Happy 14th Birthday To Our Wonder Boy

Every superhero needs a cape.

The past few years have been a kind of crazy, roller coaster ride of highs and lows, pretty much like everyone else's life. But the one constant has been the utter joy and happiness brought to us by a most special 21 pound (on a good day) Beagle/Jack Russell Mix.

Our Tinker is the most amazing dog. He has been with us for nearly 10 years, and today he turns 14. There are no words that could possibly convey the love we have for him or the unconditional love he has shown towards us. One of the best things about an average day is his enthusiastic greeting when one of us arrives home. There he is, waiting near the top of the stairs, or laying in one of the array of 4 beds/crate pads he has to choose from.

Though his hearing isn't what it once was, his eyes know his people. He leaps up and runs around as we reach through the railing at the top of the stairs and pet him. The highest compliment is when he licks you right on the nose.  He does little circular zoomies and joyfully dives in the bed nearest the stairs or runs over to one of us to give notice that the other has arrived home.

While he has his day-to-day physical issues that come with age, he's still as happy as can be when he wakes up in the morning and starts to move about the bedroom hoping to wake us to take him for a walk. He even loves to walk outside despite this cold, snowy winter. He loves to get treats out of his kongs and has recently picked up a new habit of taking a lap through the narrow space behind the couch and the wall. Sometimes he'll change his route to counter clockwise, just to keep us on our toes. No matter which it is, we laugh each and every time he does it.

If you've read this blog or know us personally, you know that in 2005 Tinker ruptured a disk in his back. He went through surgery, rehab, used a cart to get around, and then recovered and walked on his own again. He's been attacked twice by large dogs that left him with bad injuries which have, thankfully, healed well. And our Energizer bunny keeps on trucking.

He's become a little more shy around some dogs because of the bite incidents, and he no longer likes going to the vet due to all the poking and prodding, but he's just as stoic as his sister Virginia was.  When she passed in the Fall of 2012, Tinker had to find his own voice. While they were together, VA was the leader of the pack and Tinker doted on her and was happy to follow along. But once she was gone, after a period of time when it seemed he genuinely missed her, he adapted fairly quickly and became the king of his castle.

We've given serious thought to getting him a new pal,  since he loves other dogs.  But given his increasingly fragile state and his age, for now we think it best to keep him safe and happy with the status quo and with all of our attention.

With the amount of love he gives, it's like we have 2 dogs anyway.  Happy Birthday to our sweet Boo and long may you run.  We love you like crazy and are inspired by your spirit.

Happy 9th Gotcha Day Tinker...and Some Catching Up to Do

Our handsome boy
 

It's hard to believe that it has been over two years since I wrote anything on Tinker's blog. Especially in the last year and a half. There has been much going on - good, bad, and ugly.

First and foremost, if you don't already know from following Beagles-on-the-Web, Tinker lost his best pal, his big sister Virginia.  Our hearts have all been broken since we lost her to kidney disease this past September 27.  It had been a rough year in general with taking care of her and trying to give Tinker as much attention as possible.

I won't go into more detail here about Virginia's up and down 2012, but you can read more about it on my baseball blog. The "Sky is Crying" is all about our beloved VA.

As for Tinker, he turned 13 this past February 12. He is still as funny as ever and has now found his own voice.  For 8-1/2 years, Virginia was the straw that stirred the drink. Whatever she did, wherever she was, that's where Tinker wanted to be. When VA was hospitalized in March, 2012, Tinker was extremely depressed. He would lay in his dog bed and had lost his spunk. But he was back to his old self when VA returned from her 4-day stay at AERA, the specialty animal hospital.

Both dogs were treated for Lyme and/or Ehrlichia over the years, but in September, 2011 we also found out they had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), a tick-borne disease that is uncommon in the northeast. The way we found out they were infected was simply terrifying.

We were on vacation with family in North Carolina and took Virginia and Tinker for a walk. VA was hesitant to go down the darkened street. We encouraged her and our walk continued. Suddenly a Golden Retriever came running off-leash towards us. I put my hand up to try to grab the dog or at the very least keep it back. This dog, like most Goldens, was goofy and ran back to its owner and we proceeded with our walk.

The next night, which came after our first full day on vacation, we walked up the street again. And this time through the darkness we could see the shadow of a dog charging at us coming from the same direction as the night before.  But this time we could tell by the shape that it was not the same dog. As the dog approached, we could make out the hulking form of a huge, aggressive Rottweiler mix and we yelled at it to "Go home!" It didn't.

I attempted to grab at the dog but missed...  and suddenly the night's silence was broken by Tinker's screams. The dog had latched right onto him! The owner ran across the street, calling her, and at some point the dog let go. C instinctively threw herself down on Tinker until they took the dog away. I scooped him up and the four of us ran down the street. What seemed like hours actually took place in a matter of seconds.

Tinker had bites in several places and I could feel the blood seeping onto my shirt as I held him. It took many frantic phone calls until we could find a vet that was willing to meet us at their office late on a holiday night, but we ended up at Roanoke Island Animal Clinic at around Midnight. First, Doctor Layng met us and later the practice owner, Dr. Grossman, came in.

The worst wound on Tinker was what looked like a simple dime sized hole, but with a pen like object, Dr. Grossman showed us that the wound under the fur went several inches in each direction. It was the type of wound that happens when a dog has latched onto and shaken another dog  during an attack.

Pre-surgery bloodwork showed signs of anemia...which turned out to be RMSF. The doctors did a fantastic job of patching our boy up and put him on Doxycycline for the tick-born disease. He stayed at the vet's for a couple of days, and then he was back with us at the vacation home, where he began eating normally. Both dogs had started avoiding their food in May - apparently because of the effects of the RMSF - not something they test for in the northeast.

Sure enough, when we got home we had VA tested and she had RMSF as well. We realized they could have had the infection in their system for some time and for whatever reason, it was no longer dormant.

Things went downhill from there for VA. She was diagnosed with kidney disease in December and we spent the next year taking care of her and keeping her feeling as good as possible.

Our little girl in happier times.
 

Now we have a dilemma. Tinker is 13, but he could use a pal. We could use a little time to breathe. Not just from VA's loss, but other things that have taken place in the past year-plus. Right now we are just enjoying our boy, who despite now also being on thyroid meds and being treated for possible GI issues, is still Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky for the most part. After all the poking and prodding over the years, he's not so happy to go to the vet's anymore and he avoids some big female dogs since those were the gender that attacked him both times.

But he still wakes up every morning happy as can be. He comes to both sides of the bed in the morning to get good morning pets and can't wait to go out for his morning walk. He sleeps a little more than he used to, and his hearing has diminished a bit, but all in all he is still the same wonderful, nose licking, silly boy he's always been.

Happy Gotcha Day Tinker! (aka Boo Boo).

Happy Birthday, That'll Be 4 Teeth Please

Saturday, February 12 was our Tinker boy's 11th birthday. We couldn't really do anything special for him because he was not too with it.

On Friday, Tink went to the vet to have a broken canine tooth pulled and to get his first dental. Ever since his back surgery, we've put off having him put under for fear of the possible neurological affect the anesthesia might have. But, a broken tooth can allow bacteria to get into the bloodstream... so it was time to get it done.

While he was under, they found the canine tooth on the opposite side had been shaved down on one side, causing the root to be exposed. Make that two teeth pulled.

But wait...the two small teeth behind the canines had no support with the big guys gone, so they had to come out too. Our poor little man had four teeth pulled!

We learned something fascinating, too. No stitches and no putting pressure on where the teeth were pulled. They actually pack the areas with dissolvable foam. Who knew?

Since we didn't want to put Tinker on Rimadyl or Deramaxx (we are well aware of the dangers), they gave him a shot of an long-acting (opiate) pain killer that lasts 3-4 days. Between that and the anesthesia... it was stupor city for our super hero.

Needless to say, having only one dog in the house from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday was beyond weird... especially since the gates blocking the up and down stairs didn't need to be put up. We've always joked that Tinker loves Virginia and Virginia tolerates Tinker. But even Virginia was showing signs of wondering what was up in the afternoon. She was more restless than usual, as if she might be wondering, "Where's that guy who keeps licking my head?"

We picked Tink up at the vet around 4 in the afternoon, after they had observed him for several hours. He came running right up to us, his usual happy self. That lasted about two minutes and then he was back in a fog.

Each time he would wake up from a nap on Saturday, he wasn't quite "there" right away. Being true to his Beagle nature, he did have his appetite though.

But thankfully his fog has lifted and our now 11-year-old boy is back home where he belongs. :) We haven't gotten any of his complimentary nose licks (our nose, his tongue), but he has given us a couple of hand baths.

Thankfully it doesn't affect his chewing since the front and back teeth are responsible for that, but it's kind of hard to gnaw on a soft rubber Kong bone without the canines. It's also good he isn't out seeking prey since they would be needed for that too. :)

Today, Sunday, he's about 90% back to normal. From Friday night until this morning, he didn't want to go for walks and was kind of stumbling when he walked around the house. His mouth is still a little swollen- you can see it on the bridge of his nose- but it's much better than two days ago.

One thing we noticed right away is the disappearance of something we've taken to refer to as "Boo breath" (Based on his nicknames "Boo" and "Boo Boo"). Tinker always had a distinctive mouth odor that wasn't bad, but kind of distinctive. You always knew when he was licking something or someone, because you could smell it. The smell is gone and replaced with a nice fresh scent. We have to admit that in a weird way we will miss it... but we're happy he has clean teeth and the baddies were removed. :) Happy birthday, little man. We love you!!