RIP The Good Dog Mr. Audie Murphy

Some sad news to report.

Murphy's Law's dog Audie Murphy, after 12 years, with most of them spent living his best life with one of the best dog owners ever, has gone on to heaven to await his master and friend.

He'll be there waiting with Ms. Memphis Belle. Losing two dogs in two consecutive months is horribly tough.  Audie Murphy was a darn good dog, loyal and man's best friend to the end.

If you want to head over to Murphy Law's blog, Lagniappe's Lair, and extend some condolences, I'm sure he'd appreciate them.

RIP The Good Dog Ms. Memphis Belle

Murphy's dog Bell has gone on to puppy heaven.

Belle was gentle, mischievous, and an impressively able escape artist.

I remember the day this picture was taken. 

 I had helped move Murph and the pups to New Orleans. Not more than a few minutes after this picture had been taken, Belle had escaped the backyard and shown up on the front porch, very proud of herself.

Losing a dog like that is losing a family member and Murphy took her in, fixed her up and saved her, and gave her the best 9 years a dog could possibly want.

If you have a chance, hop over to his page and give him your condolences.

Piper Gets A Taste For Sole Food

In one single day this week, Piper chomped on 4 different sneakers.  Seems to be going through a sole food phase.

Each one, of course, from a different pair.  

One from each of us, including the ones I wear for PT.  They just happened to be my only sneakers/workout shoes.  Ugh.

So, I had to hurriedly order a new pair. Since I still can't bend down and putting on shoes are hard and I can't reach to tie them, I decided to try a slip on pair of sneakers to see if I could get them on and off better.

I figured for  $36, now apparently $39 (talk about quick inflation), it would be worth a shot and they would be here on time for the next PT session.

They actually work, and actually are pretty comfy after you tie them up, they will still slip on yet stay on and fit properly, and are very easy to take off which helps a lot.

Yesterday, she was cruising by Tash's tennis shoes.  Eating those would lead to a very bad result for Piper.

It's a very good thing she's cute.

Piper And The China Olympic Games

Piper, in addition to being 75% Airedale and 25% Poodle, seems to have some mountain goat in her.  She does like to take the high ground.

 

Well, she decided to switch things up a bit and go low for a change 

Possibly one day she was contemplating the nature of things on her perch and decided that she wanted to view the Olympic games - live. Or, perhaps, she wanted to go try and free Uygurs from concentration camps, one or the other.

Either way, she launched her cunning plan in-house and started digging her way to China.

Shoe and chew toy for scale on the two main attempted Michigan-China tunnel connections.

Both holes, sadly for her but good for us, stopped far short of her intended destination. But, she did make it right through the carpet and under pad to the base netting of the under pad itself.

Ah well, the carpet had lasted 12 years, and other (smaller) holes from Jett's own carpet digging stage have been cunningly hidden by furniture.  No way to hide these though, she had to put them in very prominent spots.

It's now time to think about replacing the carpet with some wood or laminate flooring and spruce the place up a bit and make tunneling through just a bit tougher.

Some Really Great News!

Jett had his latest appointment with the Doggie Oncologist, and his third melanoma treatment shot in the series.  

The staff at the animal hospital are in love with him, he's very mellow and happy when he's there and he behaves really well and smiles at them a lot.

He walked out of the exam room wearing this:

The cancer appears to be in complete remission.  It has not spread to the lungs or lymph nodes. Let's hope the treatment keeps on working.

A couple more shots to go and the melanoma treatment series will be complete, and with any luck that will be the end of it.

The happy yet tired dog, now home on the bed, and relaxing accordingly after his vet visit.  Some great news to start the weekend.

Jett: Of Dogs And Cancer

Did you know that dogs could get melanoma?

Neither did I.

Kinda figured the hair/fur would prevent skin cancer. Turns out, not so much. Indeed, it turns out dogs can get melanoma even when not sun bathing without using sunscreen.

Jett had a small mass on his paw that was removed in early November and the lab reported just before Thanksgiving that he has malignant melanoma. Not good.  It took until today to get an appointment with the Vet Oncologist.

We finally had the appointment today.  There's a fantastic oncologist at Blue Pearl Animal Hospital, and she is quite simply top-notch.

The bad news:  He's got an aggressive strain of malignant melanoma and it could become bad.

The good news: Thankfully there is no sign of the cancer moving to the lymph nodes or lung so we caught it early.

The other bad news:  This malignant melanoma doesn't just go away and it could still become bad very quickly.

The other good news:  There is treatment for dogs: an immunity booster series (incorrectly called a vaccine) to fight malignant melanoma that works 50% of the time and can potentially teach his immune system to fight it and clear it from the body,

The other other bad news: 50% of the time the immunity booster series does nothing, and it costs an arm and a leg.

Are we doing it?  Obviously yes, after all, he's family.

Piper Playtime

Piper sez: "I love you red solo cup".

Unfortunately for the red solo cup, love bites. 

She does love to gnaw on solo cups, among everything else not bolted down, and even some things that are bolted down.

Piper also got some fun in this morning with Paxton, and Rocky, and Jett.

She kept up playing with the big dogs and doesn't shy away from them, nipping and barking with the best of them.  We still keep her on a leash but she'll run to its end to keep up with the other dogs.

But she couldn't quite pin Paxton until Jett came along.

Teamwork makes the dream work

 

This tired out all four dogs, which was good for all involved.

Cleaning Day

Had both an enjoyable and a not-so-enjoyable cleaning experience today.

The enjoyable cleaning experience was my Flying Club's Wash n' Wax where we cleaned both planes and made them shine, not to mention vacuumed the interiors.  We then held a meeting of members and discussed the state of the club and some future plans.  The club is in good financial shape with reserves for the engines and the engines on both planes are running strong, even as the Archer is getting close to its TBO time.  So far oil analysis and compressions are excellent but we've got enough to cover a full factory overhaul just in case.

Some members want to overhaul the Dakota's interior, so we will see what the cost of that may be.

I was asked to run for a Board of Directors slot, so I am doing so and we'll see what happens.  

Lots of fun and good to be around airplanes and a good bunch of people.

Then the not-so-enjoyable experience:  

Piper went to the vet yesterday and got checked out.  Turns out she's growing properly but running a tad thin so we're upping her food amount, but she was otherwise great.  She also then got the appropriate shot for her age.

It turns out dogs can have reactions to vaccines. Did not know that. Piper certainly did.

The reaction in this case is explosive projectile poop-age.

9 times overnight and this morning, 5 of which were examples of biological warfare indoors.

How something so small can have that much poop inside is a mystery.

Cleaning that up was no fun. 

So, she went back to the vet today and got some medication to help with that reaction and she's fine and it seems to be settling down but still not back to normal yet.  Keeping her off the carpet anyways for now until she's back to normal.

It's always got to be something.

Piper Says: Choose The Life You Want

Piper apparently likes Tash's taste in books, and she's working on living her best life

Always good to have positive books about increasing happiness for consumption around here.

Or is it that she likes the taste of Tash's books?

Two Dogs, One Tug

Unlike the more infamous Internet meme that you really don;t want to search for, this is family friendly.

Up until now, Jett has been ignoring Piper and generally been unhappy with the new addition to the family.  Typically he was growling whenever she approached and didn't want to have much to do with her.

We bought them a tug big enough for the two of them to play with.

They both enjoyed the tug o' war.  Much happy growls from both sides.

Finally they've started  playing together a bit.  Piper will chase Jett until he growls at her, then she'll chase him some more, perhaps nip him a bit, and more growling will ensue and some fun running around then occurs. 

Jett is still not 100% sure about Piper, but he's started warming up to her.

How Much Is That Piper In The Window?

Piper is keeping us on our toes.

She likes to get everywhere.  Yesterday, she managed to trap herself inside the shower. Some cute hilarity ensued.

She was released none the worse for wear and still full of energy.

Sadly, she doesn't quite get where to go yet, so as much as she's going outside, she's also going inside, possibly mistaking the carpet for grass.  Much cleaning up ensues.

She has also taken up Jiu Jitsu.  She's in the leg-lock chapter, currently working on toe holds.

The problem is she does the toe holds with her sharp puppy teeth.

Ouch.

She does get people tapping out to it.

Good thing she's cute. 

Piper Day 4

So Piper is still settling in and has quite the personality. 

She's very curious, into everything, and wants to be everywhere at once.  She actually made it through the night two nights in a row, for which we are thankful.

She is bonding to us nicely.

So far, two accidents inside today and its only 10 am.  Did get her outside for some activity and she went outside when she first got up before said accidents, which helped cut down overall number of accidents inside. Raising a puppy requires patience and quite a clean-up effort.  Working on better get her outside quick processes and trying to read her closely for when she's about to go inside and try to get ahead of it.  Very mixed success so far.

Outside, she unfortunately distracts herself from doing her business by happily chewing on anything she can find. 

She's already learning about baseball as a good American pup should.

Jett is starting to warm up a bit to this high-energy creature that has rocked his world. He's still a little down though. As an older brother, I, too understand what this is like.

The two of them actually played together for a bit yesterday.

 

This is a good sign.  Mainly he's been staying away from her and she is starting to try and get him to play so we will see.

Containment of the rambunctious and free-flying Piper  has also been attempted.

These walls cannot hold me!

I expect by next week she will be able to launch herself over the wall but for now the doggie playpen used for short stints at least keeps her in one area by us and reduces overall mayhem and we tend to go in there with her to keep her company and play with her.

Currently toes are not safe from the teething Piper.  Those puppy teeth hurt.  We have lots of chew toys to distract her, but she does like to consume toes every now and then. 

She wants to chew everything, including phones.

I'm here to chew bubblegum and eat phones, and I am all out of bubblegum.

She's off sleeping in her hangar (crate) now.  Soon to be let out for de-fueling and refueling operations.

Update:  That didn't last. Less than 24 hours from getting the playpen. On coming home from the office just now after letting her out I put her in the playpen. She figured out how to bust out of the doggie playpen while I was on a Zoom call. Suddenly a pup was at my feet wanting to join in on the Zoom.  Oh well.

Day 2 Of Piper - 1 A.M. Regerts?

Piper decided she needed a pre-flight at 1 a.m. this morning.

Ouch.  Good thing she's cute and gives off Puppytocin like it's going out of style.

She is crate trained, but decided to let the whole house know she needed out of the crate at 1 a.m.

Ouch.  We forgot or suppressed this part of having a puppy.

Jett is very much not amused.

Look, I gave consent to this idea, but now I'm not sure if it was informed consent.

 

So we got up and let her out and then back in.

Then up at 6 a.m. with the kids and she got outside again, had her fuel like she hadn't been fueled up in forever, I mean she wolfed that puppy food down, and then went out again with Jett. After that I took Jett for a longer walk on his own.

She's a very curious pup, very interested in her new home and checking everything out both outside and in.

Last night she discovered mirrors 

She rather enjoyed checking herself out.

She then got some experience with technology.

She was intrigued to hear music coming from Abby's phone.  Much more interesting than her new squeaky toy.

She's a good pup, very sweet, and quite the handful trying her best to get into everything.

A New Furry Addition To The Family

Just in time for Rosh Hashanah, we headed to Ionia as the breeder where we had gotten Jett had sent an email out that she had some unclaimed pups and would we be interested in one?

Why yes, yes we would.  It was time Jett got a companion.

Meet Piper, the latest addition to the family and our second Airedoodle. 

She's a lively one at 10 weeks old and already has a definite mind of her own, and likes exploring.  She's doesn't exactly enjoy a leash yet and tends to want to walk you and not the other way around, so that will take some work.  Shes a puppy and never been on a leash so totally normal.

She's 75% Airedale and 25% Poodle.  She's into everything, and is very cuddly, friendly, and showing a lot of smarts already.

Jett is not 100% sure of the situation, but is tolerating her antics so far.  They did great on the drive back and she passed out on my arm in the car for a little bit then popped right back up and kept looking around and snuggling everyone.  

Then once we got home, after an outside break where she got to see the yard and have a potty break, and then she got to explore the inside and then have an accident (puppies it happens) she passed out in her new to her crate.  She's now out for a walk with Jett and the kids and is settling in fine.

When You're Dog Tired In The Morning

That feeling when you're having a hard time waking up.

It's a dog's life alright.

How Much Is That Doggie-Broken Window?

Came home from work to this:

\>

Jett, you see, is rather affronted by squirrels who think they can just go gallivant about his backyard.

This leads to him barking furiously and leaping at them with his paws hitting the glass, repeatedly.

Or in this case paws pushing the glass right through the frame.

This is the second time in two years that he broke this particular pane of glass.

I'm thinking we're going to replace it with a couple layers of poly-carbonate instead of glass this time.

I'm sorry I broke the glass, but you shoulda seen that flippin' squirrel jump when I busted the window!

Well, the hole is now boarded up, as we'd rather not air condition the backyard and it's going to be sweltering tomorrow. Now to go shop for some poly-carbonate.

Jett Sez:

"Global Warming my A##!"

Poor fellow was covered in just a few minutes during our walk this morning.

A mix of sleet and freezing rain this morning is being followed by 5-8 inches of snow expected to last throughout the day. It's wet and heavy snow too.

The Pensive Pooch

Jett, Airdoodle extraordinaire, contemplating the nature of life, the universe, and the strange delivery times of the Amazon delivery people, who get extra barking attention when they pull up in the driveway and leave a package on the porch.

Jett And The Skunk Part 2

Well the smell is receding a fair bit.

Jett has indicated he really doesn't like skunks. he's off to be groomed today so we'll see how much of him comes back.

Jett called on his Airedale heritage and he's asked to wear this on his next walk to be ready for chemical warfare, just in case:

Update: Picked up from the groomer, he's a bit more shaved then I would like but apparently the odor is not bad now. But instead of the Airedoodle cut he got a poodle-type cut.

Still cute, and he still wants a gas mask.

The MiG and The Jett - A Thrilling Tale of Lawn to Lawn Combat

There was an epic meeting engagement this weekend between the Mig and the Jett.

While on patrol, approaching Pack VI, the heroic Jett pilot could sense the upcoming engagement in the air:

It's going to be a Mig day, I can feel it.

Sure enough, just up the way, the Mig waited under tight control at the base of the engagement area until it was time to be let loose.

Controller, where is the Imperialist American Jett?

When the Jett came in range, the Mig was loosed to pounce and the furball began.

I've got you now!

The MiG is both smaller and more maneuverable than the mighty American Jett, but if the Jett refuses the turning game and instead fights in the vertical plane with afterburners he can disengage at will.

No you don't got squat! Afterburners lit, and maneuvering to a more favorable engagement position.

And the Jett can then after disengaging turn about and re-engage at will:

The MiG is too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns.

After multiple maneuvers, and low on fuel, the MiG had to return home to its safe haven, promising to come out to play another day.

I'll be back, you American running-dog".

The tail continues.