The staples are gone!

Before I forget, I'm supposed to tell you that the results of my biopsy were good - just a fibrous cyst. All okay there, but it seems my body needs a lump in that place because I grew another one almost immediately. We couldn't tell if it was just the staples bunching up my head, but when I had them out last week, there it was, a brand new lump to replace the old one. Oh well. I seem to be a bit of a lumpy girl.

Mum says we're not going to worry about it, unless it starts bothering me, or gets bigger. To help my head heal, I've been getting some energy medicine treatments from Mum. See the special staircase I've got to help me up onto the treatment table? Actually, Dad was supposed to be getting a treatment here. I was just keeping the table warm for him.


Mum had a friend visiting this week, so we had to take her to one of our favorite places at the creek. She takes a lot of photos, so for once, there are some with me and Mum in them together.

Can you spot what is in this photo above?

These are my paw prints when I got out of the water.

Before I was allowed in the water, Mum called me over and gave me "the talk".

It's hard to listen when you just want to get to the water, but I did my best.

I had to promise I wasn't going to go near any stinky critters, and that I would come back as soon as Mum called me.

I managed to keep one of the promises. We didn't have to call Dad to come and take me home in his car.

Hip Hop Pup

I've been doing some research for my new career as a dog rapper. I haven't been able to master some of the beat box techniques yet, but I've got some kick ass lyrics. (Oops, Mum says I shouldn't say words like that, but I think you've got to sound tough if you're going to be a rapper dog). It looks like there isn't a whole lot of competition.

Thanks for the suggestions for my rapper name. Here's what we have so far:

• Lil RuAZ, suggested by Khyra 
• Tenacious Barks-a-lot, suggested by JackDaddy
• SpareChange, suggested by KT and Lady 

Anyone else want to suggest one? When I'm rich and famous, I'll give you a mention in my credits.

Mini-break in the country

 

Mum's going away this weekend, to the place where Jack and the Tall Guy live. She's going to be learning some super special techniques to make peoples' bad backs and hurting necks go away.

So I'm a bit blue today. But later on, Aunty Julie is coming over to take me for a walk and give me my dinner, and then I'm going on my own mini vacation to Cornville! Okay, so I don't think Cornville is as fancy as the place my mum's going, but I'll get to stay with my friends Babushka and Toma, and their mum and dad. And they have grass! 

Dad is going to be working, but he promised to come and get me on Sunday. I hope he doesn't forget.

Want To See My New Piercing?

Do you like my new eyebrow piercing?

There are just a couple of staples in there at the moment, but Mum says I can have a stud.* I'm also going to have a new rapper name. Got any suggestions?

*Note from Mum: I said nothing of the sort. Ruby had a tiny lump removed that is currently being biopsied. The staples aren't the most endearing look, but will have to stay for 14 days.

Oops, I Did It Again!

I had a special day out with Mum and Dad this week. They took me to one of the creeks we hadn't been to yet this year. It's a bit of a drive, and a bit of a hike, too, to get to the good place. We took a picnic and found the perfect spot under the trees, where the creek is wide and clear and the swimming good.

We had the place to ourselves, and knowing how much Mum and Dad like to be on their own, I thought I'd help out and make sure no one else came down to our spot. What a great idea, I hear you say, What a thoughtful pup! Ruby's Mum and Dad must be so proud of her! You see, I knew you'd all agree with me.

Well, here's what happened. I discovered Mr Stinky was taking a nap in the bushes, so I went down there and roused him out of his slumbers. Quick as a flash, he turned his butt on me and shared some of that amazing perfume - the stuff peoples don't seem to like at all. I rushed back over to Mum and Dad to tell them about it and show them what a thoughtful girl I am. You're with me on this one, right? I know! It was a pure stroke of genius and they would shower me with love and affection.

 Good and stinky. That should do the trick!

Now, brace yourselves for what happened next, because there was suddenly a very strange turn of events. Were they happy? No! Were they grateful? Not one bit! In fact, everything went downhill from here.There was a lot of yelling. Mum and Dad ran as far away from me as they could. They actually RAN AWAY from me! Next, they ordered me into the creek and made me stay there for hours and hours (note from Mum - it was only about 30 minutes). There was no petting, no heaping of praise upon me, and worst of all, absolutely no treats. We didn't even eat the picnic!

 

Uh, no one wants to come and play with me?

Instead of staying at our wonderful picnic spot, we all marched back to the car, where Mum proceeded to wrap me in the picnic blanket and told me I wasn't to move for the whole ride home. The rest of the day is a blur of being hosed down and washed with various concoctions until Dad finally declared that I was okay to come back in the house.

I don't know. You try to be a good pup with your peoples' best interests at heart and look what happens. Think I'm gonna move to Texas!

Spot the Difference

I know a few of you out there don't like to see these sorts of pictures, but I need some help. Can someone please tell me, what is the difference between this...

And this?

Yes, this bright, stripey one is pretty scary isn't it?

That first one is a snake that was in our courtyard a few weeks ago, and Mum was very clear that I shouldn't go anywhere near it. So when I spotted this stripey one in the massage room, no less, just as Mum was about to start working on a client, I thought I'd better tell her about it. She obviously hadn't seen it, even though it was sitting RIGHT NEAR HER FEET!

I tiptoed over, but jumped back when it looked like it was going to strike. (Just a couple of days ago we saw a rattlesnake on one of our walks. I nearly jumped out of my fur when it rattled at me, and Mum said it was ready to strike, so I had to go on my leash and stay well clear of it.) This stripey one wasn't making a sound, but it sure did look shifty lying there all coiled up. And I'm pretty sure I saw it move. You'd have been scared too, right?

Well, it turns out that this sort of snake isn't one to be scared of at all. It's called a skipping snake and is the kind you can swing around and jump over. That's the only sort of snake you can do that with, so Mum says you shouldn't try this at home with just any snake.

So, how do you tell the difference? I've no idea, so be safe, peoples and puppies. I say, if it looks like a snake, stay away!

And a good time was had by all

Boy, does that vacation seem a long time ago! Like it wasn't even this summer. I don't know why we couldn't stay there all the time in those nice, cool mountains. Now I'm confined to the house most of the day as it's HOT and STICKY here. I don't like it one bit.

You're probably wondering if we chased off that coyote yet. Well, it's still around, but hasn't been too bothersome recently, which is good, because the Fish and Game people have been a bit busy with another visitor.

This guy doesn't live around here anymore.

But let's get back to my vacation.

Of course, I got to ride in the front seat most of the way. It's my favorite place to ride, even though my travel bed is in the back, I just go there if I'm really tired. That's usually on the way home. Actually, I think Mum should ride in the back because she takes up more than her fair share of the front seat when she insists on riding in it with me.

Some of the time I do have to be in the navigator's seat, helping Dad by keeping my eye keenly on the road, and my paws pointing the way. You never know when I'm going to have to leap to action and take over the driving.

This is where we camped, near the lake. I had my very own special camping table. Yes, it's true. The keen-eyed among you may have noticed this is in fact my ramp for getting in the back of the car. Apparently, it weighs quite a lot, and took up some of the luggage space Mum and Dad had reserved for (in my opinion), frivolous and unnecessary items. A second cooler for wine and beer, for example - see what I mean? Who needs that? Anyway, it meant it had to serve double duty.

I could have run for miles on the mountain. This is the place with the biggest meadow in the world where we went last year. You can't even see how big it is in this picture. I think it would take me a whole day to run from one end to the other, but I didn't get a chance to find out. Mum insisted on keeping me close by, because we saw a bear on one of our trips up the mountain road. I've never seen a bear, but I smell them a lot when we're up there.

Although there are lots of lakes where we go camping, no one is allowed to swim in them. They're for fishing only. I love to fish, so it seems a bit unfair. To make up for not getting any water time, on the way home, we spent a whole day at the creek with the blue/green water. I swam and swam, and fished and fished, and finally got so tired, I had to find a shady spot on the beach to recover.

Now, that's what I call a vacation!

Bringing in the Big Guns

If you've been reading about my adventures for a while, you may remember me mentioning a certain coyote I've had a few tangles with from time to time. Well, it's been almost 2 years now and Mum and Dad have decided it's time to bring in the Big Guns.

I think it had something to do with a couple of incidents recently. A few nights ago, the coyote dared to come to the front terrace and take me by surprise while I was having an early evening snooze. It actually tried to come up over the railings, but I was having none of it and a ferocious battle ensued through the bars. Dad came running out to see the coyote on its hind legs, reaching up to the railing. I haven't been allowed out on the terrace at night on my own since then, and that's a sad state of affairs, as you can imagine. I can't defend my territory, and I know that coyote has just been swanning through the bushes and leaving its scent all along the side of the house.

Case in point, two mornings later, Mum and I went on our early morning leash walk. She lets me decide which way to go, so we hurried to the library, because I could smell the coyote had left some fresh scent in that direction. Little did Mum know quite how fresh the scent was. I was just catching up to the latest smells and realizing we were getting nice and close when we heard the familiar "yip, yip, yip" and the coyote popped out from behind a bush. Talk about mad! I was beside myself and took the opportunity to use my nifty slipping out of the collar trick. That always gets Mum yelling at the top of her lungs and chasing after me.

We got a pretty good run through the field of foxtails and under the barbed wire fence to the little park at the bottom of our street. I was just about to nab it when our neighbor came out holding her little dog and the coyote managed to slip away. My Mum has always taught me good manners, and I thought it would be rude to rush on past without stopping to say hello. Besides, the neighbor lady was using that sweet, high-pitched voice to talk to me and I can never resist. Plus, I wanted to get a closer look at the little dog tucked under her arm. So I changed tack and set my butt to wiggling, edging up to them for some pettings, and possibly a yummy treat.

Mum, as usual, was lagging far behind and had to sit down when she reached us. She was saying something about me giving her a heart attack.

Dad had been out in the car looking for us, because he'd also heard the yip, yip, yipping from up at the house. He got on the phone to Animal Control, who decided this was a job for Fish and Game. That sounds like a whole lot of fun to me. Fishing is one of my favorite pastimes, and I'm up for a good game any time. This game is called Operation Intercept and Intimidate. They've assigned me a personal assistant called Lee, and together we're going to show this coyote what's what. He knows all the sneaky coyote tricks, so I think we're in with a good chance for success.

I'll tell you more about it when I write again. We're off on a camping trip for a while as Mum and Dad said we all need a good rest.

By the way, what do you think of my recent pedicure? It's supposed to keep the foxtails out of my toes.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you about Dirty Harry. I'm so glad he showed up for this photo, so Mum and Dad can stop blaming me for eating the bird eggs. No time to explain now. I need to oversee the packing and make sure they're taking enough treats for me. See you when we get back.

A Visit from Major Brushing and Colonel Groom

Mum says I look like a scruff bag and need to have a Major Brushing. Dad suggested we have Colonel Groom come along too. Have they been to visit at your house? Mum said we need to have them here because of all the foxtails and filaree seeds that have suddenly appeared. They keep getting stuck between my toes, and even though I try to pick them out, my fur just ends up a gooey mess from all the licking and I have to ask Mum to help. She said I look like a scruff bag and will need to have the fur trimmed back on my paws. I hope it will help. Those foxtails are nasty.

I thought you'd all like to know that Juanita is doing very well and is back to her old self after her scary adventure and losing her dad. Chasing rabbits is a whole lot of fun, so I think she's happy now. She's living with an animal doctor, so must be well taken care of.

I got a couple of awards a while ago, so I think it's time to post them (that's what Mum said, anyway).

Joanne Fox from A Zigzag Road in the UK gave me this Beautiful Blogger Award:

and the Sunshine Award came  from Wrigley:

I know there are all sorts of rules about these awards and what we're supposed to do with them, but we're not much for following rules and instructions in our family. I'm really happy that you gave them to me, though.

Now I'd better go and get ready for my important visitors.

Fit for a Princess

Mum has a special little chair in her bedroom where all her stuffed animals sit. Note they are HER stuffed animals and I'm not allowed to play with them. How mean is that? There's Kaali the koala , who's been with Mum her whole life, Little Ted and Even Littler Ted, Puppy, Donkey, Lamby, Owly and Peter the possum puppet who came here all the way from Australia. And then there's Bradley the Rabbit from India, who takes pride of place right slap bang in the middle. Doesn't he look silly? That chair is way to big for him! And what are those other guys doing looking at him like he's the king or something.

Yesterday, when no one was around to pay any attention, look what happened...

Oops! Those poor toys all took a tumble...

so I thought I'd try that chair for size. Just perfect!

I always knew that chair should be mine. I am a princess, after all, and every princess deserves their own throne chair.

A Sad Tale

This puppy was alone at sea for 16 days. Her name is Juanita and she was sailing with her dad who is the brother of our friend (Thandi's mum) here in Sedona.

It's been a very sad time for us all, waiting to hear news. The night we heard her dad, Paul, was lost at sea, a dog came to my mum in the dream to let her know that she was lost and needed to get back to her people, but even though everyone looked for the boat, they didn't find it for another two weeks.

I think Nita was very lonely on the boat all that time on her own and couldn't understand what had happened to her dad. Thandi's mum had to go on a long trip to the place where Nita the puppy is now so that she can make sure she is looked after by someone, now she doesn't have a dad any more.

Nita was a very brave girl to spend all that time on her own. Luckily she had food and water, and a comfy bed to sleep on. Here are some more pictures of her being rescued from the yacht.

I like going to the seaside, but I don't think I want to go out in the middle of the ocean in a big storm.

Please give your puppies some extra rubbles and huggings today, and send some love to all the people who are missing Nita's daddy.

Wordless Wednesday (Almost) - Birthday Edition

I got snow for my birthday, and lots of it! Mum and Dad had it delivered overnight right to our house, then we went on an outing to where it was snowing a lot and the snow had gotten really deep. It was the best birthday present ever!

10 Years Old and Still Getting into Trouble!

Mum call this one of my "butter wouldn't melt" photos, and says that looking at me here, you wouldn't believe the trouble I've been in recently.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember me mentioning a particularly bothersome coyote that stalks our neighborhood. I wrote about it here. I haven't seen too much of him this winter, that is until about a week ago. Dad took me for my first walk on that day because Mum was teaching a class and had a lot to do. Usually, when Mum takes me in the morning, we walk around the neighborhood and I'm on my leash, but Dad thought it would be nice for me to run around, so we went to the trail instead. Well, we certainly got to run around, but I think it was a bit more than Dad was expecting.

"My" coyote was up there and we spent an hour chasing each other back and forth all over the place. Dad was very mad at me and was trying to keep up, but I was even madder at that coyote. Dad got very muddy and I got very tired. Mum and Dad gave me "the talk" when we got home, and the next day I could barely walk.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm going to be 10 years old. Apparently, that means I'm supposed to be more dignified and not go around getting into trouble by chasing coyotes or barking at javelinas. I have been trying. Especially since Mum and Dad said they would take me on a special outing for my birthday if I was good. I'm keeping my paws crossed that I've been good enough.

Working the Boo Boo

Mum caught me licking my shoulder boo boo this morning. When the vet's called to check up on me, they said I should wear a T-shirt.

 

So here I am in one of Mum's work shirts (because the color matches my collar).

 

 I've had to keep it on all day, even when we went to the creeky place, although Mum warned me about not getting it wet. Yeah, right!

  

 I'm supposed to be resting up today, so all I was allowed was a bit of "stick".

  

The T-shirt didn't cramp my style too much. This stick was about 5' long and I made a good job of showing it what's what.

 

Thanks for all your kind comments. I took your advice and have been making sure Mum and Dad remember at all times that I've got a REALLY BAD owie and need lots of treats to make me feel better. I do have some extra special treats that the vet gave me to take away the hurty part and make sure nothing nasty grows in the owie patch. I get extra chicken with them.

Jack, please tell the Tall Guy he should definitely learn how to do the arm pushy thing. Mum says it's called surrogate energy testing and it was my friend Donna Eden who taught her how to do it. Mum teaches it to other people in Sedona and sometimes does it on their puppies too. It can help your peoples know what food is best for you, or what food gives you an upset tummy. If you're feeling poorly, they can find out what's hurting. Of course, if they just listened to what we're telling them all the time, they wouldn't have to do all this, but there you go.

The Most Expensive Cactus in Sedona

 

This is a very expensive cactus spine. It cost $139. Mum says she's going to frame it. I think it cost so much because it's very old. It's been in my shoulder for ages, apparently. That's why my leg has been hurting and I couldn't jump in the car. Everyone said I had Are-Fright-Us. Today, it hurt a lot and made me limp so I had to pull out all my best communication skills to let Mum and Dad know about it. 

I couldn't reach my shoulder, so I licked my paw. They looked and looked, but couldn't find anything in my paw. I could have told them that. Finally, Mum decided they should do the arm pushy thing. It's a funny process, but I humor them because they don't seem to be able to hear a lot of what I tell them. Mum touches me somewhere and Dad pushes against her other arm to see how strong she is. When she's not strong, it means there's something up with the place where she's touching me. After lots of pushing and touching all over my leg, they found there was something up with my shoulder. That's when Mum found the cactus spine. But it had been there so long it was right inside and poking in the muscle.

That meant a trip to my vet, Dr Ford at Canyon Pet Hospital. He wanted to do something called Anna Sees Ya so he could have a look inside my shoulder and take out the hurty thing. Mum didn't want him doing that because it makes me sick, so he said if I was a good girl and could be very still, he could do a local. He and the nice girl with the treats took me to another room and told me "Check!", which means I have to lie very still while they look for cactus spines and burrs. I couldn't feel anything they were doing, but there was a lot of poking around and then he did some sewing, which seemed a bit strange, but he was a nice man so I didn't make a fuss.

Here's how my shoulder looks now after the sewing. I have too much fur for the sewing to look good, so the girl shaved a little square to show it off better. I think it shows up the stitching rather well, don't you? I only get to keep it for about 10 days, so I'll have to make sure I have all my friends over for a viewing. I thought you'd like to see it too, so here's a photo Mum took when we got home. It's a cruciate stitch, which is quite fancy. I would have preferred a purple thread, but there didn't seem to be a choice on offer.

 

 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more serious matters to attend to, such as making sure Dad doesn't forget to give me some of his dinner.