Brutus — 1 comment
13
May 12

Rules

Posted by Brutus

I have certain rules that mom and dad (or anyone else looking after me) must follow. I like to continually add to the rules so that I know they are paying attention.

1) I need something to eat at 3:00 a.m. every morning. I’d prefer a scoop of food on the floor but most anything will do.

2) Breakfast time is between 3:30 and 4 (depending on the size of my 3:00 snack). It is only breakfast if Boney and Dixie are awakened and eat at the same time. Breakfast must be in my bowl, but hand fed to me.

3) Nap time is immediately following breakfast. I don’t care if by this time you are wide awake – my tummy is now full and I will take my nap on the couch leaving you little room to sit down.

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4) Between 5:30 and 6:00, I will wake you up (because most likely you finally fell asleep a few minutes ago) to get my vitamins.

5) The rest of your day can go as planned as long as there are plenty of breaks for snacks.

6) Dinner time will be between 4:30 and 5:00. Immediately following my dinner, you will find something to eat and be sure that I get my fair share of it as well.

7) I cannot go to bed without a snack. That snack MUST come from dad. Any snacks from anyone else are just that snacks – not bedtime snacks. (The only exception to this rule is if dad is not home; if that is the case, my snack must be larger than usual.)

Brutus / Yard — No comments
11
May 12

Fake Plastic Trees!

Posted by Brutus

My new bed arrived via the loud truck this afternoon! My Uncle Lee was nice enough to provide mom with some bed stuffing earlier this week so we could use it right away!

I’m sure mom will be taking lots of pictures of us enjoying it this weekend, but here is one of me making sure it is up to my standards.

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Boney / Brutus / Dixie / Family / House — 2 comments
09
May 12

I Spy

Posted by Miranda

A couple months ago my wonderful husband purchased a webcam for the house.

It’s different in that you can only use an app on your iPhone or iPad to view and you have to log into an account (so some random stranger isn’t just going to happen upon a view of your living room streaming live).

Joe hooked it up in the living room – on top of a piece of furniture that has a good view of the couch and one of the dog beds.

When I need a smile from my doggies during the day, I can usually just go to my phone and watch them for a couple minutes. Sometimes it’s all I need to get back on track.

They aren’t always all there and sometimes I’ll see one of them walk by or go outside, but I still like to know they are content.

Below is a screen shot from this morning. Boney is laying on Dixie’s “Mr. Postman” Molly Mutt. Brutus has camouflaged himself on the blankets covering the couch (his white belly blends in but you can spot his brindle amidst it all). When possible, he likes to have his nose covered when he naps. Dixie is most likely keeping watch at her dads office door or back in her kennel where she likes to have some quiet time.

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Brutus / House / Yard — 1 comment
07
May 12

A New Bed

Posted by Brutus

I realize it’s been a while since I’ve been in touch, but I’ve been spending most of my time sleeping, eating or begging for treats. Mom has a good selection of treats for me to choose from, so who can blame me for wanting to sample them?

When I’m not eating, I’m sleeping. As you may (or may not) know, Mom has a thing for Molly Mutt beds. We each have our own, though we all share. With summer right around the corner and warm weather almost daily, I like to meander out to the back yard and take naps in the sun. Mom wants me to be happy, but doesn’t like that I get dirty. She was very excited when she heard a month or so ago that Molly Mutt was coming out with an outdoor bed!

Mom logged onto Facebook today and the first thing she saw was that Molly Mutt Outside was available! So…this will be arriving for me soon

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I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to share this one with Dixie (who also enjoys laying in the sun) or if I’m going to keep it all to myself.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite bed or pillow for relaxing?

Brenda Bentley Ten Cate liked this post
Brutus / Family / Trips — 1 comment
30
Mar 12

Smile Pretty!

Posted by Brutus

Last weekend, mom and dad took me to a park for a photo shoot. I don’t get to leave the yard much except for the occasional visit to Dr. Arbo, so you can imagine how excited I was! (Note to self: that might be why I don’t get to go in the car much)

Dad told mom that he wanted to get some special pictures of us together so that she would always remember my smiling face – as if she would ever forget!

Below are the pictures that dad thought were best – he even got in a few! Mom’s favorite is the one of her giving me kisses. I didn’t know dad was taking the photo then – how embarrassing to be seen kissing my mom!

I have to admit, I’m pretty photogenic so there’s not a bad one in the bunch ;)

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Lucy Loehle, Brenda Bentley Ten Cate, Joe Loehle liked this post
Brutus / Family / Treats — 3 comments
19
Mar 12

Happy Birthday Brutus!

Posted by Miranda

Today Brutus celebrates 10 years – and almost all of those 10 years have been with me. I adopted him as an adorable little 5 lb puppy from our local animal control. He was a handful – chewing up everything in pure puppy style until he was about 1 year old. He has become quite the sophisticated elderbull and has a very special place in my heart.

He got an early birthday present yesterday (blue dog) that he instantly took too. It only took him a couple hours to pull a seam and get some of the stuffing out, but he’s been a little more gentler with it since then.

This morning he woke me up with his heavy sigh (he sleeps on his favorite Molly Mutt right next to our bed due to his recent arthritis) and a look that said he was ready to get up and enjoy his day. And enjoy it he will! We started off this morning with a big bowl of his dog food followed by a piece of peanut butter toast. Then when dad woke up, Brutus got his birthday present – another toy (lion). He was equally thrilled to have something else that he could call his own and immediately gathered lion and blue dog and layer down on another of our many Molly Mutt beds to enjoy his new presents.

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Today at lunch, Brutus will enjoy chicken nuggets and at dinner he and dad will each get a ribeye. We are determined to make this his best birthday ever!

We want to make this birthday extra special because not only is he the big 1-0, but we also found out on Friday that this will most likely be his last birthday with us. We went to the vet for an ultrasound and it turns out that Brutus has liver cancer and is only expected to be with us for another 4-6 months. It tears me up to think of the day that I won’t get to sit on the couch with him snuggling and kissing, but at the same time I only want him to be happy and comfortable. We’re lucky in that Brutus pretty much wears his emotions on his sleeve, so he’ll tell us when it’s time.

Until then, we’re going to live every day to its fullest and love him with everything we have to give.

Brutus / Family / Treats — 2 comments
14
Mar 12

Too Many Pills

Posted by Brutus

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve written…it’s been a long couple of weeks. The good news is my Cushings test came back negative. Bad news is I had a yeast infection on my neck and fungal infection on my back from my allergies. Arthritis has come on pretty strong in one of my front legs as well. So, for the next couple of weeks, this is what my medicine schedule looks like:

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Depending on the day, I get 12 or 13 pills – 4 or 5 at breakfast, 2 at lunch, 4 at dinner and 2 at bedtime. My bedtime vitamins are so big they don’t even fit in the pill box! I can’t complain too much because this just all means extra peanut butter for me.

The medicine for my arthritis makes me kind of sleepy so I’ve been taking a lot of nappies. One of the good side effects of having arthritis is mom and dad feel bad for me, so they moved my big Molly Mutt into their room and I get to sleep on that instead of in the crate. Every night I climb onto my bed and daddy tucks me in. I sleep on moms side of the bed so she checks on me through the night if I wake up or make noises. It’s good to know that I’m loved!

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Brenda Bentley Ten Cate liked this post
Boney / Family / Random Thoughts — No comments
10
Mar 12

Saturday Nappies

Saturday is usually a “big” day for us. We like to get up early and head out to garage and estate sales. Today we did a bunch of running around, stopping back at home a few times. Every time we would walk in the front door, Brutus and Dixie would be on the couch waiting. Boney would be nowhere in site. We’d call him…no answer. We knew where he was – every time (4!). We’d walk back the bedroom and he’d be curled up between Joe’s two pillows, snoozing (and snoring!). He’s a very sound sleeper and unless you are right over him saying his name and/or shaking him, he won’t wake up. Joe makes a good point – at night, Boney pretends that he has trouble getting up into the bed when we know in fact that he has no problem at all!

Brutus / Family / Random Thoughts / Trips — 1 comment
05
Mar 12

Big Day for Brutus

Today is a big day for Brutus. I dropped him off at the vet at 7:30 this morning and can’t pick him up until 4:30! I feel bad for my big guy…he’s going to be poked and prodded for the next 8 hours.

Today is they day that they’ll test for Cushing Disease. I really don’t fully understand the disease or what it means for us. He’s been off prednisone for a little over a month now and seemed to be doing fine the first couple of weeks.

Recently, its been a different story. He’s been scratching at his neck/chest a lot despite being allowed to go collar free to reduce the irritation. He’s had a few accidents where he can’t get outside fast enough (we have a dog door so he can go outside whenever he wants) and this morning he had an accident on the way to the doctor – which has never happened before. He is losing a lot more hair than normal, and is losing more weight. He’s gone from a top weight of around 80 to 63 at our last visit. He also noticeably favors his front left leg – I’m hoping its just arthritis.

Brutus is the oldest of our pack and will be turning 10 in a couple weeks. I’m hoping that most of those symptoms ate just age related and that there isn’t anything major going on. Keep your paws crossed!

Boney / Family / House — No comments
25
Feb 12

I am the King

Posted by Boney

…and I will sit on my throne and rule this household.

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You shall bring me treats whenever I request them, feed me large meals and provide me with a lap for sleeping. All toys shall belong to me and will not be shared. You must run to me at every bark, whine and woo woo to fulfill all my wants and needs.

I am King Bonaparte and you are my faithful servants.

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