Henry had quite a fun Mother's Day. Not only did G-Ma come for a visit and spoil him mightily, but he also got to go to Grammy's on Mother's Day to celebrate with the whole family.
The last time Henry went to Grammy's for a big celebration was Christmas. He did great then, but he was a tad nervous and paced around quite a bit. This visit though, Henry was much more relaxed. His mental map of Grammy's house is much better now and I think that really helps him. It melts my heart to see Henry get back to his old Henry self as he is becoming more and more comfortable with his blindness.
It is always nice to hear from Grammy midday about how the kids are doing. One day last week, Grammy took a few snapshots of Henry just to show how his day was. You can see in the photos that he is laying in the sun and then enjoying the sun on his face.
What makes these photos so heartwarming (to us, anyway) is that this is old school Henry. It shows hows much more relaxed and Henry-like he is getting again. Being outside in the yard shows how he is starting to enjoy life again---the things he always used to love are bringing him warm fuzzies again! This is terrific. Not sure if Grammy realized just how meaningful these photos were at the time but I am sure she knows now even more how much we appreciate them.
Since Henry didn't have an opportunity to enjoy the sand and the surf on a recent trip to the beach (remember, we didn't sneak him on to the people beach because we sensed that we would be reprimanded by authorities), we decided that Henry needed a visit to his own beach (the dog beach). Well, since it was a beautiful day (truly ideal, actually!) we took the Hankster to the dog beach. Once there we realized how many others had the same idea we had! The beach was quite crowded. Usually we are the only ones there or sometimes there are a few other people and pets there. On this day, however, the beach was loaded with people and their pets, jet skiers, fishermen and those who didn't have anything "extra" to do other than just hang out at the beach.
Henry made it a perfect experience. He trotted down to the shore, got his feet wet then went in about chest high, took a few smacks from the waves and then he just wanted to chill. So, we rolled out a few towels and we all just relaxed in the sun soaking in all the vitamin D the day had to offer.
Henry had some passersby tell him how cute he was. Some commented on what a good boy he was being. Others asked if he could see or how old he was. Henry enjoyed the attention and even the awkward questions were still welcomed. He's not shy about his age or about his life experiences. So he was the smooth guy that was the subtle life of the party once again.
We have an app on our phones that will show photos and videos in a memory timeline. So, it basically says, on this day 1 year ago or 3 years ago or 10 years ago, this is what happened in photographic history. We open each day and review and there are some that are just eh and then there are some that really hit home. Since the blog is more about the now and not so much about history, we tend not to share this type of stuff (not to mention the fact that we've probably already shared it in real time years ago).
Anyway, this video popped up for us on May 1st and had the date of May 1, 2007 (8 years ago). To us, this was truly pug life as we remember best. This video, while about 90 seconds long, shows all the classic moments rolled up into one scene. Note to reader: This was pre-Solsey and we do not mean to exclude her and perhaps when something pops up that really strikes a cord that shows the dynamics of when they were the Fab 4 then we will again reflect, but this highlight reel seems most like the bulk of our pug life.
Here are the key moments that we would like to point out:
Benny outruns everyone like a wild man
Luna is being her feisty self (if you listen closely, her yaps in sequence of three almost can literally be heard as the chant, "Play with me! Play with me!"
Henry preferring to roll in the grass but then the other 2 gang up on him to encourage him to play (but Henry is being wise in using his time to recuperate)
Benny biting Henry's ankles
Benny getting frustrated in the end that Henry doesn't chase him, so Benny humps Henry
Benny running so fast his tail uncurls
Sidenote: Mimo is freshly planted and Benjamin runs over it like it does not even exist (since to him, it indeed does not yet exist)
Overall---Happy, healthy, lively pugs with all their working parts
Although our cancer doc recommended an xray and sonogram every other month (well, an xray one month, the sonogram the next, rinse and repeat), our general vet feels that we are now safely to a point where every 3 months is now sound (and fiscally responsible, too). So, it was time for Henry's check up to see how Henry's innards were doing. We know he still has the IBD and while we've been managing that pretty well, we've noticed his poops have been just a little off. So, we are going to adjust his meds just slightly until it kind of works itself out. (Maybe burger night wasn't the best idea. Boo!) He's been pretty much on his p's and q's for a good long time so one night probably wasn't the cause.
(Photo above is of Henry and Katy, one of our many beloved staff members at Tomoka Pines.)
We are THRILLED to announce that Henry is still in very good overall health and the doc says that he's still going strong and each time we go to the vet the last few trips our doc just keeps saying how Henry is on the upswing and is doing so great! His organs all look great but Dr. Long shared that Henry is missing a kidney! Hey! How did THAT happen? Ha! But seriously, He is doing great and that is terrific to hear! We also heard from Ann at CFPR about how positive they were when CFPR called for our reference check to see if we were fit pug people. We are very grateful to have such an awesome vet/team of medical support for Henry. #HenryIsOneLuckyPug!
We are always trying to do something each night to wear Henry out for the next day so that he can be happy at home while resting and not be filled with anxiety. We have snuck him on to the people beach a time or two. And on this night that was again our intention. But for some reason once we got there, we had a feeling that we would have been popped by the po-po (for those of you over 20, that means busted by the police). So, we opted to just hang out on an overlook area (near the sign that said no dogs allowed). Here we observed a couple of things.
First, a few other people that had snuck their dog on and low and behold, up rolled the beach patrol and tossed them out. Not sure if they also got a ticket but off they went after the fuzz visited them (lights flashing and all).
Next we observed MANY Jeeps driving down the beach. And come to find out that later in the week, there was actually a world's record set for the most number of Jeeps at one gathering at one time. So, we got a mini preview of this event. Although we stupidly did not take even one single photo of this! Ugh!
What we did take a photo of was Henry taking in the smells from his overlook ledge. He still thoroughly enjoyed the breeze and scents that the winds brought his way and with the luxury of not even having to walk or get his feet wet!
