This Other Eden

Amici - Over the Rainbow 3/6/10

2010-03-12T21:06:00.032-05:00

Tomorrow will be a week since Amici crossed over the Rainbow. It doesn't seem possible. The first day of going back to work was rough. My morning routine revolved around Amici (bathroom, eating, meds, etc). I was out of sorts all morning on Monday. I did okay until I got in the car. My key chain has Amici on it because he has a picture ID for his microchip. I took one look at that and just bawled. I tried to clean myself up before entering work. I was doing fine until a co worker (who had heard about Amici's passing) asked me how I was and how long Amici had been with us. I couldn't even answer the question. I just began to cry. I went into my office (and thanked God that I had my own office), cried and then pulled myself together as best as I could. I went out to that co worker and apologized for breaking down. Monday was just rough all the way around. The rest of the week was gradually better but when I look back I think it was "better" because I was right out straight at work.

Today was hard. It was my first day off with Aiden by myself. Usually it would be me, Aiden and Amici. We'd do the mundane things (eat, use bathroom, etc.) but then we'd have storytime (when I say "we" I mean the 3 of us), play, Aiden would nap and then I would spend time with Amici. There were times today that I felt like I was boring. I know Aiden can't talk but if he could, I would swear that he was looking for Amici today.

I miss Amici so much. He was such a good dog. He was a true friend and I did so many things with him. When I was pregnant he was so attentive and sweet. He used to kiss my stomach when I would get dressed in the mornings. When I threw up, Amici was by my side. I couldn't have asked for a better pup when Alan & I brought Aiden home. Amici was interested but gentle. He never reacted negatively to Aiden and I love him even more because of that. I really wanted Aiden to grow up with Amici.

Alan & I had previously discussed that when Amici did pass over the Rainbow Bridge, we would probably get a pup for our family soon after. People may be surprised that we are thinking of getting another dog so soon, but for us, it is just too difficult to have all of Amici's things around and not feel totally empty inside. I never thought I would see the day when I would cry when I vacuumed up husky hair.

We are having a female malamute puppy join our family the weekend of the 27th of March. We don't have a name picked out yet. We got to meet her Mom and Dad and liked them an awful lot. Aiden got to meet the little girl puppy and they seemed to like one another.

I hope that folks understand that by no means are we trying to replace Amici. He can't be replaced. There is a huge void in our family right now and the next step for us, is to add another pup to our family. As you know, I love dogs with all of my heart and my hope is that Aiden may share my passion some day (if not, I at least want to instill how important it is to be kind and respectful to dogs/animals). I hope we have your support and well wishes as we embark on a new journey.

Here are some precious pictures of Amici & Aiden:
Oct, 9, 2009 (Aiden isn't even a month old yet)

Aiden- 7 Weeks old Loving Amici

1 month & 1 day old Aiden with his pal Amici

Amici- counter part to Aiden's costume as a monkey. Amici had a banana on his back and he was carting around the chunky monkey ice cream. :)

3months & 2 weeks old Aiden. Amici & Aiden both look up when I snap my fingers. :)

Aiden's 1st Christmas Eve

Jan 23, 2010

First- Rice Cereal. Amici is there to cheer Aiden on (and catch any droppings of course....)

Valentine's Day- sharing secrets

Aiden- 5mths 4wks old. Last photo shoot of the two of them together. Amici loved to kiss Aiden. He even loved it without food involved (like in this shot). This was totally unrehearsed and it shows the kind of friendship they had.

Amici & Aiden

2009-09-28T21:37:00.009-04:00

Above are the first photos I have been able to get with Amici & Aiden. Amici has been really good with Aiden. He perks his ears up whenever Aiden cries and looks at me sternly if he thinks I am taking too long to respond (e.g. Aiden just wakes up while in his crib). He kisses Aiden on occassion (especially if Aiden just ate but sometimes he'll do it after a big cry session- I think he is trying to make Aiden feel better). And, if Aiden cries too much and it bugs Amici, Amici will just ask to go outside.

Once Aiden is able to hold his head up I hope to get more pictures of them together. I haven't wanted to put him on Amici because he is so fragile right now & Amici doesn't really like people laying on him or cuddling with him too much.

Welcome Aiden- the newest Pennington family member

2009-09-05T09:57:00.008-04:00

Aiden Elias Pennington was welcomed into our family on Wed. August 26th at 12:50PM. We were able to go home on Saturday. Kana and Amici were both here (Shawn- Kana's human was in a wedding so we had Kana for the weekend). Kana left us a present in our room when we returned (poo- ick...which wasn't the nicest welcoming home gift). Shawn and Mary Ellen had brought home one of Aiden's hats that he had been wearing in the hospital. Kana went crazy when he sniffed it but Amici just sniffed it and then went on his merry own way. That is how the first introduction went too. Amici just sniffed Aiden and then went and rested. Kana sniffed and sniffed and barked- he was basically really hyper. Kana was good with Aiden just a lot more excitable and he wanted to shove his nose all over Aiden most of the time. Once Kana went home Amici paid a little more attention to Aiden. He has given him some kisses and has seemed to just accept that this little one is now a part of our family. So far the only mishaps we've had are: Amici some how got a hold of a used vaseline pad and chomped on that for a bit until we caught him and he spilled Aiden's breast milk once as well (I have to pump already because my breast milk supply has been low). Other than that, Amici has seemed to do well. He is confused why I am home every day and still tries to go into the kennel each morning. We've tried to keep the same eating and bathroom schedule for Amici so when I do return back to work he isn't too messed up.

I hope to get a picture of Aiden and Amici soon. I am not comfortable yet having Aiden lay on Amici with no one else around and me holding a camera trying to get their picture. I hope we get one of the 2 of them soon!

Amici: Adjusting to all the new stuff

2009-07-03T20:24:00.014-04:00

I am now on my 33rd week of pregnancy. I never imagined that it would go by this fast. Depending on if our little baby boy arrives on his due date, we only have a month and 15 days to go! Last week we had a 3-D ultrasound done to check on how the baby was developing, etc. So far, the doctor states that he looks good. He weighed 4lbs and 13 ounces at 32 weeks. I asked the doctor if that meant I was going to have one "big" baby but she said she thought his full weight will be around 8lbs.
Here is two of the 3-D pictures from the ultrasound. It is amazing what the ultrasound can show you:

Last weekend my family and close friends threw me a baby shower back in my hometown. It was a wonderful shower and we were blessed with receiving a lot of necessasity items (car seat, crib, etc.).

Here is a picture of the homemade quilt my Aunt Susan made for the baby:

Amici has been a good sport about all the new stuff. He definitely sniffed out all the baby shower bags hoping one of them were for him. He isn't used to having gifts come in the house that aren't aimed for him, but he did all right and just sniffed.
Amici in the "Where's Waldo, I mean Amici :)" picture:

The baby's crib all set up and Amici looking comfortable next to it. This is in our room. The crib will eventually go into the baby's room which will be a lemon souffle color.

I think our blog may be taking a new turn to it. I'll definitely still be posting about Amici but I will also be adding information about our little baby to be. I thought about making a separate site for the baby but it is just too much to keep up with. Amici doesn't seem to mind sharing as long as he is included in all that we do. I hope we get a thumbs up from all the DWB pups/their folks. :)

Surprise!! We have awesome news!!

2009-03-15T08:32:00.003-04:00

For those of you that know us well, you know that Amici is a male and that he is neutered. Amici is letting all his fellow bloggers know that his human mom is pregnant!! I'm approaching my 18th week (this coming week). We found out that we're pregnant on Dec. 27th. We decided to wait and tell family & friends once the 2nd trimester arrived. In the first month, Amici has been very patient. I was so tired. Looking back I feel that I slept the whole month of January away. Amici was there, by my side, waiting patiently for me to wake up. Once he realized that things weren't normal, he was as sweet as could be and just slept there with me. Once February hit I got some of my energy back. Amici has also coped well with my disturbed sleeping pattern. Before, I slept through the night like a champ. Now, I wake up 4+ times a night to go pee. Amici, afraid he might miss something fun, has come downstairs with me each time. Lately, he just lifts his head up because he has gotten the hint that I am not doing anything fun downstairs. Perhaps Amici's favorite part of this experience has been my upset stomach. He gets to eat a lot more of my breakfasts, lunches (on weekends) and dinners. He has run with me to the toilet as I have had the pregnancy sickness (wish I could just say it was in the morning but sometimes it is morning/night). He grosses me out sometimes as I've had to shoo him away from my projectile vomit. But, at least he is there with his wagging tail support and kisses. Pregnancy definitely effects the whole family and Amici has been a star through it all. A few weekends ago I was able to take a bike ride with him. We didn't go our normal route but it was nice to be out in the fresh air and get a little exercise (although we went pretty slow). We'll find out if we are having a boy or a girl at the end of the month. We don't have a preference, we just want our baby to be healthy and happy.

PS. Amici was around a little baby a few weekends ago at Shawn & Mary Ellen's (they had a friend over who has the baby). Kana and Amici both did great. The baby started to scream/cry at one point and Amici just laid down on the floor and put his head down. He didn't seem to get anxious, scared, etc. We're hoping that Amici will act that calm when he meets his own little baby sister/brother in August.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-21T16:08:00.011-05:00

We choose and cut down our Christmas tree a few days after Thanksgiving. We go to a fun Christmas farm in Scarborough, ME where they have wagon rides, hot cocoa, and a nice family atmosphere.

I am always a bit slow on decorating the tree once we get it inside. What I really like about a live tree is the smell of it. Awww. It smells so good! Come to find out I was wise to not decorate the tree too soon because Amici had his own decorating idea. We've been trialing him out of his kennel for about a month. We got the Christmas tree and he seemed unfazed by it. Well, one night we got home and this is what we found (in addition to our first snow fall):

Yup, you saw the evidence. He chewed two nice size holes in our tree. Thankfully they were at the bottom so we were able to just turn the tree around. After the shock of him doing that, we started the kenneling again. One for the sake of the tree and most importantly, for the sake of Amici since pine needles can be deadly (they can puncture intestines). Amici has not displayed any side effects from it and has acted fine so we hope that he didn't digest too many pine needles. It seems he just wanted a few sticks, saw a tree, decided to chomp on it, and the rest is history.

He went to see Santa that Sat. Do you think he was on the good list or the naughty list? Apparently by the pic Santa thought he was on the good list. :)

From Santa & Amici

These pictures were taken today of our tree and Amici. Although he has gone back to the kennel- which hasn't phased him a bit, he has been a bit nicer to our tree. Today I found him carrying around my Santa ornament in his mouth (it is a stuffed one with my name on it). He wagged his tail and looked all sheepish but he hadn't ripped it. Santa is back on the tree again with a bit longer beard.

We've been getting our DWB Christmas cards by snail mail and email. All of them have been great. Thank-you for sending them to us! It is so much fun to check the mail now!

Here is Amici chillin with one of his few toys that he hasn't ripped to shreds within a few seconds of receiving it.

From Lovie

Thanksgiving & Thankfulness

2008-11-30T17:45:00.008-05:00

We have some exciting new to share. Kana has a new member of his family- a kitten! Tigger passed away a few months ago as she was hit by a car. She had been part of Kana's whole life with Shawn and she was Shawn's first animal to share his home (6 years +). Mary Ellen, Shawn's fiance' (my human Dad's brother), has never had a cat or dog of her own. This fall she rescued Hunter from the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, ME. Here he is the very first time at his new home.

Here Kana and Hunter are a couple days later, still working things out.

Due to the new kitty in the house, Amici wasn't able to go to Uncle Shawn's for a while. Kana and Hunter needed to adjust first and then once that happened we slowly have been introducing Amici to Hunter.

Alan's parents were very generous this year and decided to help us all enjoy Thanksgiving by having just one on the actual day. As a result, they offered to come down the Sunday before Thanksgiving which worked out great. Here are the fur kids.

In between the Pennington Thanksgiving and the actual day, Amici and I went to Popham Beach with Linsey.

We had Thanksgiving at my parents' home in the Midcoast Maine area. It was a fun day. We forget that being around 10 people, 2 other dogs, and a cat may be overwhelming not just to us at times but to Amici. By the end of the night he actually jumped into Alan's lap and kissed him asking us to go home. We left a few minutes later and Amici slept all the way home in the backseat with me.

We hope everyone had a safe, fun, and thankful Thanksgiving. We have a lot of things to be thankful for and DWB is one of them. :) Happy Thanksgiving. :)

Halloween 2008

2008-11-09T09:28:00.007-05:00

Halloween was a good time. The children that came to trick or treat were actually in costume (last year many were not) and a lot of the costumes were quite creative. Also, it was very nice to see how many children came out with their parents. We didn't have any dogs this year (last year we had 1).

Before Halloween came we had Kana over for a night. He decided to be a bit of a punk and actually was a little aggressive towards me. The next morning everyone was fine but I thought I'd try on Amici's old Halloween costumes on Kana. Below is the video that I made and sent to my brother in law (Kana's human), our parents, etc.

Hit play or go here to watch the show.

Amici was a bug this year for Howl-leen! I had my sights set on a bumble bee costume but none of the dog costumes at the store fit Amici. I thought Amici might be costume free this year until I searched my own closet. I had been a bug for my last trick or treating adventure back in college. I still had the bug part in my closet so I brought it out, tried it on Amici, and VOILA it fit!! This is how cute he looked:

One of my favorite pictures from the night. He was such a good pup.

Foliage with Amici & Milo

2008-10-18T11:10:00.005-04:00

Maine foliage- it is one of the best times of the year! Amici, Milo, Marcia and I went for a walk this morning to enjoy the season. It was a beautiful, sunny day out and the leaves are changing into all sorts of different colors. Amici seemed to enjoy the walk and it was a pleasant surprise to come across a little waterfall.

The 5 P's

2008-09-21T15:44:00.020-04:00

PAWS

We participated in the PAWS in the Park which supported the local Animal Refuge League. We were excited to go but once the day came it was raining cats and dogs!! We sucked it up and decided to make the best of it. It was a good event and we were surprised at how many other people came out to offer their support even in the bad weather. :) I couldn't get a lot of pictures because I didn't have a good way to secure my camera from getting wet. I was able to snatch a shot of a few pups- check them out up above. :)

PLEASURE

I brought home a bully stick from one of our favorite dog store in Portland, Fetch. I had gone there to pick up a gift certificate that they were willing to donate to the Memory Walk. I bought a few items, picked up the gift certificate for the Memory Walk, and then headed home. Amici was so excited to see one of his favorite things!! He loves bully sticks and this one took him about 2 1/2 days to finish (all outside kennel time).

PINK

I came home from work on Wednesday to a pink Amici. Amici had got into the kool aid and then he just plopped down in it. His left side of his face was pink and he got the left side of his side/butt too. These pics were the next day so it faded a bit. Today is Sunday and yesterday he was at the dog park. Most people eventually asked me why my dog was pink. It was a bit embarrassing. I told Amici that Halloween is NEXT month.

PACO
Before we get to the plunger story, we have to tell the disturbing and sad story about Paco- the squirrel. Amici and I had gone to the grand opening of Camp Bow Wow, which we found out he can't ever go to because of his epilepsy dx. We decided to check it out anyway for Kana's sake. While we were there the Animal Shelter was having a booth for micro chipping. With the help of our DWB friends, the Internet, and Alan, we decided to have Amici micro chipped. He now has a HomeAgain microchip. He was a champ and didn't even flinch when they gave him the shot. Because he is on medicine, it would be crucial for Amici to be found ASAP. Having the microchip helps me feel a bit more secure about Amici's safety. After I took a tour and Amici played with a young boy outside, we decided to go pick up Kana as we headed to the dog park. Kana was psyched to see us and readily got into the CR-V. The dog park was fun. We had a nice mix of dogs. Towards the end of our visit Kana, Amici and I took a walk up on the hill by the trees (this goes around the park- still fenced in). As we were walking a squirrel (AKA- Paco) scurried by. Unfortunately, he didn't scurry fast enough. Kana grabbed him! I was horrified. I told Kana to "drop it" but he just threw little Paco up in the air and then Amici caught him. I kept saying "drop it" in the most stern voice I had (I have to admit...I probably was at my yelling stage). Neither dog obeyed. Finally Paco was let go. His back legs were broken and he was trying to get up the nearest tree. Kana was circling the tree and I was trying to get a hold of Kana. Just when I almost get Kana, he pulls away doing the famous Husky "catch me if you can" game. Then, Kana lets Paco climb up a bit of the tree, grabs Paco again and throws him to the ground. I was on the verge of tears. I love all animals and I couldn't believe that Kana and Amic were doing this. Amici was back up the hill sniffing for other squirrels. I finally got a hold of Kana and once I thought we were going to let Paco be, Amici came barrelling down the hill with his nose to the ground. He looked like a hound dog. He sniffed and before I could grab him and hold unto Kana at the same time, Amici got Paco again. Amici finally released Paco once I was able to look Amici in the eyes and told him to "drop it". By then poor little Paco was barely holding on. It was traumatic for the little guy and I couldn't even imagine how much pain he must be in. By that time folks from down below came up to see what I was waving my hands about and yelling. One of the guys put the squirrel down and then put him out of the park so the other dogs (including Kana and Amici) couldn't get to him. I felt very ashamed of what Kana and Amici had did. Of course, a few folks piped right up and said, "well that is a husky for you...they love to prey on little animals". There wasn't much I could say to that, except that I was sorry for Paco. By the time we left Amici and Kana could tell I was not a happy camper as I gave them the silent treatment. Once we arrived home, I was able to check the dogs over. Kana seemed unscratched. Amici got scratched in his nose but it looks like it will heal fine. I cleaned the dirt off of both of them and let them have a little quiet time out on our screened in porch.

PLUNGER

Later that day, Alan cleaned the bathroom. When he cleans he likes to clear the whole room out (e.g. scale, hamper, drying rack, toilet brush, etc.). While the floor was drying all of this stuff was out in the hallway. A while goes by and I came downstairs from reading. I find Amici on the couch beginning to chew on the PLUNGER! You would have thought he had enough excitement for one day...but I guess the plunger was just too appealing to pass up.

Amici did get a new pretty collar (sticking with the P's). :) While we were at the PAWS in the Park, that is the product that we purchased. The lady was very sweet and since the pattern we liked didn't come in the right size, she piped up that she could make us a custom collar. :)Pretty neat! I liked the way blue looks on Amici and I wanted to stick with something a bit more boyish so the sandy paws collar was the best match.

Summer

2008-08-24T10:55:00.011-04:00

We feel a bit sheepish for not keeping up on our blog very well. You can blame my human. She seems to be monitoring her sitting times and as a result blog time and tv times have been cut short. Here is some of what we have been up to this summer-
First- We have some fun shots of Amici and Kana at our home and at the dog park. These pics were taken in July.

In between all the fun we went to a neurologist this summer for Amici's seizures. Our vet had recently suggested us to change his dog food to W/D Hill's prescription. I was hesitate but we were still having bowel problems and poor Amici needed to have "normal" bowels again. We started the new food on 6/30/08 and then our vet finally told us that they didn't know what else to do for us. He suggested that our best bet was to go to a neurologist. We went to see the neurologist on 7/8/08. Amici was having formed bowels and he wasn't messing in his kennel anymore!! I hadn't seen his bowels look that good since he was a puppy! The neuro visit went well. Our doctor was down to earth, explained things in human terms, he was concerned and willing to work with us. He changed Amici's meds by decreasing the pheno in 1/2 and increasing the pot. bromide. We went 23 days before another seizure happened! This was such a great thing (he had been having them about every 7-8 days). We were extremely happy!

Amici went another 23 days before having another seizure. Which was still a beautiful thing. The neuro office had been in touch with us about Amici's blood results. He was in the therapeutic range for the pheno and the pot. bromide. We also had a led test taken. It did show that Amici had been exposed to led at some point. He had results of a 3.51 but the neuro vet stated that although he was exposed it doesn't have a clinical significance (30 or greater would be clinically sig.). That made us feel a tiny bit better since we live in a house built in 1929. When we told the neuro vet that he wanted to know how we felt about potentially selling our house and moving(and that is why we had the led test taken). Ah! Moving is in our future plans but not something we were planning on this summer. According to our neuro vet we are in the safe zone, can plan as usual and continue to live in our home. Phew.

Another thing that has been so awesome about our neuro vet is that they call to check in! Not only has the vet tech person called 2x since our appointment but our actual neuro vet doc. called us as well and emailed us the actual results. It was so nice to be kept in the loop. On 8/4/08 the neuro vet changed Amici's meds again. Amici has reduced the pheno in 1/2 again and increase the pot. bromide. We need his levels checked in September. After the 2 23 days without a seizure cycle Amici did have a seizure that was only 11 days apart. We understand that we may never be able to stop the seizures but working with someone to help decrease the seizures sure does make all of us feel a whole lot better.

Then in the first week of August Amici went to the dog park (little one) and he was beat up by another dog. Amici loves to sniff mouths and kisses other dogs right on the lips (which isn't the brightest thing to do). When he went up to the English Bulldog and kissed him, he got it both barrels. I checked his under belly first because that is where I thought the bulldog had nipped him. He had dirt on his nose and I should have wiped it off but I thought it was just dirt. When we got home and the dirt was gone he had a nice big scratch on his nose. For a scrap at the dog park I guess that isn't too bad. The bulldog's human said that she thought the bulldog reacted because Amici was so close to the bulldog's ball. Hopefully Amici will learn that he needs to be a bit more careful with the whole kissing acquaintances thing.
Here are some pics of his nose-

Thankfully his nose is healing slowly but surely. We got a neat new exercise routine for Amici and I. Alan and I had our 6th wedding anniversary this summer and as a present I had asked for a bicycle. I got a neat new bike and a dog walky attachment. I bought the springer first but it took a long time to get to us and it didn't come with a harness although it charged us that package. Because I was inpatient I also ordered the walky dog. It came to us in a jiffy, fit on my bike easily and it is so much fun!! We have been using it quite consistently and it has been a nice work out for me and for Amici.
Here are some pics-

Enjoy all the pics. Check out the nose recovery and say HIP HIP HOORAY for Amici and his great health progress. :)

Whew- June has flown by!

2008-06-28T21:24:00.007-04:00

We've been MIA but here's some snippets of what we have been up to. First, you'll see a slide show of some of the toys Amici received for his 2nd birthday. He really loves his plush canine genius toy.

A while ago we attended a great dog/book signing event in Portland on the Eastern Prom. It was a blast. We had so much fun playing on the beach during the DAY and riding the train. We met some nice people and had fun with other dogs. Also, the author who hosted this event was very kind and creative. We love her book- Tupelo Rides the Rails! Please check it out and consider purchasing it. It is a lovely story with beautiful pictures! We purchased a copy for Julia, our little niece.

In between we've been going to the dog park, taking walks in our neighborhood and enjoying the warmer weather. June has been a busy month. The first week of June we had 5 birthday's in ONE week. Amici was able to go to the combo birthday party, which was a lot of fun.

Also another big event this month has been my best friend's wedding. We've been best friends since elementary school. On June 21, 2008 she was married. Her wedding was a blast and she looked beautiful. It was an awesome experience to be a part of her day-I really cherish our long lasting friendship.

Those are all of my up to date pictures. Today we went to the dog park and we brought Kana along. They played rough, ran and ran and then had a yummy yoghound once they arrived back to our house.

Amici's 2nd Birthday Paw-ty and how it was celebrated :)

2008-05-13T16:49:00.004-04:00

Or click this link to see it on the original website.

We had his 2nd birthday party at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine on Sat. May 10, 2008. It started off at the park near the ocean while this huge ship went by. It was so windy down there that after we had set up the food we decided to move up the hill to get out of the wind. Alan, Will (brother in law), Lisa (sis), Julia (niece), Shawn (brother in law), Kana, Amici and I made ourselves at home on the stone wall near the old House. We picked at food, played a little waffle ball and football. Dan and Lindz came up from Boston, which was very kind of them! Once they arrived Amici and Kana had their doggie ice cream and then we had some cake. I had made carrot cake for the humans and I made Amici a birthday cake that he could share with Kana. They both seemed to like it as they ate every last drop. Afterwards we went for a walk around the park, hence the picture of the Portland Head Light. It was a very nice day out, the company was perfect, and I think Amici had a blast.

Happy 2nd Birthday Amici!!

2008-05-09T07:16:00.005-04:00

We love you tons!!

Here is what we did last year

That may give you a taste for what is ahead. :)

Countdown to Amici's 2nd Birthday! :)

2008-05-07T20:36:00.011-04:00

He'll be two on May 9, 2008. We're having a dog paw-ty this Sat at one of our State Parks. If it rains, we'll have it at our house. We sent out his invitations almost a month ago and then invited folks on our facebook page too (we know all of them in real life). It looks like a small crowd, not everyone seems to get the concept of a dog birthday paw-ty but we think it will be a blast! He'll even have his own cake!

Amici has had a rough time since Jan to about a week from now. He has continued to have seizures with no known pattern or reason. In addition, he started to have bowel problems in his kennel and we aren't sure where or why that is coming up. Towards the end of March he seemed to have diarrhea for about 2 days so we brought in some fecal samples, had tests done, etc at the vet. Things came out clean and he was put on some medicine for about 7 days to clean up the loose stools. It worked and knock on wood he hasn't had that since. He still has been pooping in his kennel at times. We aren't sure why. It is "regular" poop but we aren't sure why he isn't able to hold it. Some of our questions are: is he having a seizure and then needing to poop? (he usually does poop after each seizure- but we are able to get him outside in most cases), can he just not hold it now?, is the medication he is on giving him an odd side effect?, or is he too bored?

We tried to video tape him recently to see what he is up to in his kennel but the tape only lasted 2 hours (it said it was a 8 hour tape) so we only were able to watch Amici tend to his kong and water. My laptop has a webcam on it but I've never used it before. Alan said we may want to try recording Amici with that. We just would like to know why he is pooping in his kennel. If he is having a seizure, we need to do something. If he isn't, we still need to do something. Maybe we need to hire a dog walker to come half way through his day. Here, the price difference between a dog walker and dog daycare isn't that great. For a 1/2 hour he could be walked for $15 or he could go to a whole day of doggie daycare for $20. I am leaning towards the doggie daycare but Alan is concerned about the financial piece. That would be about $6,000 a year and we did take a huge pay cut when Alan changed jobs/fields back in the fall.

This week is his birthday week so I've been trying to make it a good one for Amici. I had Monday off because I worked the weekend (but Alan was home). Monday, Amici and I went to Mackworth Island in Falmouth, ME. We didn't have time to dig out the camera there because we had so much fun! We had a "private" beach to ourselves and we played in the ocean until our hearts content! Also, we've been still going to the dog parks too (just went tonight, actually). I shopped at Planet Dog for some of his birthday toy and treats. It is a nice store if you have one in your area.

Here are a few pictures of our hike up Bradbury Mountain (near Freeport, ME) two weekends ago:

Back in February we baked some delicious cookies with a recipe we had received at Christmas time from the Kapp Pack! Enjoy the pictures:

It definitely has been a while since our last post but thank-you for all the well wishes, kind words, and cheerful notes along the way!

February has vanished!

2008-02-23T21:47:00.002-05:00

February has certainly flown by! Amici had a seizure on the 7th of February at 9:07PM and then about 5-10 minutes later he had another while outside (he had just gone to the bathroom and I was out there with him). Thankfully the snow where he had fallen wasn't deep and it had been packed down from his traffic and our traffic. He was safe. There was a possibility that he had 3 seizures that day. When I got home from work his kennel was a mess (he is upstairs in our bedroom) and it appeared that he had foam residue on his lower jaw. He does like to play in his water dish though so we aren't positive. Thankfully, he made it through that seizures okay (cluster at night) and the potential one during the day that was unwitnessed.

On February 18, 2008 Amici had another seizure. That gives Amici only 11 days in between. We've been keeping a good log and Alan has a spreadsheet of all of Amici's seizures. This is the shortest interval we've had. This one started at 8:30PM. The seizure itself only lasted a minute or two but then 10-15 minutes later he would have another one. This is the first time that we have witnessed him having a cluster seizure of 3. Also, in this episode and on the 7th episode, Amici howled towards the end of his seizures. On the 7th I was able to keep myself fairly composed but on the 18th I sat on the floor next to him and the tears just kept falling. I wasn't sobbing (I do try and remain quiet, Amici is going through enough without wondering what the heck is going on around him) but the crocodile tears kept coming. Seizures aren't a site that people want to watch, but listening to your pup howl like he is in pain....ugh...that just hurts. Amici did come out of the seizure okay.

We've been in the vets loop for quite a bit now. He is very familiar with us when we call. We have been asking about the potassium bromide for a few months now but our vet was hesitate. He wanted to increase the phenobarbital first. He did increase it and the seizures seem to have become worse (more frequent, more clusters). We had Amici's blood levels checked and at this time he is at a safe range for the phenobarbital. Thursday night (2/21/08) we started the potassium bromide. Now Amici is on: Phenobarbital 120 MG 2x day and he's on 2mL of the Potassium bromide 2x a day. We got the chicken flavoring. We've been mixing it with non fat plain yogurt or with non fat plain cottage cheese. He seems to like it as he licks it all up. Then we give him the pheno with a spoonful of pumpkin. So far his bowel movements have looked fine. I know it has been too early to tell but Alan and I feel like Amici is acting more like his usual self. We haven't seen any side effects yet (and there is a bunch) but we'll be on the look out.

Although this may seem like a sad post, really it is an improvement post. :) We have a new med, Amici seems to take it nicely, and he seems more like himself in just this short time. We're not expecting a miracle. We'd just like him to have longer times in between seizures.

Here's life at the dog park with Amici (from last weekend). We did go to the dog park shown below today too but we didn't bring our camera. Enjoy the shots, meet one of Amici's favorite playmates- Milo, and relish in some of Amici's close ups. :)

Superbowl

2008-02-10T12:45:00.000-05:00

Amici and Kana's part of the day during the Superbowl.

Jake had asked us a while ago to post 7 weird things about Amici and then last night Holly asked us to post those weird things too! Here are 7 weird things about Amici:

1. He likes to come into the bathroom with you when you need to go. He tries to follow guests in there but we divert his attention.

2. He likes to check out how you are doing in the shower. In the summer there were a few times when he jumped right in! Mostly, he pokes his head in and laps the water coming down. Then he patiently sits and awaits his towel tossing on his head.

3. He loves to sleep on my pillow. He won't sleep on Alan's but he loves mine.

4. In the summertime is it really hard to keep him out of the outside tub at the dog park. He loves to run full speed, take a dunk in the tub, and then dash out of it again.

5. He loves to put his head in all the shopping bags when we get home from the store. It doesn't matter which store it is (clothes or groceries), he always seems to think it is for him. :)

6. He likes to sit on our stairs. With his hind legs/butt on the upper stairs and his front legs on the lower stairs.

7. As you can tell from the video, he loves to inspect Kana's teeth and give them a GOOD cleaning. :)

Marls and Ziggy gave us a great award. And then Star & Jack gave us the award too!
From Marls & Ziggy's blog "This award is given to bloggers who have wonderful outstanding styles and a fantastic ability to keep us thinking, amused and entertained." Thanks so much to all 4 of you that passed that on to us. It definitely helped brighten our day.

We did have a good weekend although this past week Amici did have another seizure. More about all that another time. Here in Maine we are getting SNOW, SNOW, SNOW! Stay warm, drive safely, and check your dog's feet when you come in from outside. :)

Too Soon

2008-01-27T19:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday, January 26th, 2008 Amici had another seizure (11th) at 4:15AM. He was fast asleep in his kennel (with the door open) and the seizure began. This one seemed to even startle him as he really was sleeping. There was no throwing up but the thrashing of the jaw and the involuntary movement began. It was over after a minute and 1/2. He started his pacing but it took him a lot longer for him to recognize us. He still hadn't recognized us fully until he got downstairs to the dining room and started his 2nd seizure (4:30AM). This was a minute long. Afterwards he got up to walk and began to pace again. He headed to the living room and fell unto his bed. It seems like his legs just gave out. I think he seemed to have another mini seizure right then but Alan seems to think Amici was still recovering. He was on his bed just looking at us. We would say his name and he would sort of stare at us blankly. His name started to finally register but he still seemed weary of us. Amici didn't have any fur raised or any teeth showing, but he definitely treated us like we were strangers. We stayed up until about 6AM to keep a close eye on him. He went outside to pee, etc. He paced like crazy but he finally did agree to go back to bed with us around 6AM. We let him up on our bed although we were concerned about what would happen if he had a seizure and fell off of the bed. We wake up fast, but we might not wake up fast enough to catch him. He seemed to understand our worry as he snuggled in between us for a bit until he got too hot. We slept until 7AM and then we all got up for the day. It was sad way to start off the day because this will be Amici's second cluster seizure. His last cluster seizure was on Nov 17, 2007 and his last seizure (10th one)was on January 2, 2008.

He has had an increase in his meds which he was been on for about 3 weeks now. He's been taking them consistently. The side effect that we are noticing is that he needs to pee and poop a lot more, especially in the nighttime. We feel like we are back in puppyville again as we get up 1-3x a night to let him out (even if we go to bed by 10PM). However, at least he is asking to go out. Which is a good thing. His poop has just got back to normal. Once we started the adjustment he started to have diarrhea again. I had to add more pumpkin to his diet but I tried to do a gradual increase to make sure the pumpkin wasn't causing the diarrhea. Today, his poop looks solid.

This one was the most scary for us as he took so long to recognize us and realize who we are. It got us thinking about what would happen if he doesn't recognize us some day. Ugh...I don't want to think about that. My plans with Amici was to have him in our life for as long as possible. So long that I could see kids in our future playing with him.

So, Saturday was a bit depressing but thankfully today was a better day. There were no seizures in sight, Amici seemed to have a good time at the dog park, and he has been acting like his regular self. I guess the best philosophy to take right now is "one day at a time". We sure do love him and couldn't have picked a better dog to add to our lives and become a part of our family.

Crescent Beach

2008-01-19T18:38:00.000-05:00

We went to the Valley Street Dog Park this morning and then headed off to the beach. The dog park was quite icy and although Amici is a "snow dog" he didn't seem to really enjoy the slippery ice or hard spots (which I don't blame him). I thought the beach might be a little easier on his paws and I knew it would be very relaxing to take in such a pretty view.

Amici has never been to Crescent Beach before. I hadn't been in a while either. It is usually a winter favorite for me as during the summer time the beach is quite populated. We had to park on the side of the road as the park's entrance is closed. We're walking along and see a path through the woods, so I thought we'd take that route since I had never been on it before. Well, the first pictures you see are of the "private" beach that we sort of happened upon. Thankfully, we weren't trespassing (as I asked another person walking her dog- and we didn't see any no trespassing signs). We forgot to take a pic of the red sand!! It was really pretty but we became caught up in the person we met and the husky/mix that she was with. The red sand was only on the upper bankings, but I had never seen the beach that color before. Truth be told, our little side route made me a feel a bit loss (but on the comfortable side) and I was glad we had the adventure but could still make our way to Crescent beach. Crescent beach appears to be only about 1 mile long but it was a great beach to take a walk on. :)

My favorite picture of the day.

Rewind

2008-01-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

The first pictures of Amici and Kana are at our house Christmas morning opening gifts. Amici seemed to really enjoy his stocking and Kana liked his too (it was Kana's first one...his parents don't do the stockings like we do). And although we have no pictures of Tigger, she got some gourmet cat food and a couple of toys. After we had our Christmas at our house, we traveled on to Midcoast Maine where we met up with my parents and siblings (Shawn, Mary Ellen, and Kana went to Mary Ellen's family's house). Amici did well on the ride (1 hour and 1/2). My parents have a cat and 2 small dogs so it is always good for us to arrive a little earlier so they all get used to one another. Oreo is still pretty scared of Amici (hence no pic- he is a cocker spaniel and my parents have had him since I was in high school). Quoddy just doesn't pay Amici any attention and Amici doesn't seem to mind. He is way too interested in finding Yarrow (the cat). Thankfully Yarrow holds his own and doesn't let Amici push him around so it was a nice, calm Christmas. The rest of the pictures are of some of my family (Lee's) at Mom and Dad's house.

After we celebrated there, we went about 10 miles down the road and enjoyed Christmas night with Alan's family. Amici was a bit confused why we weren't going home but once he saw Kana he seemed to relax again. Alan's family isn't too keen on pictures so we don't have any of our time there. We had a lovely Christmas with everyone. Amici did great at each family's house and he had no accidents!!

New Year's came and went. I am sorry to say that Alan and I act like old people sometimes. I think we were in bed by 9PM that night, fast asleep. Boring, huh. In our defense, we still had house guests at that time and the count down was beginning of when our guests would move into Shawn's new home.

On January 2, 2008, Amici had his 10th seizure. It happened at 7AM. He had started to throw up and he ran to the door to be let out. Just as I was about to help him unto the porch (at that point I thought he was just throwing up) he keeled over next to the table and began the whole seizure process. His legs began to move uncontrollably, his mouth foamed a lot, and his whole body seized up for what felt like minutes. This seizure was different in that he foamed a lot more and his whole body did that "charlie horse" thing for what seemed like a long time. All in all the seizure lasted about 1 minute, which isn't that bad. He also seems to have most of his seizures at this time of the day. He did make it past a month (his last one was a cluster seizure on Nov. 17th) and thankfully it was just one and not a cluster. This was Shawn's first time seeing him have a seizure. He said it really freaked him out and he didn't really know what we were talking about until he saw it himself. Kana was near by when it happened but he actually did really well and we kept him away (without struggling) from Amici during the procedure. After the seizure Amici looked at us like he didn't know who we were. It seemed to take him a bit longer to get his bearings. However, the pacing seemed to decrease as he had Kana to help "take his mind off of it" and to let out some of that energy. We brought him to the vet a few days later and had his blood levels checked. Everything looked good and his levels were okay. The vet suggested that we increase his meds so we have. I write about this to keep track of Amici's seizures and to just help get the whole scene out of my mind. Most importantly though it is to really keep track of how many seizures he has, how long, what it looks like, etc. We're doing okay.

Shawn, Mary Ellen, Kana and Tigger moved out on Sat. Jan 5, 2008. I was worried about how Amici would do once his schedule went back to normal (Mary Ellen is a teacher so she had school break....he was out of the kennel a lot during the work week) and once Kana and Tigger were gone. He went to bed well that night but the next morning Amici went down the stairs in search of the cat. He was really confused on how come he couldn't find her so she could hiss at him. Also, there was no Kana to play with either which seemed to confuse his "new" morning routine. Thankfully within a few days Amici seemed to adjust back to our normal routine.

We got a wonderfully thoughtful gift in the mail the other day!! It was from Dory the Lab. Here is what Dory and her Mom sent Amici:

Isn't that the best? We really appreciate the thoughtfulness and the idea to have a drawing from the DWB card exchange. Thank-you the gift is perfect! You definitely know what to buy a MAINE-AH! :)

We really feel cared about and also want to thank MayaMarie, Bella, Missy, and their Mom for giving us the Make My Day award.
This is a great place to share happy things and to have such a supportive community that reads what we write. I am not sure who has and hasn't been given this award but we'd like to let these pups and their peeps know that they make our day many times:
Steve, Kat and Wilbur, The Daily Echo, Marls in Charge, MaPaw Siberian Rescue, the Kapp Pack, MayaMarie and Siblings, The Dogs at Jackman Ave, Sparky, Pappy's Blog, and The Five Happy Hounds

Christmas Eve 2007

2007-12-29T21:01:00.001-05:00

Hope you enjoyed the little slideshow of Amici on Christmas Eve (if you want to hear the music just click on the speaker icon). He definitely was ready for bed that night and he would sniff his stocking each time he went pass it (although there wasn't anything in it yet). :)

Happy Birthday! (to Lee)

2007-12-17T20:22:00.000-05:00

Maybe planning birthday parties ahead of time isn't a good thing all the time. My human decided to have a party without me on Sat. night. She invited close friends/family. She wanted to go to Fuji and then the Comedy Connection. She had asked for folks to respond by Monday so she could make reservations. Well, she wasn't able to make reservations until Monday night. Fuji had a reservation available for 7:30PM and the Comedy Connection starts at 8:30PM. She made the reservations for Fuji but then worried that they may be rushed as this restaurant is known not only for their great food but awesome entertainment. She called the Comedy Connection to make reservations there and asked about walking in late. The Connection frowns upon that so she didn't have much choice but to cancel the Fuji reservations (although that restaurant is her favorite). She tried to make official reservations with the Connection but after 5 phone calls and no calls back it was pretty hopeless. They had gone to the Connection once before as just walk ins so she figured that still would be okay. Sat. night came around and they went to Mexico Lindo restaurant in Portland (she likes spicy food I guess). For Mexican food, it is the best restaurant in Portland. Friends came down from Friendship and Camden, ME and then a couple came in addition to my humans and Shawn and his girlfriend. The dinner seemed to go well and my human had a good time. They finished dinner and then headed to the Connection. Once at the Connection the door said you needed to go to the Porthole restaurant. They went inside and someone asked if they could be helped. Apparantly they were full and even though the situation was explained that no one called back from the Connection my humans couldn't get in. My human birthday Mom was very embarrassed, especially for her friends that traveled an hour and 1/2 (almost 2 hours) to an event that just turned out to be dinner (geesh). So, the end of the night didn't turn out as expected.

Today is the official birthday day for my human Mom. She had a good day and this is the peanut butter cake that my human Dad baked her.

Here are some of the gifts that she got from Saturday until today:

This present is special because she can put a lovable pic of me in it and have an imprint of my paw (how cool is that?!)-

And then not only can see look at my pretty picture all day long and admire me but she can also read my kind of material (magazine all about dogs). Also, the items to the right of the Bark magazine are dog cookie cutters. That is right....now I get MayaMarie's famous cookies in addition to cool neat shapes that are just for me! Between you and me...I think her best friend really wants to be MY best friend. :P

My human was very excited about this present. I guess this is a game you play. I asked if I could play it but it is just for humans.

Since my human seemed to want to have a birthday party without me (the nerve) I decided I would take a little sniff of her cake (that is what Echo would do...right?).

Mmmmm, it sure smells good. Maybe if I just inch a little forward I can have just a smidge of a taste!

Aw shucks, she caught me and ruined the taste testing as she opened her final gift. She got very excited because she likes this actress and especially this movie

a lot, but I just shook my head...nothing can be as good as Eight Below.

Now it is nighttime and we are all full. I was able to have a taste of cake after all (even if it WAS just a smidge :P). Tomorrow night they are going out to that favorite restaurant that my human has been pining away for while Kana, Tigger and I enjoy a Lady and the Tramp kind of meal at home.

Overall, I think my human Mom has had a fun birthday today and I know she was thankful that her friends came out on Sat.

11 Days til Christmas...

2007-12-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It doesn't seem possible that December is already in the teens (for dates). Amici and Kana have been nice and allowed me to take a few pics of them next to the tree. Also, you can see our DWB Christmas door. The other day we had 57 DWB Christmas cards. :) And then we got a few more later on that day. We'll try and do a full count once we get to Christmas. All of the cards have been great though. Everyone is very creative and many of the cards really had a lot of thoughtful comments and well wishes in them (which must have made the paws/hands hurt with all that writiing)! It has been a blast doing this exchange and we'll definitely do it again next year.

We almost have our Christmas shopping done. We have two more people to buy for and we'll be finished. I wrapped most of the presents today and finished writing out Christmas cards for my family and close friends. It has been snowing like crazy today. Amici and Kana have been loving it. I didn't get any pics yet of the most recent snow play. We'll have to try soon. Have a great snow day everyone!

Sharing our home

2007-12-11T18:07:00.000-05:00

We have some neat news here! This weekend my humans were moving, moving, moving. The house was a disaster area and it was hard to find my toys. I wasn't quite sure what was going on except that Kana was here at our home to play with (which isn't out of the ordinary) and there was this other little animal (which I know as the kitty) that was in our house too. She doesn't ever come over, so I had to check her out and I still don't understand why she insists on hissing at me and growling in her own cat way. My humans kept coming and going. I'd be in my kennel for about an hour or so and then I'd get to go outside and watch the humans carry stuff inside and into this bulkhead thing. Kana and I were able to watch the whole process on the screened in porch (which I think is our favorite play area). Then, around dinner time I got to see my grandparents too! Kana tricked Grandpa and gave him all kinds of kisses (he was trying to be like me). I was busy watching the other humans to see what in the world they were doing. Finally, it was starting to sink in that something was different. My stuff wasn't going any where...my human was cleaning up, and Kana and the cat, Tigger, seemed to be settling in.

Story from Lee's point of view:
Shawn has his condo under contract and the new owners are due to move in on Friday, Dec. 14. Shawn has a house under contract in Westbrook, Maine but that doesn't close until the beginning of January 2008. Shawn, his girlfriend, Kana and Tigger will be living with us until then. We live in a 3 bedroom cape with one bathroom so it has definitely been different but livable. The bathroom schedule has been the most complicated thing to iron out. Amici and Kana have seemed to really enjoy each other's daily company. Tigger is hanging out in the office, usually on Alan's chair fast asleep. She seems to be adjusting okay but she doesn't like it at all when Amici trys to sniff her. She swatted him today but didn't use her claws (which she does have) so Amici thought she was playing. He woo woo backed but just didn't seem to get that she was upset. We've had to play refuree with them (Amici and Tigger) on a fairly frequent basis. Kana and Tigger have never lived with a Christmas tree before but they both have acted like they've seen one all the time. Our ornaments are in tack and the tree is still standing. :)

I made some dog treats on Sunday. I made MayaMarie's dog cookie recipe (Amici just can't get enough of those cookies!), banana strips, and pupsicles. Amici broke the run on Sunday in the backyard but it lasted a little over a year so it served its purpose. I bought a new one and then snuck in some cat toys for Tigger (and cat treats too). I have to say that although I am first and foremost a dog lover, it has been nice living with a cat too! Alan is allergic to cats (that's why we don't have one) but he has been doing okay with her (little stuffed up but not dying).

Kana has been enjoying going to the dog park with Amici and I. At home they are both pretty fair but at the dog park Kana really plays rough with Amici. I have to give Kana a time out a couple of times for wrestling too hard. At the Ocean Ave. dog park Kana almost wouldn't come when called (it is all fenced in) but thankfully Amici stuck to my side and behaved himself for the most part. Tonight we had a little tricks and listening time. They both really do aim to please.

I tried to get some shots of them by the Christmas tree but here is what I actually got:

Snow Glorious Snow!!!

2007-12-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

We started to get snow early Monday morning. Amici and I went out at 3AM (he had to pee) and I took my camera but apparently I wasn't quite awake yet cause those pics weren't very good. The following pics are a wee bit better but I did still take them early in the morning (7AM). I guess I forgot how excited I get to see the first snow fall. :) Besides, the snow is a lot of fun when you have a snow dog to share it with. :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And of course my favorite pic of all:

Wash your mouth out with soap.

2007-12-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, that is what Amici was doing anyway until I caught him in the act. He had jumped into the tub and grabbed our soap. He must have thought his mouth was dirty as he did a good number on chewing the soap up. :P Thankfully there was only a small portion of the soap left. Here is a short slideshow of Amici and his face once he was caught with the soap.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our Thanksgiving (Pre Thanksgiving and On...)

2007-12-01T20:25:00.001-05:00

Here is a slideshow of Amici and Kana having a play date at our house the day before Thanksgiving. If the humans were smart they would have started baking the pies then but they waited until Kana went home and didn't finish with the pies and peanut butter balls until 11:30PM. It was worth it though, Lee likes to bake.

Thanksgiving, Kana, Shawn and Mary Ellen (his human/human's girlfriend) came over along with my grandparents (Alan's parents). By then most things were underway except for the finishing touches on the sweet potato, mashed potato, etc. Did you know that Lee almost forgot to make the gravy?????? Alan would have had her head but thankfully she remembered in time and all was well in the turkey world. We did have another turkey mishap (Lee took the neck out of the turkey but didn't remember the giblets....whoopsie) but the turkey tasted fine to me. :P Come to find out Lee was a bit carried away with the pies and peanut butter balls. She made enough for each person to take home a whole pie. I guess it is better to have too much? And at least we had left overs. :)

On Saturday I went to Kana's house as my humans went up to their home towns to visit friends. It was a great mixture of friends all around and the day went extremely well, especially since Lee was able to see her close friends in Camden. Every year since my humans graduated from high school they have been invited to a "Friendsgiving". It is a potluck, with lots of people, in a huge colonial home in Friendship, ME (sort of fitting huh? :) ). I wasn't able to go cause not everyone there likes dogs (poo poo on them) but it sounded like my humans had a good time.

Shawn dropped me off on Sunday and I gave my humans the silent treatment for a while. Although I had fun at Kana's, I didn't like the aspect of spending the night and not knowing where my humans were. I definitely made them aware of that fact and they sucked up to me all night long.

Overall, this Thanksgiving was quite fun. Leftovers were plentiful, family was fun, and the weather was just right.

My favorite picture of Amici over that whole long weekend:

Snow flurries :)

2007-11-20T19:37:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes regarding the 3 things we had going on last week. It means a lot! :)

Today has been a good day. We started to have SNOW FLURRIES while I was at work. I wish it had stuck to the ground but at least we saw a tiny bit of white stuff. I was able to leave work early (had too many hours) and it was nice to get home before the sun went down. Amici and I went to the dog park on Valley Street in Portland. It is the smaller dog park but close to our home so we like to go there during the week. By the time we got there the flurries had stopped but in the pictures you can see some of the leftovers on the ground in addition to the odd scene of leaves still being on the trees. Amici seemed reenergized from the cold weather. He played with a boxer. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of them playing. I am never sure if the other dog's human would mind me taking the pictures and I am too "shy" to ask. So...just imagine two dogs having a blast; playing chase, wrestling a bit, and just having a grand old time. :)

We also got a free lesson on rewarding behavior at the dog park. One of the ladies that was there has her own doggy daycare and she was there with those dogs. Amici was playing with a small dog (prob. 20lbs tops) and at times when he bit while wrestling, it seemed like he was biting hard and pulling too much. The other dog wasn't crying or whimpering but not all dogs nor their humans would like that behavior so I try to put a stop to it. I do tell him "no" and "easy" but the dog lady stated that I could just say "easy" and have Amici let go of the other dog and then praise him immediately. It is an odd feeling going from a command (stern voice) to praise (happy voice). At least I think it is odd anyway. So, we're going to have to keep practicing that. In just the time that they played the dog lady had Amici's behavior down packed and he was really listening to her and looking for that praise. It was neat to see and nice to see that he can listen to others.

When we got home Amici was tired out and I was a bit frozen (but in a welcoming way). We watched White Fang 2 (I've had it sitting on top of our tv for quite a while now from Netflix). It was a good movie. We think Holly should check it out though because it seemed that White Fang was really a Malamute and not a wolf. :P But, we could be wrong and we may need to relearn our doggie characteristics.

Tomorrow we will be getting ready for Thanksgiving. There may be a chance we'll be able to post a few pics but if not here is what we'll be up to. Thanksgiving is my human's (Lee's :)) favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is great because people can just come as they are and enjoy each other's company. Thursday we'll have the human's in laws (Alan's parents), brother in law, his girlfriend, my humans, and KANA!! Ya! It is always fun when we get to play together. This will be my human's 2nd time cooking Thanksgiving in their own home. My human says it is a nice feeling and she likes to do it. In honor of Thanksgiving here are some things we're thankful for:
AMICI

(Closest pic to last year's Thanksgiving that we have. This was a week before Thanksgiving in 2006 [the day that Amici got neutered]).

Family

(We don't have a family photo of the 3 of us...this is the best I could come up with...We are cute and cuddly though!)

health, my human mom still loves her job (she's adjusting to the change), my human dad loves his new job (no more Applebee's, hello computer world), we love our home, and we love living in Maine. (Love= thankfulness in this paragraph)

Those are just snippets of what we are thankful for but it does feel good to type down at least a few. We hope everyone has a wonderful, happy, warm, and fun Thanksgiving!!!!! Safe travels too!

It has been one of those weeks....

2007-11-17T21:03:00.000-05:00

A little pre-Thanksgiving to give people a chuckle.

We definitely need a good laugh around here. This has been one rough week. Today, November 17 2007, at 6:30AM Amici had his 8th seizure. He had jumped up on the bed to say hi to us and we were all enjoying one another's company when he began to act like he was going to throw up. He got off of the bed and headed for his kennel but then stopped in mid step as his whole body clenched up, he jumped back a bit and then he fell over and began the whole seizure process. This seizure was 1 minute long and he did a lot more whole body clenching than in the past seizures. Also, he had less foam coming out of his mouth and less involuntary jogging. He sat up from the floor and looked around at us after the seizure ended. It was almost a look of "hey, how did I get down here? And....am I in trouble?". The whole thing just breaks your heart. You remain calm for your pup's benefit and give him love and reassurance. He started his pacing and I let him outside. He kept pacing and then seemed to calm down. Afterwards he seems to like to be close to us and just rest. We were all getting comfortable and petting him while he was on our bed again. Things were just starting to feel good when to our horror he started to act like he was going to throw up again. Again, he jumped down from the bed and all at once began the process of another seizure (#9). This is the first time he has ever had a "cluster" seizure. We've never seen him have 2 in one day before. This seizure occurred 1 hour after the other one (at 7:30AM) and this one had more foam (or at least comparable to his "usual" seizures) and a lot of body clenching. It took a lot out of me to not break down and just cry. But, crying isn't going to stop the seizures nor make the experience less chaotic for Amici. So we pulled ourselves together once again and tried to be there for Amici when he came out of the seizure experience. One of us has been home all day and Amici seems to be acting like himself. The only thing different is that he is still pacing at times. Right now he is resting on the hardwood floor in the living room with me.

I called the vet. They aren't open but they say to leave a message so they can get back to you when there is an emergency. I stated that it seemed like things were as controlled as we could help it, but I wanted to give them (married couple own/operate the vet) the update. We have been discussing adjusting his meds and it seems like that may be the best route we can take at this time.

We've been doing well with his pills and have been giving it to him on a consistent and regular basis. His food has been good and his bowels okay (adding the fiber {just 2 TB a day} seems to help- we give him pumpkin with his pill). He has had a different schedule these last few weeks as Alan started a new job with regular hours. It has been a blessing but it definitely has changed Amici's schedule. Amici seems to be adapting to the new schedule. The only other thing we noticed is that since July 2007 Amici's seizures seem to occur in the teens usually near the 16th or so. That is the most common thread we have been able to account for so far but we have no idea how to stop it. That being said, my birthday is next month on the 17th and I am seriously hoping (a bit selfishly) that Amici can make it PAST that date seizure free! Keep us in your thoughts as we continue this journey and try to help Amici have a safe, loving, and fun life.

The other 2 things that happened this week are more human related. Although I am not sure how to compare the 3 things.... just rereading what I typed about Amici's 2 seizures in one day makes my stomach turn. Monday, my boss announced that she is going to another facility (which when you really like/admire your boss and work very well with the person, this is NOT a good thing.....{well good for her I suppose...but not a good feeling or a fun change}). Wednesday I was called by my Gram. She told me that my great Aunt Teck passed away. She was dx with Alzheimer's disease (about 10 yrs ago). So there has been a lot of crying in this house this past week from Monday on. Change is hard, losing someone very dear to you is even harder, and watching your beloved pup have seizures when there is nothing you can do about it is horrible. Let's hope for a better up coming week where people/animals are healthy, happy, safe and surrounded by those that they love.

Happy Howl-een!

2007-11-05T18:37:00.000-05:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here is how our Howl-een was....check out the video and make sure your sound is on!

We had a fun Halloween night. Once you watch the video I think you'll agree that at times it seemed that Amici didn't mind his dog construction worker costume. He definitely didn't like the hat but that was to be expected. We had a ton of trick or treaters. Some were in costume but a lot of kids didn't dress up (we still gave them candy anyway though). Amici only seemed to frighten 2 children but it seemed that those 2 kids were afraid of dogs to begin with. They still took candy from us though and one even reached out to pat Amici after he took the candy (with some encouragement from his parents). It was nice to see so many parents out with their kids. Not a lot of parents came to our door but you could see them standing on the edge of our driveway waiting for their kids. That was good to see. Perhaps some of the cutest things were when the kids would get so excited to pet Amici (as they could see him as they approached the steps). Other kids would run to their parents and say, "Aw that was so cool! That dog was a husky! He kissed my hand!". Those comments were nice. A few of the children thought his costume was a guide dog costume (I guess because of the bright color and the way it was worn). It was a good guess anyway.

Oh! And in the video (if you can look pass the Halloween candy bags on the coffee table) there are a few pics of Amici sticking his nose in the candy and then picking out a TWIX bar! And, no, he did not get to keep it nor eat it. That is why at the end of the video you see him putting his nose into a bag of orange things (carrots). He got his own trick or treats (and much healthier for him too if I may add).

Although in our short poll (total of 8 votes) it was frowned upon (43%) to dress your pup up for Halloween, we agree with the 29% that said they dressed up for Halloween ALONG with their pup. We're not sure what Amici will be next year but we'll try to come up with something a bit more cute. The construction costume worked but it wasn't the same as the original costume I had wanted him to wear (dogzilla- it was ADORABLE, he was too long for it). Maybe I'll have to pick up sewing or just buy in the kids' department. :)

Hope everyone had a hauntingly happy Halloween!
Here are two of my favorite photos from the night:

Amici waiting and watching for the trick or treaters.

Just look at that face! He is too cute for words! :)

Photo Shoot with Amici and Kana

2007-11-03T12:28:00.000-04:00

Here is a slideshow of some of the other shots:

*These pictures were taken the day before Halloween 2007*
Halloween 2007 pictures to come SOON!!!! :)

PS. Is it fair that Kana has some of the large shots in this shoot? This is supposed to be a blog about Amici after all. :P What can I say...they both are just too cute to NOT photograph.

Ours again :)

2007-10-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

This is a lovely time of the year. My mom states that it is her favorite season here in Maine. The weather is just right, cool enough to wear a sweater but no jacket and perhaps best of all....the parks are ours again!!! By ours I mean less congested and dog friendly!
Here are some pictures of Amici at Willard Beach in South Portland. This is a quaint, clean beach that has some beautiful views.

In the last couple of pictures Amici is seen ripping apart drift wood. In the picture it looks pretty odd...just thought I would clarify what it was that he was chewing on.

On Monday, October 15, 2007 at 2:30AM Amici had his 7th seizure. We were all sleeping. Since we have turned off our A/C Amici seems to enjoy sleeping in his kennel (with the door open so he can come and go as he pleases). All of a sudden I woke up to this choking sound. Amici looked and acted like he was choking. Alan woke up as well and almost went to inspect Amici's mouth as Amici puked and then fell over, stiffened up, and began the horrible process of his seizure. This seizure he seemed to stiffen a lot more and for a longer time. His legs did jog while he was down, his jaw was automatically moving, and the white smelly foam began to appear. He ended his seizure by having a period of where his whole body seemed to stiffen up completely (almost like having a horrible charlie horse). Afterwards he sat up and looked at us, tentatively wagging his tail. We kept a low voice and tone but tried to reassure him and waited until he came to us (most times it appears that it takes him a second to realize what happened and who we are....one time he growled at us so since then we watch him very closely but wait for him to approach us). Amici gave us kisses and began his hour of pacing. I went downstairs with him to let him outside. Apparantly while he paced he had an accident on our floor so I was too late in letting him out. You can't get mad at him because it isn't his fault so I just cleaned it up while he continued to pace. Around 3:30AM he stopped pacing and by 4AM we were back in our bedroom again all on our bed. Amici stayed on it for a few seconds and then got down and fell asleep on my side of the bed on the floor. It is always hard to go to work when this happens. The only thing we have to rely on is the consistent foam that happens to Amici when he has seizures. It has a very distinct smell and usually there is residue left behind. Our hope is that if he did have a seizure while we were at work, we would know by the smell and texture of the fur around his mouth. Thankfully, when we got home after work on Monday Amici seemed okay. We couldn't go anywhere because whenever he has a seizure the vet said that he should lay low for a day (which, having a husky...I don't think Amici enjoys laying low).

Today we were able to go to the dog park after work. We didn't stay as long as usual but he did get some good runs in and wrestling. We didn't want to overdue it. I called the vet yesterday to give them an update. I spoke with the assistant there and haven't heard from our vet yet. We are not sure of the reason for this seizure. Amici has been taking his meds regularly, eating a good diet, having better bowel movements, etc. It is just so confusing. I read some things yesterday online about some dogs being allergic to dairy, wheat, corn meal, soy, etc. and how those foods may help cause seizures. Has anyone else read that? Do you have an opinion?

His last seizure was Monday July 16th at 11:30AM. If he had had his seizure today he would have been seizure free for 2 whole months. That is the longest he has gone without having a seizure since these episodes have started. Maybe next time we'll have an even longer time frame in between.....let's hope so.

Animals at Play

2007-10-06T17:42:00.000-04:00

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was neat, especially since it features a husky! :) Check out the cool exchange between a polar bear and a husky.

Apple Picking

2007-10-01T08:18:00.000-04:00

A few Sundays ago we went apple picking and the orchard we went to allowed dogs. :) Amici came with us and even was able to go on a hayride! Here are some pics from the afternoon:

The apple stand- this is where you could buy prepicked apples, little pumpkins, and other vegetables.

Amici after getting a belly rub from a little boy with his parents in tow.

Airplanes owned by the farmer which are on display for the customers to enjoy.

Amici taking in the view of all of those apple trees!

The hayride!

My favorite picture from the day:

Bama tagged us to list all the nicknames we have for Amici. Here they are:
Mics (pronounced meeks), Puppy, Puppers, Punk (when he is being a devil), Pup (the last 4 we save just for in our house- we really do use his real name). :)

Bama also tagged us to share what kind of car best shows or resembles Amici's personality. To be honest, this is a better question for Amici's Dad to answer but since he isn't here, we'd have to pick our favorite vehicle:
The Honda WOW concept car. We aren't sure if it will ever come to the USA but if it did we would seriously consider buying it! It fits Amici because it is versatile. Amici is very dog friendly as well as gentle and friendly with children. He loves to do a variety of things and this car lets you do just that! Also, WOW stands for "wonderful, openhearted wagon" and Amici is definitely a WONDERFUL pup as well as very open hearted and lovable. :)

The Brat Pack asked us to share what we like about the DWB (Dogs with Blogs).
1. We like meeting others that have a love for dogs as much as we do! (And other animals too!).
2. It is nice to be supported, especially when your pup has seizures or does other scary things (e.g. trying to jump out 2nd story window)
3. We like the sharing aspect of DWB. We have been able to see new places/different types of dogs from all over and we get to see what each pup likes to do for fun with his/her family.
4. Reviews for free! It is good to learn from other dogs and their owners what foods, toys, treats, beds, collars, etc. work for them.
5. The DWB has motivated us to become more involved in our community (e.g. PAWS in the park).

PAWS in the Park at Deering Oaks

2007-09-16T20:14:00.000-04:00

We had a great time at PAWS in the park. There were a ton of people/dogs and even some people without dogs that came to support the local animal shelter. PAWS had some good vendors there and all the dogs we encountered were friendly! The walk around the park was about 1 mile and it was a gorgeous day for it.

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Here is a slideshow of the gifts we received for participating and donating to PAWS. Amici loved his new stuffie and tug a war rope. I love the t shirt that Amici models for us. :)

Catch up

2007-09-09T09:48:00.000-04:00

We had a lot of fun over Labor Day Weekend. Amici went to Kana's house as we had a wedding to go to on Saturday. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception was full of spunk. We hadn't seen the bride since high school so it was a bit like a reunion. On Sunday we went to a barbacue at a close friend of ours. We played volleyball until our arms were black and blue! Amici was invited there but because we can't let him off leash we didn't want him to feel left out with the other dogs running around free. He looked like he had a great time at Kana's when we picked him up that night.

This weekend we have been playing catch up! We have had chores to do and we have been picking out paint for our bedrooms upstairs.

Yesterday was HOT, HOT, HOT. Here is Amic enjoying a Yoghound in the early afternoon:

Bradbury Mountain

2007-09-09T09:22:00.001-04:00

A couple of weekends ago we went to Bradbury Mountain. It was a beautiful day and a good hike.

Here is a view from the top:

Growing up we hiked Mount Battie in Camden, Maine. I think I was spoiled with the view there:

We had a great day though and it was great to enjoy the outdoors. :)

Games from fellow friends

2007-09-02T07:12:00.000-04:00

MayaMarie tagged us to play the middle name game. Amici doesn't have a middle name but we can use his nickname: Mics (pronounces meeks).

Mighty
Intelligent
Cuddly
Silly

Those are just a few characteristics that we love about him.

Here is another game from Holly

The Rules:
Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions. They must be real places, names, things ... If you can't think of anything, skip it. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

You take the first letter of your first name, and then answer the questions using only that letter.

What is your name? Amici
4 letter word: Asia
Vehicle: Acura
TV Show: America's Next Top Model
City: Avignon, France
Boy Name: Aaron
Girl Name: Arianna
Alcoholic Drink: All American Daiquiri
Occupation: Animal trainer
Something you wear: Acuvue Advance (my Mom wears these)
Celebrity: Ashton Kutcher
Food: Apricots
Something found in a bathroom: Advil
Reason for being late: Alarm clock didn't go off
Cartoon Character: Albert, Fat Albert that is.. :)
Something You Shout: Aloha! (well....my parents did when they went to Maui)

Happy Labor day weekend!

Husky Smack Down

2007-08-19T20:53:00.001-04:00

Click Picture to See Slideshow

Here are some pictures of Amici and Kana playing husky smack down. :)
*It may take a minute or so to load*

Evergreen Cemetery

2007-08-15T21:51:00.000-04:00

Amici taking a late afternoon walk at the Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, ME.

Amici taking a break at the Wilde Memorial Chapel (built in 1902).

AMICI :)

Ocean Avenue Dog Park

2007-08-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

We had a good day at the dog park on Ocean Ave in Portland, ME. There wasn't a lot of dogs or people there and sometimes that is a nice thing. The other dog park that we go to frequently has been a bit rough lately (dogs and their humans). So we have been trying to use this one a bit more and/or go to a different place altogether.

Amici played with a puggle and they did really well together. In the slideshow above he played fetch (just a few times) with me, played tag with a german shepard puppy, and a lab. Overall it was a good time. We were hot and I wanted to bring Amici somewhere cool so we hunted for some rivers or lakes. We ended up on Cousins Island. We hadn't been there before. It is a quaint but beautiful island. We weren't familiar with anything there so we went back to Yarmouth, ME and walked a park that had access to a river. Amici's yellow lab friend ended up meeting us there a bit later. Milo, the lab, swam like crazy after the ball but Amici usually would only go up to his back and then turn around. I thought for sure the ducks would lure Amici out further but they didn't. He seemed to have a good time even though he just waded.

Amici and I have to hold down the fort for a few days this week as Alan has to do some traveling for his work. Wish us luck. :)

New Husky Mobile :)

2007-08-09T21:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, my parents have been withholding another tidbit of info. They bought a new car and it just so happened that they picked it up on their 5th year wedding anniversary (back in July 2007). The best part though is that they considered me when they bought the vehicle. My Dad wanted one of these (2 person seats):
One BIG problem...it doesn't have a back seat. Thankfully my Mom picked up on that right away and they looked at some other cars that did have a comfortable backseat for me.

This is what they decided on and bought (4 person seats):
Hopefully we'll get some pics of me riding in it soon. So far I have liked the car rides down to Shawn's (1/2 hour away). The back seat is comfortable and I can stretch my whole body out if I want to.

My Mom hopes that this vehicle will come out sometime:

Pretty neat huh? Seems cool to me. (Don't worry- we still have the Honda CR-V for long trips, etc.)

I really like our new husky mobile. Besides, it is an awesome color (black), and I match it perfectly. I sure am glad that my parents didn't get heated seats for the back though....I can't wait for the cold weather! :) Thank goodness for A/C...it is a life saver in the summer while we go on rides.

*Gentle reminder- please don't leave your lovable dogs or other animals roast in the car while you are in a store. It is much better to leave them at home, safe and cool, than to risk getting them dehydrated, scared, lonely, or worse...stolen*

Thursday Afternoon- Getting back to our normal routine

2007-08-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

Amici looking unimpressed that his picture is being taken after a HOT and exhausting day (full of playtime with Kana)

Kana looking relaxed and re energized after his time with Amici.

Spoke too soon....check out who is actually resting! (Kana)

Great News!!

2007-08-04T20:44:00.000-04:00

Some great news here! We'll get to go back to our blogging days now that my Mom's "project" is over. Actually, she has a confession to make....she's been denying our blogging time because she has been studying for a test! She told me it was really important and that dropping the ball on one of the study books didn't really help (however, she continued to throw the ball....what can I say...she loves me)(And before you say it...I know...it is a bit abnormal for a husky to play fetch but you got to do whatcha got to do).

Wednesday night I went to Kana's house because my parents went up to Bangor, ME for my Mom's test. My dad went up for moral support. They came and got me around 2PM Thursday and found that I was HOT and tuckered out from all the playing Kana and I had been doing. I was so excited when I heard the words "home"!

My parents gave me tons of love and they were glad that I had been a "good" boy (what they don't know won't hurt them). And then my Mom whispered in my ear that the computer is now ours again as she passed the test!! WAHOO! I get more undivided attention again and computer time (what a bonus!).

Mom says that she can now apply to do this:

I like this one:

My Mom says that she isn't looking to open a private practice of her own at this time; however, knowing that she now legally/ethically could open her own practice makes her psyched! :P

My Dad was very proud of her and my Mom was awfully thankful that he went up with her for the moral support. Me, I am just glad I don't have to compete with that studying anymore. PHEW!

Tag :)

2007-08-02T21:21:00.001-04:00

We are a bit behind on responding to our tag! We'll have more reasons for that in our next post. Stay tuned.

Holly, tagged us to write more about me, Amici! Here it goes....

1. Where is your favorite place to sleep?
I like to sleep some place that is cool. When it's during the day you can usually find me next to the front door on the hardwood floor. Not only is it a cool place but I also can see the living room and spare/office room in that spot. At night, I like to start off by sleeping on the bed (I got to get some cuddle time in) and then I usually go towards the end of the bed where the A/C blows on me for a bit. Eventually I get off the bed and sleep on the floor next to my Mom's side of the bed (and A/C overhead).

2. Is there a specific trick your humans make you to do get treats?
One trick? I think I am getting ripped off. My parents have me do quite a few tricks before I get treats. (e.g. paw, give other paw, give both paws at the same time, sit, stay, etc.)

3. If you could spend an entire day doing anything at all, with anyone, what would you do, and with whom?
I would be with my parents all day long and we would be doing fun things for most of the day (e.g. go for walks, go to the dog park, go someplace new that allows dogs, etc.).

4. What is your favorite toy?
I think my favorite is a STUFFIE! I love that they are soft and noisy and that I can rip them open as fast as you can say "uh, oh....Amici...are you tearing the stuffie apart already?"

5. If you could change one thing in your life, what would you change?
I wish I could be out of the kennel when my parents aren't home. I would want the kennel accessible, since I do enjoy it, but it would be nice to just go in and out of it whenever I wanted to.

Since we're behind in responding, we're not sure who's been tagged and who hasn't. We hope that if you haven't been tagged yet, you'll consider yourself tagged by us! Take this fun opportunity to blog more specific questions about your pup (and/or other animals).

Recap

2007-07-27T19:01:00.000-04:00

We celebrated our 5th anniversary by going away for the weekend. We actually went the weekend before our anniversary because that is when we both could get the time off. Shawn, Alan's brother, had Amici come stay with him. Amici was able to play with Kana and have a good weekend. We went to Franconia, NH and rented a cabin. We drove around looking at the White Mountains,

we were very close to the Old Man on the Mountain (the rocks that made the profile have since fallen off [2003]),

and we went to a great little diner for brunch one day.

We also went to Clark's Trading Post in Lincoln,NH. We watched a small, family circus that was very well done.

And we saw some black bears that have been raised and trained by the Clark Family for years.

We enjoyed those events. The rest of Clark's was nice but definitely geared to families with children (which isn't a bad thing...just not us right now. :) ). Overall we had a good time and would recommend people visiting there at least once. :)

We traveled back home on Sunday. We picked up Amici at Shawn's and he seemed so happy to see us! We sure were excited to see him too!

Monday, July 16, 2007 at 11:30AM Amici had his 6th seizure. Alan was home and I was at work (it was Alan's day off). This one seemed to last the average time but at the end Amici had a hard time standing up (which is something Alan and I never have seen him have difficulty with before). We called the vet. We have an appointment coming up to give him his annual shots and see what else we can be doing to help reduce Amici's seizures. We did discuss potassium bromide with the vet and he is educated on that and has used it on other dogs with success. So we may be adding and/or changing his medicine regime. It was sad that Amici had another seizure quite close to his last one. Hopefully we'll get to the point where other dogs that have seizures are....a place where Amici has a much longer space in between seizures or none at all for a long time!

Since then Amici has been doing fine. He has been having fun at the dog park, playing with Kana on the nights we see Shawn, and just relaxing and receiving love from his family.

We haven't posted too much lately because Mom has been working on a project that has took up a lot of her posting time. So....hopefully that gets over with soon. Maybe we'll have updated pics of Amici this weekend. Let's hope. :)

Until then here is a fairly recent pic (7/7/07) of Amici at the Portland Head Light/Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth, ME. As you'll see in the picture it was quite the foggy day there.

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us! :)

2007-07-20T06:49:00.000-04:00

Married July 20, 2002 in Rockport, Maine. We weren't lucky enough to have Amici yet but believe me, we were saving like mad to save up for a house so we could add a lovable dog to our family. :)

Happy Adoption Day Amici!

2007-07-15T18:41:00.000-04:00

We love you to pieces! We're so lucky that you have become a part of our family.

Picture on top is of Amici's biological father and the picture on the bottom is Amici's biological mother.

Picture of Amici's siblings. We're not sure if Amici is actually in this picture or not...

Amici, when he was just a little guy living in the Cape (8 1/2 weeks old).

Here's to our 1 year anniversary of your adoption day and many more celebration days to follow!

Tagged by Sitka and Tia's BLAWG

2007-07-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

We are a little late in responding but we were tagged by Sitka and Tia's BLAWG to share some info. about us (the humans). Here's our take of the interview:

(A)So I'm coming up on my 1 year adoption anniversary. How did you pick me?
(L)We're not sure who picked who! Alan and I were sitting on the grass watching all of you play with each other. You came charging at Alan, jumped on his lap and kissed him on the face and then you leaned over and kissed me too. We kept watching you after that and you seemed to play the best and have the most lovable personality so we chose you. For all we know you planted those kisses on purpose....maybe you chose us. :)

(A)Awww, I love hearing stories about me. But, I am supposed to be interviewing you. Okay....if I am your "baby" how come you two are talking about having other (human bipeds) some day?
(L) Well, you are our little baby but it would be nice to have children some day too.

(A) I don't know if I'll like that.
(L) What do you mean? You seem to love kids/babies.

(A) Ya I love them when I get to visit. I am not sure about this sharing my space thing and dividing the attention. Phew, just thinking about it gets me chasing my tail!
(L) Well I wouldn't chase your tail too much as we're still waiting to have kids. Let's just take each year as it comes.

(A) Why is it that you two sometimes leave me during the day?
(L) Well, we have to work. Ya know...afford the mortgage, pay off college bills, buy you toys/food/medicine/vet visits.

(A) What do you do when you leave? Do you eat treats like I do in my kennel?
(L) LOL. No. I work as a director at a nursing center with people that are diagnosed with dementia and your Dad works as a manager at Applebee's.

(A) I've been to that center before! It has the slippery floor! But awfully nice people. I loved meeting new people. I think I went to Dad's before too. One time I think you made me go up there to show them my Pumpkin Costume....how embarrassing.
(L) But you looked so adorable in that! Everyone thought so. :)

(A) Do you have any embarrassing stories?
(L) Too many to tell. :P

(A) Do you have any siblings like I did?
(L) Well, I don't have the furry kind. :P But yes, I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers (all bipeds). Your Dad has 1 brother. When his Dad remarried he gained another brother and a sister.

(A) Besides playing with me what else do you like to do?
(L) Well, you are pretty irresistible.....but I do like to play around with my pics that I take, read, be outside (I think that's why we get along so well), go to the ocean, and most importantly be with family and friends. Your Dad loves to play video games (he is still a kid at heart), read, tinker with his Prelude, learn about new car stuff, and get together with family and friends too.

(A) Last question of the night...I am getting thirsty and a bit tired.

(A) Some of my doggie friends talk about going to school. I've never been, although I have heard you mutter under your breathe that I should. Did you and Dad go to school?
(L)Yes. Actually your Dad and I went to the same high school (that is where we met). Then your Mom headed off to a college in SC, transferred and went to a college in Maine. Your Dad went to a college in PA and then transferred to ME. Just when we thought we were done with school, your Mom went on to earn a graduate degree at the University of New England. School is special to us because that is where we met (high school) and developed a friendship which would eventually develop into something much more!

(A) *Puts paw over eyes* We definitely need to end this interview. That last part was getting to be a bit too romantic for me. Isn't your anniversary coming up soon? Wait, don't answer that....let's wait til next time.

Friday- New Stuffie

2007-07-08T17:21:00.000-04:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Amici looks happy to have a new stuffie.

4th of July- Celebrated on the 5th :)

2007-07-08T14:48:00.000-04:00

We were headed to Eastern Prom in Portland to see the fireworks on the 4th but then it started to rain. We heard on the radio that Old Orchard Beach's fireworks were being postponed until the 5th so we decided to not go sit in the rain and we would wait until the next night to see the fireworks on the beach. We went to Shawn's on the 5th and Amici is always invited there. Shawn and his girlfriend were too tired to go to the fireworks, so they relaxed with Kana and Amici while Alan and I went to OOB's fireworks near the pier. It was a great show and we had a fantastic time (especially knowing that Amici was safe and sound having fun with Kana).

Picture of the ferris wheel at OOB. People were still riding it while the fireworks were shooting off over the edge of the ocean.

Kana

2007-07-03T19:55:00.001-04:00

The slideshow above is some shots of Kana. He is the first husky that I ever got to really get to know. We helped pick him out with Shawn (well, he picked out Shawn I think) and helped Shawn raise him as he is out of town a lot for business reasons. Kana won me over and I was so excited to get a husky pup of our own and a good playmate for Kana.

Here is Kana and Amici wrestling on Sunday at Shawn's condo. (Kana is on top of Amici. He is definitely the alpha dog.)

This is Amici biting Kana's neck. They play together great and Kana definitely taught Amici this play tactic. However, when Amici does this at the dog park it doesn't go over too well. Do others have this problem where your dog is biting the other dog's neck but no one seems angry, crying, or hurt?

TUG A WAR: Kana & Amici

At the end of the day here they are:

Cookies

2007-07-03T19:38:00.001-04:00

On Sunday I made cookies for Amici from MayaMarie's cookie recipe. We ended up changing one item in the recipe on accident. I went to the grocery store to find oat flour and I couldn't find it anywhere. So...I thought...maybe oat flour is the same as what you put in oatmeal cookies? I just used regular oats. When I measured them out and compared pics I realized that oats and oat flour are not the same thing. :( I was worried that the cookies wouldn't come out good but thankfully they did okay! They ended up looking different but they were cooked thoroughly and Amici loves them!

Here's Amici taking a peek over the table to see if he could swipe one. :)

We ended up putting together a doggie bag to bring to Kana. Amici got a few more cookies on the ride down to Kana's place. :)

Tagged by Kelsey Ann and the Kapp Pack

2007-06-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

We just got home for the dog park and found our gmail notifing us that we had mail! :) The Kapp Pack tagged us to share 7 things about Amici. Here it goes:

1. Amici loves stuffed toys. He has also found a love for bones but when you give him a new stuffie, the look on his face is priceless.

2. Amici loves company. My brother, Greg, was just down due to work training (training was in Portland and he lives about 1 1/2 hrs away {works/lives in the Midcoast area}) and he spent a couple of nights at our house. Amici loved having another person to pet him and someone else he could sniff. Here Amici is with Linsey, my little sister, and Eric when he was just a puppy. Here is a pic of Linsey and Greg at her graduation(She just graduated in June 2007).

3. He loves the dog parks in the area. It is a great way for him to run as fast as he'd like and to still be safe. Here he is back in August of 2006 running like mad (top pic). The pic on the bottom is Kana, Shawn's husky (Alan's brother), chasing Amici at the dog park.

4. We don't have any pictures of him being brushed, but it isn't his favorite thing. He tolerates it because usually we give him a bone to chew on or a toy but if you brush him for too long he'll give you the evil eye.

5. Amici loves Kana. They became fast friends and they love to have their play dates. This pic is of Kana and Amici when Amici was just 3 mths old.

6. He seems to really like babies and kids. We don't have any children, although we'd like to some day. This pic is of Amici (Oct. 2006) checking out my little niece, Julia (My older sister, Lisa's baby).Pic on the bottom is what Julia looks like now.

7. We celebrate Amici's birthday (actually have a real PAW-TY) and will continue celebrating it for as long as we are lucky to have him be a part of our family.

Amici tags Franki V, Pappy, and Sparky.

5th Seizure and Vet Visit

2007-06-26T20:37:00.000-04:00

Amici went to the vet today. Yesterday, June 25, 2007 around 6:45AM Amici had another seizure. I had let him outside to use the bathroom and once I was done ironing my clothes I thought it was weird that he wasn't asking to come back in yet. (Usually I'll wait and watch him go to the bathroom to make sure he does his business and to see what it looks like {healthy wise}. Sometimes I need to do other things though so he has learned come to the sliding glass door). I looked outside and Amici was lying in the grass. Not an odd behavior, but the look in his face and the way he was looking around was odd. I came down the porch steps and realized that he may have had a seizure as he looked confused at who I was. It took him a second to recognize me and then come. Once he did, I could tell he had an unwitnessed seizure as there was residue foam all around his mouth. Also, his behavior was different, needing more reassurance and he seemed to need to reorient himself. I tried to make him happy again and comfortable. I watched him closely to make sure he wasn't going to start having clusters of seizures. Thankfully, by the time I had to leave for work, he didn't appear as restless (after each seizure he usually paces around for 1/2 hour to an hour)and he was excited to go into his kennel for his toys. I called Alan at work so he knew about it. He was glad that Amici was okay and he said he'd check on him in a little bit to make sure he was still maintaining alright. I called the vet and made an appointment for today. This will be his 5th seizure but thankfully the length in between has become longer (last one was May 11, 2007). We had gone a little over a month without having one which is great thing!

The humiliating thing about this is the seizure is probably our fault. We waited to the last minute to refill his prescription and on Sat. when we called it in, the rapid refill CVS stated we needed to have a doctor's prescription. We should have counted out the pills and knowing that he was getting low we should have noticed that before hand and called it in earlier. So, Amici went 2 days without receiving his meds. When I called the vet I did explain this and apologize profusely for being a stupid human. We really do love Amici and didn't mean to cause him any more harm.

As a result, it appears that the phenobarbital 32.4MG 2x day seems to be helping. The purpose of the vet visit today was to check Amici's pheno blood levels and to check for Lyme disease (we had never had him tested before). Hopefully his levels come out fine and he is negative for the Lyme disease as well. Amici will go back in August 2007 to get some of his yearly shots and I am sure we'll be discussing his progress on the medications at that time too.

This time his parents won't be stupid and we'll get the medicine in a timely fashion. Most importantly, we realize how our actions have affected Amici. Maybe next time he'll go 2 to 3 mths without having a seizure.

Good Night

2007-06-24T20:48:00.000-04:00

Amici says it all. :) But here's a nice tune just to make the photo complete.

It's Peanut Butter Time!

2007-06-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Amici in the afternoon just licking out the last bit of PB from the jar. Check out some of his odd expressions.

Also, this is funny if you like the Family Guy.

Hinckley Park

2007-06-24T20:01:00.000-04:00

After the dog park this morning (where Amici got some great running time in), we ventured off to Hinckley Park in South Portland, ME. It is one of the parks in the area that allow dogs off the leash; however, Amici stayed on his due to the high risk of him not staying with me. It was a nice park and there are two ponds there that the dogs are allowed to swim in. Amici took dips into the water but he didn't go out deeper or even try to swim. It is apparent that he loves the water, but we can't tell if he'll actually swim or not some day. It was a hot day here in Maine so at least Amici had a good way to cool off. He was really confused with the other dogs as they just kept running and jumping into the deep end. He kept looking at them like they were nuts. Overall, it was a great park and hopefully we'll return there again soon with Kana tagging along too. :)

Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park

2007-06-17T15:36:00.001-04:00

Click the picture to see more of our adventure

Hopefully you've checked out the other pictures by clicking on Amici. We went to Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park in Freeport, Maine. Some of you may have heard of Freeport because of LL Bean. I had never been to this State Park before but I had heard a lot of good things about it. It is only about 5-10 minutes away from downtown Freeport and you conveniently turn at LL Bean. It was easy to find and well marked with beautiful country side scenery along the way (we even saw belted cows- which I affectionately call oreo cows). Amici was rearing to go once we got there. I think he thought I was taking him to a new dog park. He pulled me full force down the first trail but once he understood that this wasn't an off leash area he calmed down and walked with me. We went down to the ocean first. I love the ocean. It smells great, looks beautiful, and it is very calming to look at. Amici sniffed everything in site and eventually began to eat some seaweed. We met one of the park rangers who seemed to fall in love with Amici. She had a lot of good dog advice and was easy to talk to. We went on our merry way soon after as we both were getting hot and needed some shade from the trees. The paths were well marked and very clean. It was nice to walk along the coastline, head into the woods, and then walk along the river. At the end of our adventure we were tired. I was sweaty and Amici was jumping into every stream and mud puddle he could find. I had brought water for him but having him drink water while he's on a mission is like asking the road runner to stop. On our way back to the parking lot one stream was VERY muddy which Amici decided to jump in so we ended up taking another trip to the ocean to get him washed off. He loves it. He was better this time too and didn't try to drink the ocean water as much as before. Overall he was a trooper. He would sit when someone wanted to pet him, sit/stay with me when we saw someone approaching who was eyeing us wearily, and he didn't pull hardly at all. On the way back home we stopped at the Pet Pantry. Amici was good in the store and I got him a bone and a lamb/rice treat. We drove down Route 1 South instead of taking the highway and then stopped along the way to get some Classic Custard's ice cream. We both had a small vanilla custard in a cup. Amici loved it! He gave kisses afterwards. Then 15 minutes later we were home. He fell asleep right away and has been napping off and on since. It was a great time!

Toured the Casco Bay

2007-06-16T20:25:00.000-04:00

Today we toured the Casco Bay through the Bayview Cruise in Portland, Maine. Unfortunately Amici had to stay at home because dogs were not allowed. We were just gone for about 3 hours though and he had plenty of water, safe toys, and chew toys to play with in his kennel. And, we bought a new air conditioner for our bedroom (this one is bigger and takes up more than 3/4 of the window). Thankfully, now we can stay cool and so can Amici. Above are some of the sites we saw on our boat ride: Spring Harbor Lighthouse; Peaks Island; Fort Gorges (1858-1864); and the Portland Head Light

If you've never been to the Portland Head Light, it is one place you should put on your list. We live in a lovely, fun, clean city (as we jokingly call a town especially compared to Boston, etc.). Come visit Portland, Maine!

We had a great time. We enjoyed the sun and the beautiful scenery but as always, it is nice to come home; especially to our lovable pup Amici. He was peacefully waiting in his kennel and very happy to see us when we came back.

Two More Adoptable Siberian Huskies

2007-06-16T06:33:00.003-04:00

I spoke too soon in my last post about Brunswick being the only shelter in Maine that tends to shelter Siberian Huskies. I should add that the shelter in Thomaston, Maine does receive Siberian Huskies as well, from time to time. The two pictured above need a forever home.

Blue Boy (pup with the blue bandana)

I know you all just finished winter here, but I can’t wait for it to get cold. I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow before! My name is Blue Boy and I am a transfer dog from Louisiana. I am a three and a half year old Husky. A Husky in Louisiana? Well, I finally made my way North and I am looking for a family who is looking for me. I started shelter dog obedience class Thursday’s with one of the volunteers. I need my new family to continue my obedience education because I do not appear to have any previous training. I also need a family who will continue to work with me on housetraining. I have been out of a home setting for so long that my new family will need to give me a routine to follow to reinforce my housetraining skills. Unfortunately,I cannot live with cats as I may chase to harm them. I get along with most dogs. If you have a dog already bring him or her to the shelter and the staff can introduce us. I am a great dog who is looking to find a home for all four seasons, but I am especially looking forward to winter!!

Redman

Redman is a3.5-year-old, neutered male Husky. Blueboy is also his brother, although they do not need to go home together.

I hope someone finds them to be a great fit for their family and takes them home forever. When you see dogs like this in the shelter it makes you want to just drive there yourself and bring the dogs home.

All this info (except for my own commentary) came from the Kennebunk Animal Shelter

Sebestian

2007-06-16T06:20:00.001-04:00

This adorable siberian husky needs a forever home. Right now he is at the Brunswick, ME Animal Shelter. Here is what they say about him:

Sebastian is a 3-4 year old Husky; he is neutered and weighs approximately 67 pounds. This friendly laid-back sort of guy can be somewhat aloof as are many of this breed. Because of his strong prey drive we recommend no small
animals or cats in his new home. Sebastian likes other dogs and would prefer a home with another dog. He is fine with men, women, and children over the age of ten. He came to us as a stray looking for a family where he can establish lasting bonds. Sebastian can vocalize and is quite a talker. He needs to be adopted by an owner experienced with this breed. This young boy is housetrained. Because he is an escape
artist, a fenced-in yard would be ideal.

I hope someone finds him to be a good match for their family soon and takes him home to be loved. Check out this site for more dogs in that particular area of Maine. For some reason this is one of the few shelters that seems to shelter Siberian Huskies.

I wish we could have another dog (and a good permanent playmate for Amici) but not everyone in the family is ready for that. Kana (our brother in law's siberian husky) is great though and we are lucky to have him.

Aftermath

2007-06-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

If you look closely you can see a little red circle on Amici's nose from where he got hurt (we aren't sure if that was from him pushing his way out the of the kennel or not)Other pic is just a good one of Amici being calm and getting dry.

Looking innocent

2007-06-05T19:38:00.000-04:00

Amici back upstairs in our bedroom as I take photos and try to settle after the event.

Height

2007-06-05T19:36:00.000-04:00

The drop. He could have landed on our porch roof but then he probably would have slid or jumped off which would have led to an injury or worse....

Mystery

2007-06-05T19:35:00.000-04:00

Amici looking out the window and beyond (it is still unclear how long he was stuck there).

Parts of the scene

2007-06-05T19:19:00.000-04:00

The air conditioner that Amici got stuck next to in the window sill. Also, notice the cord...or should I say what's left of the cord. The stuff on the carpet are the parts of the blinds that Amici chewed to get to the window.

The Window

2007-06-05T19:18:00.000-04:00

The window where it all happened.

Crime Scene

2007-06-05T19:09:00.000-04:00

The blinds on the bed after Alan ripped them at of the window sill so he could look at Amici better. The pic on the bottom shows how Amici's kennel was when I got home....the front door of the kennel was wide open! (excuse the room as we are taking down wallpaper (two layers) and sanding)

Being good

2007-06-05T19:07:00.000-04:00

After the incident on 6/5/2007

2007-06-05T18:57:00.000-04:00

Amici eating a frank (from Pet store) after all of us had relaxed and felt at ease about Amici.

Could this evening get even more traumatic?

2007-06-04T19:29:00.000-04:00

I have a pretty bad cold. I got it on Friday and Sat. and Sun. the cold became progressively worse. Yesterday, Alan didn't even have to touch me to know that I had a fever. Today, I sucked it up and went to work hoping I wouldn't contaminate the people around me. I tried to stay in my office as much as possible (doing paperwork) and I washed my hands A LOT. I made it through the day and got home at about 5:20 as I decided to go the quicker way (took the highway instead of 295). As I got out of the CR-V I heard Amici crying. Sometimes he does that when he hears our vehicles in the driveway (or hopefully he hasn't been doing that all day). I get inside the house and jollily go up the stairs. I open our bedroom door and see that Amici's kennel door is wide open....no dog. I think that little bugger, I wonder how he got out this time. I had made sure that both latches were pulled over, pushed down and I even pulled the kennel door in the morning to make sure it was latched tight. All of a sudden I look up and see Amici dangling in the window, stuck between the window sill and the air conditioner. I try to pull him gently backwards but he starts to whine and I am scared that I am hurting him. He is trying to go forward but I know that if he does that he'll hit the porch roof, slide off and then break something or worse, die. At this point I don't think I really was thinking or acting like myself. I picked up my cellphone (still had my jacket on cause I was going to let him outside to go to the bathroom) and try to dial Applebee's (Alan's work). It isn't working and I only have 1 bar left. I leave the dog for a minute and get the phone off of Alan's night stand. I thought I dialed Applebee's but here's the conversation (or at least chunks of it...it is sort of a blur): Person answers- "911" Me- "May I speak to Alan" Person- "this is 911" Me- "Look, this isn't funny, I have an emergency and I really need to speak to Alan. Isn't this Applebee's? (at this point I break down and begin to cry). 911 Operator- "This isn't Applebee's, this is 911 and it is for emergency purposes only" Me- "This is an emergency, I do have an emergency. My dog is stuck in the 2nd story window between the air conditioner and I can't get him out" I am now sobbing uncontrollably. 911 Person- "What is your name and address" I tell him. He tells me to stay on the phone and I hear him telling someone to send Animal Control and a fire truck. All the while I have Amici's collar and I am holding on for dear life. The 911 person told me I could put down the phone if I needed to. In an instance I put the phone down and tell the man that I am going to try Alan again on my cell phone. I finally find my contact list, thank God that Alan's name begins with an A and scroll down to his work number. Applebee's girl picks up- "Hi and thank you for calling Applebee's this is so and so how may I help you? Me- Sobbing "It's Lee, I have an emergency, I need Alan." She says okay, get Alan. Alan answers the phone in his Applebee's voice and I quickly tell him where Amici is in between sobs. He says he'll be right there. All the while 911 still was on the line (with the phone on the bed), me holding the cellphone with my right hand and holding Amici's collar with my left. I pick up the 911 phone and let them know that I called Alan. They said the Animal Control and fire truck are still on the way but if we get the dog out before they get there to please call 911 back. I said "okay" and thanked them. All of a sudden Amici stops making noise and his back legs/feet are just dangling like they are dead. I am now thinking the worse but keep telling Amici that everything is going to be okay. I hear Alan's car pull in the driveway and apparently Amici does too as he begins to whimper again. Still I am thinking that if we get Amici out of here he is going to be severely hurt. Alan comes barrelling up the stairs, yanks the blinds out of the windowsill so he can look at Amici better. I am still holding onto Amici's collar and Alan tells me to hold on to his back legs. I am crying, snot is coming out of my noise from my cold, and I just want our dog back. Alan miraculously pulls the air conditioner out of the window and I just do what he says to do. Once the air conditioner is out I yank Amici back inside and Alan does too as we just want him to be on the same ground we were. Amici is wagging his tail, doing his happy husky talk, and trying to figure out what is wrong with us. Alan is checking Amici all over for blood, tender areas (pushing down hard on Amici's body) and all I can do is just stand there and sob. I haven't cried so much and so hard since my Grandpa passed away in 1995 (those were sad tears though). Although these tears were different they still had the same bodily reaction. Alan stayed for a few minutes and made sure Amici was okay and that I was okay. He hugged me for a long time and just let me cry. Amici kept coming back from outside (by this time he needed to go pee but we left the porch door open and sliding door open so he could come back inside ASAP) to check on us. Poor little guy, he couldn't figure out what was wrong. I think I stopped shaking once I knew Amici was okay and we could cuddle together. We have a vet appt coming up and I've emailed the vet to let him know what has happened. Amici does have a tiny bit of blood on his nose which we think is from him pushing his way out of the kennel. Alan went back to work but thankfully came back home about 15 minutes later. It was so nice to have the 3 of us together and safe. Right now Amici is chewing his bone right by my left side as I am typing this. All I can say is....Marley....I hope Amici doesn't show you up (Marley from the book Marley and Me - fantastic book if you haven't read it yet).

Now it is 8PM and I am a bit more calm. It feel good having everyone home and I feel like such a dippy for thinking that I called Applebee's when in fact I called 911 first. I guess I just let my fingers do the thinking. I hope the 911 person didn't think I was rude, cause I really wasn't trying to be. Alan said I freaked out the Applebee's girl. She thought someone had died because I was sobbing so bad. I did call 911 back to let them know Alan got the dog back in and that we didn't need the fire truck or animal control anymore. The 911 lady thanked me for calling back and she said she was "glad that our dog was safe". What nice people.

What are we going to do tomorrow? Well, I'll begrudgingly go to work, as will Alan. We have a paddle lock for the kennel now (it appears that he was using all his weight to push open the kennel door). We have no air conditioner now, Amici, before he decided to try and jump out the window, chewed on the cord. It is a wonder that he didn't get electrocuted. Alan has locked the window shut and the blinds are no longer there for Amici to chew on. So...hopefully if he does get out (cross fingers that he doesn't) he'll just chew on the bed or something...anything...as long as he doesn't try that stunt again. I am too young to have a heart attack. :P

2007-05-06T10:14:00.000-04:00

I got a kick out of these: people crackers (we had them at Amici's birthday party). But since we were eating animal crackers, I guess it was only fair that the dogs got their own crackers too. :P

Amici's 1st Birthday PART 2

2007-05-06T10:02:00.000-04:00

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Amici's 1st Birthday

2007-05-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

View full size

Valley Street Dog Park

2007-04-22T11:55:00.000-04:00

Click Picture to See Slideshow

2007-04-22T11:02:00.000-04:00

AMICI

2007-04-22T11:01:00.000-04:00

This is our bedroom with most of the wallpaper off. This room had TWO layers of walllpaper that we had to tear down. We won't discuss how long we have been working on this particular room..... Do you know which dog this is?

2007-04-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

Shawn was getting antsy so he decided to start pulling down the wallpaper in our spare room. This is what it used to look like with the pups of course.

2007-04-22T10:56:00.000-04:00

Which dog is this? Amici or Kana? Guess!