Monday, June 17, 2013
Last Friday, Benjamin and Luna took a trip to the vet to get some things checked out. Henry, even though he didn't have an appointment, went along for moral support.
Our biggest concern of late has been Luna's breathing. Since "unofficially" being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension we have tried a few different medicines to help with Luna's labored breathing. However, things have not been going so well as of late, so we took Luna to the vet to have an EKG done so we can find out more about what is going on.
The EKG as it was explained to us sounded like a simple procedure. Four alligator clips would be attached to the loose skin by Luna's elbows and knees. Once the clips are attached, the machine will be able to monitor Luna's heart. Sounds easy enough. But, then they informed us that Luna would need to lay on her side for the test and that she would need to not be panting during the test. That was the real issue. With her labored breathing, Luna is pretty much always panting. After all, that is why we are coming to the vet! Luna has been panting more and more around the house and we knew that the excitement of going to the vet is sure to get Luna worked up.
Luckily, we found out this information the day before the appointment, so we had time to come up with a plan. We called the vet and asked if Luna could go into the room where the EKG would be performed as soon as we arrive. Skipping the waiting room, would spare Luna from interacting with the other dogs and the nervous excitement that comes with waiting. The other key to this plan would be that Benjamin and Henry would not accompany Luna into the EKG room. This would keep Luna away from all of their nervous energy. This plan sounded like a stretch, but we knew it was really our only hope of keeping Luna calm enough for the test.
Step 1 of the plan, whisking Luna away to her own private waiting room, worked so well that Benjamin and Henry were left sitting in the waiting room wondering what happened to Luna.
Surprisingly, our plan worked and Luna was able to lay on her side, without panting, and have the EKG done. She did such a wonderful job and I was so incredibly proud of her!
Now that the test is over, the hard part of waiting for the results begins. We should have the results later in the week and will let you know how things went.
Friday, June 14, 2013
This flashback is from June 2005.
Benjamin and Henry are 3 years old in this shot and they are quite tuckered out. When this photo was taken, we had lived in Florida for about 3 months. With everything being so new in FL and so many new parks to visit and explore there were lots of nights like this for the pugs.
One of the other things that struck me about this picture is the dog bed. We got rid of this dog bed about a year ago, but when I looked at the picture I was surprised at how clean it is. Let's just say it did not look that shade of white when we threw it out last year.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Last Saturday was a super hot day. The pugs went out a few times in the middle of the day, but they didn't last long in the blazing sun. Warm days like that typically bring a good evening storm. And on Saturday night, the pugs got to enjoy time outside as the storm was blowing in. The clouds shielded the sun and there was a nice, cool breeze.
Its not even officially summer and the pugs are already taking advantage of any respite they can get from the FL heat.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The main ingredient in the homemade dog food that we make for the pugs is ground turkey (99% fat free ground turkey). The extra lean turkey can get pretty pricey and when you purchase 10-12 packs at a time, it can really run up the grocery bill.
A few weekends ago we stopped by a new meat market that came highly recommended by some friends. The meat in the display cases looked fantastic, but our eyes lit up when we say the extra lean ground turkey they had on hand and the price. We inquired about getting about 15 lbs of the turkey at a time and were even happier when they could give us a bulk quantity discount.
Buying 15 lbs of ground turkey at one time had everyone's curiosity in the shop peaked as to what we do with all that turkey. The looks on their faces when we told them we make dog food with it was priceless.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Looking forward to your captions in the comments.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Luna was feeling a little bad about telling everyone that Henry is her favorite brother last week. So she took a little time to smooth things over with Benny this weekend. She let him know that if no lap is available and Henry happens to be busy, she would be more than happen to hang out with him. Benny responded by giving himself a big scratch. And Luna promptly let him know that this is why she never sits with him. He is way too fidgety!
Friday, June 7, 2013
Have you ever noticed that if I post a shot of Luna hanging out with one of brothers, it is always Henry?
Don't get me wrong. Luna likes Benny, but she simply adores Henry. If a human lap is not available, she will always seek out Henry and lay next to him. If a lap is available, she will totally ditch him. 
