June 30, 2001 Next weekend is when we will drive
over to Tri-Cities to pick up our new baby puppy, Bomber. Tamara and I
are very excited; we are like kids the week before Christmas. We
have been making preparations for our new housemate, and hope that we
are ready, both mentally and physically. This journal will be our
tribute to our companion, and I will try to update it regularly with
pictures and stories.
Highly entertaining and recommended
reading about Bomber, his littermates, and their first weeks: Breeder's
Puppy Reports.
July 7, 2001 New puppy day! What a day it
has been. A long, hot trip to the Tri-Cities, thankful for the air
conditioning. Finally met Mike in person, and what a pleasure it
was. His friendly and kind appearance in the MacDonald's' parking
lot was nothing less than what I had envisioned from reading his
e-mails. After a quick trip to the Columbia River Park, the
selection process gifted us with "Yellow", who immediately
became "Bomber".
We were also very lucky to have "Jack" ride home with us on
his circuitous route to his home in Texas. Our front yard was
quite a hit with the neighborhood kids and the two littermates got a
little longer to wrestle and play
with each other.
July 8,
2001 - Seven
Weeks
Seven weeks old today! Full of new experiences: our first bath,
learning how to go up and down stairs (going down is scarier), walked
around the block, and got those sharp little toe nails clipped.
What a busy day! Weight was approximately 10 pounds when checked on the
bathroom scale.
July 16, 2001 - Eight
Weeks
Well, the all-important eight week mark. Bomber visited the vet
today and weighed in at 12.5 pounds. Very well-behaved and took
his shot like a real little man! This week has been one of piddle
accidents and biting everything in sight, including Mom & Dad (we've
marks to show for it), rugs, furniture, clothes, bedding... Oh, how
could I possibly even attempt to list all he has gotten to chomp on! He
loves the fresh blueberries in the backyard, as well as any living or
dead vegetable matter in the flower beds. And you can forget about
that sweet puppy-breath after a few stalks of the onion plants!
Whew! Oh, well, he is of the Hungarian persuasion, and you know how us
middle Europeans love our spices...
July 26, 2001 - Nine
Weeks
Nine weeks and Bomber weighed in this morning at 17 pounds. That
translates to a lot of poop patrol! He is settling into his
routine, and Tamara and I are learning as well: a tired puppy is a happy
puppy. Lots of activity going on at home, with Rik preparing for
his new job and getting our house ready for sale, so few pictures, but
they are coming. Bomber's favorite things to do are to chew on
"teddy", a small stuffed squeak-toy and to play catch.
He is a ball of energy, and retrieves a ball very well -- the only way
it stops is if I do, as he will chase it forever if allowed. We
recognize nap-time when he starts attacking us, and those sharp little teeth
have drawn blood on both Mark and Tamara; Rik is just a little quicker or
perhaps thicker-skinned!
August 1, 2001 - Ten Weeks
Nineteen pounds of sheer hound from hell! We have some pet names: Stink
Bomber, Sugar Toes (he has two toes with white fur) and Bart (Tam calls
him this a lot.) Bomber loves to travel, and has been a very
well-behaved boy
while trucking over to Port Angeles to look at houses. He really
seems to enjoy riding in the back with Tamara, and has been a real
trooper - no whining or complaining. I guess he loves the breaks
and the new areas he gets to sniff and explore. He really is a terror
when tired, but at other times he is the sweetest puppy ever.
Loves to cuddle with us in bed. Almost 100% house-broken as well!
That's a blessing and we are impressed with how quickly that went.
August 6, 2001 - Eleven
Weeks
Family reunion! What a thrill for all of us, Bomber got to
visit with his litter-mate Mason. Aimee and Tim made the
trek across the lake and what a fun visit the six of us had. Can
you guess which two had the most fun? What an intense workout they
got! If we all didn't know better, we would have thought it
was a puppy fight, but the tussling and running ended up with us
having two very tired little pups. Check out the
pictures!
February 17, 2002 - Nine
Months
Well, it has been quite a while since I entered any information
about Bomber on the web site. Lots of changes, where to
begin... First of all, we moved to Sequim, WA, in October
and dad changed jobs to work for the City of Port Angeles.
Mom retired and gets to spend her days entertaining Bomber, who
now has his own fenced-in pen, a couple of acres to roam, and new
friends to play with. Bomber just LOVES it all!
December
23, 2002 - Nineteen
Months
Another extended break on updating Bomber's web site, but finally
I've gotten to it! Bomber now weighs 51 pounds, and still
the joy of our lives. He will chase the ball for hours, and
when he gets tired, he does this thing where he stands on it with
his front feet and chews the grass around it. I don't think
I have ever seen a dog use his front paws to manipulate stuff like
Bomber does. The amazing thing is the amount of energy, he seems
to never want to quit. But come nap or bed time, he loves to
cuddle with whoever has the warmest spot for him to curl up
in. He has several doggie beds, but much prefers the human
ones, and needless to say, he gets his way!
February 19, 2003 -
Twenty-one Months
As with children, soon we will stop referring to Bomber's age in
months (I think that stops when they reach 2.) Still a happy pup,
and still a great joy to our family. He LOVES his Auntie
Sharon. Still quite the puppy energy, but we are actually
able to tire him out on occasion. One of the nice features
about our home is the proximity to a small creek for frolicking
in. Not an everyday occurrence, just an occasional treat.
Above right is a great photo of Bomber playing catch, his favorite game.
Notice that he is airborne -- and we tell everyone that the ears help him fly!
June 4, 2005 - Four
Years
Oh how the time flies. Hard to believe that our little puppy has
grown into a mature dog. Okay, that was a lie! He is still a
little puppy at heart, but at least now he has settled down a bit
and spends more time relaxing and not quite as much time demanding
attention. He loves his mom and dad, and still is very
"ball driven." Bomber loves to hike with dad, and
still absolutely must be close with one of us at all times.
August
2006 - Five
Years
As the journal entries get shorter and shorter, our affection for
this special pup grows and grows. Bomber brings us such joy and
happiness, but the time to update the web site seems to not
happen. Bomber is still in great shape and loves hiking with his
dad. He also likes posing on "stuff" - as you can
see...
December
2007 - Six 1/2
Years
It seems that as well as the entries getting shorter, the time
between entries grow longer. The past year has been a little tough
for Bomber. He had some sebaceous cysts removed and has the scars to
prove it. He also came down with an unknown ailment that caused his
ears to start sloughing skin from the insides and to lose splotches
of hair on his nose and head. I won't embarrass him by putting
photos up, but suffice to say it was not a pretty sight. His vet
couldn't figure out what it was. Lots of meds and it seems to have
gone away and the hair is growing back. What a little trooper he is,
never complaining, toughing it out. Bomber is slowing down as he
gets older, but he is still the exuberant puppy at heart.
March 2010 - Almost 9
Years
Since it has been over two years since I made an entry, I figure
it is about time. The years have been kind to Bomber - he is still a
puppy at heart, But the body does not keep the same schedule. We can
see him slowing down, and it is obvious that he has the aches and
pains associated with getting older. This past fall we took a
cross-country trip, and while Bomber was chasing his ball, he ran
into a rose bush with some pretty big thorns, and tore his left ear.
In case you don't know, ear injuries on dogs like to bleed, and this
one was a doozie! Blood all over, and every time he would shake his
head, blood drops flew! He had three cuts: a small cut about the
diameter of a number 2 pencil, one cut about an inch long that
looked the worst of the three but these two didn't bleed much. The
main culprit was a small puncture right at the tip of the ear that
just wouldn't quit gushing blood. I am not exaggerating, it was like
the Saturday Night Live skit about Julia Child. We took turns
holding pressure on the tip for over an hour and a half, but still
it bled. We tried the home remedy of baking flour, which didn't
work, but just succeeded in covering all of us with not only blood,
but flour as well! I went to a pharmacy, where I picked up a styptic
pencil, but it also did not stop the bleeding. This was very
upsetting to us, and I finally got the idea to shave the styptic
into powder, which finally started to stem the flow. Tamara came up
with the idea to bandage Bomber's ear up behind his head, and we
were finally able to take a break.
After 2 weeks of keeping his ear
bandaged up on his head, we finally removed the wrap and the ear had
pretty much healed on the outside, but was quite swollen. A visit to
a vet in Crawfordville FL, some antibiotics, and Bomber was on the
road to recovery. Quite an experience.
After we arrived back home, and Bomber
developed quite a bad limp in his right front leg, so he spent a
month on the injured reserve. House-bound, no ball, but now he is
back to limited exercise. I think Tam & I both agree that his
chasing balls, hell bent for leather days are over, the quick starts
and stops are just not that good for his aging bones… something we
all can relate to! Bomber doesn’t’ agree, but we adults are the ones
with opposable thumbs and we control the ball. When we check his
equivalent age, he is 61 years old in human terms – my age, and I
know what I cannot do any more… and the price I pay if I do.
