Farewell to Little Penny

Oh dear friends, more sadness for the Mango.

Little Penny from Airedale Heaven has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Miss Penny never got used to that old flashy beast, but she was a wonderful gal and all terrier. She was one of my oldest friends for sure. She even was a judge at the first ever Mango Minster way back in 2009.

Run free, Penny, you will be missed.

Hurricane Report by Dexter

Dexter here, happy to report that Irene was somewhat subdued by the time she arrived at our estate. We were very fortunate that all we suffered was a long power outage. We even got to play tennis ball halfway through.

Well, one of us did, others had to rest after dragging themselves all the way out into the yard.

The Relentlessly Huge wanted me to show you his dumb elephant foot. It ballooned up again on Friday. I think he just wanted to go to the vet and get noms. The vet aspirated his gigantic leg and sent the juices away to the lab, otherwise known as the Mango foodables production line, I think.

You can see that by Sunday it was already shrunken down a bit thanks to the wonder of antibiotics.

Being a brave chap, I accompanied momma up to the observation tower to survey the damage.

OMG! I am adorable!

Hey! Bigfoot! We're up here! Neener, neener, neener.

I persuaded momma to go exploring once it stopped raining. Check out this tree right across the street from our estate. Bam!

Even though momma slept through the really bad parts (can't miss Sunday nap time), she still managed to make a bit of a movie. You can watch it here. I warn you. It is really long and she prattles on like she is Sally Weather Girl throughout. Somebody really likes the sound of her own voice.

We're sending all good thoughts from our estate to yours for those families who were not so fortunate as we in avoiding the worst of Irene.

Dexter done!

Rest in Peace, Beloved Thor

My friends, the Mango is beside himself with sorrow to learn that my good friend and fellow mastiff, Thor, has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

He was a wonderful, big hearted guy who loved and was loved by his family and friends.

Thursdays / Thorsdays will always leave an ache in our hearts.

We'll miss you so much.

Please visit his bloggy here to pay your respects.

Powerless

Everything is fine at the Mango Estate except for no power and no computer.

Exciting hurricane report coming once we are fully operational.

Weather Alert by Dexter

Momma says there is a big wind coming. Can't imagine how it can be worse than what I deal with on a daily basis.

Dexter done!

Mango, Mighty Hunter

Usually on Sunday me and Pea each get a nommy bone to munch on. But this week, momma says, "oh Mango, I just ran the lawn tractor around and the digger wasps are most agitated so I think you need to stay inside."

Sure, because I am not keen on having another one of those sink it's pointy bottom into my large and not wanting to swell up self.

So we got our nommy bones on Monday.... night... like totally after dark!

Of course Pea stayed inside to enjoy his. Momma says that is because we can only enjoy nommy bones when there is a closed door in between us but I know that is just a ruse to protect his delicate labra-ego because the truth is that he is sometimes a big chicken to go out in the dark unless there is a rabbit out there.

Hey! Is he chewing in MY bed? No wonder it always smells like meat.

Me? Yuh, no worries because nothing like being out in the dark nomming on the leg of a cow that one could totally have hunted down and snared on his own for sure.

I am Mango! The mighty hunter!

Hmmm... that photo makes it look like my yard is a big hill. Seems that the photographer is a bit unstable. I'll have to look into that.

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

Taciturn Tuesday

Featuring Dexter the limp labradude and the legendary Bigfoot.

A Curious Trip to the Vet and Prizes

Yesterday momma took me to the vet! No worries here, I always get tons of cuddles and noms there. Sure, why not?

This time it was the man person vet. He's very nice and talks in the most glorious voice. I don't even know what he is saying half the time because his vocals are sort of hypnotic to the Mango.

First thing he wanted to do was check out my bigfoot which, as you can see, is much less big than it used to be. Sure the toes are a little large, but you wouldn't even notice if you weren't looking for it. How cool is that?

But then, this is where it gets strange....

He starts in all rubbing me in weird ways and pinching and poking me and mostly it felt good but sometimes it felt a little peculiar for sure. He even made momma rub and poke at me. Momma said, "Oh, Mango, you are getting there's a puke tick massage and a-choo pressures."

Almost a WTF moment, am I right? And no photos because I guess the vet dude's voice kind of hypnotized momma as well and made her forget the flashy was in her pocket.

Then he gave momma this picture with my name on it and instructions on how to do the there's a puke tick and a-choo on me at home.

You can bigify for sure.

That looks nothing like me! I hope those are the correct instructions.

I got kind of scared when I saw it says hip displace ya, but the vet dude said, "Oh, no, Mango, you do not have the hip displace ya, just the arthritis." Phew.

You know what else? Doggies have things called limp nodes. Yuh, not kidding. Limp nodes all over the place and now momma knows where they all are and how to feel them to see if they swell up or anything (the Mango, being a gentleman, will not share that limp nodes becoming firm and swollen makes him think of something a bit, well, off color, hehehe).

I'm not sure what that was all about, but the good news is that momma is supposed to rub me every single day as prescribed. Wow! That is totally better than taking medicine. Oh yeah!

You know what else? Remember when I won the Against All Odds award in Honey's big Dancing with the Dog Stars competition?

Well, I got a certificate and a medal and this awesome trophy. Yuh, for sure.

Check it out. This is ME showing off how handsome I look with my medal around my large and barely fitting through the ribbon neck. And the wee little trophy.

A proud moment for the Mango. In fact I made a little movie. Watch it here.

Did you see that disco ball spinning? Sadly, I am still not supposed to bounce even though my elephant foot is feeling better. But pretty soon I will be dancing again! You know it!

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

P.S. Remember that bump on my tail? Yeah, well, vet guy said, "if it were anyplace else we would remove it." But then he said because it is right where my tail comes out of my large and not wanting to be sliced open bottom it is not possible to remove it so I will just have to live with it. It doesn't hurt or anything, but it is kind of big and makes momma have worried face, but the good news it is bee nine, whatever that means.

Saturday Swimming with Dexter

Have you forgotten me?

Hey! Bigfoot! There are other dogs in this house, you know!

He's always touching me with his stinky elephant foot. Ew!

Mercifully, I was able to enjoy a nice swim that was not only invigorating, but served to wash away the cooties.

Ah, tennis ball and water... all that's missing is food and I would be in labraheaven.

In order to prolong my pool time, I keep the ball just out of Momma's reach while I take a quick break.

Labradorable! You know it!

Quick dry and I'm good as new.

Check out my action swim movie here.

Dexter done!

P.S. Yes, the swelling on Mr. Heavy Foot is continuing to go down and he is as annoying as ever. I apologize for the DOH who has been leaning on the mark all as read button like her life depended on it.

Just Call Me Bigfoot

Sure, go ahead, call me Bigfoot. That's what everybody around here is calling me and honestly I think it is very immature to make fun of one's infirmities.

Especially since we all know that my foot is hardly the biggest thing on the internets.

But I digress...

The Mango is feeling much improved. Thanks in no small part to all your good wishes (and, of course, the anti bio ticks and swelling reduction medicines). I am perky and eager to get on with life. Sure, I walk kind of funny and still sit out tennis ball action, but I am otherwise fit and vigorous.

Momma, on the other hand, with all her hysterical blue italicized words, could use a tranquilizer dart. If she sticks that thermometer in my ear one more time or wraps that tape measure around my large even for myself foot I think she has some trouble coming. You know it.

I'm a bit worn out from all the attention, as you can imagine.

Oh, and my pee pee tests came back fine. They are spending some more time with my poo. It must be fascinating material. As for whatever vet lady pulled out of my tail bump, we'll have to wait some more for that one too.

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

P.S. Momma hit the mark all as read button when I was otherwise occupied. Rats.

Mango Update by Mango Momma

Thank you all so much for your good thoughts about Mango. Keep 'em coming because we aren't out of the woods yet.

The good news is that Mango is feeling much better. He is able to get around OK even though he is still favoring his foot and leg and his fever has broken.

The bad news is that the swelling is alarming and has gone up his leg a bit. I took some baseline measurements to send to the vet:

Foot: good 8.5" bad 11.5"

Above knee: good 7.75" bad 8.5"

Below elbow: good 11.25" bad 12.5"

(those are circumference measurements with a tape measure)

I will be discussing his progress with the vet this afternoon.

Of course life goes on and I am deluged at work. In addition to my regular tasks, I am covering for a co-worker on vacation. Plus, we got an offer on the project house which is great news but also means that the Mr. will be busy doing this and that little things that the buyer has requested in the offer letter.

Poor PeeWee has been somewhat neglected. I am trying to give him good walkies and tennis ball time, but it is very difficult to keep my mind from boomeranging back to Mango and trying to will that nasty swelling to go down.

In addition to his swollen leg, he had a large cyst on his tail aspirated and pee and poo tests are being done. He is currently taking the antibiotic Orbax to fight infection, Metacam to reduce swelling, and, of course, his phenobarbital for seizures. One does worry about the antibiotics reducing the efficacy of the pheno, but I don't really have a choice. He needs antibiotics.

Thank goodness for the dogs with blogs community. I would be lost without it.

Mango Momma

P.S. Just to show you how mental fits I am, I accidentally posted this on the project house blog. Ish!

My Big (owie) Foot

So last night I'm all sleeping and digesting my din dins and momma says, "OK, dogs, time for tennis ball!" Wow! I'm in!

But when I went to get up, my front foot didn't work right and it hurt a lot and I just kind of sat there with my foot dangling like a sack of marbles saying, "WTF? What is wrong with my foot?"

I finally did get up and hop hop hop I go out the door, but anybody who knows a giant sized dog such as myself knows that not using a front leg is the same as not walking. So I had to use it a little but it hurt so I just kind of laid down.

Then momma gets totally freaked out. "OMG! Mango! What is wrong with you?" And she and master are poking and prodding my foot and leg. "Mango" they say "tell us where it hurts." Hehehe. Nope, my little secret.

Next thing I know, momma is saying to Master, "well, he has to potty." So they kind of hoist me up (most undignified) and get me going down the stairs. But, well, my big old bottom wanted to go faster than my front end and I sort of crash landed with my hind legs all in a twist and whatnot. Master untangled me and I did my potty.

Now Momma is beside herself freaking out and she keeps taking my temperature every two seconds and staring at me and I admit I was having a bit of a worry getting to sleep and I felt kind of icky in general.

I even almost went to the emergency room, but I pretended to be asleep so that momma would think I was cured. How about that?

But this morning, I forgot to pretend my foot didn't hurt and momma and master took me to the vet.

She says, "hey Mango! Your foot is all swelled up!" And I say, "no kidding, lady." Duh.

So vet lady starts giving me the once over for sure. She took aspirations out of a bump on my tail, she took my pee, she took my poo, and she took my temperature using the anal probe (yoiks).

Vet lady says, "Oh Mango, you must have been stung by a bad insect and you have the cellulite o sis. And by the way, your poo looks nasty and what's up with all the pee lately?" I just gave her the evil eye. How the heck should I know?

So, many, many, MANY dollars lighter, home we go with an economy sized bottle of anti bio ticks, and some more of that metacam stuff and the promise that all my bodily fluids are being looked in to.

Now, look, do you see my foot? Do you see how big it is? OW! OW! OW! Dammit!

Look! Here is my normal foot. It is like 3 inches across.

And here is my swelled up foot! Totally over 4 inches! If this keeps up it will be too big to get through the door.

Look! I'm wearing my dumb sports bra. Frankly I was impressed by how readily Momma lifted my front end in and out of the mastiff mobile by hoisting the back of my sports bra. I think she was using her special momma muscles because normally she is kind of a weakling.

Vet lady says I should be feeling much better in a day or so. I certainly hope so. But she made worried face about my pee an poo and tail bump, so I guess momma will make worried face as well until she gets the test results back.

Whatever.

Happy Sunday!

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

P.S. Momma thinks that maybe I got stung by one of the ground wasps in our yard.

They are HUGE! Normally they just buzz around and mind their own business but momma ran over all their nests with the lawn tractor when she trimmed the grass, so I am thinking they were kind of PO'd and looking for something to bite. Poor me!

Mango Momma Book Review

Am just finishing up my third read of the book "If Wishes Were Horses" by Loretta Gage.

When this book first came out I still entertained romantic notions that I, too, could be a vet. Not so after reading this. The book provides an unflinching glimpse into the grueling training that veterinarians undergo.

This is not an easy read. The prose is fine, but I find the content requires me to pause and ponder and sometimes leaves me feeling seriously conflicted about the profession and questioning what I am willing to have other animals endure so that I might enjoy the ministrations of a capable vet.

Dr. Gage brings us through the unimaginable body of knowledge that goes into training. If nothing else, you will certainly come to appreciate the data bank of diagnosis that your vet must go through every time you present with even the simplest of symptoms such as diarrhea. Dr. Gage predicts specialization in veterinary medicine and she was right. It is more and more common to be referred to a veterinary specialist; dermatology, urology, neurology, etc.

Ever wonder how vets learn to preform routine procedures such as spay and neuter? By practicing on orphan dogs. For the first year of surgical training, these are dogs who will be euthanized after the procedure as the untrained surgeon takes far too long and is too clumsy to guarantee a positive outcome. That's not easy to read. Dr. Gage is honest about her conflicting emotions on the topic. Selfishly, I want the vets to do that. I want them to practice over and over before my beloved pet goes under their knife. I don't have a better alternative. But it certainly makes me think about and thank all those dogs who gave their lives so that mine might enjoy a better quality of life.

There are heartbreaking stories of catastrophically ill animals who come to the teaching hospital and the decisions that have to be made. There are animals who live at the teaching hospital for the sole purpose of blood donation or, in the case of cattle, examination after examination by baby vets with clumsy techniques.

Having read this, I do try to be patient whenever I bring one of my dogs to the Tufts Emergency Room. I know that he will be subjected to several examinations and interviews by fourth or fifth year students as well as conversation with the resident on duty. But it is difficult not to be gruff with the baby vets.

Finally, I know that after my first reading of this I became a better owner when it was time to communicate with my vet. I learned how to describe and differentiate symptoms. I learned a little bit about how everything is important to discuss with your vet. To leave no stone unturned. I also learned that vets are not infallible. Especially new vets who have not yet learned to question and listen.

As a final note, just want to let my readers know that I love my new job, but it is demanding and overwhelming and has been consuming more of my time and mental energy than I am accustomed to. That's OK. It is great to be learning new things and be part of a team of people who are all focused on working together to do the right thing. But it does leave me with little time or energy for blogging, and, most vexing, less time to enter contests and do photoshop adventures.

Both dogs are doing well. They did have a jail break the other day. Mango actually ran about a quarter of a mile before dropping from exhaustion and being rescued by the Master. Dexter took off into the woods and returned an hour later, soaking wet and full of himself. Mango has been seizure free since May 4th. Thank goodness.

We dropped the price on the project house, but still no bites. Figures our little cottage would be for sale right when the economy goes mental fits, but hopefully somebody will show up with a big bag of cash soon.

Mango Momma

ME and Raja the Amazing Soccer Dog

Look! Look! Look! It's ME! That's right, momma got me a painting of ME made by none other than Miss Asta's Mommi.

Momma has long admired Asta Mommi's paintings which you can see for yourself here. Momma always told me that when I crossed over the Rainbow Bridge she would get my portrait done, but I said, "why wait?" Yuh, am I right?

So, see, isn't it great? It is me on my Observation Deck waiting form Momma to come home from work. I know when it is time and Master always lets me out unless Master says that it is too hot or too cold for me to be outside. Sometimes I even wait when it is snowing or raining and won't come in even when Master tells me to because being on guard for Momma is just too important for me to be bothered by a meteorological event.

And now... on to Beautiful Raja!

This is the photo compilation that we made of Beautiful Raja. Look! It has baby me in it and even some pictures of baby Raja!

Check out that slobber around the snooter. Sigh, Raja was just talented in every way.

This is my teenage self admiring her loveliness.

Now, I will tell you something. Raja was most skilled at dribbling a ball. She was completely self taught and it was her most favorite thing to do in the whole world. I tried to learn, but I was never very good at it (maybe some day if the lazy DOH bothers to load my teenage movies you will get to see).

Raja suffered from bad sickies and she knew her time with us was short. She told me, "Baby Mango, on the day I cannot play with my soccer ball, it will be time to say goodbye." That day came all too soon for me, but I am happy knowing that she never suffered.

Since soccer is a total action activity, there are no still photos, but for those of you who have the fast connections, prepare yourselves for an amazing sight that you can watch here.

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

Mango Pie Alert AND My Baby Self - in low quality video

Remember that Mango Pie I told you about? Well, horror of horrors, Khyra, MFT, actually consumed one, as did her DOH. I am not sure what to make of the entire episode. It is naturally disturbing to my large and not wanting to be found in the freezer section self. You can read about it here, if you dare.

Are you ready to SQUEEEEE?

For those of you without the high speed internets, I am including some photos of my baby self.

Meditations come naturally to talented full sized puppies.

As does stunning handsomeness.

Are you ready for my video? I apologize for the poor quality. All momma had was a disposable camera at the time. I am just three months old as it was my very first week at the estate. Watch me here.

What's with that music? Sheesh. I think I need a new video editing assistant.

Coming soon... Raja the Magnificent! You won't want to miss it.

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

P.S. See how much I love the pool? When Momma and Master first went to visit my puppy self they were still undecided as to whether they wanted another mastiff. As if! But when they got there, the breeder lady was all like, "now where is that little one?" You know where they found me? Stuck in the water bucket. Well, that clinched the deal. Yuh, and all my life forever I have preferred to drink from a water bowl that is large enough for me to stand in. There you go.

My Grandpa Angus the Airedale

My Grandpa Angus is legend at our estate. Apparently as a youngster he was quite the scoundrel; ate through a wall, demolished a couch, and shredded a carpet. He even almost ate a skunk, hence his nickname of "Peppy."

But he was also a very good doggie who listened to momma and she even competed with him once in the doggie obedience (albeit at the sub novice level).

He did well, I am told, but momma said, "oh, I cannot bear all the waiting around at those dog show things" and so he never went back to an actual competition.

Look! It's Angus, Raja, and Baby Me! Can you even see me with my black face?

Mind you, when I arrived, Angus was already almost 13 years old and he had slowed down quite a bit. In fact he hardly ever moved about at all and just a few months after my arrival his old Airedale self just kind of wore out and he made his final journey.

I am sad that the only movies we have are of old Angus because I would have loved to see him running and jumping, but I compiled a short set of clips here. I hope it doesn't make you sad.

Mama Lamb made us an Angus stuffie so that I could always remember him.

We have photo compilations of all the doggies who ever lived at the estate. This one is of Angus. You might need to bigify. It shows his puppy self as well as the nice ribbon he won for being the handsomest puppy at a doggie show and his obedience competition ribbon.

Now even though I never met Pi, I am told she was the sweetest doggie ever and Angus was totally head over heels in love with her, so no post about Angus is complete without Pi photos. We even put their two pictures together so they would always be close.

Momma says that Airedales are her most favorite type of doggie ever!

I think I've just been insulted.

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

Saturday Matinee

Well, it only took about 87 years, but I finally convinced momma to load at least some of my baby movies into her dumb iMovie. So, over the next few days, I will be sharing with you movies that feature Grandpa Angus, Beautiful Raja, and, of course, BABY ME! And NO PEEWEE! NO NO NO.

Now, loyal fans know that momma has been in a big fight with the Apple people over the new iMovie in that it is a BIG PAIN to export still frames. That makes me sad because it means my readers with the dial up internets cannot enjoy even a little of my movies.

Fear not! I will endeavor to get her to wrestle that pesky application into submission.

For now, here is a sneak preview featuring Raja and Baby Me. This was the very first week that I came to the estate which means I was just three months old. Just a little PeeWee myself.

You can watch it here if you want. Enjoy!

Mango Man! Oh yeah!

My Beautiful Raja - from the archives

Sometimes I get to missing my Beautiful Raja so much. She was so big and strong and made me feel safe. I was so lost when she crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Raja taught me how to enjoy my meditations.

I always wanted to be as close to her as possible.

She called me a big clumsy doofus head puppy. But I didn't mind.

Wow! I used to be really limber!

I was not even two years old when she left me. I will always remember her.

Look at this old movie I found of us together when I was a gawky teenager. I wish she had been around long enough to see what a handsome and talented guy I became. You can watch the movie here if you want. It is kind of long and not so good as my more recent movies, but you get to see me at daycare (before I got kicked out), and playing in the yard, and just snuggling. All with Raja. One of a kind, she was, for sure.

Mango Man! Oh yeah!