It's been a long time

I haven't written anything on this blog in over two years.   A few things have happened since that time. 

1. I brought home a  beautiful berner puppy December of 2012.  Her name was Mysti.  I had planned to blog all about her, but she came to us with parvo.  I didn't have time nor the energy to do any posting.  She recovered, but died Nov 2013 due to a kidney failure.  All I can say about her is that she was really something.  She was a beautiful  and I had so many plans for us that never came to be.  She stole my heart and a part of it left when we lost her.  It's tough to lose a dog so young, but she really made every moment count and stole our hearts. She was Aspen's partner in crime.  For months after she passed he would look for her... some of the most heartbreaking moments of my life.  This is for sure she will be forever in my heart.  Life is really not fair, but I'm thankful she came into my life.  As I start posting again I will likely talk about her and what she taught me and what she meant to me. She is gone, but never forgotten.  Aspen is on the left.  She is the big goofy girl in the right <3

2. During 2012-2013 I got a new job, we bought a new house and moved to Red Wing, MN.

3. We got married in 2014.

Photo Credit C2 Photography

4. The end of 2014 we found out that Aspen had a grade two mast cell tumor on his neck.  We found it early and it was removed before 2015 and he continues to do well.  Aspen has also been working on he RN (Rally Novice) title.  We started training in February and he has two legs towards the title.  One more and he will be Northstar's King of the Woods RN.  Hopefully this fall we will go on to eat a TD (tracking dog) title.  I'll post about these to events in some separate blogs :-)

5. A little over a year after we lost Mysti we decided to bring this little pumpkin home :-)  Her name is Sophie!! She comes from a long line of lovely conformation dogs.   She has a lovely temperament and has been a joy to add to the family :-)  Interesting fact she and Aspen are exactly five years apart and share the 12/11 birthday.

My plan is to get back into blogging because I  have some things to share on my journey with my dogs and who doesn't love reading about Bernese Mountain Dogs :-)

Thanks for reading and until next time like Ellen says "be kind to one another" ~ Erika, Aspen, Sophie

EXCITING NEWS!!!

I wanted to share that we have had some really wonderful emails from people who have tried the probios and digestive enzymes.  We have several dogs who started this a year out, six months and our own Aspen has been free of symptoms for almost two years!!  If your dog has IBD you owe it to them to at least try it!!

I think it's amazing how far Aspen has come.  I remember the hours spent analyzing his every bite.  Was it this or that.  The tons of blood draws.  The fecal tests. Bloody stools.  The hours researching prescription dog food.  Aspen was on Tylan, metronidazole, and fiber.  At one point they wanted to cut him open and biopsy his intestines. It was then I started looking into alternatives and ran across Dr. Becker who changed Aspen's life who in turn has impacted many others with this blog.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/products.aspx

Thanks to all the readers and I'm so thankful for every dog that is helped by this blog :-) It's Aspen's mission!!

Nose Work

Aspen doing his nose work.  He is three classes in.  Does anyone see him signal when he catches the sent?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXf4i7etbgo

Remembering 9-11

Summer Hiatus

Ok so apparently I don't post much in the summers :/ I'm like a teacher except I have to work...sigh.  Maybe it was all my years of school or something, but regardless it is what it is.  I thank all of my faithful readers for being so patient and I promise to do a recap of our summer.  I have a few topics I'd like to bring up and we may have some exciting news to share towards the end of this year so stay tuned..............

This is Mr. Aspen getting ready for my famous picnic table bath.  Isn't he just a handsome litte  BIG guy!!

Check out my agility dog... Aspen is rather athletic wouldn't you say?

The day we brought Aspen home :-)

That was the first time I knew I loved him.

"Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, Filling an emptiness we didn't even know we had."~Thom Jones

Forever Dog