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Sierra and her new Mom and Dad
Chalupa - too pooped to party!
Hi Sue,
Hope all is well with you.
Thought you’d enjoy this photo of the kids. (Jim made a screensaver
image for me from it). So rarely do they bunk out together on the dog
beds; Chalupa seems to prefer having his own space. It was funny that we
were able to snap this before they moved. You know how that goes! Where
is the camera when you need it?
Chalupa and Sierra continue to bring us so much joy and fun. Sierra
seems to be one of the most popular young ladies at the Jefferson dog
park. Yes, I know, I am bragging, but just can’t help it. Chalupa still
has the status of being the main dog out there, too! Pretty funny to
see how quickly he can break up little squirmishes; sometimes it just
takes a look and a very light nose poke from him, and the other dogs
seem to get the message.
Sierra has grown up to be a wonderful, happy-go-lucky dog with a kind
and loving heart. She seems to love all people and listens very well,
too.
Chalupa’s arthritis appears stable right now, but we did find out he has
eye problems. The good news is that it involves just one eye. Thought
he was getting a bad cataract (eye was very cloudy looking), which
seemed kind of weird since he’s not that old. Our vet examined him and
referred us to an eye specialist in the Waukesha/Brookfield area. In
Jan., she examined his eyes and unfortunately, it’s not a simple
cataract that can be removed. He does have a cataract, but he also has
something wrong with the vitreous humor of that eye and his retina is
also detaching, all of which are very rare conditions in German shepherd
dogs apparently. (The first time she’s seen it in this breed; in fact,
she said she almost missed it and just assumed it was a simple cataract
because that’s what it looked like at first.) She said it must be like a
genetic defect/ fluke of some sort; not related to any injury, etc. This
is not something that can be surgically rectified, sadly. So now they
have to monitor it just to be sure he doesn’t have painful hemorrhaging,
etc. in there. We were really sad about this, but so relieved he has one
good eye so he’s not going to be 100% blind! After all, a lot of people
only have vision in one eye, and they still drive, etc. We can tell that
the vision deterioration is happening fast, though, and have to remember
not to approach him from his bad side, etc. We also have to remind other
people,
too! We see the eye specialist again in May for his follow up
appointment.
The poor guy has not had the strongest body, but he sure has a heart and
soul like no other!
Hi, Sue—
Hope you and Tim had
healthy and happy holidays.
We sure are enjoying
our little Sierra. She keeps the house hoppin'--that's for sure.
She loves the snow
and likes to bury her face and as much as her body in it as possible. Very
funny to watch. Thank goodness we have a fenced in backyard for her to run
around and burn off some of that energy when she needs to.
She's growing leaps
and bounds. We're not overfeeding her (OK--maybe too many
"cookies"-- but not on her puppy food), but man, is she ever
growing. Sierra's up to 57 pounds now! The vet suggested we begin
transitioning her to 1/2 adult and 1/2 puppy food now that she's gaining
and with her age. Pretty soon I can't call her "Little One"
anymore.
Chalupa's proven very
good with her and surprisingly patient and tolerant.
I bought a little toy
that says, "The devil made me do it... The devil made me do it....Ha
Ha..." Sometimes as I'm working at the computer and turn around to
see shredded whatever, I really laugh to hear that toy sound. It's so
well-timed and almost seems like it's on cue.
Sierra's brought us
lots of fun and laughter already in these few short months we've had her.
How can we ever thank you enough?
With much
appreciation,
Anita