Tag Archives: Dazzle

A Surpising Legacy

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As regular readers know, Dazzle died last summer at eighteen years old, leaving a surprising legacy. A long and fruitful life for a chow-spaniel mix pound puppy. Dazzle was always special. On a September Saturday morning in 1993, my husband (who was not yet my husband) arose with a mission. He knew he had to go to the Converse Animal Shelter and get a dog. His dog, a lab mix named Ranger had died some time before, and he was without a dog. This Saturday morning, he knew he had to go.

I don’t know know many dogs or puppies he looked at that day — I was stationed in Alabama — but when he saw a golden ball of fur, he knew she was the one, and he brought her home with him. Dazzle and Plato (his Siamese cat) comprised the household.

suprising legacy

As more animals were added through the years, every one of them worshiped Dazzle. We both remarked upon it. The power Dazzle had over the other animals in the household was uncanny. Dazzle just was, and the others just wanted to be with her.

Fast forward to last spring, when we knew Dazzle didn’t have long with us. We moved her from outside into the house. She was couldn’t hear, and we’re pretty sure she couldn’t see. I think her smeller still worked. She couldn’t move very well, so I carried her up and down the steps into and out of the house.

One area we failed the kittens was exposing them to the dogs at an early age, so both Tarzan and Lady were afraid of Dazzle when we first brought her into the house. We made her comfortable in the downstairs bathroom (which had plenty of floor space, so Dazzle wasn’t cramped) and put a baby gate across the door. The bathroom is off the dining room, and we normally keep the living room and dining room closed to the cats, but with Dazzle in the house, during the day, I kept the dining room door open. This allowed the cats to come and go as they pleased. Natasha and Ajax were well-acquainted with Dazzle, and they visited from time to time. The kittens, at first, were fascinated. They studied Dazzle closely. Since Dazzle mostly slept, she ignored the kittens, and they could study her freely. Eventually, even the kittens relaxed around Dazzle and would regularly drink her water and consume her food.

We kept Dazzle’s collar after we buried her, and somehow, it wound up on the parlor floor. That’s when things got interesting. I began to notice each of the cats rubbing on the collar, rolling on the collar, and, in the case of Lady, licking the collar. Because of this, I’ve left Dazzle’s collar where the cats can interact with it. Nearly a year after Dazzle’s death, she still has a hold over those she left behind. You may choose to believe what you will, but I believe the cats are remembering Dazzle via her collar.

surprising legacy

RIP: Dazzle, July, 1993 – July, 2011

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As you know, we’ve been preparing for this time for a little while. Dazzle had a pleasant morning wandering the back yard. We ran some errands. When we came home, she was gone.

Hubby woke up on Saturday morning, September 4, 1993, and knew he had to go to the Live Oak Animal Shelter. Once there, he discovered a bright-eyed golden ball of fur, just six weeks old. He named her Dazzle because of her dazzling fur coat.

dazzle

She was the dog all the other dogs and cats worshiped. In her younger years, she seemed to find a way to escape the back yard at least once a year — she seemed compelled to do that. There were a couple of times we thought she was gone for good, but we always got her back — sometimes from a veterinary clinic where the person who found her delivered her to and once or twice from Animal Control. Usually, we managed to find her before too long and get her back to the yard.

As her faculties diminished, she did as well as she could and muddled along. A little over a month ago, she developed a bed sore, so we moved her into the house and switched her from dry food to canned food. She seemed to gain a little weight back, and she was more comfortable than being out in the heat (she’d always been an outside dog, but she had good house manners). Sometimes, she just liked to be outside, so I let her stay out while I was cleaning her room, and that seemed to satisfy her most of the time. Since she moved into the house, the kittens have been fascinated with her, and it seems Natasha volunteered to stay near Dazzle as she rested, because I’d frequently find Natasha lying on a rug just outside the bathroom where Dazzle spent her house time

Unlike many dogs, Dazzle didn’t bark unless she had a good reason for doing so. When Dazzle spoke, we listened. She was a good, loyal dog, and we were fortunate to be her people for 18 years. Rest in peace, Dazzle.

Still Here

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Yes, I’m still here.  But I caught you looking.  Some of you have been dropping by just to see if maybe I was gone for good.  (Admit it.  You wondered.)  God’s not done with me yet.

Hubby’s back in San Antonio, dragging soaker hoses to keep the grass alive, painting garage doors, paying a visit to the tax office to renew his Navigator registration, and generally taking care of business down there.

Up here, I feel like I’m not getting anything done, but that’s not quite true.  I’m taking care of 18 year old Dazzle who has some good days and some bad days.  Mostly, she’s a walking mess.  She’s unsteady on her feet.  She has trouble moving around.  She sleeps a lot, so if I hear her up and about, it usually means she needs to go outside.  If she’s just been outside, she’s trying to eat or drink.  Being unsteady means she sometimes loses her balance into her food or water, sends bowls crashing and contents spilling.

I have to carry her up and down the steps into and out of the house.  Thankfully, I’ve lost 30 pounds in the last three months, which makes carrying her 30+ pounds a little easier.  She’s technically well enough to go back outside, and I’ve put her out for a few hours at a time.  I’ve noticed she doesn’t have anything to get a grip with her hind feet to help her stand up, so she tends to go around in circles on the ground trying to get up.  With the heat, that places her in too much risk of not being able to get to water, thus becoming dehydrated.  Yes, at this point in her life, she’s better off inside in the temperature controlled environment where I can hear her if she’s struggling.  It’s pretty easy for me to help her stand up and steady her until she gets her balance if needed.  But she has to be where I can hear her.

I’ve also been digging sticker burs — they are coming into season, and we’re trying to eradicate them from the yard.  That means I need to dig them before they drop their seed pods.   I sweep the yard every morning with weed knife and empty dog food bag.  Dazzle helps.

I got the lawn mowed.  I moved a little gravel.  I’ve been working on Polar Bear on the Loose.  I’m up to Lesson Ten on How To Revise Your Novel.  My energy level is a little down.  I feel as if I should be getting more things done that I have been.  I picked up something when we worked the ranch last week that has given me random contact dermatitis symptoms.  The systemic nature of it could be dragging down my energy levels.  I don’t think it’s anything to worry about for the long term.  Maybe doing a battery recharge?

For those of you with rain that won’t quit, I’ll be happy to trade some of our sunshine for a little of your rain (no tornadoes, please!).

Our Neck of the Woods

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What’s been happening in our neck of the woods?  I’ve been pretty quiet, and, frankly, I haven’t really been busy enough to warrant the silence.  But I haven’t been doing much that’s noteworthy.  Just in case you were wondering, here goes (in no particular order):

– Hubby and I got three sixteen foot boards made for the house.  This entails planing a one inch deck board down to 7/8″ of an inch of thickness; shaving just a little off the sides to ensure it’s 5 1/2″ wide; notching half the width of the board out of opposite sides the full length of the board with a router; and routing an angle onto each notch — one outside and one inside.  This is called “shiplap.”  You can still buy this siding new, but it’s the wrong size for the siding on our 111 year old Victorian house.  To get siding that fits exactly when a board needs to be replaced, we have to make it.

– Hubby got the front wall painted in color coat as far as we have the boards reconditioned or replaced.  Here’s a photo:

Front Wall

He put color coat on the next four boards tonight.  Due to some other things in the queue, we probably won’t get the bottom four boards replaced until early next month.  With the exception of a little paint scraping and sanding, hubby has done all the work for this job.

– We’ve had no rain in Texas.  I’ve been working sprinklers in morning and evening hours (when evaporation is least) to try to get the grass growing and salvage what little St Augustine grass is still left.

– I’m getting a little work done on Polar Bear on the Loose.  I’m still working through the How to Revise Your Novel Course.  I’m on Lesson 8.

– Dazzle, our 18 year old chow/spaniel cross, won’t be with us much longer, and we’re trying to ensure she’s as comfortable and healthy as possible.  She’s always been an outside dog, but she was diagnosed with what amounts to a bed sore today, so she’s in the house recuperating to keep it clean, dry, and fly-free while she gets medication.  Last week, upon discovering she’d lost nine pounds in the last year (she was a 40 pound dog, so that’s significant), we decided to switch her from dry to canned dog food.  She likes that idea.  She also was having trouble eating her vitamins, so we got a grinder and are grinding them onto her food, making it easier for her to ingest.

– Sometime last week, I managed to screw up a hip/ lower back muscle.  I strained the one on the right side two years ago.  Last week, I did the one on the left side.  According to a neat app I found last night called iMuscle, it’s the gluteus medius muscle.  The app has fine quality photos and includes exercises and stretching for each muscle which will allow someone to strengthen or rehabilitate.  At $4.99, I think it was a bargain.

I guess that should mostly bring you up to speed.

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Dribs and Drabs

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Yes, I’ve been too quiet here lately.  Here’s a variety of observations for your reading pleasure. I’m still on Lesson 5 in HTRYN.  I did complete about six more index cards.  I still have many more to go. I’m heading back up to Central TX next week.  I didn’t get … Continue reading →

Reflecting on 2009

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2009 has been an interesting year.  It’s my first full year of retirement.  There’s still no time for boredom. We experienced some sadness.  My paternal grandmother died in February — complications of old age.  She was my favorite grandmother when I was younger — she was a kid’s grandmother.  She … Continue reading →