Experienced Swimmer

Mocha had her ninth swim session today.  She did seven minutes twice, with a short rest in between.   She hesitates to go into the water initially, but once she's in there, she doesn't seem to mind it. 

Here's the big pool that the dogs get to swim in.

Here's  Mocha with her swim vest on in the middle of her swim.

And here she is after the swim - rest time on the deck.

 Next time, she will do 10 minutes of swimming with no rest.  She's a strong girl!  But the hard part is lifting her into the car when we're done.  After all that swimming, she doesn't feel like jumping in.

Swimmer Girl

Mocha has been having trouble walking long distances.  She has some arthritis, and it seems like her back legs are weak.  We are fortunate to have a canine swim center nearby, and we took Mocha there the past 2 Sundays. 

The first time was a little rough - they call it the "ugly" session, since I guess most dogs resist the pool swim at first.  They put a flotation vest on the dogs, and lead them around the edge of the pool.  The first time, Mocha did 4 laps, alternating direction.  She kept trying to get out, but by the 4th lap she was pretty good - only tried to get out once.

Here's Mocha on her first visit in her swim vest

First swim around

Yesterday was her 2nd session, and she did much better!  She seemed like she was trying to take a short-cut a couple times, but she hardly tried to get out at all.  Her 3rd lap was a "double", where she did 2 laps at once before a rest.

There she is, trying a short-cut

Almost to the ramp

Walking up the ramp

All done and ready to get dry

We're happy with the progress she's made in just 2 sessions!  Back again next week for more fun in the pool.

Mocha's Weekend

Mocha had a busy weekend.  First, Friday she was home alone for a long day.  Her friend Anne came and visited her 4 times!  She was happy to have a visitor, but spent her alone time pushing the living room curtains aside to look out (and bark, I'm sure) at dogs going by.  She also caught up on her sleep. 

When we got home, she was so happy to see us, even though she had her wonderful visitor during the day and evening.

Saturday she spent some time on the deck while we worked on the shed in the yard.  She was smart enough to get in the shade:

Shady girl with her new collar

Yesterday (Sunday) she got to spend some time on the front lawn.  She was hanging out with her dad.

Hats are good

Finally, it was the end of the weekend, and she could go to bed.  That's Mocha's favorite thing!

June Already!

Mocha has been taking it easy lately.  She has a hard time climbing stairs now, and has stumbled a few times.  We took her to the vet a couple weeks ago, and they think it's just her arthritis.  She was on 2 meds, one for pain and one for inflammation.  She is off the meds now, but still takes Dasuquin (glucosamine) and fish oil.

Her walks haven't been very far lately - and sometimes she doesn't want to go anywhere at all.  I'm glad she can snooze a lot and take it easy.

But she had fun at our yard sale last weekend:

Keeping a close eye on things

Sometimes I let her eat lunch in bed:

Yum, lunch in bed!

Well, that's all for now - happy June!

Weekend Sleepover

Mocha spent her first weekend away from home since we've had her!   We took her to Lulu's Doggie Daycare right nearby, and she did fine.  Lu is such a caring competent dog person.  She took some pictures of Mocha, and doesn't our girl look just as comfy as she does at home?

Mocha on her bed at Lu's house

Strange Behavior

That Mocha!  Yesterday, she didn't feel very well, especially in the morning.  It was pretty clear that her hind legs were sore - she climbed stairs very slowly.   She stayed in bed (after her very short morning walk) until about 1:00 p.m.  Then she seemed to feel better, and we took a slightly longer walk.  She looked in storm drains for cats, so she must have been feeling somewhat normal.

Now for the strange part - at bedtime, she wouldn't get in her bed.  She sometimes starts out on the carpet near my side of the bed, but she's always gotten into her bed eventually.  But last night, she slept on the carpet.  At one point during the night, I brought in a little bed that she has, and at about 3:30 a.m. she got in that one.

Here she is on the little bed

Then after the morning walk today (which was almost a normal length walk), she came upstairs and got on the little bed again.  I had taken the top blanket off of her big bed and washed it.  I thought maybe it smelled bad from the day she didn't feel well.  But still, she's in the little bed.

Then when I got home around noon, Mocha was in her normal (big) bed!  I don't know what the problem was last night.  I will put her clean top blanket back on soon and she if she likes it.

Back in her bed

Obviously, she's a dog with very particular taste in beds!

Mocha's Weekend

On Friday, I took Mocha back to the vet to get her eye ulcer checked again.  It was all better!  Mocha needs drops no longer!  On the downside, she doesn't get her hotdog treats after letting me give her drops.

Here is a cute sign that I saw at the vet's office:

Mocha was happy to see that a lot of snow had melted - she had a little grass-rolling time today.  She also made sure to check all the storm drains for any cat activity.

I got a good walk in today after being a little under the weather yesterday.  I'm sill congested, and have to hack/cough occasionally, but I'm feeling better.  My walk wasn't as fast as usual, but I was glad to get out there.  It was even sunny!

Happy Spring tomorrow!

Icy Snow Storm

We had a very good (hardly any snow) winter up until now, but...  last night into today we have a snowy ice storm!   The tree branches are coated with ice.

Mocha went for a short walk with her dad, but is now cozy in bed.

Good day to sleep

She had her follow-up appointment at the vet yesterday for her eye ulcer.  It is almost totally cleared up, but not 100%.  Mocha gets eyedrops until her next re-check on Friday.  Good thing there are hotdog slices and peanut butter to be had after the torture of having drops in her eye!

Pretty soon it will be time to go out in the cold and icy weather again!  

Double Dog Days

On Monday and Tuesday this week, I walked my friend's dog Maddie (and of course I walked Mocha).  I don't walk them together - that would be a challenge.  I take Maddie for a little over a mile, and  Mocha only goes 0.8 mile on her first walk of the day.  Maddie was a happy girl yesterday - she got a treat from the mailman!  Her mom said she hasn't gotten one from him in a while. 

Here's Maddie after a walk

Mocha is finally finished with her antibiotic.  She still limps sometimes, but I think she's feeling better overall.  Next week she will go to the vet for her annual check-up.  I think she's still a little overweight - it's hard to feed her fewer calories when I give her the meds in hotdog pieces!

Mocha at our friend Lyn's condo

On Monday, Mocha & I went to visit our friend Lyn.  Mocha likes it there - she makes herself right at home.  Also, it doesn't hurt that Lyn has a box of mini Milkbones and loves to give them to Mocha.  We also took a walk while we were there, and Mocha got to smell new smells and see different things.

My knees are better after my physical therapy sessions.  I'm going to have one more appointment in 2 weeks, and if I am still feeling good, I will be discharged.  Of course, I have to continue with my home stretching and strengthening exercises.

And today is my niece Megan's birthday!  So happy birthday to you, Megan! 

More Wind

It's another very windy day.  Mocha doesn't mind the wind; in fact, I think it's very exciting for her, because all kinds of interesting scents are sent her way.

One day recently, Mocha saw a cat go down a storm drain.  Now we have to check the storm drains every time we go out:

Any cats down there?

We did see a fox run across the street this morning, and Mocha was very interested in that.  She thought it might be a cat, and made sure it wasn't in any storm drains.

She is feeling good today - it seems that about every other day she just wants to sleep, and doesn't have much energy, but on her good days, she is bouncy and raring to go.

I am down to one day a week for PT.  I must do my stretching exercises every day so that my knees stay (somewhat) pain-free.

HAPPY MARCH!  

Warm February

This month has been very warm overall.  Yesterday and today it got cold again, but we had lots of warm, sunny days.  Daffodils are blooming in the neighborhood:

Mocha has been on Doxycycline for Lyme disease since early this month.  She seems to be feeling better...  she had been limping, and seemed to be feeling unwell, which is why I took her to the vet in the first place.  They did bloodwork, and found her levels indicating Lyme were 185, when normal is under 30 (don't know the measurement).

And I have been going to physical therapy for knee pain.  And I think it is helping!  I now have lots of exercises for flexibility, strength, and balance.  When I go to therapy, the PT manipulates my knees, trying to create movement of the patella.  All in all, I think everything taken together is helping. 

A Sunny Day!

Finally, the sun came out after many dreary, rainy days.  Although when Mocha & I went out at 7:00 the sun wasn't quite up yet.  We had a chilly walk, but did our usual route.  Mocha didn't find anyone to get huffy about, and we came home and she had her usual morning nap.

Then around mid-day, it was time for me to walk Maddie.  She was happy to see me, although I had to call her - she must have been upstairs snoozing.  She was nice and warm when she came downstairs.

We did about a one mile walk.  Lots of sniffing, and some bird feathers which she was tempted to sample.  I asked her not to, though, and she listened.  We also passed a half-eaten Pop-Tart which she didn't even notice.

When we got back to her house, she had her snack, and then she got on her "bridge" with her toy.  Apparently, she's not much of a chewer:

This toy looks brand new!

 Tomorrow will be another two dog day - looking forward to the warmer temps!

Mocha and the Blustery Day

What a blustery day!  Mocha and I didn't go for our walk until 9:00!  That is late for us.  As soon as we got outside, Mocha headed north - and we usually go the other way.  I think she wanted to go toward the wind - probably because lots of good and interesting smells were coming from that direction.

We passed lots of downed trashcans, and saw a dog headed down a nearby street, but nothing else was going on.  When we got home, Mocha went back to bed, and I wrapped her up - she looks like a burrito:

Yes, a dog is in there.

As for me, I have been walking quite a lot.  I just did a streak of 5 days in a row, and today I'm going to take a rest day.  I did lift weights today.  My knees have been achy quite a lot, but I'm going to keep walking and maybe they'll calm down soon.  I did ice them a couple times last week.

Glad to get back to the blog - Happy 2017!