I asked Belle if it would be ok for me to give you all an update on how she is doing. She said I could if I kept it short, she says I tend to ramble a bit. Hmmm…well anyway.

As part of the plan to help Belle with her arthritis she was put on an anti-inflammatory along with another medication. Belle started both medicines this past Wednesday. The other medicine will take 4-6 weeks to see if it will help her but the anti-inflammatory made a difference almost right away.

Belle is our stoic, serious, watcher outer over everyone else pup. We knew she was in pain and struggling to get up and down and go up and down steps but we didn’t realize how much until the anti-inflammatory kicked in.

The difference is huge, she is running, yes running up and down the stairs. She is instigating play with her sisters and she is even more interested than usual in what’s going on around her.

Best of all she has her sparkle back. 😊

~ this is Belle’s My Margret for the Pups and Kitties

Lately I’ve been having a hard time standing up after I’ve been laying down for awhile. Going up stairs has been hard for me to do too.

So My Margret took me to see Dr. Bols this morning. I was kind of scared but My Margret petted me and talked softly to me and that made me feel better.

When Dr. Bols came in she called me a sweet girl and petted me for awhile. She gave me a really good back massage then she moved my back legs this way and that way and flexed my paws.

Then she and My Margret talked for a long time, so long in fact that I laid down and kind of dosed off.

My Margret and My Greg have known for several years that I have hip dysphasia and Dr. Bols said I now have developed arthritis in my back legs and hips which is making it hard for me to get up and down and climb stairs.

While it’s not going to go away I have a treatment plan in place that will hopefully help slow it down and make it easier for me to move. In the meantime I’m the boss and am to do what I can do until I tell them I can’t.

You all know right that My Margret can be pretty goofy, well I heard her tell my Greg all about it then she said “guess what, Belle didn’t have an ear infection!” If you’ve been following us for awhile you know that I’m the ear infection queen in our family. So yeah there is that! 🙄

~this is Belle “the at least I don’t have an ear infection” Pup for the Pups and Kitties.

So…

A lot has been happening over the past few days. My Margret and My Greg’s littlest little person has come for a visit.

She’s pretty little and can sometimes be kinda loud so I’m still trying to figure things out.

I make sure to check out her windows before she takes her nap..

I also stay close by just in case I’m needed.

It’s hard work so sometimes I take a break and do this

And this

~ this is Linus “the watcher” Kitty for the pups and kitties.

We sisters like to do things together.

But we also do things different from each other too. For example every morning when My Margret leaves for work she says “Girls, let’s go!” and that’s our cue that it’s time to go out to our pup porch.

Bessie Pup: As soon as My Margret opens the door I run right past her to see what’s happening in our yard. As I hurry past I hear her say “Bessie, have a good day. I love you, see you tonight.”

Belle Pup: when it’s my turn to go out I stop right before going out to hear My Margret say Belle Sweatheart, I love you, have a good day, see you tonight. Then she ruffles my fur and gives me lots of pats, if she stops and I want more I just stand there and she gets the hint and gives me more pats. Sometimes like yesterday morning I wanted 4 rounds of “have a good day” pats before going out. I can tell My Margret likes it too.

Bonnie Pup: I’m usually the last one out the door because I really really like being in the house. I usually make My Margret coax me. She calls me in a “there’s something fun going on and you don’t want to miss it ” voice. I know it’s to go outside but it’s fun to hear her silly voice when she does it. When I finally go out the door as she says “Bonnie Girl, I love you, have a good day!” But yesterday I watched how much how much Belle liked the “have a good day” pats and I slowed down so I could get one too. I didn’t want as many pats as Belle but I sure did like it. I think I’ll have to try that again today!

~this is Bessie, Belle and Bonnie ” the we like hearing have a good day I love you’s” Pups for the pups and kitties.

Someone came to visit us today! He was a really really cute and friendly Husky Pup! We wanted him to come play with us but our My Margret said she needed to take him home. Once she figured out where that was that is.

My Margret drove across the road to Mrs. Charleen’s and they tried to figure it out. Mrs. Charleen was going to call some people while My Margret posted to the area What’s Happening In…Facebook page. And started driving door to door. Within minutes someone posted that he lived two houses from our place. Nobody seemed to be home but because she knew that’s where he lived My Margret knew it would be ok to leave him there. It was kinda warm out so before she left she asked him if he wanted a drink and soon he was drinking water from a bottle out of her hand. She gave him a gentle pat and called him a sweet boy and left.

She drove home and guess who was there? Yep, Sweet Boy got there almost before she did. He stood outside the window and sang me and my sisters beautiful songs, we could have listened all day. Sigh…

After spending a good part of the day at our house My Margret and My Greg finally said he needed to go back home. So they took him back to his house.

I can’t wait until Sweet Boy comes back to visit with us I hope it’s soon!

~ this is Bessie “the we met a neighbor pup and he’s really cute!” Pup for the pups and kitties.

This morning it was raining again. I very politely let My Margret know I was quite happy to stay in the house while she was at work.

I should have known she wouldn’t go for that idea. She then asked Belle the sister getter to come in and get me. Well I’m not a dumb pup and I’m certainly not going to fall for that two days in a row!

Next My Margret did a song and stampy dance routine that I really liked so I danced along with her right to the porch door where I said again nope I’m fine inside.

Then My Margret did it, yep she went there, she got a handful of the little treats and walked right out to the porch. Well a treat is a treat, although one of the big treats would have been a little better. I followed her right out the door and sat with my sisters and enjoyed those “early morning rainy day My Margret’s going to be late for work” treats. When the treats were gone My Margret turned, walked back into the house, told us that she loved us, to have a good day and that they would be back tonight. Hmm wait sigh yep that just happened. I wonder though what she going to do tomorrow morning because it’s supposed to rain again and she can’t fool me twice but I might go out for a big bone…

~ this is Bess ” you can’t fool me twice” Pup for the Pups and Kitties.

This morning we had a thunderstorm. I don’t mind them too much but my sisters plain don’t like them.

Bonnie usually goes and hides in the bathroom or kinda under the bed. While Bess tries to get as close to our My Margret or our My Greg as she possibly can. We all have Mellow Shirts that we wear if My Margret and My Greg are home and Bess has thunderstorm medicine that she also gets if they are going to be home.

This morning when My Margret was ready to leave for work Bess wasn’t wanting to go out to our pup porch and Bonnie wasn’t either. I was already out in the porch but I heard My Margret calling them so I pawed on the door to be let in.

Once in the house I saw that Bess had a leash attached to her collar but My Margret didn’t want to pull her to the porch because she knew that would only make Bess more scared. She’s smart like that. Bonnie didn’t want to come down from where she was hiding upstairs either.

My Margret looked at me and said ” Belle, go get them.” So I did. I snuffled at Bess then ran up the stairs to get Bonnie moving. Both of my sisters took the bait and started playing and rough housing with me and followed me right out the door, My Margret was holding open, to the porch.

She thanked me over and over again and told me I was a very good girl.

I know she wants to know how I do it but I just tell her it’s my secret power.

~ this Belle ” the sister getter” Pup for the Pups and Kitties.

Bess, Belle, Bonnie

LinusLucy

I love watching our pups and kitties. Seeing their personalities and watching how they interact with each other and Greg and I.

This morning the kitchen fire alarm went off because I burned my toast. Happy Friday…! After the alarm stopped shrieking Linus came up to look at me clearly rattled he wasn’t convinced all was well.

Bess came to me to be reassured and gave me a lick to say oh ok all’s ok now.

Belle who was out in the pup porch scratched at the door to be let in. Something she rarely does.

Linus and Bess were still in the kitchen so Belle went to Linus sniffed and checked him out. Then she continued to do the same with Bess to make sure she was ok. Then she came to me for a quick cuddle and gave me a look that said ok everyone is fine.

Bonnie, who had been sleeping in the living room, showed up at my side a few minutes later to say, I’m here! What did I miss?

Lucy ignored the whole situation.

This situation was a perfect example of our sweet crew’s personalities.

~ this is My Margret for the Pups and Kitties.

This morning I saw My Margret gather up my stuffies…All of them…Even my giraffe and cow stuffies. I didn’t know if I would ever see them again, I mean My Margret said I would and I always do but you never know right?

After they were washed and dried My Margret put them in the sun puddle in the living room. Linus Kitty checked them out to make sure they were ok.

My Margret then had me come in from our pup porch.

I was so excited to see my stuffies again, it had been forever! (note from My Margret it was 45 minutes tops.)

Ok so that’s forever, we’re talking about my stuffies you know. Anyway I welcomed my stuffies back and wouldn’t put them down even when I heard a funny sound.

After deciding all was well I went and curled up with my giraffe and duck. I made sure to hide them so My Margret wouldn’t think they needed another bath. If you look closely you can see them tucked under my chin. I hid them good didn’t I?

~ this is Bessie “my stuffies are back.” Pup for the Pups and Kitties.

I gotta tell you I just don’t get it. It’s just a bath right. I mean you get in, get soapy and get out. I’m my opinion it takes WAY too long. I’ve got places to go and things to bark at. I tried twice during my bath to tell My Margret I was done by jumping out of the tub but she said I wasn’t so back in I went! Sigh…she is soooo slow.

But that’s nothing compared to how my sisters react.

Bonnie Pup loves getting a bath. The very minute she sees My Margret grab our towels she sticks like glue to her side so when we hear the “okay, who’s first?” she can run and jump in the tub. In fact this time she tried to convince My Margret that she needed 3 more baths. My Margret would just chuckle and say ” Bonnie Girl, you already had your bath.” Regardless on your view of baths you gotta give Bonnie points for trying.

Now Belle Pup is totally on the other side of the whole bath thing. She almost always wants to go last. Which is weird because she likes being in our pool that we play in during the summer. I don’t know what the difference is, I mean wet is wet!

Well during this bath Belle tried something new. She stood as close to the door as she could get and tried to guilt My Margret into saying she didn’t need a bath. Like that would work! Our My Margret knows all of our tricks so not much gets by her. Once Belle was in the water My Margret could tell that she wanted so badly to pick her paws up so they wouldn’t get wet except then she would get even wetter so after My Margret stopped chuckling she told Belle that she was almost done and got her out of the tub just that fast. Hmmm…maybe I should try that.

Oh one more thing, that night My Margret noticed that Linus was in the tub because apparently he thought he should have had a bath too. Needless to say he didn’t get one.

~this is Bess “the bath is a bath” Pup for the Pups and Kitties.