The little shiny eyed pup that was found wandering the streets of Ireland has now survived for three years on this planet. In human terms that's 28! Dave is now in the stage of life where he wears black turtlenecks and hangs around in poetry cafés trying to unwind the tangled threads of life's meaning. Mostly, however, he just eats a snausage and has a nap.
The Stress Diet
Dave's most recent adventure, outside of his birthday, was traveling to Finland for two weeks over the Christmas period. It proved both successful and stressful. He lost over 1kg even though he was getting more than his normal measure of rations, we think this was due to stress. We were either in a train, bus, ferry or a car for over 48 hours in total, not to mention staying in strange places every night and criss-crossing our way through the urban metropolises of Stockholm and Helsinki. Upon returning home, Dave's bum was really wagging like a mad thing and he slept like a log. Now we can concentrate on fattening him up again.
He did have some fun though, he met some dogs from koirat.com, a Finnish dog forum, and our hosts on two occasions also had a dog, so Dave met lots of new friends, as did we.
My heart is still beating fast and I am about to faint!
As most of my friends know, I hate Christmas and all of those meaningless gifts, stress and money spending...well, I didn't expect EVER to get the AMAZING surprise I experienced today!
Dear Martin gave me a REAL Art Piece that I am going to cherish forever <3. He knows how much I love Stephane Tartelin´s drawings and Martin contacted The Artist himself, and luckily he had time for a private commission.
I must run as soon as possible to the framers and get a really nice home for this "Mona Lisa" piece! This is the drawing that someday will be wanted in Musée du Louvre, and hopefully as speculated upon - Who Was That Dog - What Stories Are Hidden Behind His Smile?
The vet said that Dave seems to be getting stronger in his knee muscles. This is the third time that Dave has been to rehab and he's progressing really well, he now uses his back legs a lot in the water. The main problem is that he gets cold quite fast and shivers like mad. That's why he had to have a custom hat made, as shown in the previous post.
So thanks to the power of snausages Dave is on the road to recovery.
Dave has been getting swimming therapy for his dodgy knee. He is so cold afterwards that he has to now wear this lovely hat. It looked stupid when he didn't have any ears. So ears were made. He doesn't look stupid anymore.
EDIT: Dave has a luxating patella.Or a loose knee-cap in layman terms. It can be quite serious if gone untreated, but thankfully Dave just has a level 1 knee. It can go to level 5. So he has some XP to gather! No, hopefully not. He's in rehab, part of which includes swimming. A full rehab post is in the making...with pictures!
As I caress the jagged edge of this once-loved neon nightmare my synapses are firing on self destruct and the air is filled with forgotten sweat, pulling my nose down its trail of obliteration. Muffled shouts give the skittish masses a focal point, to avoid other's stares and the cool, nervous shadows. An endless silver snake hisses the arrival of its gorged burden that shudders to a stop, retches out some spirit chasers, then melts into guilt and folds into the arms of strained moonlight softly filtered through vampiric clouds. It's all behind me now, pulled hypnotically down those infinity lines. A movement, I pounce! Needles hiss and snap at my face, I barely escape intact although my pride takes a knock. To feint indifference shows the cowering, bleeding shadows I am strong. But I can't help sticking my nose in once again. I must know what deformed evil this is. A flash of lightning fills the sticky air, the beast is revealed in all its misery. A somehow living pincushion, a putrid, flea ridden, pointy-nosed, four-toed lump of breathing flesh that is known in progressive scientific circles as a hedgehog. I return to my apartment for some snausages.
It's been a year since we collected a somewhat concerned looking Dave from his foster
family in Stockholm. He was looking concerned because two strangers had came and bundled
him off in a car, ripping him away from his home where he had just arrived a few weeks
previously after having been brought over from Ireland by the charity Hundar Utan Hem (link to the right).
As he snoozed, or pretended to snooze to ignore us, in the back of the car, none of us
could know how things would turn out. He was going to be our first dog and we were his
first 'parents'. After having had a rough start in Ireland where he had been on the to-
be-destroyed list in the pound, he made his way into our life via a tiny little picture
and description on the Hundar Utan Hem website. Out of all the dogs they have that
desperately need homes, we chanced upon Dave. We had been regular surfers on their
website and there were a few dogs that looked nice but Dave T. Dog seemed to leap off
the page at us. After a meeting and interview with Dave and a Hundar Utan Hem lady, we
signed the contract and arranged to pick Dave up.
All that seems ancient history now and it's hard to imagine not having Dave here at all,
he's become a treasured part of our lives. And we, hopefully, have become something to
him as well.
Dave really has been a dream dog from the start. Gentle natured but happy and full of
energy, even now people still think he's a puppy because he gets so happy when meeting
other dogs in the forest. Everyone who meets Dave can't help liking him, when he aims
those big eyes and wags his bum like mad, there's nothing anyone can do to stop from
smiling. Just last week his bum was wagging even at the Vet's place, where he was
getting a blood sample taken to check that his rabies vaccine has worked. (Will let you
know later if it has.)
And he's not just looks! At a dog training course Dave was always fast to pick up on new
commands, helped in no small part due to his love of snausages! That love of food is
still helping him to learn new tricks to this day. After mastering sit, down, sneak,
paw, stop and roll, in a matter of a few lessons he's gotten the hand of turn as well,
where he turns around 360 degrees. He was OK at following a scent trail in the forest
but needs more work, his main problem is that he gets too excited and flies off into the
trees without taking time to get his nose down! Poor weather has been the main problem
with the scent training, and our hatred of ticks!
That somewhat uncertain little dog that first sat on our sofa, looking at us with
questioning eyes as if to say 'who are you people and what do you plan to do with me?!',
has went from just a dog to an integral part of our lives. Dave's personality has
blossomed as well as we bonded over time into a little family. One sign that he feels
this is his home is that recently he's started to guard our apartment. Sometimes,
mostly in the evening when he's dozing with a full belly, if he hears a strange noise his ears will come up and so will a low growl in his throat. One day a few months ago he suddenly awoke with a start, hair
on his back sticking up, a rumbling in his chest. He leaped off the chair and went to
attack the threat that he had heard. Running through to the spare room it
became clear that he'd forgotten that Elisa was working from home that day! He slunk
back to his chair avoiding my eyes, hoping I hadn't noticed his error.
He's mostly silent, only barking when other dogs refuse to play with him!
So, what of the year ahead? We just hope that we can continue to provide him with a
loving home and that he'll enjoy sharing our lives. In the meantime, here's some
Dave had his first bath (outdoors) of the year today! He also had some ice cream (not his first of the year). He also chased a fish (toy) for about 2 seconds until every stick within sight became more exciting. He also got some water in his ear, became covered in sand and met a horse. And all that in the space of an hour or two!
Oh, he also displayed some of his madness to a crowd of people waiting on a tram! On the patch of grass next to the tram station he performed his trademark 'run like mad in a circle as fast as possible' trick, much to everybody's enjoyment, young and old alike. It's a stable crowd-pleaser that never fails to entertain.
Maybe if I eat some grass it'll think I'm a horse as well?
Maybe if I ignore it, it'll go away and stop being so large and scary?
I see a fish.
I found a fish.
Nom nom!
The simple joy of a chin scratch after a hard day of madness.
The days for the Easter Duckies, Bunnies and Chocolatey eggs has begun!
And finally Dave is ready to join the USS Enterprise, to be the most handsome, intelligent and fearless Captain of all time! His uniform and charm can knock over a green bitch or two. His skills to fly & fight will stun! His eyes can kill the enemy with just a glance and his sense of humour won't leave anyone cold. His name is Captain Dave T. Dog and he's ready to go where no paw has gone before.
