Beachy Walks and Honoring Ellie

I wents to the beach this weekend, twice!  It's one of the few places I can be off leash this time of year, giving me a chance to run.  My knee is doing so far so good, so Mr. Vet is happy and wants me to keep working out and hopes I've healed enough.

 There was a little ice, so I be careful.

 I did run in the water, but then I realized it was freakin cold!

 So I stayed further away from the water from then on.

 Hoomans keep up, geesh they are slow.

And this week we received our painting in honor of kitteh sister Ellie from Kitty & Coco's Momma.  We are absolutely thrilled with how it came out and we are just amazed at the quality and how every detail was captured.

We miss you Ellie, and we thank you Lauren for your lovely work.  Please check out Lauren's etsy shop.

Why I like Mr. Chewy

I like Mr. Chewy -
He sends me treats in boxes that I gets to open.

Mr. Chewy also sent foodables for the kittehs - which Vader likes to eat cause he is fat fluffy. Evil kitteh brudder Patch likes foodables too but he doens't like the camera.

The hoomans like Mr. Chewy because they can save money. Check out the prices we currently pay for stuff we ALWAYS get and how much better of a deal it is from Mr. Chewy.

	Mr. Chewy Price	What we normally pay	Money Saved
Solid Gold Hund-n-flocken Adult (Lamb) Dry Dog Food	53.99	56.64 (PetCo)	2.64
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Senior Hairball Dry Cat Food	29.99	34.99 (local)	5.00
Frontline Plus for Extra-Large Dogs 89-132 lbs	37.99	41.99 (discount online store)	4.00
Zukes Jerky Naturals Beef	5.99	6.99 (local)	1.00
Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Beef Patties Dog Food	10.99	13.49 (local)	2.50
Total Saved			15.14

The hoomans buy this each month (minus the Frontline) think of how much more stuff I can get if they save money!

Mr. Chewy offered me a coupon to try them out, both Vader and I were happy to gets a delivery in 2 days.  We appreciate the generosity of Mr. Chewy letting us try out their service.  In all honesty the delivery was fast, correct, easy, and less expensive that what we normally pay.  We will order from them again.  But I Tucker do have one minor concern - they don't sell toys.  I gots no new stuffy like I normally gets when I orders online, I guess I'll just convince the hoomans to takes me to the local pet store to gets one wif all the money we will save!

Thank you Mr. Chewy - Your new customers Tucker, Vader, and evil kitteh brudder Patch.

A knee update

Today i went for a knee follow-up.  My knee is not worse, but it isn't a whole lot better.  Mr. Vet is concerned about me losing any more muscle in my leg, and the water therapy machine is likely to not be big enough for me (my vet doesn't have one but there is one an hour away).  So, I have been given permission to RUN!  I can run and as soon as I limp the surgery will be scheduled.  Basically it's a last ditch effort to see if I've healed enough but much longer and I will have a wimpy leg. So based on my ability to cause myself bodily harm surgery is likely in my future.

When I came home from the vet I was allowed to run and I was crazy!  I haven't hurt myself yet, so we'll see.
Here is a picture of me on the way to the vet, I was wearing my thunder shirt.

Note from Tucker's Momma: Tucker is not limping but you can tell he is still favoring his leg some.  You should have seen him run, he was having a blast.  It breaks my heart to see him smile after finally running knowing we've had to restrict him for the last 8 weeks and he'll likely need the surgery anyway.  We are going with the traditional surgery or the "tightrope" method not the TPLO.  The TPLO I find to be too invasive and our vet doesn't specialize in it.  Our vet says it takes 3 days to use the leg and after a week he'll almost be walking normal.  Then we will slowly increasing exercise and freedom.  Our best benefit is that although Tucker is a very tall Dane (37 1/2 inches to his withers) he is very lean.  He only weighs about 140 pounds which is very light for a Dane his size.  Male Danes at that height tend to weigh 160 or more.  There is still a chance that the cruciate ligament has healed enough to support the running, but not likely.  As soon as he limps we'll call to schedule the blood work, x-rays, and surgery.  As much as the surgery scares us Tucker needs to be able to run and enjoy being a dog.  

Sending my Share

Sending my share of my past to my lovely Bella, Brinks, and Sandra.  My puppy blanket has a few holes from my teething as a pup, but I still has it.

 I am sending my piece for the memory quilt.  Did you sends yours?

Okays, first things first -I had a setback with my knee and I is back on medicine and crossing my paws very hard that my healing will get back on track.  We talked with Mr. Vet and he said he wasn't surprised that I "tweaked" my knee again because of my past history.  So what if ALL my health problems are labeled "self induced" on my record, whatever.  Momma's been a wreck abouts my potential surgery and the woman won't even let me go out into the FENCED backyard to do my business at 5:30 in the morning unless I'm on a leash.  She says she can't trust me not to try to do zoomies in the snow.  Crazy woman - who does zoomies at 5:30 in the morning?  6 maybe, but nots 5:30.

In better news remember my 12 Tucker days of Christmas?  Well,Wyatt suggested I enter PetSafe's 12 Days of Christmas contest and I was one of the winners!

We were surprised when a big package arrived this week!

 Look at all the loot!  I heated bed, that the kittehs are totally excited about (it says it's a small dog bed but they can't read and Vader is extra Fat fluffy anyway).  A drinkwell waterer that we will gives to cousin Bambi (since the kitteh's already have one of these great inventions), some toys for me and a t-shirt for the hoomans.

 Momma and Dad loves the shirt!

 I claimed the toy beaver immediately

 And these lickety sticks are great, it was my first time trying them.

 See how big my tongue is? Oh and there is a little drool.

And I gots this very awesome treat ball, here is video of me figuring out how to use it.  (Caution I make funny noises when I play wif something the first time).

Thank you very much PetSafe for your very generous prize package!  Thank you Wyatt for letting me know about the contest, and congrats for be a winner too!

Tucker's Mango Minster Entry

http://mangominster.blogspot.com/
Adventure Animals

"You don't need to go hiking all over the countryside wasting unnecessary energies to be an adventure animal. Just trying new stuff like my physical therapies school or being bold enough to approach something scary or just about anything you can think of. After all, isn't life just one big adventure?"

I is very excited for another year of Mango Minster!  This year I is entering the Adventure category.  I had a lot of adventures this year and all three years of my Dane life so far.  Before I gets started recapping some of my adventures lets start wif the basics.

1. Every good adventure needs a little luggage. I mean come on, I was gonna be gone for at least 4 hours.

2. Brings a Map - the hoomans get lost

3. Drinks plenty of water

AND.....

4. Always scoop - makes the hoomans do it - yes you too little pups.  I knows your poops may not be huge but they is still poop.  Yes it stinks, but it stinks even mores when you steps in it.  I always gotta carry my own on hikes.

So what kind of adventures do i take?  Walkies at State Parks, the National Park, and the Rails to Trails System.

You can't forgets about Beach Walkies!

Then there's trips to the camp (near the scary playground steps).

This year I went to Vegas wif Corbin, joined a tick party in ConnecTICKut, and passed through border crossing to Canada.  Canada even put up no Tucker signs when they heard I was coming... Not very welcoming if you ask me.

Now indoor adventures are ok, like Petco & PetSmart.  But I also have gone to the Bank, Home Depot, Lowe's, and yes Dooney and Burke.  I promise I didn't slobber on any purses.

Oh and Ice cream stores! I can't forgets about those.

But, outdoor adventures are the best!  Like the vacation on the lake last August and Ice Fishing in February.

Also, traveling to rescue fundraisers  always makes you new friends

Now you don't need to leave home to have an adventure!  This year I've made an attempt at agility, fostering Navi and Mac, raising chickens, dancing to Elvis, and hula hooping!

The best part of adventures is just getting to go - it doesn't matter where!

And of course coming home to your couch is kinda nice too.

Happy New Year & an Update

Hello Bloggie world!  Did you forgets about me?  Just in case here is a picture to jogs your memory.

The household is doing much betters now.  The Momma doesn't cry every times you say Ellie's name and I is feeling much better.  My knee has made huge improvements and you can barely tell i hurt myself.  This week we should get the word from the vet but I think I will be ok wifout surgery.  I put all my weight on my bad leg to do scratchies wif my good leg and I don't fall down - that is good news!  Plus i can turn around much better now.  And, my medicines are gone and I am still doing well.  Now for some more updates:

It's been really warm here but we did have a white Christmas!  And, yes I gots caught trying to do zoomies in the snow and gots in trouble.

I gots some really nice pressies for Christmas, my favorite is my squeaky chicken.

And the bestest news!  I gots to me meet my new Cousin!  

Meet Storm, a 7 year old Rottie that was adopted my my favorite Aunt D right after Thanksgiving.

You can't see but I promise her nub was a waggin on our first greeting!

I even shared my Momma wif her, isn't she adorable?

Now I've got a lot of blogging catch up to do so I apologize for not leaving comments but we are trying to read everything.  Also, I see I have to figure out what category to enter Mango Minster in.  My fingers where crossed for "Spotted dogs that sleep on the couch" but that category still hasn't been accepted.  Maybe next year.