Monday, February 19, 2018

I missed the U/S post, too! Ugh...

I have to tell you, I was beaming reading your post! Hell, I'm excited about Nugget's arrival. Go figure! I feel like Nugget is "our" first VSG Maintenance group baby!!! Silly, perhaps, but I am excited! Glad you and DH had a wonderful time and that the shower was fantastic, too!

18 days. I do not think anyone is really ready. Wanting it out yes but not ready. Exciting times.

Good morning,

It will be a crazy busy day. Busy morning at work, then to see Willie, my Plastics Guy, to finalize a plan to clean up a couple of old mastectomy related things.

(Speaking of which, Cecily, did I miss your PS appt? What is happening with that?)

Then, DD has a doctor's appointment in late afternoon to allay her fears that she has a stress fracture in her back. She has reasons for thinking this, but her reliance on Dr. YouTube sparks skepticism and an internal eye roll from me. She is super physically active, and doctor's appt is in order, but can we please stop talking about an "untreated broken back?"

Liz, your training went so fast!

DianeS, I'll probably adjust my dates forward a bit to ensure I see you! Humboldt County wouldn't be the same! Also, SF looking so much more appealing with Devon as a tourist attraction.

Hug your skinny, peeps, babies and pups!

Shel

Nope! Still several weeks away (March 14).

Weight 164.2

Off on a hike this morning in an area called Whiting Ranch. It's pretty in there. My foot is still uncomfortable at times, but one of the people going is really slow, so we'll be going at her speed which should be good for me too!

I cleaned out the sock, undie, bra drawer yesterday. It's pretty empty now. Lots of socks I don't wear, big underwear, big Spanx, and big bras on their way out.

Being an only child and always being single, I am probably too independent. I am fine being alone and rarely think to ask people for help. In fact I really dislike having to ask for help. It feels like I'm bothering them. And if I wasn't okay doing things by myself, I wouldn't get to do anything! Living alone you get really good at being creative figuring out how to do stuff around the house by yourself... Today I'll be changing a leaking toilet flapper.

Hope your Mondays treat you well!

Interesting discussions. Our dog, Sammy, is a mixed breed, though I don't know if he was specifically bred as a designer dog, as we got him from the shelter when he was 5. He's 12 now, and healthy. His temperament is generally calm and sweet. The best we can figure is that he's a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and an American Eskimo - they call them cav-a-mo's. We think he may have a bit of lapso in him too, as he has bottom teeth like that breed. I had always heard that mixed breed dogs were heartier. Interesting to find out that it's quite the opposite.

I enjoy independence, as well. I was on my own for a few years, until I got married at 34. DH and I were not supposed to get along well, astrologically speaking, as my sign is supposedly fiercely independent and his sign says he likes to take control. He did try to do that, early in our marriage, but I quickly put him in his place. LOL. Except for a few bumps in the road, we've managed to happily co-exist for many years. :)

Feeling much better today. We picked up DD's BFF for the day. She lives an hour away now, so we met up with her and her mom about 1/2 way. It's a very positive and healthy relationship for DD, and I'm willing to travel to keep it going. One or two of her newer friendships are questionable, but I have to be careful not to discourage them too much, or it will have the opposite effect. Listening to them giggling upstairs sound so good - flashbacks to a time before her MH crisis.

Food has been a bit shaky today, due to poor planning. I am going to go grocery shopping and make a couple of things tonight so I will have what I need readily available.

Happy Presidents Day! Hugs, Mary

146 OTD. Tracking but don't feel like looking up the numbers right now. I think cals were around 1300 though.

Worked today but left a little early due to impending ice storm. Schools closed at 1:00 today. Will hunker down tonight and probably tomorrow too!

I've always had mixed breed dogs and they have worked out well for us. The dog I grew up with was a pekapoo - we got her when I was in 1st grade and she died when I was a Junior in college - nice long life. Our first dog as a married couple was a lab mix - co-worker's husband was local dog catcher and he "adopted" a pregnant stray that had 11 puppies. Kona lived for 14 years. We have 2 Yorkie Poos now. It is good information to have though as you never know about temperament or health issues.

So more clarification on the mixed breed thing:

It was not until the late 1990s that veterinary universities actually began the long term health of mixed breed dogs. Not just "designer breeds", but also "street dogs" or shelter dogs of unknown origin. What the studies concluded was that mix breed dogs have the same rate of disease as pure bred dogs. There is now an interest in studying purposely bred designer dogs as they seem to have a higher rate of disease.

Breeding dogs is a crap shoot. Pure bred dogs are "line bred" which really is a nice was of saying inbreeding or familial breeding - sort of like the royal houses of Europe. Heck, look at the members of the House of Windsor (once known as the House of Hanover). There is a strong resemblance between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins. Lot's of inbreeding going back centuries. Queen Victoria is credited as root antecedent of the "Royal Disease" (haemophilia) that infiltrated the royal houses of Germany, Spain, and Russia. In dogs there are always recessive genes that pop up. When you take two less carefully bred purebred dogs and breed them together, the risk of genetic issues surfacing increases. I've seen the breeding "flo charts" that explain these issues. I must confess I don't understand how it all works on a molecular level, but I get the gist of how the genes can pair up.

I'm attaching a few pics. One is of Ace's pop. Another is a picture of a "correct" Jack Russell Terrier. The third is a picture of two puppies from the same litter of "Jackdale Terriers". If you look at the black and tan pup you will see the dwarfism gene carried by both the Airedale and the Jack Russell has popped out and deformed the puppy's legs. You will also note that the dogs have different coat types, different coloring and overall, look like two different breeds of dogs, but they are both "Jackdale Terriers". Maybe this illustration will help you all understand why I get on my soap box about this. That little black and tan is going to end up being pretty crippled when he gets old. Just kills me that this type of breeding is done intentionally by poorly educated breeders looking to make a buck.

This might explain my Buster. Tho, I doubt that he is the result of two purebreds getting together.

Genes match up in funny ways when mixed breeds hook up. Does Buster have front legs that are shaped like the outline of a violin? That is very common in dogs that have the double recessive dwarfism gene.

When I took Ace's sister's paperwork to the USDA veterinarian for export approval I saw her Basset hound, Labrador cross. The dog was all black, a little taller than a Basset hound, with a Basset body and a Lab head. However, the poor guy had a fiddle front (crooked font legs) like I had never seen - this was after corrective surgery, too! The vet said she rescued him when she was a student at Davis. He was a subject dog to teach orthopedic surgical technique. She had done his surgery and recovery and became smitten and kept him. He was a cool dog, but I did feel sorry for him.

You know, breeders often get a bad rap, but we do our best to bring healthy, well adjusted dogs into the world!