Watson's Canine Lymphoma Blog: 7/1/08

Watson's History

Watson, our beagle/basset mix, was adopted into the Frembes family in January 2005 at the ripe young age of 10(ish). He came to our house with his foster mother from the BONES shelter and I instantly fell in love. He had overcome an abusive past and had the facial paralysis to prove it, but he looked up at me and that was it. He was home.

After two years and seven months of wonderful, healthy years with us, Watson was diagnosed with lymphoma on July 18, 2007. He fought hard in a short amount of time. My sweet boy crossed the Rainbow Bridge on August 16, 2007. He is loved and missed.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Help feed hungry dogs

Last week, I added a link to Freekibble.com at the top of the blog. The site was founded by a girl in Bend, Oregon, who wanted to help feed the dogs in her local animal shelter. For every daily trivia question that is answered, 20 pieces of kibble are donated to hungry dogs.

Yes, you can only answer the trivia question once per day so please keep visiting the site. Even 20 pieces of kibble can make all the difference!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Petscreen, I am not impressed.

I got a call from my vet's office this morning. They were confused as to why Petscreen used my name and then insisted on their mailing address so that they could be sent more information. I had posted back in December that I had signed up for the Petscreen newsletter but have only heard from them twice in the past 6 months.

I must have given them my vet's information when I signed up, but I have since changed to a new vet. The vet tech and I surmised that they must have called my former vet and discovered we had gone to a different animal hospital. Anyway, the call totally confused my new vet since they never knew Watson or his story. The person calling from Petscreen didn't clear up matters and only kept saying that I wanted the vet to get this information.

Hmmm.... that seems fishy and odd to me. Or perhaps just really disorganized. Either way, I am not impressed so far with their communication or their outreach efforts in the U.S.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

New toy

We just picked up a new toy for Waldo yesterday called the Chilly Bone. We've had such hot weather here lately that I've tried several methods to keep him cool and occupied - frozen Kongs, frozen Busy Squirrel, ice cubes, etc.

The Chilly Bone is essentially canvas sewn around a non-toxic sponge that can be soaked in water and then frozen. The jury is still out on this toy. Within 10 minutes, Waldo had chewed off the small tag on its side and was well on his way to manipulating that small hole into a much bigger one. I'll have to wring it out, sew the hole shut, and try it again.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

"Catch it!"

We've been trying to teach Waldo how to catch food in mid-air, with our command phrase being "catch it". Here are some shots of us practicing the other night.

As you can see, some are hits, some are misses but the action shots are pretty funny!