This website is not supported by any particular brand, so it seems to share unbiased information on dogfood ingredients and nutritional information.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com

Telly - He’s had a wonderful year. During the summer of 2010, we chased a UTI all summer and finally got him infection free in Aug 2010. Telly has not had a UTI since then! I guess it took me three years to get that urine expressing down pat! I express him when he gets up in the morning and before I put him to bed at night. Telly’s care is a breeze I can believe that he’s 11.5 years old already and that in October, we’ll have had him for four years! Telly is a ‘blue’ dachshund, he’s bald, and is 12 lbs.

Jeau - If you recall, Jeau has chronic pancreatitis. In Feb, he had an acute attack and I started making 100% of his food. It seemed that even a small coffee scoop-sized amount of a 5 star dry food was still causing him issues? Maybe it’s the preservatives in it? Anyway, I am overjoyed beyond words that he has not had a single attack since then! He used to have one at least every week or two. Jeau is the longhair red, 18 lbs, and he’s 9 years old.

Linus - Good God, can you believe he had yet another surgery to extract yet another something stuck in his intestines?? Linus has been cut open stem to stern FOUR times now. It seems that he has a condition where his intestines stick together (adhesions). In a normal dog, if something is trying to pass, the intestines will give a bit to allow things to flow through. Linus’s intestines dont give on the loops. Even small things get stuck. And, he has also had some sore back flare-ups. Linus is the big smooth black and tan boy and he’s 8 years old.

Teena - Teena is just Teena! She’s Linus’s sister, but you’d never know it to look at her. She’s half his size (literally…she’s 11 lbs and he’s 21 lbs) and she’s a longhair. Teena is kinda neurotic and she’s a talker! Teena is a longhair black and tan and is also 8 years old.

Little Thing - Deaf and blind? Nobody told her! I can’t impress upon everyone how much fun it is to own a dog who approaches life from a different perspective. We love her so much! We would adopt another deaf/blind dog in a heartbeat. Thing is a smooth double dapple (white and red) and is four years old.

Blondi - She’s a crazy blond. At least she has started to accept Bob. She was supposed to be HIS dog! Of course, she claimed ME as her person. Fun fact about Blondi - she will forever have a piece of flotsam or jetsam stuck on the end of her nose. She is a forager, her nose is always on the ground, and it seems to have a magnetic attraction to everything! And then she just sits there with the piece of crap on her nose. She never makes any effort to dislodge it. Blondi is a longhair cream and she’s four years old.

“I hear that mom is FINALLY updating my adoring fans!” Telly

This pic was taken in late July 2011. Little Blue Dogs dont go outside very often when it’s hot (or cold)(or raining)(or snowing)(or dark) Ok, so, the Little Blue Dog is kind of a hothouse flower, no?

Yes, I am a Groupon junkie. I suppose that if the thing I’m buying is something that I use or buy anyway, then it IS a deal. But, if it’s something that is an impulse purchase, then, really, AM I saving money?

Wayyy back in the arctic month of February (why cant there just be a happy medium all the time? why is it either roast or flash freeze?) (Oh, I guess that place does exist. It’s called San Franscisco), I purchased a Groupon for Rainbow Artistic Glass. It was for a glass fusing drop-in class. They provide a 6″x6″ clear pane, all the colored glass supplies, tools, time, etc… and then will fuse the panel for you. It WAS a good deal! Regularly $29, it was $14. I bought two of them. One for me and one for…someone to go with me. Again, how did THAT save me money??

So, the Groupon was purchased on Feb 1, 2011. It expires on Aug 2, 2011. Notice the date on this post? Gotta love procrastinating right down to the last HOUR of a six month Groupon! BTW, almost ONE THOUSAND people purchased this Groupon. I would assume that many let it expire without going to the grand effort of getting there by today? So, I can see how they do make money. Plus, I plan on doing more than one design while I’m there. I think I’ll do the Nebraska Dachshund Rescue logo (might be kinda complex. guess I’ll find out soon!) and I’m going to do the Hearts United for Animals logo (a simple paw made out of hearts)

I’ll post pics when I get my ‘projects’ back. It takes at least 24 hours to fuse…add a few days for me to actually go there and pick it up. But, I have high hopes for success. Just how bad can I screw up melting colored glass? Even if it blobbed out, still pretty, right? We’ll see…

I remind the world about heartworm day, yet, my own kids are neglected and untreated. I suppose that Aug 2 will have to suffice. (note: I use Heartgard. No problems with any of the kids. Even my pancreatitis boy, Jeau, tolerates it well. I did have a great dane who got diarrhea from it. As long as I planned ahead and gave it to him on a day that I was going to be home all day, it worked out fine for all.) Hindsight being 20/20, why didnt I just give him the Heartgard AND pre-emptively treat him for diarrhea?? Stupid me. And my poor Baby has been gone for six years now. The gentlest giant on earth. :’(

You can read about Baby here - http://griefonline.com/tributes_b.htm (scroll down to Baby’s tribute) (BTW, I built griefonline in 2001 for Bob when he lost his heart dog, Molly. Ten years later and the site needs a revamp, but I would say there are at least a thousand tributes on there!) Bob still cant talk about Molly without welling up. I cant talk about Bob not being able to talk about it without welling up!

Yeah yeah, long time, no hear. Gotta start somewhere, right?

EVERYONE is doing great! This pic was taken in the doorway of our motorhome. OK, Telly’s not in the pic because he has his rear hanging out of a bed somewhere.

Guess What?

Telly Butt

If you peek under the other end of the blanket, here is what you see -

“HEYYYY…YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW I’M IN HERE. I’M HIDING.”  Sorry Tell-Bell…I wont break the bad news to you that your rear is ‘a bit of a tell’ regarding your location.

Since this IS Telly’s blog, I will let you know what’s going on with him first. The Little Blue dog is doing great! He had some UTI issues in late summer and early fall, but we’ve been infection-free for almost six months now. He spent lots of time outside this fall and summer. That boy loves to dig! We have moles and he is the only dachshund of mine that gives a rat’s ass about underground rodents. Uh, excuse me dachshunds? Isnt that the true purpose of a miniature dachshund? To hunt and dig out varmints? He’ll be ELEVEN this spring. LOVE this bratty picture!

Jeau - my heart and soul dog. AKA Don King. Jeau’s chronic pancreatitis keeps me up at night worrying. He has been doing fairly well, but, every episode destroys his pancreas a little bit more. Hearing him throw up in the morning means a bad day for me. He gets a tramadol for pain, a prednisone to help calm the pancreas, a pepcid to sooth the tummy from the steroid, and a Cerenia to help with the vomiting. Other than that, he is a very happy little brown dog. He is still a fiend to have someone throw a rock in the back yard. He is my special dog…the kind of heart dog that only comes along once in a lifetime. Jeau is 8.5 years old. In this picture, he was having a ‘bad’ day.

Linus - many of you may remember that Linus almost went down. He had a rough time with his rear end and we were prepared for surgery or a cart. Patience, crate rest, and just being lucky that Linus is a very sedate boy were all keys to keeping him from going completely down. He has appointed himself as my guard dog and he takes his job very seriously. He is such a little tank. His chest scrapes the ground. He is not a big fan of children. Linus is 7.5 years old. I wish you could feel his ears…they are soooooo soft!

Well, I will have to finish the other three kids’ updates later. It’s almost 1AM and I think I’m keeping Bob up. Little Thing, Teena, and Blondi will be posted tomorrow (later today, actually)

I saw this monster swoop through the yard and was careful to see where he landed. It is a humongous red-tailed hawk. I cant impress upon you how big this guy is! The photo was taken at almost half a block away. I would say he is all of 18″ tall or taller. I got out my telephoto lens to take this photo. He kept his beady eyes and 180+ degree swivel head directed at my yard. It was really cold out (single digits) and I feed the squirrels and birds. Hell, I might as well have rang a dinner bell for him. My biggest concern was for the wieners, though.

Granted, he probably cant pick them up. Well, maybe Thing, Blondi, or Teena could be lifted and dropped (a kill tactic) Another kill tactic is to just descend upon the prey and rip the guts out with that giant hooked beak and talons. Pleasant.

He sat in that friggin tree for three hours. I must have checked on him 100 times! So, yeah, I watched this predator…like a hawk.

Where is the connection? And some of you may wonder what Jimmy Johns is? Ok…Jimmy Johns is a popular sandwich shop that swooped into our area a few years ago and popped up on every corner like a Walgreens. Yeah, I really liked them. REALLY LIKED THEM. My beloved Quizno’s was never on the short list for a sandwich. It was always Jimmy Johns. Now, I am sick of Jimmy Johns. I was soooo craving a Quiznos turkey on Rosemary parmesan bread. My Quiznos was gone. Hmmm, try the one on the other end of town. Gone. Try the other one I know of. Gone. WTF? I found one in the phone book, but, it is not convenient to get to and I have yet to go there. So sad.

So, the connection. Telly’s blog fell by the wayside as the glitz, glamour, and friend-glut of Facebook called. It still has its place. But, I am much too wordy for those ever-present one-liners that are required on the “wall”. Telly’s blog = Quizno’s.

I think, for old time’s sake, I will make that drive tomorrow to Quizno’s. Maybe. It is smack dab in the middle of some prime shopping mecca’s…and tomorrow is Dec 21. But, I will get there soon!