I know! I am horrible! Wretched!

I completely forgot to snap picture of the Mafiosos when I went home yesterday. I was too excited about seeing my men that I blanked out on bringing my camera. Duh!

Anyway, my excitement didn't last too long. Apparently, I'm not the only one my husband has dates with. I was promptly kicked out of the house at 7:25 PM so that he could be on time for his online 7:30 PM gaming meeting.

Pathetic! I have lost my husband to the X-Box 360!

Frannie has had enough of me, Ryan wants to marry his X-Box....sigh.

Well, since I don't get what I want, neither do you! :p

Here's more Frannie!

Are you tired of Frannie pictures yet?


I'll be returning home on Wednesday, so this will be the last series on Frannie for a while. Sorry to all of the fans of The Mafisos who have been shafted from their fixings of Mafiso shots.

Actually, I'll be returning home tonight for dinner, so I'll snap some pics of the crew then in order to satisfy the demands of the Mafioso fans. I am getting extremely homesick now. And, I hope you're sitting down!, I miss the daily mundane musings of living in a house with another person! I desperately want to do a load of laundry or mop some floors.

I do also miss having snuggle bug dogs. Frannie likes her space and gets uncomfortable if I try to snuggle with her. I need my furry dog heaters back! Nothing like a Pug on each foot to warm up your toes in no time!


One thing I will miss about living here is Seana's lap top and wireless connection. Oh man, talk about spoiled! I'm sure Ryan will so not be happy if I decide to copy the same set up. I can just imagine him fainting at the thought me having internet access anywhere in the house! He's already pitched a fit about my IM'ing and emailing on my phone, so I can only imagine how he'll feel about being 100% wireless!

Ha ha! Maybe I'll bring it up to just to see the reaction on his face...I know, I'm evil!

Alright, I better get ready to go see my men!

I have discovered a few things about Frannie.

She has a ferocious bark! It's low, it's deep and it's LOUD! I keep looking for her stash of cigarettes...I've never heard a girl dog with a bark this deep!



A maintenance man knocked on the door let to me know that water service would be shut off due to a broken main line. Poor maintenance man...he stood about ten feet away from the door after he knocked. I don't blame him after hearing Frannie's deep bark!

The second thing is that she's scared of the kitchen vent. Whenever I turn it on, she trembles and goes into hiding. I've been working with her on helping her get over this fear, but it's a slow progress.

Anyway, I think she's just had about enough of me...



Yup, I'd say she's reached
her Mary Limit.


She really would like Seana to come back soon...


"Wait, what?
You have cookies?!
Ok, maybe you can stay for a few more days."

And since the New Year is right around the corner, I'd thought I'd show you all the new things I've been eating.

I have been eating a lot of this...

My stomach problems are back. Someone please call the whambulance!

I think I've trigged it to being stress induced. Whenever I stress out about something, my problems return with a vengeance. An effort to keep things, um, solid (so to speak!), I've been eating a lot of new produce. I signed up for a box of local produce from a farmer at UC Davis and I'm amazed at the variety of items included in the box. Ryan's not so on the ball about eating all this "new" stuff, but I've been treating it like an adventure.


My problems also seem to return quicker when I stop running. I am going to return to jogging on my lunch breaks and then eating later in the afternoon. I've started a Couch to 5K in 7 Weeks program, so make sure to check on me that I'm still focused! Join me if you like! You don't have to start off running. You can begin the Walk To Run program, which is where I started.

And on that note, I am off! I'm going to see Sarah today for a haircut and color. When I return, I shall look a little bit more presentable. :)

Talk to you next year!

I hereby declare this the best day ever! I spent the morning with my men. I met Ryan at our favorite spot and we took a nice long hike. It was during this hike that I fully realized how much I miss Ryan and my Mafiosos.

Because of my absence, I can only assume, Bruno was full of spunk today!I hadn't seem him for two days and he was very excited to see me. I've never had so many giggles erupt watching him!



And then he does the thing where he taunts the Pugs. I wish I knew what it is that he whispers to them that gets them so riled up!











Seeing the Gino was getting violent, I tried distracting him. I sat Gino down and asked him a very serious question.








When we returned home, Bruno had a very important question to ask me. I was shocked when I learned his questions wasn't "When are you coming back home?" It was instead...

Today I drove down to see my Mom. The traffic wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, there was none on the way down there and only a little bit (due to a stalled car in the fast lane) on the way back.

I learned some new things about my Mom today. For example, on Monday mornings she goes to a homeless shelter and helps in the kitchen to prepare dinners that will be served to the homeless in her community. She's also attending the local community college. She's so far taken computer classes and just enrolled in the third level of her English classes. She also set up an email account and showed me all her favorite internet sites. She even logged on to the community college's website and showed me her grades!

Learning all this about her made me realize just how little credit I give my Mom. As far back as I can remember, I have always translated things for her and helped her attain anything she needed due to the language barrier. She has the equivalent of a 3rd grade education and never completed anything beyond that. Now here she is showing me just how much she's accomplished on her own. I'm really proud of her.

In the meantime, my nephew and niece are keeping her pretty darn busy, so for the moment, the focus of when her next grandchild will be born has been temporarily suspended! Phew! ;)


Unfortunately, I couldn't stay very long. My roommate Frannie missed me terribly and I wanted to assure her that I was indeed coming back.




This is the part where I grab a rolled up newspaper and beat myself. I left a pen, a comb, a toothbrush and a small bottle of lotion out. Yup, Frannie tried to eat them. I completely forgot Seana's warnings that Frannie will chew on those things if left out due to her separation anxiety.

I am living in a two bedroom condo for the next week and a half. It feels rather odd to be in such a nice condo all by myself. So I did the logical thing any one in my situation would do: I went out and got a roommate.







Frannie's a good roommate. She likes to wrestle and gives kisses. She also figured out pretty quickly how to manipulate me into becoming her own personal slave. She's already conned me into throwing her black Kong down the hallway for her about ten million times.




She does do one odd thing that made me crap a brick when I walked in the door. Frannie knows how to open doors and, when she gets bored, she opens all available doors. I walked into the condo to find all doors wide open.

Seriously, I haven't really moved out! My friend Seana needed someone to watch Frannie at the last minute. Frannie has, some, um, issues, and doesn't do well with other dogs. So that's why I am here living with Frannie until Seana comes back. It's just Frannie and I living it up!

It's kind of fun having her condo all to myself. I can read all the books I want uninterrupted, listen to Howard Stern on the satellite radio without Ryan asking me to please turn that garbage off and eat whatever the heck I want to eat without having to worry if Ryan will be OK with my selection for dinner. The best part is not having one damn thing to do. True, I could be reading a book at home, but then I quickly feel guilty upon seeing the one million things I should be doing. I could be doing laundry or cleaning the house. But this condo isn't my condo. Techincally, I'm not allowed to do any of that stuff here!

I realized, while talking to Lisa on the phone, that perhaps this is what I need to do when I start to feel like I am going insane. I just need to live in other people's houses for a week and take a break!

I do miss home, though. I especially miss my Mafiosos. I miss not hearing Pugs snorts or Bruno's nails clack-clacking down the hallway. I miss having Ryan next to me in bed at night. But I think this down time will be good to recuperate.


It doesn't hurt to have silly Frannie entertaining me, either. :)

Frannie is also a true lady with expensive tastes. She has a Coach collar which I have been admiring.



And she has the most gorgeous, intense blue eyes. They almost seem to bore a hole in you when she decides to stare at you. Which is a lot. And it gets creepy after a while.





One thing Frannie is making me be aware of is how much hard work it is to live with a dog that has separation anxiety. I have to be really careful of simple things like picking up my shoes or my hand bag, because Frannie starts to get worried that I am leaving. Frannie is helping me brush up on my dog training skills and next time I help a client with a dog experiencing separation anxiety, I'll be more aware of how hard it is to actually practice all the recommended suggestions.

But when she does relax, she does so in style. Frannie truly does know how to appreciate the simple joys of life.



So far, I've been doing pretty much what she's been doing...catching up on some much needed R&R!





I'd watch Frannie again in a heartbeat if the need arose. This is one dog I truly don't mind hanging out with. And having been burned before by someone at this dog-sitting thing, I was extremely hesitant to do it again for someone. But Frannie's issues made me not hesitate. I wouldn't be able to leave Bruno either unless it was in the hands of someone who knew all of his issues and knew how to handle them.

My Ma's been pretty tired lately. She says she has to learn lots of new things at her new job and she comes homes pretty beat. Today, she was in a really bad mood because there was a nasty pile up on the freeway coming home. It took her over an hour and fifteen minutes to get home.

It always amazes me at how the Pugs manage to curl up into such small puffs. I swear, we keep the heater on! They just like to dramatize that it is freezing in the house.

It's been year over a year now since Bruno's hip injury. I will never forget that morning in which he was unable to use his back legs. Crying out in pain, he used his front legs to sustain his entire upper body, while his back legs levitated off the ground. We rushed him to an emergency vet and never in my life have I been so glad that Ryan lifts weights. He was able to carry all 115 pounds of Bruno in his arms like Bruno was a feather pillow. I don't know what I would have done had Ryan not been home that day.

I remember fighting with the vet to do x-rays. He kept telling me that soft tissues, such as nerves, wouldn't show up on x-rays. And if Bruno did indeed have a pinched nerve in his back like he suspected, an x-ray would tell us nothing. My gut told me it was something else and I argued tooth and nail to get those damn x-rays.

I'm glad I stuck with my guns.



Those x-rays revealed Bruno had sustained an injury that resulted in a fracture to the left side of his pelvis. The fracture healed over time, although incorrectly, because we were unaware of this injury. Bruno was in constant pain, trying to shift his weight around to avoid putting pressure on his injured side. Because of this shift in weight, his hips had become dysplastic and his right elbow had severe arthritis.

After the vet explained that the injury looked to be about a few months old, I tried my damn hardest to not cry.

But when I came home, I broke down. I felt like I had failed him. How could I not realize my dog had fractured his hip?! I remember Ryan hugging me and telling me that this was not my fault. We choose a breed with a high deposition for pain and Bruno hid it very well. In fact, three days before his injury, Bruno was still leaping from small ledges to dive into the river for sticks. Or logs. Whatever you want to call them. ;)



Two things that amazed me about this incident:

1) The fact that Vinnie never left Bruno side after we returned from the vets. He parked right next to Bruno and never moved until Bruno woke up from his tranquilized/medicated state. It amazed me to see their bond and I'm glad I was able to stop crying enough to catch the moment on film.




2) The fact that the conventional vet's recommendation was for Bruno to remain on Rimadyl for the rest of his life. That's it.

As if. I immediately went to see another vet who gave us a myriad of options. We started Bruno on Adequan injections and Orthopedic Manipulations (VOM) and within two weeks so an immediate relief in his pain. We also went to see an Orthopedic Specialist who informed us that at some point in his life Bruno will need a total hip replacement. Our new vet also agreed to a point (she said maybe not a total hip replacement, but some surgery at some point will be needed) and urged me to get Bruno on a raw diet.

We've made so many changes since then and now Bruno lives a life with minimal pain. We've only had to resort to using Rimadyl only twice since this incident. Bruno now eats 100% raw, is on various supplements to help manage the pain and prevent further deterioration, and has weekly swimming sessions to help keep his joints strong.



I can't believe a year has flown by. I'm happy to see the Bobblehead back to his happy state and enjoying his life pain free.


I realize now I can't change things. I can't go back in time and prevent his injury. Or keep punishing myself by forcing me to think back when his injury could have happened. All I can do is move forward and enjoy the time I have with the Meathead. Everyday he teaches me something new.

Overtime, many people have commented or inquired about how much money we've spent for Bruno's treatments. I always hear, "Wow, but he's just a dog." I feel sorry for the people who say this, for they have never felt a powerful connection with an animal as the one I feel with Bruno. Without him, I would not be who I am today. I would not be the dog trainer I am today nor would I have been able to help countless others in similar situations. He may be "just a dog" to many, but to us, he is more than that.

As we move forward together, I have learned that we don't need to speak the same language to communicate. We just need our hearts.

My friend Patty, who is going to school to become a vet, was recently telling me a case she saw where the hospital could not figure out why a dog was losing weight so rapidly. The poor dog was severely anemic and no one could figure out the cause. Turns out the dog's tongue was so large, it impeded with the ability to swallow. The poor dog could not keep get any food down his throat because his tongue prevented him from swallowing.

We got on this topic because Vinnie was walking around with his tongue hanging out. Luckily, Vinnie manages to keep his tongue in check and he can eat his food normally. After saying a silent prayer for Vinnie's health, I started thinking about the many faces Vinnie's tongue has...