Farewell to Hunny Bear

Today Monica and I said goodbye to our best friend in the whole world.

Late Thursday night Hunny Bear started gasping and couldn't catch his breath.  We rushed him to the local ER vet and many tests and adventures later -- including transporting him with a portable oxygen tank -- we determined he had fluid in his chest which not only made it hard for him to breathe but was cancerous.  They were able to drain the fluid to make him more comfortable so we brought him home Saturday to pamper him.  He was still having difficulty breathing last night and this morning and we knew it was his time.

I share how Hunny Bear died, because I know everyone will ask and I would if it were your dog, and it gives a sense of closure, but I'd rather talk about how he lived. And Hunny Bear lived like a prince. Our dogs are our "kids" and we spoil them -- premium food, lots of love, lots of treats, and even the specialty vets know us by name. Our floors our covered with dog beds but the dogs usually sleep between us in, and we upgraded to a king bed for them. But because Hunny Bear was our first dog -- Monica got him when he was eight weeks old -- and the #1 dog, we spoiled him just a little bit more, though please don't tell Cocoa. While Hunny Bear wasn't the cutest, the cuddliest, the smartest (if you can get OUT the dog door how hard can it be to get back in), or the sweetest, he was the toughest.His vet described him as stoic.  Despite problems with multiple organs, per his blood tests, he never showed any sign of being sick and just wanted to live life to the fullest.

And we think he did.  When we spent two months driving across the county in 2004, Hunny Bear and Emily were with us every step of the way. When Monica and I drove to the Grand Canyon and saw the National Parks in Utah, Hunny Bear was there alongside us. And at the end of the trip when I dropped Monica off at Angels Gate and made the 18-hour drive home he rode shotgun. He was the best listener ever. Hunny Bear has been to more states and stayed in more nice hotels than most people. He saw Mt Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful and many more historic sites. Our favorite trip with him was probably just to get away for the weekend to Seattle or Portland. He was an incredibly well-behaved hotel guest and house guest.

I remember the first time I really met Hunny Bear. I picked Monica up at her apartment -- we weren't even dating yet -- and she wasn't quite ready so I waited in her living room. Hunny Bear barked at me the whole time and when I tried to pet him he ran away and barked some more. At the time I thought damn, I really like this girl and her dog hates me; I'm doomed. Of course, it worked out and I learned that little Hunny Bear is Monica's protector, barking at every stranger who comes into Monica's home, and many friends as well.

I have lots of wonderful memories about Hunny Bear that make me smile but I'll share this one in closing. Monica and I have been very active as volunteers with Seattle Beagle Rescue. Every year SBR hosts two Beaglefest fund raising events where beagles and their friends are welcome. Hunny Bear wasn't particularly what I'd call a trouble maker, but he was very food motivated. At Beaglefest he sat right in front of the "people food" hoping someone would drop something or not pay attention and he could steal food out of their hand. He perfected his technique so well that I coined the phrase "It's not a Beaglefest until Hunny Bear steals a cupcake". And even though I warned everyone who took a cupcake and pointed out Hunny Bear, he always found a way.

So in memory of Hunny Bear, have a cupcake today, or better yet steal one from a friend.

Poker success

Made a nice comeback from my poker losses to cash out a big win last Thursday at Club Hollywood.  Was a loose, weak game with people throwing money around.  I made back my losses from the previous week and also ran good as opposed to running horribly bad.  Big hand when my over pair and nut-flush redraw was actually behind on the turn and drew out against second-nut flush and the guy played the river poorly.  Need to get back to Snoqualmie this week and play more no limit.

Also, Tommy is doing much better after a few days of recovery.  In fact he probably has too much energy for his own good.

Poor Old Dog

Tommy has been our foster dog for nearly two years.  He's effectively ours as it seems unlikely he'll get adopted.  He has a myriad of minor problems that make him a difficult adoption, perhaps the worst of which is that he's 13 and people don't want older dogs.

This morning Tommy slipped or stepped funny and badly sprained his front right leg.  With two weak hind legs already, he was having a lot of trouble getting around.  We took him to the vet and nothing is broken, which is the good news.  The bad news is he appears to be in pain and is on bed rest for the next two weeks.  We'll have to help him get outside and back inside to do his business.  Yes, that's as much fun as it sounds.  If there's a bright side, it's that Tommy isn't very active and we don't need to crate him to limit his activity.  He does that on his own.

He's resting comfortably now, but is basically stuck downstairs until further notice.  And he doesn't like to be picked up to be moved outside or brought back in.  Fun, fun, fun.

TGIM

Yes, really.  Thank goodness it's Monday.  This was a crazy weekend.  Saturday we went to the Edmonds Art Fair.  Monica wanted to go to the Fremont Fair -- I don't really like the Fremont Fair but it's one of those things you do for love and I'm willing to go every 4 years or so.  But I thought it would be fun to try something different.  The Edmonds Art fair was actually pretty good.  It's a lot like Salmon Days with a lot of arts, crafts, and food vendors (honey, spice rubs), along with a couple of concessions areas, though not as big.  Monica was really happy we went.  However we walked around for a couple hours, then decided to walk into downtown Edmonds and walk around for another hour, then walked up hill to the car.  Add in a long drive there, a longer drive home to get around the traffic on I-5 and it's a long day.  But it didn't end there as I went to the Mariners game that night. 

Sunday we got up all took all three dogs to the Furry 5K.  They start the walk at 10 AM because they want to be done and get the dogs away before it gets hot. Hah!  It was mid 50s and rainy.  Monica and I were wet, a bit cold, and a bit unhappy.  The dogs were all filthy messes but they had a great time.  Unfortunately at the end of the walk, we just wanted to get home rather than spend much time at the vendor booths.  Got back to the car and headed home just as the rain got a lot worse.  The walk wasn't as exhausting physically as it was mentally.

Got home just in time to get a call from the JCC Softball League Coordinator about whether we should cancel softball games.  This is the un-fun part of being league chair.  People want to play, and you have to play in rain in Seattle, but no one wants to get hurt on wet outfield grass.  They installed turf fields so the infields can take a lot of water.  We'd already had one injury so we decided to cancel the rest of the day.  Of course, 30 minutes later the rain stopped.  Still I think the fields were really, really wet and the outfields weren't safe.

Had some lunch then took a nice hot shower.  Then I went to the Storm game Sunday night.  Great game, though Sue Bird got hurt.

Now it's Monday and I can relax and get some stuff done around the house.  Though all I'm actually doing is email and blogging.

Week 2

After another typical weekend -- Mariners lose, softball team wins -- it's back to work.

This week I've been keeping an eye on our dogs while parts of the remodel are in progress.  I was going to put them in daycare, but they're actually been pretty good about staying out of the way and not barking at the workers or all the noise.  Nailing in a hardwood floor is noisy, but Tommy sleeps right through it.

Monday the hardwood guy got to work installing boards and my painters arrived.  Fortunately the were working around each other.  When we moved in we removed a divider from the bottom of the stairs and patched the walls and ceiling but never painted.  I picked up some paint six months ago to see if I could get a match, but it was never on the top of the to do list.  Sort of out-of-sight, out-of-mind but more after staring at the ugliness every day, we just learned to live with it.  But with hardwoods going in, we wanted to paint first rather than risk getting paint on the new wood floors.  In the end, we cut out a chunk of the wall and did a color match.  They were able to feather in the paint to avoid painting the 15" wall above the stairwell and perhaps other walls to match which was a great saving of time and money. Hard to explain really; you have to see it.

Tuesday the hardwood installer got most of the floor done and Wednesday he finished up with the hallway and the edges.  Looks great and it hasn't been sanded or finished yet.

Meanwhile I've been working on planning my trip to Las Vegas and it looks like it's a go.  I'll be there May 24th through June 4th.  Have airfare, hotels, and a rental car booked.  I'm staying off the strip at Alexis Park the first week to keep my costs down.  Even Imperial Palace wants $200 for Saturday over Memorial Day weekend, then moving to IP the second week where I have 4 nights for $85!  My plan is rather than to play poker non-stop to actually have a vacation.  See some shows, walk down the strip, maybe sit by the pool.  Get away from the strip to see some other parts of Vegas.  And really before 11 AM the poker action isn't that good. 

Also working around the house.  It seems the laundry never stops, even for just the two of us. I've been catching up on entering our financial records into MS Money in preparation for doing our taxes.  Yes, I haven't even started taxes yet.  Finished reseeding the back yard.  Dogs and dog "output" do a number on a lawn.  I can't believe how bad it looks just a year after we put down sod.  Seeding is more work than it sounds like.  Had to loosen up the soil in lots of places and work the seed into the dirt.  Otherwise it just washes away.  The lawn eeds a lot of TLC (and a lot of water) this year.  Hope to see some grass and hope in a couple of weeks. 

I installed a keyless entry for the garage.  That was actually a fun project where I felt like I accomplished something rather than started something that will eventually finish.  Our garage is attached to our house but is external so the door is locked and it's a pain to unlock it, every time to go into the garage.  I looked at doing this when we first moved in, but didn't see one that would work.  Maybe it's a new model, but this was pretty easy to install and only took an hour and works great.already.

Also made a trip to the vet.  Hunny Bear and Cocoa are fine -- still needs another round of meds for his yeast infection -- but Tommy has problems with ears and eyes.  And it's almost impossible for us to medicate him.  He sees the dropper bottle coming for his ears or eyes and he runs.  When you catch him he shakes and jerks his head.  Try putting eye drops in while shaking -- impossible. That's my challenge foe the week.

Day 3

Went to Hideaway to play their 10:30 poker tournament. This is the best structured daily tournament in town.  You start with 100BB which gives you some time to play before you're short stacked and generally the field is small so it's not a luck fest until you're at the final table.  One of the guys who seemed to be a regular said they get 40 or 50 people which I found surprising.  They actually had 22 people at the start and just had two tables with two alternates. I lasted about an hour in the tournament.  On the only good hand I had early I managed to steal the blinds.  Lost a bunch of chips where I got unlucky and then bluffed off much of my stack against a guy who couldn't figure out he should fold, or had an amazing read on me.

Had lunch with my friend Meier and talked at length about ideas for an upcoming Vegas trip.  Seems like it actually might not make sense to drive down, even for a long stay.  Then came home to work on the yard.  I fixed the light in the backyard; actually if just fixed itself but I programmed the timer.  Filled in half a dozen holes in backyard and pretty the ground for reseeding.  We love our dogs, but wow do they do a number on the lawn; number 1 that is.

Then to the Mariners game for the second night in a row. Who knew filling dirt would be more fun than the Mariners game.  Wow is it cold for May baseball.  The reported crowd was 17,000 but this is one of the two smallest crowds I've seen. Can't believe it was much more than 10K, if that.

Hunny Bear climbs into bed

For a blog named for Hunny Bear, there's not actually much about Hunny Bear in the blog.

But yesterday Hunny Bear did something we've been trying to get him to do for years.  And we're very proud of him!  A few years ago we got a Tempur-Pedic bed and found that with the thicker mattress and his advanced age, Hunny Bear could no longer jump on the bed to sleep with us.  So we got some pet steps and put them next to the bed. (They don't quite look like the picture but you get the idea.)  He wouldn't go near them.  Emily immediately ran up them.  Every foster dog or dog we've dog sat ran up them into bed.  Hunny Bear wouldn't touch them.  If you put his front paws on the first step, he stepped off. 

We tried off and on to teach him, but finally we put the steps away.  But in the new house we have them out.  For the first time yesterday, Hunny Bear used the steps to walk into bed without any physical assistance.  I patted the bottom step and once he stepped on, I patted the second step, and he stepped up and figured the rest out from there.  And he just repeated the behavior tonight.

I only wonder what took him so long to try it.

Now I've seen everything

Or what happens in Redmond, doesn't stay in Redmond.

While our blog is named "Life with Hunny Bear", there hasn't been much about Hunny Bear himself in the blog, so here's some news.

Hunny Bear was having some back problems -- he couldn't jump up on the couch or bed -- so Monica took him to the vet to get checked out.

Apparently the holistic vet is a bit different. Yes, that's Hunny Bear getting an acupuncture treatment. He was well-behaved and decided to relax and take a nap.

Woof!

Farewell George

No not that George. Our foster dog passed away in late August.

George was a sweetie who we rescued from death row. He had a loss of appetite and energy toward the end of July and we took him in for a check up. He went on Rimadyl and antibiotics and seemed to get better for a while but was never quite himself. He went in for surgery to have a small mass in his throat removed, and the vet discovered it was a large mass that was slowly closing off his windpipe and there was nothing they could do for him.

Take care George. Thanks for being part of our lives.

In happier news, we're fostering/dog sitting an 8-week old Beagle puppy this weekend. He's the cutest, sweetest thing you ever saw. If only he could stay that size forever.

Dog update

Those who have met Cocoa know he scratches and chews his paws quite often. We took him to a dermatologist last Friday to get checked out.

After giving him the once over he gave Cocoa allergy tests. Cocoa failed miserably. I wish we had a picture but couldn't get him to sit still. Picture a 4 x 10 grid with a dot at every vertex and big dots and most vertices. The large dots are everything he's allergic to including cat dander, wool, and grass. Great for a dog who lives in a house with oriental rugs and a cat and likes to run around a grassy back yard. We're getting him some allergy shots to desensitize him. We're also working on clearing up some yeast infections that cause him to itch. We hope he's better soon and thankfully he's really not so bad right now.

Hunny Bear went to the vet today because he's occasionally been limping. Thankfully the diagnosis is minor. His kneecaps are both loose but it's a grade 1 or 2 on a scale of 1-5. The vet recommended doing nothing.

Charlotte Goes Home

Our latest foster dog Charlotte is going home today after 7 months of being a guest in our house. She's gotten along great with Hunny Bear, Cocoa, and Jasmine. We'll miss her a lot -- Monica a lot more than me cuz she bounds too much with foster dogs -- but are thrilled that she's found a great forever home.

She's also improved her condition tremendously while she's been here as you can see in these photos. No camera tricks here. When she came to Beagle Rescue she was 53 pounds and at her most recent vet exam she was down to an almost svelte 36 pounds. She could still stand to loose a few pounds -- couldn't we all after Thanksgiving -- but she's no longer horribly obese. She loves playing and going for a walk, both of which have helped her trim down.



Here's one more set of before and after photos.

New addition

No, Monica isn't pregnant.

As a fifth anniversary present to each other, Monica and I adopted our foster cocker spaniel Cocoa. Cocoa is very sweet and has fit in well here. Much like Emily did, he searches for any great place to snuggle with someone. When I watch TV, he jumps on my lap, and not just his head on my lap.

Welcome to the family Cocoa.

Charlotte and Cocoa

Here are the two recent additions to our household. We're fostering a couple dogs for Seattle Beagle Rescue -- Charlotte the tri-color Beagle and Cocoa the chocolate Cocker Spaniel. This being Seattle, Monica pronounces her name Char-latte. Charlotte is very sweet, though she's fat, and not like Cindy Crawford. We just got Cocoa on Tuesday so don't know a lot about him yet. He is very affectionate and well-behaved so far, though he occassionally likes to mark his territory. This is a strange story -- he came from a "good" home and was well taken care of but he kept running away and his parents decided they didn't want to keep him anymore.

SLC to Zion

Slight change in plans. We were staying South of SLC so we'd miss rush hour and have a shorter drive to Springdale/Zion. Monica decided she wanted to see Salt Lake City, so we went into the city for a few hours and mainly walked around downtown. Very strange experience. While it was a Monday at 9:30-11, downtown was empty. Is Easter Monday a holiday? Businesses were open at 10, but there didn't seem to be the downtown hubbub you'd see in any other major city. Coolest place we found was a bookstore that is similar to Powell's in Portland. Took off about 2 and drove straight to our hotel.

Today was our first adventure in more ways than one. When we arrived Monday night, we found out we couldn't leave Hunny Bear in the room while we were out. Most pet friendly places say not to leave the pets unattended but they all turn a blind eye if you go to eat for an hour and don't care much about well behaved pets. It's like a speed limit -- driving 61 in a 60 zone is illegal but no one really enforces. But there are places where they will ticket you for that, so you need to be cautious. And the vibe that was we shouldn't leave Hunny Bear. We had passed a dog day care a couple miles before our hotel and they had an opening. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as our running around took longer than expected.

We had planned to be at Best Friends for a tour about 10, but didn't arrive until 10:45. Dropping off HB, and traffic (slow drivers) through the park slowed us down. So we caught the abbreviated tour at 11. By the time we finished at Best Friends, hit the gift shop and had lunch; we realized there was no way to fit Bryce Canyon in. So we headed straight for Zion National Park. My parents had been there a few years ago and said it was pretty quick to see. But now that it's gotten busier, they don't allow cars on the scenic drive (the best part). The shuttle system is pretty efficient but it does slow you down a lot. We did the shuttle tour where you can see the highlights and took a lot of photos (sorry, I'm slow on getting any photos uploaded). Monica and I actually split up so she could get Hunny Bear before 5 and I spent an extra 45 minutes in the park.

We'll hit Bryce Canyon tomorrow as it's one of the must see items on the agenda. We'll see how much of Glen Canyon and the Staricase we can fit in.

Our trip to the National Parks

Monica and I start our trip tomorrow morning. In talking to some people I realize we may not have let everyone know about our planned adventure.

Monica is taking the final session of her T-Touch class at Best Friends, starting April 15. Best Friends is in Kanab, Utah, which is in the middle of nowhere and the middle of everywhere. Best Friends' site notes that it's a four-hour drive from Las Vegas or an hour and a half if you fly into the regional airport in St. George. But it's also right in the middle of Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon National Parks. Given that we've never seen that part of the country, I thought it would be fun to join her and vacation in the area for a few days. And if I drove down, we could bring Hunny Bear with us.

Here's our itinerary, which is always subject to change. We hope to be online most evenings and able to post updates, but I'm not quite sure of our Internet access in the middle of the trip.

4/7: Sammamish to Boise
4/8: Boise to Salt Lake City
4/9: Salt Lake City to Springdale, UT; watch King of Queens
4/10: The real vacation begins with a tour of Best Friends, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. Zion isn't pet friendly, so Hunny Bear will miss out.
4/11: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Lake Powell, then drive to the Grand Canyon for the night
4/12 - 4/13: Grand Canyon, Red Feather Lodge
4/14: Retrace our steps around the Grand Canyon, back to St George to pick up a rental car for Monica while she's there, then drive back to Kanab for the night
4/15: Monica's class starts, Hunny Bear and Adam begin the drive home

Happy Birthday Emily

If Emily were still with us, she'd be 11 today. Or maybe she'd be 10; she never did talk about her age.

We miss you lots sweetie. Thanks for sending the snow.

Duke and Duchess

Oops, just realized I wrote this up, but never posted it.
These are our latest foster dogs from Seattle Beagle Rescue. They're eight-year old brother and sister and came to us via Eastern Washington. Duke is the one in the back. We were planning to foster them for just a week until an adoption event. But when the Chanukah storm hit and the whole Eastside lost power, the event was cancelled. The dogs were transferred to Beagle Rescue, and here we are. They are the sweetest and cutest Beagles we've had in quite some time. Unlike Monica, I don't say that about every dog.

You can read more about them on PetFinder or find out how to adopt them.