Weekend reflections along the creek trail

September 26, 2015

Kali and I had some beautiful mornings along our creek trail this week and also one very special sunset. As much as I hate to see Summer end the beginning of Fall in Northern California is a beautiful time.

As we head out of the hot and into the warm Kali thought it would nice to let the pictures be worth a thousand blessings…

Rise and shine for Kali and Dad. “Let’s go”!

Sun just creeping up over the trail head.

Stopping to “reflect” at the Duck Pond; our turn around point.

Never too early for Kali to pose at our favorite spot.

And again…

Heading home

And later that night

If I only had another biscuit

September 20, 2015

We were at my older son Jonathan’s end of the year soccer party. He was seven at the time and his younger brother Michael was four. The party was at a pizza parlor with the usual array of video games peppered throughout the building. Like most kids my boys loved video games and they would spend hours and hours (and a lot of money) playing them if we had allowed them to. My younger son Michael was especially “passionate” about video games and could become laser locked on any given game especially if he was about to beat a “level” or the “boss”.

The soccer team and their siblings were given a small bag with eight quarters to play video games before the pizza came out and before awards were presented. My boys quickly consumed the eight quarters and then I gave them another eight quarters each. The end of the year party goes on and most of the kids have had enough video games and are ready for pizza. But then there’s Michael standing in the middle of the dinning room looking quite forlorn. Looking at no one directly he says in a most exasperated voice, “If I only had another quarter”. All at once about ten dads reach in their pockets and offer their quarters to Michael.

So fast forward about 25 years and now this is Kali. Standing in the middle of the room saying, “If only I had another biscuit.”

Today was not much different from most days for Kali. Get up, eat breakfast. Go for a walk, get training treats. Come home watch dad make his breakfast and for staying out of the kitchen, get biscuits. Later on watch dad make his lunch and get biscuits for staying out of the kitchen again. Later in the afternoon get a Kong filled with carrots and peanut butter just ’cause. I think even my son Michael, at four years old as he was in that pizza parlor, would have to agree that this is a lot of (figurative) quarters.

But there Kali is with her big brown eyes and her oh-so-optimistic outlook. If dad’s got food there is a chance I’ll get some. If dad has quarters in his pocket there’s a chance for one more video game.

And Kali, like Michael, is right. There’s always another quarter. All you’ve got to have is a little moxie to ask for it, indirectly or otherwise. I love Kali like I love my kids. But as a parent there had to be some limits. And for Kali there needs to be limits too, right? Michael’s sad eyes staring longingly over at the giant Atari game. Kali’s beautiful brown eyes staring at my snack. Arghh!… Stay strong. Be mature, Be the voice of reason and discipline. Don’t lie. Be honest and say “yes, I do have another quarter but it is not in your best interest if I give it to you”.

Kali with her sweet brown piercing eyes and thought bubble over her head with a small picture of my son Michael next to it, “If I only had another biscuit”.

Me with a thought bubble over my head “Kali and Michael have been spending WAY too much time together”.

If I only had another biscuit

Honouring our rescue dogs.

September 14, 2015

This post I thought was worth reposting here on Golden Kali. We can say we’ll never forget that terrible day and the events that ensued on 9/11 but time has a way of diluting our experience and emotions. Let’s never forget the efforts by our canine heroes.

Source: Honouring our rescue dogs.

Pearly Whites

September 13, 2015

Earlier this week Kali had her world rocked! I think her brain short circuited for a short time evidenced by a few puffs of smoke billowing from her ears.

The morning started out normal enough: rise and shine at sun-up, head downstairs and go outside to take care of “business”, dad freshens the water bowls, come back in, perform histrionics while dad fills the bowl with kibble, and eat breakfast. But the bowl never came out and the kibble remained locked tight in the magic container.

Kali had a teeth cleaning scheduled for that morning at 8:30 am. Because she would be receiving anesthesia she couldn’t eat anything. So as I got my coffee and sat at the table to read the sports section all Kali could do was stare at me -indignantly- and wonder why I was not going into the closet to fill her bowl with kibble. As I sat down I could swear her head did a few Scooby-Doo-like swivels as her lips uttered, “Wha…?” To Kali’s credit she settled down quickly, stopped doing double takes towards the closet, and laid at my feet as I drank coffee and read the paper.

I brush Kali’s teeth ~~regularly~~, ~~often,~~…. I should be better about brushing Kali’s teeth. She’s relatively tolerant of my gauze wrapped finger in her mouth mostly because it’s slathered in liver flavored tooth paste (yum, right?). The biscuit interludes as rewards for being patient are also appreciated. So I should be better and more disciplined about brushing Kali’s teeth. When we changed vets earlier this year and Dr. Brenda was checking Kali’s teeth I say something like, “I’ve been brushing them often and they look pretty good, right?”. Brenda says, “Well the front teeth look pretty good”, and then she pulls back her lips (Kali’s lips, not her own) to expose the molars and says, “but back here she has some pretty bad gingivitis. You should get her in soon for a teeth cleaning”. So we got her in for the cleaning last week….

Later in the afternoon I go back to pick up Kali with great anticipation of what will surely be her pearly white teeth and a happy dog hungry and anxious use those pearly whites to chomp into a biscuit or two as a warm up for dinner.

Have you ever gone in for an oil change for your car and when you come back to pick it up the service advisor meets you at the door and says something like, “The front end is out of alignment and you have an emissions error on the computer. We’ll need to do some more diagnostics to see exactly what’s needed. It’s safe to drive for now but you’ll want to have these repairs done soon”.

Dr. Brenda comes out to greet me saying, “Everybody always get’s nervous when the vet comes out to talk to you, but don’t worry Kali is just fine”. I have to admit that when Brenda came out I thought something was up and began processing: if something had gone bad they would have called me, Kali’s ok, but why is Brenda here and not just the tech to say thanks and see you next time?…

Brenda explained to me that the ECG picked up Arrhythmia – abnormal heart rhythm – while Kali was anesthetized. More specifically, Premature Ventricular Complexes (PVC). PVCs, for those of you with inquiring minds, [from Wikipedia] “are characterized by a premature ventricular contraction without a preceding P wave, with a duration of more than 0.12 seconds (P waves dissociated from the QRS complex)”. OK – now I’m doing a Scooby-Doo double take, “Wha….”.

Brenda went on to say that Kali was fine throughout the procedure and never in any danger. Her oxygen saturation was well within normal limits and she showed no signs of distress. Still, Brenda being conservative and not wanting to take any chances will speak with a Cardiologist about Kali’s PVC. I also learned that Kali has a cracked incisor and also has a molar that is separated from the jawbone. Yikes! Another “procedure” that will preempt breakfast… But before the extractions we’ll need to make sure the heart is good and that the combination of anesthesia and the PVC is not a risk. That’s where the cardiologist comes in. Dr. Brenda says it could be nothing, or something that is very treatable, but she doesn’t like to leave anything to chance. This is why we like Dr. Brenda and the great care Kali gets at Livermore Country Pet Hospital.

The gingivitis is probably years in the making and the problem with the molar is likely related to that. The cracked incisor is a mystery. Kali has never exhibited any pain or discomfort while eating but then again, she’s a Golden and she’s Kali; never complaining and always wanting to please. She may or may not be in any pain when she eats but we may never know. Dogs have a great way of adapting to their environment and as an owner it can be easy to become complacent.

Oh yeah, and the PVC… Dr. Brenda will be calling this week after she hears from the Cardiologist and we’ll go from there. Meanwhile, guess who will be jumping head first into research about PVC, causes, and treatments? On the other hand it is what it is and maybe we’ll just sit tight and wait to hear from the experts before we get too much education on something that could be nothing. Paws crossed!

Hey – those molars look real nice now but what’s up with the sweat band on your leg?

The Merry Old Land Of Oz

September 7, 2015

Did Kali and I mention that Smokey was back? We may not have even mentioned that he ever left. He was gone for about three months while his mom (my daughter) was living somewhere else. Smokey decided he missed Kali too much so he moved back in and brought my daughter with him. Yes parents of adult children, you know how that one goes…. 😉

Upon his arrival he gave Kali the once over and decided she was a mess and needed a little grooming which he would do himself. It looked a bit like the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the cowardly lion finally make it to the Emerald City. Upon entering the city and stating their desire to meet with the great Wizard the residents decide Dorothy and crew first need to be spiffied up a bit. They proceed to clean then up in grand fashion while singing,

“Rub, rub here, Rub, rub there whether you’re tin or brass
That’s how we keep you in repair, In the Merry Old Land of Oz”

– From The Merry Old Land Of Oz

And this is pretty much what Smokey did when he re-entered his merry old land of Kali.

“Sniff sniff here, lick lick there, I’ll give the softest nibble
That’s how I keep you looking good and ready for your dinner kibble”

– From Smokey’s thought bubble

(Yes, very corny! But don’t blame me; Smokey’s responsible for the contents of his thought bubbles.)