Florida Vacation - Final Installment & My Hurt Paw

After a crazy New Years Eve, Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Uncle John were up early and heading out of the house, leaving me home with Grandma. I was a bit sad.
They left me to drive up to Tampa Bay to attend the Outback Bowl featuring Mom's alma matter, The University of Iowa!

Mom said it was a great game, very exciting and they all had a great time!

The game was played at Raymond James Stadium where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, Mom was bummed that the pirate ship was closed, she's always wanted to check it out.

The best part was that Iowa won the game! Wooo hooo! They really beat up South Carolina....go Big Ten!!!

A few days later Uncle John and Mom took me and Spencer for a walk. Check out this great creek that Mom wouldn't let me play in, cuz apparently there are alligators in there.

There were so many great smells, I was in heaven!

I finally gave in and did what I was meant to do, so I ROACHED!

And I roached some more!

Fine Mom, I'll stop. I just can't help myself.

As our time was winding up in Fort Myers, we decided to go back to dog beach one last time. It was so great to be back on the beach, but I was sad knowing we were going home soon.

Spencer came too and was having a great time in the water!

It was so sunny, I had to squint. Good thing Mom uses a lotion on me with sunscreen!

Look at Spencer pose. That fella loves the water!

One last palm tree photo before we head home to cold, snowy Chicago.

On the road trip home, pit stops are necessary. Here we are lunching at Chick-fil-A in Georgia. People, let me tell you, their nuggets ROCKED! I wish there were one of these in Chicago.

Come on, one more nugget for the road....please????

Are we there yet? This is one long trip home.

What a great vacation I had. I will remember it forever! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for such a wonderful time!

Now, on to my hurt paw. I've been limping for the last week, and Mom and Dad thought I had hurt my paw on the snow and/or ice outside, but as Mom was inspecting my paw pad, she saw what she assumed was a cyst, so off to the vet we went.

The vet, the bestest ever, Dr. Marks, checked out my food and thinks it's not a cyst, but a puncture wound just off my paw pad. The cyst like formation is a bacteria buildup. Dr. Marks cleaned me up and sent us home with antibiotics to take to kill the icky bacteria that is hurting my paw. I'm already limping a bit less, so hopefully, I'll be back to normal soon!

'till next time,

Kirby

Airecuts aren't worth it!

So, Stanley recently asked if I was going to get an Airecut before I headed down to Florida with Mom and Dad, and funny he asked, cuz yesterday, I got groomed.

Now, I have to warn all you doggies out there not to misbehave when you are on the grooming table. Apparently, I must have been thrashing about when I was on the table and hooked onto the grooming loop. I was fine when I went home, but late last night I began to feel some pain and I cried out and went to Mom for help. Mom had no clue what to do, every time she touched my head/neck area I would yelp and cry. She took off my collar and bandanna to ease the pain on my neck and then called the Emergency Vet. They felt if she could settle me in for the night, I would not need to visit them, but they did recommend a trip to my regular vet in the AM. So, at midnight, I still would not fall asleep. I was so tired that my eyes were shutting, but each time I put my head down it hurt SO BAD! Finally, I just fell asleep.

First thing this morning, Mom rushed me off to my most favorite vet in the whole world, Dr. Marks! Dr. Marks knew something was wrong right away. Normally, I would jump all over her and slobber kisses on her face, but all she got was a bit of a tail wag. I was examined and then given TWO SHOTS! OWWWW!!!! Dr. Marks felt that I most likely had injured the soft tissue around my neck when I was on the table and this was causing all of my discomfort. So, she gave me a muscle relaxer and and anti-inflammatory to take until Sunday. When I left her office, my tail was back up and I was acting more like myself again.

So, no rough play for me this weekend, no running or being crazy, no, me the dog who gets hurt at the groomers has to rest. All this just so I could smell nice and clean up my hair....If you ask me, it's just not worth it!

'till next time,
Kirby

X-Ray Results

So, the x-rays are in and for the most part, all is well. My hips are really good according to my wonderful vet. It looks like I have a bit of cartilage or something in my soft tissue on my right hind leg, which was along the lines of what my Chiro Vet thought. This will require a bit of hydro therapy, which I'm all for. I'm always up for swimming!
This x-ray of my spine caused some hmmmm's in the vets office today. Apparently, one of my lumbar's or something doesn't look exactly perfect. A bunch of vets looked at it and no one could say it is a problem, but no one was 100% that it wasn't something wrong, so off my x-ray went for an Orthopedic consultation. Apparently, it could be how I was positioned for the x-ray, but my hard working vet wants to make sure we rule everything out. We should hear back from the Orthopedic by Thursday, so once they let us know, I'll let you all know.
Other than that, Mom had found a 'mass' on my butt, and my vet looked it over and informed Mom that it was a zit. Can you believe it? I've got a pimple on my butt! Ha ha ha!!!

Well, I'm off to rest. I had to be sedated for the x-rays, and I'm a bit tired still.

'till next time,

Kirby

PAWS Walk 2008

Thank you to all of my friends who expressed concerns over my leg and x-rays tomorrow. I'm not in any pain, none at all! My agility instructor didn't like how I was not jumping correctly, and wanted me evaluated before they pursued an aggressive jumping regimen for me. As long as my x-rays tomorrow are clean, I'll do a bit of water therapy to strengthen my lesser used hind leg and I should be better than ever in no time! Now, onto the fun from today!!

Today was the PAWS 'Run For Their Lives' 4K walk. We got to the park nice and early and checked out all of the vendors booths and got some free goodies. Got to love Petco and their free Frisbees!
There were over 4,000 runners and walkers, so it was WAY crowded. The start of the run was delayed, so that pushed back the walk start, so needless to say, there was lots and lots of waiting.
Still waiting. When is this walk gonna get going? I guess, I can waste some time sniffing the other dogs around me!
Finally, we are off and walking. In the past, we've gotten stuck in the back of the pack and couldn't go very fast, so we were right in front this year and were moving at a great pace!
Wooo hooo! This is great. I love the course they had planned, as it is my usual lakefront run course, so I was very familiar with it. Oh, Mom dressed me in my Cubs bandanna for the day. Dad says that I've got to represent. Go Cubbies!
When we finished the walk, we hit the food tent. While Mom and Dad gorged on delicious looking Krispy Kremes and Ann Sather cinnamon rolls (if you are ever in Chicago, you must have one of these, so yummy)! Since I am on a weight loss program, there was no yummers for me. Only some banana, oh boy.

We made our way back to the vendor tents to see if we missed anything, and guess who I saw? It is my most favorite Veterinarian in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, Dr. Marks! And she had her super pawsome pug with her. His name is Clyde and he is super, super cool! Clyde and I were having a blast playing. Clyde is a tough little dude and let me tell you, he was wailing on me. Those little pooches are mighty strong! I had a great time playing with you Clyde, I'm sending licks out to you bud!
Of course, I had to get a picture with the greatest vet ever! Dr. Marks, I'll give you tons of kisses when I see you tomorrow!
It was a wonderful day. Plenty of dogs, lots of cat owners representing their kitties with buttons with their pictures, and some treats (not too many though). Best of all, over $277,000.00 was raised to help the homeless dogs of Chicago. Mom especially likes helping PAWS, since they are a no-kill shelter. Thank you to all of our friends and family that helped to support our walk today. 100% of your donations went to PAWS!! WOOO HOOOO!
I hope you all had a great weekend and are in for a even better week ahead!

'till next time,

Kirby

Got a boo boo

On Thursday night, Mom was playing with me when she felt a lump on my back. She checks me pretty often for lumps & bumps, so she new this was new. Her and Dad agreed to see if the bump would decrease in size overnight. In the morning, Dad noticed that my bump was now bleeding and had puss leaking out. Eeeewwww. Dad cleaned my yucky spot up, but it just kept getting yucky, so off to the vet I went. Yes, another visit with Dr. Marks (not that I minded!) Dr. Marks agreed that my bump needed to be cleaned up and really looked at.
After they shaved me down (a square smack in the middle of my back) and drained out the yucky stuff they found a puncture wound! It seems when I was playing with my pal Lucky, his tooth punctured my skin. Dad was shocked as I never made a sound, so now I'm his 'tough' guy. Luckily, no stitches were needed, but now I've got a bald square on my back with a big old scab smack in the middle. I've gotten plenty of weird looks when I've been out on my walks.
Don't worry about me, I'm totally fine and acting crazy, as usual! I just can't wait till my hair grows back, so I can look normal again!

'Till next time,

Kirby

Bark InThe Park 2008!

Saturday was the 14th annual Bark in the Park charity walk benefiting the Anti-Cruelty Society here in Chicago. Mom and Dad leashed me up early, and off we went. The 3.2 mile walk is held along the Chicago lakefront at Montrose harbor. The Anti-Cruelty Society is a great organization that WE love to support. Last year they found homes for over 5,700 animals and spay/neutered over 13,000 animals! Woo Hoo! I love nothing more than helping homeless animals find loving homes like mine!
We were near the very front of the pack of walkers. Over 3,000 walkers were expected, so we got up front early. We were hoping to get on TV, but they scanned right around us. DARN, maybe next year!
Look at all those people and their pooches! People who have kitties were encouraged to make buttons that had their kitties pictures and their names. They were so cool.
As we were walking along, I met this guy. At first I thought he was a pony, but nope, he swears he's a dog just like me. Just like me? Not quite buddy.

We had a good pace going, but Mom kept stopping to take pictures. Come on woman, hurry up. There are all kinds of treats at the end!
Once I finished the walk, I headed over to the agility area. My agility instructor, Stacey Hawk was running the agility course. I was kind of bummed that I had to stay on leash, but there were all kinds of dogs on the course, so for safety's sake we were all on lead.
Ahhh, where is my teacher with the cheese?
Guess who was at the event? My most favorite dogtor ever, Dr. Marks. She had to leave her pug Clyde at home since she was working the event, so I was a bit sad. I met Clyde at the Paws walk last fall and we became buds. Dr. Marks said that I was looking good and that the dog diet must be working as I was looking slimmer. We'll see what the scale shows. Thanks for the kisses Dr. Marks, you know I love ya!
After the walk, we checked out all the booths with yummy treats, toys and all kinds of great dog organizations. I put on the charm at each booth to scam some treats. We got my paw prints taken, but skipped the dog massage this year. I had one last year, but was so excited, that I spent the whole time wiggling, so Mom said not this year buddy. We hit the food tent and I enjoyed some apple while Mom and Dad ate donuts and bagels, so not fair!

Oh, while I was checking out all the booths, I found the Fresh Pet booth, where they were giving out samples of their Deli Fresh roll. Mom commented how she remembers seeing Deli Fresh on Bogarts' blog, and so she told the marketing girl, and you know what? They gave my Mom a free roll to take home for me! Woo Hoo, I'm gonna drop Bogarts name everywhere if it gets me full size freebies! Bogart, you are the best! Thanks for helping me to score free treats! As we were ready to head home, it began to rain, so I was quite happy that I did everything I wanted and I was going to stay dry! What a great day and a great way to help less fortunate animals!

'Till next time,

Kirby

Going to the vet

What's that you say Mom, we're off to the vet? I must say that I'm usually much more excited about going to the vet, but I had just wanted Oprah's puppy mill episode, so I was a bit bummed out. All those poor dogs. Sigh. I was excited about one part of the show, the vet's office where the doggie was neutered is where I go! I've never worked with Dr. Rubin, but I hear he is top notch. Well, let's load in Mom!

Ah yes, the wait. I try to remain calm and well behaved waiting for my most favorite vet ever! Mom remembered to bring her treats this time, so if I was well behaved I would get a few treats!
Anything exciting over there? I noticed the charts were tucked far back. They must have known I'd be in today. A few visits back, I ate a few pages of my chart. Ooops, I've got a thing for paper, what can I say? Oooh, I see some treats in the jar back there too. Yummers!
Fine Mom, I'll sit and be a NICE dog for you, OK? Is this good enough? I'm about to burst with excitement, where is my doctor?
AT LAST! There she is, my most favorite person outside of my family. This is Dr. Marks, I know I've featured her before, but I feel she needs more blog space. I never mind going to the vet as long as I get to see Dr. Marks. No shot or treatment can make me angry with her. Mom and I had a great visit with her. We discussed what I've been up to and the possibility of me getting a sister dog (Mom & Dad have been inspired by Keeley getting a sister pup). Nothing is decided, but at least they're discussing it. So, all in all it was a great visit.
Thank you, Dr. Marks, for providing me with THE BEST care! I just LOVE you!!!

'Till next time,

Kirby