BOXER ADVENTURES

 Time to say goodbye to 2023! This was a hard year.  If you've ever had to care for someone who is terminally ill, you know how draining it is.  And certainly caring for a dog who is slowing fading away doesn't compare to caring for a very sick human, but it still took a toll on us. I would not trade one minute we had with Archer.  He was a wonderful dog and the fact that he was able to live a relatively high quality of life right up until the end is such a blessing!  But there was also a lot of stress and worry and, for what it's worth, cleaning up a lot of pee!!   I don't think there is a day that has gone by since we lost him that I don't think about him and it is still painful.  However, we had him in our lives for 13 years, and I try to remember the good times and not how much it hurts that he is no longer with us. So I am ready for the fresh start the New Year always brings.   We closed out 2023 with a group hike at a local forest ...

 A cool and misty day today and we headed out to hike some trails.  The state park that we visited was completely deserted when we got there.  The dogs got to be off leash almost the whole time.  It was a perfect opportunity to practice recall with Booker. Since we've gotten him, he has pretty much been glued to our side when we are out and about.  However, now that he is a little older, Booker is comfortable venturing away from us - usually where Sisko goes, but also on his own.  So we want to make sure he stops and comes back when we tell him to.  He is doing really well with stopping immediately when we say "STOP" but he doesn't always come right back when we tell him to.  We'll continue to work on that.  But for being less than 5 months old he is doing pretty well!   Recall is more than just coming back when called, though.  It involves your dog "checking in" to make sure that he stays close.  Booker's doing great with this...

 Maybe it is actually Boxing Day in Canada, but in this household we celebrate Boxer Day! I needed to get a run in to work off at least a little bit of all I ate yesterday.  Fortunately, since the weather is so nice, I didn't have to face the treadmill and instead was able to get outside. Booker is too young to run yet, as we need to protect his still fragile joints.  But Sisko was happy to join me for a run, while Booker walked with Marc. We then needed to pick up a few things, but first it was a stop at Starbucks.  Sisko has had this treat before but, it was Booker's first experience with a Pup Cup!   View this post on Instagram A post shared by Booker and Sisko (@boxeradventuresny) Suffice it to say he liked it!   I am so happy that we get to let him have all these wonderful first experiences!  

 It is uncharacteristically warm here, so we started Christmas Eve with a nice long hike.   Later that day it was time to open some presents.  Booker was a little confused about how to open the presents but Sisko helped him out. Once he got it opened he was much more interested in the pig's ear to chew on than the toy. But later there was a bit of a wrestling match over one of the toys. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Hudson Mosher (@jenhudsonmosher) Since Marc and I were going to visit family and I knew the dogs would be home alone most of the day, we got in another walk to start Christmas morning. When we left, I had taken some bones, stuffed them with wet dog food and froze them overnight.  So they got to work on chewing those while we were gone.  We checked on them several times during the day on the Petcube and after they managed to clean out the bones, they fell asleep. When we got home, there were more presen...

Paws4Potter  is a not for profit organization run by an amazing  local vet.  Their mission is to educate people about cancer in pets.  That includes helping people recognize warning signs of cancer and learn about options for treating and living with pets who have cancer.  They also donate money to organizations dedicated to finding cures for cancer in our beloved pets. They hold events throughout the year, including a pet-friendly craft show in December where locals vendors sell their items and raffles are held to benefit the organization.   We went last weekend.  The boys got to see Santa!  The also got to meet a TON of people as they attracted a lot of attention and got many hugs and kisses from a variety of people and they were thrilled.   They also got to memorialize their paw prints in some clay which I painted after they dried and are proudly hung on our tree: A great time for a great cause. For more information on Paws4Potte...

 Gingival hyperplasia is the technical name for a condition where a dog's gums become large and inflamed.  In some breeds this is primarily caused by plaque buildup and ensuing bacteria growth.  It is often accompanied by super stinky breath. But certain breeds are just prone to having this condition and by far the number one breed is, of course, the Boxer. Sisko's gums have been overgrown for a while but they weren't terrible and his breath was fine indicating it was caused by his breed not bacteria.  But they became very overgrown over the last few months and at least three times when he was wrestling with Booker, Booker bit into the gums and they bled like crazy. We couldn't put it off any longer, and the only fix is to put a dog under anesthesia and cut away the excess.  So we brought him in yesterday. Before the surgery: Sisko has never had anesthesia so I got to worry all day. But the surgery went fine.  Sometimes they find very rotten teeth under the...

 We've always had cat companions with our dogs.  2 years ago I brought home 2 little kittens for Marc for Christmas.  Sisko had only been around adult cats but I was sure he would be sweet and gentle with the babies and I was right.  The night I brought them home they gave a couple of tokens hisses at the large dogs sniffing at them, but this was the same night: They became fast friends and cuddle buddies. And they would play together. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Hudson Mosher (@jenhudsonmosher)   But when we brought Booker home it was a whole different story.  He was a crazy puppy who ran at and chased them.  So they would hiss and hide.  After a short time all 5 cats would tolerate him from a distance.  And by a couple of months in Sulu and Chekov wanted to play with him, but Booker wants to play like a typical Boxer puppy.  Which means biting, chasing, punching with his paws and standing...

 I'm prone to exaggeration but I am not doing that when I tell you it has been at 2 weeks since we have had a sunny day!  We've seen some peeks of sun a couple of days but it was short lived.  When I leave for work it is dark and cold and when I get home from work - you guessed it - dark and cold.  We woke up this morning and the sun was already out.  It was not windy and about 37 degrees.  That's warm for December in northern NY.  I am so happy that Booker loves to go on walks!  I don't know what we would do if he was a couch potato type dog.  But when I picked up his collar this mooring he just about went crazy. We headed once again to the beach. It's about a 30 minute drive but it's totally worth it. As I thought it might be, it was almost completely deserted.  That meant a lot of off leash running and playing.  Sisko is a master of recall and has done well training Booker.  For the most part Booker doesn't venture too far a...

 When you live in Northern NY, you assume it will be cold in December.  But today we lucked out and were blessed with temps in the low 50's!  So it was a no-brainer to head over to the village I grew up in because they were having a lights contest and parade. First we strolled around some streets and took in the sights of the decorated houses. And the boys posed with some decorations. As we returned back to where we parked, the parade was coming down the street.  It was led by firetrucks blaring their horns and it was super loud.  Sisko was unfazed, but it was a little scary for Booker,  however he didn't over-react. They then got to meet some of the characters from the float. This was in addition to the children and adults who wanted to come over and say hi. Finally, the Grinch came by.  He expressed some concern that our dogs might not be interested in meeting him - we had just watched a young girl run screaming from him.  But both boys ran over...

 Turning on the animated Hallmark toy threw Booker for a loop! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Booker and Sisko (@boxeradventuresny)

 Today Booker got to meet Santa for the first time! It's always interesting to see how a puppy reacts to new situations.  And Booker was exposed to a lot of them today!  Sisko, as always was a good role model.  He has met Santa many times and was thrilled to see him again.  In fact, he was way more interested in hugging Santa than sitting for a picture! I was very happy that Booker showed no fear at all of this guy with the big beard, and just wanted to check him out. He was also happy and excited to meet all the people who wanted to meet him, and enthusiastically greeted everyone who came up and asked to pet him. However, some very naughty Siberian Huskies snarled, barked and lunged at him.  This resulted in him showing a lot of fear towards a overly wound up barking pug and a very quiet and friendly Australian Shepherd.  I didn't push him, but calmly walked around and near the Shepherd several times.  We'll have to expose him to dogs more as I d...