Anticipation

What do you do when your heart hurts in anticipation of what you dread the most? This is KanLoo, he is only 7 but he is already graying, his snout is covered with white hairs. 

How time flies and you let the seconds turn into minutes and the minutes into hours...without paying attention to the reality of time flying away. But one day there is the moment when you realize that you are losing the time you have left with the ones you love.
KanLoo is my little man and is getting old, and as much as I want to spend all my time with him, there is life and responsibilities, and all that are making my heart so heavy, not enjoying the present and dreading the future. One day he will be gone leaving a huge hole in my heart...

Living in San Francisco

Phoenix with the Sutro Tower in the background

It has been a while since my last post, life happens and you find yourself with a long list of to dos, wanna dos and should dos.

In the meantime we did manage to get take Phoenix lure coursing and to conformation, and he quickly got his championship. Victor was very proud of him, as he completed his majors and points in around 4 months! Of course we always knew he is a beautiful Pharaoh!


I do have to say that he did best when he was handled by more experienced handlers!
We have not accomplished much progress with training our dogs, even with the guaranteed program from Bark Busters, which was well recommended to me. That was really a experience I will write in my blog next.


In the meantime, hello everyone, am back blogging!

Phoenix, the mythological creature

It has been quite a few months since I last wrote. Victor and Phoenix are finally in the US and we feel like a family again. Since they both arrive, KanLoo seems to be happier, he really missed Phoenix!
Unfortunately now we live in an apartment and the boys do not have all the space they had before, but we make sure to take them for walks, and to Fort Funston during the weekend!
Yesterday, as I was in the shower I saw a silouhette through the sliding door and when I opened it, it was PhoePhoe! he was just checking on me, on what I was doing. Immediately, I cupped my hands and filled them with water, but he just went away. That broke my heart because Nazca would always come to me when I was showering and drink some water from my cupped hands.
And this little thing Phoenix did, confirms to me that he in fact is the bird of legend, he is Nazca reborn! Phoenix does so many things that Nazca did, that KanLoo doesn't do, that you can not say it is just something all dogs do!
Phoenix, my little fire bird, you are just the perfect puppy!

Happy Birthday Phoenix!

Gosh! I had been so busy with other stuff, every time I was driving driving around or waiting for an appointment, I thought of writing this blog on your birthday, then the day came and went I was not able to get to it. 
So here you are in this picture with a dry porcupine blow fish in your mouth, you looked so adorable...and Victor was chasing after you so you will drop the fish!
For a Pharaoh, you do pretty good, though he did have to chase you we finally lure you with a treat and you gave up your yummy dried fish to us for the 2nd time (yes, this picture is of the 2nd fish you found in the beach!) 
You are growing to be a happy and sweet dog. You are very friendly with all animals! You are friends with the donkey from across the street (@ Victor's apartment in Puerto Vallarta), you are always sniffing the cats at the corner, and you always want to play with other dogs. You are also very quiet and relax at home, much like Nazca was, unlike KanLoo that needs attention and entertainment during the day, and he absolutely complains when I am working at the computer! So you sit there while Victor works, sleeping, chewing on a piece of coconut or a toy or once in a while, you want some attention and bring a toy to Vic. Then at night, when is time for bed, you go to bed waiting for Vic and when he takes too  long you start barking softly, more a talk than a bark, calling him to bed. That is so cute!
You guys play in bed, with the sheets. Vic just discovered the other day that the sheets you guys have now are see-thru, so when he throws the sheet in top of your head, you can see him thru the sheets! He discovered that when he was going to grab you and you grab his hand instead!
Overall you are a great puppy, and very handsome dog and a happy family member!
Happy belated birthday my sweet boy! May we enjoy you many many many years more!

Nazca

This is Nazca. Today a year ago he died bitten by a black widow. I feel sorrow, my heart hurts, the pain is squeezing all there is in my heart.
I didn't even say goodbye to him the morning he died, as I was running late to work...
Since, my life has changed a lot, I wish I can say living my life to the fullest is more important than appointments and work, but it definitely has changed. I make sure I cuddle my puppy a lot, I make sure I dedicate a little bit more time to him, we are lure coursing now, and I also spend sometime cuddling Phoenix when I was in Vallarta.
Every second you do not show your love ones that you love them, is a second wasted...

When dogs go over the rainbow bridge

Today I am writing honoring a friend. On friday she had to put one of her dogs to sleep, she was attacked by her other dog and didn't quite make it. I do not know all the details, all I know is how she feels right now.
Losing a dog is hard. And really there is nothing you can say, other than it is not easy, and that you understand how hard it is. Non-dog owners may never understand how can a dog put such a big hole in your heart, and why you are crying for a dog! But it is because they have never had the blessing of infinite love dogs give you everyday of their existence, a pure love like no other, not even of that of a son or daughter! Kids, even being blood of your blood they will grow and form their own opinions that may be opposite to yours, they will grow and live their own life. Kids just grow, they become teenagers and they hate you, they become independent adults and they are too busy with their own life and have no time for you.
Dogs know they are there to love you and cherish you and be your companions, their heart is so big and their love is endless!
So it is a sad day, it will be a few sad days, as my friend is grieving her loss, and Victor and I are getting closer to the year of losing Nazca.
And so, I write copy rainbow bridge poem here:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....  Author unknown...

Xmas in Puerto Vallarta part 2

So it tooks us 3 days to come back, not so bad! We had to spend the night in Culiacan, but was not so bad at all. I have found that MOTELS are more accepting of dogs than regular hotels and that all the motels that took my dog in where quite clean and because they were in the edges of town, were pretty safeguarded, The parking lots had a security guard all day long.
Though driving up and down was very long and a time sucker, every second of driving was worth it, as both dogs enjoyed each other's company! And they also played with Nahala, Phoenix's girlfriend.

The days were fast gone, we woke up to walk them for 2 hours in the morning and walked them also 1 hour in the evening. We couldn't go too often to the beach, as KanLoo got a nasty cut chasing birds at the beach, and they both got a nasty skin irritation/infection given the bacteria in the water.

With that, we were seeing the veterinarian almost every 3 days!

The leg chewing was still there, but it was also done this time by Phoenix to KanLoo, so overall, KanLoo found that his student had learn from him wonderfully!

We had a great time together, even the fireworks and fire crackers for New Year were not so bad as in other places, though we stayed home making sure that KanLoo was not going to be so scared, panicking!

Now we are home, just waiting for Phoenix and Victor to finally move here! 

Xmas in Puerto Vallarta

So as planned, we spent Xmas together in Puerto Vallarta. KanLoo and Phoenix had been apart since end of July and their reacquaintance was something interesting to experience. When we arrive in Puerto Vallarta a day later, on Dec 20th, it was a great and happy event for Phoenix. My mom, KanLoo and I came in the house and he was so happy to greet us all, he, as usual, pee from being so happy. Poor puppy!

KanLoo and Phoenix had to get to know each other again, and they immediately started sniffing and remembering each other. The reunion was a mix of emotions for both dogs, KanLoo surprised to see Phoenix, Phoenix happy to see KanLoo! But now that Phoenix is a much bigger dog (11 months), KanLoo had to show him who was the alpha-male, so it was a game of dominance all over again, and it lasted thru the whole time we were there. So here we have KanLoo pinning Phoenix down!!

The trip was long, we arrived in Puerto Vallarta last Saturday morning, after driving 4 days from Los Gatos, CA.  

Unfortunately, KanLoo's fear of firecrackers and loud noises is getting worse and worse. The other day we were walking by a restaurant and someone open a soda can, the noise put him over the edge and he was dragging me back home. The problem with his panicking is that he goes quickly into fear, which leads to aggression. He has not done anything radical yet, but I have noticed that when he is stressed he has very little patience with Phoenix and tries to put him in his place much more aggressively. Yesterday morning we had to separate them as the playful test of dominance became a full flesh fight! Poor Phoenix got really scared of KanLoo, something we really do not want happening. It is enough to have a fearful dog!
It is all a combination of his fear of noises and his memory of being attacked by the 2 huskies in the dog park.
I have done some research and there is really very little I can do to "re-train" him, all I can do is start him in medication like vallium. We went to the vet here, a reputable one within the expat community here and he prescribed a new medication, that contains L-Theamine, a natural ingredient, and seems to be working.
So we are spending Xmas as a little family, KanLoo, Phoenix, Victor, me and my mom!

Phoenix and the mosquitoes

Last week sunday, Phoenix had a bad reaction to mosquito bites. They bit him in the nose and eye, and his face was really swollen and getting more swollen by the second. Victor called the vet and he open just for them. He gave Phoenix a couple of shots to help with the allergic reaction. He has been having bad reaction to the mosquito bites in Puerto Vallarta, every time he gets bitten, his bites get really swollen and he obviously gets really itchy.
I have to say, the mosquitos in Puerto Vallarta are vicious!

Pup!!!

Phoenix just came back from a 5 minute walk, he peed and pooped...so his new nickname is:
Perfect peeper pooper pup! or P4!

Phoenix is growing so fast!

This big dog is Phoenix! He is 7 months now, and growing like the wind!
I have not been writing too regularly, as many changes were happening in our lives!
In May I took the severance package Nike offer and I left them! That was the plan any way and all I was waiting for was my Bonus! So though now I do not have a job, it was really great!
So after coordinating the move for a month, finally they packed me up end of June and by end of July my stuff arrived in Los Gatos, CA, where we live now. Unfortunately, Victor and Phoenix had to stay in Mexico to finish some design stuff! So is KanLoo and Pat for a few months exploring the Bay Area.
My niece Nicole and nephew JOsh came to visit us to Puerto Vallarta for a week, while there I was continuing with my marathon training, as I do have an entry to run the San Francisco Woman's Marathon in October this year. Well, 2 days after we were there I screwed my knee bad! Intense pain that made me stop my running. Back in Guadalajara I went to the emergency orthopedic clinic and the doctor diagnose an impingement in my fat pad (Hoffa's disease), so I got anti-imflamatories and rest for 10 days, after which I tried running and the pain was right back! So went to the one of the drs I was recommended by my running friends, and he said I had a patella that was too high and was damaging my femur. And of course he needed to do arthroscopic surgery to leave me as new!
So now you have me back in Guadalajara, Mx, with my knee that was operated 17 days ago! I use crutches and depend on everyone, even for a glass of water!
In the meantime KanLoo is in a dog boarding resort: http://www.greenacresk9resort.com/Our%20Program.html
I have been in touch with them and KL is having a good time, playing with other dogs, running around being chased by the slower dogs...being his normal puppy playful self!
And Phoenix is in with me and Victor and he has been going almost everyday to Pet-expert, the veterinary clinic and day care service we have used for all 3 of our dogs while in Mexico. He stays there around 4 hours and then comes home very tired. It is best this way as I can not go to the park with them!
So this is where we are now, I will give you more details in the next few days!

Honey colored eyes

My aim for this blog was to document the changes that happen thru a pharaoh puppy, how they become the wonderful companions and performance driven dogs they are. And here I am, Phoenix eyes are already honey colored and I did not notice when this happened!!! He is already 4 months and 1 week, and he keeps growing and changing, but still behaves like the cute puppy he is.

We started going to the park again, it is summer and the days are longer, so since last friday we go to the Metropolitan park to play with 2nd season of our play group. Why 2nd season? We started that play-group last year with Nazca and KanLoo, by meeting the 2 weimaraners from Patricia and Javier, then Caco, Oscar's golden retriever joined also, he was then 5 months. And as the summer kept rolling, more puppies started joining in and the group grew to be 18 dogs! So now, as we come back to daylight savings, a new group is there, new puppies and a handful of last summer buddies: Chona and Huitla, the xolos, and Rommel, which last summer wasn't here but his parents were.

http://parquemetropolitano.jalisco.gob.mx/index.html

This is the link to the park where we go, if you go to "EL PARQUE" and then "FOTOS" you will fins a picture of me and KanLoo taken probably in 2007 when Nazca and Victor where not in Mexico yet.

More adventures to come soon...

Playing at the airport

Here we just arrived in Schiphol from Denmark and are looking for a hotel, Victor is playing with Phoenix.

Puppy hair

This picture was taken April 25th, Phoenix is 3 months already!

When we got him, he still had his puppy hair, yellower and soft, not really hair but more like fuzzies. Well, as he got closer to his 3rd month his hair started growing, losing his fuzzies. Today all his hair has grown and he has no puppy hair anymore!

His hari is redder than what his baby hair was, and it seems he will get redder and his hair will be longer than KanLoo but smaller than Nazca.

Ad you can see here, he is pretty handsome!

Lifting his leg already!!!!

This little puppy already lifted his leg to pee over the weekend! He really is a smart dog. The only thing we don't know is if he is learning faster because he sees KanLoo or is just his innate curiosity to do things!!!

He can so far only do it in a corner outside the bag door that is really close also to a wall.

Everyday there is something new about Phoenix!

Trouble sleeping

I have mentioned several times that Phoenix wrestles with himself before falling asleep, here is a snippet of what he does. This was taken april 26th

Funny puppy moment

This picture was taken march 26th in the Dutch train going to the hotel. As you can see his tongue is out! He slept like that for like 30 mins, but if you think that is funny, it was even funnier that he was moving it up and down as he was sticking it out. He has done this only once more since. I guess the silly things puppies do!

Same sofa, bigger puppy

Picture to the right taken 04/04/09, left taken 04/18/09. Same sofa, just bigger puppy! In the first picture Phoenix has room to lay almost on all his length, in the second he has to make himself a ball to fit in there!

Growing fast

When we arrived in San Francisco we did not find a suitable bag for Phoenix, so we left it to when we were in The Netherlands, as we had some more time there to do some shopping. BIG MISTAKE! We couldn't find a suitable bag that was regulation size and shaped, as most bags had an open space for the dog to poke his head out.

So we found one in Bilthoven, but it was smaller than regulation. Uffe measured Phoenix for us: 30 cms tall and 30 cms long; a perfect square! :)

We barely fit in the bag, and actually taking the flight from San Francisco to Guadalajara, the girl at the counter was complaining that Phoenix could not stand up and move around. Bottom line I told her he had been flying for the last 3 days in that bag with no problem and she begrudginly let us go!

They grow so fast, today he reached the top of the cabinet...and when I measured him he was 48 cms long and 55 tall!

Is funny how puppies grow, they have spurts of growth in different parts of their body. Today as Phoenix was walking, I saw that his back legs were taller than the front, a funny looking puppy! I saw the same thing in Nazca, he also was "un-even" as he was growing! One thing though that probably doesn't grow so much: his feet. They are big (not as big as Nazca's, his were huge!) and I am pretty sure they will remain that size till he grows!

Phoenix is now a quite cute growing puppy!

Here you are, all puppies in a mission! Find the chicken!

After our first night

After our first night we woke up and went down for smorsgabord breakfast. We put Phoenix in his bag and he slept thru our breakfast! It was cold out and I think he wanted to snuggle and keep warm in his bag!

Tenna and Uffe picked us up to go bak to their house, and he started playing as soon as we got home!! In this picture the puppies and Liva are playing with the woolen bunny I bought in Los Gatos for Phoenix! All the brother, sisters and Liva were going crazy after it.

It was fun to see you all running around in and out of the garden and abusing Liva!

All siblings are so full of energy! I don’t remember seeing all puppies sleeping at the same time for more than 30 mins! And the time Phoenix spent with his brothers and sisters taught him how to defend his toys! Phoenix is really good at not letting KanLoo get a toy from him. In this litter Phoenix had to defend anything he had fiercely! The girls were as fierce or more than the boys!

He is so different in some respects to Nazca. Of course both, Phoenix and Nazca gave/give KanLoo a hard time, always chewing and scratching him, but Nazca used to spend some quiet time with himself, Phoenix is always chasing KanLoo where ever he goes!

I think he sees in KanLoo the big brother that is teaching him how the world goes around. Phoenix is funny, he sits there and watches the world go by, trying always to reflect on what he sees and understand it!

Phoenix is such a thinker!

Ou first night together

We slept together in Frederikssund, in a small hotel. It was so cold outside and the hotel was so smoky! Here is Phoenix in bed, sleeping away and being a good puppy. We were so panicked that we were going top sqoosh him! The besd were single beds, so we put them together to make a bigger one. Well, we slept al night long and we did not do anything to him!

As he was also used to go out to the garden to pee and poo, he had a hard time going outin the street, and going in the puppy pads in the hotel bathroom. Poor puppy!

That night we did not notice, but now we know he is so restless before he goes to sleep. He fights with himself to fall asleep, he moves around to find the most comfortable position, he whinnes and makes noises, till he finally falls asleep. I truly believe he sometimes is so sleepy he falls asleep anywhere, even if he is not comfortable! Is funny to hear him complain...

And when he is sleeping and you touch him, he also makes this noises, like saying: "please do not bother me, am sleeping", as he is still sleeping! If you caress his body as he is falling sleep, he stops the noises, he is probably soothe with the nice warm feeling in his little body!

He also gets so hot, most times as you hold him or pet him, he gets up and goes to a different spot because he is too warm!

Also most time, as he wrestles himself to sleep, he will start softly bitting his legs...and he does not take any rubber toy to chew instead of his leg, I guess that also soothes him...

Crazy puppy!

Phoenix Danske - life with a Pharaoh Puppy

Phoenix was born January 22, 2009, a day after Nazca, my fifteen month old Pharaoh Hound died bitten by a black widow spider in Mexico. Puppies grow so fast and I decided to write a little each time possible about the beauty of raising a puppy, and the rewards of raising a Pharaoh Hound.

Phoenix and Nazca in reality belong to my boyfriend, and my dog is KanLoo, the first Kelb tal-Fenek in the family, he was born May 21, 2007.

Phoenix so far has been a good puppy. I remember first time Nazca came to the house, in december 2007, KanLoo was still a pup, 7 months old, and it was the first time I had 2 puppies at the same time. KanLoo till that point was a sweet quiet dog, Nazca came like a hurricane, barking, wrestling, bitting, playing all day, and remember well having the feeling of making a mistake by taking another puppy, thinking he was mean to my dog and that he was going to try to dominate him. He was always barking at KanLoo, so he finally learn to bark!

So now that Phoenix does all these things again to my pup, I don't freak out thinking that he is being mean, he is just being a puppy!