I've been thinking about Stokes all day, and thought of more to tell about him. He was a contrary dog from day one - when Temma, his dam, went into labor, it was around 1 am...everything seemed normal, her water broke and she started pushing...and pushing...and pushing...and no puppy was coming. I called Dr. Joe at home and he said he'd meet me at the office, so off I went with Temma. Joe examined her and said it felt like the puppy went from one uterine horn back up into the other horn, instead of coming down the birth canal. He wasn't able to get hold of any of his techs, so it was just him and me dealing with an emergency c-section. He opened Temma up and he was right, that first pup was wedged between the two horns of the uterus like a big fat cork. He pulled out a big dark male who appeared to be dead - I rubbed and swung that pup, but I could not get him to breath...Joe finally gave him a shot of heart stimulant, and that did the trick, the pup started squalling and he was fine after that. Oh, and did you guess by now that that puppy was Stokes?

When he was nearly 2, he had surgery on his hip and had to be confined to a crate in the house for several weeks. He absolutely hated it. Once he was able to go back outside, he didn't want to come in the house any more...only when he got older, during thunderstorms, did he show any desire to come in the house. Sometimes in the winter it would be snowing and I'd see him laying outside of his dog house that was stuffed with nice warm wood chips...he would dig some of those chips out of the dog house and make a pile in front of it, then lay on them outside in the snow! He could make me crazy sometimes, but that was just the way he was. Stokes was a real original, that's for sure.

While digging through the photos last night for some pictures of Stokes, I came upon this one.



This was our first Akita, Anjin. Anjin was a longcoat and he was a great dog. Michelle is about 5 years old there, and Bryan about 3. Anjin is about a year and a half, I would guess, as he still looks kind of gangly. When we decided on an Akita, and I spoke to Mary, a local breeder-judge, she told me she had two puppies available - a red bitch with a black mask that was show quality, and a longcoated white male pet. As we drove out to her home, I told Marc I didn't want a male, nor did I want a white dog! Mary took us into her yard and let the two pups out - they were about 6 months old at the time, big puppies. That fuzzy white male, who she called Speedy, came barrelling over to us and jumped right up on me and just about knocked me to the ground. He was so excited! At that point it was all over, guess who came home with us?

A couple of weeks ago, Stokes had what looked like a scrape on his face. I examined him carefully, and saw a lesion under his collar, too - looked like a minor skin infection. Dr. Joe was on vacation, so I started Stokes on some antibiotics I had here, and after about 8-9 days, it was all cleared up and the skin was looking good.

Yesterday morning, it looked like the infection had started all over again, it was on both sides of his face, and now I could see it on his hocks. I called and made an appointment for him to see Dr. Joe today. By this morning, it had spread even further, on to his toes and around his muzzle. When Stokes had a bowel movement, it was bright yellow, like salad mustard. I knew then it wasn't good - I suspected he was going into liver failure and his immune system was shutting down. Unfortunately, I'd seen this twice before, and it was never a good outcome.

I brought Stokes in this evening, and told Dr. Joe my fears. He checked Stokes over well, and when he gently pressed his abdomen, Stokes jumped and snapped - it was very painful. Joe looked at me and I looked at him, and he shook his head and said, "there's a huge mass in there." He drew some blood, and wanted to take a couple of xrays. We got the xrays taken, and the news was very bad. Stokes had a big tumor in his liver, his spleen was huge, his lymph glands were swollen, and his lungs were riddled with cancer. I had a feeling it was going to be bad

Stokes had been eating well and doing all his normal activities, never gave any sign that he didn't feel well or was in pain. This breed is so damned stoic, they are so tough, they just keep on going and when they do finally act ill, its too late to do anything about it. Sadly, we had no choice but to help him cross the Bridge tonight. Afterwards, the blood work showed that he was very anemic, was likely doing some internal bleeding, and his white blood cell count wasn't elevated at all - his immune system had shut down and his body wasn't even trying to fight the skin infection.

Stokes was a funny dog - he always seemed kind of dissatified with life, and there wasn't a lot that he seemed to enjoy. If he was a human, we'd say he had " personality issues." But he absolutely loved puppies, and would go out of his way to try to mother them. When we had a litter of 8 about 4 years ago, Stokes would vomit up his food right next to their play area, attempting to feed them. He acted like he was their second mother! Another thing he really loved was to sit in the big crate in my van. I don't know why, but he thought that was the greatest thing in the world. He didn't even care if the van was just in the driveway, he was happy just to hang out there. He'd play fetch the ball or toy with Marc in the yard, but he would chase and bring the ball back three times, then he was done. If Marc threw it a fourth time, Stokes would look at him as though he was an idiot and walk away. As odd as he could be, he was a very affectionate dog when he wanted to be...on HIS terms, not anyone elses. I'm going to miss him, the way he'd lean against me every morning for his pats and scratches, and the way he would eat his cookies in one particular spot, and that spot only! He was the tattletale barker when other dogs were doing things they shouldn't - I wish we had had him with us for a few more years.

Goodbye Stokey-man, I never expected to lose you so soon.
Nutmeg's Hot Tropic August 6, 1997 - July 31, 2007

The past week has been very humid, with severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours...this week its going to be hot, around 90, with warm nights near 70 - I hate this time of year! The only upside I can see is that it'll be August in two days, and usually by mid August the weather is starting to moderate and we'll get some cooler nights and the worst of the heat and humidity will be past. I can't wait, and I know the dogs can't wait, either!

Some of the girls have come into season, so besides being picky because of the heat, I'm sure several of the boys will go on a hunger strike for a few days or so. I guess they think that starving themselves will make them more attractive to the girls, but so far that tactic hasn't worked! All it does is irritate me, ha ha. I'll be separating them as I don't want any accidental puppies...then the moaning will start. Might as well make the next week or so as miserable as possible, right?

Casey sent me some pictures of Pearl, but they didn't come out so great when I tried photographing them so I can put them up. This one came out the best, and its not terrific. This is Pearl with her Afghan Hound buddy, Fred.

I took some pictures of Trudy earlier this month, and realized that I hadn't posted them yet. Trudy is one of my favorite bitches, I know she isn't perfect, but I just love her. She has the most beautiful eyes and facial expression, very feminine, yet she has a powerful and muscular body and beautiful movement. She and I are very closely bonded, and I need to get myself in shape so I can show her, as I don't think she would be happy showing for someone else. She'll be three years old at the end of August, and is just coming into her prime.






Look at the muscles on her in this photo! She's a natural athelete.

It's so quiet here with the two boys gone, I almost don't know what to do with myself. I'm sure the other dogs are sorry they are gone, as they have been subjected to getting their nails cut and getting stripped out. It's a bit of a battle with some of them, but all the grooming chores are getting caught up on, whether they like it or not!

Wheezer went to the vet again yesterday, and the good news is that the tumor hasn't grown in the past 3 weeks, and he hasn't lost any more weight. I know that at 12.5 years old, his time is limited, but I'd like him to be around as long as he's comfortable. Today Biz goes in for his rabies shot, what fun He was one of those who was not too thrilled about getting his nails clipped! At least he no longer does the "Shiba scream" when I do it!

John sent some photos of Peter Parker (not a new name, just a longer one!) He's fitting in well with their older dogs, and loves the water. Here he is looking at the Penobscot River.