Hey Mitch, I will answer your swimming question here. No, we are not still swimming, we stopped about 2 weeks ago when it got cold here. Our pool dropped down into the low 70's which is too cold for me unless I put on my shorty wet suit. Fall got too cold too fast this year! Usually it is still a lot warmer here right now.

Hi Carol-nice to see you. Things are going well except for losing our sweet old lab last week-that was really sad. But, Pfeiffer is still going strong and swimming every day in spite of the fact that he is on month 10 of battling mast cell cancer. He will be 13 in January! The vet says he is the poster dog for fighting cancer-he seems to be totally unaware that he is supposed to be ill and flings himself into the pool with great abandon each day. I put a picture of him on our photo bucket that shows his flying through the air-it is pretty funny.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drextows Photos

Aww, Drex. Sorry to hear about your namesake. It killed me when we had to put our first dog to sleep. She was the best. My poor dogs now will never be able to live up to her, although they're starting to grow on me. Great pictures. Pfeiffer sure doesn't look sick. I had to post these two together. I think Pfeiffer and Ivy would get along well.

So, have you started writing your novel yet?

Hey Drex -

Great to see you - your pool's looking great!

We had a great summer with *lots* of pool use, including dd's 10 hour long birthday party, etc. Weather patterns in so cal seem similar to what you've got going on up there - a sudden change to crisper weather and lower temps. Up until this past week, we were at 79 degrees in the mornings (autover helps), 82 by mid-afternoon (solar helps). This morning it's 77, so it's doubtful the solar's gonna make a dent :-(.

Love the flying canine - nice to see you back!

Oh that is so funny Carol! Yes Pfeiffer loves the Molly. Those are the best floats in the world. I think I got mine because you recommended them and boy were you right! Yes Fifie and Ivy would be fighting over the Molly.

Losing Drex last week was devastating. He had a brain tumor that hit hard and fast. He went so quickly it really caught us off guard-even though he was almost 14. That picture of him stretching out by the pool was on his last day. Strangely, he was absolutely fixated by the pool. He spent his last 3 days outside just staring at it-exactly as in the picture. It was so odd because he had stopped wanting to swim about mid-summer and didnÂt want anything to do with the pool. Then, he had stopped eating and drinking about 2 weeks ago and was going into kidney failure and he became fixated with just staring at the pool. It will forever be a mystery. When fife goes, it will be hard to ever find dogs that compare to these 2. I am glad your new ones are growing on you. I would hate to think I could never love doggies this much again.....

It occurred to me that maybe it is time to change my user name.

I did write some short stories last year-about my dad etc. I am trying to figure out how to tie them all together and then what to do with them. I am working on a short story about Drex right now.

Hey Arielita's mom! ;-) So nice to see you here still. I wondered if some of the SoCal folks were still here. Yes the flying doggie picture just cracks me up for some reason. Every time I look at it I think....faster than a furring bullet! You have had cold weather down there this year! My friend who lives in Laguna Beach said it was a very odd summer-weather wise.

I'm glad to see you back. I'm so sorry about your beautiful dog. You were lucky to have such a great dog, and he was lucky to have had you too. Losing an animal is so hard. But I wouldn't trade the time that I have had with mine throughout the years for anything. I know you feel blessed to have had him in your life.

Enjoy your time with Pfeiffer. He seems to be living life to the fullest. I bet you're so glad you got your pool. It has meant so much to you AND your dogs.

All the best.
Kristen

Hi Kristen. Thanks for the kind words. We were both lucky. I wouldnt trade any of it either.

Yes, we are really glad to have our pool. Pfeiffer has been in it a hundred times more than us but that is fine with me. He's a big part of the reason we started thinking about putting a pool in-that dog is more crazy about water than any dog or human I have ever known.

He actually went on hunger strikes this summer when it would get a little cool and we would put on the solar cover to warm the pool back up to temp. He wouldnt eat until we took the cover off. Finally last week he stopped doing that after we put it on every day. On hot days, he actually takes himself swimming-so cute! He will ask outside and then casually walk down the steps of the pool and swim several big circles. It really is HIS pool. We have actually had to put the cover on just to keep him out long enough to dry off all the way-or else he starts smelling mildewy! LOL. I knew he would love the pool, but I had no idea just how much! His whole life revolves around it now.

Nice to see you still here. How is everything going out your way? If memory serves me right, you finished your pool about the same time we did ours? Hard to believe it has been going on 2 years for us!

I'm so sorry to read about Drex! What a great way to honor him, though, by sharing your photos with us. It's nice to know that Drex had a wonderful life with his "pack".

Our boy Pepper will be 10 in Jan. He's got one of those fatty lumps growing in his chest cavity. He eats, drinks, runs, swims, poops just like normal, but when he sits, the lump pushes into his right front leg. The vet said it's benign, but it's too big to remove surgically. As long as it doesn't impair him too much, he's OK. But if it gets too big and affects his walking/laying down...I don't want to think about that. Just when Pepper starts mellowing out this summer (and really getting into swimming "laps" in the pool while trying to get his water ball), he develops a big lump. We've nicknamed him Lumpy.

Take care, Drex, and our thoughts and prayers are with you. It looks like Pfeifie will do a good job of keeping you on your toes.

-Melissa

PS: Please don't change your screenname! Or, if you do, please keep Drex in there somehow! :-)

Hey Melissa,

I had looked around some posts to see if you were still hanging out here. So nice to "see" you!

Drex had and Pfeiffer has a number of those fatty tumors. Then Fifie developed a different looking lump on his paw last January and it turned out to be mast cell cancer. Initially the vet was going to amputate his whole leg but in the end, we opted for chemo. We thought that losing his leg would probably destroy his spirit and we couldnt bear to watch that. He is going on 11 months of survival now-crossing fingers.

We never had any of the fatty tumors removed but they have never been in a place to impede movement or create problems. I agree with the logic of not removing them unless you have to. At the age of 10, you dont want Pepper to risk any surgery that isnt necessary. You know, once the fatty tumors get to a certain size, it seems they pretty much stop growing-it is a funny thing.

Of course we thought the mast cell cancer would slow Fife down but as you can see, this is one lab who will never hit that mellow stage. Almost 13, weekly chemo and still can out swim us all!

Sigh....doggies, hard to believe they can make you love them so darn much!

~Drex (who probably wont change her user name after all)

Good to see you back. I'm so sorry about your pup. :(

Hey Snookums. Hows it going? I hope you are enjoying your pool.