Sunday, July 27, 2008

Togo's new collar

Togo got a new collar - kids are heading back to college and it is the start of the football season. And anyway, our children are very considerate and go to colleges where the colors look good on the dog - what's better than gold and black on a black dog?

Togo has lost some weight and we did not even know it. I guess taking your dog to 2.5 mile walk every evening does good for everyone, this summer he has gone from the 122.5 lbs to very slim 105 currently. We found out yesterday when we took him for his check up (15,000 mile service as my hubby called it). He got couple of shots, has some gunk in his ears that need some medicated ear drops (nothing too serious though) and he is now very fit dog obviously.

Dogs are like kids when you take them to the vet - you worry about them, you worry about what the vet is going to say, even though it is the routine check up and there really was nothing wrong when you took them in.

Note to Mark: the doctors did empty his anal gland sacs just as a routine, they have done it once before, they said that they just do it so that they don't get a chance to get infected and start stinking... who knew?

~Leena~

Friday, July 18, 2008

Rocco at the beach






Just some beach pictures. This was from April. He likes to dig in the sand, then sit in the hole. He doesn't mind that I cover him in sand. And yes, he's drinking out of an ashtray. We forgot to bring a bowl and brought that from the motel we stayed at, which is dog friendly!

This was in Ocean City, Maryland. They allow dogs on the beach and boardwalk in the off season.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Size Updates?

Hi everyone,





I noticed in the last few posts people mentioned how big their dog currently is. As Jade is a puppy, her weight is ever changing and I thought it would be fun and informative for everyone to post their dog's stats. Here are Jade's:





English Mastiff mom, Labrador/Rottweiler dad


Unspayed female (for now)


16 weeks


39 lbs.

Jade at 12 weeks



Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Jake stinks!

Hi everyone, sorry Ive been out of touch. Trying to make a few bucks in this lousy economy. Anyway as some of you might have guessed, Jake spends a lot of time down at the stone yard that I work out of. If anyone wants to see what I do, go to www.artezens.com, thats me. You can also find me at www.buddyrhodes.com

So down at the stone yard Jake spends most of his time in the little river swimming. You can see the videos from the Mastador YouTube link. He's been really smelling lately. I thought it was due to the muck from the river, so I banned him from the yard for a week, and he only smelled worse. Kinda like nasty athletes foot, or my sons soccer cleats after a game! I thought it was an ear infection but after smelling in that area he was fine. His rear quarters seemed to have the worse offense.

Finally my wife Googles "smelly Labs" and comes up with a diagnosis based on his symptoms. She thinks he has a clogged anal gland. Apparently wandering dogs leave their sent when they defecate, and their glands can get clogged. Well my wife tries to get me to take Jake to the local vet to have him check, luckily I just happen to be busy, ha! Turns out she was right, Jake needed to have his anal glands relieved, possible on a regular basis. $40 a pop. Apparently there are two glands to the sides of his anal pore that if analyzed "pardon the pun" and are swollen, are a good sign of clogged glands. Excessive licking in that area also. The vet says Jakes physique is just prone to this symptom. Its not due to swimming in the river, runny feces, diet, etc...

As he lies next to me now, the smell has not gotten better. I find myself placing chairs next to my side of the bed, and empty grocery bags near me when I watch TV, he's frighten of those.. luckily. But hes still my buddy, and I take him down to the yard to swim when I'm not to busy. I just usually get busy when he's due to have his glands relived as scheduled.

By the way, Jake is now just a little over 2 years old, and weighs 85lbs. I think he knows he smells, and my be a little proud of it.

Mark