Good Grief, Is She Lost???

Tuesday - June 7, 2011

We had to leave at dark-thirty-early today to go to our new den in Antelope. I always thought Antelope were for chasing and eating, not living in. I've heard other dogs there, a little yappy dog is close by, and I've seen stray cats, but no antelopes. Very peculiar.

My partner had to be there to get a special present from the brown man. She said it was from someone called AT&T and it would be a silver box like she has on the picture box at home. It makes her silver machine go really fast so she can watch pictures that her friends send: Veronica sends her about super poodle Ollie, and Linden about her ever-lovely Iris, and Ellen about her super agile Rethey, and Deb with the hilarious Lolz Cats and Dogs. 

My partner is super excited about getting this present! She is going to save $150 by trying to install it herself. Yeah, right... we'll see just how far this brain fried human will get. And she's already told me this is yet another box I will NOT be allowed to play with. The problem is that we don't know when the present will arrive; we just know the brown man will come before the end of day.

So my partner took me for a little walk around the area, pretty much staying in sight of our new den. Since it was cool out, she went back to our moving crate and got out my long-line. We went in and got my football. She threw it for me and I ran really fast and grabbed it and made squeak! I was good at that. Then I'd drop it and smell all the good things around me and start to explore. My partner would walk over, show me the football and throw real far again. And I'd run really, really fast with all my feathers and petticoats flying in the whirlwind I created and grab that football and shake it and make it squeak! Boy, am I good at this game!

Then we went back inside. My partner was faced with about 60 big boxes of stuff from the old den. She would take them 1 by 1 to the room they belonged to. If it was possible, she'd unpack them and put the stuff away. Otherwise, she's stash them in one of the many closets. A week ago, Mom and Uncle Jeff had brought about 15 or 20 boxes down and put them in different closets. When my partner finished dealing with her boxes, she was getting all confused about there being too many boxes in the room closets and storage closets. She started getting real sick about it. She was wandering from room to room and from one storage closet to the next. She was getting worse and worse. I kept nudging her. I kept trying to herd her to the big room where we played and where she'd put some soft blankets down for me to lie on, but she wasn't listening to me.  Then she went away. I hate it when she goes away from me. So I had to jump on her and knock her back really hard. She almost fell over but she did come back! And I got a special cookie! 

Having a picnic on the football field of our new den.

After my partner calmed down from sitting on the floor with me she said it was time we took a well-deserved break. She got some things for herself and then she super-surprised me: she had brought me a meaty lamb rib! Wow, my partner loves me so much! (And I think she knows I love her too.) We had a nice little lunch right there on the football field. We both finally got to relax for a little while. And it was completely silent: no moving picture box, no music boxes, no birds were singing - just the peaceful sound of me chewing my bone.

After our calming picnic, I did a Paws Up on my partner and cleaned her face. She had salt on it. Then she began the long process of methodically going through each bedroom and closet, bathroom and its closet, and all the storage closets. She unpacked and put away what she could. The rest were put away in the proper storage closets. 

This time around, she took breaks every 45 minutes - I know because she brought a black box that had red numbers on it and that made a loud buzzing noise every 45 minutes. This was the same box my partner used to train me to wake her up every morning. But that was a long, long time ago - I sure don't need that now!

After my partner had done all she could do in our new den, she prepared the both of us to leave. She was going to ask the nice man across the street to accept our present from the brown man. She had put all the empty boxes in our moving crate, and had just put my seat belt on. She was in the kitchen getting her keys when I heard the brown man at the door and barked really loud to let him know I was here and was guarding this den. My partner came to the door, opened it, and we both looked out. The brown man was already half way down the driveway, so my partner shouted "Thank you!" and closed the door. The present was the one she was waiting for, so she put it away. 

The red numbers on the black box said it was after 5. My partner had already fed me at 4 which is normal for me. I already had my seat belt on, so we both hopped into the moving crate and went to our den in Marysville. We got there at 6 and my partner unloaded all the empty boxes. She was very, very tired, because she hadn't had any sleep at all for the last 2 nights. 

I tried to comfort her, and she did start to drift off around 9, but she was up again at 10 and never did go back to sleep. So while she worked on packing stuff, I fell asleep on the job, because I was really tired too. Whenever I wake up to check on her, she is massaging my head, neck and shoulders, telling me I'm a super good Kota and it's OK if I sleep; that she wants me to sleep, cause she will really need me tomorrow with the movers. So, I will keep on keeping on. 

Kalifornia Kota

New Den Is Ours!!

Wednesday - June 1, 2011

We met our Tudors agent, Ashleigh, at our new den on Teton Way for the detailed walk-thru today. Yesterday we had done a quick walk-thru to look at the insides for the first time and confirmed that we definitely wanted it. Today's viewing was to look for any damage or flaws prior to our moving in and to get the keys. Ms Ashleigh was in a hurry, and quite frankly, that pissed my partner off. 

The darn thing was called a DETAILED walk-thru for a reason. My partner was going thru the house methodically: checking every window lock, whether it opened fully, checking the mini-blind functions, opening every drawer/cabinet to see if they secured & were they clean inside, etc. We found things that obviously hadn't been touched in years. Ashleigh reluctantly recorded them, but kept pushing us to finish, saying we had 72 hours to find and report stuff.

They left us den-warming presents: a 4-pack of toilet paper, a roll of paper towels, one packet of laundry detergent, and a small bottle of dish soap. That was nice of them! And this den has a nice big oven and a dishwasher - neither of which my partner will use properly. She'll use both of them for storing NuNu's food, our treats, paper plates, chocolate stash, pans and other miscellaneous items.

I have properly anointed the side and very back yards. I haven't been in the little back yard that is fenced yet. My partner says she doesn't want me going out there and getting my petticoats and feathers dirty. She knows I spent a year outside with a family, then a year in an outside kennel. So I'm used to, and thoroughly enjoy being in dirt! The 2 times we went to Empire Mines State Park, I got filthy by sitting and laying down in the sticky pine needles and sappy stuff - what fun! If you want to see a few pictures, you can click HERE and HERE.

After Ms Ashleigh hurried away, my partner put me in a spare bedroom with a Milk Bone and some of my favorite toys - then she shut the door and left me in there!! WTF was that all about??? I could hear her and Mom going in and out the front door of the den and they were huffing and puffing as they went back and forth in the hallway in front of the door where I was standing. I scratched at the door and whined a few times, but my partner told me "Quiet!" so I did. 

After a 15 minute eternity, my partner released me and I jumped all over her in joy! To share in my happiness, we played football in the living room and in the hallway. She even managed to get a couple pictures of me as she threw my ball and they were clear enough to keep - gosh she has a super good picture taker!

With all the strangeness that has been happening around the den in Marysville and now with this den, things have gotten very confusing, and I don't want to be accidentally left behind, or worse, be given to someone else...I hope I'm staying with my partner when she moves into this den and that NuNu is going to come too. If you click HERE you can see what the new den looks like. My partner says it is best if you click on the first picture to blow it up full size, then use the right arrow key to cycle thru the pics, & you will also be able to read the long captions. This is a bright, light, airy den with loads of space and a peaceful feeling. I think we will be happy here and will easily be able to keep on keeping on.

Kalifornia Kota

Remembering - Memorial Day

Monday - May 30, 2011

Always Remember - Never Forget

Last year my partner and I went to a very special presentation at the Calvary Christian Center in Yuba City. They asked all the Vietnam Veterans to come up on the stage. My partner was the only female Vet, and I was the only doggie!! They put on an extremely realistic and moving montage of a Vietnam jungle patrol that gets ambushed, then airlifted to an Aid Station, which in turn gets attacked and severely damaged. The huge auditorium was filled with noises: first the subtle sounds of the jungle insects and the soldiers footsteps and equipment as they moved thru the aisles of the darkened auditorium, then the firefight with its M16s, AK47s and grenades, followed quickly by screams of pain and yells for the medic, then the helicopters to medivac them out to the Aid Station... 

At the sound of the M16s and the AK47s and the grenades, my partner started to get sick. She was rocking back and forth and shaking. When the helicopter sounds came, she went away from me. I tried really hard to bring her back: I pawed at her, jumped up on her, tugged hard on the leash. I even pawed at the soldier sitting next to her. I couldn't make her come back. I finally jumped really hard on her and she came back, but was really sick. The soldier was talking to her, but she wasn't talking back. She finally listened to me and got up to leave. Even though the auditorium was pitch black, I was easily able to find all the doors thru all the halls to get us outside. 

I found a hard place around a tree where my partner could sit awhile. I did a paws up and laid partially across her lap and let her hold me, breathe me, stroke me. When she finally slowed down, she gave me a nice treat and we got up to leave. Out by the parking lot, the Army had parked a bunch of their moving crates. From the old jeep to some pretty humongous thingies; they were all pretty impressive. We walked over there and my partner was pretty relaxed talking to the Officers & Soldiers. She told them she was once in the Army - they didn't seem to care as they were quite smitten by ME and my flashing, flouncy, fancy petticoats!! They let me get into their moving crates in the front row. My partner NEVER lets me get in the front row - and she always makes me wear a seat belt. These soldiers let me go in the front and I didn't have to wear a seat belt in any of the moving crates. They all laughed at me when I put my paws on the circles in front of the seats. What was funny about that? I see my partner doing that when she's in that seat. My partner had taken my vest off, so I got to be loose on my leash and got to solicit all the attention I wanted from these humans dressed in green clothes. They all looked alike. They must buy their clothes from the same store.

So for the last week, my partner has been doing the weirdest thing. She has been on this silver machine and has had it making loud noises. Thank heavens she has stopped it after today. She was listening to noises made by M16s, AK47s, grenades, machine guns and the dreaded helicopters. Every time the helicopters started, she'd begin to get shaky, and she'd go away from me. I'd paw at her leg, or jump on the sofa and push at her to bring her back. She did this a couple times every day. It was not a fun week.

My partner had been in contact with a nice Captain lady who had made arrangements for us to have a special seat in the back like last year, so I'd have room to lay down and if she got sick again, we would be able to slip out without disturbing anyone. When we arrived, the Officers in the front greeted us by name! They were expecting us - we felt very special. One of them was escorting us into the auditorium, having to pass thru the patio area first which was crowded and scary for her. Then we entered the really big foyer...

I could smell my partner's extreme fear and anxiety and knew a panic attack was coming - that foyer was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with a hundred people all visiting with each other and now a lot of them noticed us and wanted to talk to us - but our escort had continued on. She was trying to respond to the people and keep walking but couldn't. Finally she told me to "Follow" and I pulled her thru that crowd, weaving thru the bodies, making a path for her until I found that Officer who was looking around for us. He took us to a nice padded bench that had a reserved sign on it just for her, and there was a nice open space next to it for me!

My partner was still in a panic state. There wasn't enough space in front of her to do an About to help her. So I did a Paws Up across her lap as best I could. My partner was shaking and she was going away and not coming back. I kept jumping on her. She was doubled over and I jumped onto her shoulders. I pulled hard on the leash telling her she needed to leave this place right NOW. I put my paw on the man sitting next to her, but he didn't know what I wanted. 

A soldier came over and talked to my partner. He talked at her several times while I was pawing her and finally she sat up and talked to me, then to him. She gave me a treat, then stood up and and at last allowed me to lead her out of that place that haunts her dreams. 

When we got home, my partner was incredibly sad that she wasn't able to watch this presentation that she wanted to see so badly. She didn't even get to see the Color Guard. She wasn't even able to go have fun with me on the Army moving crates. She so wanted to be a part of honoring Veterans on this special day. Instead, she had wimped out and felt ashamed and a failure. She got on this silver machine and made tappings to my Auntie Jeanne. That was the only good thing about this Memorial Day. So we celebrated by looking at our Military War Dog picture album which we always enjoy, and we will keep on keeping on.

Kalifornia Kota