The Lost Brother

While at dinner with my family in San Antonio last week Jon said grace and in his prayer he thanked God that 'Our lost brother has come home'.  

Today I leave Memphis to return to New England to tell this story.  As you know I've tried in the past and either the timing or platform or partners didn't pan out.  Events that have transpired in recent months have convinced me the time is now.  

Admittedly the problem has primarily been me or more specifically the standards I set for it.  Just as with the two walks I wanted to do something no one else has before and relegating the story to the Christian book market or a PBS special was unacceptable.  Even a film festival documentary didn't seem sufficient.  

The epidemic of cancer in our companions demands and deserves the widest audience possible and I've always pushed and pushed to that end.  But one lesson I've learned repeatedly is you cannot depend on anyone else to realize your vision and like life on the road it's you and you alone.  

I now know how to tell this story and the manner in which to tell it so once again I set off into uncharted waters. 

Brother, I am lost no longer.  

YBD 2.27.17

Puppy Up Nation

Six years ago this Sunday, Hudson, Murphy and I walked the final mile from Back Bay Fens to the Boston Common alongside hundreds of friends and hundreds of canine companions who traveled from 21 states to be there that day. 

When I started out on the road from Austin, TX, I didn’t have much – just a couple hundred bucks in my pocket and a few friends helping me out.  The focus is so intense on each and every step and each and every mile it seemed unfathomable just how far and how long our journey would take us.  And we have gone far! And as we celebrate our sixth anniversary the Puppy Up Foundation has achieved so many incredible milestones. 

Recently I traveled to Madison for their record breaking year, over 1,100 people, and over a $130,000 raised. It’s such an exciting energy to be a part of Team Madison and during a speech by our Scientific Chair, Kai Shiu, said how great it was to be a part of Puppy Up USA.  And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s neat.’ 

 

But then I thought ‘Our reach is international and all of us really are brought together by a common thread that spans border.’  In many ways I feel like we're becoming an institution and that’s when it hit me.  We are a Puppy Up Nation!

I feel like that at every walk I’ve had the privilege to personally participate in.  I am often asked, ‘What are you most proud of?’  And my response has always been, to go from town to town and see how excited the communities are and successful they’ve been putting on walks – that makes me the proudest.’ 

And that’s why I wanted to share this inspiration with a commemorative T-Shirt to celebrate our 6^th anniversary.   And as a way to say thanks to everyone who has made this such a successful organization and as a reminder that we all are together in this and we stand in solidarity.  You can order a shirt here.  

Thank you.  All of you for being a part of Puppy Up Nation!

Hudson, Indiana & Luke

Half-time

Just like the Super Bowl half time is all about the sponsors so I wanted to take a few to thank all of ours who have help make this journey possible.

TAGG the GPS Pet Tracker

TAGG has saved our fuzzybutts on more than one occasion.  The best example of this was when I walked highway 20 from Corvallis to Newport OR solo.  I took one of the trackers in case of an emergency and on the very first day I ran into a bit of a crisis. We had made water drops along the 50 mile stretch and my supply was down to less than half a liter.  As I neared the first drop I saw a man in a John Deere mower cutting the grass on the highway shoulder.

I sprinted up to him and asked if he found 2 jugs of water in the area he recently cut and he said he had and that one of them may have escaped the blade of the mower.  It didn't.  The temp in wilamette valley was already soaring up to the 90s and the next drop was down the road another 10 miles so i was in a bit of a pickle.

Ginger was able to tag me and then find a nearby store using Yelp.  TAGG - not only great for your dog but Yer Big Dog too!  I've gotten to know the trackers intimately and the folks behind them and I can't say enough about them. The fuzzybutts will be wearing them even after this walk.  

 When you purchase the trackers at their website and sign up for the service, enter the promo code 2Dogs they're generously offering a 10% discount and donate $25 to the Puppy Up Foundation. Also you can track Indy and me as we walk the west coast at www.2dogsagainstcancer.com It's been a little confusing because we're staying with more host families and sometimes we're tagged after we've been picked up and off the road.

We'd also like to thank our other walk sponsors: Hollywood Feed for providing the dog food for the walk.   P2 Collars and Toki Poki for the awesome corded collars and leashes.  Everlasting Memories for the beautiful infinity ring that holds Murphy's ashes. Orijen for providing the 6 Fish food for Hudson.

One Photo to Save Them All - Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down

Cancer doesn't have a conscience. It takes precious things from you and leaves a dark aftermath. I figured that out when Malcolm exited this world. For months I stood in a deep pit of sadness with so many unanswered questions. It didn't take long for me to look around and see others sitting in that dirt right beside me.

To honor the great undaunted spirits of our friends taken by cancer, I started a calendar back in 2009. It was a simple and beautiful way to make some sense of these dark experiences, and the goodness just keeps growing. People write to my foundation (Puppy Up) with their stories and pictures every year. Puppy Up publishes the calendar and uses the proceeds to help fund major comparative oncology studies. It's an overlooked but critical area of cancer research that can give us endless information. 

My own Murphy appeared on one cover. If you want to tell us your story and join the fight against cancer in people and companion animals, I've posted the rules below.

Every single story helps, and we appreciate anything you can do.











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Welcome to the 2015 Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down Calendar Contest!This contest gives you a way to honor your canine cancer hero while helping the Puppy Up Foundation raise funds for cancer research to benefit pets and humans.
How Does It Work? 
Register your dog. Simply upload your dog’s story and photo. For best results, use the best high-resolution digital photo you have. Please also be prepared to submit a high resolution digital photo of the same image (minimum of 500kb) upon request for reproduction in the calendar. Then provide a brief summary of your dog's story. The more you show your dog's personality, the more votes you will receive!

Who Can Enter? Anyone with a dog who currently has or has had cancer (living or passed) can enter, including dogs who have entered in previous 2 Million Dogs/Puppy Up calendar contests.

Get started right now. Or for more info, keep reading.

Voting Begins As Soon As You Enter
Your $10 registration becomes the first 10 votes for your dog.

To add more votes, share your dog's page on your favorite social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and encourage everyone to vote for your dog. (The first vote is $5. All subsequent votes are $1 each.)

The 13 pets with the highest number of votes will win a Dog of the Month slot on the calendar. ALL photo entries will be included in our 2015 Calendar Photo Gallery. 

Your participation helps fund vital cancer research for dogs and humans. 

Begin here and follow the directions. Be sure to write down and remember your user name and password! 

For questions about the contest, please contact Erich Trapp at erich@puppyup.org.

 FAQ

Where Do My Voting Dollars Go? 

Your voting dollars go to fund cutting-edge research in comparative oncology, that branch of research that benefits both companion animals and humans in our fight against cancer.

What Makes a Puppy Up Calendar so Special?

Puppy Up Foundation uses our annual calendar as an educational tool about a critical and often overlooked area of cancer research called comparative oncology. There are important clues in the connections between human and canine cancers, especially since the resulting treatments benefit both species. One of the best ways to call attention to the need for this research is by telling your stories and showing your photos. It also helps transform our losses into information that helps fight the world's deadliest disease.

Why Do I Need This Calendar (when it's published)?

First, every dog entered appears in the calendar. No one gets left behind. We have a whole section of gallery photos dedicated to all of the dogs entered into the contest in addition to our winners who are featured as each month's "model."  We also include regular ‘people’ holidays and special dog holidays like National Puppy Day, Pet Theft Awareness Day, Take Your Dog to Work Day, World Animal Remembrance Month, Pet Cancer Awareness Month, etc.

Each calendar is a one-of-a-kind keepsakes.

Start right here today: look for the Register Here button on the left of the page. Click it and follow the directions.

Have fun and good luck!

Scenes from the roadside 3

Of course there's a zombie foot on our travels.  This was on the sidewalk in Florence OR

Curious moss covered listing ship in rogue river bay

Ummm did someone contact the marketing dept before putting a spout on the company van grill?  

The head shed?  Ok

T Minus 4

Murphy's Rain

Back when Murphy was undergoing his second round of radiation at CSU, I witnessed a rainbow from a sunshower and wrote about the Japanese expression 'Mono no aware' in a blog in 2010.  Down south we call that phenomenon the Devil's Rain a phrase I renamed as to describe the hopefulness I felt beneath my tears.    

As Hudson, Indiana and I drove through the Cascades Tuesday morning and approached the Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 to Seattle, I was welcomed once again by Murphy's Rain (top left photo).  That's all I needed.  

The Drive 

After a tiresome 2,800 mile 40 hour drive, the Fuzzybutts and I made it from Memphis yesterday to make final preparations and get a lil R&R&Romping prior to our launch from the Canadian Border.  That's a pic of lil' Nana committing the cardinal sin of trespassing on Hudzer's Altar.  Yeh, you can tell how well that went by his expression.  

Peace Arch Park

One of the first tasks on my list once we got there was scoping out the park where we're having our launch this Saturday, high noon.  Never been this far north and west before and the only border crossing I've ever made on land was from Brownsville TX to Matamoros Mexico.  

There it's all chaos with rows and rows of sputtering cars, a smoggy haze, and the incessant rapping on the window by Chiclet peddlers.  

Here it's, well, peaceful and I found the inscriptions on both sides inspiring. Facing Canada, it reads, 'Children of a Common Mother', and facing the US, 'Brethren Dwelling in Unity'.  

Recon

Task 2 began at 5:30 AM as I went to scout our route on the first stretch of our trek:  The Border to Everett WA.  Driving up Interstate 5 yesterday I became a bit concerned about the road conditions we'd be confronted with but after reconning this morning, most of my fears have been allayed.  There are some tough spots sure; shoulderless backroads lined with water-filled trenches as well as long spanning narrow bridges but all doable and we've seen this many times before on our first 2 Dogs adventure.

However, there's a 10 mile track on Route 11 that presents considerable risk to our safety. Pic nearby.  High reaching cliffs on the left and a 50-80 foot drop off on the right with little to no room for negotiation.

This has me slightly worried but two things are in our favor.  First, sunrise is 4:30 AM on the west coast this time of year and when driving this stretch this morning, it was relatively desolate so we'll have a few hours to get through it before morning school and commute traffic gets underway.  Second, it is not only perilous to pedestrians but cars as well so if there we do encounter traffic, it will be slow moving.  

But there's a saying on the road, as in life I suppose.  Don't walk 10 miles until you walk the first.  Or maybe that's my saying.  I recall meeting a Marine on the trail and I always liked his perspective as we shared our many challenges on our travels.  'Impossible is just a degree of difficulty.'  

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Yer Big Dog's Notes 1:  For the next six months, this blog is my journal of our journey from Canada to Mexico and this is where it'll be posted first and from the road.  I'll have limited time and energy to proof, re-read, edit, or even re-think its content. 

YBD's Notes 2:  In 2010, Seattle was our last stopping point on the lecture circuit after the Austin to Boston walk and it was right before Murphy was due for his second CT scan back at CSU where we would ultimately learn that not only did his first radiation fail but a new sarcoma had developed on his nasopharynx.  

It's bittersweet to be back here again and I couldn't help but find a subtle irony in that to return here, we had to cross through the Bitterroot Mountains and the flowers that they're named for.  Nearby is a photo, not mine, as they were not in bloom yet. 

What I love about the Bitterroot is it's stubbornness to survive even in the harshest of all conditions.  It can live up to a year without water...

THE ROCK: Chapter 13: Ridiculous Part 3

"Cast before a silver sheet,

Tracing lines that never meet."

Those are the first two lines to a poem I wrote a long, long while ago, even way, way before Malcolm was diagnosed, and they made little sense to me at the time. 

They do now.

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YBD's Notes 1:  Though I have plenty more ridiculous things to say and do, I'm done with this chapter and it's time to move on and bring the first book, The Rock, to its conclusion.  

YBD's Notes 2:  Sailing is an inexact metaphor for life.  Ashore, the time to jibe or tack doesn't always translate but I've come about now.

YBD's Notes 3:  Next chapter I'll talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of sponsorship and that'll set the stage for the final chapter.  

The Problem is Goats

Yes, I got all of the messages and emails about the book, thank you for those that have been reading it. 

The reason I haven't been publishing the weekly vignettes the past two Tuesdays is my laptop went kaput and I've been trying to resuscitate it ever since.  

Well I've just learned that it may be brain dead and, perhaps, it's time to pull the plug.  But that means some of the first book, The Rock, will be lost. 

But maybe that's a good thing. 

Maybe I needed a fresh perspective. 

THE ROCK: CHAPTER 12: Training Day

Fall 2007.  San Antonio, TX

“We’ve thought about it.  Your dogs will make it to Boston but you won’t.”

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August 6, 2013

I never liked the word ‘training’ especially as it pertains to dogs and maybe that’s why I eschewed it prior to our walk.  Did you know that the Latin root of the word train is ‘Tractus’, which means pulled?

As I related some time ago in a post, I tried that with Murphy and he was like, ‘Aw Hell No!’.   Murphy couldn’t be pushed OR pulled OR prodded. 

Trainers say Pyrenees are one of the most difficult dog breeds to ‘train’.  Maybe that’s because most trainers just haven’t taken the time to learn how to communicate with them.  After all, they’re one of the oldest breeds still extant dating back to 3,000 BC;  they’re willful, independent, and really haven’t needed people ever.  And Pyrenees are part Castilian, part French, part Basque, and part Spaniard. 

That’s a whole lotta attitude rolled up into one doggie.

 

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I had to learn how to communicate with Hudson and Murphy and establish a mutual system of language so that we could act and react in a moment’s notice since life on the road is measured in micro seconds.  And the two of them had to develop their own system.  This was no easy thing.  

I started with the basic mushing commands and built up from there with phrases like ‘Off the Street’, ‘In the Tent’, ‘Let’s get some Shade’, ‘Avante, Allez’, ‘G’yon’ (that’s a southern thing), ‘Electric’ (so they wouldn’t pee on a live wire which I did a couple of times) and many, many others that became our daily lexicon. 

There was someone I interviewed, I think part of the Raising Indiana series I did, that said that a dog’s vocabulary was limited to only a couple of dozen of words.

 

Bollocks.  He never went on a long treacherous hike with his. 

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Even if that was true, it’s our responsibility to listen and understand what they’re saying to us NOT pull them into understanding us. We don't sense what dogs do, at a level they do, and comparing them to us is ridiculous.  

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The two old naughty, nosey, outspoken women that we met from time to time on the nature trail at Trinity University midst our training in the fall of 2007, maybe they were right.  Hudson and Murphy did make it to Boston but I never did.

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YBD’s Notes 1:  I mean no disrespect to trainers as I have met many, many great ones on our travels but I think communicators should be the appropriate title to those who listen.

YBD’s Notes 2: My deepest and sincerest apologies for not publishing part of the book last week.  I lost my inspiration but that’s no excuse and it’ll never happen again. The story must go on.  

YBD's Notes 3:  Next week Chapter 13:  Sponsors.  Shit. 

Schrodinger's Cat

I never like to take shocking, TMZ type current events and twist them into writing points for the blog but this Mindy McCready tragedy has weighed heavily upon me.  And the reason I'm writing about it now is that, as I am about to publish Chapter 3 and then 4 of 'The Rock' over the coming weeks, it hits a little too close to home.  

Schrodinger's Cat is a paradox in quantum mechanics proposed in the 1930's by people way smarter than me but it somehow seems oddly and unshakably applicable to my thinking tonight.  

The crux of the theorem, at least from a philosophical/non-mathematic perspective is that if you put a cat in a sealed box, it exists in a state of neither being alive or dead until you open the box.  

What I've taken it to mean in my own life is this.  All of us have good and evil within us; creativity and destruction; the sacred and profane; beauty and sorrow; hope and heroism but desperation and despair as well.  And I'm not sure that we really get to choose which state we'll be in when the box is opened.  

But what I do know is if we're in the later state not the former, what we don't get to do is take anyone down with us.  

The tipping point for me was reading an article about how, when Ms. McCready murdered her dog before she took her own life, it was not an act of malice.  And though I'm sure it's just a sad attempt of spin control from the PR machine, do they really think we're that daft and easily persuaded?       

Did you know that human beings are the only species on the planet that can choose not to live?  We're the only ones who can willfully and deliberately kill ourselves, the lemming myth and others aside.  

But we're also the only species that, when death is certain and the box is totally open, possess the desire to damn others to our fate.  And therein lies the real tragedy. 

Don't believe me?  Mortally injure a member of a pride, a flock, a rafter, a lodge, a gaggle, or a herd and see if, in their dying breath, they try to take others down with them.  

I'm no philosopher, no mathematician, sociologist or historian and I don't know when in our evolutionary arc we lost our sense of community but lookit, if you're going down, goddamnit, don't take your dog... or your cat... with you.

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Solution?

THE ROCK: Chapter 2

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MALCOLM

“Look to the rock from which you were cut and the quarry from which you were hewn.”

 Isaiah 51:1

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Malcolm was all of a few months old when I met him for the first time back in 1997 and he didn’t seem like much of a rock to me.  More like a powdered cream pastry or a lump of Crabapple blossoms freshly blown from a tree. Or the thing that sat atop Albert Einstein’s head well after he was a genius.  I didn’t know what to think of him.

Malcolm, though nameless to me then, had kind, curious and unexpected eyes that drew me in.   But what I couldn’t see at the time was a stoic and ancient story behind those eyes and that the white and innocent fluffiness of the Great Pyrenees belies an intense and fierce nature.

While their exact origins are uncertain, it’s widely believed that Pyrenees date back to 1,000 BCE and is one of the oldest pure breeds still extant.  They hail from the mountain range that bears their name and were born and bred by Basque farmers to protect their livestock from wolves, a job they performed then and now expertly.  

I didn’t know any of this when I stared at him in the back of my Nissan Pathfinder, still ambivalent and wondering what in the hell I had gotten myself into.  Picturing it now, the contrast was stark; his small, wobbly body all alone in the rear of my empty and capacious SUV.  I wonder if he was as unsure as I was about the arrangement but what I did know, I had to eat and since I was in Austin that morning that meant Ruta Maya.

As I was ordering a café au lait and one of their righteous blueberry muffins I stopped mid-request and said, “No, make that two.”  After all, the lil’ feller had to eat and who wouldn’t love a muffin in the morning?  Feeling pretty damn pleased with myself and already owning up to my new role, I fed Malcolm his half and he graciously ate every last buttery, sugary crumb.

Yep, things we going just swell on my drive back to Castroville when I heard a gurgling, churning sound like something being dredged up from the bowels of hell.  And then that cute little Crabapple spewed the Ruta Maya muffin all over my SUV.  Oh, but he wasn’t done yet.

Somehow, blueberries triggered a chain reaction that went from his fore to his aft and he squirted poop like a Jackson Pollock painting.  Only the canvas was the cloth interior of my Pathfinder.  

I once read an article about senses having memory.  How long after you hear a song can you recall the singer and album?  When do you forget the name of the person you just met?  What scientists found is smell has the longest and most eternal of memories.

Case in point.  You’ll never forget the acrid, eye watering, migraine inducing smell of a skunk after your first introduction.  And til the day I die, I’ll never lose the memory of what happens when you combine blueberries and feces.  All I could think about while I was still trying not to swerve off of I-35 was the scene from Stephen King’s movie Stand By Me about blueberry pies and the state fair.

I pulled off the interstate at the nearest rest stop and, after cranking out every single paper towel from the dented, rusty, dispenser, cleaned up the mess Malcolm had made.  Surprisingly, given my upbringing, I wasn’t mad or mean to him.  I just went about it, cleaning the truck as best I could.  But I couldn’t help wondering if I made the wrong choice not only for me but for Malcolm, too.  After all, I had just fed him something that clearly was disagreeable to his digestive system and it had become apparent I had no idea what I was doing.   

We were somewhere around New Braunfels and the Canyon Lake exit, about the halfway point to Castroville, and I was wrestling with myself.  I should just take him back.

But I didn't.  I slid into the driver's seat, put the gear into drive and headed down south on the freeway.  All I could think was, “This is going to be a long trip home.”

Some fifteen years later, and we're still so far away.  

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Next week, Chapter 2 continues

The Rock: Prologue II

Leesburg, Virgina 2009 

“A What???”

“A stripper from San Antone”, I answered excitedly to Theresa who had left the balcony to take the empty plates into the kitchen. 

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Theoretically if you go back far enough in time you can trace the origin of everything.

I was two bottles of wine into a perfect evening of grilled swordfish steak and her husband, Ray’s, guitar when Theresa had asked me how our travels really began.  They were one of our host families for a few nights as we passed through the Washington DC area.

Hudson and Murphy, my trusty travel companions known endearingly as The Fuzzybutts, and I were hiking a contiguous trail system from Pittsburgh to the nation’s capital some 315 miles of a low grade, nicely manicured pathway that is part of the Rails to Trails network.    

At that point we were on the second stretch known as the C & O towpath that ran right between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, used years ago to run coal up to Maryland, and the Potomac River.  It had been in disuse for well over a century and the lock houses and gates are now mostly in ruins.  And the waterway that once was the Canal is now pestilent and pea porridge green that smells of swamp stink and host to mosquitoes the size of sparrows. 

Still, so much history and beauty we had found on the trail but it was nice to be out of our tent for a few nights and with such kind and gracious hosts. 

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Initially, I answered, as I had so many times over the roughly 1,700 miles we had trekked up to that point and to so many hosts and kind strangers we had met along the way, that our story began with Malcolm, a Great Pyrenees I lost to metastatic bone cancer in 2006. 

I think Theresa sensed there was more to it so she pressed.  “No, I mean, how did it really begin?”

And that’s when it hit me like one of the super-sized semi-trailer tractor trucks that almost plowed into us on the road pretty much weekly. On a good week. 

“Oh.  OH.” 

I shook my head in startling realization as I hadn’t really thought about it.  Not in any of the months since we left Austin, Texas in March 2008 or the many miles we had logged since, because moving forward doesn’t lend itself to looking backwards. 

But I was thoroughly enjoying the company and our conversation and it seemed like the right night to reflect.  I stroked the big wedge shaped heads of the Fuzzybutts sprawled out next to me on the deck, poured myself another glass of wine, and began regaling Ray and Theresa with how our story really began. 

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Lindsey was an exotic dancer from San Antonio, Texas.  She was a woman of exceptional beauty and intelligence with a biting wit to boot and we took off the second we met.  But we were like two brilliant stars that, when brought too closely together, they collapse and although our affair was brief, Lindsey and I remained friends throughout the years. 

In the fall of 1997 I received a call from Lindsey and true to her nature, she got straight to the point the second I answered the phone.   

“Do you want a dog?” she asked impatiently borderline impudently. 

But I answered in my usual fatuous way with her, “Why, what’s wrong with it?”

She went on to tell me some crazy story about how she and her sister while taking a trip into the hill country found these cute puppies and they both got one but her sister wasn’t taking care of it or something to that effect.  Just listening to it was exhausting and it sounded complicated to me so I asked if I could think it over.

“Nope need an answer now”, she replied tersely, as though I was merely one on a long list of prospective takers and she had no time to court me.

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At the time I was living with my brother in Castroville, a small Alsatian bedroom community southwest of San Antonio, and even though we had an entire acre fenced in, the truth is I didn’t want a dog.  I’ve always lived the ‘work-hard, play-hard’ lifestyle and my many passions consumed just about every spare second I had. 

Plus, I’d never had a dog in my adult life and had no desire to start then and there.  Add that to the fact I was in school pursuing a BBA and had little time for anything else.  It was at that point in the conversation my mind had already begun constructing a spreadsheet with a cost versus benefit analysis when something inside of me spoke, I swear unconsciously and unwillingly.  

“Okay.” 

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Such a simple decision made in a flash of a second would ultimately send shockwaves across time touching thousands and thousands of people throughout the world.  It was a decision that would nearly cost me my life but restore my faith, and it was a decision that would one day save me and change me forever. 

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Next week:  Chapter One.  I Don't Even Like Dogs

Pet Sitters

Tonite we're leaving the boys behind for a quick day trip into the city and I've had to find a pet sitter to walk them while I'm away.  

Even though I vetted the sitter thoroughly I'm still somewhat queasy with the notion of leaving the fabulous fuzzybutts with someone else if only for a brief time.  There are only a handful of people in whose care I entrust them.  

One of the projects I'm working on is sorting and organizing all of the thousands of photos, notes, and writings since Malcolm came into my life in trying to make tell this whole story and it just so happened I came across a Word document I wrote up in 2003 for my pet sitter in Boston.  Re-reading it for the first time in some ten odd years later made me laugh and cry and it kinda scared the hell outta me.  

But it's also helped me understand my own evolution a little better.  Here were my instructions to her.  

_____________________

PET SITTER CHECKLIST & TASK SHEET

Taking them Outside

§  Enter from the backdoor

§  Pet Malcolm & Murphy & get them to settle down

§  Take Malcolm outside first.  Use the green leash

§  Before you take Malcolm out, get Murphy to lie down far away from the door (like in middle of living room) so he won’t try to run out of the door.  If need be, take the newspaper off the entertainment center & slap it on your hand firmly until he lies down.

§  CHANGE – USE GATE TO BLOCK OFF FRONT DOOR AREA & PUT UP RED BOX IN HALLWAY.

§  I’ll show you where Malcolm does his business (Both of them should only have to urinate so take back inside when they’re finished).

§  Once inside, get Malcolm to lie down

§  Get Murphy’s leader (the wider one – it’s adjusted to fit him perfectly.  Remember, it fits snuggly behind his ears) from the basket on top of the entertainment center & put on.  Attach leash to leader. 

§  I’ll show you where Murphy does his business

Checklist

§  Once finished taking them outside, check their water bowl.  It should be ¾ full.  If need be, rinse it out & fill.

§  While in kitchen, get 1 dog biscuit for each (Science Diet on countertop)

§  When feeding them, get them both to sit first.  Make sure the treats are swallowed & cleared.

§  Do a physical exam of dogs (spot check & rub them for any pain, etc.)

§  Check temperature of room.  Ideally, it should be around 75 but should NOT exceed 80.  If so, check the wall A/C in the living room.  CALL ME if it’s running at maximum but the temp’s over 80.

§  Check the room for anything left out that dogs can get into, such as glasses, hair items, pens, papers, etc.  If so, put them in the basket on the entertainment center. 

§  TV should be on with volume around 25

§  Make sure the shutters are drawn on window

§  Make sure there are no toys out in living room

§  Make sure front door of the house is unlocked but secure.

§  If you lower the gate, make sure it’s put up again @ correct height.

§  A copy of this checklist will be on kitchen countertop

§  Sign & date daily log also on countertop

§  Exit through the back of house & lock back door.

§  LAST THING – CALL ME ON MY CELL ONCE YOU’VE LEFT

___________________________

Postscripts.  My pet sitter in Boston, my first, was a true gem and I was fortunate to find her, and more importantly, that she tolerated me. 

Recently, on the Summer of Murphy Tour, I gave a presentation at the Pet Sitters International Conference in Austin and it was great to spend time with so many passionate pet sitters who have to put up with the likes of people like me.  Here's to all of you!   

Raising Indiana: EPI

Pretty much since I first adopted the FLP (Funny Looking Pyrenees) it's been impossible to put weight on him.  Plus he's been like a stomach on four legs with an insatiable appetite and he resource guards food like Louis CK takes to Cinnabons.  

Now we think we know why.  

Back in Cincinnati I had Dr. Carey at the Care Center take a look at him and after I gave a thorough history, he suggested Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency or EPI as a diagnostic theory.  His bloodwork got screwed up so we decided to start him on pancreatic supplements to test the theory and in less than a month, lil Nanna has put on 7 pounds.  

Hudson and Indiana are with Mommy G in Memphis for the next month while Tish and I are finishing up filming for the documentary but now that the Tour is over, I'm trying to learn as much about the disorder as possible.  

But what I know of it so far is it's nutritionally manageable with pancreatic enzyme supplements and, thank god, it shouldn't limit his longevity at all or prevent him from having a happy, normal, baby Moose life.

It's only been a few days but I miss Moosey and when I see him in December, I'm gonna buy him a Cinnabon.  

Cancer and Nutrition

Once you get the Big 'C' diagnosis like Murphy recently did, care becomes the number one concern and traditionally that means Chemotherapy, Radiation, Surgical, or Palliative or some combination thereof.

What's not part of the treatment plan is Nutrition. Surprisingly if not incredulously, there aren't a lot of studies out there about diet and cancer care. I asked my oncology team at CSU to get me all avalaible research and the results were pretty dismal.

But as most of you have encountered there's a whole host of theories, opinions, and more than a few snake oil salesmen selling 'holistic' remedies to the unfortunate desparate souls willing to try anything.

I don't have answers nor do I profess to. But what I want to do is start a serious thread on the prophylactic and therapeutic importance of nutrition for cancer dogs. That's a fancy way of asking that once your dog is diagnosed with cancer, what's the best diet for her?

I don't want this discussion to spiral into a disagreement about particular brands of dog food or kibble versus raw diet.

What it needs to be about is what vitamins, proteins, nutrients, etc. your dog needs given their type of cancer and what therapy they're undergoing.

What began this blog was a burning question I had about Murphy. What effect does the constant exposure to radiation and anesthesia have on his body & how can I offset that with his diet?

For cancer dogs, I cannot think of a more important and immediate question...

Calendar Contest Winners

“Announcing the top 13 submissions is bittersweet for us. All of the 82 stories and photos touched us deeply and we wish there was enough room to feature everyone.”

“Thanks to all of those who submitted photos and stories, and all who voted. The response was overwhelming and perfect proof that cancer can’t keep a good dog (or cat) down. Most of these companions have left us, some many years ago, but it is evident that their spirits are still present in, and part of us, our families, and our friends. It is truly an honor and privilege to offer this tribute to our beloved companions touched by cancer.”

“So that all of their stories might be told in their entirety, we have launched our puppy up! blog where people will be invited to share the stories of their loved one’s undaunted puppy up spirit. Over the next few days everyone who submitted a story for the calendar will be invited to participate as a guest author to share their companion’s stories in their entirety.”

Thank you all,
Hudson, Murphy, and Your Big Dog

Congratulations to our top 13 winners and to ALL who participated in the “Cancer Can’t Keep A Good Dog Down” Calendar. Your enthusiasm and generosity honors everyone listed below.

1 Princess Daisy - 1025
2 Arnold - 583
3 Clondike - 578
4 Snowbear - 578
5 Jerry - 503
6 Elwood - 461
7 Maggie - 461
8 Hannah - 430
9 Coatey 427
10 Rosco - 427
11 Trina - 416
12 Jayce - 337
13 Lily 333
14 Tigger 322
15 Buster 317
16 Echo 300
17 Raven 291
18 Codi 275
19 Bond 215
20 So-Lei 191
21 Harry - 186
22 Chewie - 172
23 Carrier - 155
24 Cinnamon - 127
25 Harriet - 111
26 Brody - 90
27 Cagney - 87
28 Indiana - 87
29 Cheyanne - 81
30 Ephram 78
31 Buster M. - 71
32 Harlow - 65
33 Stella - 61
34 Bear - 56
35 Bella - 55
36 Nosey - 55
37 Big Tex - 53
38 Hershey - 52
39 TT - 50
40 Nika 46
41 Ellie 40
42 Jillianne - 35
43 Winston - 35
44 Nikita - 33
45 Zoe - 26
46 Malcolm - 25
47 Griffin - 21
48 Bo Peep - 20
49 Abigail - 18
50 Teddy Bear - 18
51 Drago - 17
52 Murphy - 17
53 Beau & Benny - 16
54 Bingo - 16
55 Sturmie - 14
56 Holly 13
57 Mali - 13
58 Linga - 12
59 Debo - 11
60 Genie - 10
61 Ophelia - 10
62 Finnegan - 9
63 Luna - 9
64 Sunshine - 8
65 Gunner - 6
66 Kiah - 6
67 Remy - 6
68 Coco - 5
69 Pennbo - 4
70 Winston L - 4
71 Boston - 3
72 Boyfriend - 3
73 Brandi - 3
74 Brittagh & Gryffin - 3
75 Brock - 3
76 Cedric - 3
77 Daisy M. - 3
78 Guinness - 3
79 Nutmeg - 3
80 Rascal - 3
81 Schatzi - 3
82 Shilo - 3

Thank you for your patience while we counted and recounted every vote. We will have more details on the calendar soon, as well as information on becoming a guest author on the Puppy Up! blog. For more timely updates, please consider subscribing to the 2 Dogs Daily email.

Puppy Up!

A Conversation with Wagatha's Norman Levitz

I had the opportunity the other day to speak with Mr. Norman Levitz, one of the founders of Wagatha’s organic dog treats . We’re very pleased that Wagatha’s is one of 2Dogs’ sponsors.

Our conversation began when I asked him how he learned about 2Dogs2000miles and Hudson, Murphy, and Luke.

I came to know of Luke’s efforts from a mutual friend, Tracie Hotchner. Tracie actually lives a few miles from us down in Bennington (Vermont). She told me about Luke’s efforts and I thought it was just a fabulous idea. I just thought it was great. I’m totally supportive of what he’s doing. There needs to be more of this kind of a thing going on.

I noticed on your web page that an important part of your philosophy is to give back to the community. One of the things that Luke has told me is that for every shelter that he visits, you send them 10 pounds of Wagatha’s Treats.

That’s correct. … The products that we make are 100% organic, we manufacture everything right here in Vermont. Most of our ingredients are domestic and the ones that aren’t are either from Central America or Europe. Everything we do is human quality. We want our best friends to have the best.

You’re the developer of the biscuits yourself?

Yes, my wife and I started making these biscuits about 30 years ago when we were in college, so there’s quite a lot of history behind them.

Can you give us a little bit of the history? Why did you start making dog biscuits?

Well, here’s the thing. Like I said, about 30 years ago my wife and I started making these biscuits in college because we had a lot of friends and family who had dogs and … you know, on a college budget, there’s not a whole lot you can do at holiday time. So we decided to try making dog biscuits. The dogs loved them and it became an annual tradition for us. About 15 years ago we had a bakery in Rhode Island and we started making these biscuits at the bakery just as an aside. We sold a lot of them. I always wanted to do this as a business but the timing just was never right. Then I finally got together with my present business partner [Neil Reilly] who thought this was a fantastic idea and here we are, 2 years later.

So you got started in 2006?

2006, yes that’s right.

Right from the beginning we wanted to be 100% certified organic and we do not do anything that does not fit that profile. We’re also kosher. We didn’t want anyone to have any barriers to why they couldn’t bring Wagatha’s into their lives.

As a professional chef and as a culinary educator, you obviously understand the issues of good nutrition. Do you see a connection between nutrition and the higher incidence of cancer in animals?

Yes, I do. I see it in people too. You are what you eat and your body can only fight off and deal with so many chemicals and artificial ingredients and things of that nature before it begins to rebel. Even more of a reason for us to be completely organic … every ingredient in our treats is there for a reason. Most of the treats are very high in antioxidant properties to help fight cellular damage.

What drew you personally to the issue of nutrition in dogs in particular?

I think it was a number of things. One of the things is, as a culinary educator, nutrition was a big part of what I had to learn and teach to my students. So, to me that really made a lot of sense. And then, the more I researched commercially available pet products and pet foods, it was horrific what I found. I knew if I was going to get involved in this business that everything we did had to be nutritionally sound because I didn’t want to be part of the problem. I wanted to be part of the solution.

I understand that Hudson and Murphy especially like the Tuscan Tomato and Herb Biscuits. Do you know what your best selling product is?

The best seller is our Breakfast Biscuit. In the South we found that the Tuscan Tomato and Herb is the number one seller. In the North it seems to be that the Cranberry and the Breakfast go neck and neck, and on the West Coast is seems the Breakfast is number one. I think it just depends on people’s life style, eating habits … we haven’t found a dog who wasn’t partial to these biscuits!

In the years ahead, do you see your company expanding into dry food, because there’s certainly a need for that?

We are actually doing research into that – whether it’s going to be dry, wet, or raw or some combination of the three we’re not sure yet, but we’re really working hard to find the right direction to go; but no, we’re not going to be just a treat company. We are looking to extend our philosophy beyond the treats.

Do you see yourself moving into less of the canine boutique or on-line ordering and maybe getting out there to mainstream your product?

We’ve really built our business so far on supporting the independent retailer. Once you cross the bridge into the mass market there are a lot of problems that go with that and we really want to maintain the integrity of our brand. So, independent is where we’re staying. But our treats are all available on our web site, you can purchase on-line, and shipping is very reasonable – over $50.00 shipping is free. And we ship almost immediately – we usually ship that day or the next day FedEx ground.

Do you see your company, even as new as it is, leading the way to a new philosophy of thinking about feeding animals?

I think we understand the difference between right and wrong and understand what the health requirements are for animals and I think that we are just reflecting changes in the way people are starting to look at animal nutrition. We’re supporting that in everything we do. We try to get that message out to everyone we interact with -- that by feeding Wagatha’s they’re feeding their dogs the best available products that they can find. We put a lot of research and time into our biscuits and stand behind what we do.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about Wagatha’s and your interest in 2 Dogs?

I think that what 2 Dogs is doing is fantastic and I think raising awareness about canine cancer is really important. I think that grass-roots efforts will raise the awareness of people’s choices when they go into the store and buy what they buy. It seems that every month there’s another food recall, whether it’s pet or people … and why take that chance? For the majority of people, their pets are the center of their lives -- why subject your best friend, your family member to something you don’t have to subject them to? There are choices. And they’re not necessarily any more expensive.

Mr. Levitz, thanks for speaking with us. And special thanks for donating to the shelters Luke goes to.

It’s my pleasure. We live in a world where we all really have to help each other out … reaching out to our neighbors and friends is really what we have to do.

Wagatha's name and logo are the copyrighted property of Wagatha's. Their logo is used with permission.