Letters from War

Letters from War

by Mark Schultz

Please take a moment to remember the men and women who fight for your freedom this Memorial Day weekend.

Mom and I would like to say a special thank you to our family members who have served in the past

and who are serving currently.

YOU are our heros!

Note: this video doesn't show up correctly on our computer and I don't know if it is just us or if everyone is having trouble but I want you to know that you can still view it by pushing the play button.  If you still can't get it to work please click here.

Grandma's Flower Friday

Thanks for all the well wishes for my mom.  She wasn't "sick" she just didn't feel good for a few days.  Tummy troubles is all she would tell me. But she feels better today.....just in time for a long weekend!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my grandma has finished her chemo treatments and a couple of you have asked about her. She is slowly starting to feel better. She is still very tired but she sounds a lot more like herself when we talk to her on the phone. Maybe I can talk Mom into taking some pics of us if we go and visit her this weekend.

Grandma's favorite flowers are Iris; they were also her mom's favorite flowers. So, for today's Flower Friday, I thought I would show you some photos of my mom's Iris from a couple weeks ago.

These first two are some of her
super close ups from inside the Iris.

She likes to take the pictures at strange angles sometimes like these next two photos.

And this last picture is Mom's personal favorite.
I bet Grandma loves it too, her favorite color is purple!

I don't know why she just can't take a picture of the whole flower instead of getting up close and personal.

I hope every pet has a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

PS: Mom has not been feeling great this week so we haven't been visiting much....sorry.

Good News but Still Questions

Hi furiends! Thanks so much for all your good thoughts! I am blessed to have so many good buddies out there pulling for me. Overall, we got good news yesterday.
 I'm hoping the same for Mona.

I do have hypothyroidism so that is good news! I already started taking my new medication yesterday but my furs aren't growing back yet....

There are still questions because one of the liver enzyme tests they ran was up but not the other one. Dr. Harsha says that still means Cushings is on the radar but a little farther down on the list. Usually Cushings causes both liver tests to be up but it could be early in the disease or it could be something else.  He wants to see me in two weeks (instead of one as previously mentioned), recheck my urine and liver functions. If the liver tests are normal then he said we will consider it due to my infection. If they are abnormal then we will need to do further testing to find out what is going on. Then, I have to go back 2 weeks after that and have my thyroid checked again to see if the medication is working or if the dose needs to be changed.

That is my V.E.T pupdate for today now, let's find something more interesting to bark about....

ME!

Sniff, sniff, sniff.....I smell ice cream....

Can I have some, Daddy?

Please?

Now, you're just being mean!

Mmmmmm.....tastes great......

Yummmm......I feel better already!

I don't need those stinky pills....just give me ice cream!

Unexpected Visit to the V.E.T.

Mom and Dad woke me up early from my 8 hour nap today. They came home about an hour earlier than usual and that cut into my beauty rest.
Not only that but they took me to see the V.E.T.!

What up with that?

Anyway, I guess I have some blood in my urine and they got all worried about it. The V.E.T. took some of my pee straight outta my tummy....they wanted it to be sterile when they tested it. Turns out I have a bladder infection and have to take an antibiotic for the next week. The worst part is that I have to go back and have that test done again. Mom and Dad said they could hear me crying while they were "taking" it from me.
Fortunately, no evidence of stones. 

Another thing they did was trim my nails and squeeze my bootie. I have to say, I don't like having my nails trimmed but they were way too long....thanks a lot Mom and Dad! You would think pawrents could be a bit more responsible with those things wouldn't ya? 

That isn't all.....
they also took blood right outta my neck! I was a good girl when the doc did that and didn't move a muscle.
Mom forgot the camera so there are no photos of my at the V.E.T.'s office today. This post has too many words and not enough photos so I requested that Mom add one in for you to admire.

You guys all know that my mom is all concerned about my hair loss. Well, she had to bring it up again, even though that isn't why we were there. She told Dr. Harsha that it has gotten significantly worse than before and he said he didn't think it was allergies now because it is very symmetrical. That is why they took my blood.....to test for Hypothyroidism or Cushing's Disease.
Dr. Harsha explained the two to us and said that Hypothyroidism is what he is hoping for. Although, Mom said she felt like he thinks it is Cushing's. We don't really know much about either disease but it seems that Cushing's is much harder to control and can cut your life short. So we are hoping for Hypothyroidism too!

I told Momma I was fine and she didn't need to worry but you know how moms are.....

So, just like some of our furiends, we are in a waiting game until we get the results back, hopefully Friday. 

Most of the time lately, when I get my photos taken I am under a blanket or have on a shirt to keep me warm. Momma took off my shirt and made me take my picture nekkid!
I let her but only to show you guys how bad my hair loss has gotten recently. Here are 2 pics Mom took just a little while ago.

 

 
I have no furs on my sides or my tail!
It looks like I have a mohawk when I get my hackles up cause that fur is still there.
We will let you know what we find out but Mom thought some prayers and 'power of the paw' might help.

Wordless Wednesday

The Ugly Dachshund

Ok, I know, ugly and dachshund should never be in the same sentence. This is actually the name of a Disney movie from the 60's. Mom and I watched it this afternoon on TV and thought we should share it with you. If you haven't ever seen this movie it is very cute and a great family film. All dog lovers will enjoy this movie, not just doxie lovers!

Here is a clip for you to enjoy!

What We Did and a Surprise!

Last post I told you I would tell you about what Mom and I did on Mother's Day and show you some pics. 

I figured it was Mother's Day and Mom should spend the day doing things for me....you know, Mom work. I made a list and sent her to the store. She wanted to get a few things for the house and I told her she could (see how nice I am).

You guys might remember when I got my GABE winnings from Dory and had to snatch the cookies from my Dad.

Since I had already devoured them I wanted some more and the ingredients are what I sent Mom after. I couldn't get her to take too many photos while making them. She kept saying her hands were messy.

Stick 'em down here, I'll clean 'em up for ya!

I stood right under her feet the whole time and quivered with anticipation.

She did let me taste some of the batter. She said Grandma used to let her and Uncle David taste the cookie batter when they were kids too.

I don't see why those things need to be cooked
they taste divine!

One of the things I put on Mom's shopping list was a cookie cutter that was dog related....you know, a bone, paw, doghouse, ANYTHING related to a dog.

What did she get? Nothing!

Nothing?

How in the heck is she gonna make my cookies?

She told me they didn't have any at the stores she went to. I don't know what kind of stores she shops at but if they don't have all things dog related I don't think she should be shopping there anymore! Anyway, she dug around and found a couple cookie cutters that she got for free.

Yes, your assumptions are correct! My mom does not bake! Ok, thats a lie....she just doesn't bake anything home made so she has not had a need for cookie cutters. These things were brand new....never been used. 

If you can't quite tell, she had 2 cookie cutters of M&M guys....weird. Now, I've tried to convince her that she should give me the whole cookie but she breaks them into pieces before giving me any. And, she has convinced Dad to do it too. I think they are being chintzy!

Dory posted the recipe for these yummy cookies here and Mom says they aren't hard to make at all.

Oops, I got a little off track talking about my cookies and I bet you want to know about my surprise. I won a giveaway from Maybeads of this wonderful pink turtle last week.

I bet you're thinking, where is the surprise....

I'm getting to it....

In the envelope with my turtle, was me!

Can you believe it? A mini me!

Thank you so much Lauren! I feel so honored that you made me into a bead.

If you haven't visited Maybeads please head on over and take a look around. She makes some super cute critters!

(I heard she has a thing for wiener dogs!)

Mother's Day

We are a little late getting this post up but we have been busy today.

First and most important on this special day I wanted to let everyone know that my Grandma finished her chemotherapy treatments a week ago. She is extremely tired and her blood counts are lower than they have been during the treatment. I know she is happy to be done and we are praying she gets her strength back soon. 

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma! 

These are for you!
(they are as close to teal as we could find).

So, since it is Mother's Day, I decided to let Mom put up some of her favorite photos from her trip to Boston last month. I guess I have been hogging the blog and have made her wait long enough to put them up.

Mom was only able to get out of the hotel for a hour or two and there were several churches within a couple blocks of where she stayed.

Of course, we had to have a flower picture of some sort....

Mom had several more photos she wanted to post but I put my paw down and said that was enough. Sheesh! There aren't even any photos of dogs in here and this IS a DOG blog! Then she showed me this next photo and I allowed her to post one more....but only because this relates to one of my bestest furiends.

The hotel Mom stayed in was attached to a mall and this was one of the little shops that was in it. My girl, Bijou, has a shop in Boston named after her....who woulda knew? Mom said she tried to find something in the shop to buy but they just didn't have anything she liked.

I hope every Mom had a wonderful Mother's Day, whether you are a Mom to human pups, felines, or canines. I will show you some pics of what I did with my Mom today later in the week.

Another Edition of Flower Friday

Welcome to the weekend! 

Not much has been going on here this week. Mom has been working late EVERY day. I don't get it....what is so important about work that she needs to be there instead of here with me? All I have to say is she better not be going there on the weekend.

Lots of you seem to like tulips so I thought I'd share some more tulip photos from our back yard this year. Unfortunately, they are gone now but we can still enjoy them. Do you think that is why Mom takes so many pictures of flowers? She says tulips are her favorite flower.

Have a most wonderful weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Thanks!

I wanted to take a minute to say thanks to a couple of pals that have helped me get my header centered
(I think it looks centered anyway). 

First of all, Scout, Freyja, and their Mom at Loving for a Living helped me by adding the pink "A wiener dog blog" to the side of the photo. I opened my email one morning and there it was. I thought that was very sweet of them to do that for me without being asked.

Thank you so much for the wonderful header photo!

Secondly, Lola and her Blog Mom at Pei Days offered to look at my HTML and see if she could figure out what needed to be fixed. Several of you offered suggestions and I tried them all but couldn't get anything to work so I emailed Lola and asked if they still wanted to help me out. Lola sent me back a note and told me what to look for and how to fix it. And voila! My photo is centered!

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with my Mom, Lola!

Mom and I would have never been able to fix this without you guys helping us. And we love the image with the border and title on the left.

Also, I would like to thank all of you for making Date Night fun and successful. I appreciate the comments you have left regarding it. Coco at Luv Being a Chihuahua gave me a beautiful boquet of roses and an award for hosting the event.

Thanks so much Coco!

Oh! One more thing! I have updated my banner to match my "new" blog better. So, for those of you who have taken it you are welcome to update as well. And for those of you who haven't taken it....I still love you! ;o)