Spoiled schnoodle

We are in the process of a move so there are boxes everywhere. Arlie's bed has even been moved to the new house! It's kind of funny that he has a bed considering he sleeps on our bed and when he's in the family room he's on our couch. The other day I was on the phone in our living room. We have recently furnished this room and said there would not be any doggies (or kiddies) on the furniture. I turned around and look who had jumped up on our living room chairs. He's a rule breaker! It's funny how a diagnosis of osteosarcoma lets you get away with so much. We let him relax on there.

Daddy and Arlie wrestling with his duckie.

Yesterday I wish I had my camera out and recording. I opened the door to let Arlie and the kids out to play and Arlie took off after a squirrel!!! He was running like he did when he had 4 legs! I was rooting for the schnoo but the squirrel climbed the tree which frustrated Arlie to no end.

M called today. Arlie's white blood cell count is looking good. He gets another round of bloodwork on Fri.

On another note, the blog is now being viewed in the Philippines and Australia!!! So cool!!! Arlie says, "Woof!"

Snow vs. the schnoo

Someone loves eating snow

Schnoodle tush in the air playing with his ball

"Lady, put down the camera and throw the freaking ball already"

Came out of the shower and look who had taken my spot on the bed. He looks quite comfy with his Daddy!

Bloodwork is again tomorrow. Come on white blood cells. Don't fail us now!!!!!

Much better than last time

We are 4 days post chemo and do not have nearly the same amount of yuckies as we did last time. Of course I'm loading him with anti-nausea medication and an appetite stimulant but hey, I'll take it!

Tomorrow we start the next round of antibiotics that goes on for 3 weeks. Give me strength.

This coming Friday we check the blood again. Last time it didn't show anything until 2 weeks later. I feel like a veteran at this now!

Success!!

Arlie had his second chemo treatment today! He was in and out and was a champ. We left with a schnoodle that has poodle legs and a ton of pills  (he has lost a pound again).

Last time the affects didn't start until 3 days post chemo. This time "M" has me nipping any issues in the bud with an appetite stimulant and anti nausea. Those coupled with his favorite of chicken and rice and we hope to not get a skinny pups.

I'm starting early:

 

The chicken is a'boilin' and the rice is a'brewin'.

On another note, I realized how much I love blogspot! I see so many Arlie "fans" logging on from places as far as the Ukraine and France to our neighbors up north in Canada. Arlie loves having an audience and I hope the blog keeps you interested!

Love and paws,
Andrea and Arlie

WWLD

My friend Margaret sent me a link last night that wasn't schnoodle related (first read my post before going to the link):

http://swimswam.com/jason-lezak-announces-retirement/

Some of you might think Lezak? Lezak? Name sounds familiar......all I have to say is 2008 Beijing Olympics. The hype was around Michael Phelps getting his 8th gold medal and was it possible to beat Mark Spitz's record?? I was probably one of the many that thought...no way in hell can he do that. In comes Lezak. See below to refresh your memory. Just fast forward it to around the 3:00 minute mark:

What they really don't show as the camera is mostly on Phelps's reaction is just how exhausted Lezak most likely was. I read somewhere that he cut his leg getting out of the pool and was bleeding all over the place but was on such a high it didn't matter. Fact or fiction? Who knows.

Everyone knows where they were in certain times in history. Where were you during 9/11? Where were you when JFK was shot? I bet that everyone reading this can pinpoint where they were during this relay race. I was packing belongings and Greg and my new 4 month old son and my pups were gearing up to move from Arlington, VA to the suburbs. I had the Olympics on in the background (former swimmer so I'm hooked on the swimming parts) and had my sleeping 4 month old in his crib in his room (same floor mind you as the TV). We were going CRAZY. SWIMMM!!! Get that smug Frenchman!!!We went NUTS!!!! Lezak is the hero of the Beijing games. Hands down. No argument. He set aside his awesomeness and let Phelps take the glory of the 8th medal. In my opinion, Phelps owes Lezak.

Now why am I writing this? Simple. Here's a guy that no one thought could catch Bernard (said Frenchman) for the win. Not only did he catch him but he passed his butt and got the gold. Arlie can do this. He is going to come up from behind and pull a WWLD (What would Lezak do). He will live to see his brother and sister grow up. I just know it. This veteran will chase osteosarcoma down and will pull off a shocker too. And when that happens, I will Rowdy Gaines it (the announcer that goes nuts in every swimming competition aired) and I will scream, "UBELIEVABLE IN THE END!!!! HE'S DONE IT!!! ARLIE'S DONE IT!!!!"

Tug of War

Arlie vs. his brother. Who will win?

You can't tell, but I'm under this dog. You see the mound at the end of the pic? Those are my feet. Further up towards the camera...my knees. Am I able to move? Nope. Did I even THINK of moving him? Nope.

Rejected....

Brought Arlie in for his 2nd treatment today. Unfortunately, his white blood cell count is too low and M was not comfortable commencing with the chemo. He would like for Arlie's bone marrow to strengthen so that he is 100% ready to fight fight fight!

On another note, GREAT news (not)....Arlie has to go back on antibiotics for 10 days twice a day. Shoot me.

Quote of the day from Greg: "But Andrea...you are just SO much better at giving him medication than I am."

Flattery gets you everywhere.

Lady...you got nuthin

I would like to show you what happens when you are the one that gives the constant pills to a dog that hates taking them....

You see! He doesn't trust his mommy anymore! He keeps thinking that everything I give him has a mickey slipped in them!!

 And in this video, he expertly gums the bone (homemade dog cookies mind you) to determine if it's in fact edible and non-medicated. 

After 1.5 months, Arlie has finally figured out how to get back at me. Today I let him in our backyard to romp and do his business and when he came back upstairs he was covered in leaves. I brought him right back outside to brush him off when I noticed quite a foul odor coming from him. I looked at him, he looked at me, and that's when I realized.....he rolled in a present he had left us.

I marched him upstairs and right into the shower. That isn't exactly punishment for him because he loves taking showers. He loves the blow dry and comb out afterwards even more! All the while he's looking at me with this mischievous face. I know you are probably thinking, "Lady, this is a dog. There is no mischievous face. It's a dog." Well, I say to you, "That's crap (literally). He knows. And he LOVES the reaction he gets."  It's as if he's saying, "Think again before you pill me next time."

Chemo is on Friday again. Round 2. What's worse, pilling him or the chemo? Here's the BEST part. The last time he had his chemo treatment, the vet tech gave him some pills afterwards. Apparantly she had quite a party and had zero problem. When Greg went in to get him, the vet tech told him about the pills and how he is such an "easy" dog to give medicine...blah blah blah. Greg looked at her like she sprouted 5 heads and none of them told him what he wanted to hear. The vet tech then said to Greg, "Have you tried pill pockets? He just loves them!!"

Our heads exploded. 

Bazinga!

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!

"M" called.....white blood cell count looks great! Arlie is doing just fine!!!! Next Friday is his second round of chemo. Sigh....I hate this.

BUT, time for today's daily dose of awwwwwww....

 Arlie's cousin Jessie is visiting! He loves loves loves his cousin and this pic was taken at dinnertime. This was taken before Jessie started eyeing Arlie's food and Arlie started eyeing Jessie's food. I solved this problem, gave each dog some of the other's food!

Busted waiting for Arlie to step away

 

Arlie getting a visit from Cooper. He's been getting quite of bit of visitors!

Schnoodle nose!

Both boys getting caught in the middle of watching Octonauts!

Lastly, we decided Arlie needed a haircut. We were worried about bringing him to the groomers and dropping him off for a few hours (due to the fact he's being dropped off so much lately). Therefore, we took out the clippers we got when he was little and we had all these aspirations to groom him before having children. Voila!!! Notice the look of panic on Greg's face....Arlie might be a little "uneven"....or have bald spots.....

Chicken, rice, yogurt, dog food, medicines...oh my

Last I posted, Arlie had dropped 10% of of his body weight. I took it upon myself to make it a mission to put weight on my pups. Therefore, I went back to my staple of chicken and rice (he gobbled it up). I even put in the dog food with some yogurt. He LOVED that. I added some dried liver, various treats, jerky, and occasional pieces of steak and today....up three pounds to 50.3!!! Woot woot!!

Tonight he went for a weight check and a CBC workup. I hope to get the results tomorrow. Come on steady white blood cell count!!!! Give me steady white blood cell count!!!!

On another note, I saw the most RIDICULOUS movie. The Bourne Legacy. In one scene, Aaron Cross (the main character) is battling a wolf because he wanted this wolf to swallow a tracking device. The character FOUGHT A WOLF and PILLED him like it was nothing. He shoved the pill down his throat. Greg and I were watching this and we were actually yelling (yes yelling) at the TV (you know....like it could hear us) about how STUPID that was. PILLING A WOLF??? Please. That's nothing. Try pilling a schnoodle.