Charlie - Early Morning Buddy

Charlie is my early morning buddy.   At 5:15 am he and I have our quiet time together.  After his breakfast and my coffee has brewed, he sits next to me or curls up on the floor by my feet.  I sip my coffee and have my quiet time with God.  When he sits like this I wonder if he is waiting for me to read aloud to him!  It is an amazing, refreshing time for me as I dig into God's Word and I am blessed to have a foot warmer sitting with me!

Gated Community

Riley, the family pet, now lives in a gated community.

Moving to this community was not a choice Riley made but one we made for him.

The gate in this picture is between the kitchen and hallway. 

We have to move the gate each and every time we go into the kitchen.

So I guess our whole family now lives in a gated community.

Poor Riley has been having seizures.  He was started on medication and thankfully had no more seizures.

Until two days before Thanksgiving.

His seizures occur only at night and both Tuesday and Wednesday nights he seized over and over again.  It was awful.

When his medication is adjusted up he becomes ferociously hungry and thirty.

Obnoxiously hungry and thirsty.

Which leads to him going Number 1 and Number 2 all over the house.

GROSS!!

We continue to make adjustments to his medications and until we feel he is under control, he lives in the kitchen.

In his gated community.

If you stop by the house and ring the doorbell, it make takes us a little longer to get to the door.

We have a few gates to climb over!

It is amazing the extents we go to for our pet!

Doggy Hospital

Riley had surgery today.
The poor thing hasn't been brushing
or keeping up on his dental flossing.
He had 10 teeth removed.
For the first time in his eight years, he is silent.
The neighbors must be wondering what happened.
Usually he is outside barking at the birds flying overhead
or at anyone walking in front of the house.
Tonight, however, he laid on the couch.
His food was soaked in water to be softened.
Blankets were arranged around him.
His antibiotics were given.
He was pampered.
Just as if he were in the hospital.
 

He slept much of the evening.
I do hope he gets some energy back tomorrow.
However, the silence has been golden.
He is an amazingly spoiled pooch!

Riley Posts

Hi, my name is Riley.  It has been awhile since I've posted.

SoAmazed and her family have gone on vacation

and I have a dog sitter staying with me.

 While my family is away, I feel a tremendous burden

to protect the family's property.

Let me give  you a quick overview

of all my responsibilities.

There is a chipmunk that jumps from the

deck onto the bird feeder.  I station myself

under the feeder and keep an eye out for

that little critter.

 Along the back fence I sniff for evidence of intruders.

 Even the slightest noise puts me on guard.  

I believe this picture was taken when someone

walked along the front of the house and I 

needed to see who it was.

 Inside the house, I can see out the front door.

I've been known to stand in this spot for periods

of time waiting for people to walk past the house.

 After the sniffing and patrolling, I do take a break.

Laying on the couch is allowed by SoAmazed 

so I know I won't get in trouble when she gets home.

 I miss SoAmazed.  Often she cuddles with me

on this very couch.

 After my break, it is back to work.

Standing on the deck, I check out the backyard.

 There was a disturbance that needed my attention here.

 My second favorite spot in the house is this chair.

I can stand in this chair for hours.

From here I can see any bird, dog or person

that moves outside.

 I take this job seriously.

I bark and bark and bark and bark and bark...

if I see movement outside.

Even if I sit, I have a great view.

 My kennel is a haven.

As I get older, I find that I enjoy

a little R&R in here even when I

don't have to go in.

When SoAmazed leaves the house,

she and and the family put me in

here.  If I don't go in here, I

get tempted to dig through garbage cans.

I guess I get bored...

 The dog sitter does a great job feeding me.

I love my food.

Does anyone have any questions about me

or what I do around the house? 

SoAmazed, would you please come home.

All of the extra patrolling 

and barking is wearing on me.

I miss my family!

I Think I Can...

The Dog was at wits end for a couple of days last week.

Over and over he circled around the cupboard.

 If The Dog could talk, I think he would be saying...

I think I can reach it...

The bread I had drying for our Thanksgiving stuffing.
Was, oh so tempting, to The Dog.

He would jump and jump and jump trying to knock the tray down.

He didn't make it.  Thankfully.

Riley Reporting In

Welcome!  My name is Riley and I'm the fluffiest member of So Amazed's family.  My first post was a little personal with bath pictures and all.  Today I decided to show you what life is like in the Frozen Tundra from my perspective.

First, can you tell in this outside photo, that I've had a haircut?  Why My Humans decided to have my warmth cut off just before The Big Snow, I'll never understand.  Here I am being told to go down the steps from The Deck.  Are they serious?  I love The Deck.  I'd just as soon not leave The Deck.  If My Humans don't shovel The Deck, I feel comfortable 'doing my business' on The Deck and then getting back inside as quickly as possible.  The Humans don't like my using The Deck in this way so they shovel it.  Forcing me...to...leave The Deck.

I will not bark too loudly about what My Humans have done for me in My Backyard.  A very loud machine that blows snow was carried up through the house and brought to My Backyard.  Oh the noise that machine made and the snow that blew around.  There was no way I was going outside during that chaos.  However, after the noise stopped, I let So Amazed know I was willing to go outside and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but paths.  Running paths in My Backyard.

This is actually, Pretty Amazing if I may say so myself.  My Backyard is like a play land and I can run on the Many Different Paths.  Don't I look tall in this picture!  This is my Stalking Pose.  There was a bird in the neighbor's feeder that I just knew was going to try to get in My Backyard and I was ready for it. 

One of my Many Paths brings me to the gate where I can see the front of the house.  In the summer, this is my favorite place to bark.  Every car, person, well, any moving thing I will bark at to let So Amazed know that something or someone is out front.  There isn't so much to bark at in the Frozen Tundra so I get a little bored at the gate.

Apples from the very top of the apple tree didn't get picked in the fall.  All to my pleasure!  When they hit the ground now, I enjoy trying to chew on the fruity mush.  I'm quite proud of myself in this photo.  It took all of my jumping skills to get on top of the snow.  It was treacherous, but someone had to check out that apple.

And after my several laps on the Many Paths, I head back up to My Deck and will scratch on the screen door to get back inside. 

Did you know that I am quite attached to So Amazed's Man?  She calls him, The Husband.  I call him My Human.  He scratches my belly.  He rubs my ears.  In the kitchen, I am faithful to be at his side because he drops crumbs every single time.  I will not leave his side because he needs me to clean up after him.  Attentive to My Human, that is my calling. 

There is a cupboard, in the kitchen, where my food is kept.  I will guard and protect that cupboard at all costs.  From the farthest point of the house, when that cupboard door is opened, I can hear it and I come running.  FOOD!  I love food...

My food dishes are not fancy and I don't care.  My nose fits perfectly in this old sour cream container.  You can pet me and you can talk to me when I'm eating but I really, really, really do love food.

I do have to be honest and confess that my love for food does not end at my Dog Food.  I will eat anything.  So Amazed has a tall container in the kitchen that I can sometimes push over or grab things off the top.  I hear her call the container A Garbage Can.  To me, it is the snack container.  See here, I had a wonderful snack and, unfortunately, I'm not good at cleaning up after myself.  The coffee grounds were not tasty.  For some reason So Amazed raised her voice at me when she came to the kitchen. 

My kennel is my sanctuary.  Sometimes I drag snacks into my kennel to nibble, chew and lick when I get the chance.

Well, I guess I got Long-Winded and rattled on long enough.  In a future post, I'm hoping So Amazed will post the video that she's made with me.  I am the next American Idol.  You should hear me sing.  But, in closing, I hope you enjoyed the glimpse into my life.  I'll leave you with another of my favorite pastimes....snuggling with Kidlet Three.  arrrrfffff....arrrfffff...bye!