Mommy's little G.I. Joe

Malibu, the wiener dog, has many names.... Malibu, Bu, My Little Sweet Bu, Cammie, etc., etc. She is Mommy's baby. {Yes, Freddy the wiener dog is Top Dog, The Divia, Freddy Baby, but he prefers Daddy to Mommy. But, Malibu is all Mommy's little girl {except when she's Freddy's girlfriend}.

Recently, Mommy started calling Malibu "G.I. Joe," mostly "Joe." Malibu took to this name right away. She responds more quickly to "Joe" than she does to "Malibu" or "Bu." Mommy thinks it's very cute that when she yells "Joe," Malibu comes flying around the corner, or wherever she's coming from. Joe is also the name that Mommy uses she chases Bu around the house or outside. That may be why Malibu likes Joe so much.

So, Mommy finally has her little camouflaged G.I. Joe.

Update at The Toddler House

Luna protecting her toy.

Freddy, the wiener dog, and his girls have not enjoyed the last two weeks. Mommy has been helping in the band room at Eric's middle school. This leaves Freddy and the girls alone for most of the day. They are very unhappy with Mommy. But, Mommy stayed home all weekend and made them feel better.

Freddy is getting a massage. Oh, yeah, he's a Diva.

Luna is chewing on plastic, and Malibu wants to take the plastic away from Luna. {The remnants of the old chewed up plastic vitamin bottle.} Every now and then, there's a brief scuffle, but Luna refuses to let Malibu win. Oh, girlfriend!! Mommy gave Malibu a big water bottle to destroy. Malibu put on a big show in front of Luna, but it didn't work. Luna didn't want the big water bottle; she kept the chewed up plastic. {Oh, Luna just buried her chewed up plastic in a blanket and laid on top of it. She even refused doggie treats because she doesn't want to leave her nasty old plastic.}

All is normal at The Toddler House...... 

Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act

Kahn

The military classifies military working dogs as “equipment”. Last spring, Rep. Walter Jones and Rep. Richard Blumenthal introduced H.R. 4103 (Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act) that elevates these dogs to the status of soldier. H.R. 4103 and its Senate counterpart S.2134 now languish in committee. This bill uses no federal funds, but facilitates the adoption and veterinary care of retired military working dogs. It also authorizes the Secretary of Defense to recognize and decorate dogs who are killed in service or “perform an exceptionally meritorious or courageous act in service to the United States.” These military working dogs walk beside our soldiers, save their lives and provide comfort to them. They are not equipment and if the human handler wants to bring his canine companion back to the States after their tour is over, we should do everything possible to reduce the cost of that adoption. If you agree, please take the time to write your Congressional Representative and Senator and ask them to pass the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act.

In the picture, a U.S. soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his dog leap off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during water training over the Gulf of Mexico as part of exercise Emerald Warrior on March 1. 

Contact your Congressmen to let them know that you want the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act passed! http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Celebrating Nana's 74th birthday.

Old Man Spotty

Freddy, the wiener dog, his girls and their humans went to Miss Julie's house for Nana's 74th birthday celebration. You may know from earlier bogs that Miss Julie has an old doggie. His name is Spotty. He's 17 years old, nearly blind, deaf, and has difficulty walking. In the past, the doggies have always ignored Spotty. This was Luna's first time meeting Spotty. It didn't go so well.

Luna disliked Spotty from the second she saw him. She not only barked at him, but she charged at him...trying to bite his rear-end. Of course, pack rules so Freddy and Malibu ran to back Luna up. Luna wanted to growl, bark, and chase Spotty all evening. Survival of the Fittest, I guess. We finally had to keep the dogs separated so Luna would leave Spotty alone.

Mommy was so surprised. Luna has always been so friendly to other dogs in the neighborhood. She may run up and bark for a second, but she wants to make friends. Not with Spotty.

Bu.....Bu......BU!!!!!

That'a-my-Bu... That'a my Bu...
That'a my Buuuuuuu!!

Malibu, the wiener dog, had a very scary day. Tuesday, when Malibu's humans were eating dinner, Malibu ran outside {after frogs, no doubt}. She came right back in.....barely able to walk, violently trembling, pupils fixed and dilated, very shallow breathing, and unresponsive. How did Malibu crawl from outside?

Mommy picked up Malibu and called her name. Unresponsive. Mommy couldn't hear any breathing and couldn't see Malibu's tummy moving. Mommy stuck her finger down Malibu's throat; nothing there. Thankfully, Malibu gagged on the finger and spit it back - she was getting air! The entire time Mommy was calling Bu's name over and over and over, trying to get some sort of response. Nothing.

Of course, Mommy's screaming brought Daddy and the boys. Daddy couldn't figure out what was wrong either, and the boys were freaked! Steven was so upset that he ran to another room. Mommy and Daddy thought perhaps Malibu had gotten a wasp or spider bite and that Bu was in anaphylactic shock.  But, there wasn't any swelling, lump or bloody spot. Mommy and Daddy ran out the door with Malibu, but our vet's office was closed. By the time we reached his office Malibu was still trembling, but it wasn't as badly as before. Malibu's pupils were no longer completely dilated. There was slight movement when Mommy moved her fingers back and forth in front of Malibu's eyes. Bu's eyes were responsive to Mommy's voice at this point. Because the trembling was subsiding and Malibu seemed to be "returning to normal," Mommy and Daddy decided not to run Malibu across town to the emergency vet's office.

Relaxing on the patio
with a chewed vitamin bottle.

Once back home, Malibu and Mommy curled up in bed together. Luna came onto the bed and curled up along side Mommy and Bu. Luna didn't even bring her tiger or try to get Mommy's attention. She just laid next to Bu. Freddy also came onto the bed. He gave Malibu a quick sniffing and then he licked her face 5-6 times. {It was so cute!} Then, Freddy also laid on the bed near her. For an hour afterward she seemed exhausted and disoriented. Later, she was romping about as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

The next day Mommy and Daddy took Bu to her vet. He performed a thorough exam, of course. He even took blood for a workup. {Results back on Friday.} The vet's initial thoughts are that Malibu had a seizure, perhaps caused by hyperthyroidism. Hopefully there's good news tomorrow. Mommy doesn't want her baby girl to do that again.


8/17/12 Update: Bu's bloodwork came back absolutely normal. The vet said, "It's exactly the way it should be." So, Mommy and Daddy will keep an eye on Bu and hopefully this won't happen again..... Maybe she picked up a really nasty toad.