Tinker loves Christmas...

Merry? Ya, I'm merry.
Just take the dang bow off and let me go back to sleep

hehe, tinker's a good sport, don't you think?

Tinker's new coat

Our first Christmas with Tinker : ) and what a trip its been. Here is Tinker opening her first Christmas gift in MA from her Auntie Katie

What is it Mum?

Umm, could we take off the big cardboard tag here?!?!


exploring the territory while trying out her new coat

Sitting pretty in her new styling Pea Coat : )

Look Mum, I can beg too in it!!!

The pretty girl took her first walk in her dapper new coat earlier this evening

It's so cute with a black and white herringbone styled pattern and a velvet collar and red lined. I feel like she should be going to church on sunday with it on or to a fancy dance.
Another piece of clothing to add to her collection : )

Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell...

...soon it will be christmas time!!!

Let's just say that this little family is very excited that tomorrow is the LAST day of work for both me and Nick for 1o whole days... and i managed to make it a 1/2 day for me. We're packing up and clearing out first thing sat morning for MA.

It's amazing how much can change in a year.... i'll elaborate more later when my head isn't so fuzzy from being exhausted. Lil Tink has a beautifully shiny coat, is eating like a queen and as much as she wants to keep her weight up and basically has anything her family-loving little heart can ask for (except for dead animals to roll in....).

Sigh, she's excited about the break too ; ) just dont tell her next fri she has a check up and a rabies booster... she'll get over it : )

knock on wood, no accidents in the house for a long while. Just consistency and frequent trips outside and yummy treats for going outside : ) it is so cute to see her look up at you with 1 blue eye saying "can I have one NOW?" even when she hasn't done ANYTHING or pretended to squat! Smarty!

OK, well, Merry Christmas all. I'm not sure when the next post will be, but we'll try and get some nice pics in here. I think the world could use a few more Tinker pics : )

Tink's feeling better

I think that Tinker had a 24 hr bug of some sort. She was feeling much better yesterday and is basically back to her normal self plus an occasional sneeze or 2. But no more boogies : )
Yesterday was a beautiful day filled with cleaning, then lots of relaxing! The weather was beautiful so we took tink for an extra mid day walk. She appeared to love it and promptly fell to sleep for the afternoon when we returned.

Tinker has once again taken to pawing up at the bed when she wants to snuggle! YAY! I knew the snuggle ball couldn't be better than snuggling with her mum forever!

Related or not, but now i'm not feeling great. I think it will pass, just enough to be annoying. Took a short nap on the couch after church this morning and tink, true to herself, snuggled right up next to me. She really knows how to make me happy-- my snuggly loveable little girl. And fortunately for her, her bath day has been postponed until i feel 100% again : )

One more week until Nick and I have 10 days off... can't wait for a beautiful vacation! Tink's pretty excited too : ) We'll get to see Granna & Grandpa and uncle Larry and aunt Katie and everyone else up there... then we get to see Gram & Grandpa Rowe later in the week. it should be a great weekend!

Me is sick...

Hi all, is me Tink. Ima feelin betta today, but i waz sick! Mum says i was a sneezin an weezin and i had boogies comin outa my nose! All i did on fri was sleep on my snuggle ball (and eat o course!) I hard a hard time sleepin 2 nites ago--my nose got snuffed up so i hadda sit up so i could breeth again! Last night was betta, i slept justa fine!
mum called my dr just to keep him up on me and he too is keepin an eye on me!
Mum's been taking out my heatin pad to keep me warm and lots of snugglin.

Mum & Dado no i'm feelin betta now doh because i was awanderin the house. And i couldn't refuse a marrow bone eeda!!! mmm, mmm yummy!

Just a slightly wet nose and some sneezin. not so bad, cause i still get to snuggle! Mum & i slept in dis morning. I wuv it when i get to sweep in her arms in da mornin! heaven!

Tinker Update: Christmas and Gotcha day! is coming

Christmas is coming and Tink is getting spoiled this year. I still can't believe its almost been an entire year. We get to celebrate her gotcha day on jan 21! what fun! She's snuggled up on my lap right now. She absolutely loves her new bed. She loves it to the point where she doesn't ask to get into our bed any more.... i have to pick her up to snuggle before bedtime now... which is ok, but sad at the same time. I never feel bad about her sleeping in her own bed. It holds her heat well, she very rarely shivers unless its in the morning and she does want up for some reason : )

And a smoked bone that is bigger than her head is on her yummy list right now. She physically has to jump into her bed now and she did it last night with this big bone!!! Go Tinker!
We move her snuggle ball into the living room when we're not in the back to help keep accidents nonexistent and its been almost 2 weeks now. (hallelujah!) And again, sometimes she prefers her bed to sleeping on the couch with us while we watch tv or something.

Overall, Tink is doing very well. She's acting pretty well. However, I guess we've trained her that she doesn't have to walk up the stairs herself any more. for 2 weeks after her surgery i didn't let her climb and then when the vet said her arthritis was pretty bad, i watched to see if she could climb the stairs and sometimes she did and sometimes she didn't. But now she consistently "assumes the position" so i can pick her up and away we go. I guess, if she is 10+ then its the least i can do. And i don't mind.

I'm getting her on Dog Gone Pain, a natural supplement that worked wonders for Abygale hopefully by monday (thats another story too...beware of who you buy from on Ebay!) To see if that alleviates some discomfort that she doesn't tell us she has!

This cold weather is getting to her though. I've actually been double layering a t-shirt under her coat to keep her warmer. She shakes and shivers (and so do I) but we stay out until all her business is done. And using cookies as rewards has helped hasten that process too! (and keep it outside!)

Tinker delivered her first doggie christmas gift package to her auntie Lindsay for Rosie and Tink wasn't very happy about it. She was sniffing around looking for the basket she knew we brought in and had a very sad look on her face when she didn't get any. Auntie provided her with a consolation gift of some cheese though!!!

Hopefully a few more to go out this weekend... Winston needs to get his christmas gift soon!
That's it for now...

Rescue Opportunities

I did something I shouldn't have done. I looked through Wanda's list of Rescue Boston Terriers (ABTR). I know i can't adopt another one now, but it makes me so incredibly sad. The list makes me so darn sad. the stories, the problems, the sweet little dogs who didn't do anything wrong... they were just born. Bostons are so loveable and these little ones are craving love! If you're on the market for a Boston Terrier, please please consider a rescue! And ABTR ships dogs.

There is also NEBTRescue that is more local, NJ, PA, NY, and sometimes CT & DE. There are many more dogs available than are listed, so again, if interested do something!

And finally the master BT rescue list : ) Thanks to Littlebeasts.com & BCTA

I know that someday we will have another rescue and hopefully sooner than that we will foster. But i always need to keep in mind that i can't just adopt any boston (or Boxer). Because Tink is going to live for a looong time, i need to keep a very specific type of dog in mind to add to our family. Another female is just not an option. a younger male probably isn't.... oh, but they pull at my heartstrings... a little male with cataracts or another one eyed female that wants to be a lap dog. They all just want love and a safe and secure home. (same with kids, but we wont go there today)

For now, Nick and I have plenty of love to shower on this little one. : )

Oh Tinker Tree, Oh Tinker Tree....

Our beautiful Christmas tree

ooo, who's that under the tree?

A little gift I see!!!

I need a treat if you want me to keep looking cute!

I'll stand for that liver treat...

or sit nice and pretty!

See mum? I'm so pretty!

Yumilicious!

The end!

Our first glorious Christmas with the little one! what fun!

wrapping up New England

Hi Guys, its me Tink. I had a nice visit in Mass vising my granna, grandpa and everyone else in MA. My pup-a-razzi guy slacked a little so we don't have many pictures of me, but i had a great time with plenty of walks and yummy bits of turkey added to my meal!

here are my mom and dad and uncle and auntie... they took a ride without me to see christmas trees but left me a yummy kong. stretch and aby supposedly kept me company

Granna and snuggly as a brick Aby. Aby and i got along alright... we just had a little disagreement at breakfast one morning, but i straightened her out.

this is the face that started my mum's BT craze! and as much as I hate to admit it, if it weren't for auntie Aby, I wouldn't have my home!

Wandering around the back yard. I love going outside without my leash on! Mum & Dad say someday we'll have a fenced in yard too.

And stretch, he didn't get in my face too much this time, so i didn't get to tell him off. Too bad, his nose is quite tasty. But really, he's not a bad guy, for a dashy.

So we're been home for a week already and mum & dad have been busy busy! But not too busy to make me lots of liver treats and peanut butter treats! Mum put a bunch in other bags and I have a feeling, i have to, gasp, SHARE!!! I dont know about this....

We also decorated for CHRISTMAS this weekend, but i'll let mum post that later. Mum keeps telling me that even though this is our first Christmas as a family that they knew about me last Christmas!!! I'm so excited for lots of yummy food!

Living it up in New England

Tink, Nick and I have been thoroughly enjoying ourselves here in MA the last few days. God is good and we made it here in 7hrs flat including stops. We stayed ahead of the traffic and the accidents.

I am guilty of not posting pictures in a while, we'll need to change that soon! But today we went to Woof it down in Windham and spoiled Tinker profusely (and did some christmas shopping : )
Sams Yams and chicken strips and zuke's z ridges....and then we were given some flossies to see if she likes them!!!! She loves them (but doesn't like bully sticks... you figure her out ; ) and is contently trying to chew a piece off! hehe, good tendon.

then we went down to beaver valley and picked up some hoofs and lambs ears... that will help put some weight on her : ) its been a nice relaxing day and holiday so far. What a pleasure for us to have jobs that have plenty of paid time off and to be able to enjoy it!!!

Tink's stitches are out, btw and she is doing well... the vet is pleased. She also gained 1.6lbs in a few weeks which is great, she needs it, but has already lost a little again. Gotta keep feeding her! (I blame all the walks her grandpa keeps taking her on!!!)

pics to follow soon : )

You guys will never believe this.....

Nick and I went up to Allentown to meet our friends Ken and Sarah from New Jersey this afternoon. We had a great time but were gone longer than we anticipated arriving home 8.5 hours after we left.

When we arrived home I hurried to the second bedroom to get Tink out of her crate when much to my dismay her crate door was open and she was no where to be found in the room....

TINKER?!?!?!

....and the pitter patter of little feet greet me from the bedroom. Her bed was warm where her little body had just gotten up from and her kong was next to her bed empty...

NOTHING was destroyed, NOTHING was out of line, NOTHING was off with her in any way, except that she was happy and well rested : ) (When we latched the crate door tonight we actually missed the latch part and well she nosed it open quite easily and early on in the day i'm sure--no pee in her crate and the crate was as neat as we left it...)

AND only 2 little (fresh mind you) pee spots in the dining room.... She went all afternoon and evening on her own with the ENTIRE apartment at her disposal and only 2 pee spots and she is safe! I am elated!

Now, obviously i am not planning on letting her get free reign of the house, but it does bring up some interesting points. Sarah and I were talking about separation anxiety and ways to reintroduce a "fun" crate situation and other points to consider... But maybe its more she doesn't like being confined than separation anxiety? because she certainly wasn't as excited to see us and LESS was destroyed in the apartment in MORE time than when we left her baby gated in our old apartment's kitchen.... she would knock over the trash and tear up bags and wee-wee pads and pee 4-5-6 times in the kitchen.... free roam of the house and nothing is out of line? it certainly makes one wonder... and possibly a crate move to the bedroom could do some good too : )

I am so happy.... this could have been so disastrous but God is good and it wasn't disastrous.

Every day i am convinced that WE have the smartest bestest little girl in the world!!!

OK off to snuggle but i needed to post tonight about this!

We had a great time visiting with Ken & Sarah tonight and thoroughly enjoyed talking, laughing, eating, playing spades, and shopping at petco! And the whole time i was concerned about Tinker, she was sleeping in her big bed or playing with her kong.... hehe was a night : )

...a better friday

Tink appears to have had a much better day today. Since yesterday i've been taking her out to pee every hour or so, and so far no more accidents *knocks on wood.* And no mess in her crate! wahoo!! (its not really fun washing a dog with 40 stitches by the way).

Because her stitches could have come out as early as today she got 2 real walks for the first time in a long while and I also put the kong back in her crate as well (we've been using chicken strips so she wouldn't tear up the place and possibly tear up her knee in the process). I also let her climb the stairs for the first time in a while (I can't say since the surgery because ahem, someone forgot and let her climb them once : )

Well when i came home she was such a happy little girl, she took that kong out of her crate and was prancing around with it (and actually wouldn't let me have it, fiesty little girl : ). She's been walking around, following me around and eating like no tomorrow. Maybe the antibiotics are already kicking in. or maybe if she caught a bug its passing....

In any case she enjoyed her walks today (even in the cold tonight--when did it get cold again anyways?!?!?) and is now sleeping on the bed with me.

I'm hoping and praying that she is on the mend now... and that the accidents are through.

When does Tinker get a break?

Sigh... a lot has happened this week....

first off, Tink's tumor surgery wounds are healing well and the stitches come out on monday Nov 21... she's been antzy to get outside and stretch her legs again.

On this past monday (nov 13), Nick came home to find that some threads from a towel in her crate had gotten wrapped around her back right paw so tightly that the paw was twice the normal size. THANK GOD he has a level head on him and he got home early (his last client cancelled). Nick made all the right phonecalls and did things in the right order. The vet asked all kinds of questions, "is it warm, is it blue, etc) and told nick to massage the foot for an hour. By the time i got home, it was back down to normal size and i could not tell which foot it was (he didn't tell me until after i looked). So we've been keeping an eye on it watching for discoloration, sensitivity, sloffing off of pad skin cells etc.) I talked to the vet tuesday morning and he point blank told me that the phone call with nick was "Scary." What makes this tough too, is that its the same leg that a tumor was just removed from, so its difficult to decide when she skips or something if its the foot or the knee.

So on tuesday Tink messes in her crate just a little for the first time and I chalk it up to the fact that she was nervous after the previous day... but then she pees on her new bed twice in one night and continued to pee in the house tuesday and wednesday. We just fnished drying the bed and put it back together and less than 20 minutes later she's peed on it again. So we put her under "24 hr" watch as we call it where she needs to be in the same room as we're in and she still manages to pee (on a blanket in the bathroom while i was in the shower) and on the other side of the bed where i couldn't see her....

SOOO i call the vet again this morning and he determined that it is possible that she has a bladder infection... i get the antibiotics today (from CVS because i couldn't get over to Leola) and upon arriving home she has messed ALL over her crate.... a runny messy (nervous?) diarhea type stuff. So i bathed the poor girl with 40 stitches....


long story short... nick and i wonder if maybe she is sick (we were both sick for about 2 weeks between us) or maybe it was the meaty knuckle we gave her last night... or maybe she's nervous after mondays experience and needs time to feel safe again. She's been more "clingy" than normal these past few days... i just feel so bad for the poor girl....And i hurt for her because i dont know how to help her... She's here on the bed with me.

Meanwhile today (Thursday) I have been taking her out to pee every hour to hour and a 1/2 and each time she has been peeing right away... she actually almost gets excited when i put her collar on her... so maybe the bladder thing is at least part of it... I started her on the antibiotics right away.... that was fun..... the pharmacists at CVS all knew i was coming and then they had to figure out how i could administer it to her so they gave me a 1 ml syringe... she actually almost seemed to like it : )

so thats that... I will be calling the vet again tomorrow morning and run some things by him... she's going in on monday to have the stitches removed so he can physically look at her again.

Just one step at a time...

Post Surgery, day 3

Tink continues to act like her old self.... a little jumping jack in her crate when we get home from work (real good for her knee), tries to run around outside (the weathers been so good, can you blame her for trying?!?!), and stakes out in front of the kitchen around dinner time : )

She's also getting the hang of climbing into and nesting in her new bed : ) although she usually ends up to the far side of the bed leaving room for a large boxer (if we had one : )

Tink's incisions look pretty good but i did call the vet to check on some swelling and bruising above one incision. He believes its where one of the clamps were; it's probably a little excess blood in there (hence the bruising.) I was given strict orders if it were to change to call back immediately and to call on monday to give an update. The oozing has essentially stopped and all the cuts looks pretty good considering.

She's here sacked out on the couch with us... nice comfy bed or not she's still my little snuggle muffin. Tinks been enjoying double rations on food... I can still feel her ribs more than i want to....just being patient and given food plentifully : ) Tink doesn't mind.

I'm very glad we did the surgery when we did... her stitches come out the monday before thanksiving which means she should be basically healed up well enough to travel to MA. The complete babying (ha right) should have ended and she will actually be able to go for a decent walk at that point.

God is always good. Not only did He provide funds, he provided perfect timing and healing.

I feel like a broken record, but this little girl has been through SOOO much... and if God cares so much for her and her well being, how much more does He care for you and me?!?! He has our best interest in mind and having Tinker here each day is a beautiful reminder of God's love for us.

Tinker update: day 2 post surgery

Tinker, as we all know, is a trooper and full of spirit. Yesterday (Wednesday) was a great day for her. She is back to acting like her own self, 40 stitches or not. We're keeping her quiet, but she already wants to run around outside again! She hasn't been licking her stitches too much which is great. Only yesterday morning did she seemed disoriented and gave up very easily getting to the kitchen area... alas it didn't last long ; )

I'm not sure on the what type of cancer Mammary tumors would be, but the vet is 90% sure that the one on her knee was a mast cell tumor... again not sure if that is a specific type of cancer or not.

She loves her "recovery ball" as nick as dubbed it, however she managed to slip right out of it last night which made me awake with haste! She now can climb into it and out of it herself but she still has figured out just how big it is yet : )

We've moved her original (and still very well loved) bed into her crate for the next couple of days (to week) so she has something softer than a bunch of towels while she recouperates. She'll also use it as we travel : ) People are so kind and we are so blessed by their generosity!

I have a few pictures of the "patient's" stitches (as we affectionately call her); i will try and post them later.

Tink's been eating like a horse, hopefully she'll gain some weight soon. now if only we could get her to do her business like a horse would we'd be in business : )

more later