Jungle Madness

 20 feet, and growing...

Wordless Wednesday

"Dude, don't stop until you reach Taiwan!"

Meet my long lost twin!

It's no surprise that she can ride a bike-- FMD females are smart hussies!


The report is still out on the males, however...seriously, would a female FMD allow this? Or, hold still for this picture?

Ah, Wild Dingo...we know we can visit you at Wilddingo.com, any day or night-- but we miss your local antics...!

No rest for the wicked

(Thanks, Wild Dingo-- there's nothing like a wicked workout to reduce our junk in the trunk...)

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Forgiven?

Do you forgive me?

Please?

Pretty please, with ears on top?

PSYCH!

You messed with the wrong Formosan Mountain Dog when you left me for 3 days! 
Wait~ what's that? 
What are you doing? 
Don't you dare put my bodacious booty on the internet, don't you dare~

Damn wench.

Fly Girl!

Fun video, huh?
Check out the cool post here, from Walkin' the Bark Rescue.  Here's a picture of CL's new wheelchair- the one that Judy describes in her post: 

Pretty. The pink rims sparkle in the sunlight.  The motorized chair will be used for distances, ramps, travel, and anything else that requires upper body strength.  The motorized chair has already improved our living environment by making things safer for all of us.  CL has fallen 11 times since she has been home from the hospital-- all because her legs or arms stopped working without warning, while she walked with the walker, pushed the old manual chair, or transferred to another spot (i.e., bed, shower bench).  There have been ZERO falls, once she has started to use the motorized chair.  One reason (besides the obvious stability factor) is that CL's pain level has been reduced by HALF since she stopped using the old manual wheelchair from the hospital.  Remember all of the upper arm, shoulder and back pain she was having, after surgery and during treatment?  And, how the doctor kept saying that she was "too sensitive" to pain, and the nurses mocked her need for pain medication?  Well,  CL no longer has pressure sores on her upper back, and her pain level has significantly dropped. It turns out that the old manual wheelchair was creating a lot of problems.  Now that she has stopped trying to propel herself forward with nerve-weakened limbs,  the rest of CL's body has had the opportunity to heal. (Go figure-- manually propelling a wheelchair over distances, ramps and hills are a problem for someone with permanent central cord syndrome, left undiagnosed for over 7 years-- something the folks in the Vallejo rehab center never thought about, I guess...)

 Oh, and in case you think CL's life is all about terrorizing walkies with a motorized vehicle, she has not given-up on using a manual chair.  CL's new manual chair arrives in 4 weeks, and it glows in the dark!  Totally awesome, right?  She is paying 100% out of pocket for the $3000 manual chair, but she wants to use it as back-up, in case there are problems with the motorized chair.  Plus, she gets to order a chair that will be less stressful on her body than the bizarro manual chair that was prescribed to her, when she left the hospital.   Her new manual chair will have long arms, to prevent unstable transfers;  a hard mesh back, to prevent the pressure sores she was getting from her old manual chair; and specialized "quad pegs," making it easier to push herself, since she has zero grip after 5 minutes.  CL plans to use this new chair for short, flat distances; and for traveling no more than 75 feet, which appears to be her limit before spasticity and pain sets in.  (Again, why did Vallejo Rehab not consider this an issue, before discharge?  Did they expect her to sit on her arse and not move, all day long?  Oy vey...)

Thank dawg Kaiser home health care, CL's new physical medicine doctor (he totally rocks!), and her wonderful PCP worked together and intervened to fix the safety and pain issues left unresolved during hospitalization.  Our life has settled into a routine, and CL is starting to explore the outside world.  She has arranged for art space at Creative Growth, and wheelchair Yoga at the Niroga Center for Healing.    She also returns to the rehab center for outpatient physical and occupational therapy.  She can not wait to use this really cool machine that will allow her to safely walk on a treadmill:

With this machine, she can test how long she can move, before one (or both) of her legs "disappear" from her body.  Finally, CL can safely experiment and try to build endurance, without the fear of falling or injury.   Woo hoo!  Next step?  Seizure control!

p.s. Why the colors and glow-in-the-dark?  Well, CL believes:  "You need to create 'pretty' wherever you can in this world-- especially shiny, sparkly, colorful pretty-- anything to lift your spirits and make your day a shiny, sparkly and colorful one!" 

(Tie Dye in the Wilderness by Lisa Sanditz)

Yeah...I have no idea how a hardcore horror author still maintains her psychedelic outlook on life...I keep thinking of the Creative Growth director's comment about CL, during the interview: 

"It's always the smiling, engaging and laughing artists who come-up with the darkest material..."

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Crazy lady is in a good mood. She's still waiting on the final results for Prop 8 (boo!) & Prop 4 (double-boo!), but at least there's hope in Congress and the Executive branches. Maybe the shift in our nation's politics will trickle down to the fools who keep putting anti-abortion and anti-marriage propositions on the state's ballot? Who knows? One can only hope (and fight!) for equality and tolerance.
Anyhow, I was enjoying the morning sunshine and crazy lady's pensive & happy mood. Aren't I gorgeous? At peace with the world? I love mornings.
Oh crap! Do you see it? Do you see the demonic presence sitting on top of the roof, overlooking the sanctuary of my dog run?
It must die.
Holy shruckers, batman! Son of your evil spawn! PLEASE let me purge the demonic presence from my sacred space. Please!
One last look-- perhaps crazy lady won't notice me? The shadows might work to my advantage.
She won't let me leave her side. She won't let me look at the demon. I must stand next to her, and look away from the evil creature that has invaded my sacred domain. I HATE CRAZY LADY.
When we returned to the cottage, I tried to give her a bit of alpha attitude:
But all she did was laugh, and tell me to get off the bed! Win some, lose some, I guess...

Averting Disaster

Remember my love for Bambi?
Beautiful, delicious, not-so-smart Bambi? While I miss the thrill of the hunt, I have been spending hours every day, for the past couple of weeks, learning to "come" and understanding my place in the household. Crazy lady suspects that I have been formally trained as a huntress, and cats were the favorite "bait" used to train me. She has no proof, but at least she has some understanding of my distinct hatred for those furry little beasts.

Regardless of my past training and incredible drive, we now...

(1) take walks using a Halti. I can still drink, eat and bite, but the Halti gives crazy lady more control during our walks.
(2) have started to use an electric "shock collar" for moments when I wander the yard, play off leash, or stalk a delicious prey. Crazy lady used the collar on herself, to make sure the shock was not harmful. It was a soft jolt, but the tests for her carpal tunnel syndrome are much more painful.
(3) tether me in the mornings, while crazy lady works on her edits and outlines in the office. Crazy lady tried to take a picture, but I was too busy sulking. I prefer the special collar and the Halti over tethering. I now glare at the wall while she works.

We went for special training with John at Euro-Training Kennels, and crazy lady has been following his instructions. Isis' mom Jen came along, to observe the shock collar training, take pictures, and provide additional insights about my behavior. I have been unusually comfortable with the shock collar, and crazy lady suspects that it's not a new experience for me. She will never know--- that's one secret I am going to keep.

Wild Dingo was right, however-- this is hard (but necessary) work! Crazy lady loved what Wild Dingo wrote in the comments section of the Bambi incident: "...truthfully (and i don't mean this as criticsm because i'm not perfect) but your little Bambi hunter should have halted and stopped the minute you said so, no matter what drive he's in, prey, play, praise or food. prey is a strong drive but your leadership and command should be able to stop him in his tracks. but it takes a LOT of training. hard training. Training you may not be so keen on." Wild Dingo recommends www.leerburg.com, an excellent web site for information and resources.

Well, I'm exhausted.
Training has been hard work, and I suspect crazy lady will remain consistent and diligent. She can't forget the sight of my bloody, smiling face during the Bambi hunt. I loved every moment of the hunt, but crazy lady says that my safety is more important than tasty venison. Bummer.

Bambi? Yum. Lunch.

Today, I developed a taste for Bambi. Crazy lady had just returned home, and she was on the phone. I had to pee, so she let me outside. Five seconds later, she saw a deer race by the open door-- with me chasing her, at full speed! I barely heard the, "holy shit, oh my god, stop, stop, oh my god, stop, ewwww, gross, stop!"

For an atheist, she certainly said god's name a lot.

I was too intent on capturing and chomping on the deer. I had grabbed the deer's hind legs and swung my 32 lb body full speed against the side of the beast, causing it to fall on the ground. It tried to kick me, but I was able to immobilize it with my strong jaw. I felt water hit my body, but didn't stop. Did crazy lady honestly think the hose would stop the hunt?

The deer escaped, and I chased it around the area and into the neighbor's yard. I was able to jump and sink my teeth into the deer 5 times. I could hear crazy lady running after me, swearing and falling over bricks. I was too fast, and having too much fun!

Crazy lady was finally able to stop me by getting in between myself and the injured deer. She calmly said "stop" and "stay" while holding out her hand. I stopped and stayed, smiling at her and covered in blood. I figured, "hey, I did all the work. She can have the final kill." I walked away and decided it was time to poop in the neighbor's yard. I ignored crazy lady's "un-frickin-believable" and let her take me home.

Crazy lady hosed me off and checked for injuries, especially since I was covered in blood. Although I wasn't hurt, she took me to the vet and I had to have a rabies booster shot. Animal control came and took care of the deer. They were very impressed with my prey instinct. One officer gave me a compliment: "Wow, she's so tiny and pretty. I wish I could have seen her take down that big deer. Amazing that she's not hurt. She'd be a great search and rescue dog, if properly trained."

Crazy lady can't sit or walk since she tore her groin muscles during the chase. She needed a distraction from her injuries, so crazy lady did some research about Formosan dogs, my breed from Taiwan. She was surprised at how a puny dog (her words, I prefer "beautiful sleek bitch") could take down a large animal. She found out that, through selective breeding, my ancestors were trained to hunt deer and wild boar. Here are some pictures she found from 1926:

Doesn't this look like my great, great, great grandma?
Crazy lady knows that she can't remove the prey instinct, but she made an appointment with a special trainer to see if he can teach me to "come" next time this happens. She's also keeping me in the dog run and house, to try and prevent this from happening again. Will this happen again? Absolutely. There are lots of deer around here, and I had the time of my life!