Dog Park Backyard Halfway Finished

We are really impressed with the job the landscapers are doing in our yard.  They have cleaned up the front, cleared out the brush in the back, taken down at least nine small trees, cleared the leaves out of the creek so that it flows better, put lime down in the front and back (soil is too acidic), and they are halfway finished spreading mulch in the backyard.  The man who is in charge lives in our neighborhood.  He is very nice.  He has dogs too, mostly hounds, and he loves training them.  He is impressed with Topher, Tanker, Bella, and Shiloh.  Sometimes they go out back to watch and play while the guys are working.  He said that if we ever want to get rid of Bella that he would take her.  He loves her spunky, figure everything out personality.  She definitely has the mind of a border collie.

I found a tick under Topher's collar yesterday.  I was not happy about that.  He is on Frontline, however I bathed him 24 hours after applying it earlier this month because he had to work at the library the next day.  That was bad planning on my part, but I thought maybe it would still be okay.  Apparently not.  I am pretty sure he has the Lyme vaccine.  I need to call the vet and double check.  I am extra cautious about this now after Wes contracted Lyme Disease.  It was early in the morning when I found the tick.  Topher was acting strange.  He jumped up on the bed and was whining.  I scratched his neck and felt the tick.  He whimpered when I touched it.  I pulled it off and then he was fine.  It was small, so I don't think it had been on him long. 

The puppies have been busy playing outside in the mulch.  I think they think we hauled in a bunch of sticks just for them.  They were trying to bring it inside today.  Topher has been busy playing with the puppies.  Puppies are the best toys I have ever gotten Topher.

Checking out the new mulch.

When the puppies come in from playing outside, they sit and wait for ice cubes.  They LOVE ice cubes!



I finally threw away some of their ripped up toys.  The love to play with them, but they have a lot of other toys. 

They haven't missed them yet.  I don't think they even realize they are gone.  Little Bit was the only one who saw me throw them away.

The dogs go out back when I clean.

Here is a video and some more pictures of what the backyard looks like so far.  When they finish, I will take final pictures of the frontyard and back.

Here is a picture of Topher with his Dr. Seuss bird.

Wes went back to the doctor today and got several referrals.  He is going to an Infectious Disease doctor at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland for his Lyme Disease.  He finished his 21-days of Doxycycline and he is still burdened with a lot of symptoms.  He is very fatigued.  His hands hurt a lot.  He has pain from his hips down.  His doctor did not prescribe anymore Doxycycline because he thinks the Infectious Disease Doctor will treat him with something stronger.  Wes got a referral for a CT of his lungs.  The nodule on his lung is 8 mm by 10 mm.  The doctor is concerned about it.  He thinks there is a better chance of it being scar tissue from when he was sick earlier this year, but he wants to rule out malignancy.  Wes is going to have a HIDA Scan to look at his gallbladder closer.  He had that large bowel obstruction, and even after it cleared up he is still having a lot of pain and bloating.  He also doesn't have a lot of an appetite on some days.  Lastly, he got a referral to seen by Pain Management off base as opposed to at Walter Reed.  In case they do some sort of procedure where he can't drive, we need it to be closer to home since I can't drive either.  We wouldn't burden someone to drive Wes up to Walter Reed and back.  I am not fond of Walter Reed anyway, so I am thrilled that Wes is going elsewhere.

The windows have been open for the last several days because we have had such nice weather.  I finally closed them today only because it was a little more humid.  We got a small amount of rain this morning, and it may rain more this afternoon.

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche