The BIG 1 5

 A BIG Happy Birthday to my best ever four-legged friend; my BFF -

She turns 15 today on the 15th -

She has no idea how important she’s been to me these last several years and means the world to me!

Showing her age a bit but she’s entitled to at her age.

Left Right

Paw-paw…

Psst! Get Up

Ms Trixie waiting patiently -

She’s my alarm clock if I linger in bed too long.

Little Legs, BIG Spaces

I finally brought Ms. Trixie to the farm for a visit; her new home, this past Saturday and she approves!

Here she is looking back at me with the look of, "are you shitting me, ALL this space" -

She was a bit anxious with the car ride over, which is typical for her, and perhaps a bit overwhelmed with the new place but she eventually settled in just fine -

And tuckered herself out but settled and drifted off to sleep -

Click this link to see a short video of her checking out the inside of her new home for the first time - "Trixie @ Pritchard".  Once off the leash, she went from room to room

She's been a trooper through all of the upheavals and changes these last six months.  She has handled and adjusted just fine, which is more than I can say for myself.

#Blessed

Grooming Tails And More

Ms. Trixie had her first East Tennessee spa day at Grooming Tails Pet Spa in JC.

We're both pleased with the results!

She's clean, smells nice and her nails are trimmed.

You can really see and appreciate her unique markings when her fur is cut short and tight.

Floating Bed

Ms. Trixie is her own interior decorator when it comes to her bed.

She constantly pulls and moves that bed in all sorts of directions and when she's satisfied, she'll get in, curl up and sleep.  It's seldom in the same spot where it belongs or where I placed it last.

Here she is, not a care in the world, comfy in the middle of the hallway.  However, the bed should be in the living room, down the hall and to the right -

She's quirky for sure and has a preferences for where and how she wants her bed.

It's Just Gas

Ms. Trixie has herself a new veterinarian office here in East Tennessee, Cherokee Hospital For Animals -

And had her first visit yesterday morning -

She was having some issues that had me concerned but happy to reports it's nothing serious and we'll be treating her with some medications to help her to get back on track -

The team at Cherokee hospital were great!  Everyone I met was friendly and welcoming.

However, and sadly, I left with reconfirmation of what I've seen and felt for some time now - veterinarians and animal care is BIG business and following in the footsteps of human medical care. Pushing and selling care and products that are really not necessary and really taking advantage of peoples emotions and love of their animals while in a vulnerable situation.

We spent more time in the exam room with the technician answering questions than we did with the actual doctor herself. The doctor came, we did a quick recap of the issues, then she listened to Trixie's heart, looked in one of her ears and lifted her tail to look at her bottom.  She then gave a quick overview of what she proposed as next steps. We convened, so the technician could fetch a printout of what the visit was going to cost AND IT WAS STEEP!  This all happened within the first 15 minutes.

They took blood and x-rays and the next 40 minutes we waited and waited and waited for the doctor to reappear to explain her findings, review the x-ray and explain the medications.

The doctor was pleasant but in a business sense and not overly welcoming.  She struck me as more focused on the business and money aspect than of Trixie herself, as if she was just another patient, a number. Suppose it just is what it is.

Again, the team at Cherokee hospital were great and I'm thankful for their care and help AND that there isn't anything too serious with Ms. Trixie!

Just my two cents.

(Trying To) Getting "Acquainted"

Our cousins have two dog, Ms. Violet and Mr. Snoop, both still in their puppy stages.

They're both great dogs, well trained and super friendly and personable, however, Ms. Trixie doesn't see it the same way. Ms. Trixie wants nothing to do with them and will constantly bark at them when she see them and will lunge and snap at them if we're all out in the yard at the same time, which is why I usually keep Ms. Trixie on a leash.

Here's an action shot of Ms. Trixie chasing off Ms. Violet -

I'd like to think that by slowly introducing them that they're getting better, see below. You can see they're both relaxed and coexisting but it's short lived -

They don't need to be BFFs but it would be nice if they could behave and tolerate being out in the yard together.  Ms. Trixie is just too set in her ways and at her age I don't see her changing much but we'll keep trying with fingers crossed.

Click the link below to watch and see how happy-go-lucky Ms. Violet is while trying to win over Ms. Trixie's attention, and how grumpy and defensive Ms. Trixie is -

"Trixie and Violet Getting Acquainted" 

Please Pick A Spot And GO 💩

What's the deal with dogs, or at least my dog Ms. Trixie, taking forever and a day to chose their spot to drop a deuce 💩?!

She seems to be doing this more and more as of late, what gives?

The two of us this morning -

When we were back in Massachusetts it didn't effect me much, as I would simply open the slider and she'd go out herself, in the safety of the fenced in yard.  However, here in East Tennessee, the yard isn't fenced, she's not familiar with the area and I want to make sure there are no dangers lurking, so I take her out.

This morning for example, at 2:00AMish, then again at 5:00AMish AND in the single digit and gusty, ole Trixster was acting like Dr. Louis Leakey looking for ancient fossils and taking her sweet time - let's go💩 -

It's too cold for all this 💩 AND I want to go back to bed!

Um, What Is That Alluring Aroma?!

I've been doing a bit of dog sitting of Ms. Violet and Mr. Snoopdog these last couple of days, easy peasy. Except for this morning, yikes!  I walked into a mess, both dogs had chewed up and shredded their crate mats to pieces, OMG! I cleaned it all the best I could, so please don't tell my cousin she has a bit of a temper 😂😂

But I digress...

Both dogs are rewarded with a treat when they return and come inside from doing their business 💦💩. Ms. Violet gets a triple twist stick treat, while Mr. Snoopdog gets a DreamBone Twist Stick treat.

Well, since I get the once over and evil eye from Ms. Trixie upon my returns, I thought I would try to bribe her with a DreamBone twist sticks, borrow it of course, to win her back over.

Here she is a bit puzzled and confused with this new treat -

Like Santa, she's checking it twice before committing -

AH, and then she was all in! Ms. Trixie approved 👍 -

Since I didn't get permission to take (borrow) this snacky, I've decided that I will return it when Ms. Trixie is done and has processed it 💩

I means it's really the correct thing to doo doo...

The "Inspector" General

I thought it was curiosity that killed the cat?!

Ms. Trixie has been curious with something under the kitchen sink.  I catch her snooping in there quite often, like this morning, see pics below -

Many times there's just a sign that she's been poking around, the cabinet door propped open.

She's been doing this for a while now.  I've made sure there was nothing under there that she could get into that would harm her but she's never been the chewy, eating everything kinda dog.

A this point everything has been removed from under there and wiped clean, so not sure what the attraction is but she only has a couple of days left to figure it out.

My Little Shadow

Ms. Trixie senses things are a changing. Perhaps, the utter chaos the house has been turned into, the numerous strangers trapesing throughout or maybe, just maybe she can tell how emotional I've become.

Whatever it is, she seldom leaves my side. She'll follow me from room to room to room, upstairs to downstairs, always staying close.  If she wakes, and I'm not in the room with her, I can see a bit of panic in her as she hurries to find me, checking each room until she does.

She's always jumped up with me when I sit down, has been doing it for years now. I think mostly to see if I have any food, but seldom stays too long if there's none. However, this past Sunday, she jumped up, then curled up in my lap and went to sleep - like a true "lap" dog.  She zonked out and stayed there for close to 30 minutes, which was so very nice to keep my legs toasty warm, as the homeowner keeps the thermostat so darn low 🥶, GHEESH! She would have remained there longer had I not attempted to change positions to relieve the numbness that had set into my lower extremities -

She's 13 now and showing her age, 😢 Her eyesight isn't what it was and her hearing is all but gone, unless I yell, and even then it's hit or miss.  It's VERY difficult to watch but she's hanging in there.

She's helped me beyond comprehension to get through the ups and downs of the past several years, AND I'll do the same for her as she ages. Prolly couldn't have done it without her. My unofficial service dog...

She's a great dog, my best friend and I love her unconditionally.

#Blessed

Reseeding Obstacle Course

The little bit of grass that I have in the fenced in pool area happens to also be where Ms. Trixie does her "business".  I don't have a before pic but as you might imagine her urine killed much of grass where she "goes".

About 2 months ago I planted the last of the grass seed I had in the dead grass area, then laid a scrap piece of wire on top in an effort to keep Ms. Trixie from "watering" it 😁

You can see the wire fencing in the below pic and how nicely, and green, the new grass has done, for now.  It will all be killed off again once I remove the wire -

It's comical to watch Ms. Trixie when she tries to walk on the wire. She stumbles and fumbles and almost trips at time as she tries to get off of it.  It's like she forgets it's there but not all the time. She's definitely my dog and takes after me in many ways, the poor thing.

For example, below she successfully navigated the wire, walking around the edges, to eventually (OMG the drama and time it takes for her to decide where and the position she needs to be in is maddening, especially when it's 2AM) cop-a-squat and take herself a poop 💩 -

 

I assured her that I (prolly) wouldn't be posting her compromising pic for all to see, so Shh, this will be our little secret.

Eerie Creepy Crawly

Have a look at this creature!

I came inside from working out in the yard yesterday afternoon to find this engorged tick crawling on the kitchen floor, next to Ms. Trixie's bed! 

Even though this dude was blown up and full of blood, it was surprisingly still mobile, although slow.  However, when plopped into the toilet, NOT so mobile after all -

Interestingly, last week Emilie found a tick behind one of Ms. Trixie's ears.  It was dug in and had started to fill and balloon up!  We removed it and washed out the area with hydrogen peroxide. We did a quick check and didn't notice any others at that time, so not sure if we simply missed this dude or if she picked it up afterwards.

The Google machines states that adult ticks can grow from the size of a poppy seed to about the size of a pea in 7-10 days, an increase in size by up to 120 times, so it's possible the critter above was after.

Naïve of me for thinking Ms. Trixie wouldn't pick up any ticks since she's relegated to the fenced in pool area.  I'm sure there are many ways ticks can get into the pool area, with wild rabbits and squirrels being the most likely, as they're regular visitors to this area.

The other more likely culprit is that both Emile and I have taken Ms. Trixie out during the numerous open houses I've had over the past couple of weeks.  I've taken her to the school just down the street and we've spent time walking the ball fields. I've seen foxes and deer in the past in the same field, so there's that...

She'll be getting a tubby this afternoon and a thorough inspection to ensure she's tick free, for her sake and mine.

Makes me rethink letting her sleep next to me at night, geesh!

NOT The True Definition Of "Heave" Ho!

I was awakened this morning, around 5AMish, to the sounds of Ms. Trixie heaving!

So, I bolted out of bed in the hopes of somehow controlling or containing what was about to come but alas I was too late.

Mind you, Ms. Trixie sleeps on my bed, on her own blanket.  Even in my stupor I was thinking if she vomits on her blanket it'll be fine but nooooooooo!

As Murphy's Law goes, she missed her blanket entirely and instead puked on my heated comforter, down the side of the bed, onto the white bed skirt, which then piled onto the carpet, OMG!

It all happened so fast, in an instant really.

Of course at this point and still half asleep, I am NOT happy, NOT AT ALL, so I quickly rush Ms. Trixie downstairs and put her outside, where she remained.

Okay, she had an upset stomach, I get it but why down the side of my bed?!  Why this morning of all mornings?! And here's the kicker, I have an open house this morning at 11:30AM, so instead of a relaxing Sunday morning with my coffee, I'm cleaning up dog vomit, stripping my bed, flipping mattresses and needing to do multiple loads of laundry, all in the hopes of getting everything washed, dried and the bed put back together and made before I need to be outta here for the open house.  On top of that, can you put an electric blanket in the washing machine, then in the dryer?  Chances are, because Mr. Murphy is a dick, the answer is no, no you can't, not without ruining it, UGH!

Trying to stay positive and on the bright side of all this.  It was time to flip my mattress anyway, which entails stripping all the linens from the bed, washing them and then putting everything back in place. The good news is that when all is said and done I'll have a nice fresh, clean bed to curl up into this evening.

The jury is still out on whether Ms. Trixie will be sleeping with me tonight on the freshly laundered linens...

Seems I'm "Screening" My Guests...

I know I shouldn't be making fun, so forgive me, but it was funny...

I've circled in red, in both pictures below, a wet spot on the screen to my sliding back door -

Care to take a guess at what made this wet spot?!?!

Here's a clue - 

Here initials are Trixie, hahaha, and the wet spot was made by her nose!

Yup, Ms. Trixie came bounding up the deck stairs all happy and giddy and proceeded to pull a "Ralou" and leaped smack dab into the closed screen door, nose first, ALAS!

I say "pulled a Ralou", because my aunt Ralou did a similar thing years and years ago at my folks house!  She was walking, NOT giddy, out from the kitchen and onto the porch and didn't notice the screen door had been closed.  I don't recall her getting hurt, except a bit of embarrassment but as you can imagine, the screen door was NEVER the same.

Again, I shouldn't have laughed, as this is just another sign of her showing her age, which is breaking my heart.  I'm fairly certain the younger Trixie would seen the screen.  Fortunately, she didn't hurt herself, just maybe a bit of her pride like Ralou.

I told her not to worry, that I wouldn't tell anyone...so, I'm clearly a liar.

Keeping An Eye On Things!

This is one of Ms. Trixie favorite spots, where she's able to sit comfortably and look out the window as the world passes by. I leave the window open a bit so she can take in the smells too.

There was a time, not too long ago, where I wouldn't have been able to take these pics because she would have heard me pull in the driveway and get out of my car or hear the garage door open or the basement stairs creaking as I walk up and she'd bolt down from the couch and greet me at the top of the stairs.

Sadly, her hearing is getting worse, as is her eye sight.  Today, I was able to pull in my driveway, open the garage door, enter the basement, climb the stairs and takes these pics without her even aware. She never heard a thing, ALAS...

However, her welcome home greetings are still THE BEST, once she knows I'm there. I SO look forward to coming home to her and her wagging tail.

#Blessed

Happy 13Th!

Happy Birthday to my faithful, best friend and roommate!

You all have NO idea how much she helped me get through these last couple of years.

It's difficult to leave you when I go to work but my welcome homes are wonderful!

#Blessed

Ms. Trixie, aka Crash...

Ms. Trixie took a tumble down the back deck stairs on Sunday afternoon.

Thankfully, she didn't get hurt too bad, just a bloody fat lip and a tad embarrassed -

I'm not really sure what happened.

She was about halfway down the stairs and stopped, looking out towards the backyard, when all of a sudden she stumbled and down she went.  It looked like she fought the fall and stumbled versus going ass over teakettle but hit her face on the landing.

She's definitely showing her age and turns 14 this fall!  For the most part she's doing fine but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her.

 

She's my BFF!

#Blessed

Snug As A Bug

Ms. Trixie luvs her new bed!

Seems, with my OCD, I washed her old bed too many times and ruined it.