Chance: Getting along okay

Hiya It is me Chance one of the oldest most handsome Border Collies in Minnesota.

I am getting along okay…I sleep alot and I don’t like to be by myself without my people. I have made a few attempts to play ball…but my heart just isn’t in it anymore.

I am still eating rice with boiled hamburger and a little bit of my normal food.  Far Side says I have soft poops…almost formed most days.  I cannot eat one of my normal foods yet…salmon and peas…uffda…nearly chased everyone out of the house and in the car they had to roll down the window. No more of that food for me.  Who knew salmon and peas made obnoxious gas…Far Guy tried to blame it on Far Side one day…us guys got to stick together.

Far Side took me to the groomer.  I got my butt shaved panty hair trimmed and my nails cut…I was only there for 15 minutes and then I got to come back home again. She was afraid that my nails were getting dangerously long since I don't run around in the gravel anymore and my nails were going click click on the floor and we have a grate right outside the door that a long nail could have gotten ripped out…or so she says… Yada yada…nail ripped out, blood all over, and a hurt dog, accident waiting to happen…blah blah…so my nails were clipped.  What ever keeps her happy…just for the record the panty trim was her idea too…

They trap me downstairs when they leave the house…they don’t want me falling up or down the stairs when I am by myself.  Part of the Dog Eldercare/ Nursing Home Program.  They don’t leave me all alone very often.

 

Chance: Improving a bit or not dead yet

I have been sicker than a dog…oh wait I am a dog.

Far Side made me some “stuff”  it is a doggy slush which she or Far Guy feed me every few hours.  It is Humming Bird Water (4 cups water and 1 cup of sugar brought to a boil) with some salt sprinkled in it…then they put it in the freezer and it becomes a slush….which I then eat out of their hands…eww sticky they say.  It keeps me hydrated and peeing.

The Vet says they are doing all the right things…the only food I am allowed is fried up hamburger that is boiled in hot water and all the grease squeezed out and white rice.  That diet is to continue for some time.  The Vet added a $10 pill ( they got four) that is to keep me from vomiting.  On Friday they will begin my antibiotic again….then add my other meds in if I tolerate the antibiotic.   Far Side had that plan in mind before they called the Vet.  I am so hungry now I will eat plain white rice…and not turn up my nose.

Last night Far Guy had a meeting so Far Side and I wandered around the yard.

She kept a close eye on me…mostly with her camera. She said “Chance don’t be eating ANYTHING in the woods!”

The walk tired me out.

Let’s take a nap!

I am so much better…but Far Side says I am not out of the woods yet.  The next 10 days will tell the story.  They want me to get better, they told me to get better.  My elderly digestive system may not be able to take medications to make me all better.

No matter how many times I go to the treat drawer I am ignored.  Can you believe it?

Chance: Not too perky

I didn’t perk up after Little Elvis and Miney visited…I stayed sleepy and down in the mouth.

I may or may not have had a small accident in the kitchen in the middle of the night…Far Side may have been dead to the world  sleeping real soundly and didn’t wake up for me….so if I did have an accident it is all her fault.  For the record I have not had an accident since I was a puppy…oh there was that time in Indianna that Joe and Sue forgave me for….anyways…

Went to the Vet and as elderly dogs do I have multiple problems.  It sucks to get old at least that is what Far Side says.

After the red and yellow tests… blood and pee work was done…I have a bladder infection, reduced kidney function but not alarming for my age, I am anemic no doubt from that bleeding hemorrhoid  or a small bleed someplace else, (this vet verified that it is a hemorrhoid), and my liver function is all whacky…lots of bilirubin stuck in my liver.  

I have three different medications to take twice a day.  The Vet says I should feel better by Tuesday or I should come see her again…oh and I lost 12 pounds.

Far Side hides all the pills in pieces of cheese, she says she hopes I don’t get pancretitis and puke all over in copius amounts.  She walks me in the middle of the night because I have to pee often.

The Vet says my heart and lungs sound great for an old Border Collie.  Far Side sighed and said “I suppose it is highly unlikely that he will just sleep away some night?”  The reply was “No probably not.”

A friend and me one day last week.

Chance: Company

I had company, they just got here and then they had to leave right away…one sleep and then they were off to the groomers.  After the groomers we got to spend another sleep and most of a day together.

They like my groomer.

Miss Miney

Little Elvis

There was one very unsuccessful photo of us together.

Far Side says it was a hot mess….my harness is off kilter and Miney is running away from the camera.

We used to play ball…not so much anymore.  Little Elvis chases squirrels. Miney and I just lay down and watch.

The harmonica was played…at least that was what they say…I didn’t hear it…Miney didn’t hear it. Little Elvis heard it…but he is not the most vocal singer.  It isn’t a chorus anymore.

I am still eating, pooping and peeing (outside of course) and sleeping a lot.  I go for at least two longer walks a day, if they get to be too long I go back home all by myself…Far Side says it is a good thing I still know where home is. 

Chance: Sharing

Hiya it is me Chance the most handsome Border Collie in Minnesota!

Far Side woke me up early on Friday morning and took me to the groomer…she said she was done trying to make me look good by herself.  I didn’t want to come out of the car and down the ramp at all…she had to yank on my harness and put one arm behind my butt to get me started…she said I was being a pill…well I just didn’t want to go inside that place.

It was a tough day for me and it tuckered me all out.  Far Guy picked me up all by himself. I had no problem going up the ramp for Far Guy. Far Side disappeared but showed up late the next day.  She checked on me in Facetime I guess…I was asleep.

That bird is getting a drink.

The bird could have stayed…I would have shared.

Most of the time yard patrol looks like this.

I get up when I smell something.

Then I bark..and scare Far Side who is sure it is a bear.

It was just a deer… I barked and it ran away. Far Side woulda got a photo but she was too busy looking for a big black bear not a brown deer.

I don’t hear much anymore, my eyesight close up is so bad that when I am given a treat it must be an open palm…I mistakenly can bite a finger and make people say bad word bad word.

When Far Side was gone, Far Guy fixed my food…he was eating too so I wanted what he was having so he let me smell of his dish and I grabbed a piece of muskmelon spit it out before going back to my own dish…that fruit stuff tastes terrible. So much for best buds sharing everything.

Chance : I like snow

Someone is too cranky to blog so I am taking over.

The snowstick stands at 13 inches there is little to no melting.

I like to lay in the fresh snow.  I can reach right over and get a snow snack.

perfect…I like snow

Even when it is on my face.

I hope if you have snow you are enjoying it as much as I am!

Chance: A Walk

Hiya!  It is me Chance the most handsome Border Collie in all of Minnesota.

Tuesday morning

The mail goes everyday.  They told me it is not there on Sunday but a little creative whinning and a bark here or there convinces them that a walk to the mailbox is well worth it EVERY day of the week.  We walk way beyond the mail box now. (They are making progress!)

Most of the time Far Side goes along. Far Guy and I are allowed to go by ourselves…but mostly she goes along to supervise.  She has Yak Tracks now…courtesy of her baby brother who wants to keep her butt off the ice and out of the snowbanks.

She makes funny tracks now.

Wednesday morning over on the snowmobile trail.  The snow is getting a crust on it so I can walk where ever I want.

Most of the time I wear my red harness,  but I have been known to run up the stairs without it on.  I do not come downstairs without it on and someone guiding me down the stairs…again…I whine if I want to come down when they leave me on the landing all alone and lonely.

The warm weather has brought the skunks out and Far Side is certain that they can walk on top of the snow too…so she is extra careful at night…she goes out first and barks to scare everything away before I am allowed outside.  She doesn’t care if that is weird.

I am feeling pretty good for an old guy and as long as I am not allowed to scarf up bird seed outside or anything but “Far Side approved” food I don’t vomit or have diarrhea.  Yeah me! I suppose I could fill you in on my anal fistula/tumor too…but maybe that is TMI.  Leave it to be said that Far Side keeps my nether regions impeccabbly clean. She must love me alot!

 

Chance: Update on my people

First of all I miss my sister, I would just as soon she move in with us forever….of course she could bring Miney and Little Elvis too!

I have been in a funk. The Fars have only left me one other night and that was a few years ago.  Far Side says I am getting older and get confused easily, home is safe and I like my routine.

My sister writes “Maybe Chance wants you to give him bacon strips, or pet him until you are full of hair, or play ball, or sit with him when he drinks water, or add ice cubes to his water, or help him go around scary corners, or not to leave the room so you can go to the bathroom, or make him brown rice with his food, or brush him, or put apple cider vinegar on his spots, or give him his bone treats! Or sleep on the couch because he can’t see you when you aren’t right next to him. Perhaps he misses his NEW favorite person.”

I guess my sister had fun important stuff planned like sleeping and a weekend with her friends.

Far Guy is a bit better, he tires easily. He has lost 11 pounds.  He is supposed to eat lots of protein. The medication he is on interrupts his sleep.

Far Side still has a bad cough, she is on preventive antibiotics.  She has NOT lost 11 pounds.  She sleeps when she can. She is tired too.

I sleep when I can too.  Far Side and I went to the mail box yesterday…that is the most normal thing she has done in awhile.  She even took her point and shoot and took photos of me.  Yesterday Far Guy said “Your blog didn’t post?”  She replied “I didn’t write one.” Soon she may be back to normal…one day at a time.

It snowed all day.  We had a nice walk, I lead she follows.

Chance: Waiting

I am waiting for Far Guy to come home.  Far Side says he is S.L.O.W.L.Y. very slowly slightly improving.  He is still in ICU…he has his own private nurse…she only had one patient all day yesterday.

Far Side brought his pants home…but he wasn’t in them.  Far Side said she helped get him washed up a bit and changed his jogging pants.  She also made him eat some food and drink lots of water.

The next time she went she took his shaving stuff.  She told him to drink more fluids and eat a little more food to get stronger.  He got up and walked a little bit without falling over.  He is real tired.

We all have to wait and have patience. I had to wait exactly 2 1/2 hours past my supper time for my supper and I was patient.

Chance : All about me

We got a Trail Cam just before Christmas, we can tell who comes and goes and how long they stay.  It has been pointed many different directions.

Mostly it catches me coming and going.  Helping to get the mail or feeding the birds or leading Far Guy around in the yard.

It also captures birds flying by, snow falling out of the trees and some weird glowing eyes at night and the Bunnies which I am not supposed to chase.

Far Side said she is amazed at the quality of the photos.

Yesterday was a get up at o dark thirty day, the old folks had to attend a class on Defensive Driving to save some $ on their automobile insurance.  They are pretty sneaky.  I got to go along but only as far as the groomers.  I got groomed and expressed and all those things that go along with a morning at the groomers.  I was very handsome but exhausted.   Everyone had a long afternoon nap after we got back home.

I still have some patchy dry skin problems.  I still have that nasty hemorrhoid/fistula/tumor too…Far Side likes the days that it totally disappears…but then it comes back again.  Now that I have been to the groomers my butt hair is much shorter, it will be easier to keep clean…or so someone says.  Far Side is real particular about my butt.  She says caring for an older dog is challenging and sometimes a crappy job.

I can go up the steps most days by myself, sometimes I need help and they put the harness with the handle on me.  I never come down the stairs by myself anymore.  I lay on the landing and when I want to come down I whine or bark…yes barking gets their attention, they bring up the harness and guide me down the stairs safely.  I play ball but not for very long.  I need help getting in and out of the car but I still like to go for a ride EVERY day!

Chance: Uffda

It’s me Chance…that handsome kinda sick Border Collie.  I don’t know what I ate…french fries with bad grease no doubt….and french fries are one of my most favorite foods.  They gave Far Guy and Far Side tummy aches.  I am older than them and my system is finicky.

I have pancretitis.  I have been as sick as a dog can be… Far Side and I spent almost one whole night together inside and outside…I barfed and barfed and Far Side almost barfed too.  She was a trooper and wouldn’t lay down inside when I was outside barfing and eating snow…she would come visit me outside…and make me come in and in twenty minutes or less I had to go back out again and again…it was a long night with almost no sleep. 

Well I tell ya what Far Side on no sleep cries easily.  She was worried…when Far Guy woke up in the morning and was briefed she said “I am going to sleep now…you are incharge.”  After a two hour nap she was still exhausted and bawling, I was still sicker than a dog so neither of us were in any shape to go with Far Guy up North to watch Adam’s Robotics Tournament.  So we stayed home…we napped and went outside and ate snow at regular intervals.  She brought my bed to the landing. She said “No stairs for you buddy.”

Far Guy came home and I looked better at least that is what he said. I felt better and started whining for some food…I ate some boiled rice and finally drank some water.  I am still weak.  I fell down the steps…Far Side says I have to wear my harness up and down and there is no fooling around with the steps and I am lucky I didn’t break a hip or a leg.  Far Side say she thinks I have escaped death once again.

Chance

Chance: Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday, I am thirteen years old today.  In eight weeks I will have lived with Far Side and Far Guy for 13 years.

I am getting old, feeling my age a bit but I still go for walks and I can play ball as long as I don’t jump in the air…Far Side just rolls the ball for me now a days. I take pills that make my arthritis better and I can go up and down the stairs most days.  I need help to get in and out of the vehicle.  I still like to go for rides.

Far Side says I am a little spoiled.  Now who really knows for sure.  I have plenty of food and special treats and a warm place to sleep and good company.

December 26 2004

This was back when I was so lonely at night that Far Side laid on the couch all night with one hand inside the laundry basket where I slept.

Someone put me in an airplane March 2005

Driving a boat  in 2006 probably on Lake Kabetogama

In a snowbank December 2008

Among the daisies 2009

Chasing water drops 2010

My magestic on a rock photo in 2010

 

2012 on a foggy October morning in Indiana

October 2013

October 2014

October 2015

October 2016

Happy Birthday to me!  This is my official 13th birthday photo. Not sure how many more birthdays I will have.  Far Side says everyday is a gift….hope my gift is a little bit of cheese …or some spaghetti squash…or peanut butter!

Chance: Hiya!

Hiya!  It is me Chance. 

One day Far Side said “He looks a little scruffy and I cannot clip his toe nails do you want to do it?”  Far Guy said “no” so an appointment was made.  I knew something was up when Far Side was up really early, got dressed in real clothes instead of her jammies and walked me in the rain all around the yard before putting me in the car…

Before

After

Either way I think I am still handsome!  I have less hair to fill up with burrs and prickly seeds.  Far Side says my fluffy tail was a leaf collector.

I am feeling pretty good, I still need some help getting into the vehicle, and sometimes I am a little SLOW going up the steps. 

A deer snorted at me yesterday…I chased it about 20 feet and then decided it could run way faster than me.   A bear was seen in the neighborhood..a big bear…I have not seen it.  Jody and one of my favorite people in the whole world saw it coming out of the corn field and into our woods.  Far Side said “Well that is scary now we have to watch for a bear again.”