I still remember the first time that we gave Tucker a Bully Stick – we had taken him to a show about an hour away from home, he spent the day being a great boy, showing beautifully and just being a love. We saw the Bully Sticks that were for sale at the show and decided to buy him one for the ride home.  At that time he rode in his crate on long drives, and so he settled into the crate, having no idea what we were going to give him.

As you can guess, the ride home was filled with the sounds of Tuck moaning and groaning as he got to know what a Bully Stick was.  Nancy and I were laughing as we listened to him eat away at that treat and we have never forgotten the sound of Tucker and his first Bully treat. The first Bully Stick lasted quite a few days, but as he figured out the way to devour them, they lasted no more than an hour.

This was the first Bully Stick that we had given Oliver, and after taking his treat off to a safe location he spent a few hours enjoying the stick, while always keeping an eye on Bodi to make sure that he kept his distance.

Bodi has had the pleasure of the treats before, and being Bodi, he knows he can dust one in about half an hour, and then he will spend the rest of the time that (either Tucker) or Oliver finishes eating their treats walking around at a distance staring at the treat to see if it ever leaves the watchful eyes of its owner. Of course, we always keep an eye on Bodi as well to make sure that he understands that he must allow the owner to finish his own treat.

So, half the fun of giving the Bully Stick is watching the complete enjoyment of the boys as they finish them off, and the other half, is the calm that settles in as they get lost in their treats and we enjoy a nice afternoon outdoors.

Long live the Bully Stick…

Doing her big loop in an area that we call Valhalla, she was going to cut it short and head back, but felt that as long as she was out and about she might as well take the slightly longer loop through the trail in the field and then back – give the boys a little longer walk since she had not been out as often with the sore foot.

Bodi and Oliver, unlike Tucker, will try to go after anything that moves, seeing a lizard on the trail is dangerous as they will turn on a dime and lunge into the brush, certain that they will catch the critter – and actually never even coming close. Due to this, Nancy always keeps them on a short leash and works hard to keep them out of the brush – smart girl there. I, as men do, let them off leash and deal with the consequences.

Because we take the boys out on the trails so often, and we have seen Rattle Snakes, we chose to get both of the boys hooked up with the Rattle Snake Vaccine. Unlike what most people think – the vaccine doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry if they get bitten, but it does give you more time before the major damage hits, which gives you a better chance to get to the doctor before your dog is very badly messed up. We can’t tell you for certain that the vaccine made a difference – Tucker never had the vaccine, and never got bitten, but if it made this even 1/1000th easier on Bodi by having it – it was well worth it, many times over.

So, back to the walk… Coming down the trail Bodi spots something and dives into the brush – Nancy pulls him back and instructs “LEAVE IT”, Oliver, now at the edge of the brush while Bodi is being reprimanded, starts batting at something with his paws – doing his best cat imitation. Nancy looks at what he is swatting at and sees the tail end of a rattle snake, “beating feet” as they say, leaving the scene.

Nancy pulls the pups close and starts to check them out, all looks well, and due to the fact that neither dog yelped, she feels like she has dodged a big one and things are OK. Taking one more quick look, she notices what looks like a small amount of blood on Bodi’s cheek, and two puncture wounds. Bodi still hasn’t given any reaction that he has been bitten, and is still ready to walk.

Nancy heads back and has to walk the 2 – 3 hundred yards back to the Jeep, her first reaction is that she should carry Bodi – but walking 2 dogs kind of rules that out – and Bodi, at just under 60 lbs. is still a bit of a carry for 300 yards up and down hills, over the trails. Within a short distance, Bodi starts to slow – and by the time he is about 50 yards away, is very slow, and salivating uncontrollably.

Nancy calls me shortly after the bite and lets me know what has happened, I call the nearest Vet and am informed that there are no doctor’s there at the moment – and gives instructions to go to the Animal Hospital. I call our good friend, and Bodi and Oliver’s normal doctor, Dr. Berry and he instructs me that we should head straight to his clinic, Agoura Animal Clinic – he would notify same and since he was off that day, they would be ready when Nancy got there. We would normally head straight to Agoura Animal Clinic, but since they are about 3 times as far away as the nearest clinic – we tried the nearest first.

I was at the clinic waiting for Nancy when she pulled up, and I got Bodi out of the Jeep. He was quite out of it by this time, with drool running out of his mouth. I carried him straight into the clinic and Dr Kane had Bodi on an IV, had anti venom into him, and checked everything out on Oliver as well, just to be sure that he hadn’t gotten nicked at the same time.

At this time Bodi’s face was starting to swell slightly, but they were surprised that he didn’t look worse. Since Nancy got him there so quickly he was just at the very beginning of the swelling that we would see over the next couple of days.

Once they were certain Bodi had stabalized, they gave us the rundown on Bodi, informed us that since we would be watching Bodi closer then anyone else throughout the night, sent us home with Bodi hooked up to a portable IV unit.

Unbelievably, throughout this entire ordeal, Bodi has not yelped, has not growled, has not whimpered – he went through it like a real trooper, and the only time we heard even the slightest whimper from him was when we would nudge his face while working on the IV – or when he had to go out to go to the bathroom and was trying to let us know.

Bodi was placed on the bed hooked up to the machine, drugs running through his system, and he pretty much stayed that way all night, while I stayed up and watched him to make sure that he got his antibiotics and pain killers at the prescribed times. It was a very long night for me – and I am sure, twice as long for Bodi.

The swelling was going strong throughout the night, and as of now – 2 days later, it still hasn’t stopped, it has slowed a bit – but hasn’t stopped. The swelling has moved down his face, throughout his chest, down his front leg, has bruised throughout the chest and leg area, it’s unbelievable how it has taken him. As of now, 2 days later he has trouble even walking from the swelling, and still, not a peep out of him from the pain. His face swelling has come down a bit, but he still can’t eat regularly due to the pain and swelling.

Oliver has been as careful as can be, he hasn’t tried to play with Bodi, has stepped aside when Bodi comes through and has spent a lot of time sniffing his wounds, and licking his face and body. The toughest part was when Bodi was at the clinic and laying on the blanket while they attended to him, Oliver kept trying to slide over to sit and/or lay down next to him, always trying to be a part of everything Bodi is going through.

So now – it’s just a matter of letting the toxins run their course, letting his little body fight what is going on – and spoiling him rotten with our caring and love.

Weather was perfect, sun was low – good time to detox from the stressful week.

Slipped on the iPod and hit shuffle… The iPod seemed to know the mood and what was needed at the time – slipped into some Diana Krall, Van Morrison (from the Mystic Years), Jonny Lang and even tossed in a thoughtful “Tears” from Rush, 2112. The trails were empty, the music enjoyable without being too much – the detox worked, and the mind seems to be in a slightly better place.

Bodi, as he is growing more and more a part of our life, has learned to be a little less frantic back and forth across the trails and settles in a little closer to the hip, sliding back and forth, front to back as he checks things out, but always paying attention to where we are and getting stern corrections at a lot less.

Tonight he was perfect, kept close, stuck to the trail and even though I had the earphones in he kept the drain on my attention to a minimum… exactly what was needed on this walk. Bodi now knows our rhythm on the walks, whether it is a power walk or a thoughtful stroll, he picks up on the energy and melds into a good walking buddy, it really is the perfect tonic.

Anyone who has a sporting dog and doesn’t take the time to get away from it all and let the dog be himself (after teaching them the guidelines) is really missing out on one of the truly beautiful things in life. To watch one of these dogs in its element, muscles tensing and releasing as they pick up a scent, bodies moving effortlessly through the brush and over the rises, this really is a great gift to have and to enjoy, and I plan to never be without a “V” for as long as I possibly can.

Just a real quick post… Nancy, Bodi and I went to our favorite Car Show… The French/Italian Show at Woodley Park, had a great time, great weather, great cars and great company.

Enjoy the shots, as usual, Bodi comes across as the happiest little guy around, he gets as many looks as the cars, and tons of people want to come up and ask about him – The hit of the party, and we, as usual, are the proud parents.

It always turns out to be a nice day, big park so Bodi gets to enjoy the grass and the picnic we have (and of course we started the tradition with Tucker, so we get all the memories), and we get to see some great cars and listen to some great Eye-Talian music… Good Stuff!!!

One of the things that we learned about Vizsla’s is something that we call “Brain Cramps”. I’m sure that every “V” owner will attest to this little bit of craziness.

When you are playing with your pup, and all of the sudden all hell breaks loose, the back hips drop near to the ground, the lips curl back, the ears start to flop all over the place, and time stands still… for you, for your Vizsla though, time has taken on a new meaning, they are moving as fast as they can, running like the wind, their shoulders seem to touch the ground as they negotiate a tight turn, they are growling and barking, and many times the slobber is thrown across the bridge of their nose.

Of course, we are egging them on, growling back at them, laughing as hard as they are playing, throwing our arms in the air just to see how much more insane they can become.  As they run at us,we run back at them, just to keep the game going.  I’m sure most other people must view us, the owners, as the crazy ones, as we “scare” our little dogs, but we know better, we are in Vizsla heaven, we are in the midst of the hunt with them, we are at one with our beasts.

I dare any Vizsla owner to deny that they have been here, I dare any Vizsla owner to say that they haven’t felt this.

With our beloved Tucker we also had a little thing that we called “Sand Dancing”.  We were treated to this one evening while walking Tuck near the playground at the school near us (Of course, this was before the schools around here were put into perpetual lockdown, before the “No Dogs Allowed” signs popped up, when they were still “public” schools).  As Nancy and I walked near the sandbox, Tucker dove in, and started dancing, he would dig a little, then spin around , throw all four paws out, get his face near the sand, and spin around, kicking sand in the air, then start all over again.  Nancy and I were loving it, and we would point him to sand anytime we were near it just to enjoy his complete happiness and joy with this soft, sandy treat.

These pictures were taken a few years ago when we took Tucker to the Beach Cruisers Car Show in Huntington Beach (Car lovers should circle this one on the calendar, great show), we split off from the show and went down to the beaches edge. Of course, Tucker couldn’t resist the sand and started Sand Dancing, people were staring and pointing, and we were loving it. Every once in a while Tucker would take a break, stand at the walls edge and check everybody and everything out, but his true love was the sand… and for a little while he was “The Lord Of The Dance”, and he was dirty, and he was sandy, and he was out of breath, and he was drooling… and best of all, he was Tucker.

Bodi is a master of “Brain Cramping”, he does it at the park, in the hills, in the backyard, Christ, he does it in the house (as Tucker did before him). He hasn’t picked up on the Sand Dancing yet, at least not in front of us, but we won’t hold it against him, and we’ll just egg him on a little bit everytime we get in the sand, just in case he has a bit of the dance in him.

These pictures bring back many memories, many great thoughts, and a bit of tears, but I am so thankful that we still have them as they trigger all of the emotions, good and bad, and for that we are blessed.

So, take your pups out, let them Brain Cramp, egg them on, let them be silly, let them run, bark, growl, let them be free, let them be dogs… and tell them of the “Sand Dancing Dog” of Southern California, for he was all of those things, he was deeply loved, and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

We have a 67 MGB-GT that we used to take Tucker out in, a little small, but he had no problem fitting in back and would lie down and relax for the drive. Tucker was a good sport, as long as he could be with us.  We would take him to the car shows and take him around as we checked out the cars.  He was the greatest at these events, we could have him off leash and he would never bother the cars, when we were getting up close we would tell him to wait and he would either sit or stand where we told him while we got close to the cars to look at them, of course if someone – especially carrying some food – came up to see him, he would break his concentration and become the life of the show, but, he never, ever would get near to the cars in a way that would damage them.

This was taken at a British Car Show, back in 2005, that we used to go to all the time, down near the water, away from the busy streets.  Tucker, as usual, was the star of the show and everyone wanted to come see him.  Most people had no idea what kind of dog he was, and we’ve heard the old “it must be a red Weimaraner”, “that’s a red Doberman that they didn’t crop the ears on” and “The ridge on that Rhodesian Ridgeback doesn’t look right”, so we felt very good about letting them know that Tucker was a Vizsla, which always brought a look of confusion. Then we would tell them he was a Hungarian Pointer, which usually satisfied them enough to quit asking.

At this show our friend Karen had her newly restored Sunbeam Alpine which was getting a lot of admiring glances.  She asked us to see how Tucker liked the car and whether he would like to get in, and once Tucker was satisfied that this was indeed a Sunbeam Alpine and not the Sunbeam Tiger (since no real dog would be caught having pictures taken inside a Tiger), he quite enjoyed getting in and having a few pictures taken.  Everyone loved the mini show inside the car show, most of all Tucker since he got a lot more attention.

Of course, the fact that we quite often brought a picnic with us to these events made Tucker even more excited. Tucker had no problem making us feel bad by staring at our food after he scarfed his own down, knowing that if he did a good enough job we would give in and he would get a sample. This, at the time, made us feel that we weren’t doing him any good by letting him taste our food, but now we wouldn’t have traded that bonding for anything – memories are funny that way.

So, enjoy the pics, enjoy the story, and remember – take the little guys with you when you get a chance, they enjoy being with you, and the memories are priceless.

Bodi was very lost the first couple of weeks after the loss, he really didn’t know how to act, didn’t pick up any toys, was always waiting for Tucker to be there and do his part so that Bodi could do the “second dog” thing, he still looks for Tucker when he comes in from the back yard. As the time has gone by, Bodi has opened up more and more every day. It is really strange, but I think Bodi must have spent a lot of the time that he had with Tucker just observing his interaction with us and storing it for future use.

Bodi is, and has been, since we were lucky enough to bring him home, an incredible little “V”, he is different then Tucker, not worse in any way, just different, and we have loved every bit of that difference.

Where Tucker was all about us, always paying attention to our every move and our energy, Bodi is a little more independent – always on the hunt, a little more aloof. When we raised our voices, even if by chance we were watching a sporting event on TV, Tuck would get worried, would leave the room and go hide in the bathroom – of course when we called him he would come running, his tail wagging, a toy in his mouth and talking up a storm in the Vizsla “Roo, Roo” kind of way. Bodi, in the same situations, will just open an eye, look at us to make sure all is well, and go right back to sleep, not in an “I don’t care” way, just in an “I’m really not going to worry, or get involved” kind of way.

But the really funny thing is, ever since Tucker passed on to that “Rainbow Bridge”, Bodi has been picking up more and more of Tucker’s traits, nudging our arms when he wants attention, getting in between Nancy and I if we try to get a little romantic, getting down off of the sofa when we are eating dinner to make sure he has the best view of any food that may come his way – all things that Tucker had mastered, and Bodi never was concerned with when Tuck was here.

Friends that knew Tucker for many years are commenting on how much Bodi is starting to act like he always did, in my office they say that if they look away and then back they swear that Tucker is sitting in his chair (yes. my boys have their own chairs in the office, and if I go into the edit bay I bring their blanket in so that they can be comfortable – although my partner thinks it is to save the leather sofa), when it is Bodi. Bodi is acting different when we take him to the park or around other dogs as well, whereas he was a little aggressive in his playing, especially around smaller breeds, he is much more mellow now, playing and running, but not nearly the “I’m a baddass” sound as usual, all things that Tucker always brought to the table… and now Bodi seems to be bringing forth as well.

I’m sure that a lot of it comes from the fact that all of the attention has swung his way, so we are acting different around him as well, different energy, but I also believe that Bodi was not looking to step on Tucker’s toes when they were together, he understood Tucker’s place in the family and choose to view it, not to overstep his place. Now that he has moved into that place in our lives, Bodi has assumed a lot of the characteristics that were obviously so important to us and Tucker throughout his life.

Don’t get this post wrong… Bodi can still be a BUTT-HEAD, but he is an incredibly loving, sweet souled, soft tempered, and smart, strong willed, BUTT-HEAD, that just seems to bring a little more “Tuckerness” to the party every day. May god bless all the “V”‘s of the world (and all the other great dogs as well) and may the loving soul of Tucker run through Bodi every day of his (hopefully very) long life.

I just wanted to put up a little remembrance post, a little touch of Tucker’s love, companionship, incredible temperament, loyalty, great nature…, well, just a touch of Tuck-a-poo.

Tucker was, for 12 incredibly short years, our little guy, he was there whenever we needed him, was our companion, would put himself between us and harm (as we would do for him), he was there, alongside me, comforting Nancy when she went through her cancer, he went with us on trips to comfort us and my Father when my Dad was dying of cancer, he was there with us to carve pumpkins, to cut Christmas trees, to hang out at car shows, he was there when we had good times celebrating, was there to comfort us when we had bad times, and was there when we just needed that warm body to hold on to.

We never went anywhere that we either took Tucker, or wished that we could have taken him, whether it was to the office, to friends houses, on trips to Las Vegas, cruising the sand dunes up at Pismo or up to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend. We never worried about introducing him to people, since to Tucker, if they were a friend of ours, they were a friend of his. He trusted us completely, and we trusted him completely, and I don’t think anyone who was ever around Tuck wasn’t touched by his beautiful soul.

Tucker was one of those dogs that seemed to never be happier than when he was with either Nancy, myself, or both of us. He truly came into his own and never looked more majestic than when he was with us, showing us off, or just hanging out. Nancy and I were also blessed in the fact that Tucker never chose one of us over the other, never took one of us as his “Master”, he always shared us, to the point that he would move from one sleeping point on the sofa to another 4 – 5 times a night, just to share his love with us and not spend too much time with just one of us.

As Nancy has said lately, “I know that time heals and it gets better, but the longer he is gone, as more and more time passes… the more I miss him”, and it’s true – since we did so very much with him, spent so many years with him in our hearts, we truly can’t look anywhere without seeing his spirit running around us, without thinking of him grabbing a toy and talking to us, without thinking of all those moments that we shared with him.

Lately we have been going to some of the special places that we shared with Tucker, we are sharing them with Bodi, and we are spreading a little bit of Tuck’s ashes. These are the beginning of the memories that we will be sharing with Bodi, of the companionship that will be forged by the three of us passing through these hard times, and sharing the beautiful memories.

So, hopefully things will get easier, as time goes by, hopefully the hole in our hearts will start to heal. By writing these memories down we don’t want to bring anyone down… we just want to share our “little guy” and our memories with everyone who knew him, and we want to spread a little of what Tucker was, and still is to us, to people that didn’t have the chance to get to know him.

Nancy and Bodi, bonding

Luckily we live in a slightly less populated area then most in SoCal, and this affords us the unique ability to just leave our door and be in the hills, away from people, and able to stretch our legs a little bit.

Bodi loves getting out and up into the hills, smelling all of the new smells, looking for new friends, or old friendships that need to be renewed.

Bodi is a hunting dog true to his breed, and down to the core, he thinks the most special thing in the world is leading us on little excursions into the brush as he sees a lizard dart off the trail, jumping at the chance to chase a bird, or a birds shadow at times, making sure that all in the immediate vicinity knows that this great hunter has entered their space and they should be fearful.

Bodi Terrorizing a Lizard

We, of course, try to reel him in when he goes off the deep end, we actually baby him to no end, worry that he will get into something he shouldn’t, work diligently to make him pay attention to us, all of the things a “Pack Leader” should do (at least in our minds).

One of our favorite hunting grounds is a water tank trail that is near our home, Bodi loves to get out there, criss-crossing the trail looking for critters, running back and forth, ahead of, and behind us… waiting for us to call him before he breaks off of the hunt. As we get higher on the trail, we get a great view of our little corner of the world and we can watch the sunrise or sunset from our viewpoint. The air is clean and cool in the morning, we can stop and give Bodi a little water and when he isn’t paying attention we can squirt him with the water from our water bottle.

Walking out here never fails to bring joy to all of us, working out, breathing the fresh air, we are all lucky to be here, be safe, and enjoy the good company of friends and friendly puppies that we run into up here.

Bodi, mugging it up for the camera

And Bodi, well he is off chasing something down, standing proudly on the rocks, letting all who pass know that he is the master of his domain, and the hunter extraordinaire…  at least until we call him back to reality and put him back on leash.

Bodi (in front) and Tucker out for walk

Bodi has been thrown for another loop, started a new family 6 months ago, now having his new best friend disappear from out of his life, then having to take the role of our canine emotional saviour.

Bodi is doing his very best, he normally is the happy-go-lucky boy that we are always trying to calm down just a bit, now he is much calmer, always stopping to look for what our next move is, looking for Tucker throughout the house and backyard frequently.

The toughest thing is when we feed him.

We had taught him right from the beginning that Tucker gets his food first and on his food stand, then Bodi would get his dinner in the kitchen – they eat at the same time, but even with Tucker starting first Bodi would always finish first and then stand by to clean anything out of Tuckers bowl that may be left (which usually was nothing).

Bodi sleeping in my office

Now we feed him at Tucker’s old food stand, and when we put the food down he runs back to the kitchen as he had been taught, and waits for Tucker to come in and start eating so he can get his food. It takes us a little while to coax him back to the food stand and convince him that it is his and he can start eating, he keeps stopping and looking around, sure that Tucker just hasn’t gotten there yet, and convinced that if he starts eating he will surely be in deep trouble – it is really quite touching, and slightly heart breaking.

Bodi is now the “man”, and we are laying a lot of love on him to help us to get through the pain… The wounds are still fresh and deep, the tears flow freely whenever we think or speak of Tucker, and I’m sure his little heart is feeling pangs of sorrow that his new-found brother has slipped out of his life and doesn’t seem to be there for him anymore.

We love Bodi with all of our hearts and we don’t plan on bringing another puppy into our lives for quite a while, we want more than anything to take the time to bond even more with Bodi, to not split our love with another dog, and to allow Bodi to become the very best Bodi that he can possibly be, we don’t want him to be another Tucker, that would be totally unfair to Bodi, and to Tucker’s memories, but we are excited to bring Bodi along to be his very best.