Driving Chairman Bao

2011-06-03T07:09:00.001-07:00

Bao is gone.
He did well in the surgery, and when I left him, was recovering nicely. They called me at ten thirty last night, to let me know that he was having some difficulty. But it was nothing they couldn't handle. Things settled down. But shortly past midnight, his heart stopped. It was very sudden. They tried to revive him, but couldn't. By the time I got there, he was gone.
I can still feel him, somehow near to me. I cannot believe he's gone. I held him, afterwards. His dear little body was still warm. He might have been asleep.
What can I say? He was my dear companion. I loved him. I love him. And now he's gone. It doesn't seem possible. How can I go on without him?
Bao is gone.
It's over.

Waiting for test results

2011-05-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

Looks like it's cancer. But where? In his pericardium? In his lungs?
They've done blood tests, urine tests and chest x-rays. Now we're
waiting for the consultation with oncology.
Bao is rather enjoying the to and fro of dogs and people in waiting
area, which is spacious and comfortable. As far as he's concerned,
it's just another outing.

We're in Fort Collins

2011-05-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Bao began to develop another pericardial effusion. (Why
do these things always happen during holiday weekends?)
"If he was my dog," said the cardiologist, "I'd take him to Colorado."
So that's what I did.
It was a 14 hour drive, which we did over two days. But Bao loves car
trips, so that was okay.
Our appointment is this afternoon, but we came a day early, which was
just as well because it turned out that Bao also had fluid in one of
his lungs!
The Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital is open
24/7 so help was at hand, thank goodness.
I'm pretty sure Bao is going to need the pericardectomy, and I'm
apprehensive, but we've got to fix this.
And we've got to find out what's causing it -- after all this time and
$10,000 in veterinary fees, we still don't have a diagnosis.

2011-05-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Bao and I managed to get to Mexico for a few days, but last week, another pericardial effusion. This is the fourth time he's had to go through this. Nobody knows what's wrong. The antibiotics don't seem to be making much difference. Today we saw an internist, and they ultra-sounded Bao's whole body and found "nothing remarkable". Now they're saying it's probably cancer, mesothelioma, which doesn't show up on scans and sometimes, doesn't show up in a biopsy. So how do they know whether or not he's got it? Well, they don't. Apparently, when they can't find anything else they simply assume it's cancer.

Cancer or no cancer, the only way to stop pericardial effusions is to cut a "window" in the pericardium. Unfortunately, there is a fairly high element of risk attached to this procedure. In fact, I'm not nearly as scared of the cancer (if it's there) as I am of heart surgery, which is what this is. (Amazingly, there is a video of this surgery on YouTube. I haven't watched it. There is such a thing as too much information)

Our cardiologist has suggested that we go back to the University of Colorado Veterinary Medicine Hospital to have the surgery done. He says all the best people in the field are there, under one roof. Although he could do the surgery himself, he told me that if Bao was his dog, he'd take him to Colorado. So I guess that's what we're going to have to do.

The internist did some blood tests, and we'll have the results of those tomorrow. But I could tell that even without the results of the tests, she thinks the pericardectomy is our best -- and only -- option.

In a way, she's right. Even if we never find out what's causing this, the surgery will eliminate the pericardial effusions, which could kill him instantly. After the pericardectomy, if fluid does continue to accumulate, it will accumulate in Bao's pleural cavity, where it's more easily dealt with. And if he does have cancer, I suppose it's better to know sooner rather than later.

Bao is snoring happily on the couch. He doesn't have a clue what's going on. He's not in pain. He's not frightened. He's fast asleep, with his dear little head pillowed on one of his stuffed toys.

He's fine. I'm terrified.

2011-05-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Aftera fabulous week, another pericardial effusion. And they still don't know what's wrong. This is so scary, and so frustrating. And so expensive!

Once again, Bao's pericardial sac had to be "tapped". But this is not a disease. It's a symptom. The question is, A symptom of what?

I have a theory. After the hernia surgery, Bao was on a 7-day course of antibiotics. After two days, he was a different dog. Lively, prancing, playing, happy. A few days after we stopped the antibiotics, he slowed down a little. A few more days, and he had another pericardial effusion.

So here's my theory. He has a sub-clinical infection somewhere; a handful of bacteria on a mission, but not enough to show up on standard blood tests. Although the post-surgery antibiotics were prophylactic (to help stop infection) they nonetheless zapped these under-the-radar bacteria -- but didn't kill them all off. And when we stopped the antibiotics, the bacteria regrouped.

Tomorrow, we'll go see Dr Mike and I'm going to suggest that Bao goes back on antibiotics for a week or two, just to see what happens. They can't hurt him. And if he suddenly peps up again, at least it's a data point.

This is a complete puzzle, the the veterinarians and to me. Any ideas?

The only good thing about the situation is that Bao is comfortable, happy, and not in any kind of pain. And that's a lot to be thankful for.

2011-05-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Poolside with Bao -- and as you can see, the area they shaved for the surgery was pretty extensive. They even had to shave part of his tail, but luckily, they left the little plume at the end of it.

His stitches come out on Wednesday.

We finished the antibiotics a couple of days ago, and Bao's "elevator anxiety" now seems to have dissipated. Maybe it had something to do with all the drugs he was taking. At one point he was taking seven different medications, twice a day!

What he had is called a perineal hernia, and anyone who has an intact, male dog should be aware of the dangers. Apparently, intact males (or males who are neutered late in life, as Bao was) are prone to these hernias and -- as we found out -- they just quietly get bigger and bigger until they become life-threatening.

I thought we were "managing" it with stool softeners, and that Bao's "slowing down" was due to his heart condition and advancing age. Now I know better. All that poop sitting in the "loop" of the hernia was not only constipating him, it was sapping his energy.

To see him trotting and prancing now, you wouldn't believe it was the same little dog. He's like a puppy -- full of eagerness, energy and vitality. I feel guilty. I wish we'd done this surgery years ago. I am amazed at the instantaneous difference it has made in his quality of life. If only I'd known!

Some medical diagnoses strike terror into your heart. However, "hernia" definitely isn't one of them. But now I'm thinking, maybe it ought to be.

2011-04-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

One week after surgery, and Bao is doing really well.

His energy levels are amazing. He's supposed to take it easy, but he prances like a puppy and it's a constant effort to stop him jumping up on things. The stitches that I can see look fine, but I'm always worried he'll overdo things and tear the internal sutures.

He had to stay at the veterinary hospital the night after his surgery. They had him in a cage, and apparently, he hated it. (In fact, the night veterinarian finally took him out of the cage and let him spend the night in a little bed at her feet) Well, he's never been in a cage.

But now he's scared of the elevator. As soon as the door shuts, he runs in little circles and as soon as it starts to open again, he's off! And then he just wants to get as far away from it as he can. He's been riding in elevators all his life, but I guess the cage experience really freaked him out. Hopefully, this will improve with time.

They had to shave his back end, and part of his tail, but he still looks good. The external stitches come out next Wednesday.

Thank you for your support. In some ways, this has been harder on me than on Bao, and I don't think I'd have got through it without you.

2011-04-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

Bao's surgery was uneventful, and successful. He had no trouble with the anaesthetic, his heart was fine, and they fixed the hernia.

I saw him shortly after he woke up. He was still very wonky from the drugs, and they're keeping him there overnight. I'm not happy about that, but there's a qualified veterinarian on duty all night, and if there was a problem, he'd be better off there than here.

I wanted to bring a sleeping bag and stay with him, but when I saw the area, I realized that this was unpractical.

It turned out to be a more complex surgery than anyone had anticipated, and took nearly four hours, but as I say, it went well. How can you ask for anything more than that?

Thank you all for your good wishes and good vibes. If all continues to go well, Bao can come home tomorrow morning.

2011-04-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Guess what? They've postponed Bao's surgery until Thursday.
So he'll have another whole day of pampering!
And we'll save the T-bone steak for tomorrow night.

2011-04-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Bao's surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. He had a very bad episode late Saturday afternoon, trying in vain to poop and screaming in agony. This never happened before, and it must never happen again. Pleural effusion or no pleural effusion, the hernia must be repaired before it gets any worse.

I'm trying to make today a happy, pleasant day for both of us -- especially for Bao. This morning, we did his favorite walk. This afternoon, we went to lunch with our friend Jeanne (in the photo) at the Olive Garden, one of Bao's favorite restaurants. (He loves the pasta. And he loves doing lunch) He'll have a T-bone steak for dinner. When you're a dog, it's all about food.

Now we're curled up together on the couch. I'm watching a Lifetime movie, and Bao is sleeping off lunch. I'm much too anxious about tomorrow to do much of anything. Thank goodness for Lifetime movies!

What else can I say? I love this dear little dog more than words can say. Surgery is risky. There's nothing I can do except hope and pray that it will go well, that Bao will be okay. But we have to do this surgery, we have to take this chance. I cannot and will not see Bao suffer the way he suffered on Saturday afternoon.

Please, send us your loving thoughts tomorrow morning. Love is the most powerful force in the universe and love will see us through this -- I believe that. I really do.

2011-04-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Bao has developed another new symptom, so the hernia surgery has been put on hold until we can figure out what's causing this latest complicaton -- fluid in his pleural cavity. Not in his lungs, but in the pleural cavity.

Just to make things interesting, he hasn't got any of the other symptoms one would associate with this condition -- he's not short of breath, his appetite is normal, he's alert and energetic (well, as energetic as a Shih Tzu gets) and his heart rate is also normal. In fact, without the help of an echo-scan, you wouldn't know anything was wrong with him.

Our regular veterinarian (Dr Mike) got married and has been away on honeymoon for two weeks. Meanwhile, Dr Chris (the cardiologist) prescribed Lasix on Thursday. So now the poor little guy (Bao, not Dr Chris) is constipated. On his advice, I stopped the Lasix today, because it dehydrates him. Sometimes I think the medications are worse than the illnesses.

A friend of mine pointed out that because Bao has me (rather than an insurance company) he probably has access to a higher standard of medical care than most of us two-legged Americans. That is a sobering thought.

On a brighter note, Bao jumped up on the medium-high couch today -- first time he's been able to do that since February!

2011-04-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

Bao had another pericardial effusion last week. It just came out of nowhere -- and again, no one knows why this is happening.

So now he's got to have surgery. But not heart surgery. The pericardial effusion is idiopathic -- a fifty dollar word that means "we don't know what's causing it". (The one thing we do know is that it's got nothing to do with his mitral valve problems) My friend Jeanne has a background in medical technology and she thinks Bao's chronic perineal hernia might be what's causing the problem. In an attempt to avoid surgery we've been managing it with stool softeners, but Bao still can't push everything out so there's always "poop in the loop" -- and that can't be healthy, says Jeanne. Maybe he's got an infection or an inflamation, and that's what's causing the fluid to accumulate around his heart.

So I asked the cardiologist. Of course, this was the first he'd heard about the hernia. (He's been focussing on the other end) But when he examined Bao, he was appalled. Apparently, the damned thing has become much, much bigger. It's life-threatening, said the cardiologist. If it becomes necrotic, Bao will die. Repairing the hernia, said the cardiologist, must be our first priority. Although he doesn't think it's what's causing the pericardial effusions, he is also unwilling to rule it out. But either way, it's got to be fixed.

The surgery itself isn't complicated, and the surgeon will be a board-certified, veterinary surgeon. There will also be a specialist anaesthesiologist, and a cardiologist standing by. It should be okay.

We're meeting with the surgeon on Thursday. Surgery will probably be before Easter.

I'm not in my usual state of panic. Maybe I'm just exhausted. At the moment, Bao is fine. All we can do at this point is enjoy each hour of each day.

I'm thinking we might just spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool.

2011-03-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

Bao loves doing Sunday brunch, especially when we join our friend Judy at Restaurante de Ramon in Mexico. Bao loves Judy. Although she hasn't got a dog of her own, she's bought a doggy water dish for when Bao comes to visit, and stocked up on with treats and toys. As you can see, Bao absolutely adores her.

We're breaking all the rules here -- Bao is snacking on ham, sausage and scrambled egg. Only tiny bits, but what a treat after all these weeks of boiled chicken and yucky veterinary food.

Luckily, there were no reprecussions. And then yesterday, Dr Mike said we could add lean, cooked steak to Bao's diet.

I wish you could have seen Bao's face when I brought him his dinner last night. He sniffed, looked at the dish in disbelief, and then he looked up at me as if to ask, Am I dreaming? And then, whoosh! Crunch, gobble, swallow and it was gone. He usually doesn't eat so fast, but I think he was afraid I might change my mind and take it away.

He's gained most of the weight back, but he still can't jump up on things the way he used to. I wonder if there are some exercises he could do to strengthen his little hind-quarters.

2011-03-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hooray! We're in Mexico. We love it here. But I have to admit, there were times during the past six weeks when I wondered if Bao would ever see his beloved beach again.

I just can't believe that we're actually here. Bao is having a wonderful time. He's thoroughly reconnoitred the grounds, checking to see which dogs have been here in his absence. He has peed on every tree, sniffed every bit of grass. Of course, all the staff are delighted to see him (we haven't been here for nearly two months) and he loves that, too.

The night we arrived there was a huge storm, no rain but lots of wind. It blew all the sand flat, which makes it easier for Bao to walk on the beach. Seeing him trotting along, little tail held high, sniffing and exploring makes me so happy! I'm so grateful that he's still with me, that our journey together is not over.

As you can see, Bao has had a hair-cut. Rather than try to tease out the mats and knots, the groomer just cut it all off. I think he looks a bit like a skinned rabbit, but everyone else thinks he looks really cute.

I'm still waking up half a dozen times during the night to check and make sure he's still breathing. It was a really bad scare, and I guess it's going to take a while to get over it. Bao -- on the other hand -- is just living in the present, and enjoying the sunshine. But that's what dogs do.

2011-03-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, Bao brought me one of his toys. It's his way of saying, Okay! Time for our afternoon walk! It's the first time he's done this in nearly six weeks. And this morning, he walked all the way to the fountain and back, nearly a mile, his normal, morning walk.

He's improving.

Tomorrow we go to see Dr. Mike, and I'm nervous about that. Blood tests and ultrasound scans are wonderful, but they're also a two-edged sword. There is such a thing as too much information, too many possibilities and none of them good. It's a shame that all the tests search for what's wrong, rather than what's right. On the other hand, we wouldn't have known about the pericardial infusion without the ultrasound, and -- undiagnosed -- that would have killed Bao within hours.

Meanwhile, normal is nice. Normal is more than nice. Normal is -- as they'd say in Australia -- bloody wonderful. I'm thinking, we don't appreciate normal. Bao has spent his whole life eating and sleeping, peeing and pooping, playing and enjoying his little walks -- and I always took all of that for granted. Now, every mouthful is an achievement and every walk is a triumph to be celebrated.

One of my friends said this has been harder on me than it has on Bao, and (although I'm not the one who almost died) there's some truth to that. Bao is a happy camper again, but I'm still shaky.

But we're still together, and that's something.

Actually, that's everything.

2011-03-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Bao was well enough to do lunch at a restaurant -- of course, he can't have little bits of bread and butter (which he loves) because he's still on a strict diet, but he could enjoy the ambience of being out and about. And yesterday (as you can see in the photo) we did Happy Hour at our local wine bar.

Slowly, he's getting his strength back.

Each morning, we walk a little further. I don't want to push him. He's been through so much! But he loves his walks and here in Southern Arizona, this lovely weather will only last for another month or so before it starts getting seriously hot. I'm thinking we should take advantage of it.

Today, we're going to start practicing going up stairs -- just a few steps at a time. I'd like him to build up the muscles in his haunches, so that he can once again jump up on the couch and the bed by himself, the way he's always done. At the moment, I'm having to lift him up and down. And up and down. And up and down.

Never mind -- I'm just incredibly grateful that he's still here with me.

2011-03-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

Things really do seem to be looking up.

Bao has gained a pound. He's eating more or less normally -- he's allowed to have a small amount of boiled chicken with his veterinary diet. I shred the chicken and make little "sandwiches" with chicken shreds on the outside and the healthy stuff hidden inside. This works.

He's definitely stronger. We've gone back to doing our morning and afternoon walks. I bring his stroller along, and when he starts to get tired, I put him in the stroller and we come home. Each morning, he's walking a little bit further. He went to the groomer a couple of days ago, for a "gentle" bath. I'm sure he feels a lot better. He certainly smells better.

To me, this is a miracle. Two weeks ago, he was walking in the valley of the shadow of death -- I truly feared he wouldn't make it.

We still don't know what happened. Anaerobic bacteria? Infection? Fungus? Nobody has a clue. Have other dogs had this? We don't know that, either. Sometimes, people can't afford to take their pets to the vet, especially in these difficult times.

But whatever it was, it seems to have run its course. Fingers crossed!

2011-02-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

Slow, steady improvement.

Food remains an issue. Bao craves cooked chicken, and treats. But if I give him what he wants, he's up and down all night, because he gets gas in his gut and thinks he needs to go out and poop. This happens every half hour on the half hour, from midnight until about 4 AM, when we both fall into an exhausted sleep.

So it's back to the special, veterinary food. I mix it with chicken broth until it's the consistency of thick soup (easier to swallow and harder to spit out) and feed it to him with a spatula, a teaspoonful at a time. He is not enthusiastic. Several times a day he "hoovers" around the kitchen floor, hoping to find the odd crumb from a dog biscuit. I feel so sorry for him!

But I think he's getting stronger. Today, he tried to sit up on his hind legs. He can't, of course. His once sturdy little haunches are now just skin and bone. But at least he's trying. And he's able to balance on three legs and lift his leg to pee. Small gains. But he has been very, very sick.

Your comments and emails have helped so much! Thank you, from both of us. This has been terrible, and it's not over, yet. But I almost dare to let myself hope that we really are going to see light at the end of this tunnel.

2011-02-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

Slight improvement, yesterday. But we've still got a long way to go.

We still don't know what was wrong.

The big issue for me is his appetite, which is almost non-existent. Taking pills on an empty stomach upsets his stomach, but he's got to have the pills -- especially the heart medications. Dr. Mike wants him to eat a special, veterinary food formulated for gastrointestinal upsets, but Bao is not enthusiastic. He can't have his freeze-dried liver treats, or steak, or any of the things he loves, lest they make the pancreatitis flare up again.

Bao has lost nearly four pounds -- that's a lot for a little dog! His hindquarters are very weak -- he stumbles. His sturdy little haunches have just melted away. But he didn't eat anything at all for nearly ten days, so that's understandable.

Even so, the word "better" crossed Dr. Mike's lips yesterday. Bao is doing better, and I'm deeply, profoundly grateful for that.

He's comfortable, sleeping a lot. (But he always sleeps a lot) He's alert, interested in what's going on around him. Now, if I could just get him to eat!

2011-02-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

Bao is holding his own.

The big worry now is that it's all been too much for his heart. Although we seem to have beaten back the "perfect storm" of infections, this was truly an ordeal and there's a very real chance that Bao's dear little heart -- overly stressed by everything he's been through -- will simply stop. There's nothing much to be done about this. Atropine might help, but given his existing heart condition, it might also make things much worse. All we can do at this point is wait, and hope.

He's eating boiled chicken, and drinking diluted Gatorade, and tolerating medication. He's comfortable, and I think he's enjoying being pampered. He's still very weak. After all, he didn't eat for ten days! Improvement will be slow, I've been warned. But he does seem a little stronger, and little bit more alert. We've got to take it a day at a time.

On Friday night, I could barely feel his heart beating. That's when I truly thought he might slip away.

So I'm grateful he's still here with me. Every day is a blessing.

2011-02-18T15:31:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday, the wheels fell off. Dr. Mike thought Bao's heart sounded a bit slow, so he did an ultra-sound -- which showed a large amount of fluid around Bao's heart.

We went straight to a cardiologist, and Bao underwent a surgical procedure to draw off the fluid, which was already affecting his heart. There was a lot of it -- 175 ccs. But nobody could figure out what it was. I've never seen anything like this, said the cardiologist. They've sent it off to a lab, to be tested.

When Bao was stable, they sent him home -- and he promptly began coughing and panting. So back we went. They put him on oxygen and did an x-ray. Now, his lungs were "wet" and he was going into congestive heart failure. Why? Nobody knew. But an injection of lasix helped.

There wasn't much else they could do, so we came home. I didn't want him to die alone, in a cage. If this is the end, I thought, let him be in his own bed, with me. I wasn't sure he'd make it through the night, but he did.

Dr. Mike is now wondering if the underlying cause might be Valley Fever, a disease that afflicts dogs and people in this area. We're waiting for those tests to come back, too.

This morning, Bao ate real food and enjoyed it. This is a good sign. There's no fluid around his heart, either. But his blood work now shows elevated white cell count and something going on with his liver. (If it hadn't been for the blood work, I'd be dancing in the street, because he seems so much better)

Dr. Mike thinks the liver involvement might have been caused by the build-up of fluid around his heart. In that case, it should sort itself out. Here's hoping.

But we're not out of the woods yet.

2011-02-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

What an ordeal!

Bao's spasms eased, but he continued to refuse food. Then on Friday, a second test for pancreatis came back positive. At that point, Dr. Mike decided to do an ultrasound, which revealed some upset in the pancreas (but nothing major) and an enlarged adrenal gland. Suddenly, the pieces fit. Bao has Cushings.

Cushings can be subtle. Signs are a pot belly, and increased hydration and urination. Over the past few months, Bao has indeed developed a little pot but I thought it was just Christmas overindulgence. Has he been drinking more than usual? Perhaps. But it's been unusually dry this year -- everybody's drinking more water. So no alarm bells rang.

Here's what Dr. Mike thinks happened. The Cushings (which attacks the auto-immune system) made him vulnerable to whatever bug got into his gut, which then inflamed the pancreas. So it wasn't just one thing, but a combination of things. That's why the test results were so confusing. When Dr. Mike finally did test for Cushings, it came back positive.

I'm telling you all the gory details because Cushings is subtle, and can do big damage. I never even knew about Cushings. Apparently, it's common in older, small dogs.

Bao didn't eat for a week (fasting is the treatment for pancreatitis) and yesterday he was so weak he could barely stand up to pee. Although he's been showing an interest in food, he's only allowed to have diluted Gatorade, chicken broth and mashed potatoes -- and thus far, I have not been able to interest him in the mashed potatoes.

Meanwhile, I've got the flu. So it's been a rough week.

Thanks for the comments, and the emails. They've kept our spirits up.

2011-02-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

Bao has been terribly ill since Sunday. Three days -- and nearly $1000 later -- we still don't even know for sure what's wrong.

He has periodic, wracking stomach spasms. His whole little body wrenches. He hasn't eaten anything since Sunday night, although he's drinking water. But every time he takes a drink it sets off more spasms.

The x-rays showed nothing amiss. The blood tests came back negative for everything. Kidneys, liver, lungs, all doing what they should. His electrolytes are good. His blood pressure is excellent. No neurological symptoms, either.

The spasms are painful but because of Bao's heart condition, Dr. Mike doesn't want to use pain killers, because they'll raise his blood pressure. Infant anti-gas medicine and juvenile Immodium seem to be helping with the symptoms. But what's causing this? At the moment, the best guess is some kind of extremely nasty, anaerobic bacteria in his gastrointestinal tract. He's taking medicine for that, but so far the bacteria -- if that's what they are -- are winning.

I am beside myself. I'm afraid that if I leave him alone, he'll stop breathing and die. This is irrational, but after three sleepless nights the ghosts and goblins come out to play.

Any ideas? Help!

2011-02-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Bao and I have had some great rides, but last weekend's excursion on the Grand Canyon Railway topped them all.

Even if you've seen the Grand Canyon (and we have) the vintage train trip from Williams to the Grand Canyon is definitely worth doing. We made a whole weekend of it, staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams (famous for being the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by the Interstate highway) and enjoying sumptuous, all you can eat breakfast and dinner buffets.

Before you board the train, there's a Wild West show, staged by three very authentic looking and sounding cowboys on a Wild West set that provides a vicarious experience of life in the back blocks of Arizona 100 years ago. (As you can see, Bao and one of the cowboys really hit it off)The show is good fun, and witty. Disneyland for grownups.

They serve pastries and muffins and coffee (and champagne) on the morning train. Coming back in the afternoon, there was a cheese platter, and raw vegetables and dip (and more champagne) Plus a surprise encore when the three cowboys stopped the train in the middle of nowhere and staged a "train robbery".

You get to spend several hours at the Grand Canyon, too. But the real fun was the train.

2011-01-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

If you were forced to choose between your spouse and your pet, which would you choose? And how difficult would it be to make the choice?

84% of the respondents to this survey (conducted by AP-Petside.com) said they'd keep their spouse. 14% said they'd keep their pet.

Not surprisingly, unmarried people were more likely to say they'd choose their pet.

And women were twice as likely to describe the choice as "tough" than men.

It reminds me of the question little children often ask their parents, Who do you love more, me or my brother?

You reply that you love them both the same. But differently too, because they're different people. Not more or less. Just different.

I remember being appalled when -- after my son had suffered massive head injuries in a car crash -- people "comforted" me with the comment that I was still young enough to have another child. As if a child could be simply replaced, like a worn-out appliance! Several years later when my husband died, the same people assured me that I could easily "find another man."

So I guess I found this particular poll a little bit disturbing.

Love is special, inclusive and limitless. The loss of a loved one is horrible, and it's no less horrible when that loved one is a beloved pet.

Who would I keep, my pet or my spouse? What a silly question!

2011-01-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here in Scottsdale, Chairman Bao and I are more likely to be walking than driving, What they call Old Scottsdale is a pedestrian's delight. Meandering avenues, squares, fountains, trees, bridges, a canal, shops, al fresco restaurants -- sort of like the River Walk in San Antonio, without the river.

They say if you walk five miles per week, you're at significantly less risk of a stroke or a heart attack. And Bao enjoys walking, up to a point. He'll trot along happily for a mile (more if there are other dogs around) but then suddenly, it's over. He stops in his tracks, and sits down. The little legs are tired. He's done.

That's why we've got the stroller. Here he is with our friend Luz, in one of the many plazas. He's had his walk, and he's had prosciutto and cheese from my fabulous panini, and a sip of my zinfandel. Now he's mellow, ready to curl up and watch the world go by as I push his stroller home.

Ah, well. It's a dog's life.

2011-01-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

If you're reading this blog, you're probably a "dog person".

In other words, you're likely to be agreeable, outgoing and conscientious.

These are the findings from a psychological study that measured the personality traits of 4500 people and then asked them whether they considered themselves to be "dog people" or "cat people".

The five personality traits measured were conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and openness (which meant creative, philosophical or non-traditional)

Dog people scored higher on conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion.

Cat people scored higher on neuroticism and openness.

Bao and I are together all the time, so people who don't like dogs tend not to become friendly with me. That's okay. But I do have friends who have cats, and now that I think about it, they are a bit more creative and generally more "unusual" in their attitudes than my dog-owning friends.

Of course, you can't generalize. There are all sorts of people, just as there are all sorts of dogs and -- I suppose -- cats.

But I thought it was interesting.

2011-01-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

We've come to Mexico to escape the rats.

Neither of us was sleeping. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and Bao would be sitting up and staring into the darkness, growling softly. I guess he could hear them, or smell them. Or both. And then afterwards, I couldn't get back to sleep.

Bao has never chased anything -- much less attacked anything -- in his entire life. He is indifferent to lizards, and scared of rabbits. Birds puzzle him. And as far as he is concerned, cats do not exist. I cannot imagine him going after a rat, although I can imagine a rat coming after him! That's one of the reasons we've decided to spend the week here at Rocky Point.

The other reason is to give the exterminators a chance to set traps all over the condo, instead of just in the places where Bao can't go. I don't know how many rats there actually are, but even one rat is too many for me.

Bao loves it here, and has made himself comfortable on the banquette, in the sun. And don't you love the glittery little bow the groomer gave him?

2011-01-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Arizona is in the news again, for all the wrong reasons. The shooting in Tucson was horrible. But contrary to what you're thinking, everyone who lives in Arizona doesn't carry a gun. I don't carry a gun. I don't even own a gun.
Moreover, I've never seen anyone shot. (Except in Tombstone, where they reenact the Wyatt Earp thing several times a day.)
However, during the five years I lived in Tucson, there were several incidents concerning young men using dogs for target practice, and then leaving them to die -- in agony -- in the desert. To my dismay, this didn't really upset many people. Boys would be boys. Besides, the victims were "only" dogs.

This time, the victims were people. Six of them died. (Of course, we're not hearing as much about the dead as about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was one of 14 people who were wounded) There has been much talk blaming this tragedy on the "inflammatory language" that characterizes so much American political debate.

Yet thus far, there's no evidence that the shooter was influenced by the ravings of either the far left or the far right. He seems to have been just another angry young man with a gun, not all that different from the young men who shot those helpless dogs.

2011-01-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

What does a Shih Tzu do when it sees a rat?
Apparently, absolutely nothing.
Living in a brand new, state of the art, fifth floor condominium, I didn't think I had to worry about critters, anymore. Turns out, I was wrong.
When my dishwasher flooded the day before New Years Eve (these things always happen on a holiday weekend) the repairman removed its front plate so we could see underneath and voila! A gnawed-through hose, and rat droppings. I couldn't believe it. Rats? On the fifth floor?
Apparently, they're in the walls. "And once they get in, they climb," said the exterminator. "They didn't just pick your condo. They're on all the floors below you, too."
He set four traps, and we caught a rat that same night. Happy New Year.
Over the past few days, I've learned more about rats than I ever wanted to know. For instance, their teeth never stop growing and that's why they have to keep gnawing on things. I didn't know that. Did you?
Anyway, we haven't caught anything for a couple of days now and I'm sort of hoping it was just the one rat.
And Bao? He couldn't care less.

2011-01-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everybody!
And thank you for the emails. Bao is fine. I am fine. In many ways, 2010 was a difficult year. But knowing that you are out there in cyberspace actually reading what I write has heartened and inspired me.
So guess what? It snowed yesterday, here in Scottsdale. Not enough to make a decent snowball, but definitely white stuff coming down from the sky. Bao looked up, and a snowflake landed on his dear little nose. He was more amazed than anything else -- and of course it melted in less time than it took him to lick it.
He's on four different medications (two for his heart, two for the constipation problems due to the hernia that they don't want to operate on because of his heart) and so far -- knock wood -- is doing fine. Blood pressure down, energy levels up, everything good. At the moment, he's a happy senior citizen. And if he's happy, I'm happy.
Let me take a moment to wish you -- and your four-legged loved ones -- a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. And to assure you that one of my three New Years resolutions is to blog at least once a week. (The other two have to do with more exercise and not eating so much chocolate, and will probably fall by the wayside)
Next time I'll tell you about the rats.

2010-09-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Bao's blood pressure is up. Bummer.
We've increased the carvedilol -- but it's tricky. The right amount will (hopefully) bring his blood pressure back down, but too much can send him into heart failure. I have to watch him for signs of lethargy, weakness and loss of appetite.
This isn't as easy as it sounds. Bao has always been a couch potato rather than a jock. His idea of a perfect afternoon is a belly rub followed by a nap in the sun. (He loves it when I get a cold, because if I stay in bed all day, so can he) And it's been unseasonably hot, here in Scottsdale. How do you pinpoint lethargy in a little dog who hates 100-degree-plus temperatures and doesn't do much anyhow?
Of course, as regular readers of this blog already know, I tend to be hypervigilant where Bao is concerned. Especially now that he has this mitral valve thing. So he sleeps, and I fret.
I know there's a machine you can buy that reduces blood pressure in people. You listen to music and it somehow slows down your breathing and this -- for reasons I don't quite understand -- lowers your blood pressure which then stays low, even after the music has stopped.
I wish there was something like that for dogs!

2010-09-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

Bao has just had his bi-monthly check up, and the news is as good as it could be -- his heart murmur has gone from a 4 (on a scale of 1-6) to a 3. Of course, that doesn't mean that his mitral valve is getting better ... altough, wouldn't that be wonderful?!?
Dr. Mike explained to me that heart murmurs can vary from day to day. But the good news is that it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. The whole point of the medication is to slow things down, and -- fingers crossed! -- that's what seems to be happening.
Bao has been snoring and snorting a lot when he sleeps, and that was worrying me. But people do the same thing, as they get older. I had a friend in Australia whose husband snored so loudly they had separate bedrooms at opposite ends of the house. (I actually didn't believe this until I stayed with them one night. I'll never forget it. You wouldn't think a human being could make so much noice, and sleep through it!)
When I remember how sick Bao was in July, I am just so grateful that he is still here with me, sleeping at my feet. Every day is a blessing.

2010-09-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

Bao and I have been sleeping up a storm every since we got home -- I think the altitude in Aspen affected us both. Or maybe it was all the driving. Or maybe, the combination of travel and altitude. After all, neither of us is as young as we used to be! But then again, who is?
Bao is glad to be back where there are sidewalks, and where the dogs are mostly his size, and on leashes. He is a very conventional, very urban little dog. He likes his little routines, and his creature comforts. When we travel, I always bring a few of his toys along, but I guess there's nothing quite so comforting as sleeping in your own bed ... especially if you're a little dog.
Don't know if I mentioned it, but Bao has been on a raw meat diet for the past few months, and it's working out really well. I buy hormone-free meat for him, and for myself, too. In fact, I try to avoid additives whenever I can, but it's not easy. You can hardly buy anything that isn't full of artificial colors, preservatives and flavorings, these days. Take potato chips. (I love potato chips) All you need to make potato chips are potatoes, oil and salt -- but finding a bag of potato chips that contain only these three ingredients is a real challenge.
What are we doing to ourselves? It's kind of scary, all this artificial, chemical coloring and flavoring. Eating healthy is not only difficult, it's expensive. And it shouldn't be that way. Not for dogs, and not for people, either.

Serendipity

2010-09-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Aspen, the road forked and -- as always -- I
zigged when I should have zagged and found myself driving through some
of the most spectacular scenery in the United States.
I was on Highway 163 (I was meant to have stayed on 191) skirting the
western side of Monument Valley. It was overcast and even raining in
places, but even so, I felt as if I was in a John Ford movie. It was
absolutely, breathtakingly magnificent.
Bao was asleep, although he woke up when I stopped to snap this photo.
He got out of the car and sniffed. Then he looked at me as if to say,
Nobody worth a pee has ever been here, so what are you getting so
excited about?
It was raining quite heavily by the time we got to Kayenta, so I
postponed my tour of Monument Valley -- the clouds are amazing, but I
think it's the kind of thing you want to see in the sunshine.
It just stopped raining. This motel has a heated pool. Bao is asleep
next to me. Life is good.

Bao in the lap of luxury

2010-09-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

We are staying at an uncharacteristically upmarket and expensive
venue, Aspen Meadows Resort, attending a Renaissance Weekend event.
The rooms are lovely. The surroundings are lovely - green grass, lush
foliage, trees, sculpture, ponds, mountains, blue sky. But for some
reason, the grounds of this extremely pricey resort hotel also
function as an off-leash dog park for locals and their large, much
loved, undisciplined four-legged friends. I'm not talking about one or
two dogs. I'm talking about packs of dogs. Many big dogs, running
loose at all hours.
This isn't working for Bao. He's never liked dog parks. (Frankly,
neither have I) He's small and he's old and he doesn't want to be
jumped by six huge strange dogs who want to smell his butt whenever we
set foot outdoors. He hasn't pooped. He's literally scared shitless.
The staff are sanguine. "Aspen is dog friendly" they say.
So is Carmel. But you don't see dogs running loose in the streets of
Carmel. You don't see dogs running loose in the streets of Aspen,
either. Only here, at Aspen Meadows Resort, where one night's
accommodation costs more than a month's HOA fees!
Aspen Meadows Resort has gone to the dogs, and they can have it.
We won't be back.

Amazing Moab

2010-09-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

After our austere weekend at Canyon de Chelly, I wasn't really looking
forward to our drive to Aspen, Colorado -- but you know, they've made
air travel such a miserable ordeal that if a place is less than 12
hours' drive, I drive.
So off we went, north through Flagstaff to avoid as much of the Navajo
Nation as possible.
It's a much nicer drive. And Moab -- where we spent the night -- was
wonderful, set in the midst of spectacular, red rock scenery and
boasting a full complement of nice motels and great restaurants.
So here's Bao, sleeping off his share of a Jack Daniels half pound
cheeseburger at the Moab Brewery. I'm having a second glass of
Cabernet from a Moab vineyard. I never knew they had vineyards in
Utah, did you?

2010-08-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Bao and I, in the depths of Canyon de Chelly.
This was different. Canyon de Chelly (in northeast Arizona) is very spectacular, but it's not exactly a canyon. It's more like a long, wide valley flanked by sheer, thousand-foot-high cliffs. Centuries ago, the Anasazi build homes into the sides of the cliffs, and you can still see some of the remains. After the Anasazi came the Hopi, and after them, the Navajo.
Bao -- as usual -- was unimpressed. With Bao, it's all about sniffing and peeing. But since pets aren't allowed in Canyon de Chelly, there was nothing interesting to sniff at, and no place worthy of a pee. At least, it was cooler than it is in Scottsdale at the moment. He liked that. So did I.
The valley itself is watered by several dozen streams and is very fertile. Navajo still live there, raising sheep and planting crops and popping out at intervals to sell necklaces to the tourists who come through twice a day on flat-bed trucks with seats bolted to them. You drive into the mouth of the canyon and then follow one of the water-courses -- it's a very bumpy ride.
The Navajo Reservation is a separate, sovereign nation. They have their own schools, and their own police force, and their own language. (English is a second language) Being there is rather disconcerting. You think you're in the United States, but you're not. And the Navajo neveer let you forget it.

2010-08-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Bao loves our new place in Scottsdale.
It's a condo -- but it's a condo with a difference. They call it the "stacked townhouse concept" and if you can imagine townhouses stacked one on top of the other rather than arranged side by side, you've got the idea.
Each condo has its own yard. The yards are actually balconies, of course. But they are all different shapes and sizes and some of them (including mine) are huge. All the balconies are irrigated, and planted and maintained by the developer's army of gardeners. Mine consists of 800 sq. ft. and has plantings of palm trees, acacias, and even a 30-foot Palo Verde -- all on the fifth floor!
If Bao needs to go out in the wee, small hours all I have to do is open the sliders. No coyotes -- not on the fifth floor! No bobcats. No mountain lions. And no more standing there with a flashlight and a baseball bat to ward off the wildlife, waiting for him to pee!
The place is set in acres and acres of gardens and fountains, and has won just about every architectural prize going. It came on line just as the economy tanked, which was bad luck for the developer and good luck for me, because I could have never aforded to live here before housing prices went south.
It's called Optima Camelview Village. And as you can see, Bao has made himself right at home.
Oh, and did I mention? It's in the heart of downtown Scottsdale, just across the street from Fashion Mall. Location, location, location.

2010-08-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

Bao is currently on four different medications -- two for the heart condition, and two more to keep his bowels functioning. Turns out, all four of them are "people" medications, available (with a prescription) at an ordinary drug-store.

I discovered this when the lccal veterinary pharmacy advised me they were all out of whatever they needed to fill the prescription for one of the heart meds, and wouldn't have more for at least a week. I was horrified. This is probably the most important medication of all, and Bao has to take it twice a day. What were we supposed to do?

They suggested that I get our veternarian to write another prescription, which could be filled by a drug-store. So we did, and off we went to Walgreens.

A month's supply of what we needed cost a whopping $79 -- unless Bao had a Pharmaceutical Card. In that case, it was only $9.99.

How could Bao possibly have a Pharmaceutical Card? I asked the nice young man. Bao is a dog.

Doesn't matter, replied the nice young man. He can still have his own Pharmaceutical Card. If you buy it today, it'll cost you $29.99 for everything. And the next time you buy the meds, they'll only cost you $9.99.

Long story short, Bao has now got his very own Walgreens Pharmaceutical Card. I never knew dogs could get Pharmaceutical Cards, so I'm passing this on for whatever it's worth -- it was worth $50 to us!

If your dog (or cat) is on medication, it might be something worth looking into.

2010-08-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why your dog's grooming costs more than your own shampoo and blow dry?
Because your hairdresser does not wash and clean your rear end.
Because you do not go for eight weeks without brushing your hair.
Because your hairdresser does not have to give your pubic area and butt a sanitary trim.
Because your hairdresser does not have to clean your ears.
Because your hairdresser does not have to remove eye boogers.
Because you sit still for your haircut.
Because your haircut does not include a manicure and a pedicure.
Because your hairdresser only has to wash and cut the hair on your head.
Because you do not bite or scratch your hairdresser.
Because the liklihood of your pooping on your hairdresser is pretty slim.
This comes from a sign that's posted at Bao's new groomer. It cracked me up. Hope it brings a smile to your day, too.

2010-08-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

How truly lucky I am to be able to afford to pay for the veterinary examinations, treatments and medications that Bao has needed during this difficult time!
It must be horrible to have a sick pet and not be able to afford the necessary treatments and medicines. And I can tell you, these things aren't cheap. Again and again, I've found myself thinking about people less fortunate than I am -- and wondering how I might be able to help.
There don't seem to be any charitable organizations dedicated to helping people obtain medical treatment for their pets. (If there are -- and I just haven't been able to find them -- I'd appreciate knowing about them) Since I haven't got any family (besides Bao) I asked my lawyer if I could possibly provide for an organization like this in my will.
But how would such an organization function? How would people apply for assistance? How do you weed out the cheats? These things take time -- and in a medical emergency (and it usually is an emergency) there isn't any time. How could you make something like this work?
If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. This is sometghing that needs to be done. But I don't know how to do it.

2010-07-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Do you know how to tell if your dog is dehydrated?
Stick the tip of your finger underneath his (or her) upper lip against the gums -- if it feels moist, your dog is okay. But if it's dry or tacky, your dog is dehydrated.
Bao has always had a problem with drinking water. He doesn't like water. He's never liked water. I used to make a joke about it. I'd tell people, He's like me. He prefers Scotch.
But in Southern Arizona in the summer, this is no longer a joking matter. With Bao's gastrointestinal "issues" hydration is absolutely vital. I understand that. Unfortunately, he doesn't. And reasoning with a Shih Tzu is like reasoning with a two-year-old.
So what do you do with a dog who won't drink water? Our vet offered to teach me how to hydrate him subcutaneously -- but I put that idea in the "If All Else Fails" box. Using a syringe and shooting water into his mouth worked for a few days, until he caught on and figured out how to spit it all back out at me. Dipping my finger in water and letting him lick it off works, but it is -- how can I put this -- time consuming. (I suppose I should be grateful he's not a Great Dane)
So I got soup bones and boiled up some beef broth. Voila! I still have to coax him, but at least he'll drink it. However, coax is still the operative word.
But seriously, if anyone out there has a a better idea, I would absolutely love to hear it!

2010-07-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

Thirty years ago, nobody would have ever dreamed of having the family dog's teeth cleaned!
So what happened?
Dog food happened. Commercially prepared dogfood in cans -- and at first, that wasn't a bad thing. It was handy. Ir was convenient. You gave your dog canned food, and you supplemented it with table scraps and bones.
Then, conglomerates happened. Big companies swallowed small companies. Managers realized that pet food was big busines, and some bright MBA figured out there were more profits to be made from dry pet food than from tinned pet food. Billions of advertising dollars were spent in an effort to persuade people that these dried foods were "better". Part of the campaign consisted of bad-mouthing things like table scraps, raw meat and bones. Table scraps aren't healthy and raw meat can give your dog tapeworms, we were told. Worse, bone splinters can lodge in your dog's intestines and kill him. Yikes.
So we stopped giving our dogs table scraps, raw meat and bones.
And now our dogs need to have their teeth cleaned. Under anesthetic, no less. Why? Because dogs are carnivores, genetically engineered to eat raw meat and bones.
I'm guilty. I listened to the "expert" advice and tried to follow the trends, but Bao was smarter than I was. He wouldn't touch canned dog food, and he'd rather starve then eat the dry stuff. But I did stop giving him bones, because I was scared a splinter would lodge in his intestines, and he would die. So he developed tartar, and that's probably why he's got the heart condition. The tartar breaks away, enters the blood stream and causes heart disease.
Please, throw out the kibble and feed your dog raw meat. And give him bones. More dogs die under anesthesia having their teeth cleaned than because a bone has lodged in thieir intestines. As for raw meat, you can cure a tapeworm with a pill, but at this writing, canine mitral valve disease is a death sentence.

2010-07-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

Dogs live in the moment. When they're happy, they're totally happy. Tomorrow doesn't worry them.
Bao doesn't worry about his defective mitral valve. It doesn't hurt, and it doesn't affect his life. So as far as he's concerned, it's not a problem. He rolls over on his back so that the ceiling fan can blow cool air on his tummy, and he's a happy camper, living in the here and now.
Of course, I worry enough for both of us.
Buddhism teaches us to live in the moment, to enjoy the moment. No regrets, and no worries. Just here and now. Because when you stop to think about it, here and now is all we've got.
I'm trying not to worry so much.
We're in Mexico right now, escaping from the triple-digit, Scottsdale heat. There must be a storm somewhere, because it's overcast and there's a big surf pounding in. Bao loves it here. He loves sitting on the banquette and watching people come and go on the beach. He loves walking on the expanse of hard sand at low tide. He's sleeping at my feet as I write this, his dear, soft little muzzle nestled against my instep.
He's happy. I'm happy.
Here and now is good.

2010-07-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging because I was scared Bao was going to die.
His heart murmur got worse, much worse. He has a faulty mitral valve (a common condition in small dogs) and the first prognosis was grim: "When he starts coughing, that means he's in congestive heart failure. Here are some pills. But there's not really much we can do. Just watch him, and bring him in when he starts coughing."
So you can see why I didn't feel like blogging!
Then, more bad news. Bao's developed a hernia (probably as a result of the surgery he had last year) and it's become difficult for him to poop. He squats and pushes, but nothing comes out. Awful. The hernia could be easily repaired surgically, but because of the heart condition, anesthetic now poses real risks.
Okay, that's it for the bad news.
Now for the good news.
We've found a wonderful veternarian in Scottsdale -- Dr Mike Soltero. He's trying to manage the hernia/constipation problem pharmeceutically and (fingers crossed!) it seems to be working.
More good news -- there's a specialist canine coronary unit at Colorado State University, and they've developed a technique to repair faulty mitral valves in small dogs. We went up there last month.
The best news of all is that the heart problem hasn't affected Bao's day to day life one bit. He's his happy little self. Watching him prance along Scottsdale Road, you wouldn't think anything was wrong with him.
So, we're back ... this has all been very difficult, but I guess as we get older, we have to anticipate these kinds of problems. People, and dogs too. I've learned a lot in the past few months, and I'm thinking that if Bao and I share the rest of our journey together, our experiences might hopefully be helpful to someone else.
I've missed you.

2009-12-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Watching me taking books off shelves and putting them into boxes has been unsettling for Bao, but the garage sale was the last straw. People walking away with our stuff -- yikes!
There is no way I can fit the papa-san chair into our new place, end of story. But Bao wouldn't let me sell it, either. He hunkered down in it and when someone came close, his lower lip quivered -- just like a little kid, about to cry. So of course, everyone felt sorry for him and said things like, I just wouldn't have the heart to buy his chair!
It's amazing, the way people behave at garage sales. I had some large, painted, ceramic pots that I was selling for $7 each -- they cost six times that much, new. And this woman really, really wanted one of them. But she wanted to buy it for $5 and it was still early, so I said no. She haggled for nearly ten minutes (over $2) and then left -- with many a backward look -- climbing into her brand new Mercedes and driving away. Someone else bought the pot -- for $7 -- half an hour later.
But nobody bought the papa-san chair. Nobody dared. So Bao thinks he's won, but he hasn't. It'a going to the consignment store, next week.

Book Street at the Scottsdale Art Festival

2009-11-22T07:07:00.000-08:00

Meeting people, selling books, enjoying the buzz and the sunshine.
To our left, someone selling books about her rescued dogs and a basket
full of homemade dog treats. So Bao is happy.
We're sharing a table with two psychologists who have written a self-
help book -- which, of course, is what one does nowadays, if one is a
psychologist. Across the way, the author of a diet book.
Most of the people who come to art festivals are looking for art,
rather than books. So we're mostly buying stuff from one another. I
know, I should be home, packing. But this is more fun.

2009-11-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged! But so much has been happening.
We sold our house in Tucson. That was traumatic. But it had to be done. The neighborhood has changed rather dramatically, and it was time to move on. Actually, the "plan" for the past couple of years has been to downsize in Arizona, and upsize in Rocky Point. Problem is, we did it back to front. Well, I did it back to front. Bao just went along. He always goes along. It is one of his virtues.
But it's all worked out. We got a great bargain here in Rocky Point, and lost money in Tucson. Swings and roundabouts. And now we're moving to Scottsdale.
We've rented a fabulous condo at Optima, right across the street from Fashion Square, walking distance from Old Town. Cafes and wine bars galore. And no more HOA dues. (No more HOA) No more property taxes. No more water. No more gas. No more insurance. All we have to pay is the electricity bill, and of course, the rent. But wait'll you see the place!
We've been spending a lot of time here in Mexico, recharging our batteries. Bao is seeing a homeopathic veternarian, and although we're into some very odd things, there has definitely been an improvement. He's pooping normal little poops. This is nice.
Next week, we'll be at Book Street at the Scottsdale Arts Festival, promoting Sea Changes. If you're in the area, come and visit us and Bao will give you a kiss. So will I.

2009-10-05T11:32:00.001-07:00

Here's Bao, minding our stall at the First Annual Sedona Book Festival.
It was wonderful. It was fantastic. It was absolutely incredible. We sold 30 copies of Sea Changes -- and chatted with people and had a glorious (if somewhat exhausting) day.
This is the first Book Festival we've done, although we're doing another one in Scottsdale, just before Thanksgiving.
I have to say, Book Festivals are much more fun than Trade Shows, probably because the people who come to Book Festivals actually read books and like talking to authors. One thing that's surprised me is that many booksellers don't like authors very much. This is especially true of independent booksellers. I find this counter intuitive, because you'd think independent booksellers in particular would be delighted to have an author come and spend a few hours in their store drumming up business. Instead, they act as if they're doing you a favor. Which I suppose they are. But you're doing them a favor, too.
The big chains are different. Borders and Barnes & Noble are both more approachable, and friendler than many of the independents I've approached -- which of course is the opposite of what I expected.
Anyhow, we had a great day. It's not so much about selling books as it's about having fun. And we certainly had fun.

2009-10-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

Funny story.
As you know, Bao's constipation has been an issue. (I almost cancelled the whole Denver thing) Happily, our veternarian solved the problem. The prescription was a tablespoonful of pureed pumpkin every day. Of course, getting Bao to accept the pumpkin was something of a challenge. I ended up buying packets of thin-shaved turkey slices, and wrapping the pumpkin in them. Little packets of yummy. Don't laugh. It works.
But I've certainly been paying attention to what does -- or doesn't -- come out. And on our last day in Denver, when nothing came out, I was concerned. What should I do? Metamucil? Milk of Magnesia?
However, the next morning at our Durango motel, all systems turned out to be go, and I was happy, and relieved.
"Good boy!" I said, as if he'd just laid golden eggs. "What a good boy! Oh! and here's another little poo! What a nice little poo! Bao is such a good boy!"
It was at this point that I realized half a dozen people were standing there staring bemusedly at us. Staring at me, actually. I almost started to explain about the constipation, but then I thought, I'm just not going there.
So I smiled, and scooped the poop, and kept walking.

2009-09-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is what our booth at the Trade Show looked like. Actually, doing a Trade Show was a bit like having a baby -- an interesting experience, but not one I'd want to repeat. You stand there and smile. And smile and smile and smile, whether anyone smiles back, or not. Disapppointingly, there weren't nearly as many people as the organizers had promised. Par for the course, I was told by other exhibitors. Ah, well. You live and learn.
We took a different route home from Denver, through Durango and Flagstaff. It's beautiful country, especially in Colorado. The leaves are changing, and some of the vistas were truly spectacular. You don't see anything like this in Australia. I sometimes think Americans don't realize how very beautiful this country is!
So it was delightfully scenic, but it was also slow -- mostly two-lane highways (one lane each way) and a lot of roadwork. Six hours of driving for each of the first two days, four hours yesterday. I really must teach Bao how to drive!
Back home in Tucson, our so-called monsoon has ended. We got a grand total of three inches of rain. I'm thinking that instead of calling it The Monsoon, they should dub this annual non-event, The Dribble.

2009-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Bao's idea of heaven is breakfasting in bed on sausages and crispy bacon, followed by a nap among the feather-filled pillows before his morning walk.
He is loving this part of the book tour. He loves to roll on the cool tiles in the lobby. He loves the grass and the trees and the myriad "messages" left by all the other visiting dogs at this very pleasant and pet-friendly hotel. He loves sitting on his own little chair at our booth and being told he's gorgeous. Bao is having a ball.
I'm enjoying it, too. We're not allowed to actually sell books -- the idea is to allow librarians and booksellers to become familiar with new titles. Later today, I'm participating in an Author Signing in which we autograph and give away up to 100 copies of Sea Changes. I don't mind -- if these people enjoy reading Sea Changes, they'll order additional copies for their stores and libraries. That's the plan, anyhow. And it's difficult to "fail" when you're handing out freebies!
So this morning, we're both happy campers.

2009-09-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

It snowed. I kid you not -- about 50 miles south of Denver, the temperature dropped and the rain turned to snow. My car is not eqipped to handle snow. I am not eqipped to handle snow. I would have got off the road and waited for it to stop, but the visibility was so bad I was afraid to change lanes. Bao was asleep, and no help at all.
Anyway, here we are in Denver for the Mountains Plains Independent Bookseller Trade Show. The idea of the exercise is to make booksellers and librarians from Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas and Utah aware of the fact that this wonderful new novel called Sea Changes exists. You can't say I'm not trying!
Our booth looks really good but alas! Until I get home and can plug this device into my computer and download the gmail update, I am unable to send photos from the iPhone to Blogger. You might say we've been updated right out of the system. But you know what they say. In cyberspace, nobody can hear you scream.

2009-09-22T10:52:00.001-07:00

We're on the road, again.
First stop, Las Cruces -- and one of our most successful signings ever, at the Barnes & Noble.
Now we're in Albuquerque, getting ready for a signing tonight at Bookworks, a lovely, local independent bookstore. Bao's intestinal woes have cleared up nicely. I give him a tablespoon of puree pumpkin every night, and it works wonderfully. (This was the vet's idea) So I suppose you could say, All systems are go. Or going.
My iPhone stopped speaking to Blogger yesterday, so we spent all morning at an AT&T Store, where a nice, young man erased my carefully-written and saved blog, decided he didn't know what was wrong after all and sent me to an Apple store, where they got me this far. I have to say, I've been very impressed with the level of technical support I've recieved at Apple stores. These days, customer service is as rare a species as Bengal tigers!
If you also see a photo with this blog, you'll know the Apple intervention was a success!

2009-09-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

Broken phone. Again.

2009-09-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

Visited http://www.dogwalkmusings.blogspot.com/ to see what our friend Mari was up to, and look at the great photo of Bao I found!

Ah, those were the days.

Meanwhile, Sea Changes has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Isn't that exciting? This is probably as close as I'll ever get to being famous. Bao was utterly unimpressed until I explained to him that if Sea Changes makes the final cut, we'll get to go someplace really nice for lunch. That got his attention. Bao loves doing lunch.

We've been doing the eye-drop routine every six hours, and Bao's left eye seems to be improving. At least that's what Dr. Rincon said. Well, I think that's what he said. I'm sort of doing this in Spanglish. We have to go back for another check up, tomorrow.

I'm exhausted. Getting up in the middle of the night to squirt eye-drops into Bao's eye is not all that difficult, but getting back to sleep afterwards is almost impossible. So I've been taking afternoon naps.

Afternoon naps. My mother used to take afternoon naps. Does this mean I'm getting old?

2009-09-04T15:13:00.001-07:00

We get beautiful sunsets here in Mexico at this time of year. Here's one of them.

Bao has an ulcerated cornea. Actually, I think it started while we were still in Tucson. I remember him shaking his head, and pawing at the left side of his face, although I didn't think anything of it at the time.

We came to Mexico last Saturday and the next morning, he was distressed. He lay on the couch, whimpering and pawing at his face. And when he stood up his head wobbled and his eye drooped. I got really scared. I thought he was having a stroke. Why do these things always happen on a Sunday? I was getting ready to drive back to Tucson, but then he seemed to improve.

On Monday morning, things were worse again. My friend Bonnie (who raises Bichons) came over and examined Bao and said it wasn't his ear, it was his eye. She recommended a local (Mexican) veternarian, and drove us there for a consultation. Eye drops were prescribed, two drops every six hours. Day and night. I am exhausted, but Bao is much happier and his eye looks better, too.

We have another veternary appointment tomorrow morning. Never a dull moment.

2009-08-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

Our friend Bacchus crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday. It's so hard to lose a friend. Vale, Bacchus. Sleep well, and dream wonderful dreams.

We're still in Mexico, going back to Tucson on Monday. Probably, we'll only stay there long enough for both of us to get groomed, and then come back here for another couple of weeks. Even if we lived here, we'd have to go back to Tucson every two weeks for grooming. Both of us. Actually, at this point, I don't know whose hair looks worse!

Bao has been constipated. This is something new, and not much fun for either of us. He can't understand what's wrong. He squats and looks up at me as if he's saying, It always used to work. What's going on?

I'm thinking it's partly old age, and partly dehydration (getting Bao to drink enough water has always been an uphill battle) It's not chronic, only every few weeks. People (including the veternarian and Bao's wonderful groomer Ginny) have suggested different things. Tinned dog food, for example, to increase his water intake. But he hates it. Milk of Magnesia works, but usually not until 3 am. which is inconvenient.

Suggestions, anyone?

2009-08-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Bao on his deck chair, poolside in Mexico.

And make no mistake about it, this is HIS chair. This is where he sits when we come to the pool. Here, and not anywhere else.

When everyone was being stupid about swine flu (of which there have been no cases in the Mexican state of Sonora ) we often had the place to ourselves during the week. And because the palm trees cast their shadows across these chairs during the morning hours -- and because I had my choice of every deck chair here -- this is where I got in the habit of sitting.

It's different, now. There are more people here. If we don't get down to the pool early, someone else has often claimed "our" spot. I accept this. Bao doesn't.

Bao wants to sit here. This is his chair. This is where he sits when he comes the pool. End of discussion. And if someone else happens to be sitting here -- well, he just jumps up and joins them. After I've explained the situation (in my slowly improving Spanish) most people just laugh and put up with him. But sometimes, I have to pick him up and carry him away. When that happens, he lies down and stares balefully at the interloper.

So we're heading down to the pool, now -- before someone grabs Bao's chair.

2009-08-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

Bad Newz. Michael Vick is out of jail.

I'm not happy about this. A lot of people aren't.

Yes, I know. He's served his sentence. He's paid his debt to society. But here's the thing. He's never once said he's sorry for what he did to those dogs. He's said he's sorry he let his team down. And that he's sorry he let his sponsors down. And so forth. But in all his carefully phrased, psuedo "apologies" I've never heard him say he's sorry he tortured and killed all those dogs.

One can't help but think that he hasn't said this because, in fact, he isn't sorry. If he had it to do all over again, I suspect he would -- he'd just be a bit more careful about hiding the evidence.

Michael Vick did not "deserve" to be reinstated. Nor does he "deserve" a second chance, or forgiveness. Why does he "deserve" to be forgiven? Because he plays football? Come on. Give me a break. We're talking about someone who tortured and killed dogs. This is not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley. This is not someone you'd want to meet, period.

And may I add that the idea of Michael Vick doing volunteer work teaching inner city kids to be kind to animals sends shivers down my spine. What can the ASPCA possibly be thinking? It's like sending Bernard Madoff into high schools to teach students how to handle money.

Nobody's suggesting that Madoff "deserves" a second chance. Is that because we value money more than life? Or because Madoff isn't a football player?

2009-07-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

It's Bao's birthday, today. He's 10. I can't believe it -- it seems like only yesterday he was a tiny baby puppy, wobbling around on legs the size of my thumbs and learning to eat solid food by licking pablum off my fingers.

As you can see, we're back in Mexico. It's hot here, but not as hot as it is in Tucson. And there's always a breeze off the ocean.

Bao loves our new place. I'd worried about the built-up bench that runs the length of the balcony, because I was afraid he might be tempted to get up on his hind legs and peer over the railing and maybe tumble off -- which would be a disaster, as we're seven storeys up. But happily, he's shown no interest in doing anything so athletic. He's a wonderfully cautious little dog.

What he does love to do is to lie on the cushions with his nose pointing into the breeze, watching the comings and goings of people on the beach. We sit out there every morning, before we go down to the pool. We're much closer to the beach than we were in the old place -- here, I could stand on my balcony and throw an orange, and it would land on the sand. That's how close we are. Every night we go to sleep with the sound of the sea in our ears.

2009-07-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Can we go for a walk, now?

We spent the weekend in San Diego, doing book-signings at the First Annual Widowhood Convention. The weather was glorious and the hotel -- the Marriot San Diego Hotel and Marina -- was simply fabulous. I usually can't afford to stay at hotels like this, but they were having a half-price special, so we ended up on the ninth floor in a room that overlooked the entire city. Luxury, plus. I've decided that I would definitely enjoy being rich.

Bao wants to be rich, too. Our first lunchtime walk along the waterfront past the yachts and the shops and the restaurants was enough to convince him that it's the other half who really know how to live. He pranced and preened and shot supercilious glances at the other immaculately groomed dogs as if he was visiting royalty. And when it was time for us to go in and get back to work, he sat down and wouldn't budge.

We're not here to mix with high society, I told him. We're here to sell Sea Changes.

Bao remained unconvinced. In the end, I had to pick him up and carry him back inside, while he closed his eyes and pretended it wasn't happening.

But I had to agree with him, being out on the marina was much more fun than hanging out in the Convention Bookstore.

So, can we go for a walk, now?

2009-07-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

Mexicans sometimes dump their dogs because they're sick, or pregnant, or because they've lost their job and can't afford to feed them. So do Americans. But here in the United States, there are hundreds of charitable organizations ready and willing to step in and rescue unwanted pets. In Mexico -- especially in small towns like Puerto Penasco -- its a different, and sadder story.

Enter Nancy Phelan. Nine years ago, Nancy came to Puerto Penasco to retire and soak up the sun. Instead, she became an animal advocate and founder of the Animal Adoption Center of Rocky Point. She rescues abandoned dogs and cats and finds them homes. At the moment, she's got 20 dogs and 40 cats in residence, and it costs her about $3000 a month just to feed them, not to mention medications for mange and tick fever. She survives on donations.

Here Bao and I are at Giuseppe's, hosting a book signing for Sea Changes. I donated all the profits to the Animal Adoption Center, but although Puerto Penasco is usually packed with Americans on Fourth of July weekend, this year was different. Sunday was Election Day in Mexico, and the State Government bans all alcohol sales for the entire weekend, which definitely put a damper on things as all of the bars and most of the restaurants were closed. Never mind. We'll try again on Thanksgiving -- or Turkey Day, as the Mexicans call it.

Meanwhile, if you want to know more about Nancy and her work, visit her website at http://www.rpaac.org/

2009-07-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

We're resting and relaxing in Mexico.

Or I should say, Bao is resting and relaxing in Mexico. I am locked into a death struggle with Telmex, the Mexican telephone company. I have had an account with Telmex since last November, and when I moved into our new condo, I wanted a wireless internet connection. They made me buy a new telephone, but that was okay. They gave me a Infinitum modem, and an Infinitum installation disk (in Spanish) and a book of instructions (also in Spanish). Facilimente! it says.

Not true. There is nothing facilimente about it. It's fiendishly, frustratingly difficult, and nobody seems to be able to make it work, including several very nice, Spanish-speaking young men. There's a technical suppport number, but nobody on the other end speaks English. You're thinking, What does she expect? It's Mexico. Of course they speak Spanish.

But here's the thing. The United States is an English-speaking country, but if you're a Mexican living in America and you don't speak English, all you have to do is press one (or two) and voila! there's someone to speak to you -- in Spanish.

It's not fair.

But the sun is shining and the sea is blue. And sooner or later, it will get sorted. Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

Are we having fun yet?

2009-06-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Bao is exhausted, and I'm not far behind him. We drove to Prescott to
be on AM Arizona and did a book signing at a Barnes & Noble and then
drove back (nearly four hours each way) in time to do three radio
interviews.
I keep telling Bao it's harder on me than it is on him -- I'm the one
doing all the talking and driving. But Bao feels he has to stay awake
and pay attention, and as far as he's concerned, staying awake all day
is hard work!
I guess this is about as close as I'll ever get to being a celebrity,
and that's just as well. I like my quiet time. I can't imagine what it
would be like to live like this all the time, but I don't think either
of us would like it very much. We're both finding that a little bit of
limelight goes a long, long way.

In the Green Room

2009-06-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

Our first live, TV interview to promote Sea Changes, on "Sonoran
Living" a morning show that broadcasts from Phoenix.
We were on last, after a cooking segment that featured grilled steak.
Bao was very good and lay quietly at my feet, not at all distracted by
the wonderful aroma of cooked meat emanating from across the studio.
Actually, he stole the show. The camera loved him. The camera always
does.
If you want to watch a clip of the interview, go to www.abc15.com and
click on the Living Section and then on the segment called, Surviving
Widowhood.
They call it the green room because the room in the old London Drury
Lane Theatre where actors waited to go on stage happened to be painted
green. Thought you'd like that factoid!

Friends are fun

2009-06-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

We met Joan a couple of years ago, when we did our marathon trip to
northern Michigan, Canada and the northeast United States. Joan lives
in Williamstown. Now, there's a place I never thought I'd be passing
through again -- which just goes to show you.
We had a lovely, al fresco dinner. For once, it wasn't raining. And we
stayed at a totally charming little place, The Berkshires Motel. Quite
a change from the last time, when we stayed at a motel out of the AAA
guide and we both got fleas!

Sea Changes is a Best Seller

2009-06-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Yes! We made it! Sea Changes is officially a best-seller!
Now I can go out and buy hundreds those little round, gold stickers
that say "Best Seller" and affix them to the cover of Sea Changes.
What's that? You just had a look at the NY Times Bestseller list and
you didn't see Sea Changes?
I didn't actually say Sea Changes was a NY Times best seller, did I? I
just said it was a best seller, and it is. It was one of the five best-
selling paperbacks in New Canaan, last week. So there you go.
Bao --as you can see -- is unimpressed. Dogs only care about whether
or not it smells good.

Favorite Things

2009-06-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

Bao and I each have our "favorite things" when we travel.
Bao's favorite things are cool, marble floor tiles in hotel lobbies
(he likes to roll on them) scrambled eggs and crispy bacon for
breakfast and the kingside beds at Sheraton hotels.
My favorite things are fresh brewed hot coffee, a free copy of USA
Today delivered to my room and the soap and body lotion at Sheraton
hotels.
So -- since we're enjoying a free Starwood night at the East Hartford
Sheraton -- I lashed out and ordered breakfast in bed and we've both
scored a trifecta!

Bao at the Book Cove, Pawling NY

2009-06-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

A soft chair in a quiet corner gets Bao's vote every time.
The Book Cove was a dear little shop in another one of those little
American villages that I thought had vanished decades ago.
There's always a main street and it's always called Main Street. The
shops are local, owned by locals. The lampposts are festooned with
hanging baskets of flowers.
Bao and I are enjoying this -- the pace is slow and the people we're
meeting are warm and friendly. And they read books!
We've been weaving back and forth across the border between New York
and Connecticut. Today we head north, to Farmington.

But, Mum! It's raining

2009-06-05T08:01:00.001-07:00

Which, of course, is why everything is so lush and green. Duh! It's so
lush and green that there's moss growing on the tree trunks, and it's
been raining for three days and you know what? We're both getting a
bit tired of it.
Yesterday was a free day and we went to the AT&T store in nearby Mt
Kisko so I could buy a new iphone charger to replace the one I left at
the last hotel. (I always manage to lose something. But Bao is very
sweet about it, and never says a word)
Mt Kisko was olde time cutesy. Main Street was one lane each way, and
tree-lined. They even had a barber shop with one of those revolving,
red and white poles that I haven't seen since I was a kid. And --
according to Bao -- an excellent selection of doggy bulletin boards,
all of which he peed on.
Today, a signing at Borders in Stamford.

New London Library

2009-06-04T05:50:00.001-07:00

Bao loved Tara, the librarian at New London Library who organized our
visit.
The library is housed in a wonderful, old building. But all the
buildings in this part of the country seem old -- even the new ones!
Yesterday we did a signing at Borders in Danbury. The weather had
turned gray and as we pulled into the parking lot it began to rain.
Matt, the Events Organizer, was apologetic. We might not get much
traffic on a wet Wednesday, he told me.
But just about everyone stopped to chat, and lots of people bought
books. Matt was surprised. I was surprised. Bao was exhausted, and
demanded steak for dinner. Which he got, of course.

Connecticut is so green!

2009-06-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

Deciduous trees. Acres of lush, green grass. Water in the rivers.
Dandelions. We're definitely not in Tucson!
Olde Mistic Village is just across the street from our hotel. It's a
shopping plaza built to resemble a colonial sea-port town, and
extremely well done. Here we are at the watermill and duck pond. Bao
isn't sure about the ducks.
In the afternoon we got to see the real thing. Maureen (one of my
readers) took us to Stonington Borough, built before the American
Revolution and pretty much unchanged. Little, wooden salt-box houses
set along streets built for horse-carts, not cars. It's like
Disneyland without the cartoon characters. People actually live there.
Maureen lives there. Just like Olde Mistic, except it's real.

Signing at Bank Square Books

2009-06-01T10:08:00.001-07:00

This is such fun! I love sitting in book stores and chatting with
people who love books -- and dogs -- as much as I do.
Bao was definitely part of the magic. People saw him, stopped and
cooed. Eventually, they noticed me. But it was Bao who broke the ice.
Our first stop was Elm Street Bookstore in New Canaan, CT. I'd never
done a book signing in the United States and I didn't know what to
expect. Suppose nobody talked to me?Suppose nobody bought a book?
But it was great. People bought books. Lots of books.
And yesterday at Bank Square Books in Mystic was even better. More
people bought more books.
Okay, so I'm not Stephen King. But it's nice to think that as I peck
this out letter by letter on my Iphone, somebody -- somewhere is
reading Sea Changes.
We have a free day, today. The sun is shining, the grass is green and
Bao and I are going for a walk.

Book Expo 2009

2009-05-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

Bao and me and Sea Changes at the IBPA stand -- dreams do come true!
Anything is possible.
Book Expo (BEA) is vast. Hundreds of exhibtors, thousands of people,
millions of books. It's a spectacle rather than an experience, an
unscripted, three-day piece of indoor street theater with a cast of
thousands, all of whom are extras. It's not even about the books. It's
about itself.
We didn't see it all, but we saw a lot of it until my feet gave out.
And we got to meet Jane Wesman, whose epynomonous public relations
firm has made Sea Changes a success. We also met the guy who founded
Galley Cat, the publishing zine.
New York may be expensive and awful, but it's definitely where it's
at. Which is probably why it's New York.

Love fest -- Lori and Bao

2009-05-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

We finally got to meet our wonderful publicist Lori, who -- with her
offsider Lauren -- has been working so hard to make Sea Changes a
success. As far as Bao was concerned, it was love at first sight.

Lori knows just where to scratch, that sweet spot on every dog's back
just above the base of the tail that sends them into raptures of
pleasure.

We had a lovely visit, and lunch. And yesterday, we spent all day at
the Publishers University where I learned how much I don't know while
Bao slept at my feet. Last night, we had dinner with my brother at Le
Steak, the place that refused us service two years ago. That was fun.

But we're both tired. New York is exhausting, and ferociously
expensive. You couldn't pay me to live here.

They lost our luggage

2009-05-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Bao and I made it to the Big Apple right on schedule, but our luggage
vanished someplace between Dallas and here.
Happens all the time, American Airlines said cheerfully. If you don't
get it back within 24 hours, we buy you a toothbrush.
Nice of them.
Flying has changed, and not for the better. In First Class, the hot
breakfast has turned into cold cereal and yogurt. And you don't get
extra weight allowance, anymore. One ounce over 50 pounds and they
charge you $50, on the spot. In Tourist Class, you now have to pay $35
to check a bag.
Bao didn't mind. He got to have MacDonalds for dinner.
The luggage arrived at 5 am this morning, so I don't get that free
toothbrush, after all.

2009-05-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

We're heading for New York on Monday, and I've already started packing.

Traveling with a small dog is like traveling with a small child. I was hoping to get by with my small suitcase, but once I'd packed six servings of Cesar Gourmet Dog Dinner (handy when I can't find a MacDonalds) kibble for Bao's midnight snack, Alpo Dog Treats, Charlie Bears, Bao's brush, his little lunchbox, his pills, his book of bedtime stories and two of his favorite toys, there was no room left for my stuff. So we're taking the big suitcase.

We're going to the IBPM Publishing University and Book Expo in New York City, and then I'm renting a car and driving around Connecticut for ten days doing talks and book signings. We've ended up with three, consecutive free days (upstate New York didn't want us) so we'll drive up to Boston to check out the Isabelle Stewart Gardiner Museum and the Gentlemen of Suzhou exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Then it's back to New Paltz and Modena for two more readings, and then home. That's the plan, anyway. We'll be gone for three weeks.

Sea Changes is getting wonderful reviews. I am so relieved! And grateful. If you haven't already checked out http://www.bettysnewtrick.blogspot.com/ do so immediately. Betty, thank you so much! Is there any way to put this fabulous review on Amazon?

2009-05-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

The days are growing longer and the weather is getting hotter.

Here in Tucson, my morning walks with Bao have to be carefully timed. Too early, and we run into javelina, coyotes and bobcats. But if we leave it too late, the rattlesnakes are awake.

Javelina almost always graze in packs of three or more, and they hate dogs and will attack without provocation. They are also incredibly ugly. Even the babies are ugly.

Coyotes have been particularly bad this year. There are quite a few more of them than in previous years, and they are fearless. The women who lives down the street was walking her two large dogs the other day when she suddenly realized that they'd been surrounded by a pack of seven coyotes. Seven of them! Can you imagine it? She ran, and the coyotes chased her all the way to the gate. Scary stuff.

The bobcats tend to be nocturnal, but several neighbors have spotted a mountain lion (much bigger than a bobcat) prowling around an hour or so after dawn.

As I write this, a very large snake is making its way across my front yard. I can't tell if it's a rattlesnake, or not. But I can tell you this: I have no intention of going out and taking a closer look!

2009-05-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the photo

We got a new phone! That's what all the peculiar posts have been about. This is us -- never would have guessed, would you -- at Fiesta Encantada, where we were VIP guests of our friend Jim Conley. This is the first time in my life that I ever got to wear one of those VIP tags. And they let me keep it! How cool is that? Mind you, I'm easily impressed. But you already knew that, didn't you?

2009-05-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

2009-05-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

We've had a house-guest from Australia for the past week. He left yesterday, and as soon as we got back from dropping him off at the airport Bao curled up and went to sleep. A deep, determined sleep. He didn't even want to walk, this morning. He's exhausted. I'm exhausted. Christopher is a dear friend, but a week is a long time.

We went everywhere. We went out to lunch, and dinner. We went to Organpipe National Monument and Saguaro National Park. We went to Mexico. We went to the Tucson Museum of Art. We visited friends. We went shopping. We went to Festiva Encantada.

Bao has known Christopher since he was a tiny puppy, but even so, he sort of felt he had to keep an eye on things. He couldn't just curl up at my feet and go to sleep, because we were constantly on the go. And when we went places Christopher sat in the front seat of the car, where Bao usually sits. He wasn't enthusiastic about that, either.

I'm a morning person, and Christopher is a night owl. So every night he'd be prowling around at 2 AM, looking for stuff to eat. This didn't bother me (I'm used to Christopher) but Bao felt the situation needed monitoring. So the poor little guy is -- as Australians would say -- totally buggered.

2009-04-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Nothing Bao likes better than curling up with a good book ... or someone who's read one.

Amazingly, this photo wasn't posed. I put a copy of Sea Changes down on the sofa, and then the telephone rang and I went into the other room to answer it. When I came back, there was Bao, snuggling up to my other "baby".

He hasn't actually read Sea Changes, yet. But that's okay. Bao doesn't read. His interests tend to be ofalactory rather than literary.

Speaking of which, we've got this awful woman in our neighborhood who goes ballistic if Bao lifts a leg on her pebble mulch. (We don't have lawns, in Tucson) She doesn't mind any of the other dogs having a go, and they all do. But she doesn't like me, because she thinks I'm what she calls an intellectual. I've sort of become her bete noir. Actually, she needs to get a life. But that's another story.

Anyhow, in the interests of keeping the peace, Bao and I usually walk on the other side of the street. But yesterday, I forgot. It was very early, just past dawn. Nobody was up yet, and she wasn't even at home. And it was just a couple of drops.

Nonetheless, this morning she was waiting for us screaming, Your dog used my front yard as a toilet! I can tell! I knew it the minute I drove in the driveway!

I didn't say anything but I couldn't help wondering, How can she tell? I mean, really. Does she get down on her hands and knees and crawl around on the pebbles, smelling the different samples of dog pee? I was tempted to ask, but I didn't.

2009-04-25T08:57:00.001-07:00

We've just come home from Mexico, where we caught up with friends.

Here we are, just back from a wonderful walk on the beach. Me (showing entirely too much upper thigh) Bao, my always-glamorous friend Jeanne and her three girls, Cleopatra, Angelique and Tangerine.

Bao's stitches came out yesterday. Everything looks fine. The much-detested plastic cone has been put away on the highest shelf of the closet, and Bao is once again free to lick what's left of his nether regions. He doesn't seem to miss what's missing. I was afraid he might.

My novel Sea Changes was launched at an intimate, pre-publication Literary Lunch on Thursday and I sold my first 21 copies. Sea Changes is now available on Amazon, although it won't be in bookstores until next month. If you happen to read it and like it, please write a review about it for Amazon. (But if you don't, please don't!)

Personally, I like Amazon. You don't have to pay sales tax, and usually, shipping is free. Best of all, you don't have to worry about finding a place to park.

2009-04-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Once in a decade, life hands you the perfect line.

My moment came last night.

When older dogs are neutered, their scrotums sometimes swell slightly. If this happens, one applies an ice pack. So there I was with the ice pack wrapped in a towel, trying to persuade Bao that this was going to make it all better. Bao was -- needless to say -- unconvinced.

We were jockeying for position when the telephone rang. It was a self-righteous young woman soliciting money for a charity. "I'm sorry," I said. "I just don't have time for this right now. I'm busy."

"What could you possibly be doing that is more important than a needy child?" she asked officiously.

"Actually," I replied, "I'm icing my dog's scrotum."

2009-04-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

Licking doesn't make it all better. Licking makes it worse.

So it was back to the vet to be fitted with a cone. Needless to say, Bao is not impressed. But he was much more chipper, this morning. He could hardly wait to get out and go for his walk. And his appetite has come back.

We spent all day Saturday on the couch, watching Lifetime movies. And all day yesterday on the other couch, reading. The only way to keep Bao still is to keep still myself. I have probably gained five pounds.

While we were having breakfast in bed this morning (we always have breakfast in bed) I showed Bao a photo of the new First Dog. He wasn't impressed. He still thinks they should have chosen a Shih Tzu. And he's convinced they've spelled his name wrong. Shouldn't it be Bao?

No, I told him. It's Bo. Like Bo Diddley.

Of course this made no sense at all to Bao, as Bo Diddley was before his time.

And he's really annoyed about the cone, which will have to stay on until the stitches come out, ten days from now.

2009-04-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

Bao is fine. The surgery went well. He's here at home with me, sleeping at my feet.

I remained there with him the whole time. (I couldn't just drop him off at 8 am like a bag of dirty laundry and then wait for them to call and tell me to come and get him!) That actually worked well, because they let him stay with me during almost the whole pre-op period, and I think that calmed and reassured him. It certainly calmed and reassured me!

Also, they let him come home a couple of hours earlier than usual. The vet said she knew I'd watch him. I'm definitely watching him. I'm watching every little breath he takes. I'll probably be up all night, checking to see that he's still breathing, the way I did when he was a tiny puppy.

Thank you -- all of you -- for your thoughts, messages and emails. They helped both of us, enormously.

Now, I'm going to pour myself a Scotch.

2009-04-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

It's a tumor, but it's benign. Even so, it has to come out. Surgery is scheduled for Friday morning. Bao is unperturbed. I -- of course -- am a quivering wreck.

Amanda (our veternarian) has persuaded me to allow her to neuter Bao, as well. The tumor is of a sort that's fuelled by testosterone, and we don't want it to recur. Also, Bao's prostate is slightly enlarged. So even without the tumor, the family jewels would have probably had to go. Poor little guy!

And as if all this wasn't bad enough, Bao has also developed a small heart murmur. Pretty much par for the course for little dogs when they start getting old, Amanda told me. She's prescribed Benazepril. My mother used to take Benazepril.

I think I'd rather be looking at something herbal and homeopathic, but first we've got to get past Friday.

Meanwhile, I'm giving Bao all his favorite foods, and lots of cuddles. And trying very, very hard to keep my mind full of positive thoughts.

2009-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Bao has a lump."

Four little words, and the world turns upside down.

Ginny (Bao's groomer) found it on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning, we were at the veternarian's office. They did a biopsy, and we should get the report by Monday.

Bao is his cheerful, loving self. He goes for his walks, eats his food, plays with his toys. His nose is cold and moist. He hasn't lost any weight. He certainly isn't acting sick. Hopefully, we've caught it early.

If it hadn't been for Ginny, I wouldn't have even noticed it. Then again, not many of us routinely lift our dog's tail and peer up his rear end! Although maybe, we ought to. These kinds of tumors are apparently rather common.

I keep telling myself, Bao is going to be fine.

But I'm scared.

If anyone knows of a story like this that had a happy ending, I'd really like to hear it.

2009-03-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

Graphic accounts of animals being tortured to death distress me terribly. The worst of it is that there's nothing I can do for the animal itself, which has usually died an agonizing death.

The organizations reporting these horrors do so because they want me to be moved to donate money. But it doesn't work that way. These ghastly accounts don't make me sit down and write a check. They make me feel helpless, and sick to my stomach.

So it's wonderful to find an organization -- the Animal Legal Defence Fund (ALDF) that takes a different and more empowering approach. When the ALDF tells you a horror story, they also give you the opportunity to do something about it.

For example, when a sociopath in Oklahoma recently dragged his dog to death behind his bicycle, ALDF urged members of the public to email the relevant prosecutor. And they made it so easy. You could add your name to a pre-written letter, edit the letter to suit yourself, or even write a letter of your own. Click, click -- and you'd done something!

I suspect this is more effective than writing a check. Even the most indifferent official will take note when his inbox suddenly fills up with letters from all over America -- especially if he's an elected official. Maybe that's how we'll end animal abuse, one case at a time.

2009-03-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

We've been in Mexico for the past week, on the beach.

Bao has probably been on more beaches (and refused to put a paw into more oceans) in more countries than any other Shih Tzu in the world! Australia, America, Mexico -- the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. Have we got a record here? Should we contact the Guiness Book of Records?

Sea Changes has already been reviewed by a couple of on-line reviewers who seem to have enjoyed it. But it's still being printed, so I can't urge you to rush down to your local bookstore and purchase a copy because there aren't any, yet. (The reviewers were sent advanced reading copies)

Bao doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, much less why I'm chewing my nails down to the cuticles. Dogs don't write books. Dogs don't read books. Dogs don't review books. Dogs don't read book reviews. Dogs eat dinner and never worry about gaining weight. And then they curl up and go to sleep in the sun.

2009-03-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Bao came home from grooming sporting this cute little green bow with white shamrocks in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Actually, according to Irish legend, you're not supposed to wear too much green on St. Patrick's Day (or any other day) because green is the favorite color of the "little people" and if you attract them they might snatch you away.

Between you and me, I'm more worried about Arizona coyotes than Irish leprechauns. And in any case, it's a very small bow.

Do dogs have a patron saint? Turns out they do. It's Saint Roch (or Roque) who turned his back on his worldly possessions to care for plague victims in Rome until he contracted the plague himself. He didn't want to infect anyone else, so he went off into the woods to die. But a dog found him and stayed by his side, bringing him food and licking his sores until he recovered. He and the dog subequently returned to France, which turned out to be a bad idea because Saint Roch was falsely accused and arrested, along with the dog. The two of them remained in prison for the rest of their lives in prison, ministering to the sick.

Personally, I think the dog deserved sainthood, too. But I guess that's not how it works.

2009-02-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

So there we were, enjoying our morning walk.

My thoughts were a million miles away -- I'd just received the ARCs (advanced readers copies) of my novel, Sea Changes. These are pre-publication copies that get sent to reviewers and I was lost in thought wondering, Will anyone even review it? And if they do, will the reviews be good?

Suddenly, I became aware of an unnatural hush. Everything had gone quiet. Bao had frozen in his tracks and was looking back at me, horrified.

Right there in front of us -- not six feet away -- was a coyote. It was just standing there, looking at us. Looking at Bao. And it wasn't afraid of me, not a bit. It was big, too. Its shoulder would have reached almost to my waist.

I picked up Bao and ran. I know you're not supposed to run. If you run they think you're prey, and run after you. At least that's what people say. But I wasn't thinking. I was too scared to think. So I ran.

It didn't run after us. But what a shock. No more daydreaming during our morning walks, that's for sure!

2009-02-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

Bao swallowed a bee this morning, while we were having our walk.

The weather here in Tucson has been unseasonably warm and all sorts of things are prematurely bursting into bloom, including our dozens of lavender bushes.

When a low-flying, blossom-browsing bee buzzed Bao, he snapped at it. And caught it. And swallowed it.

I thought, If it stings the inside of his mouth or his tongue and he's allergic, his throat will swell up and he'll die. He'll suffocate. I was so scared. I picked him up and ran home and got in the car and we drove straight to the Emergency Veternary Clinic.

It was closed. You're supposed to call ahead.

Bao sat happily next to me on the front seat. He wagged his tail. He got up on his hind legs and licked my face. His tongue looked fine. He looked fine. Maybe I over-reacted. I do that, sometimes.

So we drove home again. I'm feeling a bit sheepish, now. Even so, it's better to be safe than sorry.

2009-02-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

I used to be quite smug about cooking Bao's dinner every night. Chicken breast or beef, grilled. Only the best for my precious treasure. (That's what Bao means, in Chinese. Precious Treasure. But you knew that, didn't you?)

No additives. No preservatives. No chemicals. Fresh, wholesome food. At least, that's what I thought.

I was wrong. Bao may be a carnivore, but he's as corny as Kansas in August. And so am I. So are you. So is just about everybody in the United States. Our main food -- dogs and humans -- is corn. We eat more corn than Mexicans. We eat more corn than anybody.

Australian beef cattle consume grass, but American beef cattle are fed corn. Problem is, cattle aren't meant to eat corn. It makes them sick, which means that lovely, marbled hunk of corn-fed beef I fed Bao last night probably came from a sick animal.

Chicken isn't much better. We feed chickens corn, but we also feed them the ground up bits of beef cattle. Sick animals, again. And apparently, I've been wasting my money on organic beef, and chicken. Organic doesn't mean free grazing. It just means, no hormones.

So I am a corn-fed person with a corn-fed dog, even though my dog is a carnivore. Not nearly as healthy and as wholesome as I thought.

2009-02-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

We're in Mexico for a few days.

Here's Bao, watching me swim.

There are a few big dogs visiting and one of them apparently peed high up on one of the walls, leaving a trace above Bao's head. This caused Bao no end of consternation, as the first thing he does when we arrive is check out the area and pee wherever any other dog has recently peed, thus establishing his absolute sovereignty.

Confronted with the offending wall, Bao promptly lifted his little leg and had a shot, which fell far short. He stood there staring at his little stain, baffled and clearly miffed. He turned around and looked at me, but I just shrugged, as there wasn't much -- short of peeing on the wall myself, which I wasn't about to do -- I could offer.

So Bao tried again. He kind of hunkered down and angled himself, and let fly.

Better, but not nearly high enough.

One more attempt -- and he might have made it except that by now, his little bladder was just about empty.

Poor Bao! I gave him a hot dog for lunch. It's no fun, losing a pissing match.

2009-01-31T14:06:00.000-08:00

Bao and I both love food.

But (like French women who don't get fat) I like to take the time to savor and enjoy whatever I'm eating, especially when it's something I love -- like Maine lobster doused with melted butter, or chocolate cheesecake. I take little, tiny bites and concentrate on how delicious each mouthful tastes.

Not Bao. Paradoxically, the more he likes whatever he's eating, the faster he eats it. Last night, I cut the fatty part from the steak I'd just grilled into little chunks and offered them to Bao, one by one, not because I was being mean but because I wanted to make the treat last longer. Bao wasn't having any of that, thank you! He gulped each morsel down so fast I don't think he even had time to taste it.

The only things Bao eats slowly are things he doesn't like and eventually spits out. Mashed sweet potato and peas, for instance. That's supposed to be good for dogs. So I cooked up a batch and shaped it into little faux meat-balls. Bao daintily took one tiny little meat-ball into his mouth, chewed a couple of times, looked up at me, rolled his eyes and spat it out. But it had spent more time in his mouth than all the pieces of steak put together.

Maybe dogs don't have taste buds. Or maybe they only have negative taste buds, for things they don't like. There's a doctoral dissertation in here, somewhere.

2009-01-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

I have this lovely photograph of me and Bao that I originally wanted to put on the back cover of Sea Changes (that's the title of my novel) but it didn't have enough megapixels so we both got groomed and I arranged for a friend of mine who's a photographer to come over for a photo shoot.

We had a beautiful day for it. Bao and me in the Arizona Room. Sunshine and palms and succulents. The plants were easy. But my neck was a problem.

Turns out that if I hold my chin up high enough to make the wrinkles on my neck disappear, you can't see my face. So that didn't work. Then I tried positioning Bao on my lap so that you couldn't see my neck, but he promptly started planting big, wet kisses all over my face. So that didn't work, either.

After a while, I gave up on my neck. I said, Let's just do Bao and me, side by side, both of us looking at the camera. But by now, Bao was totally fed up with the whole thing. He wanted to catch the bees buzzing around the lavender. He wanted to play with his squeaky toy. He wanted a cookie. What he didn't want to do was sit still and look at the camera. Finally I said to him, Will you just please sit there and act like you love me?

Here's the photo. It's not the one we're going to use on the book cover but I love it.

2009-01-15T12:57:00.001-08:00

So are we having lunch, yet?

Yes, Bao. Here it comes. Tortilla soup for me, dog biscuits for you.

Lunch in the garden is a treat in the middle of January, when just about everybody else in the United States is snowed in. That -- as they say -- is what makes southern Arizona special. But even for Tucson, this is really extraordinary weather. Global warming? Bring it on. Although I suspect we'll be singing a different song in July, when we're frying eggs on the asphalt.

I've finally figured out how Bao can know what I'm having for dinner before I even get it out of the freezer. He reads my mind. Probably, he reads the smells in my mind. When I think of a grilled steak or a grilled chop, I get a mental picture of it but I also have a sense of how it's going to taste and smell, and I think that's what Bao is picking up. The sizzle, as it were.

I test this out. Bao is fast asleep at my feet. I try concentrating on chocolate. I concentrate on how it smells, and tastes, and almost instantly, Bao wakes up and looks expectantly at me. But since there isn't any chocolate, he promptly goes back to sleep. QED.