Year in Review

2024 was quite the year.

January — I spent more time with Remodel Dude than I did anyone else. Top to bottom, we updated my house in Montana.

February — New doors everywhere. I slept in the living room all month (and was grateful that bears were hibernating).

March on…

April — I took a break from construction and painting and headed for the BMDCA National Specialty in Missouri. It was amazing. Friends and dogs — what could be better? Capella earned her NDD and an Award of Merit in a huge (n=141) Best of Breed class.

But this photo!!!

Can you tell Claire did not qualify in that obedience run? Of course not — and neither could she. I am so glad that I choose to not ever be disappointed with my dogs.

May — all butts on deck!

June — finally the house was ready and on the market! With every showing, I had to clean like a crazy person and then load up dogs and drive very, very slowly on the backroads while strangers traipsed through my house.

Sparkle

In July, we called in reinforcements to get that house sold.

Lucky Sock, St. Joseph, and a super lucky Happy Hippie Heart.

Finally — an accepted offer!

And then in August a giant tree fell on the garage…

A wildfire started on the mountain…

The view from my house.

And my beloved Claire had to leave me — suddenly and shockingly.

Answer: “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” by Taylor Swift. But not for the lost lover part — EW. No. Yuck.

Losing Claire was shattering — and I had no choice but to carry on. That is why that song was on repeat: “I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art”

Somehow in September, all the dump runs got done and everything was packed and loaded up.

Sparkle was in a (crash-tested) seatbelt!

Good-bye Montana — sort of. I still work in Montana, but am doing so remotely now (with occasional trips to campus).

Source Unknown

I bought a new house.

Close to family.

And close to friends who are family.

October — the new yard/sod was ready for action. Or inaction.

My sisters are now only a day’s drive away — in October they came to check out the new place.

In November this shed was transformed into a home office (more on that soon) — thanks to the Heintzbergers and Cranfords.

In December I went to Bend to hopefully create the N Litter 🍀

I had surgery.

I am just fine!

And I celebrated Christmas with just the dogs and cats because the kids had a puking plague 🤷🏼‍♀️

Wow. What a year.

Source Unknown

❤️ 🎉

Do For vs. Do To

I have a thirteen-year-old Berner whose only known health issue is osteoarthritis (OA), especially in her (long-ago) surgically-repaired knees. This is unusual — to be a Berner at age 13+ dealing only with old dog issues is not a gift most of our dogs receive.

Harper B!

While older age is not a disease, there are things we can do to make a super senior more comfortable.

1. Keep them skinny. Harper B for Body Condition Score was described by her new veterinarian as, “on the thin side with slightly visible ribs and obvious waist and abdominal tuck. Body Condition Score of 4 on a scale of 1 to 9.”

2. Discomfort management. Harper is on Rimadyl (name brand only!) twice a day and receives a Librela injection once a month.

3. Keep Moving. I walk Harper at her pace a few times each week. Last night, for example, we did 3/4 of a mile in 20 minutes. She loves her walks.

Excess weight in dogs — as with humans — is clearly linked to various bad outcomes, and so it is something we should all be paying attention to in our dogs. We should not let our dogs get fat — or stay fat if the extra weight snuck up on us. Love sometimes means saying no.

Even the weight of younger dogs need to be managed. Capella’s recent Body Score Condition was described as, “…5 on a scale of 1 to 9. Capella is ideal with palpable ribs without excessive fat. Waist is visible from above and abdominal tuck is present when viewed from the side.” 🎉

Capella trying to trash her “ideal” Body Condition Score 😂

Harper does not receive glucosamine, acupuncture, cold laser or any other “treatments” for her arthritis — this is intentional. There is not good evidence that those things actually work for what ails her, and I am not going to burden Harper with something that does not have evidence-based benefits. [Check out the section on Glucosamine for Osteoarthritis (OA) in THIS SkepVet post.] Things without established benefits can be burdensome to the dog or even harmful. I am sticking with what is known to work for my Super Senior.

I cannot stress enough the importance of exercise for dogs — and humans. Bodies were made to move.

I attribute’s Harper B for Been Here a LONG Time’s longevity mostly to good luck. But that doesn’t mean I won’t continue to try and stack the deck to maximize long lives in my dogs — both the ones at my house now and the ones who started life because of me and my decisions.

More on this in future posts but here is an easy one to get you thinking: Do you know your dog’s Body Condition Score?

Happy Sunday, Friend ❤️

Gifts

Eight years ago today:

Sparklers

Sparkle has always been SUCH a good sport 😂

I get to include the final Sparkler update on Christmas, which feels appropriate since each of them — and their families — are such gifts 🎁

Ashlee shares: “Abbie is amazing!!

Helping bake cookies, cleaning up after meals, teaching us not to cry over spilled milk (because she’ll get it), and always up for snuggles!!

We are redoing our kitchen and she has talked all the work men into extra pets and tag during their lunch. 

We love her!

That last picture!!!!!! ❤️

Thank you to Abbie’s wonderful family and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBIE, you Lucky Dog 🍀🩷

And much gratitude to every member of the Sparkler family for sending updates — they are so appreciated.

And with that, let’s all enjoy a very Merry Christmas and a bright and Happy Hanukah.

Bright Star Atlas — thanks, Kira!