Archive for category brady
There they grow again
Today I needed to bathe all three dogs and blow out an INCREDIBLE amount of hair from two in particular (I’m looking at you, boys!). I decided to save my back for once and wash them on the table in the backyard…hallelujah. I got soaked from head to toe but it was so much easier! Especially doing all of them. As usual on bath day, I felt inspired to break out the camera. I didn’t get any good side shots of Nash as he was being a TURD on the table (umm, guess we’d better start working on that again, eh?), but did get this cute face picture of the boy:
Nash at one year - isn't he handsome?
And would you believe this, but in two days is BRADY’S 12th BIRTHDAY! I can hardly believe that he’s that old. I was thinking about it the other day…that means Carolyn and Mandy have been putting up with me for nearly that long, too, since I got Molly from them when Brady was less than a year old. Brady was bought as and has always been a pet in the best sense of the word, but this boy has taught me so much. Sometimes the things he has taught me are what NOT to do, or what I DON’T enjoy doing, but that’s valuable too. 
I joke that Brady is “Dave’s dog”, because they have always shared a special bond that he and I just don’t have. Despite that, Brady is a clever, outgoing, opinionated, full of life pain-in-the-butt that has always kept our house interesting. Even at 12, he pretty regularly fraps with Nash…he has always loved playing with dogs, as long as they understand that He Owns All The Toys. He is not a big dog (hovering +/- 30 pounds) and is structurally fairly average and light-boned, but Brady has always been a Good Dog who’s distinct personality shines through in everything he does.
So, this dog has been OBSESSED with bunnies ever since we lived in Denver where they abounded in our yard. He (and Zach) caught a baby one back then, but didn’t injure it…just slobbered all over it until I noticed something afoot in the backyard and yelled out “drop it!” at which point Brady opened his mouth and the bunny bolted. So he has spent the past probably 9-10 years of his life hoping and trying to catch another one, and in fact we can’t even say the word bunny or Brady will go nuts whining and running around looking for it. I think a squirrel would suffice too, but they are too smart. SO…Last night when I let the dogs out, I heard a ruckus so went out to see what was going on, and what do I find?? A very proud Brady, carrying a (sadly broken-necked) bunny in his mouth. I told Dave about the incident, who is out of town, and he said “That’s it…his life is complete. He finally caught and killed a damned bunny.”
It's amazing how fast they can go from looking "not that old" to "old".
Do I get cheese for this? (please ignore his old-man long nails)
Update
Looks like the old man should be ok. He has narrowing of 2 spaces between vertebrae in his lower back, one more severe than the other and likely causing his pain. He wasn’t showing any lameness/paralysis though, which is good news. Anti-imflammatory shot and pain meds and sent us on our way with warnings to watch for any signs of worsening. He also has a very calcified disc, but that is much higher up closer to his shoulder area.
Good thoughts needed
Brady has messed himself up. I think it’s his back…heading to the emer vet since our regular vet is closed. Le sigh.
The old man
I’m shocked at times that Brady is almost 11 years old. Not that 11 is all that old for a Cardi, but he really, honestly doesn’t act any different than he did at age 2. Well, maybe he sleeps a little more. But he’s still a pain in my ass. 
Dave snapped this picture of him today chilling in the yard while the kids were out playing. He’s getting a good sprinkling of grey now, and what used to be bold stripes on his coat have long since faded to just a sort of brown/champagne mix. Thankfully his gross ripped-out toenail paw is hidden in this picture, as it’s pink from his obsessive licking (he’s still OCD about nearly everything) even though the nail is healing up pretty well.
Photo Montage
Some random pictures from the past few days. We got our Christmas tree up on Saturday and decorated it on Sunday…Charlie is an ornament hanging MASTER. 
) Here’s a pic of “her” area of the tree. She kept insisting that there weren’t enough ornaments in her area when we suggested that she try spreading it around a bit.
“Honey, why don’t you pose next to the tree?”
“Could you maybe smile? Umm ok, not quite like that…”
“That’s a LITTLE better…”
Leo being, well, Leo.
I don’t know what Lizzie would ever do without Leo around to be her pillow.
A few more pictures in the “Charlie and Dogs” series. As Kate once said, she loves ‘em, the poor bastards. LOL She’s actually REALLY good about petting them gently, and they all like getting attention from her.
Here she’s waving Leo’s paw at the camera for us.
Ignore the bed head please.
Brady has gotten really distrustful of the camera in his old age. After this picture, he slunk underneath the desk behind him as if he thought I would beat him with the camera….?? I have no idea, maybe he’s just getting quirky. Yes, those of you that know him are saying “GETTING” quirky?? )
They like it when Grandma comes to visit
Because not only does she invite them up to sit with her while she reads, but then she leaves her bedding on the floor where it makes an excellent place to pile. All they need is people to fan them and feed them grapes, and they’d be all set!
OK, let's see if this works
Nothing like jumping on a bandwagon. 
Although I’m not quite ready to make the time/shopping commitment that Carolyn is making, we’re going to give the more natural feeding thing a try. I did stop today and buy a bag of Evo…I plan to use that as a base. I then went to Costco and bought a 10-pound box of 1/4 pound frozen beef patties ($19.99), a bucket of cottage cheese ($3.79), and an 18 pack of eggs ($1.79). I’ll look for some other meat sources when I have some more time to shop around. The Evo was $45 for a 35 pound bag. I’m not sure how long it will last, but I’m guessing over a month with only feeding partial. And all of my dogs eat fairly low amounts of food in general…Lizzie, although young, is a piggie who gains weight just LOOKING at food, and while Leo is also young and very active he’s just never required much kibble to keep a good weight.
But still, with only 3 dogs it looks like this will cost me about $100 a month? Maybe a bit less. We’ll have to see. That sort of number kind of hurts after paying only for the cheap Costco food.
My HOPE is that this not only makes my dogs coats nice and is healthier for them…but I REALLY want to find something to stop Brady’s stinkiness. He has had the WORST gas for probably going on 2 years now. It was bad when I was feeding Chicken Soup, and still bad when we switched to the Costco chicken & rice food. Obviously, something about the way he processes food has changed in his old age, because I had fed Chicken Soup for quite a while before this became an issue. He also became a poop eater at the same time.
Some Pictures
Can you say, two peas in a pod? They don’t look that much alike aside from markings/color, and they really don’t act alike either…but, they are bestest friends.
Some good old-fashioned, butt-tuckin frappin’.
Hey! They’re all looking at the camera!
This picture is just to prove that Lizzie and Brady DO play together. She totally grovels to him.
And well, there was never a doubt that LEO and Brady play together. Pretty fit and trim for an old man, no?
This I just had to include because, how stinkin’ handsome is my Leo dog? )
I recently bought a new camera, which is why some of these pictures suck. LOL Yes, the camera is way better…but I’m still figuring out how to use it! Hopefully by Nationals I’ll at least suck a little bit less. It DOES have an auto mode that does very well, if worst comes to worst.
Miss Lizzie is leaving us on Sunday for her cross-country adventure. *sniff*sniff*