I am surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It’s a novel that to me reads like a memoir. I can easily see the story unfolding in real life, well other than the talking dog. Then again, I talk to my dogs all the time and sometimes think that they have actual answers for me. I also read into their actions and expressions as though they were saying things to me. An enjoyable, but sad (the dog is old…) book to read.
After three months of planned unemployment, it is time for me to hit the road again. I cannot believe how fast the three months flew! To be perfectly honest, I did nothing but sit on the sofa or snuggle in bed with the dogs and a book. Well I did go to Mexico for two weeks because I obviously needed a vacation from my unemployment 
For now I am flying to Omaha, NE every week.BUT the hospital also has offices in Tacoma WA so I will get to spend time there too! The weather has not topped 0 F in a couple days so I am looking forward to some 40 degree weather. The pups promised to keep the sofa warm for my return.
From our family to yours
The title says “A vet’s eye view of pets and the people they love.” Really it should says “a story about a vet’s judgmental life.” Seriously this book is almost entirely about the vet, only a few stories about pets. He also hates people with tattoos. Tattoos means the people are bad. Maybe I am skewed because I have a couple tattoos but when he tells a story about a couple and how “wrong” the naming of their dog was he makes sure to say that it shouldn’t be a surprise because they have obvious lack of taste since they have tattoos.
Now that I am off of that high horse I will say that even without the tattoo part this book annoyed me. The vet annoyed me. The lack of stories about pets other than his own annoyed me. Pass on this one.
For the past two weeks we have been entertaining ya’ll with scheduled posts because we were in beautiful Puerto Vallarta Mexico for a wedding. Now we are home, in the single digit weather with snow. I am not adjusting to the change well.
The pups got to hang out with their favorite dog sitter and even though we were gone over Mesa’s birthday, Grammie came by to help her celebrate.
It is just now that I realized I have not done an update on Mesa’s knee. If you guys remember back at the beginning of July, Mesa ruptured her CCL. After surgery the vet discovered she had completely torn it in two and it was the worst one he had ever seen. To say the summer with Mesa was a challenge is an understatement. She was bummed to miss out on all the sunshine and went into a destructive phase that included my favorite slippers that I could really use right now.
At the end of September, Mesa came off restriction. We took her on hikes but had to make sure we only did a couple days a week since she has no idea how to ease into things. We also got to play fetch again.
Now that we are in winter and things are snowy and icy we have a new challenge. When out an about, Mesa still does not pay attention to anything and slips a lot. We have noticed that she gets a bit sore after being out for a while so we are easing into the wintertime play but are certain she will be back to form soon.
Overall we are very pleased we went with the “fishing line” surgery over the TPLO. Now here’s hoping her other CCL holds up
SmartBones has come out with a new product. SmartFillets are a rawhide free dog chew made from chicken. I was asked if I wanted to do a review and I decided that I did.
I was especially interested in these because of the softer than normal chews texture. Big Carl and Tori both enjoy a chew much more after Baily or Mesa has started on it and softened it up.
I gave some small pieces to my pups as samples before I realized they were made in China. Eep. China and chicken not a good combo.
I am sad that these are made in China as the pups loved the softer texture and flavor.
Ok I know your 7th birthday was yesterday, but we are on vacation so I have an excuse. We love you and you were the best birthday gift (to me) ever *OK actually sometimes the worst too. We hope you are enjoying your beloved dog sitter and we will see you in a couple days!
Ok, with all the reading I do (I actually read more than just dog books thanks to all my travel) I am not actually a Dean Koontz. I have been told a lot about how he has dogs in his books but I haven’t moved to pick one up. This memoir is about the Koontz’s first dog. Having been dog fans but uncertain they decided to adopt a dog that failed out of guide dog school. This book takes us through their day to day life and how having a dog impacted them. So much of this book was something I could relate to, or if it wasn’t something I had experienced I sure know of someone who had. A good read but I am still not sure I will pick up one of his novels.
I filmed this the other day because I though it was funny how the lack of traction affected Big Carl during wrestle time. It gave me a big giggle.