Meet Rezso.

"Rezso" is a Teutonic name meaning "legendary wolf".

Here he is at 9 weeks old.

(Sorry it took a while to get his post up. We're all a bit sleep deprived around here.)

I'll just say we're completely in love with his smart, confident personality. He's also a cuddler! He sees absolutely no reason for him to be away from us and it has taken us nearly 2 weeks to convince him he needs to sleep in his crate at night. (I shudder to imagine the chewed chair legs--and anything the cat decides to knock off a counter or table top, midnight dashes to chase said cat, and endless potty spots to clean if he wasn't in a crate)

Freki likes him some of the time. He's fearless and charges right back into the fray if he gets knocked down, and she probably admires his tenacity. I have to remind her frequently that he is still a baby. One with very sharp teeth and a tough as nails attitude, but a baby nonetheless.

He's already learned to sit, shake hands, down and walk on leash. He started obedience class Monday night, and he was the youngest in the class. Perhaps a bit overwhelming at first with the sounds and bigger dogs, but he took measure of things, squared his shoulders as if to say "I've got this" and seemed to have a great time.

We'll need a 'trick' for graduation. Suggestions, anyone?

Follow #adventureswithRezso on Instagram for more fun photos!

This is me, last summer. I really like playing in the pool, but I'm not supposed to be jumping or bouncing or any of the really fun things corgis do, because I've hurt my neck. Or maybe it's my shoulder. I can't really tell anyone what happened, so they're helping the best they can.

Saw the chiropractor again today. I really like her--at first. She pets me and I get out of my little room for a while. Not so sure I like it when she finds my sore spots, but they keep telling me it'll make me better.

I do feel a lot better after she leaves. And I get to wear the pink shirt with an ice pack. The cold really feels good on my neck. My head is able to turn better, and my knee--which I knocked out of place sometime earlier--was still where it should be today. So I guess her manipulations are helping. They're just ouchy.

Oh, and I get shoulder massages and lots of time in Mom's lap. That's pretty cool.

It's hard to understand why I can't jump around like I used to. I really want to. I want to leap off the porch with the big dogs and play in the swimming pool. Everyone keeps telling me to take it easy, but I have so much energy!!

I heard I may be getting a swimming pool to actually swim in, since the muscles in my leg need building up. I think they called it a 'horse trough'. I'll let you know.
​                                                                                                  ~ Ben

Today's post is about Ben. It's been a while since I've posted here, and we've been pretty busy.

Ben is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, which means his little legs are quite short, though his bones are by no means 'miniature'. His back is also very long, which can predispose him to back issues.

Ben has always been an active dog. He bounces everywhere, from beating out the German Shepherds for thrown balls, to leaping into my arms (his trick, not mine. This sturdy guy can knock you down!). He can leap vertically 4 feet in the air from a standstill. Fortunately, he hasn't been able to put any horizontal moves with that particular stunt, or he'd be on the counter tops for sure.

A couple of months ago, we noticed he''d become quite the couch potato. Age? (He's only 6) Fed up with the boisterous German Shepherds? (they are rambunctious!) Just because he can and the others aren't allowed on the couch? (They're much too big). Everything else checked great. No change in appetite (ever met a corgi that turned down food?), very alert and playful when off the couch, loved one-on-one play and cuddles.

And then he began limping. Right front foot only. We assumed he'd taken a spill playing with the others. They aren't allowed completely unsupervised play, but there are times I'd step inside for something and Ben doesn't back down just because he's a third the other dogs' sizes.

Assuming it was a soft tissue injury- a strain or sprain- we treated conservatively. No amount of manipulating the leg or foot caused him obvious pain, so we ruled out a fracture. We noticed he was brighter, bouncier while on his medication, but he still limped. We tried for another round of meds, then X-rays when the limping didn't go away. We set up a trip to the local vet school, but had to cancel, and setting up a new one was weeks away. Then, Ben started showing signs of pain.

We're now 1 week into 4 weeks of strict confinement, treating a bulging disc. It could have happened any of a dozen ways, or he could have simply been predisposed to this sort of thing from the way he's built. He still wants to run and jump, so this has been really hard and you can't convince him of the consequences. He used to charge up and down the steps, but that's a huge no-no for him now, so I built him a ramp. He didn't like it at first, so I put tape on it to show him the edges, and he did better. I also put no-slip stickers on the wood between the slats (for bathtub and shower floors), and that has helped even more. He's becoming a pro.

He'll go back to the vet in 3 weeks for a recheck, and we pray he will have healed enough to keep on this regimen. If not, we're looking at a trip to the vet school for a surgical consult, and the outcome will be grim at that point. 

We could use your prayers.

The calendar says it's February 21. We're likely to have cold temps, ice, and/or snow next month. But if you ask the flowers, it's spring.

I planted a variety of daffodils last fall, and two of them are open. Others have fat buds getting ready to burst open, and I'll collect their photos as they bloom.

Last weekend, I spread compost over the garden area to take advantage of the (hopefully) rain we're supposed to receive this week. I've planted red onions and garlic in the bed already, and will start some seedlings this week.

Here are a few signs of spring at my house:
Daffodils
Gerber daisy (such a mild winter, they survived. I will trim the dead leaves once I'm sure winter is over. Right now, they're insulating the plant)
Thrift
Peonies
Garden prep
Oh, and dog hair. If the dogs are shedding, is the cold weather over?
(And Freki's already been to Sonic for ice cream. She says it's never too cold for that. She also keeps eyeing the swimming pool, but I think that's rushing things a bit.)

What, if any, signs are you seeing at your house that Spring isn't far away?

It's raining outside. It has been raining, well if not for weeks, then it sure seems that way. I finally got the yard mowed yesterday, but storms opened up again last night, and the 'kids' are bored today.

There will come a time--any minute, in fact-- when I will close my eyes to the mud and simply open the door and let the dogs out to run. They will come in later, filthy but tired and happy. Fortunately, I can leave them in the utility room behind the dog gate to dry off and lose some of the mud. It will require a stiff brushing before they are allowed back in the house, but it is a process that seems to work.

As you can see, Angus and Freki have become buddies, and each one seems to delight in annoying the other when he or she is trying to nap or chew a favorite toy. They try to share the loveseat, but hilarity quickly ensues and off they go, chasing each other through the house.

Can you see how innocent they are? Uh, huh. Don't let their sweet faces fool you. They are plotting something. My guess would be a romp designed to get them tossed outside. Ben will take one face full of rain and sulk to come inside. Freki will dart off across the yard in search of her ball, and show up at the back door with a puzzled look on her face when I decline to join her. What rain? It doesn't faze her. Playing ball is obviously much more important.

The rain has been good for the garden. The beans are sprouted and almost doubling in size every day. The tomatoes have flowers on them, as do the peppers. There are tiny sprouts from the green onions and recently seeded carrots, and I harvested a bit of cilantro the other day to put in some meatballs.

It is so exciting to watch it grow! And if I have three muddy dogs, at least the garden is happy, too.