WinterPaws Arctic Breed Rescue - Jaxon's Blog

It's "snot" fair!

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:11:46 -0800

Why, oh why, must I deal with the perpetual sniffage? While my hu-mom & dad surely get a big kick out of watching me flip around like a squirrel on crack sneezing, I personally do not enjoy strings of green goo hanging from my person. The other day, I could have sworn mom was going to call Guiness because of the 13 inch mucus string hanging from my nose. Not amusing.

They say it's my birthday! Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah...

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Happy birfday to me... (cha, cha, cha!). Happy birfday to me...(cha, cha, cha!) Happy BIRFDAY to the most-awesomest-fluffiest-gorgeous Mally on the pla-net.... Happy birfday to me! (cha, cha, cha!)What a great morning! I'm three years old today! Yep... the big OH-THREE. Or, maybe that's 21? If it is, shouldn't I get to share that beer with dad? I dunno. Nevermind the sun is barely awake yet. But I'm spending the day with my family, which is going to be the BEST! I bet we go to the park and get ice cream and a new bone and.... Hey, everyone is up! They're up and getting dressed to celebrate my birthday. But wait! What's this? Where is everyone going? Aren't we going to the park today? Mom? Dad? She keeps saying something about a "ball tournament" and "out of town."

And there they go....out the door... without me. Sigh.

Maybe they forgot? No, surely not. Mom plans this day for me every year. Maybe they're going to get presents? Yeah, that's it. I'll just wait right here by the door.

I see that my brother who sleeps a lot is still here. And here comes his girlfriend who plays with me all the time. She likes me. She's cool. She'll celebrate with me! But wait! They're leaving too. What is going on here?

I can't believe I'm being left alone with Chloe on my birthday. All she does is bounce on my head. These people better make it up to me or I'm going to pee in ALL of dad's shoes! Oh well... SQUIRREL!

Autumn Breezes & Sneezes

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Everything tastes better with dog hair in it!

I've heard my hu-mom say this a thousand times, but never was it quite so evident than last Sunday during our morning cuddle time. Hu-dad brought mom her coffee in bed (which seemed to surprise mom), and immediately after taking a sip, she practically sputtered and choked the entire contents all over my beautiful coat. Apparently, during my spa/grooming session in the middle of the kitchen floor the night before, portions of my beauteous coat floated delicately into the coffee cups perched and ready on the counter. Dad, once again disregarding the rules of Malamute living, did not rinse the cup before pouring mom hers. Hence the freakishly inadequate Heimlich Maneuver I witnessed as I was abruptly awoke from a great Sunday morning dream.

Chloe, ever the diva of the family, gave us all her "I'm better than you" growl and hopped off the bed, but I had to see what all the fuss was about. Since I've been sick I tend to be a little more "in your face" with my humans. So I stepped across the bed, apparently on mom's leg because I heard her "OW!" loud and clear and got up real close like to her face to sniff that cup and see what it was all about. And then it hit me. The urge. The urge that has been plaguing me every morning since the Spring. The urge...to sneeze.

Coffee. Everywhere. Mom. Yelling. Dad. Laughing. Chloe. Growling. Me? Well I was just trying to keep my balance as my head was thrashing about from the maximum force of air through my nose. Once I was sure all the snot was completely off my face and onto mom's pajamas, I decided I'd had enough of this hijinkery and made way for the back door. Mom stomped right behind me, keeping up every step of the way muttering to herself something about the things she does for me. Imagine my surprise when I heard the door slam as I walked out into the cool autumn air. What. No treat? Dang it.

Canine Eosinophilic Bronchopneumopathy (EBP)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Big words for a furry guy, huh? But that's what I have. After about 5 months and almost $2,000, a wonderful doctor was able to determine what has been wrong with me all this time. Mom took me to another doctor lady who had some equipment she was able to use to figure it out. Mom didn't just rest easy, either. She researched and talked to the lady about all kinds of stuff to find out. I've never been poked and prodded so much in my life. They even made me sleepy so they could take something called "x-rays" of my whole body.

I guess this is something that I'm going to have forever. But thank goodness mom now knows what to do about it so it doesn't get really bad. You see, EBP can be quite serious. It means that my lungs are inflamed, but not from infection. The true definition of it is: "a disease characterized by eosinophilic infiltration of lung and bronchial mucosa." See? Big words? But it all boils down to the fact that I cough a lot, and gag, and have snot issues. Sometimes I even feel a bit tired on some days and can't walk as much or run with mom anymore. Nobody knows why I got it. But some people say that it started with something called an a-l-l-e-r-g-y. The lady doctor said that this is a rare thing, but when it is found, it's mostly found in breeds like me and like Chloe (northern breeds).

Mom has been giving me something called prednisone for about three months now. At first I thought I was just getting free hot dogs and pizza rolls, but soon I realized that whenever mom went to the cabinet, I was getting something put in my food. Sometimes I just wouldn't eat it. It makes me feel really funny. At first I was taking a lot of it and I had to pee ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I couldn't hold it and sometimes I went in my sleep. Mom never got mad at me though. She just cleaned me and the floors up and moved on. Then I got really, really hungry. I wanted to eat everything. I'd even wake dad up in the middle of the night to eat. After awhile, mom just wouldn't give me more food because she said I was getting fat, sooooo, I started hunting down all the socks in the house. Yummy, but not so good the next day. Boy it made my tummy hurt. And worse of all, I started feeling a bit jumpy. I didn't like Chloe bothering me and I let her know about it. Sometimes I just had to speak up for no reason at all, and sometimes I got really mad at the dogs next door. But pretty soon, I wasn't taking as much and I began to feel better. Now I'm just taking a little bit every other day and I feel much better. Still cough and sneeze, but everybody's getting used to it. I still like to go for walks with mom, but I just can't seem to go as far as I used to. Mom also gives me something called Zyrtec now and then if it's a really dusty day outside or she does house cleaning that stirs up dust. I guess that aggravates my condition a bit.

Well enough with the serious talk. I'm gonna be okay and mom says the money spent was well worth it to figure that out. She calls me the million dollar dog! I must be important! :)

Stinky Fun...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:05:30 -0800

"Jax, you never stood a chance...."

This is what mom said to me at 3:30 this morning when I bounded in the back door and she just about doubled over from the smell. See, I heard Chloe outside and couldn't figure out why she was out there at that time of morning, pawing at the door so I had to get get everyone out of bed barking and wooing. Mom opened the door for Chloe and she looked just terrified, foaming at the mouth and Whew! s-m-e-l-l-y! So I ran out there to see what was up. Yuck! Big mistake. This little black & white creature hissed at me, started stomping the ground and then squirted something out of his behind right at my face! Nasty. Made me cough and sneeze all over (like I need more of that!)

Mom was yelling at us, dad was blocking the doorways and my hu-brothers were laughing.... so Chloe and I dodged everybody and just ran around the house. Had to stop now and then to roll on the floors and couches to get that nasty smell off. Mom didn't look pleased about this, but all I was trying to do is stop smelling yucky. Mom made Chloe drink a bunch of water so she would stop spitting foamy stuff everywhere. And then, all of the sudden, mom made us go out to the garage and stay there! Can you believe that? It was HOT out there. I was not pleased, but she brought us a fan and a big bowl of water. All I know is that I was still excited and we were stinky. What was that thing out there?

After a few minutes, mom took Chloe and I out of the garage and made us get into the bathtub. She had mixed up a batch of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and a tiny bit of dish soap and scrubbed us down. Now, I might love my pool and sprinkler, but I hate, and I mean hate, the bathtub! Chloe just sits there like a big baby, but I try everything I can to get out of that thing. I don't belong in there. It's slippery. After I made my displeasure known to everyone it was quickly over. Mom put us both back in the garage (but I made sure to shake all that stuff off me several times as I walked through the house), and we had to stay there for quite awhile, soaking wet. I heard my family in the house mopping floors, washing sheets (because Chloe ran straight for mom's bed and plopped down on it) banging stuff around and vacuuming floors. Wow, is it cleaning day already?

Pretty soon dad came for us again and mom rinsed us off in the tub and got us dried off. Not pretty. By this time, dad thought he should just go to work and Chloe and I decided it was a good time for a zoomie session. I don't know why she thinks she can catch me. I can leap over the sofa quicker than she can run around it.

The last thing I remember before mom finally shut off the lights at 5:15 am was her muttering something about "incorrigible mutts." I don't know what that means, but I had to pee and she wouldn't let me out. Darn it. I hate going to bed when I have to pee.

Late night skunk hunters

Shots, pills and hot dogs... oh my!

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:56:41 -0800

I apologize to my fans for not writing in some time. You see.... I was doing well with the whole snot drippage thing, but it came back full force in late May. I got lots of hot dogs that week and after awhile, they just didn't taste good anymore. Nasty pills. Does mom think I don't know what she's doing? I'm on to her. Mom & I headed back to the dreaded vet for some blood work and found out I had an elevated white blood cell count. Man, I've been fighting something nasty. So mom (being brave and all) told the vet that she could administer the needed injections of really strong antibiotics for the next seven days. (For those paying attention, it was Excenel and Gentocin.) Fourteen shots... OUCH! I had absolutely no idea what was going on when I felt that little pinch, but believe it or not, after a couple of days I really started feeling better and my tummy wasn't bothered at all. Those shots were pretty irritating though because it took awhile for the medicine to get in there and after awhile I let mom know it and gave her "the stare" and showed her a few of my purty teeth. Dad stayed far away. He didn't like hearing me whine during the shots. She didn't want me to start being afraid of her so she let some other people (who knew what they were doing) give me the rest of the shots. I felt pretty good for awhile... even played in my pool again and started harassing Chloe, but just last week the snot started slinging again. Soooo...... we're going to a different doctor to see if she can find out what's up. Oh, I'm not at death's door or anything like that, but mom's headed to Florida on vacation and she really wants to make sure I'm okay before she leaves me with a sitter for the week. (Sitters are fun... they don't know what I am and am not supposed to do! Muahahahahaaa.)

In the meantime I got this really cool new toy last night. Pink, fluffy, and SQUEAKY! Lots of squeaks. Awesome squeaks. I carry it everywhere I go and Chloe can't have it. It's mine! When I drop it, it's mine. When I leave it on top of mom's chest at 3 am, it's mine. When I pull all the water out of the water bowl with my paw and put the toy in there, it's still mine. When it's soaking wet with slobber, then it's really mine.

I'm off to take another nap. The Mucinex DM is kicking in and I'm ready for a snooze. Be sure and check back in a couple of weeks to find out how my week with the sitter went. Maybe I can convince her that I'm allowed to run out the front door without a leash...

Partied Out and Water Logged

Mon, 09 May 2011 18:28:32 -0800

Wow. It is f-r-e-a-k-i-n hot out there. Woke up Saturday morning (virtually snot free thank you very much) and wondered who moved the sun 100 miles closer to Earth. Just last week mom had that freak out where she was covering up all my snacks....er.....flowers and plants.... in the back yard it was so cold. Let me tell you, living in the Ozarks with this permanent parka is no picnic! You never know what each day will bring.

Big excitement went on around my place Saturday, though. Mom and Dad are having a par-tay. Everything smells so good. Of course, I immediately realized I would have to guard the grill just in case one of the hamburgers escaped, but alas - no such luck. This was a first for me because mom usually sends sis and me to overnight camp while she has guests over, something about me jumping up on people (I don't see what the problem is....who wouldn't want to look at my gorgeous snout face to face?) but she decided to "give me a chance" she said. I don't know why Chloe didn't get the talking to. She can't resist greeting every human with a sniff in their nether regions. Quite unladylike if you ask me. There were so many people here and small ones at that. I didn't know the humans were made that that small! Mom kept saying to "leave the kids alone" but they were so loud and exciting. Kept running around kicking my soccer ball so I just had to show off my goalie skills. (Personally, Manchester United would be lucky to have me.) They didn't like it when I picked up the soccer ball with my teeth and ran to the other side to score a goal. (Hey-the rules say no HANDS and I think I've got that covered.) Maybe they should learn how to to use their own teeth! Hmmph. It was a blast. Everyone kept throwing my toys for me to chase and when they didn't want to do it anymore I just dropped it at someone else's feet and then they threw it, and, well, I think I worked off the cheeseburger I snarfed off the counter that afternoon. Gotta keep fit. After about 5 hours of that, I finally gave the humans a rest. I mean, I wasn't tired, but you know... just trying to be polite.

Sunday was even worse! Eight-seven degrees! When is this fur gonna fall out? C'mon molting season! :) After I slept in, mom got busy and brought out my favorite supplies for summer... my pool and sprinkler! Even Chloe decided to grace us with her presence and partake of the misty wonder. Had to keep her out of the pool though, that's MY pool, peeps. Who says we don't do well in this climate? A little water action and air conditioning and it's all good! What a weekend. I'm thoroughly happy and ready to take a nice, long nap! Mom always says, "A tired dog is a good dog." Don't know what the heck she means by that, I'm always perfect. Check me out!

Snot Bubbles

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:28:59 -0800

Well I'm officially sick. I cat tawk bewy well cuz m'nose is tuffed up, but I'll try. Started coughing a few weeks ago...not too bad...although it made my dad rush to the back door to let me out constantly because he thought I was going to barf all over the floor every time I made a sound. Pretty soon, my nose started tickling all the time and then I felt warm and then, Oh. My. Gawd. What is that green slimy stuff all over my face? And why does mom keep wiping a tissue across my nose and laughing, my paws work just fine and...oh that's so gross.

Anyway. So here I am sneezing and hacking for a few days and mom gives me the greatest news of all. CAR RIDE! I'm going on a car ride, a car ride. Who's going? I'M GOING! Head out the window [cough, cough - can't do that] and bouncing across the back seat. Life is good. But wait. What's that smell? That stinky building that smells like a million dogs have emailed me in the front yard? I do not have time for this, we're on a car ride! Oh no! It's that lady who sticks sharp things in my butt fur once a year! Crap. Here we go again. I think I'll just sit down right....here...and not move.

Mom is telling me it will be okay, but I know better. Nothing good ever comes with going through that door back there. But, this time...she y. No shots in the butt, just some fur-handling to put up with and that silly lady trying to stick her head down my throat to look at something. It's just a tongue, lady and yes, it IS attached! She said I didn't have something called "kennel cough" and mom was super-relieved by that, but I got water shot up my nose anyway. (I don't like Bordatella vaccinations, but mom says they're important to get every six months since we have dogs around all the time.) She says I have to take some pills for about a week to fight off any infection I might have, which is okay with me because she gives them to me wrapped in turkey! YUM! But the other pills she gives me, to "cough stuff up" she says, well they make me sleepy. [Yawn] So even though I'm feeling better today, I still think I'm going to curl up on the floor here and take a little snooze. 'Night everyone!

Life with a CDP

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:14:37 -0800

Hi folks! My name is Jaxon and I'm a two-year-old Alaskan Malamute. I live with my fur-sister, Chloe (the Siberian/GSD mix) my dad and my two human brothers. We had a cat once. She was tasty. I also live with my hu-mom who decided a couple of years ago that I inspired her or something.

See, I was born in not-so-hot surroundings. Lots of pens, cold weather, cages....no love to speak of. Could hardly get near my mom, food was gross. Then my hu-mom found me and took me away from all that. She decided then that she was going to try to help other boys like me and girls like Chloe. She thinks we are misunderstood. I don't see why though. What's wrong with not liking my hiding place for my toys and searching for "just the right one" in the backyard? And I see no problem with not moving when she says to. Why tire myself out? As far as the end table legs, I swear they looked like ham hocks.

Anyhoo, my dad likes to call my mom a "CDP." That stands for Crazy Dog Person. She gets a little miffed, but inside I don't think she minds too much. She really takes care of me and she's brought some neato friends home to play with me at times. I don't like them much, but I do my best and I always make sure they know that this is my house. Mom works hard trying to make it all work, but she's got some great friends who help out a lot.

Mom says I'll be making regular posts here, just to let you know what we're up to. So be sure to check back with me later!

Woo, woo,
Jaxon