Maybe he's listening more than I think....

Stuart does not share my football obsession. He'll watch the odd game with me, if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are playing, but he doesn't care. He would not rearrange his work schedule so he doesn't miss kick-off...something I do every time the Stamps play out east! He's pretty sure all pro sports are fixed. I prefer to believe there is not enough money in the CFL to bother rigging anything!

He got home last night from a two week camping trip with his buddies in Alberta. Told me there was a present for me in one of his bags. Shopping was not part of this trip so I was expecting a rock; I love rocks too and he's dragged some heavy suckers home for me! I did find a really cool rock and in a bag underneath it, a Stampeders jersey with Jermaine Copeland's name and number on it.

Two weeks ago, the Stamps won a game on a Copeland circus catch in the dying seconds of the 4th quarter. When Stuart called that evening from his work, I said "I am so buying myself a Jermaine jersey." Seriously, I was pretty sure he just tunes out my football related ramblings!

I'm pretty impressed!

My new sled cover

Last winter, Stuart said he would build some kind of cover over where I keep my dogsled, harness up the dogs ect. There are two gates at one of end of the "chute", one of them is 10 feet wide. Shoveling the snow away from that gate is a huge hassle. I figured he meant throw up a couple planks and put a tarp over it for a roof.

After 10 years, you'd think I would know better! Stuart has a bigger is better theory on most things he builds! This is what I came home to find him building last week...complete with trusses, extra support beams, a place to hang all the lines and harness, and enough room to store not only my dog sled, but the ATV and snowmobile too! And still open the 10 foot gate with no problem!

The finished chute cover, with a full tin roof! Two gates I won't have to worry about clearing this winter!

Oops, I forgot one...

There is one more canine patient right now!

Franklin!

Franklin has always been a late shedder, the last of the dogs to let go of his winter coat. So I wasn't too worried when he started to look a little ratty! Until I noticed the bare spots of skin, the red patches and the incessant itching started! Everything about Franklin screams this dog is hypothyroid, but after running every test known to man for that, he most definately is not hypothyroid.

He's on his second round of antibiotics for a bacterial skin infection. Now we think it's secondary to seasonal allergies. I can so relate to those! This time we added in a dose of prednisone, which has knocked out the itching.

Current plan is a month of pred and antibiotics, then wean him off the pred. By then there will have been enough frost that whatever pollen or plant he's reacting to will be dead! His coat should fill back out in time for the real winter weather. Franklin loves to run and it's hard to be a sled dog with bare skin sticking out!

Updates

Some overdue updates on the patients around here:

The mystery lumps in Heyoka's throat remain just that...a mystery. We can't get a decent sample for a biopsy, even when he's knocked out; they are just too far down. He sounds like a chainsaw when he breathes, especially when he's relaxed or asleep. Some nights I get up and move his head in a mostly failed attempt to lessen the racket! He seems unbothered though. He's a little slower, a bit less rammy than he used to be, but he eats like a pig, fence fights with Deuce, chases his tail and still enjoys a good belly rub. He remains, for the most part, the giant goof he's always been. Since his diagnosis remains a mystery, his prognosis is mysterious too!
Chum is holding his own in his battle with liver cancer. He's a bit underweight still, but he is eating. If you didn't know how Chum used to be, you would be hard pressed to tell how sick he is. Seems a bit ironic that for six years every day I told that dog to settle down and shut up and now I'm thrilled when he growls and runs a bit!

Prednisone and Tramadol are working their magic. It is painfully obvious when he needs another dose of Tramadol. He's turned into a total house dog and a snuggly little guy. Chum has always been the only dog allowed to sleep on our bed. He is supposed to stay on the corner by my feet, but he has managed to take over much more room than that lately. It did not take him long to figure out that the rules don't apply to the terminally ill! He is on borrowed time, but we will borrow as much as we can.

Goldie is also waging a battle with cancer, although her diagnosis isn't as definative or as dire as Chum's. She has a large lump, rock solid and firmly attached to her rib cage. There really isn't a thing we can do about it. It's not removable. Goldie is already on anti-inflammatory painkillers for chronic shoulder and hip pain. She is still content to boss Chase around, hog all the rawhides and bark at the new neighbors!

And Sweet Sleet...She's not really ill. She's just ancient. She is well into her 15th year. Her advancing age becomes more obvious all the time. She is stiff with a weak back end and she prefers to spend her days on her favorite blanket. Her dinner bowl hides a couple different medications! She's still fiesty though..no young punk dog is coming between Sleet and her treats. She showed her vet a flash of teeth and 'tude earlier this week when she objected to a blood draw! When you are ancient your vet comes by alot!

I think that's all the patients right now, at least the canine ones!