Goodbye, Denzil.

Denzil

C-Myste N'Corigible CGC CD RE NA NAP

May 26, 2002 - July 15, 2014

Today was a very sad day, as those who loved Denzil the most had to say our final goodbyes.

Denzil was the most joyful, joy-giving dog we've ever known.

He gave The Husband and I the joy of raising our first puppy.  

He gave me the joy of handling a dog who loved to bark with enthusiasm in the rally ring and frap instead of work during brace obedience.

He gave The Small Human the joy of canine friendship, and empathetic howling whenever The Small Human would cry.

And for the last 4+ years of his life, he lived with, loved, and spread joy to my parents and grandparents.

We'll miss you, Denz.

Wagmore Daily: Uncle Denzil Spends the Day!

My parents had to go out of town for the day and didn't want to leave their boy home alone, so we had a special guest - Denzil!  Those who've been following the blog since its inception will remember that Denzil was an original member of the Trio of Trouble (along with Maggie and Ziggy).  You can learn more about Denzil on his page.

The Humans and Ziggy love to have Denzil around.  Blossom the c*t spent the day upstairs (that's where the food, cat tree, and litter are, so don't feel bad for her).  I wasn't sure how Rip would do - but he was very accommodating.

Here's how the day went:

We started the day with coffee on the porch.  

Denzil hung out with me.

Then Denz joined the boys in some wandering and sniffing.

When we came inside, Ziggy & Rip thought some bitey play was in order.

Denzil sat in front of me, keeping a close eye on things.

Then Denz remembered he was the Party Police.

So he moved in to break things up.

I love Rip's expression here - very contrite.

He had this expression each time Denz reprimanded him.

Good boy.

The Party Policeman succeeded in his goal.

And later in the afternoon, Zzzz all around:

Another great day at Wagmore.

Water Work at Wagmore

I mentioned in an earlier post that there is lots of work to be done at Wagmore, our property in Washington State.  The Husband and I have been prioritizing and planning.  The thing we decided to tackle first?  The water filtration system.

In order to get all the permits on the house, we had to have the well water tested.  Everything checked out relative to the "this-water-won't-kill-you" standards set forth by the county.  "Great!" we thought.  One less thing to worry about.

Then, in August we stayed in the house for nearly a week.  The water tasted ok.  Nobody got sick.  Then, one night, we decided to give The Child a bath (we find bathing The Child to be part of good parenting).  As the bath started to fill, we noticed the water looked a little yellow.  "Maybe the water will clear out as more runs through the pipes?"

Nope.  When The Child saw the bath he exclaimed, "I get to bathe in pee water!"  Yes, the water at Wagmore looked like pee.  A gentle yellow.  Special.  The Child seemed to think this was pretty funny, but The Husband and I were not so amused so we began to try and figure out what was happening.

We contacted a couple of water filtration companies and they both came back with the same answer.  Our water was safe to drink, but it has lots of iron in it.

Since we have new appliances, new pipes, and new sinks, bathtubs, etc. in the house, we knew this was something we needed to deal with sooner rather than later.

So, when The Husband was back at Wagmore last month, he had a purification system installed.  The system lives in our ugly, needs-a-little-TLC pump house.  We also had a reverse osmosis drinking water system put in the kitchen, because, well, we were in "clean the water" mode.

Here it is- installed and ready to go!

Priority project #1 down, and many more to go.  We'll be back at Wagmore in November, and we'll see what we can check off the list.

Oh, and since water filtration is a little boring, here are some pics The Husband grabbed while he was there...

Denzil patrolling the driveway.

A view of the house from across the street.

So much pasture that needs to be grazed!

Denzil Goes to Show-and-Tell

I talked with my mom this week, and she happened to mention that Denzil had a little bit of fun.  It was my niece's turn to do Show-and-Tell at her school.  I've mentioned before how much my niece loves Denzil.  She loves Denzil so much that my niece asked my mom if Denz could come to her class so she could show him off.

Kids are lovely.  See, they rub bellies.

(Denzil used to hang out in our yard with The Child)

Denzil loves kids, but a whole class-roomful is a LOT of kids, so I asked my mom how he did.  Apparently, Denzil LOVED IT!

My niece told the class about Denzil.  My mom told the class about Cardigans and how to choose the right dog (research! plan!).   Denzil made sure that he did a thorough meet-and-greet, and that he demonstrated all of his tricks for the kids.

People pay attention to me when I do this.

They can't resist my cuteness.

(Denzil is freakishly good at sitting pretty)

Denzil knows lots of tricks, and my mom made me guess which one the kids liked best.  I guessed "sit pretty," as it's just so adorable.

I was wrong.  Their favorite was "get the paper."  Yes, my mom brought in a paper, set it across the room, and had Denzil go get it for her and bring it back.  How cute is that?!?

P.S. - Denzil was such a hit that now my nephew wants to bring him for Show-and-Tell, too :)

Denzil gets the paper

One day Denzil needed to learn something new.  He wasn't competing any more, so I had no "official" things to train.

I was thinking of what sort of trick I could train, then it struck me:  I had a problem that Denzil could solve.

The problem: every morning our paper was dropped at the end of our drive.  I didn't particularly like having to trudge outside in PJ's just so I could read the paper with my breakfast.

So I trained Denzil to do it for me.  It was Denzil's favorite thing to do every day.

Here's a video we took the winter before last.  You'll notice that in true Cardi style he adds some "flair" to his performance for the camera.  Normally he would make a beeline out to the paper and run right back.  But this was more fun.

A vacation to see Denzil. Errr I mean to see my family...

Such a sweet, sweet dog

Last week The Husband, Child, and I went back to SW Washington to have a week of holiday celebrations with my family.  As I've mentioned before, an added bonus of visiting The Family is that we get to see Denzil.

Unfortunately Denz was not doing well when we got there.  He was very happy, but toe-touching lame on his right rear.  Apparently the day before we arrived,  he went outside  and came in lame.  Who knows what he was up to.

After a couple of days of rest Denz showed no improvement, so my Dad and I took Denz to the vet.  Diagnosis - just a bad flare-up of his arthritis.  The vet gave him some extra pain meds (compatible w/ his regular Deramaxx), and he had a laser treatment.  This seemed to help him feel more comfortable, but he still wasn't pain-free.

This week Denz went back to the vet for a tooth cleaning.  We had the vet take another set of knee x-rays while Denzil was "out."  The good news is that the vet didn't see much of a change in the past year or so.  And, apparently, this last bout of lameness was relatively short-lived, as my Dad tells me Denzil is doing well enough to rejoin my Dad on their daily walks...

Denzil in "his" 1.5 acre yard.

Apparently he likes to just lay in the yard and look at the critters.

News from Denzil

Denzil with his favorite Frisbee.

Apparently, Denz has decided he's a Frisbee dog.

Here he's showing his cheeky Denzil look.

It's great that Denzil now lives with my parents.  It means I get a Denzil update nearly every time I talk to my mom.  To say that Denzil has wormed his way into their hearts is an understatement.

Recently, Denzil has been serving as an "unofficial" therapy dog.   My Granparents live near my parents, so they visit frequently.   Both of my Grandparents LOVE Denzil - and he loves them right back.  They invite Denz over whenever my mom comes to visit them.  According to my mom, they nearly insist that Denzil come along on the visits.  Apparently Denzil runs into their house, runs over to each of them, and gives them his love and happiness.

My grandpa (aged 90+) has been having some health problems.  Earlier this week Grandpa was in the ICU, so Grandma was staying with my parents.  Needless to say, this was a stressful time for my Grandma.  Apparently Denzil stayed close to her and even went to bed next to her bed at night.  What a sweet, loving, helpful dog. 

Denzil's also doing well for soundess.  My mom reports that he's not limping, and is able to go on 2 mile walks up and down hills with my dad each day.  He's also retrieving -  Frisbees, balls, and an old rawhide that he considers a toy instead of a chew (yuck) - on a limited basis.  

Life is good in Denzi-land.

Denzil Update

The Family and I are on  vacation visiting my parents in Washington State.  Of course, it's great to see my human family.  It's also great to see Denzil.

Denz seems to have settled in very well.  He seems happy and healthy, and is enjoying all the attention that comes with being an only dog.  Here's some photographic proof:

Denzil's always been a good lap dog. 

Here he is enjoying some scritches from me.

He's also developed a love affair with my 9 year old niece.  She's a dog person who loves that Denzil is so friendly and willing to enage with her.  She recently told my mom, "I LOVE Denzil."

Denz doing some heads-up heeling w/ my niece.

Then off for a walk down the road.  A happy pair.

Maggie's Mojo

It's four days since Denzil left, and I finally feel like I've got Maggie back.  Tuesday and Wednesday especially Maggie was acting in a way that I can only describe as "mopey" -- maybe even a little depressed.

Symptoms included:

• Much less happy barking than usual 
• No desire to go outside unless absolutely necessary
• No following The Husband or I around the house
• Sleeping under the bed most of the time
• No helping her brindle brother protect the house
• No barking and running to the cupboard when the word "biscuit" was said

The Husband pointed this out to me on Wednesday, and sure enough - she was a mopey girl.  Thankfully she continued eating, drinking, peeing & pooping normally - so I didn't worry that something physical going on.  I realized then that Denzil really never went anywhere without Maggie - except to class or for a short walk.  Maggie has gone places without Denzil many times (dog shows, seminars, a week for the National Specialty), but he'd never left her.  I'm pretty sure she knew something was up and didn't like it.

So how to get my sassy old lady back?  I decided to train her more (the girl loves to work).  We're learning Utility scent articles which requires her to think about doing something new.  It also involves lots of treat, praise, and cheese whiz (yum!).  I've been keeping the training extra-lively and get her to bark, woo, and even frap a bit between tries.    It also takes about 20 minutes to run through the exercise every day, so she gets lots of my undivided attention.

It seems to be working.  I wouldn't say she's 100 percent herself, but she's much more lively, gets excited to go outside, and is back to following me around the house.  Whew.

This is how I like Maggie to be - wagging, happy & sassy

Denzil update:  My dad and Denzil made it home safely yesterday, and Denzil seems to be settling in fine.  My mom has already started to call him "our dog" - which I take as a good sign :)

Denzil goes to Washington!

My favorite Denzil picture

Denzil left today to go to a new home in Washington State.  He is moving in with my parents, in the hope that the slower pace of life will enable him to be more comfortable.

The decision was a very tough one for both The Husband and I.  Denzil is an absolute joy of a dog.  He’s well-trained, he’s always ready to go, he’s sweet, and he’s friendly.  Unfortunately he’s also got bad knees.

We’re able to keep him comfortable by restricting his exercise (no frapping with the other dogs, always on leash for walks, etc.), giving him supplements to help his joints, keeping him lean, and giving him a Deramaxx every other day.  The problem with this regime comes from the “no frapping with the other dogs” part.  Denzil will frap anywhere, any time.  Inside?  No problem!  Outside?  Even better!  With 2 other dogs this restriction became very difficult to manage.  Either Ziggy or Denzil had to be in a crate inside unless very closely supervised (i.e., in the same room).

We were considering finding a more relaxed, more temptation-free home for him.  We’ve been considering it for a while.  Then we went on vacation and I forgot to leave the house sitter instructions NOT to let Denzil out with the others (BAD LANI!!).  When we got back from vacation, our months of restricted exercise were undone, and Denzil was limping for weeks afterwards.  Then we started to think about the winter.  Iowa winters – with snow and ice for months – are not easy on short-legged dogs with bad knees.

So I called my parents.  They live on about 1.5 acres – all fenced.  They have a one-level home, and no other dogs.  Since they’re both retired, Denzil will get plenty of attention and regular exercise to keep him fit, busy, and happy. 

The best part (if there is a best part) of the whole arrangement is that we’ll get to see Denzil whenever we go visit my parents.  Come to think of it, that may be one of the reasons they agreed to this.  Denzil = Lani coming to visit more often = getting to see the grandson more regularly.  Hmm…

So off Denzil went today.  In a car with my dad.  Filled with everything one needs (and more, probably) to keep a Cardi happy & healthy.  I even created an “owner’s manual” to go along with Denzil.  I hope the transition goes well, and I look forward to seeing Denzil when I visit my parents in just a few weeks!

We miss him already.  The house seems quite a lot emptier without him here.

Here I go again.

Right now I'm taking a break from packing (some would call it procrastinating - I call it a break).  Why am I packing?  To go on a family vacation to the United Kingdom!

The Husband and The Child are already there.  I depart later this evening.

I think my internal time clock is going to give up on me.  The only thing that's keeping it going now is regular infusions of caffeine.

Before I go, I'd like to share one of the sweetest pics.  The Husband took this last week.  The Child and Denzil were out in the yard together.  Here's how things ended up:

Denzil earns his Playground Dog Excellent title

  A picture of Denzil PDX in action

Ok, I made up the title, but Denzil was a star this weekend at the playground by our house.  The human child wanted to go play on the slides, so I chose Denz to come with us.  Denzil loves outings, and the playground is low-impact so he got to come along.

The things Denzil did to qualify for the PDX (Playground Dog Excellent) title:

• Showed no fear when kids came running towards him (with me warning the kids not to run, but the kids not listening)
• Happily greeted the children who wanted to pet him 
• Did not jump up on, growl at, or otherwise scare the kids
• Sat for a long time while kids petted him (Denzil says there's no such thing as too much petting)
• Did fun tricks like roll, sit pretty, and shake to entertain the children
• Kept a close eye on our child the entire time - moving to get a better view if our child moved out of sight
• Reassured parents with his sweet expression 

I was so proud of my boy!

Denzil Update

(Denzil aka the shameless little flirt)

One of my goals for the year was to develop a long-term plan for Denzil.  I set a date of mid-March.

Well, it's the end of March, and I've actually followed through on this goal (yippee!).

A couple weeks ago Denzil and I went back to our vet for a consult on his knees.  No tests, just a quick checkup for Denzil (soundness and flexion tests) and some good discussion between the vet and I.

Based on the x-rays we got last time, and the state of Denzil's current soundness, the vet thinks that his lameness is caused by torn (but not ruptured) cruciate ligaments and a bit of arthritis.  Denzil's lameness got quite bad at times this winter - I think in part to all of the snow and ice we had.  Leaping through the snow and frapping on frozen ground is not good for the boy.

Denzil has been on Deramaxx every other day for quite a while, plus an omega 3 supplement and  chondroitin, glucosamine & MSM every day.  He seems to do well on this, unless he overexerts (which Denzil likes to do as much as possible.)  We just had blood tests done, and Denzil doesn't seem to be experience any ill effects from the Deramaxx, which is good news.

Given all of this, where did we land?  Basically, neither the vet nor I think that Denzil's knee problems are surgical.  Our plan of attack is to continue with the supplements and Deramaxx, and control Denzil's activity for 12 weeks to see if the lameness starts to get better.  He's not on crate rest - just no frapping or running, with all exercise on-leash and some conditioning to rebuild muscle in his hind end.

We've been at this for two weeks now, and Denzil is doing really well.  His lameness is greatly improved and he seems a lot happier - much more like his usual busy self.  It's great to see.  We're still working on a sustainable long term plan, but it's encouraging that he seems to be getting better.  If only I could explain to Denzil that he's a "veteran" now and needs to slow it down a bit.  Slow down just isn't in his vocabulary....

Trio Product Review #2: LLBean Therapeutic Dog Bed

Denzil wanted me to post a product review for his dog bed.

This is the LL Bean Therapeutic Dog Bed

My mom bought this bed for me a while ago.   She claims that the bed is high quality, and that the bumps on the bed should "eliminate pressure points" and "ease joint pain."  This may be true, but I do not like this bed.  I refuse to lay for any amount of time on this bed.

Here's what the bed looked like for a long time:

It was in the family room but I would not lay on it.  Notice I am not on this bed.

Sometimes I would lay my head on it:

It makes a pretty good pillow.

Sometimes I use it to prop myself up:

It works nicely as a paw rest, but I do not like to lay on it.

So my mom moved the bed to the bedroom and put it into what she calls the "prime sleeping location."  Yes, this location is closest to her, but I would still not lay on it. 

So she tried to put an extra dog bed on top of it.  She claims this makes it softer and better for nesting.

I still will not lay on it.  At night, she sometimes puts me on this bed.  I stay on the bed until she's asleep, then I move to one of the other dog beds.

I find these beds much more appealing.  

Now, I don't want you to think that I am picky about where I lay.

I sometimes just lay down on the floor (it's better than that dog bed).

I love to lay on the sofa.  My mom lifts me up and down so I can snuggle with the pack.

I also love to lay in the Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair.  This is my brother's chair, but he doesn't stay in it all the time.  Sometimes I get my turn.  He loves this chair.  I think he's told you about it before.  

It's nothing against LL Bean.  They make nice dog beds, and dog blankets, and floor mats that I lay on.  We even have another LL Bean bed that's almost just the same.  Without the therapeutic pad.  I love that bed.

I have also been known to lay in mud puddles when I can find them.  My mom doesn't have a picture of that, but she says she'll get one once Iowa thaws out enough for mud puddles.  

You see, I'm not a picky dog.  But I do not like to lay on the therapeutic dog bed.  I do not recommend it to other corgis.

Denzil's 2010 Goals

Some background on Denzil:

Denzil is by far the most driven of my 3 corgis.  He really seems to have a border collie personality in a corgi body.  The problem with this is that Denzil "writes checks that his body can't cash."  Denzil has problems with his knees.  We took him to the Iowa State University vet school, and the vet we saw thought the lameness was caused by luxated patellas.  We recently took him back to our vet and got new,  high quality digital xrays done of his knees.  Based on these new images, our vet thinks Denz has tears in his cruciate ligaments.  To keep Denzil comfortable he gets one Deramaxx every other day, gets on-leash walks only, and we try to minimize the amount of frapping, which is challenging, given his personality.

On the up side, we also got new digital photos of his back taken at the same time as his knees, and everything looks good there.

With that in mind, here are my goals for Denzil.....

Denzil

Develop a plan to gain and maintain Denzil’s long term soundness by March 31

§  Confirm diagnosis of injured cruciate ligaments

o   Another visit to ISU for confirmatory diagnosis? - if so, by Mar 15

o   Talk to our vet – how can we confirm? - by Feb 12

§  Determine treatment options

o   Pain maintenance?

o   Rehabilitation/physical therapy?

o   Surgical?

o   New, lower-key, "retirement" home for him?  My parents??

o   Other????

Train 3 new tricks by December 31

§  Determine low-impact tricks that Denzil can learn

o   Research and determine 4 trick options by January 31

§  Develop options on how to train tricks

§  Train and demonstrate tricks

o   One trick by April 30

o   Trick #2 by August 30

o   Trick #3 by December 31

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Trio and I would like to take this opportunity to share what we're thankful for.

I'm thankful for:  Family, Friends, Health, My Job, Dogs

Maggie is thankful for:

Stink

Sofas

(note from human:  not sure this is the best combination.....)

Denzil is thankful for:

Messy eaters

(note from Denzil:  this is the best spot - food rains from the sky!!)

Frapping 

Ziggy is thankful for:

My Chair

(please see my previous product review for more info)

Frapping

A GORGEOUS Day

It's a fantastic day today here in Iowa.  High 60's, blue sky, light breeze.  Ahhh, if only every day were like this.

I took the dogs for a long walk mid-morning, then we spent some time enjoying the sun in the back yard.  The whole family was out - even the geriatric white cat.  I decided to take some pictures of the dogs.  Then The Child decided he wanted his picture taken with each of the dogs licking him.  Here are some pics....

Denzil & Ziggy managed to score more licks than planned....

Denzil also scored a tummy rub (shameless little flirt that he is):

And finally, a handsome photo of Ziggy.  He's such a "grown up" now...

Well, enough blogging.  Time to go back outside!