Woe is Me

It has not been a good month for me. I have been unwell and, although I am starting to get better, it is very slow going. 

Me sleeping. See my big tummy :(

My tummy started being extra finicky last August. It started when my weather-related skin allergy started up again and it became an infection extremely fast. My human called the man with the needles -- I hear them call him Vet. He gave my favorite human some paper that had the name of medicine written on it but it wasn't written in Dog so I couldn't read it. 

My favorite human got the medicine and she started giving it me -- as if I didn't know she was hiding it in my treats. But after two days, I started feeling sick. My pee went bright yellow and even my paws looked yellower than ever before. My favorite human noticed it at once and she became very worried. 

She changed my food and she got a lot of those things humans call Vitamins. She started feeding me little portions of food every few hours. The food also changed. I was suddenly getting special food and lots of oatmeal which I love! There was also more fruits in our home and I was sooooo happy I could have bananas and apples -- even though those pills were in the bananas. I heard the Vet say I had jaundice. 

All the yellow went away after a while and I was feeling fine then my tummy started acting funny. It became big and heavy. My favorite human got scared again. The next morning she told me I would be riding in the car! I love riding in the car so I jumped in the seat at lay down on my favorite blanket that was there. She took me to a long ride and I loved all the smells. I saw lots of tress and cows and dogs along the way. 

But she stopped the car where the other man with needles hides. That made me scared. There were other dogs there but they looked scared too. When my favorite human took me inside this room, the man with the needles touched my tummy. Then he made my human lay me down and he pricked my behind with needles! I wanted to cry but I tried to be brave. He gave me three shots. That hurt and I felt really sore.

My yucky tasting medicines

Then they talked for a while before I got to ride back home. My humans made me go back there for three days. The needles really hurt bad on the last day and I just couldn't be brave anymore so I cried. 

That was three weeks ago. My tummy is still big and my favorite human is still worried. She makes sure I have something to eat every few hours and I love the stuff she gives me to eat. But I don't like those ghastly tasting medicines. The pills are okay because she puts them inside delicious stuff like bananas and boiled potatoes -- even in small pieces of cheese! But the dark colored liquid stuff tastes foul. 

My humans give me treats after I take the medicine but I still try to hide when I see that big tube where they put that smelly stuff -- ugh!!!  My favorite human says the stuff is supposed to make me better but my tummy still feels funny and its still big. :(

Jyoti picks fights with me too. :(

I hope next month will be much better. 

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Being Sick is No Fun

I am not feeling so good. I have not been well and I wish I can run around again. You see, I get sick whenever the seasons change. I have no idea why that is. My favorite human takes really good care of me. She makes sure she keeps the floors clean, her sheets are changed often (I love getting on her bed, see), and she tries her best to make sure I don't get entangled in grassy places outside -- she insists that's where those nasty ticks and other bugs are.

Summer was incredibly hot. Jyoti and I stayed indoors during the day and only went out in the middle of the night when the air becomes a little cooler. We normally have disagreements and who gets the best spot near the room cooler but our humans decided to move the dining table to give everyone more room. 

Jyoti and Lucky in front of the cooler

My skin gets all red and itchy when seasons change. The moment the rainy season was about to start, the itchiness got much worse. My favorite human tried her best to make me feel better. She gives me allergy medicine hidden in treats to stop the itching. She also soaked my paws (because they itch, too) in soothing tea made from guava leaves -- feels sooooo good. But, last week, things started to get much worse.

I started feeling sooooo sleepy. And nothing seems to taste right. Our humans got really worried and the man with the needles was called -- they call him Vet. Thank goodness he did not stick me with any needles this time. But I saw him give our my favorite human a shiny strip with round things inside it. And there was a dark colored bottle too. 

The round powdery stuff that the humans sneak into my food smells funny. I heard one of them call it antibiotics. They keep telling me the stuff will make me all better. Then they make me drink that brown liquid that they call a tonic. It smells and tastes okay but I don't feel like eating or drinking. 

They also give me this yummy chicken water which I kind of like. I really don't feel like eating or drinking and my favorite human looks so worried. Last night I had half a banana and some rice. I tried to eat some of that watery oatmeal she gave me this morning and she seemed to think I did good. She keeps telling me to drink water but I just don't feel like it. 

I know they worry about me so I do hope I get to feel better really soon. I miss playing around. Today, they took the car out and I could not even jump in to smell the seats! I used to love doing that. :(

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Hot Summer Canine Woes

Cool Under the Dining Table

Summer can be really tough for us canines. It has been a really scorching week. Temperatures reach as high as 41*C (105.8*F), says my favorite human. And, though she tries to keep us well supplied with cold water for drinking, we are still having a tough time. 

Most of the time, Jyoti and I sleep because moving around makes us feel hotter. Our caretaker humans give us a bath every week (bath means nice smelling shampoo and really relaxing rubs) and they try to cool us down with showers (showers mean they let us stand under the garden hose and get as wet as we want). Plus, they make sure the ceiling fans are on where we happen to be sleeping. We don't go outdoors in the daytime unless we really, really need to pee. 

I have not been feeling well. I get allergies, you see. Yes, dogs get allergies too though Jyoti never seems to suffer from any. Maybe Yellow Labradors are just more sinsitive than Pomeranians, who knows. 

When the season changes from spring to summer (summer here has three parts -- hot, hotter, and oven-like), my skin gets all itchy and red. My favorite human gives me a soothing wash, made up of guava leaves boiled in water, after it has been allowed to cool. It helps with the itching and heals all the raw places where I have licked myself too much.

Too Hot to Move

But, when my allergies get worse, I become sooooo sleepy that I can barely keep my eyes open and I just don't feel like moving much. The skin between my toes get all read, painful and raw. My worried caretakers then got me my usual medicine. Today, I do feel a little better, but I am still not too keen on moving. Jyoti is being a pest. He just won't leave me alone even when the humans tell him to behave. :(

Because Jyoti and I do not eat much when it is so hot, our humans make sure we have lots of cool, juicy and yummy cucumber plus those long melons ("tar") to eat. And our favorite human puts ice in our water during the hottest time of day (around 2 pm).

Anyway, I can't wait for summer to end.

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We Dogs Love Bath Day

Today is bath day. Dogs like us love getting all clean and smelling good. Our humans make sure they really get all the dust and grime off my fur and between my paws. The only thing is that one of the lady humans sings or hums while she gives me my bath and it drives me crazy. 

The days are pretty warm now and it is really dusty all over the place. Summer is not our favorite season (I mean, Jyoti and I). We are lucky that our humans understand we need to get cool so they give us a bath at least once a week. When it gets really, really hot, they get the garden hose and get us all wet and cool. 

This morning, when I saw my human carrying my leash and a bottle of shampoo, I knew it was bath day! I ran and jumped and chased my tail. It has been a pretty itchy few days. That and the fact that we, Labradors, are just always happy -- well, at least, I am.

Jyoti after his bath

Jyoti, the Pomeranian who likes to bully me, though is another story. He makes such a big deal of bath day. He will give our humans a hard time trying to get him to wear his leash. He will hide under the bed or under the car. He growls too. But our humans are smart and they managed to get him leashed as he went out to pee. He loves being bathed and shampooed and being rubbed so I don't understand why he has to be so tough on the humans to catch him.

I get sleepy after a bath

The best part of bath day is that Jyoti and I get to feel sooooo good and sooooo relaxed that we can sleep comfortably. Sleeping after a bath can be really wonderful... Pomeranian or Labrador (or any other canine for that matter). 

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We Dogs Love Our Human Family

We love our humans. They take really good care of us and make sure that we have yummy stuff to eat and clean water to drink (and ice cream once in a while).  And they are really good scratchers and belly-rubbers. And they really know which shampoo we like best!

soft lap to nap on

getting a back-rub

sharing a cot

wanting some milk

As you can see, they are pretty nice people who love dogs. They give us all the carrots and apples we can eat, fresh milk every morning, and lots of other yummy things to eat. They even have nice beds for us to sleep in! 

Being canines is not easy. There are so many of our canine relatives who have no homes and need to beg for food from humans -- and some of those humans are not at all very nice. Would you believe there are people who tell our family to keep us leashed even inside our own home? 

We are really lucky dogs to have such a great family of humans who love us and take really good care of us. 

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We Love Carrots

Our humans are vegetarians though the nice old man and the nice lady have some eggs when the nice old lady is away which happens very rarely nowadays. Anyway, just because we are good looking canines does not mean we do not appreciate some yummy veggies.

Lucky and I asking for carrots

Lucky, who is a Yellow Labrador, will eat anything edible so I guess his favorite is anything he can eat. I have a lot of favorite veggies but there are some that I would rather not bother with. We do have something in common -- carrots!

We just love them (oh and radish, and cucumber, and cauliflower...darn I am getting hungry).

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All We Want to Do Is Sleep

I am soooo sleepy

Lately, it seems all Jyoti and I want to do is catch ZzzZzzzs. I know that most of us canines love a good snooze but we seem to be napping more often than we usually do. They say that dogs sleep most of the time so maybe its all normal. Would you know anything about it? Let me know please.

Hmmm... Maybe it's the weather. I don't really know. All I do know is it is soooooo hard to keep my eyes open.... yawn. A couple of times I fell asleep while sitting down and resting my head on my human's lap! Even twice or thrice with my head atop the center table in the living room (see the picture above -- I look pretty good for a Labrador, don't I?)

Last winter, we loved nothing more than to lounge around under the sun while on our comfy sleeping mats, or on the cot, or simply on the ground. Now that winter is all gone, we love staying indoors. And our favorite place to get some shut-eye is under the dining table. 

Jyoti and I napping on our mats while getting some sun

Jyoti likes his favorite chair a lot and he sleeps there most of the time when he is not under the dining table. He likes to sleep under human beds, too. Being a Pomeranian, he is small enough to fit in snug places. I am way too big for most of the places he sleeps on.

Jyoti asleep on his favorite chair

Our humans are pretty sleepy types, too so I guess we take after them. After all, we all live together. 

I love to sunbathe on a cot

I would like to tell you more but I am sooo sleepy now. I think it's time for another nap until tea time when Jyoti and I can get some delicious biscuits as snacks... yum! See ya... Woof!

Peek-A-Boo from under the dining table

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It's Getting Pretty Warm

Jyoti and I

Winter is all over :(

That means it's getting pretty warm and it's no longer fun to play outside when the sun is out. In our home, it is still okay. Our humans have not started to turn on the fans yet but they have started opening windows. 

Jyoti (that bully big Pomeranian brother of mine) and I used to sleep on the sofas or on the beds but... its too hot there now so we chill on the floor. Its a good thing our humans keep our water bowls full of cool, filtered water. Soon we may need to ask for ice chips. 

Jyoti on the floor

Lucky at 2 Months of Age

By the way, I am Lucky and I am a Labrador. I am now 4 years old. I was born on the 21st of August 2009 and my human brought me here (home) when I was only 2 months old. I was pretty sick when she got me from that vet (who gave me shots! OUCH!).

Jyoti is a big bully and always picks a fight. But, sometimes, he can be sweet too. I guess old canines are really grumpy. He is ancient -- turning 12, he is! He always growls at me for no reason at all even though I let him have his way :(   


It's a good thing our humans love us so much and they make Jyoti calm down. 

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