Luna

The Tuesday before last, October 25, we lost Luna.  I realized after a while that she wasn't coming out of her crate.  By the time my wife came down and we were trying to coax her out, she couldn't stand, fell over when she tried, and was having constant mini seizures.  She's been seizing for a long time and having incidents of falling over, falling into things, and sort of narcolepsy-ing.  She was calm, but not herself, and had clearly had a major event like a stroke during the night.  She wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and appreciated all the attention, but was clearly befuddled.

We were very happy her last full day involved running at the neighbor's house.  Ted was always good to her and running next door was her happy place, across three different neighbors in that house.  And she was excited when the neighbor from the other side came over to check on Bailey the cat who we thought was actually the animal in the worst health, although she's rallied for a few weeks.  But Luna passing didn't do her any favors. Luna was always super excited about visits from people she recognized. 

We took her to the vet so she could pass peacefully and the fact that she wasn't slobbering like she had rabies was a telltale sign that it was really bad, particularly after I'd carried her in wrapped in a blanket.  She always foamed like crazy when excited and stressed.  It was pretty obvious she'd had a very long life and had decided she was all done.  A was still at school and we didn't want Luna to deal with any pain or being scared while waiting and I think they understood.  They're still a little mad about when Sandy passed back in 2008 and we didn't tell them it was happening.  But they were so young at the time and didn't like death.

Luna was a good dog. Barked too much.  A little too tightly wound.  Thought she was more clever than she really was and often tried to sneak in a poop when she thought she was being sneaky behind me instead of where I could see her. But we loved her and she loved us and she was happy.  We have lots of fond memories, even those that involve her being a little crazy like when she went bark crazy when my phone made a bee-boo noise [it's a sad noise now], or when she pooped half a dozen times if she went for a walk.  She was a gift from an old VP of Tech at TR after Sandy died.  We were drinking at the bar for a manager event and I mentioned my dog had died when I became a manager, and she mentioned her husband had a pile of oops hunting puppies.  We took A to her farm and she played in a pile of puppies and took Luna home.

There are piles of photos on my blog and Flickr.  But as I posted over on FB, what I see now is all the places Luna is not.

Her favorite place to nap next to my office.  The gate was to stop her from hiding in the basement behind the furnace when she got older.  She claimed it as her own and liked to sleep with her head resting across the bars.  When the treadmill was in the basement, she'd often sleep with her head on the base bars there instead.

Her auto water bowl.  Toward the end she drank a lot of water and sometimes couldn't seem to quit unless someone asked her to take a break.

Her kennel where she slept.  Sans comfortable blankets and towels.  Those are all her favorite 'ducks'.  Whenever someone new would show up, she'd haul one out to show them and hope for some play time.  There are some fun photos of her trying to get a burnt pancake off the top of the cage which was a game for a while. I think Luna was sad when I quit burning pancakes.

The neighbor's house, right outside my office window.  When we took her over to play in the yard she'd sit by the entrance and just quiver until she got the go-ahead.  Then she'd take off for the far side of the yard at full tilt, only deviating if she could find a squirrel or bird to chase.

The crooked back door where she liked to sit, enjoy the sunshine, and watch the birds, the squirrels, and the neighbors working in their yard.  That's her nose goo all over the window.  It's still there - we haven't washed it yet.  That'll feel like really letting go.  More so than putting away her bed.

One of her favorite spots to sun in the neighbor's yard and stare down squirrels.

The tree she was obsessed with toward the end after she realized it was squirrel central where the squirrels moved between Ted's house and Ty and Alexa's house.  She'd sit under there in the leaves and stare them down.  There was a day not so long ago I posted to FB about whether anyone had seen her because I couldn't find her and I thought she'd gotten lose and taken off.  Instead, she was in the leaves under the tree ignoring me.  This is where we buried a bunch of Luna's ashes.

A photo I don't think I posted for my family anywhere else from when Luna was just a puppy.

One of my favorite days with Luna, out for a walk in the snow.  She loved the snow and would bury her face and almost whole body in the snow banks.  She never felt it was a good excuse not to spend time next door.  I think she'd have pulled a Jack Nicholson in the hedge maze and been grinning as she froze.

Thank you for being a good dog, Luna.  You made A happy and that would have been enough.  But you made us all happy and gave us many great memories.

Dogs will never rule the world...

When I take my shoes and socks downstairs and the dog, Luna, is still her kennel in the morning, ready to go out, she stands up as I enter the room, and looks at me expectantly. Then I sit in the recliner, and she lays back down. I put on a sock and she stands up expectantly. Then realizes I'm not done, and lays back down. I put on the other sock, and she stands up, ready to go. Then realizes I'm not done, and lays back down. I work the double knot out of a dress shoe and she bolts to attention. But lays back down after it takes me more than five seconds. Shoe is going on the foot. UP! Wait...down. Other shoe is picked up, UP! Wait...down. Untying the other double knot. UP!!!! No...not done. Other shoe is finally going on, UP, UP! Wait...no leash in hand. Back down.

This is why dogs will never rule the world. They're two f-ing stupid to understand how shoes work.

Dog Blog

Eryn and Luna hanging out in the front room watching television.


Luna, striking something of a stupid pose.  She's been a lot better lately since Pooteewheet bought a shock collar for training purposes.  It sounds mean, but 99.999% of the time (literally) the only action required is to give it a beep, not a shock, at which point she lays down and refuses to move.  It reminds her too much of the shock collar used to keep her from barking and being hauled away by the Eagan police.  It has also made her act like a normal dog around small children instead of jumping on them, which makes it well worth the price.

Giant F-ing Snowstorm

That snowstorm sucked.  My official tally was six shovelings of from 1-6" each time.  According to the weather news, we got somewhere around 15-16".  I know it was bad because my back still hurts, and I had the urge this morning to take a tape measure to the driveway to see if I could figure out how many pounds of snow I'd actually lifted.  Then I thought, "I'd just have to take into account the differing densities of fresh snow versus snow plow toss up, and the varying lifting power between the original one foot lift and end state five foot+ lift.   Supposedly, 15 minutes of lifting snow is moderate physical activity.  Might as well have been rowing for hours.

But it made for some good pictures and video.

Mandatory picture of the bird bath showing approximately how much snow we got.  We actually got more than this - it piled up too high for the bird bath to be accurate.


Eryn at the front door coming out to help me shovel.


Writing her name in the snow.  Later, the dog would help her.


The dog likes to pretend she's a mole or a groundhog.


She loves the snow.  Loves it.  Even if it's 17 below (like it was today), she's happy bounding around the snow banks until she's covered head to foot.


Told you Luna wanted to help with the writing.  She's really taken to Eryn lately.  They're good friends most of the time.


Luna as a snowplow.  That's not our cat behind her, just a cat sculpture in the "garden".


Ice dams on the roof and the joys of a lot of wind coupled with a lot of snow.


Eryn and Luna in the front yard.


A view from the fourth floor.  We drove over to the corporate kids' holiday party, despite the snow.  It was earlier in the day, so the Ford Fiesta was capable of the drive.  If it had been later, we'd have been in a bit of trouble.  Apparently enough people skipped that they were handing out the kids' gifts today at work.

Dog Blog

Some movies of the dog being all doggish while out for a walk and in the neighbor's back yard. Do you know how you keep Luna busy and stock still for an hour? You put a squirrel in a tree where he can eat a nut. She doesn't move until the squirrel moves.

Things That Distract the Dog When She's Trying to Poop

• Birds
• Rabbits
• Squirrels
• Imaginary birds
• Imaginary rabbits
• Imaginary squirrels
• Ice Cream Truck
• Neighbor spraying his yard
• Tasty grass
• Potentially tasty weeds
• Wind
• Other dogs
• The locations where other dogs have previously been seen
• Beach balls
• Shadows

Rest and Relax

Luna, enjoying a cup of water after a long walk to Ring Mountain. She also enjoyed the ends of three small cups of ice cream, so she was extremely happy.

It's All a Matter of Perspective

Apparently, Eryn's braid issue with the dog could have been so much worse.

"Brancheau, 40, was rubbing Tilikum from a poolside platform when the 12,000-pound creature reached up, grabbed her ponytail in its mouth and dragged her underwater. Trainers rushed to help but could not save her."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/ap_on_re_us/us_seaworld_death

Luna Hates Klund

I saw rocks in the poodles' bowls at Klund's house when we were down there and he mentioned they were for keeping the dogs from wolfing down their food in moments. Luna inhales her food. If I were to time it, she might actually be coming in at under sixty seconds in many instances. It might not be dangerous. My knowledge of dog esophagus capacity is limited. But it looks dangerous. And I need a few moments to myself, and when the dog is eating should be one of them, because ten seconds after she's done it's time for her potty break.

So, Pooteewheet brought in the rock Eryn knew was buried under the snow on the deck, and put it Luna's food bowl. Luna immediately popped it out. So when I fed her dinner, I switched her water and food bowls and put the rock in the bigger metal bowl so it was harder to dislodge. Not only did she eat for over five minutes while she pushed the rock off the food, but she added another five minutes on top of that coming back over and over to look for food under the rock, and another five minutes on top of that making return trips to lick the rock on the off chance it might actually BE food. Each time she failed to find food under the rock, or licked (or bit) the rock and found it to be lacking, she gave it and the dish a disgusted swat with her paw before padding away.

I'm sure she'll figure out a way to foil this cunning plan in the long run, just like how she figured out to push her bed out of the way and pee under it so I still have to clean pee every morning until we find a smaller replacement cage, but for now it seems to be working.

Special Hugs for Dogs

Because I was interested, I went searching and read this answer as to why female dogs hump their stuffed animals:

Dogs (both female and male) use the "Humping" to establish dominance over other dogs and usually has nothing to do with sex. If the dog is doing this to inanimate objects, it's usually because it's the only thing around that it feels superior to, especially if it is the dog's toy and it is around it alot, or if a new stuffed animal toy is presented it may start this right away to establish possesion. This is not an uncommon behavior and is quite normal, however weird or unattractive it may seem to humans.

Which is all fine and good. But then, as usual, I went a bit too far on the web and click into a subsequent link below the fold that answered a completely different question:

Why does your 4 year son old hump stuffed animals? Because YOU let him. This is unwanted behavior, you should stop your son from doing this behavior.

[Added later by another person: My son does this with great enthusiasm. Since he is not in any situation where he could be abused, we checked with a developmental pediatrician on how "appropriate" it was and whether we should be concerned. 1. He said not to be concerned, it's normal for some children. 2. Don't make the child feel guilty about it, even if you ask them not to do it. 3. (What we ended up doing.) Set boundaries. We told our son "special hugs" are only for stuffed animals when he's alone in his bedroom. This worked-- it's still odd-- but it worked.]