Noses

Dogs' noses are among the cutest things around, so here is a small tribute:

Operation shirt

Maja is in for surgary today.. Getting spayed. We have somehow to prevent her from licking or scratching the wound, so yesterday we tried on a "post-operation shirt": one of my T-shirts. With a little adjustment here and there, it might be ok, even though she was not entirely happy about it.

What? Don't you think the color looks good on you?

Some say Goodbye and some say Hello

Today it was time to say goodbye to another good friend: Maja's pet Paja :) Paja the plush dog was bought at the local supermarket, and immediately became Maja's best friend. Well, friend.. Best chewing toy, at least. We thought she would last for a week, but she has been tough and has lasted for three months. The nose disappeared after two days. That was something we could live with, but when one eye was about to fall out, she just looked to freaking scary. Not that Maja cares, but to us, Paja looked a bit... yuck..

So, time to get a new Paja: Paja II. Look at the difference in color, by the way :) Paja I was ditched in a matter of seconds, and Paja II was received with the same loving attention and the same loving teeth (tasted fresh and better?). And as a proof that Maja has grown quite a bit older and stronger: Instead of 2 days, this time it only took her 20 minutes to break the nose off :)

Cafe

Today Maja went with us to a cafe for the first time. We just discovered that there is a nice little cafe close to us, and they even accept dogs, which is wonderful. Bless them :) Me and Jurgita had a coffee and a cake, while Maja was lying nicely beside out table, just like a good cafe-dog should. Classy;) Actually, I wonder how many other dogs in the neighborhood that are joining their owners at cafes....

Well.. This is what our doggy looks like after a day out on town ;)

Grrrrrrrrrr......

I am still having a hard time finding out how to make my camera take good pictures in snow. They become too dark somehow - some button I haven't found yet. Sorry:(

But Maja had a great day playing with other dogs today. She found a name-sister, a labrador also called Maja :) The third picture is a bit amazing. I didn't notice her expression when I took the picture - is this really our sweet, soft, friendly little dog ?? Just playing, I hope?

Winter walk

Morning on the sofa: Shy

Maja & Me - Home alone - Problems in paradise

Quarter past two at night, and I am lying in bed with my computer. Maja is sleeping beside me.. Being a "single dad" is not the easiest thing, I am trying to balance doing my job (down to 50% these 2 weeks), preparing for concerts, of which I have many big ones these two weeks, and taking care of Maja.

Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Jurgita's parents. Maja usually loves to go there, it's ore people and more activity there than here, and in general more fun. Not so much this time. I think she expected to find Jurgita there, because she really acted a bit sad and depressed while we were there, restless even in her sleep.

And problems have appeared: When I stopped her from chasing another dog the other day, I might have hurt her when I landed on her. I noticed on Tuesday that her left hind leg was a bit stiff, especially when she was walking in stairs, and she didn't want to go for longer walks. That has made me a bit worried.. I keep looking and looking for a limp, to the point where I am not sure if I am making it up or not. It was really there, but it got better up until today. This evening we were playing a little bit on the floor. She must have twisted her leg again while playing, because suddenly she started yelping really loud and started limping really badly. For a long time afterwards she was panting really heavily, I guess because of pain. So, tomorrow we'll go to the vet again. I really hope she'll be fine. There are many times when I notice how strongly attached I am to her - and this is the good thing about being alone with her for two weeks, we are really "bonding" - it is when we are having a nice play together or a really great and funny walk, or - like this - when something hurts her. It can be physical pain or missing mummy. I really want to pick her up, comfort her and make all the bad things go away. Because that is what a parent is for!

Winter play

In motion :)

Goodbye to a dear friend

Maja has grown quite a bit recently and she has totally outgrown her bed. When she sleeps in it, her head sticks out on one side and her hind legs on the other. Weird.. When she came here just a little less than three months ago, she could curl up in one corner of the bed.. But that bed was a trusted friend. The day we got Maja we also had tickets for a theater play. We picked her up in a neighbor town, drove for two hours, had exactly time enough to drop by a pet store to buy her some toys and a bed, and then we left her in the car - a new, strange car - for three hours. Shame on us.

But - she "adopted" her bed from the first second. That was where she curled up to feel safe, where she collected all her toys and goodies and where she - of course - slept at night. She love to come in to our bed in the morning, but she much prefers to sleep in her own bed at night :)

But, today it was packed down. We were almost a bit nervous to do it.. We went to a dogs exhibition to get a new one - thought it would be a fast deal, but we spent two hours searching, pondering and choosing. In the end we ended up with a black, furry, flat "mattress" bed.

And again - she took it as an of course that it was her property, fell in love with it at once, and is sleeping so softly on it now - fully stretched out, and both head and toes rest on the bed :)

Besides: a white dog on a black bed looks really nice :)

A Study in Sleep

Another evening in bed.. And another day with antibiotics at the vet. She is not trying to run away or escape, she just hides her head in my armpit and takes it.. Poor little! And it is going to be three times more. It's a wonder why she hasn't started to dislike us already :) I would like to think that she knows that we do it for her own best, but I guess that would be too much projecting human thoughts on her?

We got her new food today.. After checking a little bit here and there, we ended up with Tast of the Wild (expensive as hell her in Lithuania..). It has no grain or corn ingrediences, lots of (named) meat, vegetables and fruit. Let's give it a try! Well.. after a while. We bought it, and then found out that Maja has to stay for rice and chicken diet for another two weeks.. Some cooking to do, then :)

Days are filled with small, strange things.. She is loosing her baby teeth (ample evidenve to the left). I haven't got a picture of it, but her canine teeth refuse to fall out while the new ones are coming, so she has double sets of canine teeth.. It looks a bit funny..

She was chewing on her favorite toy Paja (see picture of the buddies) yesterday when she lost one tooth. She bled quite a bit on Pajas head, and the whole thing looked spooky - like she really had killed the prey and was preparing to eat it.

Big, bad dog... ;)

Today's small victory was a walk around the neighborhood. But jumping and running and playing I cheated her to go much further than she actually dares to. She didn't understand where we were until a huge neighbor-dog (German shepherd) BOOOOFFFFED! She got much more curious than scared, actually, which bodes well for further walks! A whole new world is opening up! And for us it will be a relief not to have to drive for ten minutes to find a good place whenever we want to have a long walk !

Repost - joyful mornings

My owner posted this on his own blog some days ago.. I really liked it, so I asked him to post it here, too :)

My alarm goes off at 0630 in the morning.That is the time for Maja to come to bed :)

Up until then she has been sleeping in her own bed, quietly all night. She does not try to come into our bed in the evening and not during the night. But at 0630 she stands ready. 
She jumps in, takes her place between my girlfriend an me and almost howls for joy for a minute or two, then she streaches a bit, makes strange sounds like a small pig, and then falls happily asleep.
At 0700 me and Maja get up to go for a small walk and to get our breakfast.

With a walk and food coming up, it is always a fantastic day. It doesn't matter what the weather is or what I have dreamt. It is a new day, full of possibilities, new things to sniff, food, nice company, a little scratching behind the ear, maybe a goodie or two. Maja is wagging not only her tail, but her whole back part.

Stretch.... Yawn... Scratch... Wagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwag.. No need to be sad or thoughtful about anything. It's a beautiful day. Let's go :)