Super Model Dog: Bootsie!

As some of you know, Bootsie is no stranger to the camera. I am proud to announce that Boots is once again basking in the spotlight's warm glow, lol!

 

Please click the link to be taken to Bootsie's latest publicity shots!

Dogs of the Wonderful NW!

Scroll through the slideshow until you see Bootsie! She is in the middle. Not only is she seen once, but TWICE! lol!

(I know, I know......I'm being boastful, and pride is not very becoming on anyone....but I can't help myself! I'm like a proud stagemom! lol)!

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It occured to me that I don't have Bootsie's other "claim to canine fame" listed in her journal!

Several months back, I entered Bootsie in a contest at the Deramaxx website. The contest was in preparation for Pet Arthritis Awareness Month. I submitted some pics and a short essay on why Bootsie is a "Deramaxx Dog". The dogs that were chosen were featured on a mosaic that appeared on billboards all across the United States of America!! Bootsie made it onto the billboard, lol!

This is the pic that made it in: 

Here is the Mosaic that she was part of. We were sent this as a full-size poster (suitable for framing, lol)!

Can you find her? Lol, I'm being a brat. I know you can't, lol.   Here's the mosaic "in action"!   This first pic shows the billboard up on the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, CA     Here's the billboard in Times Square, NYC:   And here it is again, in Dallas, TX:   Have you found her yet? Lol.   She's just below and to the left of the left eye (your left, not the dog's left), in about the vicinity where a tear might fall from an eye. Here's a close up :    

How You Can Help Pets In Need!!

Those of you who pay visits to Bootsie's online journal are without a doubt fond of pets in general! If you could help a pet in need every single day, wouldn't you want to do it? How about if I said that you could, and it would only cost about 1 minute of your time? Would you be further enticed if I assured you that your help would cost you nothing in the way of money?

 

Sounds pretty good, eh?

Well, you CAN help in this way! By clicking the links below, you will be transported to websites where you can help to feed a pet and provide it healthcare at absolutely no cost to you! In fact, you would in no way be obligating yourself to a single thing! Just click, and voila! You have fulfilled your mission!

I have been visiting these sites on a daily basis for sometime now. I found a very easy way to remember "my click", too! I added the sites onto my AOL Toolbar. I gave them both the kitty-cat icons, and labeled them as "FeedMe" and "FeedMeToo", lol!  One of the sites even allows you to keep track of how many pets your clicks are helping!

I hope you'll embrace this easy manner of helping pets in need, and that you'll make a daily click at these sites. Please refer your friends so that they can participate, too!

Thanks!!!!

                

Links to Sites on Senior Dog Care

This December 15th will be Bootsie's 15th Birthday! I'm so happy that she is doing as well as she is! Most people who meet Bootsie think she's a puppy! Bootsie, however, is what's referred to as an "elder-dog",  and as such, has special needs that a younger dog need not be concerned about. The past year has found me researching some of the more particular needs of senior dogs online, and I am compiling this list of links as a reference to anyone who may need them. If you know of someone with an elder-dog, please send them a link to this page!

If you find these links helpful, please remember to check back often because I will be adding to this catalog of links.

General Senior Dog Care

The Senior Dogs Project

The Aging Process in Dogs & How We Can Help

Caring For An Older Dog

Behavior Therapy for Older Dogs

Senior Care

A Senior Dogs Forum for Owners

Senior Wellness For Dogs

When Is My Dog A "Senior"?

Comprehensive Site for Geriatric Dog Care!

Signals of Silver

 

Sites About Arthritis and Senior Dogs

The Pet Arthritis Resource Center

 

Hearing Impairment in Dogs

Living With A Hearing Impaired Dog

Hearing Assessment In Dogs & Cats

Training Tips For Hearing Impaired Dogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry

These are sooooo sad. Please read them when you feel emotionally strong enough to.

"I Loved You Best"

Viewer Viewpoint - Veterinary Medicine - "The Conferring of Souls" copyright Jim Willis 2001

This website has some good info on canine epilepsy.

Epilepsy and Seizures Table of Contents - Canine Epilepsy Guardian Angels

NOTICE and UPDATE

UPDATE:

Bootsie is doing sooooo much better!!!!!!!

She has been barking like a little beasty, wanting more and more food, and she's been running around like a puppy out "her" backyard. I finally cracked a smile this afternoon!

Bootsie does things sometimes that crack me up. I cite the antics of late this afternoon to illustrate that point:

Bootsie was barking-barking-barking-barking-barking.....now to the majority of people, this would be intolerable. Given the high pitched tone of Bootsie's voice and the "dogged" determination with which she uses it to command attention, it truly can feel like it's piercing right through your head. IT HURTS!! Lol! Bootsie was making up for some lost time today, and was "singing" at the top of her little lungs. I sat here watching her, and-I admit it- encouraging her, because after worrying as much as I had been, that voice was like music to my ears. And then it happened....

Sometimes, Bootsie will be barking along, and somehow, she emits a bark SO loud that she scares herself! I swear, she jumps about a foot in the air and then runs to me, tail between her legs, lol! My words don't come close to doing the humour of it all justice.

I'M JUST SO GLAD THAT SHE'S FEELING BETTER.

 

NOW FOR THE NOTICE:

The Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi is this Sunday, October the 3rd. (I think). It's in honor to St. Francis, Patron Saint of Animals, that many churches hold a "Blessing of the Animals" ceremony. I'm hoping to take Bootsie to one of these. They are being held tomorrow and on Sunday. I say that I'm HOPING because I can't find any local churches holding this ceremony, and will likely have to drive into Seattle.

Bootsie wears a Saint Francis medal, and I never take it off of her, except for the time it takes for her to be groomed. She's had it on her collar for the last 6 years. About 5 years ago, Bootsie became extremely ill, and I had to rush her to the emergency vet. Before I could go there, though, I had to stop at the Roman Catholic church my mom attends and pick her up. I saw the priest standing outside and talking to some of the parisioners as they left the church, and waited patiently until the crowd around him thinned. Then I made my move, lol. I got out of the car, cradling Bootsie, and asked him to bless Bootsie and to also bless her St. Francis Medal. He did, but I have to tell you, I thought he looked at me like I'd lost my mind, lol.

I feel that St. Francis (and the Communion of Angels & Saints) have been there for my Bootsie en force. There have been times when Bootsie has been so ill, that people from as far away as the Netherlands were praying for her. I can't even begin to express what it means to me whenever anyone sees fit to offer up a prayer for my Bootsie. I don't need "fancy praying"....I think if someone just thinks in their heart and mind, "Please, God, make Bootsie feel better"....well, that, to me, is a prayer~and I'm happy for all of them.

Here are some links, in honor of the Patron Saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi.

to learn about St. Francis, click this link~

http://www.dlshq.org/saints/francis.htm

 

Here are links to some prayers, and a novena that can be said to St. Francis:

Virtual Novena to Saint Francis of Assisi

Prayer For Animals

Patron Saints of Dogs:

Patron Saints Index: Saint Roch

Images of Saint Francis of Assisi:

                

                                                   

Beach Baby Boots!

Some pics of our outing to the beach, taken about a month ago.

Whatever you want to call her, DON'T call Boots a backseat driver, lol! Bootsie wants to feel the wind blowing through her fur! I risked life, limb, and insursance rate increase to get this shot, lol!

 Here's Bootsie at the beach! She's marveling at a seagull that's flying past....  

                                                     

                                                                

Sissy made this for us! (Thank, sis)! She likes this photo a lot, and I like the Bootsie portion if it, but not my allergy looking face, lol! (They were BAD that day)! 

                               

 

 Here's a photo that I played around with using one of those photo editor software programs. It's me. I look like I'm jaundiced, lol. Kinda looks like I'm looking through the door to hell, doesn't it? lol!   

Same Day, Second Update

Just got off the phone with Bootsie's vet.

She says that Bootsie sounds like she still has some irritation in her digestive system. I'm to keep her diet bland, (chicken with rice), and if she is able to keep the food down, I can re-introduce her back onto her regular diet (Hill's L/D) tomorrow evening.

If Bootsie doesn't hold her food down, though, I have to bring her in to be looked at.

I keep giving her 3 cc's of Amforal until the bottle's been depleted.

That's really all the vet could tell me without seeing Bootsie in her office. I am glad to have talked to her though, as it goes far towards relieving some of the anxiety I feel.

Right now, Bootsie is back up on the sofa. She's laying along side of my upper leg, curled toward me,  sleeping.

SAME DAY/THIRD UPDATE

Just wanted to say that it's now 12:02 pm PST, and I am starting to feel better, because BOOTSIE is seeming to feel better. THANK GOD!!!!!!

I took her outside and she was scampering all over the yard, exploring every little thing. Her tail was wagging and she was doing more running then she was anything else. We went for a walk, but not too long, since I didn't want her to overdo it.

She's taking another nap now. Her tummy is making some noises. I hope that stops soon, too.

 

 

Bootsie Still Feeling Poorly

My baby Boots still isn't feeling herself. She slept through the night after having had a so-so day yesterday, and this morning woke me up trying to vomit.

The only way I know to get this med in her is to mix it in with her food. The alternative is to wrestle with her to get the syringe in her mouth and then force the stuff toward her throat. I can't do that. But mix it in food? When she wants to throw up? I decided to try. I mixed it in, and then I got up to make her some more oatmeal. Just seeing me in the kitchen is sometimes enough to get her mind off of not feeling well. Seemed to work. The minutes ticked by and the meds stayed down.  I was able to spoon-feed her some of the oatmeal, and I did it real slowly, so as to keep her mind occupied on getting more oatmeal, and not on her tummy, which was making noises and hurting her.

She's touch and go. She's trembling slightly, so I know she is still hurting. I've called the vet and am waiting for a return phonecall. The vet told me at out appt on Wed. that if Boots were to throw up today that he definitly wanted to see her in the office.

I don't want her to be sick. I don't want to take her to the vet because if I do I know I will be leaving her there with them, and I HATE doing that.

Last night when I turned the lights off and layed down, Bootsie ws right beside me. She couldn't sleep, though. She sat up, for a long time. I kept opening my eyes to see what she was doing. She just sat there and watched me. She looked concerned. When I would open my eyes she would lick my cheek. I didn't like any of this. I layed there and just cried. I couldn't help but think that the concern in her face was because she might know something that I am so unable to accept right now.

Now that I'm crying again, I will sign off on this entry.

Boots is sitting beside me right now on the sofa, but she keeps looking at the patio door and growling. That, at least, is good.

I keep trying to remember my best friend telling me to "be tough", that I am tougher than this. Am I?Sissie doesn't lie, true that. But I sure am not feeling tough. I feel like no bigger wuss ever walked the earth then me, when it comes to my feelings about my babydog Boots.

Bye 4 now~ Say a little prayer for Bootsie, please.