Quick Snap Sunday

What you see above is Cody's light little paw print. Wish it was a little more deeply grooved but it's still going to be a treasured memento for me. The clay is still drying so it might become darker as it dries. Anyway, we decided to have Cody cremated, the paw print nameplate was a complimentary service offered.

There were a few reasons why we chose to have him cremated. Yes, it was a bit of a pricey option but oh well! It just seemed like the easiest and best option especially considering the rather hot/humid summer we are having. Once we get Cody's urn his ashes will be buried next to Simon.  It's been tough the last 36 hours, but I keep reminding myself, he is happy-go-lucky again and super pleased to be back with his little brother.

Reunited

After 16 years, 7 months and exactly 3 weeks Cody's life here with us ended as he crossed the rainbow bridge this morning. No doubt when he crossed that bridge he was immediately greeted by his younger brother and older cat-sister. I'm certain it was quite the high energy reunion. The brotherly pug era has started up again, just in a different place. My dear sweet puggies have been officially reunited!

Cody is at peace. No longer frustrated. No longer unable to see. No longer unable to hear. He has regained all his mobility and is likely romping around with Simon right now.

It's been a long few months. Actually more than a few months. It's been a long 6 months, close to 7. We held on to him as long as we could. I did my best to care for him. It was finally just time...time to let him go be with Simon and Storm. Time to relieve him of his frustrations.

He was a great puggie. He lived a good life and even got to experience his own backyard for the last few months. I hope he is happy now. I hope he walked across the rainbow bridge fully understanding his mommie's love for him is unending! Always and forever mama's boy!!! R.I.P. Cody-man!

Cody and Piper Sunning

So sweet to see these two laying next to each other sunning. Kind of reminds me of when Storm used to lay next to Cody and suntan. Anyway, I have to take advantage of seeing these two together! I love that the boys were so welcoming of a pesky cat sister. Just the other night Piper walked up to Cody and gave him 3 little kisses on his cheek. It was a moment both Brad and I witnessed.

Oh and furthermore, if Cody was to be asked, I'm absolutely certain he would say his favorite shirt to wear is this one in the pic. :) Nothing is more true either about Cody....forever and always a Mama's Boy!!!  Right Cody-man?

Flashback Friday

 A Simmie and His Grammie

Look at these two! While casually looking through an old memory stick filled with photos I came across this gem. Look at how comfy relaxed these two are! Alright so truth be told, Simon's expression kind of seems to read: "Mom, another pic of me today, please stop with the pics, I'm not camera ready!" LOL!

The Water Fairy

No matter where you live, in an apartment, a condo, a townhouse, or a house there's somewhat annoying neighbors lurking about. Some are more annoying than others. Some you can't wait to see pack up a Uhaul and be gone. However, in apartments that happens much more frequent than in homes.

This morning I walked out our front door at a different time than usual as I wanted to put something in the mailbox before it got too late in the day. I noticed the front step was wet. Not recently wet but I could still see evidence of water, not from rain either. I then notice there's wetness directly under the faucet. Next I notice my flowers are drowning. I don't know how or why I didn't notice my drowning flowers first as they literally were waving for a lifeguard, life vest, or even the coast guard. LOL! Here's the thing they are the type of flowers that do not need much water. I have noticed over the last few days or so, they have slowly looked worse and worse. Now I know why! They are being over watered, they are near drowning victims on a daily basis. I water them every night and apparently some "water fairy" is watering them every morning.

It's not Brad if that's what anyone is thinking. He doesn't get up early enough to allow extra time to water my flowers. He rushes out the door on a daily basis.

I think I know who the neighborhood "water fairy" is. She walks her large basset hound every morning. Basset hound Molly is on a retractable leash, avid readers of this blog are aware retractable leashes are a HUGE pet peeve of mine. They should be outlawed! Moving on, the suspected "water fairy" is the type of dog owner that oddly follows her dog on the retractable leash. If Molly walks completely across our lawn and up to the bushes that are under our front window than the dog's owner does the same thing. If Molly decides to walk around the side of our house then so does her owner. It's peculiar to me! Usually dogs on retractable leashes might walk across your yard and have way too much freedom given to them by their owner but you typically don't see the dog's owner following close behind them walking all over everyone's yards. Most dog owners are more polite and stay on the sidewalk as their dog noses around. And going a step further usually neighborhoods don't have a water fairy walking around over watering flowers either. Hmm, not sure how to solve this issue? 

Quick Snap Sunday

This is what happens when your chin is heavy and you've just gone through a bit of an ordeal. There we were, Cody and I in the backyard, someone came outside to announce he was leaving to go run a quick errand. I continued to stay in the backyard with Cody, keeping a watchful eye on him. He's never left alone outside for a few reasons. Moving on, next thing I know Cody takes another step which went a little wrong and falls over before I could get to him. As I help him to get back on his feet I realize he's dripping blood from his mouth....he bit his tongue during his little tumble. Definitely time to go in! I scooped him up in my arms then at a fast pace headed for the backdoor to take him inside. I turn the doorknob but yet the door does not open. The words, "OH NO" pop into my brain. Did my husband lock us out? I knock on the backdoor. No use Brad was already gone out the garage.

Out of habit Brad had locked the deadbolt when he went back inside after coming out to tell me he was leaving. Therefore I was locked outside in the heat wave we are experiencing here with a bleeding elderly dog in my arms. Sunday-funday! Oh man!

As the pic below shows, Cody has been cleaned up and is now enjoying being inside under the fan in the living room. Before settling him down though he enjoyed the world's longest drink of cool water. Just for the record, Brad felt awful for locking us out.

Difficult Week!

Mercy me, mercy me, this was a difficult week. Some way, some how I got through it. And yes, Cody got through it too. There have been many difficult moments for sure. I think we are currently in a state of limbo. We know what needs to be done but we aren't quite ready to let him go. One of us seems to have made peace with the handwriting on the wall, so to speak, and the other is still coming to terms with it. Anyway, let's change gears here briefly, I don't want to continue talking about it during this entire post.

Instead for this post I will focus on one bright shining positive in our little household...the little one you see below. What you see, is a very typical thing for her. Mommie is on the computer and she is right next to me. I think at times she's hoping I let her make a post or do some research. Hey, Pipey lets make a deal...I'll continue to do the posts on the blog and you can work on research stuff. Do we have a deal? Make sure your research is spot-on and extremely thorough! ;)

 

Notice the somewhat annoyed look on her face, as if to say, "good luck getting much done with me here leaning and staring at you". Gotta love the way she leans on the laptop, covering a good section.  

The Dread

Yesterday I called vet offices to ask questions I have been dreading to ask. I had to call a few because Cody's current vet doesn't do all services if you know what I mean? That's kind of odd these days, lots of vet offices are not all services. We ran into similar issues when Storm was late in her lifespan too. I HATE that it's coming to this. At the same time I don't want to fail Cody now. He needs us to take all things into consideration and make an appropriate decision for him. I've never taken a lackadaisical approach to pet parenting, so I'm not about to now.

The fact of the matter, he's not going to wake up tomorrow with his eyesight restored. He's not going to wake up with his hearing back. Nor is he going to gain back his mobility. His frustration isn't going to stop either! All other issues that ail him are going to continue to make him more and more miserable. His quality of life is not what it should be.

If I'm perfectly honest with myself and everyone else that reads this blog there's very few moments of peace in our household. Allow me to explain further, if Cody is asleep, there's peace in our home. If Cody is outside laying on a blanket, there's peace inside our home. If Cody is eating, there's peace in our home. Otherwise he is grumbling, whining, or worse yet, wailing. As for eating and drinking, well I have to help with those things. He can't find his water bowl and he needs a little help not losing his balance when he drinks. Eating is similar, I have to hold the bowl just right for him to eat and I always have to coax him into eating. I fear he wouldn't even miss eating if I didn't "make" him eat. I know he wouldn't miss breakfast for sure! Oh the bathroom situation, he gets carried outside each time. Let's sum it up like this, there's daily accidents now.

It's hard to let him go. However, I do believe the time is fast approaching. We likely shouldn't let things linger much longer as it will only worsen the pain, as it is, my heart hurts every night. It's been a rather stressful venture the last few months. I wish there was more I could do to help him, yet I know it's not how it's meant to be. Lots and lots and lots of tears have streamed down my face and soaked the rug underneath me.  I'm not sure I should be telling him this but the last few days I have quietly whispered to him that Simon is waiting for him. Thoughts of Simon and Cody being reunited is the only thing that's going to get me through this. Their brotherhood will continue again just in a different place.

Ice Cream Day

 

Tomorrow, as in Sunday the 15th is National Ice Cream Day! Make yourself as happy as this puggy with a sweet ice cream treat!

Flashback Friday

For today's Flashback Friday post I decided to feature a couple short videos. While looking for a different picture today I came across these videos of Cody and a strawberry. He used to be so hilarious about strawberries. Actually, fruit in general, he used to carry a piece of fruit around with him until it was almost too soft or squishy or had gotten brown. I stopped giving him pieces of apple because it would always get brown before he'd eat it. I'm not sure if carry around a small bite of fruit was simply just his "weird thing" to do or if he was trying to annoy his younger brother. There were many times Simon would end up snagging it because Cody dropped his guard for a simple second.

 

 

Another Update on Cody

Last week Cody wasn't doing so well. But he slowly improved over the first half of last week. By the time this past weekend arrived Cody was back to "normal". Normal for Cody these days is certainly different than it was years ago even 2 years ago. However, he is back to how he was when my mom saw him a month ago.

At this moment we have no need to have any unpleasant/dreaded conversation. He's doing just fine. If things change drastically and we suddenly believe life is getting to be too much for him to bear then we'll of course have that dreaded conversation. However, no need for that type of chatter right now. He's doing quite well considering his advanced vintage-ness! The pic below can serve as evidence that Cody-man is getting around, even trying to convince his little sis to move so he can rest his old bones in her bed! LOL!

Happy Birthday Brad

 

Today is Brad's birthday, which means a few things: surprises, cake, and the annual picture post. As for surprises, Brad was surprised when his wife secretly conspired with his parents to have them meet us at a specific restaurant for lunch. Another surprise is that yours truly has invited his best friend over for a low-key fiesta tomorrow night(gotta extend the celebrating all weekend long). When it comes time later tonight for his cake, let's all hope I score high marks! This is the first year I haven't let Brad choose what type of cake I make for him. I decided to make something I am sure he will enjoy. Fingers-crossed I'm right! Now it's time to get to the pictures collected from this past year. Happy Birthday my sweetness!

 

 

 

Ready!

Oh my word, I've been busy today. From sun up to sundown. I'm just now taking a few minutes to relax and type this post. My day started early, courtesy of Cody. But that's okay, I had a ton of things to do today. Tomorrow is Brad's birthday, due to Cody's issues early in the week I didn't get certain things accomplished as I usually do. 

Suddenly today, I was like a hamster on a wheel running as fast as I could to catch up. I cleaned the house. Bathed the furries. Finished up some last minute shopping. I actually already had the gift shopping completed, I simply needed more wrapping paper and a few items to bake his cake. I also made a quick run to Braum's for ice cream! Can't have a birthday without ice cream, especially if your name is Brad! I however, would never miss the ice cream. Other things that I accomplished: baked the cake, decorated the house(just a little), frosted the cake, wrapped the gifts, and I'm currently finishing up the fur-babies laundry. Whew! I can't believe I got it all done. And I of course took care of Cody-man every time he needed something, ceasing whatever I was doing to tend to him. However, I must not take all the credit for my accomplishments today, little Ms. Piper helped.  Just look at the video and pics below.

 

 She's making sure it all looks good!

 

 Look close, she's batting at the cord with her right paw. An action shot!

 One more gift needs to be added, it's guaranteed to arrive by 10:30 AM. Fed-Ex better not disappoint! LOL! Can you guess which one is from the fur-babies? Of course it's the one in the gift bag...they don't wrap! LOL!

 

Piper and the rest of us here would like to wish everyone a...

  

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Update on Cody

Well folks don't count Cody-man out just yet. There's a bit of good news to share. Cody has been up some and walked around. He's no longer the lifeless ragdoll that he was on Monday and part of Tuesday. He doesn't appear to be in constant pain either. He also ate his breakfast on his own this morning. I held the bowl and he ate up his food. I did not have to hold him in my lap and feed him piece by piece like the previous few days.

That being said, I know he doesn't have much longer. Signs of improvement, a few good days left in him but there's no such thing as Cody "getting better", per say. His years are catching up to him. Still though he isn't appearing to be in the critical state we thought he was in 2 days ago.

Our plan is this, if he naturally goes in the next few days then he naturally goes. Next week we will discuss helping him to rejoin his little brother. We are nearing the point when we need to end things for him. "Nearing" the point is the key word. Now obviously, if things suddenly change and we feel he's in pain then we'll of course snap into action. Fingers-crossed though we can avoid the memory of losing Cody close to Brad's birthday. 

Now all that being said...I've heard the chatter. Yes, the chatter! So allow me to respond....I am Cody's loving mommie. I have been Cody's loving mommie since he was weaned. He was my first pug, my first dog since being out on my own. I have loved him every day of his life! Everyday!!!! My love for him and his brother is unending and forever.  Yes indeed, I am Cody's loving mommie! And Cody now has a loving daddy too. And we, yes...WE will decide how to proceed with Cody. We will not be rushed. We will not be made to feel guilty. We will not be told what to do and when to do it!!!!  I have loved Cody for 16.5 years, so honestly do you really think I'm going to stand by and watch him suffer and not do anything?  I'm not stupid! I'm not cruel! And I'm definitely not mean to my fur-babies!! My fur-babies are treated like our "kids", since the day Cody and Simon came to be they have been my version of "kids".  So come on people!!!  Those that believe I'm doing wrong at this moment and those that are judging me. All I have to say is...how dare you!  How dare you question me, especially how dare you question such a thing pertaining to my fur-baby! Question my choice in clothes? Or the way I decorate? Question my obsession with the color red? Or my love for the city of Paris? But don't dare question my ability to do what is best for either of my fur-babies. Got it?

The Decline

It is no secret Cody is up there in age. It's no secret he's had issues like blindness and deafness that he's been dealing with. However, he has been lucky to not have anything seriously wrong. Natural aging issues is what he's been struggling through. He's not even on any meds other than baby aspirin. But his years are nevertheless catching up with him.

He's been more and more disgruntled about his issues as the days and weeks march by. Brad and I commented that he seemed to have gotten worse as far as his abilities and disgruntlement just since my mom visited which was only 2 weeks ago. That being said, over the weekend things became dramatically worse for him, a rapid decline occurred. We had an awful night on Sunday. I pulled an all-nighter trying to take care of him. He was impossible to handle. It was an amazingly trying night for all of us! I cried, he cried, Brad was up some too during Sunday night and he cried as well. As for Piper, she hid under the couch.

He was practically lifeless all day on Monday. Partly worn out from his Sunday, I'm sure. Since the Sunday night ordeal he's remained rather quiet, makes noise rarely now, which is different than before. All of his limbs are very stiff, so he walks like a scarecrow if you can picture a scarecrow walking. He has already dropped some more weight. I thought at first the weight thing was my imagination but Brad agreed, Cody's ribs are showing even more all of a sudden. Yesterday he moved hardly at all. Today he has moved around a little more. If it wasn't for me feeding him his food kibble by kibble while he sits in my lap he would have no interest in food I fear. He is however, still interested in water. 

The similarities between Cody's decline and Simon's are a little eerie. Basically just minus the seizures that Simon suffered. Simon also had more stomach issues in his final days. Cody hasn't dealt with stomach issues. 

It is clear Cody will not be with us much longer. We have spoke of having Cody put to sleep. I'm not sure what we will end up doing. I don't believe he's in pain. I think he has had some pain from arthritis in his hips but I don't believe he is in constant pain. I actually believe Cody has suddenly realized his days are nearly up and he is no longer fighting it. Brad and I will continue to monitor him then decide what the next step is.

  

Quick Snap Sunday

Cody's Fashion Statement

Cody is the proud new owner of a hat! I know what you are thinking,...a hat for a dog, isn't that kind of silly? But this hat has purpose. It's purpose is to help protect his head. Why didn't I think of this sooner? I mean, he's worn hats before, but as part of a costume. However, the hat seen above isn't part of a costume, it's a fashion accessory for dogs. You know like a bowtie. Oh darn, why didn't I get him a bowtie too. Picture him now with this hat on and a blue bowtie...look out lady pugs, Cody is unbelievably too cute!

In all seriousness, Cody constantly bumps into things and we worry about his little noggin. We have certain things protected in our house just for him. But we can't protect him from everything, unfortunately.

Brad had an idea to add some extra stuffing to the hat by putting foam inside it. Cody was not digging that and it made the hat too tight. I was worried one of his eyes was going to pop out. Brad laughed when I told him of my worry, but it can happen with pugs.  Really, it happens! Anyway now the issue is keeping it on his head. So far we've only had him wear it a little here and there he's not wearing it 24/7. He has certain times of the day when he's up moving around similar to a pinball as he bumps into things. So this kind of hat for now, but come Wednesday he'll have to sport something a little more patriotic! Woo-hoo, a shorten up work week with a birthday party in the middle and Brad's bday on Friday.