Storms

There are winter storms moving our way, leading with a bank of clouds. Fortunately, it looks as if I've dodged a storm myself.

The hospital computers are still kaput, believe it or not. However, my thyroid doctor eked some information directly from the pathologist. Based on a "probably benign" diagnosis, my doc thinks that we'll be able to take a "wait and watch" approach to my thyroid nodules.

On the less happy side, the docs think that my sarcoidosis is indeed on the move again, but it's probably not what is hurting my thyroid (it's hurting my nerves to my hands instead). I didn't expect this disease to be such a problem but there's still a chance that it will go into remission and stay there. I'm researching alternative means to slow it down (besides the standard steroids).

I am thankful about my thyroid and so is Shyla! She was a star during socialization training today, again. We are on a good streak.

In other news, Shyla has developed a talent for finding dead things in our forest. We've had 3 instances in the past week - a dead squirrel, a deer ribcage, and a deer leg. For the first two, I tried every trick in the book to get her to drop her treasures, to no avail. I even threw a handful of treats next to her, hoping that she'd drop the dead animal part to pick up the treats. No way - my treats cannot compete with a real dead animal.

So, today, I tried a new strategy when she found a deer leg. I ran away until I was out of sight. Then, I lay down on the ground, unmoving, as if I was injured. I could hear her bell, as she tried to decide whether to look for me or enjoy the deer leg. She finally became concerned about me, and, to her immense credit, she dropped the deer leg to run over and check on me. My trick worked (but I continued the act after she arrived so that it might work again if I need it to)! Now, we have some training work to do because it's obviously not a problem that is going away by itself. She usually follows her "out" command with enthusiasm (i.e., drop whatever you're holding) so now we need to practice with highly valued objects... like deer legs.

In contrast to his mischievous sister, R has become the wise and stable rock in our pack (K taught him well). He is so sweet and deeply attached to us humans. He's generally calmed down a notch from his days of Mango Minster Cracker Dog exploits, except for the insane 15 minutes before his morning run with the Runner. He'd make all Cracker Dogs proud with his exuberant antics and loud howling.

I adore this boy. He has a heart of gold.