Does anyone still follow this blog?

Well.

Treader went to heaven a few weeks ago. He was dealing with heart failure for some months. To my understanding it was likely a heart disease he was born with. He had been diagnosed with a heart murmur back in 2013, and put on medication. About September of last year he began showing a light, persistent cough. By late December it had transferred to a wet, honking cough.

We didn't find out until June that it was heart failure. I have had very little money to do anything with, and could not afford to get him tested, or I might have known sooner. (Especially because my expenses were further divided because the cat had been diagnosed with kidney disease--a misdiagnosis that cost me a lot of money. I have found another vet since then.)

On the morning of August 16 I had just given Treader his medicine. Moments later his heart decided it had finally had it. He was rushed to the vet and humanely euthanized.
I am glad that I was able to get to him right away and he didn't suffer any longer than he had to. He did well with his illness and survived longer than the vet expected him to. The medication kept him comfortable and happy for as long as time allowed.

I was 14 when we adopted him. We had nine years together. I don't know if animals go to heaven or if they just stop existing when they die. I don't know anymore. But I'll always treasure the time we had. I'll never forget him.

We're on Tumblr now

Hey guys, been a few years.

I began to really slow down on the blogging and eventually just stopped altogether. I was a teen when I began this blog, begun to have more interests and responsibilities placed on me and as that happened I began to lose interest in keeping this blog up.

However, I have now opened up a blog on Tumblr where I can post pictures of Treader and the newest edition to the family, Oreo!

Behold, Oreo:

Sorry, not the best quality photo. But one of the only full-body photos I can find on this computer, somehow.

Anywho, here's Treader and Oreo's new Tumblr blog.

Probably just going to post photos there for the most part. Oh, I got Oreo as a baby, and visited him and his littermates long before I brought him him, so I have tons of baby pictures! :D If anyone wants I can post some of those to Tumblr.

Cookie is no longer with us

Cookie: March 10th 1998 thru March 9th 2011

Cookie was PTS on Wednesday, her incontinence just got too much to handle.
Just thought I should update this. I don't know what to say other than what I've already said elsewhere, other than, we all miss her.

Updates

Sorry, no pictures this time cuz I'm not using my desktop computer where the pictures are stored.
Not much time right now, so go here for updates:
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Small_Dogs/thread/687229

I just realized...

I have not kept you guys up-to-date on the latest goings-on. I'm sorry. My blogs have not been my internet priority for quite a while.
Anyway, for one thing Cookie developed fecal incontinence later on in July. We almost decided to put her down. Almost. Fortunately, we asked some people to pray and then she quit having accidents. One or two, but not from incontinence I don't think. I think her fecal incontinence has completely disappeared!

Then Treader was actually afraid of the backyard so that he wouldn't go back there. That caused some problems as you might imagine. I had to start taking him to the front yard so he could do his business.
Then of course his sores from the fiasco with fleas these past few months are still healing and he's keeping them from healing by scratching at them. He breaks cone collars eventually, so we ordered him a "comfy cone" which is made out of cloth. Should be coming soon.

And then to top it all off my dad's in the hospital again for high blood pressure, possible neurological problems, a UTI infection, and I think that's about all.=/

You know, it's funny. Just when you think "nothing's going on, just the same old boring routine", something happens and you want that "boring old routine" back. I guess God's telling me to be careful what I wish for.
I'm very, very thankful for the support given by friends online and off during this time. God has really blessed me with some awesome friends and family. =)
Everyone's prayers and support is much appreciated. Again I apologize for not updating this blog.

And to end this post, the dog's water dish got smashed by a rock in June or July. So we had to get a new--and bigger, one. I was happy when we finally got a new one, because the dish we used in the meantime was so small I had to refill it probably 10 times a day.
Here's the new dish:

Yes, we're still alive

Very much alive. Just a bit bored lately.
See?

Okay, so it's been a while.
Treader had to wear this fashionable cone collar for a while. The natural flea meds we've tried so far haven't been working with him and he was all but chewing holes in himself when summer hit. Poor fellow. It didn't stay on for long, though, and we ordered some Frontline. We're going to try one more natural flea control method before we quit using them for him. (Cookie, they seem to work with.)

So, I've been doing more artwork than photography lately.

And much of it not of the dogs. I still love animal photography, but am trying to expand my abilities.

Plus, I haven't been inspired for simply awesome photo of the dogs lately. But I did get what I thought was an adorable shot of Cookie throwing Z's:

Cookie's Portrait

Last month, they had a deal at the pet store where you could get an free 8x10 portrait done of one dog, with a $10 sitting fee. The above is Cookie's portrait, which came in this Saturday. My scanner wasn't working, so I used my camera. Thus the quality of the photo you see here is not the actual quality of the photo I have.

Some poor attempt of mine at portraits:





Treader's beeing coming right along with his Agility training. Some nice photos of him:



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WARNING:
The next five or so photos portray Treader eating a turkey drumstick. If you do not wish to see this, scroll on down until you get past the second row of plus signs.




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I've been trying to teach Treader to sit up and beg, and we're making some progress.

Treader waiting in front of the weaves. (Don't worry, his paw isn't injured.)