2011

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!

2011
December
and only hours left of 2011 ... but Isi is not entirely comfortable with the New Year celebrations early yesterday, someone had to fire up New Year's battery and Isi made it clear to everyone that this wasn'tt any fun at all!! and since that she's been barking....to be on the safe side...just in case... I belive she was quiet for a few hours during the night... ...at least the rest of our dogs didn't bother ... Anyway,  wish you all a Happy New Year!


November
Hmmm .... there is little that resembles winter outside  but who's complaining?? Not me!!  with all the shoveling last year?! ... puhhh ... this year I would have bought a snow blower!!Fortunately, it is cold enough for long walks in the forrestWell, as long as one can expect with newfies with bad knees, hips and frontlegs how to resolve that? You just take turns on who to take on a long walk one day and short walks the day after back in those days when it didn't matter Bianca and I went on a course learning to track different scents .. when she started out walking the forrest she had her nose constantly glued to the ground so we thought .. why not register?  and we were fortunately, a track course was arranged not long after the course was very fun and soon Bianca was tracking as she was born to it some time later, we were on one of our walks and it didn't take long before Bianca had "the scent"...and was lost for this world suddenly a deer jumped out of the bushes right in front of Bianca .. took a leap over her and was gone ... the only one who didn't take notice of it was ... yup, Bianca she was so "zooomed" in to the track that she didn't  noticed that the scent she was following was fleeing by leaps and bounce far into the forestit has been many such trips in the years that have passed Bianca has sniffed out the deer and Mulan has barked her head off when the track has fled into the forest now, that's good teamwork




October
Jiippiiiii  it's that time of the year and July is humping everone who's fortunate enough to be to close ... and she's demanding to go outside at 1 in the morning and then at 3 .. and again at 6 ..guess we can sleep later  we are considering installing revolving doors!we have a doggy-door in the hall-door and often I come down in the morning and find a front door open and a hall-door closed and locked especially during the summer and when all three bitches are in heat at the same time  when it's winter it's worst ....  the house quickly becomes cold ... luckily the three females aligned themselves so that we don't have to have an open house throughout the year and we have installed a heatpump!But one thing's for sure ... come winter and snow the revolving doors are in.. I refuse to shovel snow out of the hallway before going to work!



August 25
according to the FCI standard a newfoundlanddog is, and I quote: ".. large drafts and water dog, with natural life-saving instinct, and devoted companion. " end of quote Well, after the water-rescue course Isi and I went to, it's fairly reasonable to say that Isi's motto is more like:" Each one for themself!!!"    "Large" ... oh yeah, and still she's growing  "draugth and water dog .. In your dreams!!  Isi wasn't at all agreeing in the statement but we managed to ease her into the water and she swam like a fish but when she swam on her second round she got panic and after that she refused to go near the sea  neither me nor the instructors  found out what spooked her so badly while in water and whatever we tried she flatly refused to go out into the sea... she stood firmly on her four feet  .. so it wasn't the best day for Isi and me ... then it's good to see Mira raising to the occasion, swimming like a dolphin  she was also skeptical to the water but when day 2 starts with swimming and rescue test ... Mira took the test with flying colors!!! JIPPIII!!!!  AND she took the rope from boat and swam to shore, rescuing both boat and passangers!! for first time!!  I'm  hopeing that in time and with a lot of patience and training, Isi  will do the same thing  after everyone had finish their test Isi was next we tried a gentle approach to the sea  and this time it went a little better .. but still she's skeptical thank god the panic is gone  Can I manage to get a swim and rescue dog ? Maybe or not ... who cares?! The most important thing is to get Isi confident and comfortable enought in water hoping she wants to swim and with some advice from the instructors I will try to do my best  and who knows? maybe deep within Isi there is a water and rescue dog "... with natural life-saving instinct .."  But one thing's for sure ... she's a "....devoted companion!"




August 7
RainRainRainRain ... right-through-the-rain-jacket-rain ... IT SUCKS!!! oh well..our newfies haven't gone crazy looking for a cold place  or shadow to hide in the summerheat...'cos there are no heat!!! actually, we have shaved down all of them that is...all except Isi She still got a little puppyfur left, and it quickly get wet and cold .. then it's good to have a dryer just inside the door  Vikki , Isi's mother, had the same problem. .. hanging on to her fur until almost 18 months ... then she just dropped it all and then some... why?? maybe it had something  to do with the fact that she was all-over-the-place up until 27-28 mnd of age...jumping fences and having fun last time I saw her jump she was over halfway through with the puppy litter Isi comes from the first time she was barely a year ... we were taken by surprise .. both I and the three newfs standing within the fence  a newfs isn't supposed to not be that frisky ... and definitely not jumping fences as a thoroughtbred horse but jump she did ..suddenly she stood outside the fence but when the other three newfies didn't follow she jumped rigth back leaving us with a problem ..if we weren't aware everytime someone walked by or came visiting she was there to greet them  remember one time.. they where barking and I went outside to have a look ... and I'm sure I count four newfies.... when I look down on the road there stands a man with TWO newfs  Oh, how nice!! We're not the only ones with newfies and their just gorgeous! is my first thought....and isn't it strange that one was on a leash and one was not and looking very similar to Vikki?Vikki?  guess who did her counting...and fast ...and discover there's one missing?!?!  Guess who was not there?? Yes, Vikki ... she was with the man and his newf happily greeting them sooo happy to meet someone who wasn't afraid  ...  when I called for her she came running like the wind and the man? He just smiled, waved hello and went on .. leaving behind a very happy newf by the name of Vikki


July 16
How fast time goes byjust over a year ago, the living room was full of puppies Isi's still a puppy, at least in behavior,if not in size  she's the lively one..and the three others are not....but that don't bother her she keeps right on it...inviting them to play with her...and getting her ears full when they have had enough...  but that don't bother her at all she just shakes her head lightly....allready happily off to the next "bully object" who tends to be our cat,Pondus... but in time I hope she will be a little less lively...I hope... we finally got around to make an appointment with the vet to X-ray her elbows  thought we would be able to get her x-rayed without anesthesia ... but no ... she was stubborn and refused to relax at home we are training all our dogs to be as comfortable as possible while we are pulling their feet gently when they're laying on the floor....or we look in their mouths and ears...in short.. we're trying to make them enjoy going to the vet jepp, it's a tall order..I know but I have a teory that if the dogs are used to different kind of handling ... the vet will not be that scary... maybe...in any case...Isi needs a bit more teaching and anesthesia had to be used.. cannot say I like it that much the dogs breathing so hard and slow and panic creeping up the backbone....and suddenly...panic attack...she's not breathing!!  and I throw myself over poor Isi, shaking her hard, shouting  "BREATH!!!! God, damn it!!You need to breathe!!!!! "  tears streamming down my face but then I see her chest move and hear how she breathe ..  PURE HAPPINESS!!!!! but I swear...  it's sheer willpower from my hand which lay on her chest just above the heart that is keeping her alive .. surely! at least... that's how it feels .. and soon it's time for her hips  but that's still a few months away ... now we're training on obedience you see, Isi and I are attending a course in water- rescue can't wait!!!


Summer and birdsong, mosquito bites and long, lazy eveningssweet, juicy watermelon .. mmmm .. wonderfull!and the stupidest thing you do then, is to give watermelon to your dogs .. at least when one of them then get stomach ache yeah, that's exactly what happenedJuli like watermelon veeeery much but late at night, early morning we heard her too veeery well July is not of the quiet, martyr-like type ... no matter what happens she's give a loud message about what she thinks and feels about it if there are dogs on the TV...bark-barkdogs and people walking by...bark-bark or grooming or ... Got the picture? !and when she also has a pain threshold that is somewhat lower than the other three we have ... jeeezzz ... it was NOT a very good night neither for her or usshaky and scared we rang the vet ... for it sounded very bad poor Juil .. now we have to put her down.... her kidneys have probably colapsed !!... maybe multi-organ failure !!!.. and July seemed to agreed winching and went with curl on her back and screamed every time she had to get to her feetbut she was willing to follow me out to get breakfast .. and ate in a flash wanting moreshe looked alrigth.. but the vet was already booked .. and for safety's sake, we went  ... and took blood tests and x-ray ... without finding a thing wrong it was only a stomach ache .. said the vet, but she should get some enema to get the stool easier of and if  she  should be worse, just call .. said the vet and in my mind I thought we would get a prescription for medicine \ enema ... so when the bill was paid and the vet put two tubes on the counter.... I had to ask ... "shall we put it in her food or her mouth?" think the vet was a little.... "it's are two tubes of enema
you've got and they're going in the butt! "was the answer well, I am constantly learning something new and July's up running ..  one thing's for sure...there are no more watermelon for that spesific newfie!!! 


May 27
yeah..we're still whaiting for the real summer  and soon the sun is turning in the meantime I guess we'll endure and keep the longs og wool onmaybe it's me but I'm freezing my butt of!! but our four newfies are  just enjoying the cold summerweather they don't have to look for a shady place one day I got a question about what I had done with the garbage bag ... had I forgotten to put it in the can?No, don't think so I answered ...  I thought I had it in the bin ... How so? Well, Isi is in the back, chewing on the garbage bag .. was the answer I got and sure enough ... there  she was,eating and having a real treat with the potato peelings, and coffeegrains and leftovers from dinners she and a crow.. Isi has never been selfish. .. she is happy to share... had I forgotten to put the bag in the bin?No, I hadn't and it was the only one in,too... But she had managed to turn it over and got out the bag ...she's not stupid, that onewell, we picked it up and but it back in the bin . and switch places with paper bucketnow she would get to all the goodies in the bin,,,well pleased with ourselves we went back inside againand how long do you think that lasted just long enough for us to turn the corner then she got to work again she teared down the paperbucket and used it as a ladder to get to the garbagebinjeje .. looks like we have another "foodaddict"  in the house .... guess we can live with it...and "clicker"train her to stay away from the rubbish bin



April 29 
we have had some beautiful summerdays,here on the west coast and of course we have to do the most out of them the first thing was to shave down Julyand it looks like she's enjoying it ... because she's seemed less stressed out when the heat comes  she's used to lay on the tiles in the hallway, or walk for the shades around the house, or preferably, the basement which is the coldest place in housebut right now she's a pain in the ass!!she's " in heat"  and every time she's turning to Mulan, one of our other bitches, for help  Mulan, however, is both tired, frustrated and cranky but that don't seems to bother Juli as soon as Mulan has calmed down, Juli is rigth back on track we try to keep July at an arms length from Mulan....and it help..at least for a while.. but soon Mulan is "in heat" and then it's July turn to "help out"  .. what goes around....comes around... what happens when Isi get " in season" ... should be interesting to see .... but one thing's for sure ... No one mess with Bianca!! they don't dare to 

 

April 16
hmmm.... there nothing like sleeping a little longer at weekends,but I'm afraid that those days are over... all because of Isi..she have figured out how to stack four feet up the stairs?! she's a determined young lady.., I hasn't had any interest in teaching her to go up or down stairs...for obvious reasons ... a little nervous when she would go back down,but there was no reason to worry it was almost like she had done nothing else since she came to the house,than to race up and down stairs..may as well close the stairs for a while....but I think won't help in the longrun...  if Isi's hungry, she's HUNGRY!!!NOW!!! and then it's time to get up regardless if the stairs are closed or not... before she was barking, you know.. I think I prefer the soft approach to the mornings..  being licked all over the face... maybe ...

March 25
socialization isn't the stupidest you can do on a thursday afternoon  and with that in mind,I took Isi with me to the training full of enthusiasm and with my pocket full of treats I was sure that nothing could go wrong it all starts so well, with Isi that jumps up and plants two wet, dirty paws on my newly washed jacket ... not one, but twice  oh, well...thank God, she didn't jumped up on anybody else; is the thought I comfort myself with looking down on the jacket and  the muddy water that flows down and no one else took notice of the signature of Isi's paws on my jacket, I guess they may have experienced something similar .. we wander out on the training field ready for action .. and after receiving instructions, we stood there looking at each other ... I wonder how to approach this  and Isi looks like she says, "are you sure about this? You are aware that if you mess this up, I'm ruined for life! DAMAGED!! Have you seen the size of these dogs?! They are HUGE!!!  I WANT TO GO HOME !!!!!!"  but we managed to get through the workout, hopefully without any major trauma   Isi isn't the shy type, but now she was a bit overwhelmed by all the commotion ... and when we started the "go-between-dogs" course, the confidencelevel was very low ... then it is good to have a littersister, Mira, there ,to help with some fooling around and playing was not long then, and Isi was back on track,being her old self-confident self  we both had a great time,learning and socialization 



March 13
Yesterday it was almost snowfree and spring in the airthis morning we awoke to an almost white and cold worldMarch is a funny monthsnow and sleet and rain...all at once.. but birds are twittering and Isi is barking in sympathy she is more out than in.... and she has been constantly wet on her back we used the blower on her for the first time last weekand she took it like a pro guess it have a lot to do with our three other dogsthey just love being blown and yes, it has a lot to do with click-and-treats we are generous handling out treats all around whenever they've taken their turns on the table for washing of their feet and then blowing them dry after Isi discover quickly the benefits the table gave TREATS..yummy!!..now she is the first one up .. and with a free sight to the box where the treats are kept also, she is not very particularly about if there's someone else on the table so it could be a little crowded on the table when there are two newfies there ... but then again..whats treats for?!... 




March 1
Happiness is a walk in the forrestand when the snow is retreating and the feeling of spring is high ... then life is sweet!!....but that just last until your back home and discover that an 8 months old tornado had a neurotic moment and used your cellphone for chewing toy..my beloved Nokia 5410 i ..no pictures or furniture are chewed on... but she has a passionate relationship to shoes yeah, have to buy me some new indoor slippers she has chewed her way through rolls of poo-bags and boxes of disposable gloves ... luckily she has only decorated the floor with bags and gloves same applied to my cellphone ... it was only chewed on ... all the parts were there ... even if they didn't quite fit together...we are looking forward to the day that the brain catch up with the body . she's the worlds most wonderfull dog ...


February 21
 Trimming of coat and an 8 month old puppy with hyperactivity is a test of patience even the angel Gabriel would have had problems with But with a biiiig box full of treats you can do magic  before you know it she's loving it ... and soon it's time to do her claws we keep our fingers crossed and hope to find  that inner peace-place or as cecar Millan says "calm and assertive state of mind"  it would be good if the puppy also could be in that "calm and assertive ...  you know?!well,she's willing to learn at least we almost had to force her into the car the first time we took her for a walk in the woods  the next day she wasn't quite so reluctant  ... and by the third day she was the first to jump in the car it's always good to see that there is something we are doing rightdet next step is to teach her to stand still until we have attached the leech before jumping out  guess we have to take babysteps and one thing at a time ... and buy more treats

 

 

February 2
hmmm .... Spanish water doga friend thought it was a cool dogand I admit he's a bit cool ... with rasta curls and hairband to keep his coat from his eyesbut cool wasn't exactly what I thought he was, when I woke up one night by a smell of shit that got my eyes to water .... blæhh ....!!!! I got up in order to pick up .... but there was nothing on the floor ... just dust bunnies... so I sat the window on full airing before I crept back to bed again ... rather rain in my hair than tears in the eyes due to .. you understand ?!.the next night went without any major disturbances ... however,the next one .... after some thinking we came to the conclusion that our Spanish charmer don't tolerate Cevita orange in large quantities ... rather my sleep don't tolerate it ... so instead of half a orange he's now getting just a slice of orange ... so we sleep better ... both he and Ican close the bedroom doorbut I think I'll do it when the tickseason starts ... in a few weeks ...maybe


January 2011

January 22
July is op for the second time due to granulom .. first time was about a year ago ... she got a small wound on the back leg and licked all the time ... we tried everything to stop her licking... sock and collar .... but finally we were recommended by the vet to op and the op went well .. our problem was that we didn't do as the vet recommendedthe bandage  didn't come off after a few days ... and then the damage was already happenedit was wet and that was enough for half the wound not to close properly and with snow and slush outside, it was almost impossible to keep the wound dry it took a long time before the wound closed and even longer before July ceased to bother with the wound ... but in the end the coat grew back on until just before christmas....then she started licking againOMG!!!...., it's the scar..it's open up ... but no, the scar was fine but she had a wound a little further up on the foot and this time we didn't wait as long as last time ... and as last the op went well  the difference now is that we replace the bandages as vet recommendedand but on collar and take a carrier bag on her foot this time the wound is being drier than the Sahara desert...



January 10
to live on the west coast has its advantages and disadvantages the snow for example. it comes and goes ... you have just finished shoveling it aside and THEN it start to rain .... but the winter is the favorite time of the year for our newfiesespesially Mulan is full of life when the thermometer creep down to 0 .. the lower the better .. even if she is shaved downshe is struggling a bit more in the heat ... she kind of sign out a bit... and itch more but for now we just enjoy the cold and an almost itchy-free MulanBianca,on the other hand, is struggling a bit with her hind legs in the cold ... she has op both knees with TPLO methodback then we had to go to Oslo Vetclinic to get it done ... and we have not regretted a secondshe is careful where she puts her feet when it's icy ... she tends to slip out ... and since we have tiles in the hallway and they get slippery when wet she har serious problems keeping on her feet so she refuses to walk unless we put out some old towels so that she has" red carpet "right into the kitchen she also has almost stopped entiredly to go through the doghatch ... why we do not know ...  maybe it's the hind legs or perhaps the back ..... or altzheimers ?!... on the other hand,she's 8 years old,got slightly shaky knees and a paralysed tail ...  I guessed she is allowed to have some peculiarities...hmmm...paralysed tail .... out of the blue...there it was. .. at both op she had epidural anesthesia ..... right in front of the hips ... it took a long time before the fur grew back out after op No 2, but it came at last the worst build-up phase/rehibilitation was over, the walks became longer and longer and winter was upon us ... but in one of our walks we noticed that Bianca constantly bent back and tryed chewing on her the tail ... we thought it was twigs and checked, but no ... the day after it was odd that she couldn't pooh normallywhen we discovered what the problem was and got her to the vet there wasn't much they could do ... X-rays showed a "normal" tail and back, no breaks ... no swelling ... she got prescription for Prednisolon hopeing it would help, but the tail showed no signs of improvementand the tail is still paralysed....but it don't seem to bother her much...and we has gotten used to it


2jan
2011 started very goodNew Year's Eve is not exactly our favorite evening but this time it went really well none of the dogs were scared and even if the fireworks went off from 17 in the eveningthey were not afraid to go outside ... admittedly they bark a little, but they didn't go back insideand when the finale set in,they all was asleep ...infact they didn't move a musclethe only one who was a little nervous was Ron .... yeah, we're taken on a perro ... a great male ... very charming and nimble he was a little nervous ... and we hope that the behavior of the three others are contagious .. at least the behavior on New Year's Eve

December 2010
19 Dec

Removal of ice under the paws

18 December
then, the Christmas-calm has desentedand from the telly someone is singing Xmas-songsand our 3 newfies are just laying about,doing nothing sweet!!!How the year has been? Not so bad, thanks for asking many ups and a few downs,but we learn something new every time Bianca is a senior, with all the challenges that follows and then there is Mulan...she's... hmmm .... just hartwarmingly presentshe love food ... and that is a source of frustration ... especially when owners forget to close the kitchendoorit is incredible what Mulan has eaten .... without being bad ... knock-on-wood ... she has eaten chocolate ... lots of chocolate ... peanuts ... raisins ... a bunch of bread ... once the neighbor rang,wondering what Mulan ate, ..she was on the back of the house with something white in her mouth. .. Oh yes, there where Mulan enjoying some buns we had just bought,and the paper bag lying next to her Juli are our very own SecuritasGuard there are not many people who pass unnoticedwe are looking forward to a peaceful Christmas celebration without the major challenges ... they are coming New Year's Eve with the fireworks Bianca is terrified of the fireworksMulan and Juli aren't happy about it either,but not as scared as B  ... to be truthfull,the fear has diminished over the years ... especially after you only could buy fireworks on 30 Dec and 31 dec ... before it was almost impossible to get her outside soon as she noticed the smell of the gunpowder,she ran  back insideWe chose not to use a sedative, but rather to focus on DAP and a quiet new year eve-selebrationso for  the last 8 years new year eve has been spent in the hall where there's no windows and with the doors closed and the TV -sound so that we barely hear it through the door,...there we celebrated the new year with some relatively quiet newfies this year we're hoping for the living room .... maybe ...

November 2010
November 13
Finally, we return to life as we know it with three dogs who know how to enjoy the lazy life... LOVELY! except that we might have one with a neck injuryWHAT?! that was my thougth too when the emergencyvet said it... but you do not argue in the phone to 26 nkr,- pr. minute the story is as follows: Mulan goes to Askøy vet ... not the worst place to be she says ... for there they  got treats! .. for her skin problems .. and with irregular intervals, she also got a stiff neck the first time it happened was right after we had put an immunotherapy injection into her neck area
she just got really sick would just lie and pipes every time she had to move ...  on one occation she couldn't lift her head \ neck above shoulder level ... she was most comfortable with to keep the neck \ head to one side and pipes every time someone bumped into herwe took her to the vet every time without finding out what it was  when it happened she was on immunotherapyserum for skin disorders and we just connected the two things together .... and the result was that we stopped giving her injections and she has not had any more attacks until yesterday that was   ... she wouldn't lift her head above shoulder height .. but it's over two years since we stopped with the injections!!  it was just to call the emergencyvet .. you see, Mulan know how to time her "emergencys" just when the opening hours to vetclinics are over and preferably at the weekends but the E-vet was benign and even asked a bunch of questions   he asked me to bend her head to the sides and tell him how she reacted .. it went well to one side, but not to the other .. she winched and gave a pip hmmm said the E-vet .. sounds like your dog has a neck injury .... jerking on a leash ... running towards something for sudden stop at the end of the leash can cause damage to the neck ... the E-vet saidgive her pain killers and call me tomorrow ... he said that was yesterday and yes,the  painkillers are working well .. she is back to her normal self ... no bowed head ... no walking as if she has a stomach ache .. in short .. she's normal so here we sit and wonder ... and wonder ... neck injury caused by improper use of leash or side effects of immune therapy jaja ... in the meantime we are using the harness... for safety's sake .. .. until we get an answer .. IF we ever get one it's just that Mulan is walking more behind us than ahead everything and everyone has to be smelled thoroughly ... twice .... and to find the perfect place for her "business card" ... ALL this takes time and Mulan has plenty of time she's our own little anti-stress pill



November 2
 it's seasontime for our bitches!!!!! Anybody want to swap? Got two females, well mannered, loves walks and food, is good at everyday obedience .... but that was two weeks ago .. Now they are fully sealed in the ears ... Anyone?! Well-well,it will be over in a while luckily the third one is sterilizedand the rest are going the same way .. at least  that's the last thought I have before I fall asleep, after beeing awake at 0300 they have to to go out...MUST go out .. NOW! Isn't it strange?!! the rest of the year,they just lay about doing next to nothing but when seasontime is there ... JU-HUuuu .. out we go ...nigth and day...no matter what time it is but somehow I wouldn't be without themisn't is strange?!

October 2010
October 18
We haven`t quite got used to an everyday life with 3 dogs but soon... And when we also will have one of Vikki's puppies for a week while the owners are on vacation, life is goodat least for Juli,it is .. finally someone to play and run with at the back of the house but somehow,the enthusiasm has worn down ... it may have something to do with Pia and her unlimited amounts of energy?! Juli still wants to play, but not all the time. .. rest is also important, but Pia has no time for rest or sleepshe got places to go and things to do she's just lovely

October 10