Winter cold

It has been a few weeks since I posted..illness hit our household but this time the humans fell.  I had a bad cold one weekend being completely down for the count..and then Jason came down with a mild (but still rough) case of Shingles. 
But luckily, our new couch arrived right before it was needed for rest and recovery.  Well..if I could find a spot for rest and recovery that is...

 There was never a shortage of snugglers however..we had 11 total this weekend

I finally felt like being up and around.  We went outside for a little play.  We are watching Petey and Lulu

 Petey is pretty cute

And then..the 60 degree weather decided to change and after a potty break Shiloh seemed to have come down with a bad case of dandruff?

 What a beautiful morning.

Since the temperatures were supposed to be in the 40s this day..we hurried outside in the morning to play.  This did mean the light was not ideal..so I am not happy with my photos. But now it is a slushy mess outside so this will have do!

 Cali loves the snow..as we have proven in past 'snowier' winters.  She tries to goad Petey in to a race

 I don't think it worked

 Now she tries to goad ME in to a race..this is what I refer to as Crazy Cali

 Petey enjoys playing in the snow.  I threw a snowball which he did actually try to fetch..

 He did master the art of running in the snow when you are little.

 Such a handsome boy..

 And we are watching Smokey.  I don't have many good photos of him, but he tried to pose a bit this morning

 The snow will be gone in a few hours and it is supposed to be in the upper 60s by the end of the week, so hopefully this is the end of winter's cold snaps...outside and in humans.

Pawsome

 Jason is out of town this weekend, so I spent a lot of time annoying the kids with my lens.  I don't think they minded b/c I didn't make them go outside in the cold rain.
I don't know why this made me giggle but I couldn't resist this photo..Cali is always the 'pretty one' so this might be a little 'humbling photo' for her. ;-)

but the day I took Cali's staples out, she excitedly ran down the stairs in hopes I would throw her angry bird 'pig' for her.  She learned the hard way that one should watch where they are going while running down the stairs on the deck.

 Minor scratches..but multiple scratches.  So she will remain bandaged for a bit longer.  Accident prone!
We are watching Blue a beautiful blue brindle girl who is very cute.

 Shiloh shows off her newly 're-furred' nose.  The vitamin A and baby oil baths seems to have helped a little. The legs/ears aren't much better but we will take what we can!

 And Thank you to Brindle Hounds  and Treasure what you have for the Pawsome blogger award

 Henry could hardly contain himself when I told him he was an award winner...

Winter...NOT

 Winter seems to have come and gone..I feel sure it will be back.  But we are back in the 60s. NOT complaining..it is just odd.
But a quick health update..Shiloh's biopsy came back suggesting Sebaceous adenitis which is a fancy term for a genetic autoimmune disorder that causes the sebaceous glands to reject the hair..the good news is that the ONLY symptom/problem with this is hair loss.  so it may look funny but it doesn't mean other things are wrong or there is something bigger going on.  The treatment is oral fatty acids, vitamin A and daily baby oil massages..not kidding.  So now i have a greasy dog.

 

 at least she smells good!
And we are watching Beau and Belle for a bit.  and I was a bad mommy and let them out for a potty and didn't consider they may start playing.  Beau and Cali had a run in and again Cali got the bum end of the deal. It wasn't a big deal and luckily I have all the stuff to take care of minor cuts..so some time to shave, a few staples and some antibiotics..and we are good as new.

 

So she has to wear a coat until the staples come out b/c she will lick them out.  So she gives us the sad face..

 But crisis over and Beau muzzled, everyone played together well.  Even though the weather is great, it gets dark early so the lighting is challenging.  But I tried using my Nifty Fifty lens..which gave weird results b/c I am still learning the ropes on it..so these are great quality but interesting..

 To the victor goes the spoils

 One morning, we were all milling around in the yard and heard some red tail Hawks 'screaming' in the woods.  I grabbed my telephoto and waited.  Two came out and gave us a show! 

 Then I caught Cali and Henry smooching...

 I tried to capture the moon and Venus the other night..no tripod

 My sister came up to look at Phillip..the horse that she is thinking about buying.  I did get to take more photos of the goats!

 But my sister seemed to like him..so we shall see if he ends up in her barn.

Snug as a bug in a rug

 Winter has finally arrived in Richmond, VA..it was in the 60s for most of December.  But now that the frigid temps and freezing rain has arrived, we have moved the party indoors.
Dante loves sunbeams and fireplaces.

Henry prefers being covered with a down blanket..

 Kristen and Gyeong came down so we could celebrate Kristen's birthday.  since they live over an hour away, we make it a slumber party.  The next morning, Gyeong captures us in our 'normal pose'..on the computer in our pjs watching TV.  Jaime, Parker, Shiloh and Dante complete the 'black dog club' around us.

 

Gyeong was snuggling with Cali for a bit and then they left..and Cali didn't move.

  Sometimes we wonder about her..

 

She gives met the pout-y face

 Squinty eye face

 Cali is rotten..they all are..I know but this dog has that extra rotten-ness.  She laid like this for over an hour.  And I think would have still been there if we hadn't had to pull out the vacuum.  

 We bought some new furniture..hopefully it gets delivered soon. Especially, since I posted the old couch (pictured above) on Craigslist and sold it in an hour.  so now Jason's office couch is 'pinch hitting' until the new sectional arrives.  It should provide lots of lounging space for the dogs.  And THAT is exactly why we bought it!

Old Bones

A quick update on the pack's random health issues.  "When we last left the Stumpf pack.."

Henry has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma..so occasionally he gets skin tumors that literally won't stop bleeding.  Now some people think I mean a 'bleeding mole'..no..he has those.  They clot eventually.  The most recent ones he had were actually on the small side.  They are about the size of a marble.  The top one in this photo has 'popped' but I can put a pressure bandage on it to get it to clot temporarily.  But once it is removed..it starts to bleed again...and it drips constantly.

 Also..since most likely they are malignant..we really have no choice but to remove them.  Now..the kicker is that last time we did that ..he almost died from the anesthesia (malignant hyperthermia)..SO...this time..we got smart.  We had them removed without anesthesia. They used a local only..and he recovered SOOOO WELL!!!!  Post surgery..he always bruises so badly (you can see bruising pre-surgery..).

 But luckily..10 days later..sutures removed and he is doing great!!!  He is going to soon look like Joan Rivers with all these 'tummy tucks' (4 total so far)

 Now..Shiloh...Her hair started to fall out a few weeks ago and she stopped eating.  So after blood work, xrays and finally an ultrasound...she ended up a little more bald then when we started!!!  We also had a skin biopsy done ..so she had a boo boo foot too...

 The ultrasound/xrays showed no tumors..which is good news.  Didnt' explain her symptoms..however.  We have to wait 14 days for the skin biopsy results.  That should be this week.  She has started to eat a little..but the list of what she will eat is very short.  But her back legs are still loosing hair

  And her ears/muzzle and front legs also have bald spots..(the blood work showed mild anemia, mild kidney failure..nothing to cause significant symptoms..she is over 14)

 I don't know what is going one with her..but she is at least eating enough to keep us both sane.
But for now..we are all staying warm and enjoying life..

 Our friend came over with her greyhounds and her Yorkie, Tank.  He was pretty cute.

Now, my kids got wind of Gyeong's recent blog post concerning the marrow bones we received with the half-cow we shared with them.  Since we only had our dogs this weekend..we thawed a few and let them have at it. 
Cali knew just what to do...

 Shiloh wasn't as good at it but she enjoyed it (with her bald spot between her eyes..)

 Cali nibbles the good stuff

 Dante has historically been EXTREMELY aggressive with 'good bones'..so we put him in a greyhound crate with a fluffy bed and he was able to enjoy his bone with no growling, biting, or fuss. 

 Henry tried..but he didn't get it.  He prefers his steaks medium rare cut in to bite size cubes.

 So eventually he gave up and to my surprise walked away..

 Which inevitably led to this..hold one down while chewing on the other..

 Group chew.

 Synchronized chewing

 

 And yes..I am a germ-a-phobe of sorts so I let the dogs enjoy their bloody, greasy bones until they were passed out from chewing exhaustion.  then all beds were washed and the carpet steam-cleaned (and the 'bone day' was planned on a 'steam clean' day on purpose!)  Henry hates steam clean day!

Now Shiloh found a more creative way to make steam clean days more comfortable.  (and another prime photo of her bald hind legs...)

Dana and Cali just realized the beds in the kitchen were the best option on days like this..