Back Home

I'm just back from another visit to Aunt Paula's house where I was hanging out with my pack, including the likes of Marlin, Briscoe, Walter, Penny, Quimby, Monty, and Mylo.  Yup.  That's a lotta dogs.

That's me with my old old pal, Marlin.  We're checking out the new puppy, Mylo, and as you can see, he does not meet with our approval.  Puppies.  Ugh.  Just 'cause they're cute doesn't mean they get to take over your bed and your toys.

Or maybe it does.

Health Updates: Concerns & Curiosities

Carter's been having a rough couple of rough weeks.  For a few days, he was pretty much unable to walk.  This has been stressful and awful.  He was bad for a couple of days, then improved, and was bad again.  We had a couple of vet visits, and it was suggested that perhaps he was just having an arthritis flare-up.  But still, it's been very worrisome.  He'd have a great day, needing no help, and even be able to climb the front steps. Then the next day, he'd be rough again.  So Jake brought him to the vet for an x-ray.

Verdict: arthritis flare up, but more than his rimadyl can handle. He's going on a course of prednisone, starting Monday.

His knees and hips actually look good for a dog his age. The arthritis is in his lower back (lumbosacral). Apparently this is common in German Shepherds. Go figure.

The x-ray showed one weird thing. It's not causing him any trouble, but he's got a bb in his butt. It wasn't there in 2009, when he last had an x-ray. So somebody shot him in the last 4 years. Again, it's not and won't be a problem for him, but it's crazy messed up.  The vet was positive it was a bb. I suspect she sees it often. Just in case your misanthropy needed a booster shot. Sheesh.

All in all good news, no tumors or other horrors.

So, be on the lookout for jerks wielding BB guns.

I'm a WINNER!

So at this past weekend's Dog-a-Palooza, Bridget entered me in a raffle.  Readers, you know me: I am the luckiest dog in the world.  Guess what!  I won!  I'm getting a gift bag of goodness from Pete's Grain, an awesome local pet supply & grain store!  I am SO EXCITED.  Maybe I can even get a sponsorship deal with them!

Cheers!

Nom! Shortcake

I have a problem, and that problem is baked goods. If there are baked goods cooling on the dining room table, I will attempt to eat them.  Jake and Bridget seem to keep forgetting this.  But I am ever hopeful, ever vigilant.

And today, I won!

I got some shortcake!  It was awesome.  Bridget screamed. But I didn't stop.

I am the master of the baked goods.  No one can stop me.

Yes, I will pull down the tablecloth if I have to.  Yes, I will eat until I make myself ill.

But Jake, as long as you keep baking, I will keep attempting, by any means necessary, to eat your baked goods.  Bring on your cookies.  Bring on the breads.  I will eat them.  All.

Oh, also, yesterday, the whole family went over to Sue's condo building where they had this awesome Dog-a-palooza event, with proceeds to benefit my good friends at the Lowell Humane Society.  It was amazing.  I got SO MANY treats.  I also got my toenails clipped, which wasn't awesome, except for the fact that I got lots of treats.

All their treats are belong to me.

NOM.

Lowell Folk Festival Rocks!

Carter loved his day at the Lowell Folk Festival.  He really got into the spirit of it with his lei and all, especially since we got to see & hear Hula Halau 'o Keikiali'i at Boardinghouse Park:

We also caught a great set by Denis Pepin & Susie Lemay, who both play accordions and perform French Canadian music.  It was all wonderful.


Just like last year, we picked up our bag of compost from the previous year.

We went down to the Lowell Folk Festival on both Saturday and Sunday.  Both days were amazing.  We were especially into the food.  Our favorites: The Jamaican meat pies. Oh, and pretty much everything we shoved in our mouths.  Thanks, Lowell Folk Festival!  We'll see you next year!

RIP, our friend Dinky

I heard some sad news from the West Coast this weekend: my furry comrad, Dinky, passed away.

Here he is with Dean and Jake (and Nirvana's gold record) at Subpop.  They have an interview with Dean there, where he explains about moving to Seattle with Dinky in a bike trailer.  And they have a very nice obituary for him there at SubPop, too.

Dinky loved people, and people loved Dinky.  He was really just a totally awesome dog.

That's why they call it the Emergency Brake!

So this afternoon, I (Bridge) was being a model of efficiency.  In an effort to decrease the errand-running and bridge-crossing, I picked up Lucy a bit early from school, then together we picked up Carter from the groomer's, then all together, we went to Shaw Farm, where we usually go once a week to get our milk and eggs.

Here's what happened next:

We left Carter in the car while Lucy and I went inside with our empty bottles.  It was a quick exchange of empties for fresh full ones; we paid and headed back to the car.  Carter had clearly attracted the attention of the young man in the car parked next to ours, and they appeared to be entertaining each other quite well.  I asked Lucy to stay on the sidewalk, while I opened the front door of the car and put the eggs and milk inside.  She squealed with glee, watching Carter bound about the car, very excited to see us (you'd think we'd been gone for hours).  Carter was very worked up, and bounded into the front seat just as I closed the door.

I called Lucy, opened the back door, and popped her into her seat.  This is where things went crazy.  While I was working to get Lucy strapped into her seat, Carter was positively going crazy in the front seat, too excited to be still, just pacing and bounding and jumping.

Somehow, in all his chaos, he disengaged the emergency break, which sits in between the driver and passenger seat.  The car began to roll backwards, with the back passenger door open and me halfway inside, half on top of Lucy.

It was crazy.  The man in the car beside us jumped out of his car with a horrified look, but clearly wasn't going to be able to do anything.  Carter was jumping around, and Lucy was squealing with delight (she had no idea that rolling backwards, with no control, in a parking lot, was a problem).  I threw myself farther into the car, fumbled around a bit, and managed to grab the emergency break, pulling it with everything I had.  The car came to a stop, about a full car-length behind where it had started.

No damage.  Thankfully, no other cars were pulling in at that instant.

The man in the car beside us was shaking his head, his eyes wide.  He kept saying "I can't believe that happened!"  I felt the same.  He told me I should go buy a lottery ticket.  Hilarious.  A bit shaky, we drove home, with Lucy delightedly talking about how Carter drove the car.

So, let's add that to his resume: Carter the dog, the famous movie star, once drove a car.