Miss Memphis Belle has flown

This isn't how I wanted my first post in a while to be.

Miss Memphis Belle passed away last night.

I brought all three dogs back out to the mines early this week. We were going to stay until it got too hot before going back to New Orleans.

Yesterday Belle was fine. And then suddenly she wasn't. She couldn't get up easily, couldn't walk straight, was anxious and distressed. I suspected poisoning or a stroke so I made a high-speed run to the closest emergency vet 60+ miles away. They evaluated her, decided that it was Canine Vestibular Disease, a condition affecting older dogs that would pass with rest and medication, and I brought her home. we spent the evening outside watching the sunset and then went in to bed. She slept right next to me, which she usually only did when she was scared, and I petted her and soothed her every time she stirred or whined. I was hoping the medicines would kick in and ease her discomfort but this morning she was gone. Looks like it was a brain bleed or tumor after all.

My Belle is gone.

I took her outside for a bit while I decided what to do next. Both Murphy and Merida lay down right next to her, much closer than they ever would have gotten in the past, since the dogs have always wanted their space, and they stayed with her until I took her into town for cremation.

There's a huge hole in my heart right now. But I remember that I was blessed by God with 9 wonderful years with this girl. She gave me nothing but love and obedience, and this is the first morning that I've woken up in her presence without her coming up to give me a gentle morning lick on the face. I'm going to miss those licks a lot.

Here's the first blog post from when I brought her home, end of November, 2013. That was West Virginia. Since then we've seen a lot of the country together. Michigan. New Orleans. And now, in the end, California. She was a blessing and a gift from Heaven and now there's another star in the sky, leading the way to that Rainbow Bridge where she'll be waiting with Lagniappe and Oliver until the day we're all reunited again. 

Our last sunset together.

Murphy not leaving his sister. Faithful to the last.

 

Travels with Belle

 Since I'd never taken Belle on a solo trip before, I took her this time so we could have some time together. Also, Murphy's too old to travel like this any more, so I left him behind and left Merida to keep him company.

Belle travels well. She always has. She sleeps and it's easy to forget she's even along. But when we got out there, she got her share of hiking and exploring in.

She was in her K-9 glory.

At night though, it was another story. It got cold, down into the 20's some nights, and Miss Priss wasn't down with that at all. So like the softie I am, I bought a new sleeping bag and gave Belle my old one, and she slept snuggled up in it every night, usually refusing to come out in the morning until the sun rose and warmed the interior of the truck up.

And if that wasn't the goofiest, twice she got up to get water during the nights, and when she realized that she couldn't get back in the bag by herself, she woke me up and I had to get out of my nice warm bag to tuck her back in again.

Spoiled? She sure is. But then she's my girl and she deserves to be spoiled.

So I'm back

 And I realize that it's been hella long, but the old electronic gear wasn't doing it, and trying to do Blogger from an iPhone was quite the exercise in frustration. But now I have a new computer that runs something more modern than Windows 7 (Don't judge me!) and it plays nice with the new phone I had to buy last week when the iPhone 5 finally bit the dust.  In sum, I'm reasonably modernized and connected again.

So...where to start?  The three doggoes are still here and doing fine. Murphy had a toe removed last month do to an infection that wouldn't stop, and he also had a fractured tooth with an underlying abscess removed and fixed, so he's feeling fine again and I'm feeling poor. (Vet bill for him alone last month was higher than my mortgage payment.) But he's my pal, so...

"Three-toed Murphy" he shall be known as. 

And it was worth it to see how much better he walked and ate after doing all this work. Apparently he'd been masking it well but it had been impeding him a lot.

Belle's just Belle--a sweet, gentle, fairly obedient dog.

And Merida...Sigh. There's always one.

Don't let the cute face fool you...Baby Murder Dog has killed four chickens and a pigeon in recent months. but when not slaughtering domestic livestock, she's really quite cuddly. 

There's a new van project here too. Meet Rocinante.

I picked this up  at auction a couple months back. It's diesel and 4-wheel drive and it's factory built for off-road use. I'm converting it into a camper and I just finished a first trial trip with it, going from Louisiana to the California desert and back, Stopping to visit friends along the way, of course. It's still a work in progress, but it's performance was flawless this time out, between pulling 16mpg hwy and clawing up jeep trails in the desert, it did everything I asked of it. Right now there's a bed in the back but a kitchen and solar power system are coming next. Merida came along with me on this trip and while she's not exactly an adventure dog (she prefers to sleep in or under the truck), she nonetheless had a good time, being it "standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona"

or hanging out at Hoover Dam

Or melting in the California Desert

She even saw Mexico and had a real taco.

Not an unhappy dog.

But now we're home and I've got 21st century tech finally and blogging shall resume, with stories and pics and other musings on our pre-apocalyptic days. But I'm only sticking around so long as I get the idea that I'm not just posting for the same six readers. If you're still out there, let me know, eh?

 

It's a Belleversary!

Seven years ago today, I got up bright and early and drove out to a dog pound in Ranson, West Virginia. I was there to give a mangy, dirty female German Shepherd a bath in a tub with a cold water hose.

 Today's the Day

Then after I signed a couple of papers, she was whisked off to a vet by the pound people and dropped off for pre-adoption medical work and a check-up. My cost at this time was $25 to the pound.

Then I went to pick her up from the vet a few hours later and was told that she had Heartworm and Lyme Disease and that the cost to treat both in addition to her other required work would run about a thousand dollars. I didn't really have a spare thousand dollars, especially when papered and pedigreed Shepherd pups were selling for about five hundred dollars. The vet said I could send her back to the pound and there'd be no cost to me other than the $25, but he also said that no one else was likely to spend that kind of money on a shelter dog and that the pound would probably euthanize her. So I sighed and wrote a check and later that day I drove home with the most expensive dog I'd ever bought, hoping that she'd get along with Murphy, who was already in the house. They'd done ok during a few pound play dates but I still had my reservations because Murphy was a jerk. But I did it.

She's Here

Seven years later, I have no regrets at all. Belle turned out to be a wonderful dog who put Murphy right in his place and tempered his separation anxiety when I was gone. I also discovered that this ragamuffin dog who'd been ditched at the pound by some hillbilly had been at one time professionally obedience trained and she already knew how to do everything I wanted her to do--sit, down, stay, heel. Loyal, obedient and chock full of love, she was a real find and looking back, that thousand dollars was one of the best investments I've ever made.

Happy Belleversary, honey.

Guard dog fail

Poor Belle. She tries, but Tommy the feral porch cat is just not taking her seriously.

Even worse, one of the new kittens just booped her on the nose with a kitten paw when she got close to it.

Murphy just shook his head in disgust then ran all the cats off in about half a second just by walking past the doorway and giving them a look. They seem to know that it's best that he not have to step outside. But Belle? Cats be like: "Get your ass back in that house, dog!"

Happy Belle

Gratuitous shot of Belle shaking paws with the lovely Cherry.

It's a dog's life, indeed...lucky dog.

Bless her little heart

Miss Memphis Belle, after years of sitting patiently on the doorstep waiting for me to open the door and inquire as to her desire to come in, has suddenly learned to scratch on the door when she wants in. (Murphy has still not figured this out, BTW..)

The problem is that she does not gently skritch at the door like a normal dog would. Oh no. She claws into that door like Freddie Krueger holding an ice pick, and her first few tentative "May I come in, please?" scratches have taken the paint off the door right down to bare metal.

This girl. Right here.

This is 50% of why I can't have nice things.

Little X, at it again.

Took a walk down the side of my house today, down the narrow path where the dogs travel to the back yard from the side door. Almost missed this:

Almost Shepherd sized. The Cooler Queen has been doing her thing. That would have been a dog break tonight or tomorrow.

"Curses! Foiled again!"

But how did she breach that lattice?

Dogs eat starfish. Who knew?

Effing Murphy...Maybe Belle too. I really don't know. But he's suspect #1 based on his history.

Last week, I won a nice decorative 5" dried starfish as a prize in a drinking game at a local bar. I put it out for display on top of a bookcase today and went out for a bit, not suspecting that it would be a problem.

I came back and found the remains of the nice box that it was in on the floor. I looked all over the place for the starfish and could not find it, and on closer inspection of the area with the shredded box, I found just enough remains to suggest where my starfish had gone.

Damn dogs.

So as I've had to do many times in the past with Murphy, I googled the problem: "My dog ate a starfish"

OMFG...this is actually a common problem, from chihuahuas to greyhounds. It looks like dogs across the board love dried starfish. (Google it yourself...you'll be amazed at the number of posts from people asking about this.)

The good news is, it's non-toxic and all I should expect is some irritation as the dog(s) try to pass the rough starfish material. Murphy is a goat, so no worries there, but if Belle had some too, her tender tummy is going to be giving her fits and me much to clean up.

The bad news is that I'm out a pretty nice starfish.

You really didn't want that tasty starfish, did you?

Canine Devotion

When you're holding a beignet, you'll always be loved.

Water dogs

Just back from a walk down Frenchmen Street for dinner and music.

The dogs had pizza crusts and lots of petting from passers-by. Now we're home and they're thirsty.

Getting that water.

Usually there is a pecking order. Belle drinks first, and when she's had her fill, Murphy drinks. But this time both were so thirsty that the rules apparently got waived.

It's good that they're friends.