Hello, Maia again. Mum was tired this weekend, still cuffing and sneezing. She was just playing with her computer and said I’m so pfffotoshenic, there had to be some art. I don’t know. Do I really look like this?
Mum says her computer can paint better than she can. Woof. *I* don’t look like this. Mum needs to practice.
Hello everyone, this is Maia, again. Mum read something she thought other people who like dogs might want to read, and see, too. And so we’re skipping this week’s MOOCy Monday (she’s not been studying anyway), and do a Weekend Woof instead.
Mum says:
“I’m reading many different blogs, and prominent among them are dog blogs. (Eventually I must get my b
log-roll(s) done). Among the blogs I always read, and not just browse, is this: Dog Spies on Scientific American, written by Julie Hecht, a canine behavioral researcher and science writer. Don’t be put off if you’re not that much into science. She writes in a very entertaining and understandable way, and her posts teach us a lot about dogs. Today, a Dog Spies Nose-a-thon has started, articles and talks about dogs’ noses. The first article is an introduction, and also features a video by Alexandra Horowitz, How do dogs see with their noses? It tells you about how dogs sniff, process the smells, and how they perceive the world. It is entertaining, well made, and very, very interesting. If you don’t want to read the blog, watch the video here:
The Dog Spies Nose-a-thon continues tomorrow, don’t miss it.”
Now that’s all old woofs to me, but about time you humans get an idea about how important the sniffing business is to us. Maybe next time I perfume myself with horse poo, Mum won’t use that awful word, “bath time”?
In this sense, have a lovely week.
Your Maia.
Hello everybody, this is Maia speaking. 
Mum is still fighting an army of viruses and bacteria, cuffing and sneezing and making funny noises. Otherwise she’s boring, because she sleeps most of the time. She told me that it was time to introduce the Weekend Woofs properly, which is what we’ll be doing. Because we changed the name. So here is what Mum has to say about the Weekend Woofs:
“Initially, this was called Woofy Weekends with the occasional Caturday Saturday thrown in. But then I wanted to write about hamsters. How do you fit hamsters into that scheme? Hamsterday Samsterday? Nah…
I’ve read a very moving post today, so I decided to do a bit of Blog travelling and comment on this topic without hijacking the other blog.
C-Dog&Company posted: When is When? It’s about the painful task of pet owners to decide on ending a beloved pet’s life.
Some of you who are interested in my dog-related posts may remember that I had a Border Collie, Spot, who lived to the old age of almost 17 years. He had various health problems during his life, most of which could be handled well. He’s had seizures, diet change got rid of that. Later he had a bladder hernia and only emergency surgery saved him. He recovered well. Half a year later, when he was 13, he had a slipped disk, this was very severe and, again, required major surgery. Back then the vet asked us if we wanted to go through with it.
Hello everyone, this is Maia.
Everyone here is wishing you a happy (or at least not offensive, intrusive, overly sweet) Valentine’s Day. Mind you, I’m not allowed to eat chocolate. These hamsters… they could come and celebrate with me… I have ideas about dinner…
(Gah speaking, taking the keyboard away from Maia: I’m fond of hamsters and found this a hoot. It’s from the No Dog About It Blog. Enjoy!)
…ahwoof, yes, exactly. Enjoy!
Your Maia
If you already saw this posted on my Facebook page, I apologize, but I just could not resist sharing it once again. After all, it IS the day before the most romantic day of the year.
And, what could be more romantic than an Italian dinner at a restaurant with the one you love? Did I mention the gondola ride beforehand? Ooo la la!
I hope you all have a Valentine’s Day as romantic as these two. Just don’t stuff all the food into your cheeks, okay?
Happy Friday everyone!
Today, Maia has been with us for three months. It has been a good time, and she has learned to trust us. Last week, for the first time, she licked my face. I was very pleased, because she hadn’t done it before (although some might say, ewww…). She’s still got her issues: chasing everything that moves, acting up, barking and lunging when other dogs are in sight, pulling on the leash… there are ups and downs, sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse, but overall, I feel, things improve. Some of the basic training, the Watch Me, the avoidance of confrontations, gentle treatment, patience… I think it’s starting to slowly pay off. She’s less insecure/ fearful. Continue reading “Woofy Weekend: Faces”
Those of you who live in North America will probably belly-laugh reading this, but these days in our nick of the wood, a snow flake or two means that it is winter. A few weeks ago I showed you our record snowfall of three centimeters… that was more than we had seen in several years. And that is not all, it has snowed again! Another whooping two centimeters. It’s transformed fields and walkways into slushy puddles of mud, but all the dogs I know have fun with it. But, it wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time, when Spot, our Border Collie was still young and healthy, we had a real winter, and I have proof.
Last week I wrote about our cat Mikka, how we got him. Today I’ll continue his story, and how we stressed him so much that he developed bladder stones.
There were several options to avoid stones in the future:
I’ve been writing about pets from the past and pets from the present, but never quite got around to writing about our cat Mikka.
After my father’s death in 1998, my mother lived alone (by choice). Her last cat had died a few years before and she told me she felt too old to get another cat. She was concerned that at her age it was likely that the cat would outlive her. I could tell that she wasn’t happy with that decision; she had lived with cats almost all her life, and missed having them around. And so, after the Xmas holidays of 1999, we asked at the local shelter about their cats.
When Spot, my Border Collie, was five years old, he started to have seizures. It was very scary. He would run around and suddenly, without warning, fall to the ground, tremble, roll his eyes back and salivate heavily. After an eternity of a minute or two it would stop and he would become conscious again but be very confused. We consulted our vet of that time. He made tests. And more tests. And didn’t find anything. Spot kept having seizures. Not often or heavily enough for medication (yet), but scary each time it happened. It wasn’t epilepsy. We weren’t all that happy with the vet we consulted then. And so I did some research and somewhere, on some American dog forum (Germany at that time was not web-savvy for that kind of thing yet) read about similar symptoms caused by preservatives in the food.
ghlearner.wordpress.com 