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Okay, I’m Ready For You

October 2, 2013

I took that photo of Widgie this morning just before giving her the first set of pills for the day. She had her third chemo treatment yesterday at the oncologist in Burlington. Her lymph nodes have shrunk dramatically, so we're clearly gaining ground on the lymphoma. She's her usual self, too — on Monday she was rolling around on her back in the grass in the front yard, enjoying the fall sunshine.

But there is this small matter of all those pills. Her morning regimen looks like this:

The evening regimen is about the same number of pills, but we swap out a couple of different meds for others.

Bless her heart (literally and figuratively), she's been a real champ and so tolerant. The easiest way to take these would be in food, which is how she used to take her heart pills. But she stopped eating when we tried to get all these pills in her with food.

We'd have the same issue with "pill pockets," too — those sorts of things are fine with just a couple of pills, but when you're talking about a dozen different pills going down the hatch, there's only one sure-fire, reliable way to do it: Open mouth, drop pill at back of tongue, nudge pill down throat, and quickly close mouth. For the occasional pill she manages to not swallow, I say to her: "What comes up … must go back down."

So that's the routine Widget and I do twice a day. (For some reason Alayne insists I'm "better" at this than her and thus I'm the one who does it. I guess guys have to be better at something, eh? But gentlemen, notice how we are always better at those very things the ladies would rather not do anyway?)

Widget has gotten fussy about food, too, and some days she will eat certain things and not other things. She keeps sending different menu requests to the kitchen and waits to find out if the chefs can satisfy her ever-changing needs. (We're still trying to figure out if we can do duck à l'orange.)

Meanwhile, this annoying guy shows up twice a day to stick pills down her throat.

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Harvest Time

September 30, 2013

After a frustrating, difficult spring and summer, we're finally able to start harvesting the crops which survived the drenching rains and saturated soils we experienced in June and July. The first planting of our winter squash, nearly 200 plants in all, nicely hilled up in anticipation of a rainy summer, had to be replanted. But it didn't help — the squash plants didn't start flowering until August, too late to form fruits. Too wet for the zucchini, too. And the beans and peas.

One refrain we heard from so many people here in New Hampshire and Vermont throughout the summer was how poorly their gardens were faring. Misery loves company, indeed, but we would all be a lot happier with thriving gardens.

Fortunately, our potato crop turned out to be decent. This year we grew the potatoes on a different field up on the ridge, higher and drier than the "home field" below the horse sheds. This "ridge field" is the one we first cleared last summer, and then spent the rest of the summer and fall picking rocks, tilling, and picking more rocks. (Every time I'd go see our chiropractor, he'd say, "Done picking rocks yet?")

We also successfully grew a small corn crop on the ridge field too this year — flint corn for corn meal and animal feed. We had to plant that twice, too, not because of the rain but because the crows and wild turkeys kept eating the corn seed. The answer was to plant the seeds, immediately lay row covers down, and wait for the corn plants to get 8 inches tall before pulling the covers.

We learned this year that despite all the drainage and ditching we did around the home field, in a wet year that piece of ground is just too wet for crops. Sad, because it once was the old garden field 50+ years ago when this was a working farm, and doubly sad because of all the tilling, manure spreading and rock-picking I did in 2010 and 2011 getting it ready for garden crops. But as our climate here gets wetter, with more drenching downpours, soaking years like this one will be all too common. So we've decided to plant that field to permanent pasture grasses to provide late summer and fall grazing for the goats.

Over on the ridge field, Alayne and I started harvesting the potato crop beginning about 10 days ago. We have to wait for sunny weather so the soil has dried out to avoid mud sticking to the potatoes when we dig them up. Each row is about 90' (27 m) long. I took that photo above on Saturday afternoon, after we finished digging up two rows — a mix of Katahdins, Satinas and Salems. We did two more rows Sunday afternoon (more Satinas, Yukon Golds and Sangres). So far we've harvested eight rows, or 720' (219 m), with three rows left to go. We didn't have a great yield, because we had trouble getting in to weed and hill in time — again because the soil was so wet — but we still managed to get hundreds of pounds of potatoes.

Why so many potatoes? We use them as food for ourselves, the dogs, and the chickens. (On a cold winter day, the hens divebomb a heaping bowl of warm mashed potatoes!) Potatoes are the ultimate "survival" crop, and as this year's challenging weather showed, we can grow them when most everything else is struggling. Not that we're "survivalists" by any means, but with grocery stores relying on just-in-time deliveries of inventory and generally stocking only about three days worth of food, it's a real comfort knowing our root cellar is very well stocked.

Have you hugged a potato today?

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Still Breaking The Rules

September 25, 2013

I had noted in an earlier blog post that Darla had broken Rule No. 1 soon after arriving here: no dogs allowed in my ancient, woe-begon-but-still-beloved recliner. She quickly claimed it as her own, and I surrendered almost as quickly.

She broke Rule No. 2 — no dogs in our bedroom — shortly after that, with a little help from Alayne. One morning Alayne had gotten out of bed before me and was in the kitchen fixing breakfast. She saw Darla outside our bedroom, staring at the door, wondering what had happened to me. Alayne opened the door and said "Get your dad!" The next thing I knew, Darla had bounded across the floor, leaped on the bed, and plopped herself down next to sleepy me. She rolled over and waited for me to rub her tummy.

This jumping on the bed and getting a rub-down has become a morning routine. So much for Rule No. 2.

I still held fast to Rule No. 3, though, which was: No dogs on the second floor of the people wing. This is where our two offices are, along with a small spare room. The second floor is one of only three areas where we have carpet in the house, and it seems certain dogs (Aurora, we're looking at you!) find the carpet a nice alternative to going outside to pee. We've let dogs up there in the past, and sooner or later came to regret it for that reason.

Well, Miss Darla likes to follow me around, so she would head up the stairs behind me when I went to my office. I felt guilty about closing the gate on her and leaving her sitting on the stairs. I couldn't do it. So she began coming into my office with me and sitting under my desk.

It didn't take long for her to realize that just across the hallway was the spare room with a very, very comfy bed, topped with a fluffy comforter, pillow and extra blankets. In other words, the perfect dog bed. As Darla would say, "I have impeccable potty habits, so why not?"

It started out as a day room for her while I was upstairs … then became her bedroom at night … and these days it's just known as "Darla's Room." It's hers whenever she wants it.

And though it may be her bed and her room now, she still expects (and gets) a rub-down whenever we walk by and see her in there. The sound of a gentle tail-thumping on the bed summons us, and we attend to her needs. Some things are just meant to be.

But if she wants me to buy her a tiara, that's where I'm drawing the line. Rule No. 4: No tiaras on dogs.

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
It’s That Time

September 23, 2013

A rain overnight really made the fall colors pop on Sunday, and everywhere you look it's just a gorgeous rainbow of trees. Initially, in the past couple of weeks, it looked like it would be a muted autumn — some years are just more splendid than others, depending on weather — but suddenly the colors are really vibrant. I took that shot Sunday morning around the pond below the house. (Click on the photo for a larger image.)

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Widget is doing okay … she had two days of occasional nausea after the initial chemo treatment, but we got that cleared up and she's back to eating with gusto. (She's on anti-nausea meds as part of her chemo regimen.) Over the weekend she had some issues with the "other end," but that too is resolving thanks to our old friend metronidazole. She ate a big dinner Sunday night and then wandered around the front yard, taking in the evening airs. But no camping out — a bit too chilly for that.

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Widget’s Lymphoma

September 18, 2013

It's been a tough week. After a battery of tests on Thursday, we learned our Queen Bee, blind Widget, has lymphoma. We had taken her in to see specialists for a full work-up because she needs a dental, but we were worried about her heart condition and the resulting anesthesia risks. Our previous internist, Dr. Tanya Donovan, recently left for another position in Oregon, so I took Widget to see the excellent team of specialists at Peak Veterinary Referral Center in Burlington. This is the same clinic where our ophthalmologist, Dr. Sarah Hoy, has her practice.

The cardiologist at Peak, Dr. Don Brown, did another echocardiogram and found that Widget's heart condition had deteriorated quite a bit since Tanya last saw her in the spring. Dr. Brown added new heart meds and adjusted her currrent dosages, but said Widget was definitely not a candidate for a dental. It was during Widget's intake exam that one of our new internists, Dr. Marielle Goossens, noted enlarged lymph nodes and sent aspirates in for analysis.

On Friday, the results came back: lymphoma. I was in town in the van when Marielle called with the news; I fought back tears driving back to the farm. I walked into the house and saw Widget sleeping soundly on a chair in the living room, not a care in the world. I went upstairs and found Alayne in her office and told her the news. Then we both had a good cry. We've had Widget in our lives longer than any other animal except blind Lena. As long-time blog readers know, Widget has always been an endearing treasure, one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" dogs (and also the boss of us for all these years).

After the shock wore off and the tears dried up, we pulled ourselves together and started researching lymphoma over the weekend. It's been many years since we had a lymphoma case (one of our last episodes was actually an equine duo, our blind horse Chance and our elderly mule Lonesome George), so we wanted to refresh our knowledge of treatment protocols and find out if there were any new advances.

Fortunately, Peak has a board-certified veterinary oncologist on staff, Dr. Kendra Knapik, so Marielle scheduled us to see her first thing Tuesday morning. Early yesterday I bundled Widget into the van and headed to Burlington. In the photo above, Dr. Knapik is feeling Widget's lymph nodes (lymph nodes are in many different areas of the body), while her vet tech Bethany holds Widget.

After reviewing all the options with Dr. Knapik, we decided to pursue chemotherapy for Widget. This will be a 20-week regimen using an alternating roster of different chemo drugs that work in tandem over the course of the treatment period. We've had many cancer cases over the years, and in our experience, we've found that dogs tend to tolerate chemotherapy much better than humans do; indeed, we've been surprised over and over again how well dogs do with chemo.

With Widget, if you watched her bounding across the yard or scampering down the hallway to the dog room in the morning to search for hidden treats (someone must have left some dinner in their crate overnight!), you'd have no idea she has a heart condition, let alone cancer. She acts like she feels great, she looks great, and we think trying to knock her lymphoma into remission is worth doing. We are determined to give her as much quality time as possible.

Of course, Widget's heart condition makes this more challenging, and Dr. Knapik may have to change some of the drugs as a result. But with a cardiologist, internist and oncologist all on her team, we think Widget is in the best possible hands.

Widget had her first chemo early yesterday afternoon, and we got back to the farm in time for dinner. She ate well, had a long, comfortable sleep overnight, and today is her usual self. We'll keep you posted on her progress, but in the meantime, please keep her in your thoughts.

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Who’s Eating The Apples?

September 16, 2013

One of the apple trees next to the front yard has a branch hanging over the fence, and periodically an apple will fall onto the lawn. We had noticed in the past few weeks that someone – who? — had been eating these apples. And oddly, the apples were ending up under the fir tree, a good distance from where they fall onto the ground.

We have deer who love eating fallen apples, as well as our goats and blind horses, but of course none of them have been in the front yard. So it was a bit of a mystery because we hadn't actually seen anyone munching on the apples.

Until yesterday, that is. I was scooping dog poop in the front yard and saw blind Sophie under the fir tree, nose pressed down and busy at work on something. I went over to look. Sure enough, she was happily chewing on a fresh apple. It may be hard to tell in the cell phone photo above (click on it for a larger version), but she's holding the apple in place with her left front paw while she was chewing away at it.

Not far from her was another apple she had already enjoyed:

Now if I saw that on the ground I'd naturally think deer, woodchuck, wild turkey … but blind Dachshund? At least we know Sophie's definitely getting her recommended daily servings of fresh fruit!

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Allie

September 11, 2013

Allie is another of the dogs who will be in our fall print newsletter, which is our annual "originals" edition featuring animals who have been with us the longest. In Allie's case, she came way back in 2005 from a California family. They had two small toddlers, and after Allie went blind she began knocking over the children when she walked around the house. The family tried for a year to find someone who would take her — relatives, friends, local rescue groups — but no one agreed. They finally contacted us, and we said yes. Then the husband flew out to Montana with Allie to drop her off at the ranch.

She's mostly deaf, too. Allie can hear only very loud sounds very close to her, usually within a radius of about 10 to 15 feet or so.

Her favorite activity is playing with a tennis ball or chewing on a kong, which she can do uninterrupted for hours on end. Nothing makes her happier than a fresh tennis ball or kong! (Simple pleasures, eh?)

For the first time in years, we actually had an adoption inquiry on her two weeks ago from a New Hampshire family. Sadly, they decided Allie was too old at 10 to adopt.

Allie doesn't do well with female dogs, so her companions in her play yard during the day are Travis and Jake the blind hound. Still, she pretty much sticks to herself and her toys.

"People and dogs are fickle," Allie says. "Kongs are forever."

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Dang. Did It Again.

September 9, 2013

Yep, he got stuck in a blanket again. I opened the door to the front porch to let some dogs in on Thursday morning, and the fleece blanket came to life, stirring and moving. Up popped Wilbur, who immediately realized he had taken the "I-shouldn't-have-done-that" short-cut to get out of the blanket and was now stuck.

Then, in trying to extricate himself, he managed to get one leg through another very small hole and was now doubly stuck:

Oops.

Wilbur, who we have taken to calling Chief Hua Hua, or alternately Tuxedo Sam (because of his white tuxedo markings in front), or — more appropriately — the World's-Most-Expensive-Chihuahua, decided to deflect attention from his current predicament by showing us just how long his tongue is:

Please note that his tongue extends about an inch past his nose before he curled it up and brought it all the way back. No wonder he doesn't have room for it in his mouth, eh?

After admiring the tongue and then putting the camera away, I freed the embarrassed Chief Hua Hua and he scampered into the house.

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!
Blog Break

August 29, 2013

In light of the Labor Day holiday, we're going to take a blogging break and will resume posting the week of September 9. See you then!
Goat Ballet

August 28, 2013

Alayne and I had gone out to bring the goats in from browsing the other evening, and noticed as we walked up to the gate that two of the young males were having a grand time sorting out who was top dog … um, top goat. This was just pure fun. Both boys have been neutered and no girls were in heat. There's just nothing like a game of let's-butt-heads to while away the time waiting for humans to take us back to the barn.

Both of these guys were born this past spring and are big for their age — we weighed them a few weeks ago when they were five months old, and the white one clocked in at 76 pounds and the black one at 66 pounds. Both have gained quite a bit since then. They get no grain at all; just forage.

I only had my phone camera with me so I couldn't get any more action shots — they moved too fast. But while rearing up like this, they visually line the other guy up and then come crashing down, head to head. Sometimes one goat fakes it and at the last possible second shifts to the left or right, just before impact. Other times they'll make a glancing blow, as if both silently agreed to do it just for show. Much of the time, though, foreheads meet with quite a thud.

After several rounds while we stood there, the black one — named Beethoven, I guess because his mom is Melody and his sister is Harmony and we didn't want to name him Rhythm — pulled a new stunt and came down on his friend's back. Around and around they went, like a bronc trying to throw a rider:

—

New Shelter Challenge Begins

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge is underway and runs until October 13. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584.

They have redesigned the contest site and made other changes. Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.

Thanks for your votes!