Leland's Life

So tomorrow will be a year since you gained your Angel wings.  It sure hasn’t been easy for your dad and me but we’re still moving forward and Lucian has helped.  Your dad still has guilt over everything that happened with you.  He said just yesterday that he will never not follow his gut feeling again when it comes to the medical treatment of Lucian.  We know you don’t blame us for trying to help you and give you a better life…it’s just hard not to blame ourselves though at times.  I can say that your life taught me a great deal and I impart what I’ve learned with others when I can.  Just last week I was speaking with some ladies at work who are big dog lovers.  Laura was talking about her 1 1/2 year old pitbull named Hank who’s been driving her crazy with his puppy antics (which her husband finds amusing).  She was saying how not long ago Hank was neutered…she said he was getting very muscular.  I told her how we were not planning on neutering Lucian and how neutering at young ages can affect their growth and contribute to ligament issues in the knees later on.  I explained how they are like children and they need their hormones to grow properly.  I told them how much more muscular Lucian’s legs are compared to what yours were and how we’re hopeful that this will decrease his odds in having knee issues.

I know you are watching over us.  Dad actually told me how he can still hear you at night walking in the house or he’ll “feel” you flipping his hand around to wake him up.  He’ll get up and go look for Lucian and find that he’s in bed with me.  I’m glad that you visit him…he needs that from you and if it’s not too much trouble I hope you continue letting him know you’re here.

Our road with Lucian has definitely been an interesting one.  So this past week we tried not crating him in the afternoon.  It started off really well…only lost one placemat and one dish towel.  Then on Friday when I came home I found he’d chewed up the skirting around the ottoman and started on one side of the matching chair (the only piece that hadn’t been chewed on by you or Lucian).  So I guess he’s still not quite ready to leave out of the crate.  We’ll keep working on it and he’ll get there eventually.  Thank you for sending Lucian to us…I know I cuss him from time to time (dad just laughs at me) but he really has helped us heal.  You did good my sweet boy!!

Love always,

Mom

 

Our boy Leland before his surgeries started last May 2014

 

Lucian…our never ending prankster.

 

I know it’s been a while since I checked in here at Tripawds.  I’ve really been keeping my mom on her toes with all my antics…LOL!!!  It’s never a dull moment when I’m around and I know my mom sure likes it when I take a nap!  Well I had to go to the vet this month…I got an ear infection.  The vet gave me a steroid shot…OUCH…along with some antibiotics and ear drops.  Well, for those of you wondering how much I weigh…well I came in at 96lbs at 9 months old!!!  I even heard the vet say in the back before he came in to see me “96lbs…oh my!!”  He said I’m a BIG boy which mom and dad can attest to because I love crawling and sitting on them both.  So I went back this past Thursday to get my ears checked and everything looked good…yea no more pills!  I’m just growing like a weed and not sure when I’m going to stop.  I don’t think I’ll get much taller…mom and dad measured and I’m 30″ at the shoulder.  My head clears the kitchen and dining room tables so mom makes sure to sit the yummy food so I can’t get to it too easily…lol!

Anyway, I thought the gang here would like to see some pics….I know I’m not the most cooperative with mom in taking pictures but she does get some from time to time.

Here I am running at mom while she’s trying to take a picture.

I LOVE stealing things.  I took one of dad’s shop clothes and he didn’t even notice!

Getting in some Yoga stretching.

I’ll also stole a coat from dad’s buddy who came to help him work on a piece of equipment.  Again nobody even noticed I stole it…except for mom who was taking pictures.

Here’s me and my green ball.  I LOVE this ball and I love to beat on mom and dad with it.

I know there’s times mom wishes this was a jail cell to put me in time out!

I LOVE sharing iced oatmeal cookies with dad.  Do you think they’re making my butt look big?

Oh I love to get my run on in the snow!!

Just having a blast in the snow!

Man…things sure look different from the top of this snow pile.

Here’s mom’s attempt at a “selfie”…lol!

 

Leland,

Today is your 6 month Angelversary.  It’s so hard to believe that 6 months have gone by since you had to go.  Dad and I still miss you terribly and there are days that both of us still get choked up and cry because of what happened to you.  We wish there was more we could have done but your body needed to rest.

This Christmas was hard for me.  I cried Christmas Day because Lucian was being a total brat (more like an a$$hole).  I had to go and cry in the bathroom until I could pull myself together to face the family.  I know Lucian was just really excited over having all the kids there and he didn’t understand.  He thought it was play time but his play can get rather rough and Christmas morning was not the time for that.  We decided not to have the big Christmas meal at our house this year because I couldn’t put the extended family through Lucian’s antics and I couldn’t bring myself to lock him away in the crate away from everybody.  So we had our dinner at Granny’s house this year.  I sure missed your calm and loving demeanor.

Things got better after dad had to give Lucian an “attitude adjustment” and he got to dig into his present.  Lucian and your dad have a special bond.  Dad remarked the other day that we should have named him Shadow…since Lucian’s always right there with him.  I just have to keep in mind that Lucian’s only 7 months old but he’s grown so much that he’s a puppy in an adult body.

I just wanted to let you know my sweet boy that we are getting by but you are always with us in our hearts.  I hope you and all the other Tripawds up there got some tasty treats and fun toys for Christmas.  Here’s some pictures of Lucian digging into his present and playing with a new toy.

Love always,

Mom

Well the snow is finally falling here in WV.  I left work early today mainly because I wanted to get some pictures of Lucian’s first experience with snow and I really didn’t want to be stuck trying to get home as the roads progressively got worse.  Lucian was a little hesitant at first and of course he had to get some in his mouth since pups explore their world through their mouths.  I must say he has developed a taste for snow…he loved scooping up mouthfuls and eating it.  At least this is MUCH better than his taste for kitty poo.  I wanted to share some of the pictures I got of him just enjoying the heck out of the snow…oh to be a young pup!!

What is this stuff on my walkway?

Huh…more of this white stuff just keeps falling out of the sky.

I know dad is around here somewhere…

I found ANOTHER stick…and these sticks think they can hind from me in this white stuff!

Mmmmm…I like eating the white stuff out of the hose caddy…no chance of getting the dreaded “yellow” stuff  here.

And I keep going….

And going….

And going so more.  Man this if FUN!!!

Seriously mom…do you have to take a picture RIGHT NOW!!

Yes Lucian…this was the only time you stood still long enough for me to get a picture of your beautiful face.

I think Lucian was receiving word from Leland on how to damage the house.  See, Leland ate his way through the downstairs carpeting, hubby’s recliner, 2 couches, and several pillows.  Well, Leland must have given Lucian pointers because he did some destruction from inside his crate.  How can this happen one may ask if the puppy is secured within a crate?  Well, in hubby’s haste to leave for work he didn’t pull Lucian’s crate out from against the wall.  Lucian’s crate is in our bedroom and ever since we’ve been putting him in we pull the crate out from the wall and angle it so he can see the TV.  We’ve always left the TV on for him when we go so he has something to hear other than dead silence.

So I suppose Lucian was not happy about being left in the corner where he couldn’t see the TV so this is what he did to the bedroom wall….

So of COURSE I have to call hubby and rub it in the dumb thing that he did and the mess Lucian made.  I’ve done several dumb things that’s costed us money to repair so of course I’m on cloud 9 because the next time hubby gets on me about something dumb I do and can bring up the wall incident..lol.

Also, last night we discovered that Lucian has an infection in his left ear.  We were getting out yellowish green junk.  Hubby gave him a shower Tuesday evening and I think water got down in the ear canal where I couldn’t get it with the towel.  Leland always had this problem so I would put this solution in his ear that would dry up water and it seemed to really help him.  Hubby didn’t want me putting this stuff in Lucian’s ears since we’ve been posting them.  Well, I think he’ll listen to me a little more.  We got Lucian into the vet this morning and he looked at the gunk under the microscope.  It’s full of white blood cells and bateria.  So Lucian was given a Kenalog injection (to help with inflamation within the ear from where the posting was rubbing it), Cephalexin (antibiotic), and ear drops.

So we get home and I go to give Lucian a Cephalexin pill and a little food.  As soon as he’s done eating he thows up 2 big piles of partly digested food and what I just gave him.  I’m sure the Cephalexin pill is in there some where.  So I hold off on giving him anything else.  I think the injection may have knocked him for a loop because he’s been sleeping on the couch all afternoon.  So I pull out the box that we put Leland’s meds in after he passed.  He had a few Cephalexin pills left so I could replace the one Lucian puked up.  As I’m pulling out the bottles I’m thinking about what each med was for and I start crying.  I remember how sick he was and all that we went through trying to help our boy.

Here’s a few pics I took of Lucian last night.  He seems to have glowing eyes in most…guess he was channeling the spirit of Halloween…

I really wasn’t trying to steal a knick knack to chew on.

Dad’s home…I sure hope he’s not TOO mad about the wall.  Next time don’t leave me in the corner.

 

So last week hubby and I took our camper to Pigeon Forge, TN for the week.  It’s been a while since we took a vacation and I wanted to go somewhere other than the beach.  So this was going to be a true test of Lucian’s riding abilities.  And he did AWESOME!!  He would curl up between me and hubby and sleep.  Leland was not a good rider…he would want to go but once the vehicle started moving the constant whining began.

So we get down around the Staunton, VA area and the truck threw the fan belt.  So here we are stuck along the road and Lucian is just taking it all in stride.  He just laid down in the grass and sniper crawled through it.  I did have to keep getting cigarette butts out of his mouth (gross) because he kept finding them and chewing on them.  So hubby is able to get the belt back on and get the truck to an auto parts store to get a new belt.  So we’re back on the road till we get to Christiansburg, VA.  ANOTHER belt problem so we find 2 more auto parts stores and buy up all the belts they have.  Get a little further down the road till about 10 miles north of Wytheville, VA where we pull into a Love’s Truck stop to check the belt.  It’s around 8pm and raining.  The belts starting to fray again so we decide to stay at the truck stop till morning to figure out what’s going on.  We slept in the camper and Lucian did great.  Even with all the noisy trucks around us.  He growled once but then settled down…I think he was just happy to be out of the truck and able to eat his supper.

So the next morning hubby and a mechanic at the truck stop figure out the problem is the tension pulley (whatever that is) and of course the mechanic doesn’t have the size that would fit our truck.  So they call 2 auto parts stores in Wytheville and neither will deliver to the truck stop because they are 4 miles outside their delivery area…SERIOUSLY!!  So we limp the truck down the road for another 10 miles and find the first auto parts store.  Hubby gets the part on and every thing was fine after that…THANK GOD!!

So we get to Pigeon Forge and it’s nothing like we were expecting.  We were hoping for a laid back TN vacation but it looked more like the main stretch at the beach with all the amusement parks, tye dye t-shirt shops, miniature golf, and restaurants.  And the KOA campsite was pretty much full.  Well, Lucian was quite excited by all the people, dogs, and smells but he finally calmed down.  We had to do some work on the leash with him wanting to pull all the time.  After a few days he was getting it though.  And since Lucian is still pretty young we didn’t leave him by himself in the camper…we probably wouldn’t have one to come back to if we did.  Plus, hubby wasn’t ready to leave him in the truck by himself yet so we couldn’t really get out and do too much.  Plus I was sick the entire week with this head cold and cough that’s going around so I was pretty much happy just to hang in the camper.  We did drive up through the Smoky Mountain National Park and that was nice.

All and all it was a good trip (except for me being sick) and Lucian really surprised us on how good of a traveler he’ll be.  Here’s some pics of Lucian in the camper and some of the beautiful Smoky Mountains.

 

Well, Lucian is trying to rival Leland for things to destroy.  The other evening Lucian thought it would be fun to steal the Crown Royal bag off the dresser.  I keep our digital camera in it along with the battery charger and cord to connect it to the computer.  I was in the shower maybe 10 minutes (I know I have to hurry because he will find something to get into) and I came out and found the camera on the floor.  It didn’t look too bad but when I turned it on 3/4 of the screen no longer worked.  I found the battery charger and cord out in the living room.

With Leland we had to purchase a new camera (the one Lucian just chewed on) because me thinking I’m some kind of photographer was lying on the floor trying to get a good shot of Leland.  Leland was still a pup at the time and thought “yea…mom’s on the floor…lets run at her and stomp on the camera.”

Lucian also thought it would be fun to swipe my Kindle e-reader.  Thank god I had a cover on and he seemed satisfied with just chewing on that and not the actual Kindle.  Needless to say I have a new cover on the way.

So here are some pics that I took yesterday evening with our brand new camera…after I got the correct memory card.  I have no clue how a memory card the size of my pinky nail can hold 4,000 pics…unbelievable.

Looking for frogs in the pond.

Doggie water fountain.

My prize bottle that my big sis put rocks in.  I only get to play with it outside.

This is one of my squeaky toys.  It looks like a spider web for Halloween and it bounces around like crazy when mom throws it.

Look I can do the Dobie stance.

Yeah, I know I’m handsome.

Mom’s Kindle that I thought would make a good chew toy.  Who doesn’t like leather to naw on?

My sweetest Leland,

It’s been 3 months today since your dad and I let you go.  I hope you are enjoying being able to run and play and be healthy again.  Your dad and I know it was the right thing to do for you but we both still miss you terribly.  We both still cry over not having you with us…although it’s not everyday like it was.

Dad and I were talking this weekend about how Lucian really doesn’t seem to like hanging out downstairs while watching TV.  Dad said this winter he figures that’ll change once he gets a feel for the heat from the wood stove.  You just loved lying by that wood stove in the winter.  I told dad that I really haven’t gone and spent much time in the basement since this whole thing started with your knee in February.  The stairs were just too much for you.  I know I need to start making my way back down there so dad and I can enjoy watching movies again but I just miss you being curled up at my feet on the couch.  Perhaps if dad and I start spending more time down there together Lucian may follow.  I got choked up talking about this with dad and he started tearing up himself.

I want to let you know you did good in finding Lucian for us.  He’s definitely kept your dad and I busy.  Lucian seems more attached to dad than me…I guess you know best since dad has carried around a lot of guilt with what happened to you.  I also guess it’s time dad had a special bond since you and I were attached at the hip so to speak.  Dad has told me that he’s heard your paws padding through the house.  He’s told me about 2 different occasions.  It seems to happen late at night when Lucian and I are in bed.  The one time dad said he swore he heard you coming up behind him in the kitchen.  You know how you used to come up behind him while he was bent over the sink eating a snack cake or cookie and you’d stick your nose up underneath his arm to make sure you got a piece too.  You enjoyed your sweets.  The other time I suppose I was snoring (at least that’s what dad says) so he couldn’t sleep.  He went to the other bedroom that he always went to when you pushed him out of bed because you wanted more leg room.  Dad says he was over there the other evening and heard you walking on the crappy cheap green carpet that always crunched when you stepped on it.

I’m glad you’re letting dad know that your spirit is still with us.  I’m sorry I’ve not heard you yet.  I guess all my focus has been on Lucian as he’s a handful right now.  He’s into EVERYTHING.  Between keeping him from not chewing on things he shouldn’t, potty training, trying to teach him to listen to me like he does dad, and playing I’ve not really had many moments by myself to just relax and listen for you.  Heck, I think since Lucian has come to us I’ve only been able to soak in a bubble bath one time and even then dad came and got me because he had chores to do and couldn’t continue to watch Lucian.

I just wanted to let you know today that your dad and I still think about you all the time and carry you in our hearts.  Lucian has helped alleviate some of the sadness in the home but he will never replace you in our hearts.  And if you could maybe let Lucian know to stop stepping on my sore toe…I’ve been dealing with an ingrown toe nail and every time Lucian puts his 50+ lbs on it, it brings tears to my eyes and cuss words from my mouth.  Well, I’ll let you get back to playing there at the Bridge.

We Love and Miss You,

Mom

 

I know this is pretty gross but in all my years of having dogs this is a definite first.  Lucian was trying to get hubby’s attention yesterday morning and hubby just ignored him.  He thought Lucian was wanting to play while he was still in bed (I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and heard Lucian bark).  So after a bit Lucian comes back and stares at me (usually the sign for “come let me outside…I can’t open the doors myself”).  So we are walking out and I just think Lucian has gas and we proceed outside.  Lucian just sniffs around but does nothing so back inside we go.  I happen to look over in the living room to see the present he left…on the toe of hubby’s shoe.

Not sure if he was leaving a message for hubby by pooping on his shoe or if he wanted me to see it when he came back to stare at me.  All I know is it was the easiest puppy accident cleanup ever.  Hubby just picked up the shoe and tossed it in the trash.

Lucian definitely had some good aim on that one!

 

So this weekend was the 2nd time Lucian was around my step-daughters Husky (Balto) and Chow mix (Diesel).  Last weekend Lucian was stuck on a leash around Balto and Diesel but this weekend we needed to see how they would do together without Lucian being completely restrained.  Well, of course only being 16 weeks old Lucian has to test how far he can annoy Balto and Diesel before they snap.  Balto is 5 years old so he has a little play left in him so he and Lucian did pretty well together running and carrying on…for a while.  Diesel is 11 years old and he’s the grumpy old man of the group and wants nothing to do with the youngin.  Lucian kept bringing toys over to him trying to get him to play and all he got was snarls for the effort.

“Here Diesel…you can play with my ball”

“BACK OFF yougin…I don ‘t want to play with the darn ball!”

“It’s ok kid…I’ll play with you”

“Ok kid I’m not as young as you so lets take 5”

 

All and all no blood was drawn even though Lucian got put in his place a few times.  They were together for a about an hour and half and all 3 were ready for naps.

Later in the afternoon we took Lucian’s ears down to give them a break from the posting and I think his body is starting to grow into the ears.  He weighed 40 lbs last weekend at 15 weeks.  Not sure what he’s pushing this weekend but he’s definitely put on some more weight.