Jennifer Zalewski Studio

This month a new urban “parkway” opened up… the Onondaga Creekwalk extending from downtown, through the northside, way up to Onondaga Lake. It is VERY exciting to have this sort of thing happen here, in the center of the ‘Cuse! It’s kind of gritty here, and you never hear much good stuff about the city. All the cool people have fled into the suburbs where crime is low and (presumably) they don’t randomly have McDonalds cups, chicken bones, and dirty baby diapers thrown in their front yard. (I’m also assuming they don’t hear random gunshots occurring at 10 pm on their blocks either, sigh, I mean really WTH).  It’s rust belt, it’s past-it’s-prime, it’s an old Erie Canal city that has seen WAY better days. But it seems things are changing.  It’s so nice the city investing in such an awesome civic project like the Creekwalk! Hooray!

With the nice Indian Summer we’ve been having, the pups and I decided to leash up and go hiking after church today. Here are some pics from our morning:

It was a wonderful walk. The actual Creekwalk starts in Armory Square, but because of Jack’s muscle injury, we decided to shave a few blocks off and park near Clinton Square, which was much closer to The Inner Harbor (our destination).

The city did a great job with signage, especially the parts that branched away from the water’s edge and into downtown. Of course I’ve driven through here a million times but… walking. Nice. Got to get up-close-and-personal with the buildings. Saw a lot of people enjoying the new walk. Stopped and had a great discussion with an elderly woman about The NiMo Man. Stopped to talk to lots of other Dog People. It was so nice!

At one point I was trying to get the dogs to “SIT” and “STAY” so I could take a picture, but they were giving me hell. A couple came along and offered to take a photo of us all together. Awwww. I am the only one who looks happy , oh well (LOL, wait until they get their “photo with Santa” next month, I can’t wait to see Lela’s expression of horror rofl).

More photos from our walk. If you’re in the ‘Cuse I highly recommend you explore the Creekwalk! It’s clean, beautiful, and very dog-friendly. I noticed there is a trailhead at Wallace Street, with an old (non-functioning) fire-station that has about 10 parking spots. You can also start at Armory Square, which apparently has a new statue commemorating the Creekwalk (“Walter the ‘Lock’ -Ness Monster”). The walk goes all the way to Onondaga Lake, and apparently is going to be extended south to Kirk Park and then to Nedrow. YAY!!!

Map of the Creekwalk.

After a winter learning “down” and “wait”, Jack’s first ‘real’ ride* in Lil’ Red, our Old Towne Discovery Canoe, happened on Monday!

I had the day off and we tooled down to Morgan Hill State Forest and Labrador Unique Area, both in Fabius/Apulia, for a hike and paddle.  It was a pretty warm day and we got a late start, so we tried to stick in the shade. Most of the hike was along the North Country Trail, with a few side-trips down old dirt roads. Beautiful hike (buggy though- those black/horse flies are out full force!).

After this 3 miler, we cruised over to Labrador Unique Area to do their 1-mile boardwalk trail. From the signs, Labrador is considered a “Unique Area” because much of the plant life is characteristic of high-altitude bogs, like in the Adirondack Mountains. It’s just gorgeous out there!

We saw a Waxwing (think it was a Cedar, not Bohemian, but could be wrong)!!! I was soooo excited. I haven’t seen a waxing since high school, when I was wilderness camping with my Dad and malamute, Nelson, in the forests around Thendara. They kind of resemble female cardinals, but more golden. Very pretty.

After this, Jack and I proceeded over to the Labrador Pond boat dock to unload the canoe into the pond. I’ve finally come up with a technique to load/unload the canoe without looking like an idiot/dropping it/scraping the car/rolling it over onto my shoulders and going down like a rock. I’m proud to say, I was able to get it off the car easily EVEN with 2 people watching me! It’s the little things, lol….

We did hit one snafu after I stuffed Jack into his dashing new life-vest and boarded him into the boat. He refused… REFUSED… to lay down. I realized the vest was very large and bulky, but…well. Well. Apparently the bulkiness was cramping his style. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to lay down in that huge marshmellow jacket either, especially when it was 85 degrees. What to do? I got out the Beggin’ Strips and did a bit more enticing, but Jack still refused to obey my “Down” commands. I asked. I pleaded. I demanded. *Sigh*.  In the end, I removed the vest and tossed it aside. Jack considered the Beggin Strip a bit longer, until I took out another and waved them around.  That wasn’t enough, so I pulled out another. THREE Beggin Strips. Once he felt I produced enough strips, he decided Yes, Okay, I guess I’ll lay down now. Awesome. Chomp, chomp, chomp.

Dog training at its finest, folks.LOL.

We tried to stay along the shoreline since Jack was unvested, but that wouldn’t have been much safer  than deep, since I put my paddle in at one point and it sank about 2 feet into the muddy bottom. Quicksand-ish? Yuck. If we went over I’d never get footing to get out. There wasn’t much shade on the lake either so we baked a bit. I scooped water onto us to keep us cool, which was refreshing. It was absolutely beautiful. Jack seemed mostly content to lay on his flowered mat, but a few times tried to restlessly get up (to which I yelled, “OMG! No! No! Down! Stay! Jesus Christ! DOWN! STAY! You’re going to drown us!! DOWN! STAY!!! SON OF A BITCH DOWN, DOWN!!!!” lol). We were out for about 30-40 minutes. Little fish jumped out around us. The lily pads floated like green, rubbery pancakes. It was beautiful, and I was so proud of Jackie Boy.

Since Jack doesn’t want to wear his immensely puffy and uncomfortable life-vest, I either have to a) train him to Suck-It-Up/Life-Isn’t-Fair and deal with it, or b) only paddle in really shallow waters when I’m with him, so if we go over he won’t drown.  I mean really, why is he being such a douchebag about wearing this thing?  $40 down the drain. Jeepers Creepers.

I guess I will buy more Beggin Strips and practice “downs” in the Life Jacket for the next few weeks.  Stay tuned for the next exciting installment, lol…

Jen

* Jack’s REAL first ride in Lil’ Red was last year, the day after I purchased it. We wobbly went out about 20 feet into the bottomless Seneca River and Jack proceeded to stand up and totter around, almost spilling us, until I was so nervous we had to paddle hastily back. Not a very auspicious start. Hoping for better luck this summer lol!

I hope everyone had a nice (long) Memorial Day Weekend? It was incredibly, INCREDIBLY hot here, with really high humidity. A few thunderstorms peppered the weekend, but nothing too huge.

I only got through half of the things on my “to-do” list, but so it goes. \

Just some hiking pics. I reconnected with Wendy (she runs the group I adopted Jackie through) and we went on a nice long hike through Great Bear Recreation Area, just north of the city.  Wen has a greyhound and two Frenchies (all rescues) which was fun. A “roll-icking good time” was had by all, ha ha.

Another Day, we ventured south to Ithaca to buy our park pass for the summer and hike at Buttermilk Falls State Park. I’d never been there before, hmm, probably won’t again. No dogs were allowed anywhere near the falls observation area, which kind of stunk.

This was as close as we could get. Yay.

After studying the trail map, my goal was to hike with Jack along the Rim Trail, which would bring us eventually to Treman Lake (maybe a 2 mile hike?). I had a fanny pack–wait, it isn’t ’88 anymore, now they are called ‘lumbar packs’ lol– with water, Jack’s bowl, trail map, and some snacks. I was uber-prepared. We took off up the Rim trail. Up, up, up. Up, up. up. Eventually down, down, down. Hmmm. We wandered around for close to 45 minutes, sweating like pigs in the heat and humidity. I studied my map like crazy. Couldn’t find the trailhead to Treman Lake, wth?  Where was it? Well finally we broke out of the trees, to what I THOUGHT was the trailhead for Treman Lake, way up in the upper park.  I was super excited (and relieved). Then I saw my car. And then I realized that instead of hiking up Rim trail to Treman, I had hiked a small service road around the parking lot and was back where I started.

Fail.

I packed Jack in the car and debated driving home (hanging head in shame) but decided to drive up to Treman instead. I didn’t get lost this time, LOL. We parked at the trailhead and had a nice hike along the lake. I was surprised how low it was, considering the rain we’ve gotten this season. Weird.

Handsome dude, right??  It was too hot to canoe this weekend (comfortably, at least) but hopefully we’ll dip back into the 60′s and 70′s again, so Jack can try out his new life-vest! We’ve been practicing ” down” and “stay” all winter, so hopefully he will be a Canoe Dog Champion.

(Just in case, I DID buy waterproof containers for my camera, cell phone and keys, LOL…)

Aye, aye, aye. Last week was kind of crummy for walking– rain, damp, pretty frigid temps. We stayed in all week and hibernated (besides me going to work, of course. Ha ha). By Friday the boys were full-fledged maniacs and I feared the roof would blow off the house if I didn’t get them out soon! Thankfully the weekend, though cold, was rain-free.   We drove up the street to Clark Reservation early Saturday and took a nice hike along the Mildred Faust trail, which is senior-friendly and the perfect length for Cliffie. Since Jack is recovering from a torn pad (dunno what happened on that one, but let me tell you… pads BLEED LIKE A MOTHER. OMG, my house looked like a crime scene!!) the short walk was just right for him, too.

What good boys… for now. *evil snicker*

Heiberg Forest in Tully. FANTASTIC hiking. It’s a bit past the Fall peak in terms of leaf color, but still gorgeous. Unmarked trails but we didn’t get too lost. We did get a bit muddy though. P

And there were…

…FOSSILS! I love rocks anyway (nerd, I know) but rocks with fossils totally flip me out. This was the only one I saw. From the little I know about New York geology, you can’t find dinosaur bones in our state. I’m not sure why, but our fossils are from much earlier times than T-Rex and the Stegosaurus- maybe they never migrated up our way? Dunno. Anyway, During Cambrian and Devonian time periods, New York state was covered by a shallow sea*,  so we have mainly fossils representing trilobites, clams, etc. You can see a bunch in the rock above.

Anyway, can’t wait to go back soon.

*Kansas was covered by a shallow sea too but they had mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and other cool sea monsters. What gives? How come we only have clams??? Humpf.

Whew. Long time no post.  Finally bought a new laptop, new scanner/printer…yowza. My poor plastic hurts, if you know what I mean! And that wasn’t the hardest part. The REAL P.I.T.A. is that my Photoshop software, which is a gazillion years old in computer time, isn’t recognized by Windows 7 so when I put it in the update it… wonk. Reads the CD as blank. Utter frustration.

As a quick catch-up to the last few weeks, I offer this:

Clifford

The ol’ boy’s breathing has just been getting rougher and rougher. He’s been on aggressive antibiotics to try to squelch that awful cough … AND they seemed to work… mostly. X-rays have ruled out congestive heart failure and lung cancer (did I mention that before?). We now know it’s upper-airway related which means probably larangeal paralysis or some type of cancer. Ugh, can’t think about it.

Hiking

LOVE the cooler weather. The leaves are changing, the grass is frosty in the morning… ah. Goodbye summer heat and humidity… don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

The above pics were taken at Green Lakes State Park. The lakes there are meromictic, making them turquoise blue. I’m not sure you can tell in the photo but they were spectacular. Because the trails around the lake are flat, Cliff was able to come and had relatively few troubles, although his breathing was so rough by the end I thought maybe we shouldn’t have gone? He was charging full-steam ahead though, pulling the whole hike… so he enjoyed himself. And that’s what’s important.

Jack and I did another great hike recently- Jones Hill (aka Hang Glider’s Peak) in Morgan Hill State Forest, near Tully. Leaves were spectacular down there. The hike was pretty steep, but we made it to the top with relatively little groaning/complaining (on my part). At one point we were passed by a guy hiking with a maltese (!) which put Jack and I to shame. Oh well.

Keeping Busy…

I’m really trying to be a more fit person. I know I stay active walking and hiking with the boys, but I wanted to step up my game. Plus, I can’t seem to fit into any of my fall clothes without sucking in a lot (arrrrg). I’m lucky enough to work at a university that offers a variety of recreational classes to its faculty and staff, and this semester I’m trying out kickboxing. LOVE it. I’ve also started jogging with Jack (he’s a great runner) and in the mornings I do a 20-minute Jillian Michaels (of Biggest Loser fame) workout DVD. So between doing one or the other every day, plus eating a huge salad every day for lunch… I feel REALLY good. Have I lost weight? No. But I still feel awesome.:)

I’ve also started as a Transport volunteer with some New England rescue groups. Basically, when they get dogs from puppy mills or high-kill shelters and need to move them to safe havens, I help with the driving. It has been so rewarding! Here are some of the beautiful pups I’ve met on their journey. They were all wonderful and I get teary-eyed knowing they are on their way to new, safe, well-loved lives…

Mac

Omar

Singing Ottie!

Miss Wendy

Timmy!

Last but not least, ART…

Art. Sigh. I have been having such an identity crisis lately. I ADORE printmaking but it’s so ever-loving hard, and nothing comes out the way it “should” (aka, the way it is in my head).  After a few deep conversations about it with a friend, I decided to put down the blocks and ink and try something new. I decided on Colored Pencils. It was my medium of choice 15-20 years ago, back in high school.

Am I having fun with the cp’s? Sure. But…. hell. They are SO EASY. It’s almost boring working with them, in  a way? There are no surprises like there is in printmaking. No “WOW!” (or “SHIT!”) factor when you pull the paper away from the inked block and see what’s in front of you. Soooo… well, I’m plugging along but have been experimenting with Polyester Plate Lithography…

I bought a bunch of plates last year and barely cracked them out of the package. I’ve been experimenting with them- drawing on the plates with china markers, litho crayons, Sharpies, and tusche- washing the plate with a gum arabic/water mix, inking it up and printing… and I’m really liking it. More spontaneous then Linocutting, but not as out-of-control as Monotypes. Stay tuned… I’ve gotten the itch for this process!

Hmmm, I know there’s more but I must sign off… Biggest Loser is about to start and I need to get my pizza in the oven (does anyone else stuff their faces with junk food during that show, or is it just me??)….

Later Gators!

Jen

Our view from the campsite...

Well, how do I begin this post? It was the best of camping trips, it was the worst of camping trips…. LOL….

Labor Day weekend, the boys and I headed up to Lake Harris campground in Newcomb- the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. I’ve never been to that area before, and boy… I wasn’t disappointed. Everywhere you looked, the vistas were INCREDIBLE. Wow.

Our trip started out rocky. Clifford shat in the car the whole way up. P At first I thought *someone* had bad gas but about an hour into the drive, realized that something brown was smeared all over the dog beds and blankets in the back. WTF? I almost drove off the road- “Is that crap back there??” Oh no you didn’t!!!!! Seeing that nights were going to be freezing (high 30′s, low 40′s)… we NEEDED those blankets and beds. Son of a. I had to throw them all out at a rest stop on the Thruway, and then stop at a Big Lots to restock… another hour into the drive, I smelled something rotten again and sure enough, Clifford had pooped again… feeling rather frantic that he wasn’t feeling good, I pulled into a parking spot near a grocery store (to grab something for his tummy) but crashed the car against a telephone pole. Whoops.

My poor Scion had some bad cosmetic damage but otherwise was okay. I figure since Clifford had been defiling it anyway, what the hell? We made it to the campground late but all in, relatively, 1 piece.

It ended up being a tempermental weekend. It would drizzle for an hour, sun would come out for an hour, become overcast for an hour, drizzle again for an hour… etc etc. We tried to make the most of it. Hiking in the woods, we didn’t feel a lot of the drizzle- we highly recommend the nature trails at the Newcomb Visitor Interpretive Center! We had been impressed with the VIC at Paul Smiths (farther up north in the mountains) and Newcomb was just as impressive. We did a nice 1-mile trail that Cliff was able to enjoy- a little hilly but not too rocky or rooty at all.

View from Goodnow Mountain (roof is the ranger station I think)

Afterwards, Cliff rested and “guarded”  the Scion while Jack and I climbed Mount Goodnow, almost right across the road from the VIC. The trail was fantastic- very well maintained. I think this is the highest mountain Jack and I have done to date (2690 feet- I know, you folks living out west can laugh)…At the top was a large fire tower, which supposedly offered incredible views. I made it up to the second platform (of 8 I think) before my stomach attempted to flee through my eyeball sockets. Feeling shaky and nauseous, I made my way back down. At that point, a bunch of 10 year olds came running up the trail and climbed up to the top of the tower without even waiting for their mommy and daddy. Embarrassing!

After this brief sunny lapse, the skies clouded and drizzle began anew. The boys and I went back to our campsite and ate lunch in the tent.  They were totally dead to the world! Even Jack didn’t lift his head when I went in-and-out of the tent. Sweet. As soon as the drizzle let up and blue sky popped out, I decided to put the canoe in, paddle across Lake Harris and down the Hudson River.

Yep, that’s right. The Hudson River! I had no idea the mighty Hudson began in the Adirondack Mountains before traveling downstate to New York City.

It was a gorgeous paddle…

Shorebirds... need to figure out what species!

Awesome sign along the river!

Anyway…that was our trip. It was challenging, it was fun, and afterward the pups and I came home and slept a lonnnng time in our comfy warm bed. We’d definitely go back to Lake Harris again though- really nice area.  However next time, I’ll be sure NOT to switch Cliff’s food the day before we leave. And not go up a weekend when the remnants of a hurricane are due to arrive, lol…

Jen

Along the Cliff Trail

Glad to have my External Hard Drive back, hooray! All it took was a new USB cord. Phew.

Sunday morning, Jack and I did a 2 hour hike at Clark Reservation in Jamesville. Cliff stayed home, not only because of the length but also because of the strenuous trails. A few are okay for older dogs, but most are pretty rugged- rooty, steep inclines, limestone steps and/or hills. Jack and I did the Cliff trail (gorgeous), looped down to the Lake Trail (wonderful), back up to the Cliff Trail, and then cut over to Big Buck Trail, then Mildred Faust back to the parking lot. By the time we were done, temps were in the mid-80′s with high humidity, and we were happy to go home and relax with Cliff.

Jumping the limestone rocks along Cliff Trail...

Lake Trail, along the basin.

This is a great park for a nice long hike! I’m glad to say it didn’t close when Gov. Paterson was threatening to shut down a bunch of state parks earlier this summer. Clark Res is alive and kicking, with quite a few visitors I must say! $4 admission on the weekends, free during the week, with trail maps available at the kiosk.

Jen

Just got back from another awesome camping trip in the Adirondack Mountains.  This time, the boys and I joined my folks at 8th Lake, in the Fulton Chain of Lakes region. And, I’m happy to say… another weekend of BEAUTIFUL weather! All of us- myself, the boys, my parents and their 3 rambunctious pugs- had a blast.

Hiking to the 8th Lake Inlet. Looks warm but brrr, nights and mornings were CHILLY!

Hike to Eagle's Nest Lake

Hike to Bug Lake with Jack. We were gunning for Black Bear Mountain, but after almost 4 miles on the trail, we never found the offshoot to it.

We had some great hikes- Eagle’s Nest Lake and Bug Lake with Jack (too long for Cliff) and another visit to Ferd’s Bog, which I thought would be a nice short (.5 mile) hike for Cliff. Unfortunately I forgot how rooty the trail was! He was super excited to hike, but because he can’t control his back legs very well- well, he stumbled a lot. I felt super bad.  So not only were the roots a problem, but Jack was gung-ho to be ahead of everyone and kept shoving us around to get in front. Appalling behavior, Puppy! On the narrower parts of the trail, I made the executive decision to put Cliff in front (to set the pace), then me, then Jack. Needless to say, Jack wasn’t very happy! If he had expressed this kind of desire to always be in front at the track… jeesh, he could have been a superstar! Lol.

Hike down the floating boardwalk, on the final part of the trail into the bog.

Into the bog

A visit to Ferd's Bog is a must JUST to see all the mosses... truly spectacular!

Because of Cliff’s mobility, we had to choose shorter trails for some of our hikes. Ferd’s Bog was nice, and the trail from the campground to 8th Lake Inlet was beautiful. We also had a nice time walking around the campground, where Cliff got lots of attention from other campers. Of course, he loved being a hot shot and barking at the camper dogs as we walked by, as if he owned the place-!

Maybe he DOES own the place.

Another fun trip was our Saturday afternoon canoe and kayak trip. I grew up canoeing, and really want to get back into it (kayaking is super fun, but the way you sit so low in the boat? It KILLS my back. Plus you really can’t bring a large dog in a kayak… unless you squish, LOL. So I’m looking into buying a canoe sometime soon). Anyway, the 8th Lake Campground had canoes for rent, so I thought it would be a perfect time to acclimate Jack to boating.

Practicing on the beach. A few cookies tossed in, and Jack was excited to board the canoe! Adaptable pup, thankfully.

(I wish Cliff could have come along! Unfortunately- despite his outward bravado- Cliff is a huge chicken. I fear he’d also have a horrid time getting aboard the boat with his back problem as well- he’s starting to stumble over the 2″ doorjamb of the dog door, sigh. But that’s another post. Needless to say, while we spent the afternoon out on the lake, Cliff caught up on his beauty sleep with the pugs at the campsite).

Boarding, boarding-~!

Dad offered to canoe with me, leaving Mom (in her kayak) our Official Expedition Photog. She was also the Official Expedition Goader. “Ted, I’ve never seen you wear a lifejacket in a canoe or kayak! You must not trust Jack. Ha ha. You don’t trust him do you? Do you think he’ll tip the boat? Ted?” Well, she was right- I’ve never seen Dad wear a lifejacket either, yet he kept his buttoned tight the whole trip! LOL!

All for naught, however. Jack was a superb boater. He did stand for the first 10-15 minutes of our trip, but eventually relaxed and enjoyed our exploration of 7th Lake and the 7th/8th Lake Inlet.

Out on 7th Lake, we found a series of small islands were we took a much needed paddle break. I let Jack run loose, seeing there was no way for him to get off and he was scared to wade above his little ankles (not even for treats! Chicken).

Jack explores the island, thankfully finding no chipmunks or squirrels to obliterate.

So, I think we can call this mission successful. I’m now on the hunt for a solo canoe for future expeditions with Jack.

Home away from home...

This might be our second and last camping trip of the summer, but I’m debating whether to hit the road one last time before the leaves change. Maybe Indian Lake? Brown Tract Pond? Moffitt Beach? So many places in the Adirondacks I’d like to explore! And having such wonderful, camp-enjoying pups makes it really fun. Have to think about it…hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. 

The abysmal hot weather has kept up (apparently this is the hottest summer we’ve had in 5 years- ugh!) but I’ve tried to get the boys out daily so they don’t go stir crazy. I joined a local all-breed dog hiking club with Jack, which has been super fun. Last week we went to Chimney Bluffs State Park, along Lake Ontario, which was absolutely gorgeous:

It was a 2 hour hike with a lot of wading in Lake Ontario in between rest stops, so the dogs had a lot of fun and kept nice and cool. I was able to get Jack in to his chest, but the waves made him a bit nervous. The water was the most seaweed-y I’ve ever seen it! We came home smelling like fish and it took me about an hour to pick all the seaweed out of my hiking sandal velcro, lol. There were quite a few breeds represented: 2 greyhounds, a smooth visla and wire-coated visla, a mini poodle x golden mix (I guess called a “mini goldendoodle”), a golden retriever, a Great Dane that made Jack look like a tiny whippet lol, and a South African Boerboel.

Today we had a greyhound gathering at the local dog park, with one of the fields reserved just for greyhounds only. Because there wasn’t anything too strenuous (no long walks or hikes)- I was super excited to get Cliffy out. Poor boy, he loves to walk and meet new dogs, but his back problems have curtailed most hiking activities. I was thrilled that he would be able to socialize today! And Jack is, of course, happy to do ANYTHING.

It was rather pleasant outside, considering the recent weather (humid, but only in the high 70′s) but Cliff was so excited to be out that he started to get a little… I don’t know. Overwhelmed? Over-excited? His breathing -normally raspy in humid/hot weather- got extra heavy and he got super warm. I rinsed him down but ended up leaving a bit early, just because he was getting so overly hyped-up and it was causing some breathing strain. It sounded like the poor thing had some crows flapping around inside his chest and I didn’t want him to pass out, or have a heart attack or something! Outside the pen, we took his muzzle off, and did a small cool-down walk with just himself and Jack.  With the muz off and away from stimulation, he seemed to calm down a bit. We rode back home on the highway with the windows down to let the air flow in, and stopped at Tim Horton’s for some timbits at the drive through, which the boys enjoyed. At home, Cliff settled right down and regained normal breathing. And napped. He had a good nap (okay, we all did).

Several people at the gathering commented to me about Cliff’s thinness. A few were startled at his age and assumed because of his thin condition, he was just off the track.  One lady repeatedly asked me if something was wrong with him, was I sure, etc? She just couldn’t believe he wasn’t sick, given his boney-ness. One of his people friends didn’t even recognize him. I felt SO bad! You know, you have a dog you see everyday and get used to their appearance- it’s kind of startling when you get comments like that? Cliff gets almost 6 cups of premium food a day (a mix of Natural Balance canned and meatroll, and CSFTPLS dry- comparatively, Jack and most other greys are allotted 4 cups per day), plus “extras”- an egg, boiled chicken, oatmeal-  plus we go through almost a box of Iams biscuits every couple weeks. He gets “junk food” -snausages, jerky treats, etc- galore. He’s built very tall and lanky anyway, but in his “golden oldie” years is having a hard time maintaining anything. He’s been diagnosed as healthy by his regular vet (who he visits every 6 months for wellness visits) and by his orthopedic specialist- so that must be something, right?

Maybe now that we’ve moved, I’ll start him at a new vet clinic, so “fresh eyes” can look at him? Or is it worth continuing at our former vets for the rest of his life, because they “know” him? I don’t know.

Anyway, that is our excitement for the week (except for Jack killing a baby squirrel, but the fiasco is too gruesome for blogging!!).

-Jen