I have one question.... who in the world ever taught this puppy how to beg???? When Katie came to live with us, I've determined that I was NOT going to give her handouts... I spoiled Mike by doing that and wasn't going to allow it with Katie. Welllll.... I still am not giving her handouts, but.. unlike Mike (who watches me eat because he knows he's going to get the last bite of "everything" I eat but who is extremely patient and polite)... Miss Katie is relentless. She not only watches but tries jumping up on my lap to take the food right out of my hands. Of course I don't let her get that far... but she's really insistent. She may be learning how to beg from Mike... but he's a "quiet" begger... she's just obnoxious. You'd think she never eats... however, she eats like a horse. She eats as much in one day as Mike does in two. My gosh!!! The vet said that at this age, she lets the puppies decide how much to eat, but she'd eat 24/7 if I let her.

Mike still spurts red. It seems to be all yellow first thing in the morning, but as the day goes on.. it spurts red again after the yellow. Oh how I wish he was healthy again.

As far as Mike's leg... well, he's doing much better, but it's going to be a week tomorrow since he's hurt it, and he still limps. I'm sure the reason it's taking so long is because it's so cold outside. He does so much better in the house, but after he goes out to potty, he comes in with a really bad limip. I'm sure it's because the cold air tightens up those muscles again, and then it takes awhile for them to warm up enough to get back to the way they were before he went out. Poor guy is toughing it out, but I'm sure he'll be fine (soon I hope).

The two together are doing much better. It's so funny because every time Katie messes in the house (yep, still working on that) she'll go lay next to her big brother... hoping he will save her. The only time she's a bother to him is when she first comes in from going potty. She seems to think that when she comes in she has to go tell Mike what a good girl she is. That's when she insists on giving him whisker kisses (which he hates)... he shows her his teeth and growls... but she's a fearless little twirp and LICKS HIS TEETH!!! (Did I tell you about that before? I don't remember.) But it's really funny.. I've never seen a dog lick another dog's teeth.

Ok.. enough for now. Thank you all for checking on our boy. You've all become so very special to us... we could never get through all that he's going through without you.

Love, Blessings & Tons of Wet Westie Nose (and teeth) Kisses

Well, with about 14" of snow surrounding my house, a dog that's only about 12" tall and a puppy who's maybe 8" tall... this morning has been a real experience. The cars are doing well on the road, but I think that's because it was snowing all day and all night, and the crews kept up with them pretty good. HOWEVER, you would have split a rib laughing. The back door (where I let Mike out, had almost 2 feet of snow drifted up on it, so I went to let him and Katie out the front. I don't have a shovel, so before I let them anywhere near the door, I took the broom and tried to sweep enough room clear for them to go. I actually laughed when I realized that the snow is up PAST MY KNEES!!! (stupid to laugh at... but hey, if ya don't laugh.... ???)

I saw my neighbor across the street out with his snowblower and started trudging over to ask him if he could make a path for me......... welllllllllllll....... halfway down the drive (remember I'm walking in snow above my knees) I slipped and fell... OMG it really must have been a sight. I couldn't get up because there was no place to grab on to and my foot kept slipping. I laid there laughing my butt off. Thank God Rocky, my neighbor, saw me and came to my rescue. I am sooooooooo glad I didn't have Mike or Katie with me... they would have drowned out there. (hummmmm... I copied this part of my post from Cindy's thread, and the emoticons are showing up... I'll have to experiment later and see if I can use them on a more regular basis.. I love these things).

As pretty as it is, and as muddy as it's going to get when it melts... enough is enough. COME ON SPRINGTIME!!!!

Mike's leg is much better, and I think he should be completely back to normal within the next few days. We still don't have yellow pee though. :-(

He's really getting along well with Katie. He will let her lay up against him and even play with his tail. I've noticed that the only thing now that he WILL NOT put up with are whisker kisses... he never did like anyone getting in his face (except mommy giving him kisses and him giving nose kisses). But this little girl just insists on whisker kisses. She's practically fearless... when she's kissing him he will show his teeth... she knows he's not going to hurt her, so the little s___ (get this)... gives him TEETH KISSES.... yes... she kisses his teeth when he's trying to look threatening. Poor Mike... is such a great guy... he can't even "look" mean when he tries. LOL

I still say... he is the best pup in the whole, entire world. I look at him and just know he would never even "think" of doing anything wrong... not even to a pesky tooth kisser like Katie. Oh how blessed I am and have been to have him in my life. I can't imagine not having him here with me.

I'm going to check up on some more PIN threads. I've been reading a lot but haven't had a lot of time to post. I feel so bad for poor Dog... my prayers are going up for him and his Dad... what a horrible thing to have happened, and knowing that he did nothing to deserve it (no animal deserves this) makes it even worse. Please say some prayers for him.

Until next time... Love, Blessings and Tons of Wet Westie Nose Kisses!!

Oh My Gosh... GUESS WHAT!!!! Katie jumped on the door and told me she had to go potty!!!! I'm soooooo excited!!!! When I saw her, I took her out.. she hopped in the snow for about 5 seconds and then poo pooed.... OHHHHHHH what a good puppy!!!

When she came in, her and Mike started playing like no one's business. What a great day this is!!!

Hey Everyone...

It's an absolutely beautiful white snowy day here in Northeast Ohio. Well... beautiful as long as I don't have to go out for long in it anyway. Mike and Gidget (possibly changing to Katie.. tell you about that in a minute) really love the new snow. Mike still has a problem with his leg, but he's managing to (almost) run between the snowflakes, and the Little One just bounces like a rabbit in shoulder deep snow (even though I shoveled a path for her... she'd rather be adventurous and explore the deep stuff).

Mike had yellow pee this morning.. I was so happy, but then when he went again, there was a tinge of red. Oh how I wish this would change back to pure yellow. As I said, his leg is much better, or at least was when he first got up this morning. Going outside seemed to tighten up the muscles, so until it warms up again, he limps a bit more on it and holds it up again. My poor guy... he's such a trooper.

I know he's feeling better though because he's been wanting to play with his little sister more and more. I wish I had a video of them playing last night. He would do to her what I do to him, and that is... pretend he's going to chase her and watch her run. Mike and I have played this game since he was a puppy (well, a year old when I got him)... I get on the floor and pounce my hands on the floor or stand up and tap my foot like I'm going to run, and he just runs and runs around in circles. It's so cute to see him doing that with Gidget.

All day yesterday, I kept accidentally calling Gidget Katie. Katie was a mini schnauzer I had about 15 or 20 years ago. (So I guess it really hasn't been 30 years since I've had a puppy. LOL) Anyway... I've already called her Katie maybe 7 or 8 times already today (by accident). She answers to both... so I'm thinking her new forever name is going to be Katie. Go figure... when I couldn't think of a name for her, Katie never popped into my mind, and now that I "had" a name for her (which is very cute and she kind of looks like a Gidget)... I find out that is NOT what her name is suppose to be. Yi yi yi... It's pretty bad when you name your dog and can't even remember her name. I guess the powers that be are trying to tell me something. LOL

Sooooooooo.... now I have to go back and change everything that says Gidget on it and change it to Katie. I'll call the vet and make sure they change it too. Now watch... I'll start calling her Gidget by mistake.... (wish they had emoticons on this thing so I could add them on here... it's weird trying to get use to not having them here).

Ok.. gonna get going and take Miss Katie out again. If Mr Mike wants out, I'll take him out too, but I think he's had enough cold for awhile, it's up to him.

Love and Blessings To You All

GUESS WHAT... WE'VE GOT YELLOW PEE!!!! Oh my gosh.. I haven't been this happy in a verrrryyy long time. I know it may not last... but twice today we had YELLOW!!! I'll take all the YELLOW we can get!!!

Mike's leg is getting better. He's still limping, but he's able to put pressure on it. And.. I went to the store this afternoon (had to get some food to get ready for the snow storm coming), and when I got home... he had jumped up on the lazy boy. He looked soooooo happy and comfortable. I kept an eye on him, and when he was ready to get down, I picked him up and put him on the floor (didn't want to take a chance on re-injuring it).

Miss Gidget is doing great. She's really learning quick. So far (not saying this too loud) we've had no accidents at all today... yeaaaaaa Gidget. She's so funny... when she comes in after doing her business, the first thing she does is run up to Mike and run around him.. I think she's trying to tell him what a good girl she is. LOL Mike is unimpressed, but lets her get it out of her system.

I've had a busy day today. Claudia came over and I started doing her taxes (it may take a few more days), and then she took me to the store. It all made today go so fast. I'm going to try to check on everyone's thread and catch up tonight and tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing great and all the furkids are getting and staying healthy.

Love You All

SUNDAY UPDATE

WOW... miracles happen when you least expect them. Since Mike protected his little sister... he's actually being REALLY good with her. And even with his leg still bothering him... he initiated playtime. Oh my gosh... it was soooooo cute. Once she realized he wanted to play (which didn't take long), she started running around in circles begging him to chase her. Well... he tried, but he could chase her because of his leg, so she brought the tennis ball within inches of him and started teasing him with it. She'd drop it... he'd grab it... she'd bark... he dropped it.. she grabbed it... she ran. Over and over for about 5 minutes. Mike couldn't run with her, but you could tell he sure wanted to.

Then... picture this... Mike lay down, and little Gidget went and laid right next to him. Oh how I wish I could snap a picture of this... it's just toooooooo cute!!! It seems like Mike doesn't want to wait until he feels better to play, but he knows his limitations for now. What a wonderful gift this was for me today. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Love, Blessings & Wet Westie Nose Kisses

The Naso Clan Isn't Going Anywhere

INTRODUCTION

I guess if you're reading this, we really don't need an introduction, but I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for your love and compassion and caring for our boy Mike. You've all been such a huge part in his life (and mine) that we wanted to keep you all up to date on how he is doing and what's going on in his life.

MIKE

As you know, Mike hurt his leg on Friday. He tried jumping out of the van (as he has done in the past), but he didn't realize the panel he was going to step on was slippery, and he slipped and fell in the snow. Just like a man... he couldn't wait... I was going to help him out of there, but he insisted on doing it himself and jumped right past me. I just thank God he's all right and nothing was broken.

I feel so bad for him. He's had so many problems this past year, and he really didn't need this one. After I got him up and into the house, he was shaking and really scared, but in just a little while, he calmed down and was happy to take some treats with no problem.

I think I was even more concerned about him when we had to take him to the vet... you all know how he "loves" that place... NOT!!! Even though he's always afraid to go there, this time (probably because he was hurting so much already) he was absolutely terrified. It took a couple of minutes to even get him out of the car (of course, I have to remember that the last time he got out of a vehicle, he got hurt.. so that could have added to it). While we waited, Michelle insisted on holding him (I had pulled a shoulder muscle getting him out of the car), so I knelt down in front of them trying to calm him down. I've never seen him that scared!!! He not only shook uncontrollably and salivated something fierce, but his eyes were as wide as saucers. We were so afraid he was going to stroke out on us or have a convulsion. Thank God they took him in right away and gave him a shot to relax him... if he had to wait much longer, he probably wouldn't have needed the x-rays. I'm afraid our boy might not have made it.

But... he made it, and he's doing much better. Yesterday was really hard for him. He couldn't go in and out by himself, and mommy had to carry him... he didn't seem to mind it. But.. he was really embarrassed and found it difficult to go to the bathroom since he kept losing his balance, and his "good" hind leg would cave in on him, making him land on his butt or on his side... so I had to hold him up while he tried to pee. It took him a few minutes to realize why I was holding him, but finally he managed to do what he had to do. You could tell he was embarrassed.

Today, he's able to go in and out by himself, and although he's still holding his leg up (for the most part) he's able to "tip toe" with it a bit, and he's getting around much better. I figured it's going to take a few more days until he will be 100%. A couple of times when he's ready to come back inside, he stood just outside the door just looking at me. There's only one small step that he has to maneuver, but he was worried about it and waited for me to pick him up. With some gentle talking and telling him, "you can do it sweetie.. come on".. he found out he "could" do it (quite easily).

Unfortunately... we still don't have totally yellow pee. I just pray for the day when we see that again. What a horrible reminder of what's to come is every time I see the red spurts. Please pray we never see the clots again though... those are the worst, and I'm afraid that if those show up, the time will be too close for him to leave me. There's nothing else that can be done for him, and if clots start accumulating... I know it will be as painful as it was last time. Only, last time, we were able to take the tumor out, and it was relieved for awhile. Prayerfully, they'll never show up again.


GIDGET

Well... what can I say about 6 pounds of total explosive dynamite??? LOL She's definitely all puppy. The only thing I way I could describe her is by comparing her to an electric toothbrush.. she just goes and goes and goes (even the Energizer Bunny couldn't keep up with her) LOL... especially in the morning when she's out of her crate and after she's gone potty.

The vet was really happy about her condition and said there were ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS!!! So... that should put the nay-sayers minds to rest. As far as long term.. only God knows. Anything could happen to any animal we adopt. Heck.. look at Mike, I got him in 1997 (from the pound) and now he has cancer. Would I have taken him all those years ago if I had known?? You're darn right I would have.

Mike and I have come to the decision that after she goes out in the morning, we let her run around for a few minutes, and then it's back in the cage/crate until Mr. Mike has woken up properly (slowly) and I have had my coffee and at least one cigarette. LOL

She's learning "fairly" quick. She knows what "come here" means and comes everytime I calll her. She definitely knows what "no" means already. LOL Of course, even though she knows what it means... it doesn't mean she always listens. The two biggest lessons she's learning right now is that when Mike says "no"... it MEANS "NO". He's actually been pretty tolerant of her, and a growl goes a long way. At least he's not hiding from her like he did the first day she came to stay with us (it was a bit overwhelming for him to say the least.. she loved to pounce on him... she doesn't do that anymore, thank goodness).

The second thing she's learning is to potty outside. Well... she's got the concept anyway. She does what she has to do in the morning (crate stays dry at night) and will go "almost" every time I take her out. She poo pood in the house once yesterday and once the day before, and I let her know this is just not acceptable. I took her out a little while ago, and while she pooped.. she didn't pee... I stayed out a while longer and nothing..... wellllllll.... we all know what happened now don't we?????? Of course, she piddled on the carpet in the hallway. When I called her to be with me in the living room, she was cowering... yep... she knows.. so now there's no excuse. It was actually kind of comical though because after I saw what she had done... I called her .. she came (most of the way) and then ran and hid right next to Mike (he didn't even growl at her.. I think he was going to try to protect her). She seemed to feel her big brother (even though he ignores her most of the time) was going to keep the big bad mommy away. It was just too darn cute.

OMG... as I was typing here... she peed AGAIN!!!! Thank God for Resolve... BUT I'VE RUN OUT OF BOUNTY!!!! Paper napkins just shred on the carpet. :-O Again, she went to hide with Mike, and when I called her, she curled up closer to him (he's laying down... never even cared that she was there... this is a real switch, I hope he keeps it like this and not only when she gets in trouble). She's back in her crate now.

THE TWO OF THEM TOGETHER

Before Mike hurt his leg, he actually started to play with her... on his terms of course. It's hilarious to watch since she's maybe a third of the size of Mike. Now since he's been hurting, he hasn't wanted much to do with her... I can definitely understand that. And she seems to understand to because she's not pestering him anywhere near as much.

I'm making sure Mike knows that he's still the main man around here. Nothing in our schedule has changed much (except for the occasional pestering puppy giving him whisker kisses). He goes out before she does, he gets treats before she does (sometimes I have to hold her so she doesn't try to get his away from him), and if he wants on my lap (which he's doing more lately) he's the first one up. He doesn't mind if she comes up on my lap with him, as long as he's up there first. Go figure... I've always wanted a cuddler.. now I have two of them. LOL Mike still sleeps in my room at night with me, and Gidget sleeps in the cage/crate in the living room. She never complains about it (thank goodness) and sleeps until we get up in the morning (between 8 and 8:30). So, all in all, I guess I could say things are progressing quite well with them. I just wish Mike wasn't hurting so he can get back to normal and get more involved with her (playing that is).

I don't have a camera, so I'm not able to get any pictures right now to post. I'll see if my sister-in-law will come over and take some when they get back from vacation. Until then.. I guess I'm out of luck.

Thank you all so much for being such wonderful friends. And for the record... (no matter what some others may think)... I am sincerely grateful for IMOM's help in helping keep Mike alive. I know there were some problems at the end, but... I hold no grudges. I know that Mike wouldn't be with me now if it weren't for IMOM and the donors. And I definitely know that I would never have found such a wonderful family as all of you if we hadn't been there. I don't know what I would have done without all of your love and support. It's a horrible thing to have to go through all this stuff alone (as you all know), and I love each and every one of you for caring so much.

God's Blessings Be With You All

By the way... I think you can post comments here, so if you'd like.. please feel free to write... Mike, Gidget and I would be happy to hear from you.