A Girl's Best Friend - Saying Goodbye

 Neha

(knee-uh)

In 2010 we decided to get a dog for our family. After some hunting I was able to rescue a pure-bred Yellow Labrador Retriever from foster care outside of a shelter. She was 11 months old, overweight, and in desperate need of a place to call her permanent home. She was a perfect match for us.

Neha had a few different medical problems but in general she was a happy and healthy friend. We've dealt with leg and hip issues and last year she developed seizures with an unknown cause. Despite all of that we were confident she'd be here for years to come.

She and Jaiden were the best of friends.

Sadly we were not to have many more years with our beautiful girl. She developed a serious and deadly condition known as "bloat." Although I've heard of stomach turning in dogs I really did not know the symptoms or even think it would happen.

You can read more about bloat or stomach turning in dogs here.

Neha lived nearly 24 hours from the onset before we had the chance to take her to our vet. The doctor was very surprised to see she had survived so long. I guess she had a will to hang in there. She had been trying all night to stay as far away from the house as possible but instinctively we continued to check on her and give her love.

We all had the opportunity to say goodbye to our clumsy horse of a dog before we made the decision to have her put to sleep. Jaiden took it pretty hard. As parents it was a devastating experience to watch your little girl go through her first loss. Thankfully she has recovered well since. It took some time and a lot of encouragement. She loves to reminisce about Neha and tell people about her. She even draws pictures of them together.

~~~~~

God gave our family a wonderful companion over the last 3 1/2 years and she will truly be missed....

Neha was the only Lab that couldn't swim. Kiddie pools saved the summers!

A fitting seat for a little girl.

 

A fitting seat for a big puppy.

 

If you could get past the attack of her tongue and sneak a hug you were lucky.

 

 

 

 

If you had the pleasure of visiting our new Maddox you were surely greeted by a protective beast. 

 

Always together... 

~~~~~
 

 

 

 

~Lisa~

Traveling with Dogs: Tips for the trip!

I'm not a trip-taking pro but I thought I'd take a stab at helping folks prep for a long trip with a dog. I'm not going by some professional's tips, this is just what I figured out for our first ever road-trip with our 3yr old Labrador Retriever, Neha.

Over Memorial Day weekend we visited my Dad and his girlfriend at their lake house which is about 8 hours from where we live.

We have a Town & Country minivan so for now space is not really an issue with a 3-person family. We stowed away the back seats as well as the unused Captain's seat behind the driver to give us enough space since we'd have an extra "passenger" this time.

 

My big baby girl and I on the dock, our last day at the lake.

(She was not leashed most of the time on the lake but this was our last day and I didn't really want a wet dog in the van when we left later)

Here is my list of things + tips you may need for your trip!

- Make a list of extras:

        ~ Before you leave make a list of everything you know for sure you'll need or would like to have with you for the dog. Start the list about a week or so before you pack that way you can jot things down as you use them or remember them. I grabbed a few extra toys and her shampoo/conditioner since we were going to a lake.


- Potty breaks:
        ~ Please make sure you get your dog to pee & poop before you get on the road!! We got Neha to pee at the house before hopping in the van (early morning) but she wouldn't poop. She was overly excited about going with us. When we stopped for gas before we got on the interstate I took her out and let her try again and she had a successful BM. That eased my fears about van poop accidents (it's happened to me before and it smells absolutely awful!)
        ~ Since I am 6 months pregnant potty breaks were not really an issue in terms of remembering to stop. We were stopping every couple hours as it was so maybe every other stop we would let Neha out to try. 

-  Kennel, crate, or barrier:

        ~ We have a large wire crate we use for her in the house (kinda like this). Plenty of room for her and she is a very large in height Lab. This was a MUST to take with us. She is not a very mellow car dog especially if she has space to move, plus we don't want her trampling all over. The kennel was placed front-facing behind the driver's seat to where we could open the kennel door and she could easily hop out the passenger sliding door rather than it sit in the back of the van and have to be accessed by the back gate where shifted belongings could fall out upon opening.

        ~ Depending on your vehicle and situation you can also use one of those metal car barriers. A lot of people with cars or SUVs use these to allow your dog to roam free in the back but keep them from coming up front. 

- Comfort:

        ~ Make sure you have a good comfy blanket for furry friends to lay on... they'll be in there for a good duration even with potty breaks so you want them to be comfy.

        ~ Your dog's favorite chew toy or something they enjoy that will occupy their time may be handy. We gave our dog a rawhide bone which she normally loves to chew on for hours on end but honestly she didn't touch it this trip at all. It was so different for her I think it threw her off, but we were prepared JIC!

- Kennel cover: 

        ~I put a large sheet over her kennel leaving the front exposed so that hair didn't escape everywhere and also to help keep her calm by minimizing distractions that she would otherwise be able to see. Also, if you have a shedder like we do, lay a sheet down underneath the kennel and anywhere your dog may trek when exited the vehicle.

- Jug of water (ab $.89 or so) & a dog bowl: 

        ~ The water jug came in super handy along with our "travel" bowl that's made out of waterproof fabric. We made sure to offer a little water at each stop and if any was left over we just put it in the kennel with her. If anything spilled it just got on the comforter she slept on, no biggy!

- Dog food, of course:

        ~ Make sure you have enough accessible during the trip if your traveling runs in to a regular feeding time, but also make sure you have plenty for while you're at your destination, unless you'd just rather buy some when you get there. I placed dog food in a couple gallon Hefty bags. You can also now buy 2.5 gallon Hefty bags. Or you can use a small plastic container with a lid... whatever you have handy.

        ~ We don't do treats, she usually gets leftover fruit, but if you do treats, don't forget those!

- Leash: 

        ~ Unleashed animals are a no-no in my opinion when it comes to public places. You never ever know their temperament especially in a new place and you never know how well they will listen to a return command. We took with us a 15ft long leash with no retraction or anything. It was something I purchased as part of her obedience training. Leashes with length can give you a good opportunity to let them explore a little more than you may be willing to walk when you stop for potty breaks. We also took a regular 6ft leather leash.

- Medication:

        ~ Obviously you don't want to leave any medication your dog regularly takes behind so be sure to grab that. If your pup has high anxiety in the car check with your vet about something you can give to relax them. We were going to go the Benadryl route (check with your vet on proper dosage!) but opted not to since I had none in the house. I figured if we needed it we'd buy it but we didn't so we saved money!

- Air Freshener:

        ~ Yes, I'm serious. We could have used it a couple times. Our poor girl had a few nervous stinky farts on the trip down and it meant rolling down windows at 75MPH to air out the van. A little air freshener would have been nice. Not to mention her breath was stinky and she had periods where she would breathe very heavily and we could smell it, Blech!

 

 Neha and my husband on Neha's first ever boat ride.

Ultimately my biggest tip is don't spend money you don't have to! If, once you get to your destination, you realize there is something that you just have to have that you didn't have at home to bring with, then get it, but otherwise save the money for your vacation. Your dog surely won't die as long as you at least have food and water for them but some of the above listed things will help make it more comfortable for them (and you) if you are able.

There was nothing I didn't list that I thought "Shoulda brought the whatchamacallit!" so for most people, I think this should suffice and cover pretty much all bases!

~Lisa~

Litter Box Cover

This project was interesting, mostly because I didn't really know how I wanted to do it. We have a covered litter box but they aren't very attractive, and when you have a small house and a set-up like mine, there really is nowhere to hide it so our litter box always sat out in the open. 

Yucky!

I currently keep it in the extra room where all of my sewing stuff is because I don't like to have litter boxes right near where people will often be.

(like in bedrooms or living rooms) 

..so I do my best to tuck it away.

The way I have my extra room set up now, there is no tucking it away. It's directly ahead of you on the outside wall when you walk in to the bedroom. At least now you see a box-like thingamajig instead of an ugly blue litter box...

It was pretty simple, too! I was surprised! Basically I measured height, width and depth and cut out my fabric:

~3 pieces 19in tall by 22in deep - The box measured about 18in tall and 21 or so inches deep. You want a little extra for seam allowance. These pieces make up the 2 sides and the top.

~1 piece 19 in by 19in - This piece will make up the back side to bring it all together. I chose to leave the front side completely open. You may opt to make an additional 19x19 piece and cut out a flap. That's up to you and your feline friend!

Then you just pin everything together inside out. 

I chose to sew the seams after I pinned it all together that way I wouldn't get myself too confused about what side was what. It did make it a little awkward but at least I knew what side I was working with.  

Just beware of evil skin-grabbing straight pins ;)

Once it was completely sewn I took a piece of foam poster board that I had leftover from my Fabric Bolts project. I cut it to the finished size of the top piece, fit it snug in there and used straight pins, maybe about 6, to attach the fabric around the board. 
(The pins are not poking out anywhere as I made sure they went parallel in to the board, not straight through.)

I love it because it's so easy to take off and put back on so we can clean the litter box. I can simply pull my straight pins out and wash it if need be, and plus it doesn't look like a litter box!

Be Inspired!