Everything is going pretty well!  I am feeling good.  On Saturday, Mom took me to Dr. Tuttle, our chiropractor.  Polly and I go every Saturday that we are in town. 

Monday night, I went swimming again with my swim coach Debbie.  I LOVE swimming around the pool.  It’s the only time I can move freely.  No life jacket for me!  I am trying to figure out my balance without a jacket.  Most of the time I list to one side, but I can still swim really well.  Mom took pictures and I will tell her to post them.

I’ve been hungry.  I like to eat in the middle of the night so I get up and BARK very loudly for food, usually at 2am and again at 4am.  Mom gets up and feeds me every time.  I have her well-trained!!!  Ha ha ha!

I visit Dr. Evelyn Robertson about once a week to check my blood.  Mom has known Dr. Evelyn since I was a wee pup!  Here we are together.  Thanks Dr. Ev for getting rid of my painful leg!!

 A week ago my white blood cell count and my neutrophils were WAY down because of my chemo.  Mom was worried about me, but I was just a bit tired.  No big deal.  Today my WBC and neutrophils were excellent!  And I had gained some weight (Mom was happy).

Dr. Chelsea Tripp is my oncologist.  I like her a LOT!  She is so upbeat and positive and explains everything very thoroughly to Mom.  Dr. Tripp is glad that I am swimming!!!  I got my second chemo treatment this morning.  Here I am with Dr. Tripp. 

Got to go.  It’s time to bark at Mom for more food.    JAMES

Mom says that we could not have made it through the last month without our 2-legged friends.  So here’s a shout-out to them!

Candy is the very first person who Mom called after the doctor told Mom I would need to have surgery.  Candy is the pawrent to my grand-mother Libby, my father Henry, my mother Babette, and my sister Sophie (they are all Angels now).  Candy took a photo of me when I was only a few days old and showed it to my Mom.  She told my Mom that I should go live with her!!

Here’s Candy holding my older sister Angel Sophie. 

Now Candy is my hair dresser.  She washes and cuts my hair every other month and we tell each other secrets.  I like this photo of Candy because her shirt says “COWS” and cows are my favorite thing in the world.  I bark for cows.  Candy came to the oncologist with my Mom and held me while the oncologist talked about my broken leg and my treatment.  That was a really nice thing for Candy to do for my Mom!!!!!

 Tim is the “TREAT” man.  He gives us all treats and good head rubs.  Here’s Tim with TJ, Katie (TJ’s grand-daughter), Sweedie the Chocolate Lab, and Brett (TJ’s son).

 Debbie is another great 2-legged friend.  She is my Swim Coach.  Polly, Katie, TJ and I go swimming with Debbie every Monday night.  I like the swimming part.  Polly likes the massages the best.

Here is Debbie giving Polly a massage in the pool.  Polly purrs when she gets massages! 

I couldn’t swim that night because I still had my stitches from my surgery, so Debbie gave me a massage too.  Debbie loves me a LOT!  She nicknamed me “Meat Loaf” and “Hambone” and sings to me. 

 I have many Aunties.  I first met Auntie Roberta when I was very, very tiny.  Auntie Roberta held me when I was only 8 weeks old.  I used to play with Ellie and Keegan (they are Angels now).  Ellie and Keegan first told me about agility.  Keegan was a superstar in Agility.  I decided to try agility too after Keegan told me how much fun it was.  Now Auntie Roberta is the pawrent to Cooper and Gemma.  They play in agility too and really like to open Christmas presents!  Cooper the JRT just earned his ADCH in USDAA agility.  That’s a very big deal!  Hooray for Cooper!! 

THANKS TO ALL OF MOM’S FRIENDS FOR BEING SO SUPPORTIVE TO US!

James

As my Uncle Bobby says:  “Today is a good day to be alive.”

It’s my 17th birthday.  Mom has promised that we will have a big celebration tonight.  As long as there is FOOD, I will be very happy.

And I got to go swimming last night for the first time since I broke my leg at the very end of July.  Hey, I was AWESOME.  At first I was a bit slower than usual, but then I picked up speed and was zooming around the pool.

When we got home, I was really hungry and got a big dinner and frozen yogurt for dessert.  And later, Mom gave me cottage cheese (which is yummy).  But the best part was that Mom let me sleep on the bed with her.

James

Today was a very good day.  Mom and I went to see Dr. Evelyn and she took out my sutures.  I may be small, but I am TOUGH!  So when they held me down on the table to take out the sutures, I yelled and protested really loudly.  Mom and Dr. Evelyn laughed at me for being so tough.

Dr. Evelyn drew blood.  My CBC is good.  And I am hungry again.  I ate kibble for breakfast and barked at Mom for dinner.  She gave me yummy organic cottage cheese and chicken.  And I got special Frozen Yogurt to celebrate my ampuversary.  I feel really good today.  Mom and I watched TV together and the rest of the pack cuddled all around too.

James

Mom’s been worrying that I have lost my appetite since I got my first chemo last week.

But guess what!  I still want to eat, just not my canned food!  I used to love my Taste of the Wild duck.  But after chemo, DUCK is YUCK!  I used to love it, but not any more.

Mom finally wised up.  Last night she gave me chicken and organic yogurt.  Yum!  And this morning I got organic cottage cheese and more yogurt and some kibble, all mixed together.  I ate nearly all of it.

Mom had me sniff the canned duck again and I said:  “You have got to be kidding me.  Uck!  Let Eddie eat it.  He’ll eat anything!”

So I am happy and Eddie is very happy too.

James

It’s been uncharacteristically hot for Seattle!  We broke all records with 95 degree heat both days this weekend.  For us, that’s HOT!

On SAT. 8/14, we went to the vet to check on James’ stitches.  The vet took some out and left others in…not quite ready to be removed.  Boy, did we LOVE the vet office.  It was air-conditioned and cool!

James has lost his appetite for his canned food.  I’ve been feeding him Taste of the Wild-wetlands, which is basically DUCK.  He is turning his head away now.  This is DAY 5 post-chemo treatment.  I was hoping that his appetite would return.  This weekend, I tried feeding him cottage cheese mixed with rice and just a little duck.  He ate some of it.  I also gave him sliced chicken from the deli and he loved that.  I will go get more deli chicken tonight.

I really hope he gets his appetite back.  He is such a tiny boy!

On a good note, James is hopping all over the house like a pro!  He is off of the pain meds and is much more alert!  He seems so much more like the “old James”.

James Flying High!

I am only 13″ tall at the withers and used to weigh only 9.8 lbs.  The top bar is set at 16″.  Check it out.  I am clearing 24″!   Whoopppeeeee! 

James

Hi!  I’m James!

Mom is helping me with this post, but she doesn’t know much about blogs.

I am a miniature poodle.  My fancy name is Tanzen Total Recall.  I have lots and lots of obedience and agility titles.  I used to compete in agility.  I LOVED flying through the air over the jumps!

Let’s see if Mom can add a photo of me doing agility.

In 2000 I started to go blind due to PRA.  But that didn’t bother me.  I kept right on going.  I learned to JUMP in agility when my Mom yelled jump!  I still got lots of ribbons and rossettes.  And every now and then I knocked down a jump.  But I always get up again and keep on going.

I had to give up agility when I had no vision left at all.  Now my favorite sport is SWIMMING.  Mom!  Add another photo.

 I can’t wait to get back to the pool.  I swim in the heated pool every Monday night.  I haven’t been able to go since I broke my leg (THAT HURT HURT HURT!) and then I had surgery.

I have a big family, but Mom says that I am her FAVORITE.  Mom, add a photo of all of us!

My Pack…I am the one on the far right.  From left to right, that’s Eddie (my nephew), Katie (TJ’s grand-daughter), TJ (my cousin), Polly (my niece) and ME!

Bye now!  JAMES