Spring has sprung

Spring storm a'comin'

Sun!!
  
 

Spring storm a'comin'

Sun!!

Time for a nap!!

March comes in like a Lion

More tornadoes--all around us but not THRU us this time. Alabama took the hits and the SIX DOZEN tornadoes went north to Chattanooga, TN, Indiana, Illinois and then North Carolina. Like we had a protective bubble. It was still very windy. Tornado Time is usually April but we're guessing the insanely warm winter has bumped up the TT frame.

My mom entered my picture into the Cutest Dog contest on Animal planet. Please vote for us! Go to the Animal Planet Decision 2012 page, do a search for 'River' then click on the Five paws on the right.

Here I am:

Meanwhile, my mom is okay. She has finally stopped crying for Bitey so the rest of us can relax now. My vet says she can't find any cancer in me so, for now, I'm good. Mom says I'm eating too good and we may have to cut back a little. I'm willing to trade some kibble for more broccoli. My mom and I love broccoli. Esp. with lots of cheese and butter...

Angel Bitey 1999-2012

River's mom: I had to let Bitey go today. We had a wonderful time in the sun with me holding him close. This one hurt a lot.

This is my favorite picture of Bitey. It's grainy and dark but such a great reflection of his personality. He was a mellow alpha dog. No overt bully behavior just one side glance from him and every doggie would know who was boss.

He came into the world with his brother Beau on Labor Day 1999. From the beginning he was an alpha puppy. He would bite a lot. I thought, I could name him Mighty Bitey--then I thought, no, can't name a dog that. But it stuck. He was mostly Bitey but he also  Biteboy and Bitebite.

Here he is at 6 months running like crazy. I love those flying beagle ears.

He would jump up on any horizontal surface--a flying leaper. His brother Beau used to walk the railing and give me heart cramps. No other beagle before or since has done these things like these two brothers.

 

Keeping the computer seat warm for me.

Always up on something, with his mouth open with a happy smile just like his brother.

My most vivid memory of Bitey:

One day leaving for work I hesitated at the door and Bitey flew out and down the driveway.

We live at the end of a dead end so I wasn't afraid he would get run over. We live in the country so I was afraid he would get SHOT.

I took off after him in my heels (low heels). The woods around my house are dense and I knew that probably my voice wouldn't carry very far. Nevertheless, I called and called and slogged through the underbrush and mud. After about a half an hour I heard Bitey howling. So I called. He howled. He was afraid. That initial rush of flying freedom was fun at first but now he was scared. He realized he was not in any familiar place. We kept calling until we found each other. I picked him up and carried him home, holding him close. I never wanted to hear that howl of fear again...and it never happened again.

His last day, sleeping in an awkward way in the sun.

OMG, HOW CAN IT ALREADY BE TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOU??!!

Run and leap with the wind, Biteboy. Say hello to our beautiful Beau.

Our hearts are breaking again--a little update

Update--our vet talked to my oncologist and he said that Kinavet can be used for t-cell lymphoma. We already have 2 bottles of Kinavet so Bitey was started on it yesterday. We don't know how well it will work or if it's too late but we will try.There is no cure...but we can hope to slow it down.

My mom apologizes for so much sad news this early in the year but it seems to be happening all at once.


We lost Beau this past Tuesday. On Wednesday. my mom took his brother, Bitey, to be checked because he had a lump under his front leg. It came back positive for lymphoma, too.  Two brothers, same cancer at exactly the same time??

Bitey and Beau. 

Beau and Bitey were born on Labor day 1999. They plopped right out of Baby into my mom's hands. So they both are very, very special to her.

There is a treatment for lymphoma but it only buys a little time. Six months of chemo and you might get 2 more months after that. The problem with lymphoma is that it never really goes away. The next time the cancer comes back it's more resistant. It's very, very expensive, too.


The simplest treatment is prednisone which is what we are doing. We're feeding Bitey the same diet as me now--special stuff with lots of supplements. We had no warning at all with Beau but maybe it will buy us some extra days with Bitey. At least we know ahead of time which is priceless.

It is sunny today so we are outside. 60 degrees. And Bitey feels good, not a lot of energy for roaching but still able to!

RIP Beautiful Beau 1999-2012--updated

We wanted to update this post a little to include the beautiful graphic Alasandra made out of Beau's picture:

And to include a link to a video starring Beau. He is the first and the last doggie roaching in the grass to the Chicken Dance song. It always makes my mom smile: 

Beau & Humphrey Roaching in the sun to the Chicken Dance

This is our Beautiful Beau.  He had to be put to sleep today. 

This year is already starting out bad for us.

 We don't understand what happened.

 He was going to have his teeth cleaned, some removed.

 

But, instead, we found out he had prostate 

cancer--even though he had been snipped long ago. 

It hit his kidneys in just days.

 

This is me & Beau snorting around the yard.

  

Beau must have found something good.

He was born in our house on Labor Day 1999. My mom had taken in a pregnant girl who had 5 boys. From that litter my mom kept two--Beau and Mighty Bitey plus the mama she named Baby.

Beau was only 12. We don't understand why this had to happen and it happened so fast. We are sort of stunned right now.

Beau was a quiet boy, always sweet and happy. We are really going to miss you, Beau-Beau.

Run free, sweet doggie boy.

2011--Goodbye!!

2011 was not a good year for us. We lost so many of our old hounds. But we did have a foster failure--new Daisy.

In December, we got a new Daisy.

In October we lost Georgia 1994-2011

 

  

In July we lost Belle 1992-2011

Also in July my mom lost her main job--the one with insurance. Jobs are extremely scarce for librarians, even ones with computer experience.

In May we lost Bailey 1993-2011

In March we lost Miss Daisy 1990-2011

In February I was diagnosed with a Mast cell tumor--this kind of cancer can appear one time or many times. Our oncologist was not hopeful for a year for me. But it is January 2012 and I am still here!

We are praying that this will be a great year for everyone. I would like to have another Christmas with my Mom, please. Miracles are possible!

Tragedy in DWB communlity

We were horrified to hear about the fire at the house of the Houston Pittie Pack. They lost 5 of their beautiful babies and their house. There is a Chip-In page for them to help in their recovery. The fund has reached its limit but that was set fairly low. Keep giving what you can. But the most important thing is to give moral support and many many prayers. Please let them know you are thinking of them.

Christmas Foster Failure--a New Daisy

Hard to believe...my mom has let dozens of baby beagles slip through her hands and be adopted, even babies that were born at our house. Here was  this little 14 lb. girl from South Carolina, one day away from euthanasia...nobody would take her because she had heartworms.

So along came the H.A.N.D. Foundation--Homeless Animals Needing Doctors. They said--the only thing keeping this beautiful little creature from being adopted is a LIGHT CASE of heartworms??? Here's the money to treat it! And they transported her to Tennessee to my mom who offered to foster.

My mom has not had a foster failure since...ME. 5 years. So an animal has to be really really special to stay forever here in this house of beagles.

Even though it means I'm no longer the baby beagle of the pack (everyone else is over 10 years old here) still, this new Daisy is a good girl. She's figured out how to curl up on the hollow of my mom's left shoulder (so my mom can still type around her) and not interfere at all with where I sleep by my mom (left arm of the big chair).

We lost our 22 year old Daisy in April 2011 and my mom said the house was JUST NOT RIGHT without a Daisy in it.

So, we have a new Daisy. She is a wild girl, runs shrieking out the back door to chase any possible bunnies that are dumb enough to come in a beagle yard. (they do, believe it or not but we've never caught one).

This makes my mom very happy so I'm okay with it.

Welcome, little miss New Daisy!

Happy Gotcha Day to me!

I am six now. My mom chose my gotcha day as my birthday which for humans is called Vet Day. Nov. 11. I came to live with her when I was one. It was the best day ever.

Thank you to everyone for your sympathies about Georgia. My mom is glad she had Georgia for 10 years.

My mom says I'm looking a bit grizzled--does that make me a grizzly?

So far so good no return of the Big C--still here and loving my life in the Big House of Beagles.