Cold Blooded Killers

So now, here’s what happened with the squirrel, as told by MissMuddyPaws (aka Lydia):

Milly saw a squirrel in some underbrush and chased it up a tree. Having always loved chasing and treeing squirrels, and having never caught one, I used this as the perfect opportunity to snap some pictures and watch her play. I’m not sure if something was wrong with the squirrel, or if it had weak nails, or just picked the wrong tree – but while Milly was attempting to climb the tree/barking at squirrel I noticed the squirrel was only half way up the tree trunk. This is a really tall pine – probably 70 feet or higher – and the branches are not until the very top, so the squirrel is clinging to the side of the trunk. The next thing I notice, the squirrel has gone around to the other side of the trunk, Milly and Hush follow, at which point I think to myself what the hell is going through this squirrel’s mind? Why doesn’t he just climb the tree. I decide maybe the squirrel is tried and scared, call the dogs to me, and we head down towards the creek. The next thing I know, both dogs have taken off and are back at the squirrel tree. Then, I see the squirrel. It was like in his little brain he decided the only way out was down, and he could run sideways and fast, and leap into the tree beside the one he was in for better coverage.

At this point, everything goes into slow motion – like I’m watching some predator show on the Discovery Channel and they are slowing down the antelope being attacked by the Mountain Lion.

As if on the count of 3, the squirrel leaps to the ground and starts high tailing (no pun intended) away. Had it just been Milly, he probably could have gotten away. But it was 2 against 1. Once again, like it was some Discovery Channel predator moment, Hush and Milly team up – they move as one. While one chases, the other corners, while one blocks the front, the other closes in on the rear. It was the most natural, effortless, and graceful thing I have ever witnessed. With no way out, Milly pounced onto the squirrel, grabbing him in her mouth on the first try. Proudly she flings her head about, like Miss America immediately after crowning, she has tried for this moment her entire life, and never thought she would be here. Meanwhile, a tear is trickling down my face. I start franticly yelling, “Milly, Drop it!”

I know Milly, and I know she has a soft mouth. This squirrel is alive and alright, as long as she drops it. The next thing I see was heartbreaking. Hush playfully grabs onto the other half of the squirrel, and they begin tossing it about, playing tug of war with it. I want to vomit, and I’m praying they’ve broken its neck. The situation has gone from surreal Discovery Channel to horrifying murder.

Hush wins the tug of war, and they drop the squirrel, but continue to ignore me. I suddenly remember the one surefire way to get a solid recall out of them is to walk away, making them think I am leaving them. I head down the hill towards the creek and dog park, if I can just get them far enough away from this squirrel they will be distracted by the creek. I turn around to see Hush running full-steam ahead right at me… the squirrel hanging from her mouth. I know at this point I should have stood my ground. I should have called her over, made her sit, and removed the squirrel from her mouth. But, I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Instead, I run the opposite direction, flailing my arms about, as she playfully prances behind me flaunting her new possession. My heart is racing. I want to cry and vomit simultaneously. Luckily, Hush has a short attention span – she drops the squirrel and bounds over to people playing in the creek. At this point, Milly is at my side, I grab her collar, and walk her to the creek. The squirrel seemed to be dropped on the edge of the woods, it looked dead in Hush’s mouth; we’ll just leave it there.

That would have been find, had the lab that was playing in the creek with Milly and Hush, yes, the one keeping their minds off the squirrel, not taken off running. A game of chase started, but Milly made a b-line for the squirrel, now the lab is chasing Milly. I look up to see something hanging from her mouth. I yell, “Milly, DROP IT!” And, somehow, SHE LISTENS. The squirrel tumbles from her mouth and she obediently trots over to me. It isn’t moving, I sigh in relief knowing it is dead, and hope it has been dead this whole time.

At this point, the lab’s owner has gotten to his dog; the squirrel is in the lab’s jaws of steel. I grab my dogs’ collars, and head in the opposite direction, putting on their leashes. The dead squirrel now becomes the lab owner’s problem.

We amble away, and I look down and notice blood on Milly’s muzzle. I think it is blood from the squirrel, because Milly is completely un-phased... so I walk down to the creek and let her splash about in it. There is now more blood. Crap.

I wipe the drool off of her muzzle and see two small puncture wounds. My mind starts racing as I think when her last rabies vaccine was, and whether or not I’ve heard of squirrels carrying diseases. I know she isn’t due for rabies for over a year, but draw a blank on illnesses. We head back home, I use the hose outside to lightly rinse the area, head inside, clean it with betadine and e-mail the vet.

“Apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Clean it with Betadine. Keep an eye on it, and if there are puncture wounds she may need to come in for antibiotics.” $$$$’s, The Vet.

I've continued to clean the wound. The swelling is gone, and I'm keeping an eye on the way it looks (and smells)... so far, it is healing nicely, so hopefully a trip to the vet will not be necessary.

Murder At The Dog Park:

After work on Monday, I decided to take the dogs on what I hoped would be a nice long walk in the woods, followed by some time playing in the creek. Our plans were cut short by the following events, as told to you step-by-step, by Milly.

Step 1: Sniff out a squirrel hiding in a bush

Step 2: Chase squirrel up a tree and weigh the options

Step 3: Begin to bark at squirrel

Step 4: Consult with Hush to formulate a new action plan

Step 5: Attempt to climb tree

Steps 6-11: Miraculously coerce squirrel from tree; with the help of Hush surround squirrel on all sides; catch squirrel; Play tug-of-war with the squirrel; Chase Lydia with the squirrel; Murder squirrel

Step 12: Realize the squirrel got his final revenge before death

Back from Vermont

Everything about my trip to Vermont was amazing. The state has been bombarded all spring and summer with rain, but the sun came out and we had beautiful days my entire vacation. The plants are growing like crazy – my parent’s lilies are literally over 6’5” tall! I spoke with a local farmer who said crops are actually really hurting, because the rains have caused a 4-6 week delay in harvesting, and while plants are tall and green, the slow fruit protection is throwing a real curve ball in many locals’ incomes. But the easy going, friendly Vermonters just seemed happy the rain had subsided and the sun was shining.

The water levels in rivers are also insanely high, and all the rain has caused a lot of erosion of dams creating dangerous water conditions in many areas. My very first day of the trip I left Milly with her Polish Lowland Sheepdog (PONS) cousin Minka, her human aunt Amanda and human cousin Cecelia and went tubing with my boyfriend Bill and my brother Drew for a few hours. The river was insane! We hit many rapids, and in one spot Bill was actually stranded on debris in the river, with the cooler caught in rocks. The river was moving way too quickly for Drew and me to stop – we would grab onto low hanging branches that would 1) break off or 2) we’d get a hold of a large branch, only to have our tubes swept out from under us! It took us almost 30 minutes to get down stream to a safe beach to pull off on and wait for Bill. I use the word beach loosely as the place we pulled off on was actually someone’s yard, as their entire beach was submerged in 4’ of water! There were definitely moments where Drew and I were really worried that Bill would lose his tube in his efforts to get back on the river, and to make matters worse, the keys to both Bill and Drew’s cars were in our cooler, which was stranded along with Bill! Despite the rapid filled river and somewhat frightening water conditions, we were able to enjoy our tubing trip, and this is just proof to how relaxed and easy going Vermonters are. The rains have really caused a lot of problems for them, but the river was filled with locals (by filled I mean we passed three sets of people – so nothing like the “filled with tubers” my DC area readers can identify with from tubing excursions) and lots of smiles.

Minka has been great about sharing the house with new baby Cecelia!

If you have never been to Vermont you must go! It is a very dog friendly state, and there are so many wonderful outdoor activities to do with your four-legged friend. With the exception of mud-season, Vermont really makes you want to just get out and walk/hike! In February, Milly and I spent an entire day (with some indoor thawing sessions mixed in) hiking through the deep snow and across the frozen lake. She had a blast! But, she had just as much fun during our recent summer trip! She was able to run across grass filled fields, romp with neighborhood dogs, hike a small mountain and even go for a canoe ride. At one point she decided to apply her selective hearing, stop listening to me and darted to the local resort’s beach to frolic with the children catching minnows and crayfish! It was impossible to be mad at her for not listening when she was clearly having so much fun!

You can really see Milly's age in this photo, but she acted like a young puppy the entire trip! I think there is something very regal and wise about her expression in this shot.

We spent one day running errands in Burlington, a very dog friendly city, and I believe home of one of my favorite bloggers – Life with Dogs (correct me if I’m wrong). If you’ve never been to Burlington there is a lot to do! First, I suggest going to Church Street, a street with traffic blocked off that creates a large walking precinct filled with shops, restaurants, food carts, crafts, musicians and lots of dogs! I stopped counting at 30 dogs. You’ll also want to make sure you at the very least drive by Lake Champlain, but if you can make a day on this should-be Great Lake, I highly recommend it! We then hit up the Girlington Garage (owned by an old family friend), so if you make the trip to VT and have car trouble, this is the garage to go to! When we arrived at the Girlington Garage we were greeted by two adorable, friendly and blissfully happy toy breeds (I know one was a Yorkie, but I’m not sure what the other was). The Girlington Garage is wonderful – the vision is to have a six bay garage with all female auto mechanics, and it is well on the way to being a reality.

I am sure I will fill you in on so much more about my trip, but with out further ado, here are some photos taken by Bill for you to enjoy!

Beautiful sky in Greensboro, VT

Red barns are all over Greensboro, VT

We spent a large chunk of our time on Caspian Lake, here you can see the picturesque water, and the amazing horizon filled with wild-flower filled pastures.

Greetings from Vermont!

Greetings from the small, picturesque town of Greensboro, VT! Milly and I arrived yesterday and are having a blast! We spent our first two nights in Arlington, VT where Milly enjoyed romping around the countryside with my brother's Polish Lowland Sheepdog and sniffing at my infant niece's feet - it was very cute! I'm telling you, there must be something in the water in Vermont, because Milly is acting like a puppy! She has the "zoomies" multiple times a day, and yesterday enjoyed a picnic lunch and hike up a small mountain/large hill with my parent's dog Lucy.

As I've briefly mentioned in the past Milly does not like swimming (or did not) and is very hesitant about getting in the water. We are lucky enough to have a sand bar on our beach at the lake up here, and Milly was able to walk out for quite a ways, actually it was more like a hopping, splashing run, and actually ended up swimming! She swam for the first time yesterday, only about five feet before she turned around for shallow water, but today she went out about 20 feet, and really seemed to enjoy herself! Lots of treats and coaxing got her in the water initially, but after that I just let her do what she wanted, when she wanted, and she started swimming! I was thrilled! She still is unsure about just walking right into the lake near our boat house (it gets deeper quicker there), but she really seems to enjoy the security of going in off of the sandbar, and I'm more than happy to let her have that sense of security. It has been really neat to watch Lucy (she is almost one year) gain confidence about water after seeing Milly gain her own confidence regarding the lake. Lucy is now wading up to her belly, a big feat for her!

On a sad note, I took Milly to the vet on Friday for her semi-annual exam. About 7 months ago I learned Milly had a few (minimal) crystals in her urine, but the vet assured me this was probably nothing and we should wait and re-test at her next exam. Well, I got the call on Saturday that Milly's latest urinalysis shows an increase in crystals, and she now has moderate urine crystals. I was pretty upset, to say the least. The vet explained there isn't much beyond diet change we can do for this right now, and she is hesitant to change Milly's diet because of all of the skin allergies Milly has had. Just when we finally get the right food combination and this happens. I am in contact with an animal nutritionist, and hopefully she will have some ideas. In the meantime, I am continuing to force/bribe Milly to drink as much water as possible. Milly hates drinking when I am not home, and even when I am home she wants me to sit with her while she drinks. I am now adding her food to almost an entire bowl of water, and sit on the floor and hold the water bowl for Milly an addition three times a day. I'm hoping this will up her intake of water, and perhaps this will help.

As you all know I am slowly hunting for THE PUPPY to be my first show dog. I am hooked on Golden Retrievers, and the process of finding the right breeder has been long and slow. I found an amazing litter, and was offered a male, but turned it down because I really wanted a female. I found another litter, sired by an amazing dog, and I've seen an amazing dog from the same breeding, but decided to wait for a breeding with fewer outcrosses on the bitch's side. Now I am really regretting this decision. I told the breeder two days ago I was going to pass on a female from this litter, but I really want to e-mail her and say I changed my mind. I know down the road some people might turn up their noses at this dog's pedigree, but having seen a puppy from the first mating, and really trusting this breeder, I am starting to think I made a big, big, big mistake. My boyfriend really does not want me to get another dog, but I am dying to start showing, and I think I will just have to follow my gut. I'm going to reflect on my decision for the next few days, and talk to my parents about it a bit more, and then decide if I should e-mail the breeder when I return from vacation. There is a big chance all puppies will be spoken for by then, but I really am regretting passing this one up. On a happy note, I have found an incredible mentor of sorts in a woman from Michigan that I met through the Golden Retriever Forum. She has really helped guide me down the right path in finding my future puppy, and I am incredibly grateful for her insight as she has guided me away from some novice mistakes I was close to making.

I want to publicly thank all of my guest bloggers for their posts. I have a few more guest blogger posts to post in the next week or two, and I am sure you will all really enjoy them! If you e-mailed me a post and haven't seen it published yet, please be patient. I have a very slow internet connection and some of the guest bloggers e-mailed me some GREAT photos! I'd hate to publish these posts without the photos, but with the slow internet connection I'm having trouble posting more than one or two photos at a time!

Well, time for me to get back to vacation! There are three Golden Retrievers across the street that Milly is telling me she wants to go play with, and afterall, this is her vacation too!

A Little Update

I apologize for not updating the blog more regularly – I have been extremely busy these last few weeks. I thought I would fill you in with what has been happening in my life lately.

This past weekend (Thursday through Tuesday) I dog sat for my friends Dave and Rachel… they have a lovely chocolate lab mix named Hershey. Hershey is about 10 months old, and while what she is mixed with is unknown, she looks like a miniature Chocolate Lab (think full lab look in Springer Spaniel size). It was a delight having her in the house, but having an active young dog did keep me on my toes most of the long weekend she was with me.

On Friday, I was able to leave work early, and a friend and I took Milly and Hershey on a wonderful hike. If you live in the Washington, DC metro area and have never been to the Potomac Overlook Trail I highly recommend it! It is in the woods and the trail winds back and forth across a creek leading all the way down to the Potomac River. It is not at all a crowded trail, and though there is a sign at the entrance stating dogs must remain on a leash and under control at all times there seems to be an unwritten rule amongst dog owners that well behaved dogs are welcome off leash. In my almost two or three years of enjoying this trail I have seen more dogs off leash than I have on leashes.

Hershey came to my house with a set of instructions, one of which was she absolutely loves water and swimming. At one point on the hike there is a large tidal pool (maybe 20 feet in diameter at its largest spot) and probably 5-6 feet deep at least. Here I let Hershey and Milly off of their leashes, and allowed Hershey to swim for a good 45 minutes. She loved it. Milly also enjoyed the hike, but Milly is not a fan of swimming. Instead, my darling Golden Retriever simply waded in the water up to her belly, and flirted with some environmental scientists who walked by. In case you were wondering, Milly is an excellent flirt, and in this case her flirtations certainly paid off as the researchers stopped and rubbed her belly for quite some time. Milly also was able to enjoy off leash time during the hike, and bounded through the woods shaking her head and wagging her tail. It was wonderful to see her darting around, leaping off of ledges and over logs with a look of total bliss on her face! Though Milly is 9 or 10 years old she was acting like a young puppy, and I do think having Hershey around for the weekend really helped Milly reconnect with her own youthful side.

On another note, you might remember me blogging about having found the right breeder for my next puppy, and my excitement as I anticipated this breeding to take place. Well, that was many months ago, and since then the breeding has occurred (it took), and the puppies were whelped about a week ago – seven healthy pups – 2 males and 5 females. A few weeks before the April breeding took place, I realized I really am not at the place in my life to fly all the way across the country (the breeder is in San Diego) to pick up a puppy, and with this horrible economy I simply did not feel this was the right time to invest in a puppy. I’m not going to lie, asking the breeder to remove my name from the waiting list was devastating, and I shed many tears. I had such high hopes for this litter, and for getting a puppy from it, but I have since realized that there is a puppy out there for me, and when the time is right I will get my next Golden Retriever. It still pains me to see the photos of this litter, and know one of those puppies was supposed to be mine. I have saved up enough money to purchase a puppy on the East Coast, and hopefully one of these days this will happen. Right now, I need to focus on my career, Milly, and possibly moving to a new rental property (with a larger yard!), though.

Don’t forget to enter the Austrian Crystal Dog Bone Pendant GIVEAWAY!!!