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Dog Visitation Rights?

// October 10th, 2004 // 2 Comments » // tagged: MacGyver

We got MacGyver, our dog, from a couple at our church. Their niece was moving, didn't want to take him with her, and was going to put him in the pound. !!! The aunt/uncle stepped in and said - no we'll keep him until we can find him a good home. Two weeks later, we learned about Mac and jumped on the chance to adopt him. We had been looking for a siberian husky for a while ... and here was someone who was going to give us one? He's been with us now for more than five months. We love him. He's a part of our family. We thought long and hard before getting him ... because we knew it was a lifelong commitment. This was going to be our dog for forever. Last week, I got a phone call from the girl who wanted to take him to the pound. She wants to see him. I figured, hey ... why not. We arranged for her to come over yesterday morning. She shows up, with a guy ... and they stay for about an hour before asking us if they can have him back. They really miss him. Yes, they're living in an apartment and would have to keep this big dog inside all day long - but we miss him. :censor: It's like -- they didn't even take into consideration that MacGyver is a much happier dog now. He's bouncing around with so much energy. He has 3 acres to run and play on at our house. We walk him every day. When we first got him ... he wasn't as active. He was used to being cooped up inside all day long. He's a SIBERIAN HUSKY. They LOVE to run. They HAVE to be active. Anyone who has read anything on the breed knows they need frequent exercise. I couldn't believe they had the nerve to ask for him back. What did they think? We were just going to say "Oh well... here you go! It's been fun, Mac ... but they MISS you. And don't you want to go hang out in a 800 square foot apartment? Woohoo!" Uh ... no! These two people who were going to give him to THE POUND. They weren't even going to make the effort to try and find a good home for him themselves. Huskies sell for at least $250 -- and MacGyver is a registered purebred so he would have gone for way more than that. Geez - it would have taken one ad in the pet classifieds here in Nashville to find that dog a good home. But they were just going to take him to the pound. And now they expect us to just hand him over? So that in 6 months when they get tired of having to take care of such a big dog again, they dump him again? :yell: Uh no. He's ours now. He is loved. He's part of our family. We have his best interests at heart ... and you don't. :mad: So, obviously - we said absolutely not. I told them they could visit him (but I'm hoping they don't, because now I dislike them even more than I did before) - but that there's no way we could give him up. No matter what the situation. Steve and I were even talking later - and if for some horrible reason we had to move to a tiny apartment and couldn't have Mac with us - we would give him to my parents or my grandparents who both have huge yards and they already love MacGyver anyway. Am I being unreasonable? I don't think so. Grrrrrrrr.

Grampy, MacGyver, & the Spin Cycle

// September 16th, 2004 // No Comments » // tagged: Family > Favorite Entries > Life > MacGyver

It's been so hectic in Lacyville here lately. What with dealing with my grandfathers cancer diagnosis and surgery, MacGyvers mite infection, our upcoming two week vacation ... we haven't had much time to just "hang out". Don't you always find that it's during these busy times that things go wrong. On the day we were supposed to drive 3 1/2 hour to see my grandfather, the brakes on the Escape suddenly starting making this scraping sound. So off to the mechanic we go - and there went $$$. Last week, our washing machine decided that it wanted to keep the water in the machine. Why spin? We've been tricking it into spinning for the last week -- by doing the regular cycle for washing and then switching it to the delicate cycle and doing that spin cycle twice. We just have not had the time to go looking for a washer - and we won't be here for the next two weeks to have it delivered. Sooo we're trying to make do until we return in October. We also have several relatives down in Florida dealing with hurricane hell. My great aunt has lived on the beach in Cocoa Beach for practically her entire life. Growing up, I used to spend summers down there - it was great her house was right on the beach. You walk off her back porch, and you're on the beach. They had a forced evacuation last week - they were told the storm surges alone would go over their homes. Get your insurance papers and family mementos, and be out by 2 PM. She went to stay with her daughter ... who lives in Melbourne, FL. THey were in the path of the hurricane as well ... but only lost a section of their roof and several trees. My aunt was finally able this week to go down and check on her house ... it was flooded. Pretty much everything mildewed and ruined ... all her furniture, appliances - damaged beyond repair. Now we just pray that her insurance carrier will do what they're supposed to! My grandfather is doing amazingly well. He has surprised all his doctors (and his family!) with his quick recovery. The surgery he had is a brand new procedure ... so both his surgeons were just so pleased that he has come through so well. He still has to go see the oncologist next week ... but they don't think she will recommend any chemo or radiation. They just want to have him in every few months for a new set of xrays. It is simply a miracle. When we first learned about his cancer, the pulmonologist told them he had maybe 6-9 months. It was that bad. Thats why I say it was a miracle. Because less than three weeks later, he has a cutting-edge surgery with not one, but two very talented surgeons and they are able to remove all the cancer. It hadn't metastasized. I believe God truly had his hand over my Grampy; miracles aren't just when someone is inexplicably healed; sometimes miracles occur in the form of just making a cancer treatable. As for MacGyver, he is almost back to normal. His behavior has improved dramatically; he's running, eating, and more playful; his hair is growing back quickly in some places, and not so quickly in other places (his tail is really slow in growing back hair!). But I think we've gotten the infection taken care of. We go back to the vet tomorrow afternoon, to see if he needs another shot of Ivermectin. AND to see if we still have to do the baths every two days. Let me just say thats been such a joyful experience. He hates water, doesn't like the medicated soap, and he especially doesn't like it that we have to leave the soap on him for 10 minutes before rinsing him off. Soooo, maybe we can get down to once every 3 days. Nonetheless, I'm just so glad he's feeling better and not constantly scratching and biting himself. And now, I'm off to try and trick the washer into doing a load of laundry that we need for our trip next week! ;)

Sarcoptes Mites

// September 3rd, 2004 // 17 Comments » // tagged: MacGyver

Our beautiful white, blue-eyed, thick-haired, sweet siberian husky MacGyver has sarcoptic mange. :worried: As is typical of his breed, MacGyver has been shedding his second coat all summer long. We brush him daily - and usually get about half a garbage bag full of loose hair. Brushing him is supposed to help relieve the scratching that would result from having the loose hair in his coat. About two weeks ago, we noticed that he was scratching a lot. More than normal. So we got some hypoallergenic shampoo ... thinking maybe he was just having a reaction to the White Dog shampoo we had been using. This didn't help. A few days later, when we were outside working in the yard - we looked over and he BIT his tail. Drew blood. Today - you can see his tail. As in ... only the bottom half of his tail is covered in hair. The scratching continues. After a phone call to our vet, we put him on benadryl on a trial basis for 3 days - to see if that would help. No effect. Still scratching. So yesterday we had our appointment at the vets office. They took blood. Skin scrapings. All those turn up normal - but there is obviously something wrong with him. His hind legs are almost completely bare. His left side .... the hair is so think you can see his skin. He looks absolutely pitiful. :cry: After two weeks of trying to figure out if he had allergies - the vet finally "gave in" and decided that it must be sarcoptic mites. You can't see them - so it's hard to diagnose. They burrow under the skin ... and then reproduce. :book: So - last night I came home and researched a bit - and sure enough. All the pictures of the dogs on the pet websites - they look exactly like MacGyver does. Their ears, legs - everything. If only I had known to look for sarcoptic mites as a diagnosis ... I thought for sure it had to be allergies since there was nothing crawling around on him. UGH!!!! So - the vet gave him a shot of Ivermectin. He's on prednisone for 10 days (to try and help with the scratching) - and we go back in two weeks to see if he needs another shot of Ivermectin. Starting this Monday - we have to give him medicated baths 3 times a week. That should be fun. We've also got him taking the de-worming pills. And when he finally is healed up from this ... he gets to have his annual shots. It's not going to be a fun month for Mac. :pi: I'd never even HEARD of sarcoptic mites. And how do they get them? I still can't find that. They can catch them from other dogs and from foxes ... but he's only been in close contact with two other dogs ... and they're both healthy. So ... at least he is on the road to recovery. Poor MacGyver. :sick:

Marking Your Territory

// June 25th, 2004 // 1 Comment » // tagged: Favorite Entries > MacGyver

Behind our house, we have approximately 1.5 acres of our property surrounded by a nice sturdy fenceline. When we first brought MacGyver home two weeks ago, and let him loose in our back-yard, he went insane with joy. Then he proceeded to pee on every single tree in the yard. It was a systematic and thorough process. We had recently planted some leyland cyprus trees - and they are only 2 feet tall - but he didn't miss those. Every single tree. We have LOTS of trees. When we take him on walks, he tries to mark all the trees along the way. Does he have an un-ending supply with which to mark his territory? He seems to never run out! On Monday, I had picked up a large Yucca Cane plant from the Home Depot Nursery. I unloaded it from the car, set it down on the driveway, turned around to close the car door - and by the time I turned around to pick up the plant and take it around to the front porch, MacGyver had already peed on it. I'm talking less than 30 seconds here, people.

Dogs v. Babies

// June 20th, 2004 // 3 Comments » // tagged: MacGyver

Sometimes it's wonderful to have a weekend at home where you can just get some stuff done! Our weekends usually find us either out of town visiting family and friends or traveling/working on Silver Strawberry business. So a weekend at home with no plans is a treat! Friday afternoon I got home and MacGyver and I cleaned up the garage and deck area. The garage was a bit of a mess due to our recent construction project - and the deck was getting overrun by dog paraphenalia. We got some nifty plastic storage bins for all of MacGyvers stuff - his food, shampoos, tick/flea drops, brushes, treats (he loves those treats!), leashes, toys, etc. We think MacGyver is going to be our first step towards actually having a human baby. :wacko: The accumulation of stuff certainly seems to be in line with having a baby. My niece Sarah has so much STUFF. When Sarah was born, my brother and sister-in-laws house was just completely taken over by strollers, cribs, high-chairs, diapers, toys, bottles, pumps, car seats, blankets and of course the plethora of baby clothes. I think she definitely has more clothes than I do. Now, obviously, we won't be able to just put food and water out in a bowl and tell the baby to "come and get it". And I'm pretty sure the baby won't sleep on our back porch. Leaving the baby at home while we go to work is probably also out of the question. But yeah ... other than that ... I'm sure having a dog is exactly like having a baby. :sarcastic:

Dog Bath 101

// June 13th, 2004 // No Comments » // tagged: MacGyver

So we tried to give MacGyver a bath this afternoon. Tried being the operative word. I think we got about ... 40% of him clean. First off, it's kind of hard to tell where the soap is because the soap kinda just blends in with his white coat. And then it's not like he's enjoying the experience - at first we thought it was going to be really easy. He let us soak him down ... and then when we first put the shampoo on - he sprawled out and was actually letting us lather him up. That lasted about 30 seconds though - and then he was squirming and shaking out the water - and it was just a general mess. I figure we'll try and get the other 60% later on today - now we'll be better prepared. Are there any special tricks for dog washing?

MacGyver Jack

// June 11th, 2004 // 4 Comments » // tagged: MacGyver

Guess what we're getting ... (For the answer -- read the extended entry!) Meet MacGyver Jack ... he's a Siberian Husky ... and he's simply beautiful and such a loving dog. Today was his first day at our house - and he's loving having so much room to run around! Here's Steve with the newest member of our family: