Oh where the heck to begin....

What a day! Last night Parker tried off and on for an hour to get out of the gate that now has a lock on it...he finally settled down until 5:45 when he needed to go out!

Took Parker to the vet for X-rays on his gimpy knee...I had no idea that he was going to go under anesthesia to have the X-rays taken. The vet comes back and says to me "while he's under, why don't I just snip him too?" "He's under?" I asked. "Well I'm not messing with him while he's awake" he said "Sure, let's get it done." So the poor boy lost his man bits today.

His knee has an old fracture that has caused some hardened swelling. He has full range of motion but may have arthritic pain as a result. No surgery needed, no special precautions (aside from common sense I'm guessing.) May need some anti-inflammatory meds to help with the pain at some point.

Ok so this is all before 9:30 this morning. I called Linda from the rescue on my way home because I thought Parker had allergies and I wanted to talk diet with her to get them under control and as we're talking she let's me know she thinks he has kennel cough: sneezy, runny eyes & nose, etc etc. And as I process that I remembered that i was trying to figure out why Tink has been sneezing so much the past 2 days (and kept me up for a good portion of last night.) Dammit, they both have kennel cough I realize. As I walk through the door Tink has boogers on the couch and a runny nose. My baby girl is sick and it's the stupid shelter's fault that Parker came from. They gave him every immunization possible including Bordatella. Combine that with a weakened immune system and a crap diet, he got kennel cough from the vaccine. Parker and Tink exchanged a mucusy nose greeting and now Tink has it too : ( Of course we realize all this after Parker just had surgery...

Ok, so now we're adding vitamin C and A (in appropriate doses) to their diets in an effort to kick this. Clavamox can only treat sympoms and I'm not interested in that at this point. Both seem reasonably comfortable although Tink seems to have it worse than Parker. My little girl is a fighter and she will beat this like she has everything else. She is currently cuddled under a blanket with a t-shirt on and her head and paw on my lap.

And as if all this wasn't enough drama for one day, Parker went after my pant leg last night when I tried to pick up his leash and move him away from the couch last night. So once again Parker will spend the week in the kitchen (Linda spent all morning on the phone with me!) As she said "he doesn't need to sit in the computer room with you!"

I felt like a moron in the waiting room of the vet's office as Parker barked his head off at another dog in the room and he would not listen to me...the others in the room looked at me funny... I just wanted to give up at that point... he had already peed on the floor and now he can't even behave himself. Nick and I was hoping that he would at least be worn out from surgery today, but so is not the case. He has finally settled in the kitchen (good thing as he will be spending lots of time there this week!)

Tinker's packing is going to have to wait until she feels better (hopefully in a day or two...) She's resting up for her beach week!

Tink's Vacation at Gram and Pap Rowe's

While Nick and I were in sunny Florida for Larry and Katie's wedding,
Tink was living it up with Gram and Pap in Maryland.

Tink slept in a heated water bed on comfy flannel sheets.
She also had a cookie before she went to bed and after she settled in upstairs!!

Tink traveled to Twyla's office each day (she couldn't stay at home of course!)

She worked hard all day...

...And helped spell check important emails

She also made sure the floor wasn't drafty

Yup, that sermon looks great Gram!

Of course she had the seat of honor at the board meeting!!


Tink went for lots of walks and was taken care of down to the tiniest details in her everyday life! Twyla and done did an excellent jo taking care of her and loving on her! Thank you so much for your love and attention to her!!!!

more OBX pics

A week after Labor day, Nick, Tink, and I had the privilidge (courtesy of Gram and Pap Rowe) of spending a long weekend at the outerbanks... here are the pics that Gram sent over to us!

the beautiful house we stayed in.. only a 2 min walk to the beach!

Tinker playing cards (dont let the one eye trick fool you, she's a shark!)

walking on the beach

relaxing after a long walk...

every day she gets cuter!

We're going to the BEACH!!!

Mum, Dad, and I are going to the beach tomorrow! I'm so excited!!!! Some place called the Outer Barks in North Carolina. Should be lots of fuN!!!! The Pupperatzi are coming too!! we'll be sure to post lots of pics when we return!!!

I miss Grandpa and Granna!

Boy did i have a great week with my Grandpa and Granna! my mum and dad had difficulty taking pictures but i'll have to see what we can find later on!

Grandpa made sure i got out for lots of walks and snuggle times all week! Mum had to make sure he didn't take me with him when they left this morning!

We went up to the cabin for the weekend and even though it rained part of the weekend i still had a great time! Mum and dad were proud of me and my good listening ears! Everyone liked to hold me but there were times when i just wanted my mum and i let them know!

Pics to follow

thanks for the great visit Grandpa and Granna!

My first weekend at the Cabin

Hello everyone, its Tinker. I've decided to run the blog by myself now. Mom and Dad are pretty slow and as a result, i have a few posts that i need to take care of soon!

Let me tell you i had a great weekend in the middle of no where! lots of grass and sleep and walks and food!! we were outside ALL day! it was great! and lots of people to cuddle with me and pet me, it was the life! Dad says its the little town of Hartletown in Mifflinburg County, wherever the heck that is!

Me, Mum, and Alicia on a walk to the creek. I'm leading the way as usual!

i didn't like the water very much at the creek,
but can you see that beautiful shine on my coat?!?!

I made my rounds snuggling with lots of people!
This is me with Lisa

And me with my Grandma Rowe

And me with Anita relaxing of course! I also napped with Nana, Alicia and Liz, although my photographers let me down as there is no proof!

And me with Maddie and Lucy, the other dogs that were there this weekend. We got along ok, but i still prefer my people!

The beginning of a LONG walk that we took, but mom and dad both say that i was a trooper and did a great job!! up and down hills over rocks, moss and sticks! it was super exciting! I came back and curled up next to the camp fire for the rest of the night!

mum and I couldn't miss the photo-op to sit on the 4-wheeler!

It got kinda warm out so we hung out inside the trailer for a lil bit. I had a nice time relaxing with the kids while mum and dad played cribbage.

I made some friends!! if you look at the end of the stick there's a toad friend!

We think it's a dung beetle. apparently they only live in africa but this lil guy looks like a beetle rolling a piece of well, dung. so that makes it a dung beetle. Well, he WAS a dung beetle until i stepped on him!

Life at the cabin, isn't it great?!?! sleeping is what i do best! I got to sleep as much as i wanted to in the grass, in the sun, in the shade, with some friends! sigh, what a great weekend!

Easter Part 2: Tinker visits MA

So bright and early thursday morning, Nick, Tinker, and I began our journey to visit my family in MA. We had sufficiently warned and planned for the chaos of their 3 dogs and our Lil Tink. Tink had more luggage than we did with her food and beds and such, but off we went. (this is going to be a LOOONNNGG post, so enjoy!!!)
We thought we were going to need to keep Tink totally isolated from the other 3, Aby (Boston Terrier), Stretch (Long haired Daschound) and Jetta (Sharpei-Whippet Cross). We kept them away initially, then went to brief hellos , and slowly introduced everyone. Before we knew it, Tink was walking around with the rest of them, drinking out of the community water bowl, eating meals, and sleeping along side the rest of the gang. One of the secrets we learned was no face to face contact. Tink snaps when she feels threatened, but now face to face (in limited quantities) is ok and I don't frantically pick her up. We think that Tinker liked the fact that we were protecting her at first. She is such a different dog now and seems so much more confident in herself. Actually she appears to have taking a liking to jetta. AND she hasn't peed in the crate once in the 3 times we left her!! YAY for exciting news! we think she likes the company. So for those of you who may be in shock,we have the pictures to prove all of this!!!!

it's been a great break and a great Easter, He has Risen indeed!


The sign that greeted us when we arrived.... my father's handiwork at its finest! He has a strange sense of humor but we all got a kick out of it! (click on it--or any of the other pics for that matter, to see it enlarged.)


Tinker outside enjoying the sun and dirt apparently


Tinker visiting the barn and Chiclet! She was a little nervous around some of the horses, but she did fine with the smell and particularly liked the "snacks" she found lying around! Tink and Granna looking at Zip the horse who likes his tongue played with... yah, don't ask!


Tinker with Grampy, Aby & Stretch. She honestly was fine with all of them and in this pic is even laying on aby! The only problem that occured was when Stretch repeatedly got in her face while we were eating one night. She promptly put 2 little holes in his nose and then went back to sleep. No one blamed her and he left her alone the rest of the weekend.

Tinker, Vic and Aby relaxing on the couch. We did a lot of this!!! My two little book ends! And the Tink giving me kisses of course!

We took Tink down to the pond with Stretch to see if she likes water or not... and well, she definitely does! She was romping around and playing like the best of them!


Grampy and Tinker playing with Tiny, his dirt pusher. She wanted to help with the yard work : )


More pictures of Tinker and horses, this time with my parents' mini's in the backyard. The palomino pinto is Lacey and the red roan is ruby. We decided the 2 Bostons needed some pictures taken together : ) my mom says Tinks at summer camp. Heehee, that little girl let us do all kinds of crazy things this weekend.


Again, more pictures of Tink and Aby and the little stone statue. They couldn't understand why we wanted them to pose right there, but we had a good time anyways!

So all in all, Tinker has adapted beautifully to living in a 4-dog household. She's taken long walks and naps and played in the yard. She's done a great job of mapping out the house, the front and back yard and the back steps into the house. I honestly think she is going to miss the gang and my dad when we leave tomorrow. This has sure been a great vacation!