showed I had a big white spot near something they called a spleen. This spot wasn't there the last time I had xrays. So I had to have an ultrasound and this is the rest of my story...

This is me on August 25th recuperating from my ultrasound which did confirm I had something bad in my spleen that needed to be removed right away. On the positive side my heart, lymph nodes, and liver looked pretty good! And I got to get my bellie shaved...kinda tickled...

I had a splenectomy (spleen removal) on August 26th. The surgery was very, very long but I didn't care cuz I was knocked out and feeling no pain. I heard the dr. say that the tumor inside had ruptured at some point...not during the surgery though...and scar tissue had formed and adhered to my spine and intestines. So she had trouble with all that. When it ruptured, the bad stuff inside the tumor spilled out and grew more tumors that had to be removed. I guess I bled a lot too so that took some time to get stopped but I was stable throughout the whole procedure. Mommy kept telling me to be brave and strong and that Libbie would be with me and keep me safe so I wasn't afraid, plus I knew I was in good hands.

This is the room I was in when I was operated on and the stuff in the bag is my guts and stuff...WAY COOL!!!!

Boy, is that some battle wound or what?!?!?! The chicks are going to love me!!! There's over 40 staples in my bellie...I can't wait to show all my friends...they'll be sooo jealous!

I had to spend the night at the emergency hospital. I was very scared and nervous and didn't know where I was, what happened to me or how I got there. And I really missed my family so I guess I was kinda whiny. They gave me a lot of pain meds but I didn't sleep much. When mommy and daddy picked me up the next morning I really wanted to go home and pee in my backyard. I don't like peeing in strange places so I just held it like a good boy. Then they took me back to Wildwood Vet Hospital where everyone watched me to make sure I was going to be ok. I don't know what all the fuss was about and didn't care. All I wanted to do was pee in my backyard so I whined a lot here too.

I ate all my food and finally went to sleep but not for long. The next thing I knew somebody was sticking something in my wiener but then I didn't have to pee anymore so I was able to sleep a little until I was well enough to go home.

When I got home I raced to the backyard and FINALLY got to pee!!! I was so happy to be home, in my spot, with my blankie.

GREAT NEWS!!! The junk in my spleen was something called a hematoma. It's not bad at all and my liver and lungs are good too. My family is soooo happy that I'm not sick. And I'm so happy too cuz that means I get to have lots more walkie days and cookie treats for a whole longnesses of a day!!!!! But for some reason when I laid down in Libbie's bed like this my mommy started to cry again...hmmmm....I hope she's ok???

Saturday, 8/29/09--After Dr. Welsh called with the results of Max's lab results, I was sitting on the couch eating pretzels. Max jumped up like he always does and sat next to me. I bent over and started to give him a hug with my face next to and touching his. I had a pretzel in my left had and actually had a passing thought that this might be a bad idea but quickly dismissed it thinking it was just a pretzel and surely he couldn't see it or smell it. The next thing I knew he bit my right lower lip. I jumped up off the couch and immediately felt my mouth fill with blood. As I tried to keep the blood in my mouth so it wouldn't spill out onto the carpet, I realized I couldn't close my mouth to swallow because my lip was gone. I felt around with my tongue to see if teeth were missing or chipped and they were fine but I knew my lip was in bad shape. I had trouble swallowing and breathing too. Bret was in the kitchen making cioppino and I yelled for him. I ran into the kitchen to get something to stop the bleeding. He handed me a wet washcloth and wanted to see what it looked like. He said it didn't look that bad but would need a few stitches but told me not to look at it. I could tell that it was bad and needed more than a few stitches. Bret ran around looking for the plastic surgeon's phone number that fixed his lip and sat me down in a chair. By now I was shaking and my hands and arms were going numb. I started looking for the phone number and told Bret to call Travis to come home and take care of Max while we went to the emergency. Bret called Dr. Le's office and got no answer. I started cleaning up the kitchen and putting away things so Max wouldn't get into anything while we were gone. Bret drove to Good Samaritan Hospital. I couldn't talk so wrote Bret notes on paper, specifically that I only wanted a plastic surgeon. While we were waiting Travis called and said while he was cleaning up the blood he found a piece of my lip on the floor. He packed it up and brought it down. Bret kept telling me not to look at my lip even when I went into the bathroom. There was no way I was going to look at it anyway. When we went into the triage and I removed the washcloth the nurse freaked out and said how bad it was...just what I needed to hear. Bret came in with me while Dr. Yeni did his magic. He said you can lose up to 25%( I didn't lose that much) of your lip without needing a graph so wouldn't be using the missing piece. He cut some edges to smooth it out and stitched 4 layers. He said it should look pretty good in about a year and he can do another procedure if needed at that time. My face was bruised and swollen with abrasions and a puncture wound under my chin. All in all though I was very lucky as it could have been my eye, my nose or my jugular and been much, much worse.

FOR MAX