Half-Way

Happy Sunday afternoon, friends.  We have reached Summer of 2020 and the mid-point of the year.  It seems crazy that we are 6 months into this year and it is hard to believe all that has happened so far.  If all had gone as planned, the girls and I would have been returning from a vacation to the Canadian Maritime Provinces today.  But as we all know, nothing had gone as planned this year.  

The last week has been fairly quiet and relaxed.  My work week was filled with a virtual conference Tuesday through Thursday.  Each day started with time for a morning activity and involving the girls in our daily theme before the conference started.  

Each day for our morning activity, I took the girls on a nice walk.  Peaches, Piper, and I averaged about three miles each  morning(and usually did an additional short walk in between the conference and happy hour), and we allowed Maddie to join us for small portion of the walk each day. Our walk on Tuesday included a stop at Rotary Park off of the Riverwalk downtown to capture our beach day photo for the day.

During lunch each day, I took the girls out for a little time outside.  They were so well behaved each morning and the mid-day break helped Piper remain relaxed through the afternoon sessions. 

After 6 hours of virtual meetings and a nightly virtual happy hour, I was happy that the girls and I had gotten in our walks for the day early so that we could just sit outside and enjoy the beautiful, mild weather that we had this week.  

I don't know if the girls enjoyed the sports fan themed day on Wednesday, but Maddie has years of experience with me forcing her to do silly things  so she did great.  She even gave me a big smile while I was getting ready for work

I was so impressed with how well Piper did each day.  Most days, she and Maddie were close by while I was in meetings.  Peaches preferred to be in the living room on the look-out for the Mailman or strangers who might happen to walk by throughout the day.  

On the final day of the conference, I took Piper for a nice walk before heading home to spend some time in the yard with the girls playing a little ball.  

After a good bout of fetch, I harnessed all the girls and took them all for a quick walk around the neighborhood.  Piper had a little extra energy that morning, so I was working hard to work off some of that energy.

By the end of the walk, Maddie was tired...although I think Piper and Peaches would have kept on going if I had let them.

By lunchtime, the girls were ready for a nap in the sun and I was happy to get out and enjoy some fresh air.  Three days of meetings is tough!

By 5pm on Thursday, I think we were all happy to be done with our conference, but I can't say enough about just how good the girls were through the whole thing.  While they have been fairly good for me while I've been working from home,  I was prepared with Kongs of frozen peanut butter, bully sticks, and a variety of other entertainment in order to keep them occupied if needed, but I never needed any of them during any of the three days of meetings.  

This week I think Piper has progressed more than any other week since I've had her.  She's finding ways to occupy herself more and more and she is much more likely to relax  in the middle of the day, even if I'm moving around...while she is still likes to follow me, she is no longer a constant shadow.  We've also made some small gains in crate training which has been nice to see.  While I don't think she'll ever love being crated, she has been able to relax a bit while there and that is great progress.  Friday we had some decent thunderstorms move through our area and I was really proud of how well Piper handled the storms.  While she isn't crazy about them, as long as she could sit next to me, she eventually relaxed and fell asleep.  

Saturday, we spent a quiet day at home with several rounds of fetch in the yard, and I finally broke into the bully sticks so that all of the girls could have a special treat while I did a few things around the house.  Maddie was happy to enjoy some time on the patio while Peaches and Piper ran around the yard and kept themselves busy.

Our Sunday has been peaceful, accept for the occasional discussion I have to have with Peaches and Piper about not getting into the garden.  Peaches is especially struggling because there are sparrows and bees that have been frequenting the area and she is sure that she needs to chase them.

Piper was content to play ball while I tried to read in between throws.  We're working on getting her to let go of the ball when she brings it back, but that's going to take some more work!

And Maddie was happy to relax on the patio again  It was a great morning to spend time outside before the excessive heat moves in to the area.

And eventually, even Piper decided to lie down and just let me read my book.  It was a great start to the day!  

We've had a really nice day at home and the girls have let me get in some time for myself, which is always appreciated.  I'm now rested up and ready for the week ahead of me.  Thankfully, this week will be a short work week for me and we have some fun plans for next weekend!  I hope you all have a great week.  

Tails from Quarantine: Episode 8

We have reached the first day of Summer and, while we aren't quarantined in the same way as we were months ago, we are still dealing with the Covid pandemic and are slowly beginning to reopen here in Michigan.  Many other States across the country have been fully opened for a while, and some of those areas are seeing a spike in the number of Covid cases.  I'm hoping that the fact that Michigan stayed closed longer, will prevent us from having a similar spike and end up locked down again, but only time will tell.  In the meantime, life will not return to normal for a while still and we will continue to make the most of it.

Earlier this week, Piper had her spay surgery and is now officially available for adoption. Her surgery went well and, while she spent the day at the vet, the rest of us enjoyed a very quiet and peaceful day at home.  I was up early Monday to drop her off at the Vet's office by 7:15 am and I was home before 8am.  I had a busy morning of work and spent my lunch giving Maddie and Peaches each a walk of their very own.  I even took a little walk all by myself before picking Piper up from the Vet after work.  Piper came home from the Vet a very groggy and tired girl and spent the rest of the night resting.  

On Tuesday, Piper remained calm and quiet, still feeling the effects of her surgery.  She spent most of the day resting with short trips outside, and we all had a pretty relaxing and quiet day.  

I figured by Wednesday she would be back to her crazy self, making it impossible for me to keep her still to continue her recovery, but I've been pleasantly surprised this week by the fact that she seems more relaxed overall.  She has been resting quietly in the mornings while I work and, after a kong stuffed with peanut butter or some other chew to occupy her mid-day, she will settle down nicely for the afternoon.  By the time my work day is done, she's definitely ready for a nice walk.  With the hotter weather and the fact that she just had surgery, we've been limiting our walks to two miles, and I've been thankful that that has seemed like enough exercise to keep her happy since she can't run or play as she continues to heal.

Now that she is over 5 days post surgery, I can tell she is really starting to feel better and she just wants to run, but we have a few more days before that can happen.  Today has been a hard day for her because she has had to watch Peaches run around the yard and she wants nothing more than to play with her.  It has been a challenging day for me trying to keep her from playing because I hate to discourage her after it has taken her so long to really want to play. 

This week as also been a great week for Peaches.  She has enjoyed the wonderful sunny days all week long.  She spends most of her days outside sniffing all corners of the yard, chasing bugs and birds, and lounging in the sun.  She comes in the house pretty begrudgingly any time a make her come in.  I love watching her laying in the yard just soaking up the sun every day.  I'm even a little jealous of her!

Maddie isn't made for the hot weather, so she has spent most of her days lying on the dog bed in the office or following me around the house whenever I may move.  She has been getting out for some short walks with me every evening and has been enjoying them quite a lot.  They have all been no more than 1/2 a mile, but I have enjoyed them too.  I always love seeing how happy she is when she's out exploring.

We have settled nicely into our routine and I am happy that things are going so well with Piper now.  I'm hopeful that soon she'll be able to find her very own home.  While she has been a challenge(and still has some challenging days), she has really turned into fun little girl and it's been nice to see her relax and enjoy life as a dog.  

Tails from Quarantine: Episode Seven

Hello all!  Over the last few weeks, life has been crazy and I've neglected giving regular updates, mainly because I have been too exhausted at the end of the day and just don't have the energy.  Currently, we are still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, although the Stay home orders have ended and the State and Country are slowly beginning to reopen.  I'm sure that we will continue to experience challenges and lots of changes over the next several months, but I don't expect much to change for me in the short-term.  I am still working from home and don't expect to return to the office any time soon. 

Working from home has been going well and I know that the girls have enjoyed having me home with them every day.  We have a good routine every day and, honestly, I have been working my regular schedule daily, walking the dogs regularly every day, and spending lots of time outside doing yard work so I haven't had a chance to get bored!  There has been a lot about this quarantine that I have really enjoyed. 

While having Piper in our home is not without challenges, she has continued to make improvements and, as I sit here writing, she is sound asleep beside me.  I'm beginning to understand her and her needs better, which makes life a lot easier.  Plus I feel like I have a good handle on her anxiety.  With a combination of anti-anxiety medications and lots of physical and mental stimulation, she has begun to really enjoy just being a dog.  She is a sweet girl with a cute personality who LOVES to be with her people.  I will definitely say that her added energy level has changed the dynamic in the house and I go to bed every night exhausted, mainly in a good way.  Of course we still have challenging days and sometimes no matter what I do she just won't relax, but she is slowly learning how to entertain herself and starting to understand that sometimes it's nice to just relax.

We haven't been going far from home for our adventures, but I have tried to change things up and find some new trails for walks occasionally because we all get bored walking the same route around the neighborhood. We've visited both some newly discovered trails as well as some old favorite locations and even made a day-trip to the beach to celebrate Maddie's 14th birthday.  That was a great day and we all enjoyed it tremendously!

We have been spending a lot of time outside because we've had some really nice weather.  This weekend has been especially nice with temperatures in the low 70s during the day and plenty of sunshine.  Peaches is especially loving that she can spend all day outside while I work from home.  I love how much she is enjoying her time outside and how well she can keep herself entertained. 

While I've spent lots of time weeding the landscaping, planting the garden, and a number of other fun yard tasks, I've also spent a lot of my outdoor time throwing the tennis ball for Piper.  She loves to run around the yard with the ball in her mouth, occasionally dropping the ball so that I can give it a good throw and she can chase it and begin to run around the yard again.  Once-in-a-while, this will lead to a good game of chase with Peaches, however, it appears that Peaches is starting to feel her age a bit...it's tough being 8 1/2 years old...and prefers to have shorter bursts of chase followed by sniffing around or watching for birds.  But thankfully, after some fresh air and exercise,  Piper will relax and just enjoy being in the great outdoors.  

Peaches' favorite activity lately has been watching the baby robins whose mom thought it was a great idea to put a nest in my backyard.  She would spend hours running around the yard watching for the parents to return to feed the babies and then would check regularly to make sure the babies were still there.  Thankfully, robin chicks grow up quickly and I was able to keep them safe from Peaches while they were here   Thursday the final of the four babies left the nest permanently and flew away.  Peaches has still checked multiple times per day to make sure that they haven't come back, but we are in the clear...or at least I thought we were until tonight when I discovered, or should I say Peaches discovered, another nest in our Willow tree.  We've had one causality from that nest, but I am calling that a success.  Hopefully those babies will be gone soon too and Peaches can get back to her days of chasing bees and butterflies in between naps.

Maddie has also been enjoying life a lot lately.  While she can't take long walks with us anymore, she is getting out for a short walk every day.  Some days, I take a nice leisurely stroll with her, just the two of us, and those are some of my favorite walks.  She loves to stop and sniff things along the way and really pays attention to everything going on around her.  Earlier this week I had to chuckle at the excitement of the little old lady as she watched a rabbit run away and got a little extra pep in her step.  She spends a lot of time sleeping, but she is having a great Spring because she has gotten to spend every day with me and I don't think anything could make her happier. 

With the reopening of businesses, our vet is now able to perform non-emergency surgeries again, so Piper will be going in for her spay surgery on Monday morning and will most likely be moving to a new home soon.  I have done everything I can do to get her ready for a new home at this point, and although she will need a family willing to continue training and working with her anxiety, I know that there is a great home out there for her that can give her all of the time and attention she needs. 

While we've been a good temporary home for her, it's definitely been a struggle. What I have learned at this point is that fostering a high energy, younger dog with Maddie is much more challenging now.   While it doesn't seem to bother her, it definitely makes my days more challenging.  Plus, I'm ready to get back to life with my girls and take a break from fostering for a bit so that I can focus on giving Peaches the time and attention she needs and on giving Maddie all the love and attention she deserves.  I'm looking forward to a quiet, relaxing, and enjoyable Summer with some small adventures and lots of fun!

Maddie

Many years ago, I sat down to start a blog.  One of the first things I thought I would do would be to write one blog post about each of my dogs.  That was back when Jake was still alive, but nearing the end of his time here with us.  As I wrote that blog post, he was lying next to me and I knew our remaining time together was limited.  I wanted to be sure to write about all of the things that made him uniquely Jake, so that I would never forget.  I remember the tears rolling down my face as I wrote.  And then I got caught up in life and didn't continue to write.  Years later, I started to write again.  I still wanted to write about each of the girls, and eventually wrote about my Imke and all that she meant to me...also with her lying next to me as I wrote, and more tears.  Over the last couple of years, I've been waiting for the perfect time to write this post, and I believe that time as finally come.  So let you me tell you about my Maddie.

Tonight as I write, this is the view that I see.  This beautiful, sweet face looking right at me, soundly sleeping and dreaming of some grand adventures, I am sure.  Because Maddie is an adventure dog and my travel buddy.  But that was not always the case.

When Maddie came into my life 10 years ago, she was not supposed to be my dog.  I will spare you the long story and all of the details, but she wasn't meant to be mine and I had no idea that she would eventually become such a big part of my life.  I didn't choose to bring her into my home at the time and I never expected for her to be here with me 10 years later.  But honestly, I don't think she ever belonged with anyone else and I think she knew that from the beginning. 

Maddie was just 4 years old, given up by her previous family-a casualty of a divorce.  The wife's dog, who ended up with the husband after the divorce, but he didn't have time for her and in her boredom, she started killing his chickens.  That was not acceptable to him and so she ended up as a "free to good home" dog on Craigslist.  Lucky for Maddie, she ended up in good hands and soon after ended up in my home as my third GSP.  Jake and Imke accepted her quickly and they all became fast friends.  The rest is history.  She became my girl.

Maddie was crazy!  Other than Imke, I had never experienced a GSP that was that young.  And she was nothing like Imke.  Maddie was high-strung, anxious, and lacked confidence.  She was a horrible traveler-she would get so excited to go on a trip in the car that she would bark and pace the entire drive.  She wasn't very good at walking on a leach either, pulling and weaving and completely unruly.  She was afraid of thunderstorms and fireworks and would pace and pant uncontrollably always trying to find a piece of furniture to hide behind or under.  If a storm moved in during the middle of the night, I would get no sleep because Maddie would climb into bed and do her best to burrow into my armpit-I think she would have crawled into my skin if she could have.   She didn't like the beach either-the lake and waves scared her. 

I had never had a dog quite like her.  Jake had been a really well behaved 6 year old when we brought him home, and Imke had grown up with me, so while she had quirks, I knew how to deal with them.  But Maddie was a new challenge for me.  I can still picture it as we drove down the road,  Maddie with her head out the window barking the entire time.  And the barking didn't stop when I stopped because she would also bark if I left her in the car, even if  just for a couple of minutes.  It was such a hard time for me because, as you all know, I take my dogs everywhere. 

For just over 2 years, Jake, Imke, and Maddie were the three amigos.  While there were times when we would make trips and leave Maddie behind, eventually I couldn't bare the thought of her not joining us and so we worked through(or I just put up with) the stress of traveling with Maddie because the more she joined us, the more I enjoyed having her along and the more her confidence grew. 

When Jake died in September of 2012 just one week before Imke's 9th birthday, I know that having Maddie here made the transition easier for Imke who had never known life without her Jake.  While Imke loved her Jake, Maddie loved Imke.  And in time, I think that Imke really learned to love her too.  For the 6 years between Jake's death and Imke's, Imke and Maddie were together almost constantly.  Rarely did they spend time apart and when they did, it was only for short periods of time.  During this time they truly became best friends. 

Maddie continued to change and grow in confidence over the years, and after lots of practice, she eventually became an excellent traveler too.  Of course, she would still get excited for every adventure and loved to go where ever I wanted to take her.  I was happy to be able to have her join me as we traveled the country.  She continued to improve as a traveler and I'm so excited she was able to make it to 49 States with me and Imke.  It always makes me smile when I'm watching TV and see a place we have been...and I look over at her on the couch and say "Maddie, we've been there."  I don't know if she remembers any of our trips, but it is nice to know that we have shared so many awesome experiences together.  We had plans to travel to Canada this Summer so that Maddie could add traveling to all 10 Canadian Provinces to her resume, but that is now on hold.  I still hope she'll be able to make that trip with me though.

Maddie has welcomed every single foster that I've brought home with me.  She's been here since the very first one.  I'll never forget how sad my sensitive girl was when our first foster got adopted after being here for 2 months.  Maddie really missed her terribly and sulked for two days.  She has adjusted to the new friends coming and going pretty regularly.  While I'm sure she's glad to see some of them go, she is always tolerant and happy to have them here, eventually.  She has shared her mom with a lot of other dogs and has been a real champ at doing so.  I always know that any dog I bring home with me will be welcomed and will become a snuggle pal and pillow for her. 

While our first several trips to the beach with her were a real challenge, Maddie has embraced her life as a Michigander and has become quite the lover of the beach and Great Lakes.  I never would have expected how much she would grow to love our trips to the UP and the shores of Lake Superior.  But I am sure glad that she has learned to love these places as much as I do.

No matter the season, Maddie is happiest when we are at the beach. 

 
Despite the early challenges of walking her, we continued to get out and hike.  She has explored many places, from remote wooded areas to urban landscapes and has loved them all.  But she definitely loves the woods the best.  She is a GSP after all.  She has hiked nearly 500 miles on the North Country Trail and has joined the Woofer Walk eight times...generally being handed off to a complete stranger so that one of our dog walkers from the shelter would have a dog to walk, and she's always gone willing.

She is my patient, gentle soul.  She has learned to stand nicely, even when she doesn't want to, when complete strangers from across the country have asked if  they could pet her.  And while kisses from Maddie are rare, she will freely give them to young children because Maddie has a soft spot for kids.  I have to believe that is because she grew up with them.  I love when young kids approach and ask to pet her and she surprises them with a kiss.  And if you aren't a kid and are lucky enough to receive one of those kisses that will be offered on rare occasions, they are a special treat.  When you receive one, you know that you are loved. 

Maddie has been there with me through some tough times, but the hardest for us both was the day Imke died.  She took Imke's loss very hard and hasn't quiet been the same since that day.  She has slowed down significantly and has become a bit more anxious and she's even more attached to me than she was before, but she still loves life.  In her old age, she has struggled with the heat and has had some arthritis which prevents her from doing as much as she used to, but she is still always ready for an adventure. 

Someday, when I think back on my time with her, the thing I want to remember the most about life with Maddie is that she lived it to the fullest and with joy.  From the early days of what our friends now call "Crazy Maddie" to today, as my sweet old soul, she has been a treasure.  I'm so glad that she came into my life all those years ago.  She is one special girl.

Maddie is just a happy dog who enjoys life to the fullest and I'm convinced she will to the very end.