Waiting for Snack...

Thanks, Siku

Our Prinnie received this award today from her best friend, Siku Marie. Prinnie has been so excited, because she will get to travel with us to Albuquerque to meet and play with Siku this summer. She's already begun to pack her travel bag, which consists, of course, of treats, some favorite toys, her portable water bowl and a few things she can't wait to share with Siku.

Back to the award. The purpose of the award is to serve as a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through our posts. The goal is to seek the reason why we all love blogging, so as we pass this on, we ask that you share the reasons you love blogging, and how it has impacted your life (I hope we aren't offending anyone, because we are changing it up a bit so that we can see a more personal side to your reason for blogging). Then tag and distribute the Award to as many people as you like.

We choose to send this award on to Sue at Random Ramblings and Val at My Boo Bear.

As for why we love blogging - it's pretty simple actually! Sue at Random Ramblings got us introduced to her blog, and we loved being able to see how she and her family were doing each day. We once were neighbors, but when we moved (with all of our crazy schedules) it was tough to stay in regular contact. The blog allowed us a way of sharing what was going on in each of our lives. Then it turned in to a perfect way to keep our east coast family up to speed on what we were doing. Finally, we've been so fortunate to gain lifelong friendships with some of you that we wouldn't have met otherwise.

My simple answer as to why we love blogging seems a whole lot more complicated now that I re-read this, but the reality is that we love you all, miss you all, and cherish the ability to have and keep you in our lives.

TGIF, everyone, and Thank You, Siku!!

Today, it's All About Dunkadoodle

As you know, our newest "kid", Duncan has quite a lot on his plate. He has food allergies, environmental allergies (to what we don't yet know) and a yeast infection. After a couple of weeks on a special hypo-allergenic diet, baths with an anti-fungal shampoo and several medications, things were looking up for the little guy. On Saturday and Sunday, we noticed that Duncan wasn't licking, scratching and biting himself. We were elated. Then Sunday night it all started all over again. He was scratching behind his ears, biting his back by the base of his tail, licking his you know what and his paws, sneezing and rubbing his face in his beds. When we woke up Monday morning, he had chewed a spot on his back raw. We were at a loss for what to do for the poor little dog. What on earth went wrong? We were faithful about only feeding him his special food, making sure he got his medications and bathing him per the doctor's recommendations.

Off we went for yet another trip to the vets office. Something had to give for him and for us. Though the vet didn't find any signs of fleas on Duncan, it was clear that something had bitten him on his back, under his tail by his rectum and on the side of his neck. The vet's thinking that perhaps it was something at the Duck Pond, either some errant fleas or one of several other biting bugs. We have monthly pest control and our other dogs don't have fleas. While we were there, the vet took some skin scrapings and checked for other parasites that can burrow under the dogs skin (like scabies). Thankfully, there weren't any, but now there's something else he's allergic to...bug bites.

We were sent home with yet more stuff to treat him with. He has Frontline because it not only kills fleas, but also the other biting insects. He also has an ointment for his hot spots that have a three pronged approach: an antibiotic, an anti-histamine and a localized skin number. And lastly, he now has a hydrocortisone lotion that we use on his coat like a leave in conditioner twice a week.

Because there is no way we can fully protect Duncan from the environmental allergens, and it's clear from his sneezing, face rubbing and paw biting that he has environmental allergies, the vet is highly recommending that we have him blood tested to see just what he is allergic to. Once the results come back, he will have to have allergy shots specifically formulated for him.

Geeesss. I don't even dare ask what else!

A Fun Easter Day

Happy Easter to you and your family!!

We hope you enjoyed your day as much as we did. Shar, the kids and I decided to go to Old Town Temecula to do a little window shopping, have a nice walk on this beautiful spring day, and just enjoy our family time. When we got to Old Town, all of the shops were closed for the holiday, so back in the car and on to the Temecula Duck Pond - another favorite place to take a nice relaxing walk.

This was the first time that the 3-pack had been to the Duck Pond, but we thought it worthy of a good college try. They all were nervously excited, but did really, really well. The two little kids were tethered together (as they are about the same size), and Digby was on his own lead. We didn't know how Prinnie would respond to the hundreds of ducks, both in the water and walking freely on land, but she was a charm, and stole the hearts of many onlookers.

We saw many, many ducks, a bunch of turtles, tons of birds, people and a few other dogs. Some pics of the day are below.....

Too Cute

How can you not have a good day when these three little faces are looking at you.....Duncan is wearing a monkey on his head, and Prinnie and Digby have fresh fur-cuts.

Thank You White Dog, My Friend

Prinnie has been given this Friendship Rose from her dear friend, Siku Marie (White Dog), another eskie that Prinnie can't wait to play with this summer. Honest friendships are hard to come by, and it delights us that our two families have created such a bond in this circle of life.

Thank you, White Dog.