Happy Birthday Maxey!!! (11/01/06)

Today is my Sheltie boyfriend, Maxey's 6th B-Day! I convinced mum that because he is one of my particular friends, I need to have a little celebration just for him.

So mum looked in the fridge, and made a steamed salmon and sweet potato pattie for me. See, I even shaped it into a heart!!

Maxey is turning 6, so we have a 6 candle on the pattie!!

It was very yummy, but my EVIL mum said because I ate the whole pattie, I get no din din tonight.......*hmmmmph*

After I finished the salmon/sweet potato pattie in celebration of Maxey's birthday, I tried to say "Happy Birthday" to Maxey.

This was my first attempt........ it came out in a somewhat unexpected fashion.......

Maxey, I hope you are not too put off by it........ *blushing* It was just the pattie, and all the air I swallowed while inhaling the pattie ya know? I really meant to say Happy Burpday!! Oops I meant, Happy Birthday!

I finally got my act together and said Happy "Birthday" in a dog's way!!

PS. Feel free to tell me when your Burpdays are coming up, I would be more than happy to celebrate it for you *wink*!!!

Dear Bogart....

My sweet Bogie,

I am so moved by your wonderful post!! I have been having a terrible time with the firecrackers tonight, but seeing you in your top hat, listening to your "hey babe" whistles, I was able to calm down. In fact, I am feeling a little over the clouds right now.



I can't tell you how happy I am to know you feel the same way about me as I do about you. Even though having things on your head is not your favorite thing, I know you did it for me and I'm soooo flattered. The picture of you falling asleep with the top hat on, dreaming about me - your dreamgirl sent my heart pitter-pattering........



Believe me, if I could, I would be on a plane over to LA right now. Unfortunately, I don't think the taxi driver would understand anything I tell him at this time since I'm panting and shivering so much. Wish you were here with me........ I'm sure I would be too distracted by the Handsome Devil to even notice the firecrackers!!


Don't we look great together??

I need a groom......

I was humiliated today..........




Not only I had to wear this,

but I also had to put up with the fact that I had no partner ........

SIGH....

On a lighter note, I got the much anticipated revenge today. Remember a while ago, I was terrorized by the scaaaaaa-wie thing?? Well today, I got a hold of the scaaaa-wie thing's little cousin.

Now this little guy wasn't so confident like the scaaaaa-wie thing, and I was SOOOO brave today!!

I ran around with him in my mouth, tossed him around, rolled on him,

And I chewed and chewed....

Have a safe Howl-o-ween everyone! Now will you excuse me, I have to go to my hide out spot (walk in closet) to be ready for the firecrackers and fireworks still to come ........

PS. Chelsea, if you are reading this, please check out T-man's comment. I think he's dropping hints that he might be popping THE question soon! Butchy & Snickers' mama can make you a bootiful wedding dress, and Ranger's mama can plan your wedding for you. My mum would be happy to be the wedding photographer. Oh, and I'm' sure Buster's mom wouldn't mind being T-man's groomsman, and one of her guy friends can be your bridesmaid!!

We're all set, the rest is up to you!!

I do however have to let you know that Sue's Maggie, and Isabella seem to think it is better to be an independent gal!! (please don't growl at me T-man......)

What is wrong with THIS picture?

Is it the fact that I'm touching nose to nose with Mr. Goatee??

OR

Is it the fact that a carnivore such as myself is imitating Mr. Goatee and trying to eat grass??

OR

Is it the fact that Mr. Goatee has his entire head outside the fence and doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered by my presence??

Ok, I know you might need some time to digest all this, so did mum... Let me fill you in on how we got to this point.

After my rehab today, mum took me to Porter Park, a small park in the suburbs.

We always stop by this park on the way back to Vancouver, and here, I get to do some special socialization.

You see the area the arrow is pointing at? That's actually somebody's back yard. But that's not just any back yard, it is like a small ZOO!!

We haven't been here since my last rehab session in June, so I had some catching up to do.

I don't like this mini horse, and he hates me too. We always run along side of the fence arguing, trying to see who will get scared off first.

Today, I noticed 4 new additions to the zoo. There were four Pygmy goats, and Mr. Goatee was one of them. He was the only one who could careless about my presence when all three others ran for the hill!!

When I got close to Mr. Goatee, I realized the aroma he carried with him was quite familiar, and very pleasant to say the least. However, I didn't associate his aroma with IT just yet.....

We got along great, shared quite a few good nose bumps while mum was feeding him grass. However, it soon got on my nerves that he was eating ALL the grass mum was holding. You see, I have a few simple Sunshade rules:

• what I think is mine, is MINE


• what my mum is holding, is MINE


• what my mum is giving you, is MINE


• what I don't want to eat, is MINE, you can't eat it either

Mr. Goatee was breaking all the rules, and I just couldn't stand it any longer. So I grabbed onto all the grass in mum's hand, and pulled and pulled until they were all in my mouth. And then, I spat them all onto the ground and walked away.

As soon as mum tried to feed Mr. Goatee again, I went and took all the grass again!!

Finally, mum gave up on trying to feed Mr. Goatee and decided to get some nice photos of me. You all know that under normal circumstances, I hate to be photographed. However, here is another one of Sunshade's rules:

• if you are getting attention, then I MUST too

Please note: this rule only applies to individuals outside of my pack. Georgie is part of my pack, so what happened with him here doesn't count.

Since Mr. Goatee decided to have himself photographed,

I decided I needed to be in the photos too.

I wanted to be the "star", the model, the one that draws everybody's attention to when they look at the picture. However, Mr. Goatee had his plans.....

He kept stealing my shots by standing up onto the fence ....................

Sometimes, he would stand up and stick his head out just as mum was snapping the shot, and my what was to be a beautiful photo ended up looking like this.................

Another example.......

He made me so frustrated, so finally, I refused to face the camera altogether........... and he.... HE WAS STILL POSING!!!

I got very p$ssed off, and it was then I remembered what that pleasant aroma coming from Mr. Goatee was....... hehe....

So, I did what naturally came to my mind!!!

Mum told me " it is NOT a buffet!" and dragged me to the car. WHAT!! No horsies? No chickens?No duckies? No GOATIES to eat??
Anyway......

Tis the season for REHAB

It is the time of the year when the ocean gets too freezing cold for me to swim in, and I start my hydrotherapy at The SPAW. Since swimming is crucial to maintaining my muscle tone, which in turn provides support to stabilize my bad elbow, I go to my rehab center twice a week during the winter months.



The SPAW occupies the entire left wing of Aldergrove Animal Hospital located in Aldergrove BC, about 60 Km east of Vancouver.

So this morning, mum woke me up a little too early for my liking and started the hour drive to Aldergrove. Can you see I was barely awake in the trunk of my SunshadeMOBILE??

We arrived at MY pool, and I couldn't be happier. I again, un-locked my car door on my own because I just couldn't wait to get out. I hadn't been to the pool since June, so I was extra excited!!

The pool water is heated to about 30 C (or ~ 86 F), so it relaxes the muscles and increases blood circulation to my arthritic joints.

This is a salt water pool which means no chemical disinfectants need to be added, and yet the water is as clean as any other chlorine or bromide pool. Mum loves the fact that there are no chemicals in the pool, but I DON'T....... for reasons you will see later.... SIGH..

This green thing that I'm standing on is an underwater treadmill, or hydro-treadmill. It is mainly used for post operation dogs to maintain range of motion without having put stress on the operated limbs, or partially paralyzed dogs. I used the underwater treadmill after my two ACL reconstructive surgeries back in 2003.

The treadmill is on a power lift that can be raised and lowered from the edge of the pool to about 3 feet deep to accommodate dogs of any size. See now the treadmill is lowered:

The removable railing can be put in for treadmill work, and taken out for swim therapy.

Aldergrove Animal Hospital is the first vet hospital in Canada to have an underwater treadmill and pool. The design of the treadmill & pool is also the first in the world. Ohhh.... do I feel lucky!

I almost forgot! The pool is equipped with an underwater camera that allows the vet and therapists to monitor progression of therapy in an individual.

This is a hoist that can pick up large, paralyzed dogs, or dogs who aren't willing to walk into the pool on their own.

Now that you've seen MY pool, here is me in ACTION!!!

Even tho the pool is only 9' X 12', I still have so much fun swimming in it, and I ALWAYS manage to flood the pool area with my "dolphin-ic" flips!!

Usually a dog goes in the pool with a trained therapist. However, I'm an old-timer and since I'm only in for maintenance swims, Dr. Jeff Bowra lets mum swim me on her own. Dr. Bowra is the head veterinarian at Aldergrove Animal Hospital as well as the "rehab vet". Using hydrotherapy, he has successfully rehabilitated many dogs like Goldie who suffers from paralysis back to being able to use all four legs!!

This is a video of me first getting into the pool:

Did anyone count how many times my mum said "Good Girl"??

Note to mum: Mum, I know I'm a good girl, but I really don't need to be reminded every 2 seconds you know. It gets quite annoying (I bet even you would agree!!).

This is a video of me swimming against the jets. The jets are designed for dogs to "swim against the current" for strengthening and conditioning. We do a few of these every time we come.

Notice how smart I was to stay out of the jet's way??

I get quite warm exercising in the heated pool, that's why I was panting so loud.........

Now remember how I said I didn't like the fact that it is a salt water pool?? Well this is the reason!!

It seems like wherever I go, whatever I do, I always end up in the bath tub....... Mum says salt water can sometimes give me the itches, so she always has to rinse me right there at The SPAW. SIGH.... what have I done to deserve this??

Lastly, I've been wondering about these pictures on the walls of The SPAW.

Is it just me or are these pups super flexible??

To see all the rehab services offered at The SPAW, please visit:

• The SPAW