Day 150

Wednesday - we had rain last night and it was overcast, humid, and a little bit foggy all morning long. This afternoon we did get some sunshine, but the temperature never got into the 90's today - so that was nice. 
There is going to be a birthday in the family coming up so I thought I would talk about that tonight. 

Yes, that's right..... Angel's birthday will be on the 12th. (Although there's something else about that date that I just can't recall at this time.......)
But Angel was born on Aug. 12th, 2003. We drove to Hillsboro, Ohio to pick her out of the litter and she laid on my lap in the corvette on the way home. 

 Her pedigree name is: "Jeanette's Guardian Angel" - And that's what she has been all these years. Although Wade was 'this close' to getting rid of her when she was a puppy, I hung in there and she stayed. When he went to Afghanistan she was my constant companion. We went almost everywhere together. 

She's had some health issues most of her life with her leg. And this past year we've found out what exactly is the problem and she is plagued with arthritis from it. 

Because she is a lab and labs by nature eat anything and everything - she got overweight and out of shape. 

Now this past January, Sheba hurt her legs too - so I took all of them to the vet. His first advice was that she and Sheba needed to lose weight. 

His suggestion was to cut their meals in half. So since the first part of the year, that's exactly what I have done. No more leftovers in their bowls to supplement their dog food. No more cookies when I wanted to show a little more love. A hug or an ear scratch would have to do for now. 

That has been a hard thing for me. I feel guilty sometimes because they now eat their meals (breakfast and dinner) in about 3 minutes flat and lick the bowls super-dee-dooper clean. How I would love to just drop a little more in there, but I've been firm with this.
So today I needed to take all three of the dogs to the vet's for nail trims. I can't do it and they were so long it was affecting how they were walking.  

Here is all three of them wearing their harnesses in preparation for their big outing this afternoon. It was much easier to keep hold of them this time. There were no escapes from the leashes and we managed pretty well coming and going. 

Angel & Sheba rode in the back seat and Kelly rode up front with me. I had to wait for 30 minutes in the room with the dogs and that was a little irritating, but finally the vet came in and clipped all the nails. I told him about the dogs losing weight and he invited me to weigh Angel on the scale in the lobby when I left. He said that weight loss was one of the best things that could be done for dogs with joint issues. Now back in January when Angel went to the vet she weighed 104 pounds. Today my skinny little girl weighed 84 pounds!!! Wow, she lost 20 pounds and I can really tell the difference. She acts younger and just seems happier. I can tell that all three girls have lost weight, but I think Angel's loss is the most dramatic. She still limps a lot and has to take pain meds but I am very happy with her progress.

PetSmart Obedience Classes 2003/2004