I was just taking a shower when the power went out. My first instinct was to get out and see what was going on, but I figured since the shower was still working and the water was still hot, I might as well finish.

It was an interesting sensation taking a shower in the dark. My windowless bathroom was nearly pitch black except for a thin sliver of sunlight streaming in from the slightly ajar door. I tried to listen for clues as to what had happened. Were there sirens? Commotion outside? What caused the outage?

And then I heard it. Uh-oh. It was unmistakable: the intermittent warning beep of our hard-wired smoke detectors. They have batteries, but it’s merely a backup and whenever they lose power, they let out a beep every 3 minutes or so. As soon as I heard the first shrill beep, I knew I had to hurry up and get out of the shower. I had to find Penny. Those beeps scare the hell out of her.

As soon as that thought entered my head, the bathroom door swung open and a flood of natural light rushed in. So did Penny. I could see her outline through the steamy glass of my shower. She was sniffing at the shower doors, verifying that I was in there. I said “Hi Penny, it’s okay.” I watched her lie on the fluffy bathroom rug. She was trying to relax now that she found me.

But then there was another beep.

Penny jumped up and spun around. She pressed her snout against the shower door and slid it open. I looked down at her as the steam escaped. She was trembling. “Hi Penny,” I said in my baby-dog voice. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Goooooooooood girl.” That wasn’t sufficient though, and as much as she absolutely hates being in the bathtub, and abhors getting wet, she hopped in without hesitation and sat down at my feet, oblivious to the streams of water soaking her fur. She stayed there until I got out, at wish point she just followed me everywhere.

Well the power is back on now. I’m all clean. As for Penny, she’s still a big baby and I love her for it.

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I was going through trying to clear up my camera’s memory card tonight (very little progress with that by the way) and came across so many pictures of Penny. Seriously, I have an insane amount of pictures of Penny. And of food, but that’s another story.

I really do need to go through and upload them all.  I took them for a reason and I want to preserve them somewhere so I can clear my card. There’s way too many pictures, some really old, on my memory card.

Here’s just one of them. I really like this picture of Penny.

Look at that vicious pit bull!

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Roar growl grrr!

Christmas is fast approaching and I’m quite excited.  I don’t care at all about receiving gifts but I love giving presents. From wrapping paper to bows, gift tags and the element of surprise, I simply love giving my loved ones gifts on Christmas.  This includes the dogs; I make sure to give them a special toy or two on Christmas.

Not that they need any. Jesse is at the age where she no longer cares much for toys, but Penny still likes to play often. They already have a ton of toys.  Tim’s mom usually sends them each something for Christmas, and I buy Penny something new every so often.  Penny’s favorite toy is a simple, plain tennis ball, though I’m always looking for something a bit more durable.  She also loves stuffed animals but she goes through those very quickly.

I haven’t picked up anything for them yet this year.  Perhaps I’ll just get something edible this time around. They’re already spoiled enough as is.

Quite a variety of toys and treats!

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A few months ago, while walking the dogs, I noticed the Google Maps van making passes through my neighborhood.  At the time, I wondered if we would be caught on camera.  I forgot about it until tonight and I decided to go see if I could find myself.  Check it out!  Heheheeeee

View Larger Map

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This is what happens when I take a break from folding laundry.

Though she was getting her prickly fur and dog drool onto my freshly laundered shirts, I didn’t have the heart to disturb her.

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For what has seemed to be a month now, my dog Penny has been licking and gnawing at her front paws. At first, it was only her right one but for the past few days she’s also been attacking her left one too.

Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual. In fact, I’m writing this blog entry hoping someone will stumble upon it and give me some insight or advice on why my dog has this problem.

Every summer, without fail, Penny gets what I call a crater (or a popped blister I guess, but I never see a blister to begin with) on at least one of her paws. Here’s a couple pictures so you can see what I’m talking about:

A crater in the fleshy pad of my dog's paw.

A wider view showing the area where the crater occurs.

It should be noted that these pictures are from 2 years ago!  They eventually go away on their own, but I really want to know what the cause is.  A few details I have noticed:

1. They happen every summer, and only in the summer time.
2. She gets them in the same general area.
3. Jesse, our black Labrador retriever, never has any issues with her paws and they always go on walks together.
4. Penny licks at the wound constantly, making it harder for the area to dry up, scab and heal.

After a lot of research on the internet, there seems to be a few possibilities as to what the culprit may be.

Allergies

Is Penny allergic to something in the ground?  If so, why only during the summer?  Is it a special fertilizer used only in summer time on grass?  Is it a specific type of grass or pollen that is released during the summer season?

Heat Blisters

Are they heat blisters?  It does get awfully hot here in Los Angeles during the summer.  Is the sidewalk so hot that she actually gets sunburns on her paws?  She is very fair skin with pink paws while Jesse, the lab, has black paws.   Is this why Jesse isn’t affected while Penny suffers?  Though we try to not take them out when it’s too hot, and the dogs will usually let us know if the ground is too hot by shuffling around and lifting their paws up, maybe Penny’s doesn’t realize when her sensitive skin is being burnt?  And why is the wound/blister/crater at the back/top of her paw which doesn’t come into contact with the ground as much as the other areas of her feet?

Fungal Infection

I’ve seen some websites mention a type of fungal infection of the paws, especially on dogs with short, bristly fur like Penny, but I’m not convinced.  What is strange though…

Abnormal Fur Growth and Irritation

if you look at the picture of the paw crater, there’s short little fur coming in where the wound is.  Why is fur growing there, underneath where the skin of her paw pad was?  Is this normal?  Or maybe she can feel the short, sharp fur growing in and the crater is the result of her gnawing and licking to ease the itchiness/irritation?  Maybe similar to how dogs have shedding and growing seasons, this area of fur only grows in summer?

I am leaning towards the heat blister theory because Penny is basically a ginger.  She has reddish hair, a white belly, and pink features.  Some dogs with her fur color will have a normal black or dark brown nose and dark paw pads, but she’s not dark anywhere—pink, red and white all the way!  Because of this, I think Penny’s ultra-sensitive to sunlight and heat.  Even though Jesse is black all over, albeit for a small white chest blaze, with long, thick fur she seems to handle the heat much better than Penny.  Whereas Penny will be reluctant to go outside when it’s hot and then will lag behind during our walks, Jesse will be running ahead and enjoying every minute of it.

Please, if any dog owners reading this have similar experiences or insight, leave a comment or send me a message!  I’d love to get a definitive answer to this.

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