My Prince Charming BOWed Me On My 29th Birthday!

Wes is my Prince Charming.  There is no doubt about that.  He always knows how to wow me, or in this case BOW me!  Birthdays and Anniversaries have always been big in our house.  It is our opportunity to knock each other off our feet.  Since we don't have kids, we've always been able to do that.  One year, Wes surprised my mom and I on my birthday by buying us a full spa day at the Coeur d' Alene resort in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.  He woke us up early in the morning, presented us with the nicest plush robes and a certificate he had printed himself.  We were pampered all day there, served lunch in a room that overlooked Coeur d' Alene Lake (surrounded by mountains of course), and then had our hair and makeup done just in time for Wes to pick us up and take us to a nice dinner at a seafood restaurant that overlooked the Spokane River.  The next year Wes was deployed, but that didn't stop him from doing it again.  This time he bought us full spa days at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, WA.  One year, we rented a cabin on the side of Silver Mountain in Kellogg, Idaho, biked the entire mountain, and went to the outdoor Brad Paisley concert on top of the mountain.  The list goes on with the fun things we do for birthdays and anniversaries.  This year was no different.  A friend of mine told me about the Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, Virginia.  Not only is it a beautiful area, the winery is DOG FRIENDLY and it's only a short drive from our house!  Barrel Oak Winery is called BOW for short, and very appropriately so!

As expensive as this beautiful place may sound, it was not.  We got a deal online through Capital Deals for a wine tasting, cheese and crackers for two for only $25.  Since moving to Northern Virginia, we have learned to love wine.  I never drank wine before moving here, but learned to appreciate the taste of it and learned quite a bit about it.  How could we not?  Northern Virginia is like wine country on the East Coast and everybody here is a wine-o!  There are wineries galore here.

As we walked into a nice rustic atmosphere, a pleasant gentleman greeted us, but not before first greeting Topher and Tanker.  These people clearly love dogs!  The atmosphere was clearly created by dog lovers.  People don't go to BOW to drink wine.  They go to BOW because they can bring their dogs with them to drink wine.  Could we have gone to a more perfect place for my birthday?  I think not!

Because it was such a beautiful day, we chose to do our wine tasting at the outdoor bar.  We faced the mountains as the cool breeze tickled our skin.  It was nothing short of perfect.

Topher and Tanker waiting patiently for us to get our seat at the bar and start our wine tasting.

We had dog paw beanie bags to hold our sheets down that told us about the wine we were tasting.

We tasted red wines, white wines, rose wines, an interesting wine that was a combination of red and white, and then we had two amazing dessert wines.  Our package came with a $20 credit towards a bottle of wine.  We couldn't just buy one, so we got four!

We purchased the Peanut's Petit Cuvee 2010, BOWHaus White 2009, The Chocolate Lab, and Late Harvest Vidal Blanc.

The BOWHaus White was my favorite.  It is light, fruity, sunshine in a glass!  A blend of Vidal Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier grapes.  Riesling reminiscent and their most popular wine.

The Peanut's Petit Cuvee 2010 is an intriguing blend of red and white grapes.  Spritely and fun, just like its namesake.  Meant to be enjoyed chilled.  The server described this wine as a white wine trying to be red, or a red wine trying to be a white wine.  It was an interesting taste, but delicious indeed!

Peanut's Petit Cuvee 2010 is named after one of the owner's rescue dogs.  The back label tells you about the dog and encourages people to adopt.

One of Wes' favorite, the Late Harvest Vidal Blanc is a dessert wine.  A dessert all by itself!  Their first 100% estate grown wine, LHBC is full of tropical aromas, complemented by a honey sweetness.  Great over peaches and plums, or paired with a smooth panna cotta.

Wes' absolute favorite was The Chocolate Lab.  A beautifully crafted and totally unique dessert wine.  Port style Chambourcin infused with cocoa nibs.

The wine bottles had dog prints on the top with the initials BOW or Barrel Oak Winery.  Woof Woof!!

We got to keep our wine tasting glasses.

It was all wrapped up in paw print tissue paper.

And packed up in a BOW bag!

Do you see why we loved this winery so much!  They love dogs!  And they had great wine!  You can't beat dogs and wine!  After we finished our tasting, we moved onto our cheese platter.

Please give me some cheese.  See the drool?  Just half the plate.  That's all.






You can set it down in the grass right in front of me.

You can't get much more romantic than this!  Dog paws on the wine bottle!  I love it!!!!

 Topher was less than thrilled because I used a Halti Gentle Leader on him knowing that there would be other dogs there and that I would be drinking wine.  He did EXCELLENT with all the other dogs.  Not a peep out of him.  He was not a cattle dog, he was a therapy dog!  I think he enjoyed his outing, despite the gentle leader.

Devising a plan to steal the cheese!


Back inside, the atmosphere was dog friendly as well.  BOW was a green facility and they loved their dogs!  I love this place!

Dog jewelry and gifts!

Dog treats!

Topher and Tanker just rested while we enjoyed ourselves.

What is a wine dog??  Is it like a therapy dog for a wine-o?  In that case, Tanker and Topher are the world's smartest wine dogs.

An Australian Cattle Dog in the Wine Dog book.

Another ACD!

A border collie wine dog!

I bought a couple of these books.  How could I resist?  It benefits animal rescue!

Topher was such a good boy.



As we left, I snapped a few more pictures.

Free fresh herbs!

Oh my, the smell of wine is starting to make me sleepy!

Too many wine smells.  I am passed out!

As you can see, we had a great time celebrating my 29th birthday!  Yes, Wes and I are officially NoVa wine-o's!  We will definitely be going back to Barrel Oak Winery in the future.  Hopefully we'll be taking the puppies next time!  In fact, Wes just found a deal for wine tasting at five wineries for two for only $65!  We also found out that Potomac Point Winery, here by our house, is also pet friendly, but only in the outdoor seating.  I love living in dog friendly Northern Virginia!

Please take me next time.  I want to be a wine dog!

We met a lot of nice people while at the winery.  One lady that we talked to is a Nurse Practitioner at a Cardiology Practice.  She also volunteers at a free clinic for the uninsured.  She was really interested in having therapy dogs come into the free clinic to help people who were distressed.  She loved Tanker and Topher!  That is the population of people we focus on in our therapy dog work (homeless/psychiatric/special needs/and less fortunate), so Wes and I were excited when she asked to exchange numbers.  I am going to call her this week about volunteering in the clinic with the dogs.

In case that wasn't enough for celebrating turning 29, Wes took me on Sunday to get the paw print tattoo I have been wanting.  I have the ladybug tattoo on my right wrist in memory of John, my brother.  The purple dog paw tattoo on my left wrist is to symbolize our efforts in carrying out his mission. 

 

The purple paw tattoo is on the other arm from my ladybug tattoo in memory of John. The purple paw print is not only the symbol of the Animal Rescue Site, which promotes adoption and animal rescue like John did and we continue to do, but it is also symbolic of our purpose in therapy dog work. Dog is a reflection of God. We love others and appreciate diversity. Dogs love regardless of sex, race, creed, social class, disability, cultural background, sexual orientation, what you've done in the past, who you are, where you live, etc. A dog can look into a person's heart and see the true person, just as God does. That is our purpose in therapy dog work. It is what God showed us through John's life on Earth and through his death. That is what we continue to spread to others through dogs.



Wes and I started seeing ladybugs everywhere after John died, including the day after he passed away and the anniversary of his death. We also saw theme when we were working on his boat, ladybugs in San Francisco in December, at my Grandma's house in MO, on my mom's birthday, in my dreams, etc. I also have had a dream and a sighting from John with him telling me about his walk with God.  The ladybug is a reminder of the things my brother told me.



The coolest part about getting my tattoo done was the guy who did it.  He was very nice.  His was an Air Force brat growing up.  His best friend, who he met in Hawaii, had been murdered last week.  He said he had done a lot of memory tattoos this week and he felt that God had touched his life with each one.  He loved hearing about John's story and how we were using his death in our work with the dogs.  He only charged us half price for my tattoo.  Of course, we couldn't accept that, so we tipped him well.  It's amazing the people you meet when you open your heart up to others.  Coincidence??  I think not!

Wes wants to eventually get a matching paw print tattoo on his right arm, but he wants to include the American Flag with it because that was something special between him and John.  This is Wes' ladybug tattoo that matches mine and that he got with me on the anniversary of John's death.

John showed Ford Mustangs when he was alive.  The first one he showed was a 1986 Mustang that he and my dad rebuilt starting when John was 14.  He then rebuilt an '89 Mustang that he showed.  The Mustang he showed when he passed away was a 1993 Ford Cobra.  Wes loved working with John on his Mustang.  The Mustang emblem is symbolic of John when he was alive, and the ladybug on it is symbolic of John's spirit after death.

My 29th birthday was the best birthday yet...spent with my Prince Charming and my two little Prince Charmings (Topher and Tanker).  It will be better when I can include the two wild women (Bella and Shiloh), but as of now, they are too wild to go to any place with alcohol.  At five months of age, they would do better in a cowboy bar, not in a sophisticated winery.  Joking, of course.  Barrel Oak Winery would be a great place to take the puppies to expose them to sights, sounds, and smells.  I think I have them obedience trained enough to take them there soon.

Puppy Training Success

I have to admit that we have some pretty good puppies.  They can be full of it at times.  They can be wild.  They are puppies.  However, I have been around and owned other puppies that were much worse.  Bella and Shiloh are pretty mild.

They have been fairly easy to train.  I have been working them slow.  I want to make sure they have a command down really well before moving on.  My friend, Kris, and I consult each other on dog training a lot.  She is also a therapy dog handler and she has been showing dogs for years.  She is far more advanced than me, so I always feel honored when she asks for my opinion.

She sent me a video recently from a trainer out in California.  He trains protection dogs.  That's not really our cup of tea, but a lot of his practices apply to dogs of all specialties.  This particular video focused on marker words.  I use a high pitch "yes" followed by a treat.  Some people use clickers.  Through watching the video and talking with Kris, we discovered the importance of timing between the marker word and treat.  It makes a difference.  Kris found herself marking and treating at the same time.  I find that I am not consistent at all.  If anything, I am slow between my marker word and giving a treat, but sometimes I am holding the treat, and sometimes it's still in my pouch.  Sometimes I don't have a treat at all!  That, I discovered, is my biggest issue.  I am putting too much confidence in my dogs too quickly.  I always use a marker word, but I am not always following up with a treat.  How long do you follow up with a treat?  I suppose it varies from dog to dog.  Tanker, for example, is the kind of dog that wants to know what's in it for him.  He is even sluggish with his sits at times.  Tanker is not a dependent dog by any means.  He is not the kind of dog who cares anything about pleasing his handler.  He enjoys doing obedience, but not for the pleasure of bonding with the person on the other end of the leash.  Wes did a rally course with Tanker once, and he loved it, but if you ask Tanker to sit in the kitchen, he is not interested unless you show him the treat first.

Topher has become a little sluggish with things as well.  There is a lot going on in Topher's world.  Topher is very in tune with me.  He is my velcro dog.  He is a typical Cattle Dog and I am his master.  If I am not my best, he is not his best.  If I am incredibly happy and on top of my game, he is happy and on top of his game.  If I am irritated, he is on guard as to why.  If I am sad, he is by my side and he will do anything to keep from making it worse.  For example, I was really upset one night.  Topher was right next to me.  Bella and Shiloh were running around wild.  Bella tried jumping on top of me and Topher nipped at her.  He normally doesn't do that.  I have been upset quite a bit lately over some things that happened with friends.  My mood is reflected in Topher.  I have been going through treats like crazy with training the puppies and I quit using them for a while.  Topher became sluggish with responding to me.  Not only does he sense my mood, he knows that the puppies get on my nerves at time, and if that extra motivation is not there in the form of a treat, he is not always going to follow through.

If my two more experienced dogs aren't clear on what I am asking them, I can't imagine the mixed signals I am sending the puppies.  Command, marker word, treat.  Command, treat.  "Am I going to get a treat or not?  What am I working for?  Is this really worth it?"  I can't imagine any obedience training is worth it to them at four, almost five months old. 

Given that history of my mixed signal training, you can only guess how excited I was today when I reached this milestone with Bella.  Bella loves to dig holes.  What is more exciting than being leg deep in a hole full of dirt and worms?  When I was a child there was nothing more exciting than that.  I can't blame her for wanting to dig.  It is fun!  I am not crazy about the holes in my backyard.  When she was digging today, I yelled out from the back deck, "Bella, COME!"  She picked her head up and ran to me.  I was ecstatic!  No treats involved or anything.  Of course, I praised her and gave her a treat inside.  For a almost five month old puppy to choose between digging a hole or following the command "come" is a big accomplishment to me.  This happened not once, but twice today! 

Topher is really funny.  He has gotten good with "shake" and "high five".  He has gotten so good at it that he will do it in any position.  He was laying on the bed this morning on his side.  I put my hand next to him and said, "Topher, shake."  He did not lift his head.  He did not blink.  He slowly lifted his paw and put it in my hand.  I was so excited about it that I wanted to show Wes.  Once again, on the second try, he did not lift head.  He just slowly placed his paw in my hand while laying on his side.  No excitement about it.  I think he was wondering why we were having to meet each other once again while he was trying to rest.  A therapy dog's work never stops, I suppose.  He sure made me smile this morning.

My goal for the upcoming week is to be more aware of the signals I send to my dogs.  Am I always giving the verbal and hand commands at the same time?  Am I using marker words and treating?  Am I using the same tone of voice?  The only thing worse than an untrained dog is a trained dog that is too confused to know what's going on.

My other goal is to not let people bother me.  I cannot get down over what other's say to me.  My purpose in life is bigger than that.  Why do I let it get me down?  I must continue moving forward while looking up.

Wes started a psychology class this week.  I am as excited about it as he is.  I took this class ten years ago in college.  I remember some of it.  I loved it.  I loved every psychology class I took.  Wes was a psychology major, so he is excited as well.  I plan to review some of his notes with him.  It will help us both with the work we do volunteering in the psychiatric units with the therapy dogs.  We both love people.  We love helping people.  We anticipate great things to happen as we move forward in doing so.

The best news that we got today is that Wes' ANCA came back negative.  That is one less thing going towards a diagnosis of Wegener's.  Keep your fingers crossed that his rheumatology appointment brings good news too.

My Dream

I think that the day that the Air Force realizes that Wes is the best Airman in the entire force, they promote him to 4-star General, and we have more money than we know what do to with, I am going to buy a place in the DC area on several acres, open my own training facility, rescue dogs from high kill shelters, and train them to be service dogs and/or therapy dogs for people with disabilities, including mental disabilities. I will donate the dogs to those people for free. I will have several kennels and will train multiple dogs at a time.  I will open a camp for disabled people to come and learn how to work their new dogs, free of charge.  I will make them feel loved.  Their new dog will help give them confidence to do the things that they were once limited from doing. 

I love dogs.  I think animals have the potential of helping people more than any doctor, therapist, or nurse can.  I love how dogs do not judge you for who you are or what you've done in life. 

I love helping others.  If I ever felt a purpose in my life, that is it.  I want to die knowing that I made a difference.

That is my dream.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to my blog.  I have been too scatterbrained to write lately.  So much has gone on and I have had a lot on my mind.  Sometimes I wonder how I make it through the day everyday without a complete meltdown. 

If you follow me on Facebook, you know a lot of what has been going on in our lives.  Wes was diagnosed with Lyme Disease after being bitten by a tick in Alabama when we were delivering clothes to tornado victims.  After his initial round of Doxycycline, he was still having a lot of problems with it.  He went to an Infectious Disease Doctor at National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda and he started him on a second round of Doxycycline.  Wes feels horrible.  We don't know if it's the effects of the Doxycycline or the Lyme Disease, or a new potential diagnosis....

Wes had a CT scan of his lungs done because a nodule had been spotted on his right lung on an X-Ray.  The CT Scan found a second nodule on his left lung.  That nodule is highly suspicious for Wegener's Granulomatosis.  Wegener's Granulamatosis is an autoimmune disease that attacks your vessels.  The disease starts out with problems in the upper respiratory tract, and then usually the lungs are affected next.  Wes has had upper respiratory symptoms for years, even to the point that he almost had surgery on his septum in Spokane, but he didn't because we were getting ready to move to Maryland.  He didn't have it once we got to Maryland because he was very busy with work and training.  Wes has chronic sinus infections and nose bleeds.  Sometimes he has difficulty breathing because of it.  That is usually the first symptom of Wegener's.  Wes' aunt has  microscopic polyangitis.  It is a sister disorder of Wegener's Granulamatosis.  Wegener's Granulamatosis can also affect the skin (Wes' chronic butterfly rash on his face), the kidneys (kidney failure), the nervous system, etc.  Wes had a small amount of protein in his urine.  I am hoping it was a fluke thing.  I am pretty stressed out about it, not to mention the digestive problems.  Wes has had problems with that for years as well.  He has had two large bowel obstructions in the last two months.  That's not normal for a healthy 29 year old man.

Wegener's Granulamatosis used to be a guaranteed death sentence.  It wasn't until the 70's or 80's that doctors started treating it with a combination of steroids and chemotherapy that people started living longer with it.  I have been doing a lot of research.  Because I have worked in nursing for years, I have a lot of friends who are nurses and doctors.  I could not get through this without them.  They have been so much support for me and Wes.  Wegner's Granulamatosis is such a rare disorder, that many of them don't know a lot about it.  Luckily I have great resources through them though. 

We are waiting for one blood test to come back.  Wes was tested for ANCA antibodies.  They are the antibodies produced by the body in Wegener's.  We were told though that a positive ANCA doesn't necessarily mean he has Wegener's, and a negative ANCA doesn't rule out Wegeners.  It's just one more piece to the puzzle.  Like all autoimmune diseases, there are a certain number of set criteria that must be present for the diagnosis to be made.  So far Wes has at least two.  The rheumatologist will make the final determination of which pieces fit the puzzle.

Now that's off my chest, let me move onto the things people come here to read about:  The Foster Zoo.  First, the puppies are getting BIG!  Bella is 37 pounds and Shiloh is 36.  They are only 4 months old.  They will be 5 months old on July 15th, one day before I turn 29.

Wes asked what I wanted for my birthday.  Nothing.  I want to take the dogs to do therapy dog work.  That's all.  There is one other thing I want to do, but I am not going to write about it until I do it.

Neo went to his new home.  It was nothing short of perfect.  The guy works with Wes.  He is single and lives in an apartment on his own.  He wanted a cat to go home to everyday.  We met him at Andrews AFB and Neo rode off to his new home in a nice new Camaro.  Neo is off to live the Bachelor life, which is what he deserves. 

Topher was sure glad to see Neo leave.

Topher rode in the back and Neo in the seat on our way to Andrews.

Topher moved to his seat once Neo left.  "I am a HAPPY BOY!!!"

We took Tanker and Topher with us because we had been requested to do therapy dog work at a homeless shelter in Alexandria.  We were really excited.  We had been recommended to volunteer there by a highly regarded therapy dog friend.  We had talked to the social worker and had it all set up to be there by 2:00.  When we got there, nothing was set up for us.  The employee working had no idea we were coming.  She didn't know where our forms were at first.  She acted like we were a disservice to her.  The residents had no desire to see the dogs.  We were really disappointed.  I have yet to e-mail the social worker back, but I need to.  It's not worth our time to drive to Alexandria if nobody wants us there.

Since we were up that way, we stopped by a friend's house in Arlington and visited.  It was great to see them.  Seeing them made the day worth it.  Topher and Tanker got lots of hugs and kisses.

I trained the puppies some last week.  Honestly, I have had too much on my mind to do a lot with them.  It's such a stess reliever to me, so why am I overwhelmed with it?  I am frustrated with myself over that.

I used my new Cutco scissors to cut up chicken jerky.  Those scissors can cut through anything.  You can cut through a penny with them.  Seriously, you can.  The guy we bought them from showed us.  The Zoo Crew works hard for cut up chicken jerky.

I have been working on "down" with the puppies.  They are doing well with it.  I am glad I taught them "wait" first before anything.  It has proved to be very useful when training four dogs all together at once.  I can tell one puppy to "wait" while I work with the other.

Everybody in a "down"

Bella is "waiting" her turn to be told to "down".

We have gotten a few storms.  One storm last week brought a lot of wind.  Several limbs came down in the yard.  The puppies thought they were gifts from above.



Bella and Shiloh dug holes in our newly mulched yard.  Shiloh likes to go out and lay in them.

I like to take pictures of bugs while the dogs play outside.  Wes calls these Charlie Brown bugs because they are the same color as Charlie Brown's shirt.

Because traffic is so bad around the Nation's Capital during any holiday, we are not going anywhere for the 4th. 

There was one thing we wanted to do, but we didn't get tickets for it, so we are just staying home.  We will go to the Aquia Harbour parade and festival tomorrow.  Aquia Harbour always puts on a nice parade.  All of the clubs and organizations participate.  They also do a boat parade on the river.  It is neat to watch.  We may even take the puppies because there will be lots of sounds, smells, and sights to learn.  It just depends on how hot it is tomorrow.  We may go to Fredericksburg to see a couple of friends in their 4th of July events tomorrow.  It all depends on how Wes feels and how hot it is.

Today, everybody is resting up for the holiday tomorrow.

We have been busy eating ginormous strawberries from Costco and working on my indoor garden.  Just when I thought I didn't have a green thumb, I actually paid attention to how big my plants have gotten.