365: And then there were four...

I still can't believe our little Stone is gone. All day long I've been looking around the house expecting to see him. When people would ask "How in the world can you have FIVE dogs?" I would always tell them that after 3 you don't really notice. While that is true generally, today having only 4 dogs has just been so...loud. The hole left in our family is heavy and big. This has pretty much been the stupidest day ever. The only thing that makes it better is the outpouring of love we've received from our family and friends from around the world. I know that everyone knows how important these dogs are to us and it means a lot that so many people took just a moment of their day to say kind things to us. I got 8 emails from my students telling me how sad and sorry they were (I cancelled class today and let them know why since I was out of town at APHA last week--I didn't want them to think I was just blowing off class). We gave ourselves the day to be sadder than sad; tomorrow we pick up the pieces and move on, but he will never be forgotten.

365: Old Man Scare

We had a little bit of a scare today with Old Man Moses. He woke up not feeling well and looking pretty run down. He's 13 years old and possibly has cancer so we know that at any time we could lose him. He refused food and water all morning and was having trouble getting around. We steeled ourselves for a long, hard weekend. And like he is wont to do, he seemed to turn a corner around 1 pm and is bouncing back. I got him to eat some Scooby Snacks and he started getting thirsty. By dinner time he was behaving almost like normal again. We still have it in the back of our minds that our time left with him in little and precious, but for now I'm glad that he seems to be perked up again. We just love this old guy.

Dog Dossier: Stone

Aliases: Stoney, Stoner, Big Boy, Brown Dog, Old Man, Handsome Boy, Stank Breath, Shit Eater, Snuggle Bug, Lovey Dovey, Little Yorkie, Tiny Boy

Back Story: Stone is the other brother that I adopted from my ex. He moved in when she moved in to join Daisy, Duke & I. Stone is a little older than Duke, by maybe a year or two (which makes him about 13 I think). Although they aren't blood brothers Duke and Stone have been together since Duke was born and they get along just like brothers. Sometimes I catch them licking each other's faces and nuzzling each other...so cute! And sometimes they get crabby with each other, but usually not too much. Mostly because Stone is a push-over. He is the lovey-dovey-iest dog you've ever met. He just wants to be petted and snuggled and sometimes to get crazy and play with his two little sisters. He is so wonderful with other dogs. Sometimes I'll look over and Daisy will be pulling on one of his front legs and Caramel will be pulling on one of his bag legs (with their teeth of course) and he just has a goofy look on his face and will let them play until he's had enough. Then he lets out the most ginormous WOOF you've ever heard and then he'll chase them down the hallway. The girls absolutely love that game.

We like to joke that Stone is actually a Yorkie. He was just somehow born into the wrong body. Kind of like being transgendered. In his mind he is a little, teeny lap dog. In body he is a giant 80 pound German Shepard that squishes all the air out of you when he lands on you. He can't understand why he can't fit in little bitty places that are not meant for his big body...but he tries like hell to fit anyway. He just wants to be loved and snuggled all the time, and we are (almost) always happy to oblige. The only time we hesitate is when he's just eaten a big old pile of poop and his breath stinks like WHOA. Yeah, that's one of his less charming qualities. I've asked the vet about strategies to stop that habit, but it just seems like he really, really likes poop so there's not much we can do about it.

Stone is the oldest of the dogs, but you'd hardly know it. Maybe it's because he's young at heart. Maybe it's because he's really good at projecting a little dog persona. Whatever it is, it's working for him. Sadly this year has been a rough year for him. He has some kind of mass-like tumor growing in his belly. It was causing some issues earlier this year but after several vet trips the side effects seem to mostly have resolved themselves. The only "treatment" would be to have surgery and open him up, but since there are no guarantees that anything can be done I figure it would do more harm than good to put him through all of that at his age. So we monitor him closely to see any signs of distress, and brace ourselves for the day we will have to say goodbye. I know it's sooner rather than later (he's lost 10 pounds since last year) so we're just trying to enjoy the time we have left with our sweet, sweet boy.

Likes: Hugs and kisses, his ears scratched, to lay on people, to sit on your lap, to pretend he is a tiny little Yorkie, to lay on things no matter how small, to sleep with his feet on the wall or just generally up in the air, to play with his little sisters, to pretend like he is so tough, chew on empty water bottles, eat poop, howling, squishing himself into places that are too small for him

Dislikes: getting his feet wet, having his feet touched, being outside for longer than 5 minutes, car rides, being alone

No he doesn't have rainbow junk...he's just been airbrushed for modesty!