This and that

Tags

dachshunds, life, Nora, PEI

So I went with Nick to the vet for his eyes and I am returning with him next week for a follow up.

Going through old photos tonight on my computer I have one of Nick on 23 March 2021, his eyes are fine, no problems with cataracts, by June he had a problem and it has been progressing quickly since.

We got our Flu Shot yesterday, no after effects. Now with the weather getting colder and the first North-Eastern wind storm tomorrow at 50Km per hour, this tells me it is time now to phone the garage to have the tires changed to winter and get a tune up.

Evenings are strangely quiet, no cars and no one on the streets. We went out dining last night with friends at one of the few open restaurants in town, it was full and we had reservations. People love to dine in groups of 6 or more which I find unpleasant. Four people for dinner is plenty in a restaurant. I noticed also that the menus have been simplified if you can it that, soup, salad, sandwiches, pasta, fish and chips, sirloin steak. It reads like a lunch menu. The dessert lists is very simple, always a date toffee pudding, a chocolate cake, a cheese cake. It was good but nothing more.

Our Nora who comes from a long line of European champion tracking wire hair Dachshunds, is always on the hunt and is our guard dog. For a 12 lbs dog she has a very loud bark. She is in the habit of trying to eat just about anything on her walks, two morning in a row, she has been sick because she ate dead leafs or bark or whatever she thinks looks good. So this morning she got a good bath and her blankets where washed. She does not like the bath but this time around she was easy about it. She is very funny and this is why we find her so endearing.

She is quite jealous of Nicky and does not want him to get too much attention, she gives out dirty looks if she gets jealous. At night Nick goes to bed at 10pm it’s his habit and he does it without being prompted. Nora loves to bundle on the sofa and she would much prefer to just sleep there if she could have her way. So now at night we have this game, she will go to her kennel to sleep and get her cookie or her home made baked liver treat. Close the lights and she starts to whimper, we come and have a look, she runs to the sofa in the living room, all the while giving us the sad pleading look. We bring her back to the kennel and give her another treat. She starts again this whimpering, she has a one track mind and is good at manipulation to get her way. Nicky is sleeping ignoring all this nonsense. Eventually, she goes to sleep, but not before making her point. It is a great game.

Nora

Fully Vaccinated

Tags

dachshunds, life, Nora, Pfizer, vaccines

So yesterday I got my second shot and now I applied and received by proof of vaccination and I am also getting my PEI PASS which allows me to travel to the other Atlantic provinces and back without quarantine. After 18 July we will be able to travel to other Canadian Provinces. All of this took only minutes, no waiting whatsoever, the system is very efficient. Now the question is, can we travel internationally? To Europe? The USA border is still closed but it is pretty certain that by August it will re-open to those Americans who have proof of full vaccination. All the people who bitched and said no to the vaccination are now out of luck, every government wants proof of vaccination, no proof = no travel for you. Some have seen the light finally.

Other than that we are waiting for Post-Tropical Storm Elsa, but now it looks like she may miss us or at least we will get some rain or wind but not much else. The path of the storm appears to be moving to the middle of the Bay of Fundy. By the time we leave for the Cottage on Saturday it looks like Elsa will be near Newfoundland having passed PEI.

I bought new blankets for the two little dachshunds, they love them, it is like a lambswool fleece and they love to sleep in them. It appears to calm them down. So I put them in their kennels where they sleep at night since their puppyhood. They are quite attached to their sky kennels from KLM. It is their home and they have travelled with those kennels around the world.

Now Nora is a bold girl and she is not shy about setting the tone and Nicky just better behave or else. She simply stole his new blanket and put it into her kennel, thus monopolizing for herself all the blankets. This is too funny. Female Dachshunds are usually very assertive compared to the male dog.

Big adventures

Tags

AVC, Bundnie, Cairo, dogs, Nicky, Nora, Ottawa, Reese, UPEI, Vet

Having two dogs is like having two kids, same thing really, they have their little personalities and ways of doing things. Having lived with dogs in the house since 1990 we are use to them and how they are the presence in our lives. Our first two dachshunds, one short hair from Cairo and one long hair Chicago were family members and they travelled around the world with us. To this day we have fond memories of Bundnie and Reese and how they were more than just dogs.

Bundnie and Me on the terrace of my apartment in Cairo 1990.

Reesie and Bundnie on the deck at our home in Ottawa, 1993

Bundnie died at home of old age at 18 and Reese died in Rome at 17. A year later we were visiting a colleague of mine outside the City in Capena and her husband use to walk around the countryside and came upon the farm of Dr. Massimo Buzzanca and his wife Tiziana, both are well known in breeder of Wirehair Dachshund circles in Italy and their dogs are bred with other champion dogs in the EU.

Nicky and Nora are now 10 years old, yes it has been a decade since our time in Italy. Nora is older than Nicky by a week, they also have travelled with us not as much as Bundnie and Reese though.

Last week Nora had symptoms of what is very common in any aging Dachshund back weakness which can lead to paralysis. Unfortunately we know all too well what that means, we went through several back operations with Bundnie and Reese.

Nora always seem to get sick on a weekend which means that only the Animal Veterinary Clinic at the University of PEI is open, but since we are outside normal clinic hours, a special fee applies of $135. just to step in. They took good care of her, the AVC is a teaching hospital and they also take care of Farm animals and horses. So its complete kennel rest for her for a month and some medication.

Of course Mr Nicky also started to have what looked like a tooth problem, so we took him to our other Vet who is known in the region for specializing in dental work, even the AVC refers patients to him. Though in Nicky’s case it was not his teeth, I got a call from the clinic and was told that he had a growth under his tongue and it had to be removed pronto, could it be cancer? His teeth were fine. So it was sent for biopsy and about five days later we got the results, all benign, no problem. We also had another growth removed from his shoulder, it too was benign just fatty tissue.

Vet care in Canada is very expensive if compared to the USA. When we lived in Ottawa, some people took their dogs to the USA for treatment, the border is only 50km, away a short drive. We cannot do that here, the border with Maine is about 5 hours away through moose country not the thing to do in Winter on isolated highways.

This week we will return to the AVC for an assessment of Nora’s condition, though at the moment she is doing fine. Nicky is going back to have his shoulder stitches removed at the end of the month. At the moment he wears the cone, which he will not wear if going outside, he simply refuses to go out with it. He gives you that look and you know what it means.

Nora on her favourite sofa

Nicky stretched out and Nora on the cushion. 

 

Some drama

Tags

Dachshund, Health, Nora, PEI, poison

Yesterday our miniature Wire Hair Dachshund Nora got suddenly sick around 6:30pm. She was with us on our South terrace when we noticed she was twitching and had a glaze look in her eyes, she was unable to walk and was unresponsive. She could not see us but could smell and was very afraid.

I immediately phoned the Emergency service at the Animal Vet Clinic of the University of PEI. It is one of the very best Vet schools in North America and offer excellent service at very reasonable prices. We are only 5 minutes away by car, got there and we were met by 2 doctors and one senior student. The examination took 2 hours and the doctors told us that they wanted to keep Nora for the night and wanted to run full blood work etc. we agreed to it readily.

We had no idea if it was a stroke, a seizure or poison. When we got home we were pretty upset and had no appetite for dinner. At 10:30pm the AVC doctor called to tell us that Nora was stable and on IV, they were going to keep an eye on her all night. The following morning they phoned again to tell us she was much better but would keep her for the day and could we come by around 6pm to see her. It was an anxious day, despite the good reports we were receiving. In the end, the Vets told us it was a poison of some kind she had eaten, possibly in Confederation Landing which is the park behind our house on the river. Luckily the dose was not great, just enough to make her really sick.

She is now back at home tonight, doing better but we are keeping an eye on her. Making sure she has water and rest comfortably.

 

The boardwalk

Tags

Charlottetown, dachshunds, Fox, Hillsborough river, Nora, PEI, Victoria Park, walk

Today was another nice sunny day in Charlottetown, so I took Nora for a walk on the boardwalk around Victoria Point. A very nice park area all along the North and Hillsborough rivers looking out towards the strait of Northumberland. Sail boats and luxury yachts.

Nora likes to walk and her attitude is, the boardwalk belongs to me so get out of my way.

I made her sit for a little while but she is sniffing the air and there was a good breeze so I am sure she picked up a lot of scents. Victoria Park is known for its numerous aggressive crows, Nora does not care, crow pie she says. There are also Foxes and skunks though not usually seen in the day time.

A very nice area to walk but with Nora it is always quickly as if she is on a mission.

Yes you have to look where you are going because a Fox can appear out of nowhere. Nora of course would given the alarm with her hound howling before I would see anything.  The other night coming home, walking down Great George Street there was a Fox sitting on the grass just a few feet away from me. He startled me but he did not move, they are very bold.

and once a week Holland American cruise ships enter the Charlottetown harbour.

This map shows the park, it was once the entire estate of the Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI who is the personal representative of the Sovereign. In the 1960’s the park was open to the public and the Crown kept one third for the Official Residence. So I walk with Nora along the brown line and back which is a fair distance for her about 3 km but she does not mind.

At least today she did not try to jump into the river. It is salt water and I would not want to have to go after her. As for our Nicky, he does not like to walk any distance so there is no point is taking him. I would end up carrying him.

 

 

Miguelito and Someonitez visited Ottawa

Tags

Arizona, dachshunds, Dignitaries, Nicky, Nora, Northern Lights, Official, Ottawa, Parliament, sites, Summer, Visitors

Our friends from Phoenix visited us in Ottawa in the past week. We had planned this visit for months and prepared a briefing book for their visit, I say this in all seriousness. They too were somewhat surprised by our level of organization.

It was great fun to have them with us and brought a change of pace from the recent tragic events in my family. Both are delightful gents, good conversationalists, walking on average 15Km a day visiting sites around town.

We took them to Montebello, Quebec on Sunday which is always a pleasant drive down Hwy 50E. Sunday night we went to Parliament Hill to see the new Northern Lights Show which is quite dramatic.

Our poor Nicky was quite sad to see them go and so was Nora who tried to jump into their suitcase.

Here is a panoramic retrospective of this week long Official Visit

Official Birthday Party with specially designed Tomato Soup Cake as per MCR’s request. We do not know his precise age but have been told unofficially that it is anywhere between 43 and 73. The Fire Dept only allowed 2 candles on the cake.

We paid a courtesy visit to Rideau Hall, Home of H.E. the Governor General of Canada

We also went to visit Laurier House, a national historic site and home of two Canadian Prime Ministers, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King. A fascinating place full of artifacts. No seance on that day with dead dogs called Pat or the long dead mother of the PM.

The sculpture Maman by Canadian Artist Louise Bourgeois. An iconic piece of contemporary art. All went well until our friend wishing to conquer his fears of spiders decided to climb on it, when the police arrived well… it’s a long story. Ah those tourists.

No expenses where spared to impress our guests even renting a canoe.

A walk in the woods of Chateau Montebello before lunch, if you look carefully there are  2 black bears on the left side of the picture.

He said ”Where is the Roastbeef?”

Now Evelyn, I thought this establishment was Vegetarian

The Northern Lights show at Parliament, impressive, much appreciated by our visitors.

Blooming tulips on Parliament, the story of WWII, Canada and Holland.

The Canadian Flag at 50. All part of the story told at the Northern Lights Show ending with the National Anthem

We saw many more sights and walked a lot around the Capital, had fine dining at home and in restaurants. Still much more to see and we hope our friends will return. Ciao Ragazzi, Ci Vediamo!

Ottawa Airport Field