Little stinker…

Haatim on Youtube!

You would think he doesn’t like me! Haatim actually licks my pet off!

Laughlin!

formerly known as “Leftie”

“dweller by the lake”

We picked Laughlin (pronounced Laak-lin) up yesterday in a whirlwind trip to the coast – He is spunky, brave, polite to the cats, and a big suck to me.  His daddy was the top cairn terrier in Canada in 2004… which really doesn’t matter at all except that the lady who bred him obviously took wonderful care and attention in cultivating good temperaments. He’s been like a little whirlwind through the house – constantly wanting to play and waking us up twice last night with jumps and licks and suggestive whines towards his toy on the dresser. I told Jrock that Hamish, who was half cairn terrier, was like this for the first four years.  He just raised his eyebrows, laughed, and looked exhausted already!

Enjoy the pictures and video from the first 24 hours.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i6R1VuksNg]

Well, we are off to get a new brother for Maggie tonight – “Leftie” was the viewer’s choice but we’ll have to see who the cocker spaniel prefers!

Speaking of the little devil – Maggie has always enjoyed the falling reminants from Jrock’s granola bars.  But she would never, for example, rip into the box of them in the pantry or anything.  She’s too polite.

But in the last couple of days, she’s found a new trick.  If I leave the pantry door open and unattended, she will go in there, get a granola bar out of the box, and then bring it to us to be opened and shared!  It’s a cute little trick, but instead of the granola bar, we just put it back and give her a doggie treat instead.  What a funny little puppy to come up with that. 

Here she is as she appeared in the family room last night!

Since our Hamie passed away, our house has been very empty feeling…. so we’ve decided to get a puppy to keep me and Maggie company, run around, chase the cats, eat our socks and pee on the floor.  Hmmm…. well, it comes with the territory.

So… here are the two candidates – 4 month old cairn terriers. [Edit: Both boys!] Which one do you like the look of best? 
Cast your vote by leaving a comment below.

Leftie?  – or – Rightie?

(…and remember to leave politics aside – this is puppy choosing, not the election, people )

Maggie LOVES playing in the garden hose.  She is a really good girl and waits patiently by while I water the vegetables, but when I say “ok” – she just goes nuts!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/gfRxNptiIYY]

Someone rubbed her nose against the wall I was painting

And again, later in the evening, Jrock was watching football and he let out a big yell.  Maggie came scampering down the stairs and curled up in the corner against a baseboard I had JUST painted – you should have seen it.   Her whole side was white! 

So she had a bath last night.

Two weeks ago we wrote that our dear dog, Hamish, was diagnosed with cancer.  It was a Tuesday when we discovered it, and Wednesday we learned that it had spread to his liver, lymph-nodes and spleen – making it inopperable.  The type of cancer couldn’t be helped by chemo.  He had been exrayed just two months before, and there had been nothing – it was really fast growing.  Really fast. 

On Monday he felt fine, on Tuesday he started to feel a little off, but by Saturday he was not himself anymore.  Despite all the painkillers and other meds, he couldn’t keep anything down, couldn’t walk much, and wasn’t even barking at skateboards or motorcyles. His last few days I took him for long walks in the chariot stroller down to the beach – he always loved the water and the wind.  Couldn’t swim worth a damn! but still loved fetching sticks with his knobbly little legs knee-deep in the water. 

Saturday, only five days after his diagnosis, he passed away in my arms.  Jrock and I were stunned and heartbroken.  We couldn’t write about it here – we sent an email to a few friends who would understand, and left town.  We took our very sad and confused cocker spaniel Maggie, who had never spent a day in 7 years away from Hamish, and left in our little RV trailer for Oregon.  It was our first vacation together (more than 4 days long) in 2 years, and we really really needed it, but we cried every day.  I don’t know what we would have done if we had stayed home afterwards… memories of Hamish are everywhere. I work at home, and there is such a silence right now, since we’ve been back… Maggie is a really wonderful little trouper but she’s so quiet, and quite depressed herself.

I miss his barks, his grin, his wagging tail, the smell of his fur, his tender little soul that would comfort me whenever I felt bad, and his crazy tongue licks that would somehow find your nose every time. 

He was my best friend.  I think this will hurt for a long time.

Hamish, my best friend, has been diagnosed with cancer.  It’s in his liver, spleen and lymph-nodes – and it’s appeared since his last Xray in May.  It’s the bad stuff – he only has 4-6 weeks to live if we are lucky.  We are devastated.  You may not hear from us for some time…

I don’t know how we will make it through this.  I have slept with him almost every night for 9 years.

We sometimes find our baby Haatim in the strangest place. 

Like… what is he doing here?

Just when you think that cats don’t like water…

Actually, I think he was spider hunting!  We do have a few in the house

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/17mooP-jIS4]

Some thing I already know about how Jrock and I will act as parents.  for example, J has a hard time maintaining any type of discipline.  In fact, it amuses him profusely to teach our cats and dogs bad habits.

Haatim, our boy cat, is a total carb addict.  He’ll take cereal or popcorn over fish or meat anyday – it’s crazy.  Anyway, every morning, while Jrock eats his cereal, Haatim sits up beside him and Jrock feeds him a couple of pieces of cereal.

I’m not sure who looks more pleased with himself.  The cat, or the husband.

Haatim is such a little sweetie, and he really does put up with a lot…

…like trying on the body bibs I bought for the kids from IKEA!
(I saw these bibs in action on a friend’s kid and boy, they are great!)

P.S. This is a terrible shot of me, but you only get one snap of a cat in a body bib! Anything for zee aart.

Our best little buddy Hamish gave us quite a scare the last few days.  Three days ago, he came home from the groomers (you can see his summer haircut below) and he was really down and out.  Really lethargic, and he didn’t want to eat anything.

Well, he got a lot worse, and the vet tentatively diagnosed him as having pancreatitis… which can be fatal if you don’t get it under control, and depending on which type he had. We put him on IV for 3 days and… finally…. he seemed to perk up and started eating. 

 
on IV in his crate                    Haatim, Vega and Maggie keep Hamish company

We think he’s in the clear now – I can hear him barking his head off outside, which is always a good sign  Poor little Hamie.  He’s slept in my bed almost everynight for 9 years – I can tell you I was an absolute wreck for the past few days.  Jrock was really distraught too – I don’t think either of us has slept much. Between getting up in the night to give him more antibiotics and crashing at the vet clinic during the day to keep him company, I’m a little bit of a wreck.  But thank goodness, he seems much better now.

 
beggin for food – a good sign                        

much more alert and perky, but still pretty tired

Hamish has this special little toy… we call him “Fox”.  That’s what he was, anyway, when we originally got him years ago.  He’s lost his ears and tail along the way, but he remains Hamish’s special little friend.  I kid you not – he actually takes him to bed every night, and licks him over in the cutest, most caring way.  Maggie, the Stuffed Toy Destroyer, doesn’t even bother Fox… so he survives the fate of the other stuffies. 

So… this is what Fox looks like….

Can you find Fox in each of these pictures? (I didn’t plan this but realized he snuck into enough of them to warrant a post!)

And Jrock catching us at nap time… there’s a lot of love in this family!

He’s exHAUSTED! but he did a really good job this year. 

Looks like we’re getting a refund – good dog!