Irish Wolfhound and Mustang Play

Here's a very short video of our Irish Wolfhound, Riagan, playing with our Mustang, Beautiful Girl. They're buddies and Beautiful lets her get away with a lot. Most dogs would get kicked if they took the liberties Riagan does.

Walking Riagan & XXXL Dog Bed

I didn't realize the hole in my dog training until we took Riagan out this weekend. The temps hit 50 with sunshine, and everyone was out for a stroll. When we walked the same place in colder weather, there was no one to be seen.

But this was a good thing--an opportunity to teach her to walk on and not jump out to say hello to every dog and human that passed. Was it easy? No. She's so strong, it's really hard to keep her back. By the end of the walk, she was much better. She was on my right side, and she would cut to the left a bit where the walkers were, but only slightly.

Did I mention before that she has a bursa on her right elbow? Wolfhounds are lanky, boney dogs, and there's a reason why her breeders suggested a comfy, elevated bed other than just wanting their dogs spoiled.

Apparently, if their boney joints lay on hard surfaces, bursas can form--these large, fluid-filled sacs that help protect the joint. They're unsightly, but not painful. Hers has been there for at least two weeks now, with no sign of going away. I think she developed it from laying on the concrete garage floor on a day we had to leave town, and we put the dogs in there to be safe. We put their beds in the garage, too, but she's so big, she sometimes lays half off it. I need to order the extra, extra large bed for her.



I found this one on Amazon--apparently, sold out. It received 5 stars from almost everyone who bought it, and many of those people own Great Danes. I put it on my wishlist.

JUMBO XXXL OVER STUFF EXTRA LARGE ORTHOPEDIC 58"X50" THICK HEAVY DUTY MEMORY PET DOG BED PILLOW with 2 layer of covers

2 layer of fabric cover : Inner layer water resist Taffeta fabric zipper cover with strong industrial stitch to secure the stuffing. The bed also comes with our durable zipper jean denim fabric cover (outside layer) for easy cleaning and maintain. BEST material for best comfort and long lasting. Extra replacement cover is available at my other listing for combine shipping discount.

The bed is over stuff with top quality shredded memory foam for ultimate comfort and support. Mixed with 100% new premium fiber-fil and new shredded polyurathane foam for maximum resiliency and loft. Our new shredded mixed foam comes with multi color and density to achieve the best comfort and support in balance.

DogBed4Less bed product is 3-5 times weight more than other bed sold in retailer and a lot more practical compare to others because of our premium foam stuffing and re-useable durable fabric. Why spend more money to replace the poly-fill bed regularly while you can get a luxury comfort foam bed that your dog will love and last longer with easy maintain? Additional replacement cover, more sizes or memory foam pad bed are available by clicking at dogbed4less link on the top next to the title.

The external zipper fabric cover is luxury Durable 10 oz jean denim with dark blue color (58"X50"), re-usable many many times and machine washable/dryable. The listing size is for the cover size only, the actual size of the bed will be slightly smaller due to thickness of memory pillow. Only internal cover is water resist which able to temporary block the water. The same denim fabric is sold for $9.99 to $19.99 for 1 yard in the big retailer store like Joann, This 58"X50" denim cover will need 4 yard of fabric that will cost $40++ just the fabric alone.

Our best thick combination foam stuffing be able to support your pet up to 180 lbs and will not flat overtime unlike others poly-fill bed. Great for multiple dogs or large dog. This product arrives very tightly packed with reusable vacuum storage bag. Please unwrap and allow 48 hours for this product to return to its original shape. We charge less shipping and handling fees from our customer compare to the actual Fedex shipping cost due to the higher weight of our materials. (about 20 lbs each).

Jealous Riagan

Riagan is the typical younger sister: she always thinks her older sister, Maggie, has something better. When I hand them brand new bones out of the package, Riagan lets hers drop to the ground like it's not even there because she already wants the one Maggie has.

Maggie is a wonderful older sister, very understanding and kind. She will usually trade bones with Riagan. However, when Riagan does get the bone she was crying for, she'll then want the one she gave up. So, round and round and they go like this until they lose interest switching.

Riagan is Better

Well, that was scary. Riagan went off food and didn't go to the bathroom yesterday. However, it's been solved! She's gone to the bathroom both outside and INSIDE today! (Usually, I wouldn't be all too happy about the inside one, but in this case, YAY!)

I let it dominate and somewhat ruin my day. When one of my animals is sick, I can do nothing but hover over them. My husband, on the other hand, is quick to point out it will all be okay, everything's all right, etc. And he is correct 99 percent of the time....but the other 1 percent, he's wrong!

So, I'll continue to take seriously every possible threat to my animal's welfare. But for the time being, we're out of the woods.

Riagan Is Sick

Something is wrong with Riagan. A few nights ago she threw up at about 3:00 am. Then, yesterday, we found traces of where she'd thrown up again. And, last night, she gagged a bit.

Other than that, she seemed perfectly normal: playing, sleeping, eating...until this morning. This morning, she isn't interested in food and she hasn't gone to the bathroom. She still seems happy and energetic, but going off food and not going to the bathroom are bad signs.

If it doesn't clear up soon, by noon, we'll be taking a trip to the vet.

I'm wondering, could it be parasites--worms? An obstruction? It will be an interesting day. I hope it will be resolved quickly and easily.

Stylish Blogger Award--Thanks!

I want to thank, Wolfie, at What Was I Thinking, for the Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you so much! How fun to get an award for this blog--For the Love of Irish Wolfhounds!

The rules are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

As for the 15 bloggers, please see my Blog Roll on my blog, Beautiful Mustang, they are all my favorites, and I read them every day. They are all quite different-some are horse people, artists, writers, dog lovers--a large collection of interesting people and stories.

Now, for seven things about me--seven unusual things about me....



1. I love to hot tub (almost 12 months out of the year) with my husband and a cigar. We like to look at our horses, let a glass of wine float (the stemmed ones float really well) and smoke a stogie together. If you read someday, I've died of throat or lung or tongue cancer, you have my permission to blame it on this particular bad habit of mine.



2. I'm really bad with money. I really don't "get" the phrase, There's no more money. I mean, I can understand it intellectually, but not practically. Luckily for me, my husband does.





3. I love to watch reruns of Frasier and the PBS version of Sherlock Holmes. Love them. Love them.



4. My first car was a yellow Datsun pick-up from the '70's. It had bad rings and blew smoke every time I shifted. I paid $500.00 for it from the lemon lot. Oddly enough, even though it could barely push 50 mph, I managed to get tickets in it. I think the cops saw me coming from all the smoke and probably thought---This will be fun! Lucky for me, the truck was hit by another vehichle when it was parked--like winning the Lottery!!--and I got a new car out of the deal--um, a newer car.

(Riagan's dad, Keller, US and Intl Champion)

5. I want to "show" my Irish Wolfhound, but I have no real idea how. I might give it a try this spring, despite that.

6. I have to wear arch supports.



7. I LoVE, LOVe, Love boots. I try to wear them all year 'round. If I had an endless supply of money, I'd buy more, more, more. I'd love to have a pair for every mood, every day, every outfit, every whim. Ahhhh....if only.

Thanks again, Wolfie!!!

Riagan's Mama and Sister With Santa

I wanted to share a sweet Christmas greeting from Riagan's mom and sister. Her sister is on the left, and her mama is on the right. (Santa seems to be keeping a close eye on her sister).

And, a picture of Riagan taking over our laps last night as we watched, The Grinch That Stole Christmas. Riagan got a little bored with it and fell fast asleep.