Maya and the Chickens

With the skin infection clearing up we decided to keep our scheduled trip on the 3rd of July up to Wensleydale Farms, with the hope of seeing a new cria (baby alpaca). Those hopes were not realized and we are still waiting for that baby to grace us with its presence!

Regardless, it was a fun couple of days! Maya was in extreme energy mode : no dog park for a week = crazy amounts of stored energy. She made the unfortunate choice of landing her energy squarely on running around the chicken area, making the chickens run in circles. After too many times of having to get two people out there to catch her and drag her away, we made the decision to try training her on the invisible fencing. Hahaha!

The guys took her out with a collar that had puppy boosters on (lowest shock possible), she heard the beep by the chickens (was never actually shocked) and after that refused to leave the patio if that collar was anywhere outside. Leave that collar inside and she'd take off for those chickens like no other! Carry it with you, she'd stay glued to the back door. Let her back inside and she would go lay down away from the back door and watch you with betrayal filled eyes. Now remember - SHE HASN'T EVER BEEN SHOCKED.

So we tried approach number 2 - hubby went down by the chickens with collar in hand, we let Maya out after he was in place, she ran close to the fencing line, he stepped forward so the collar would beep... she ran to the back door and begged to go in. I'm now calling her my over-sensitive, free spirit puppy.

Cats and Crafts....

Cats and crafts DO NOT MIX. As much as I love Callie Hope, I'm becoming more convinced that cats are evil creatures who do exactly what you want them not to and then laugh at your angst for hours.

To start - I've recently discovered Pinterest and I'm a little addicted. I mean, it's helping solve all my crafty and organizational needs so why wouldn't I be! Since I've been non-crafting for years now, I forced hubby to go with me to craft stores last night and get supplies for a few projects. We got home - he went upstairs to work on programming and I got to work on a knot necklace.... Unfortunately this necklace involved string and wrapping said string around my fingers, creating knots which then began to cascade away from my hand and swing in an enticing manner....

With Maya laying at my feet I felt relatively safe from any Callie interference, but I was wrong! Half way through the knotting process Callie started jumping for the string and then running away from Maya. I finished the knot section, went to let Maya out and by the time I came back - the necklace was on the floor and being batted across the dining room. I muttered, picked it up and began the process to unknot all the knots I made and Callie messed up. This happened twice.

Trying to be smart I took a small section of string and draped it over the chair next to me. Callie dutifully took the bait and went after that string, leaving me in momentary peace. The only problem? Maya decided to also defend THAT string with all she had - which meant she pounced on Callie and swallowed the string before I could blink. So now we're on the lookout for silver sparkles in during our backyard clean up times.... But third time was a charm because I finally got the necklace finished!

Sick Puppy & Runaway Cat

This week I got a taste of how freaked out I'll be when Dave and I have kids and they come down with some strange disease I've never had to deal with before... whatever do I mean? Well...

Sick Puppy: 

Maya has been a perfect ANGEL sleeping out of her kennel at night, I mean seriously, never has the transition from kennel to dog bed gone so wonderfully! Then Monday morning arrives, its cloudy and wet so my morning photo shoot gets rescheduled and I notice Maya's been licking the same spot for a few minutes now.... I make her stop, check where she was licking and holy cow! There is a HUGE section of her under arm that is raised and welting like a rash. I text Dave to be ready for an extra vet bill, call my mom for a sanity check and then call the vet, all while examining Maya's body and realizing the rash is starting across her chest. The vet wanted her to come in but couldn't see her for 4+ hours so I throw a t-shirt on Maya and hold her until its time to go. No joke, my rambunctious, wiggly, energetic pup just wanted to be in some sort of physical contact while not moving, oh and panting A LOT.  

An hour or so before the vet I notice the bumps have traveled down both front legs... Needless to say, I was starting to become anxious. So we left for the vet really early. 

I was hoping it was an allergic reaction to the pile of ants she laid in the day before or something easy like that!

Her reaction after realizing she was covered in bugs and shaking them off...

Get the bug guy out, kill the ants - problem solved.

No. such. luck.

Apparently the cuts she was getting at the dog park from mowed thick grass had let in a skin infection.... Actually the words from the vet's mouth were - wow, that's a serious skin infection. Nothing like the word 'serious' to make me feel like a failure. The vet's assurances that skin infections pop up overnight and can become serious very quickly didn't make me feel better. BUT Maya got meds yesterday and her first oatmeal bath tonight and she's starting to perk back up! I think getting pb 4 times a day is helping her mood too. =)

On a lighter note: She's so funny/cute in shirts, her trying to walk makes me smile. I'm likening this to chicken pox for people, it's really itchy and if you scratch it (or lick it) too much the skin could break open. NOT GOOD. Luckily, unlike if it were chicken pox, Dave can help without fear. Ah yes, the walk in clinic should be very close when we have kids..... We're believing she'll be mostly better by this weekend so we can all go visit the farm for (hopefully) the arrival of the first cria!! (baby alpaca)

Dave's shirt she wears to bed to keep the licking of the lower legs to a minimum.... She looks so much like a little kids playing dress up in Dad's clothes! 

4th Bergwall pride! 

She's just the sweetest, even all sick and icky feeling. 

Runaway Cat:                                                                                  (Sorry no photos for this one!)
As I'm preparing for a photo session this morning, I look up from my computer and what do I see? A cat that looks a lot like Callie walking down the neighbor's driveway from the sidewalk! How cool! I wonder who owns that cat?

My mind kicks in: Come to think of it... when's the last time I saw Callie? I mean, it IS her morning nap time but... that collar looks awfully familiar.... I call out: Callie?

The cat on the driveway freezes, mews and starts loping towards our house.

CALLIE!

I run for the cat treats, close Maya in the house and go to the back porch door. Start to shake the treat can but Callie is sitting there, waiting for me to open the door.

MEW!

I think she was traumatized by her experience. I don't know how in the world she got out, how long she was gone or where she went on her little field trip, but let's just say she raced into the house and upstairs to her room and hasn't gone NEAR a door since.

Now that's what I call an eventful few days in the lives of the animals!