Boyles' House Happenings

You may have noticed that I have not been posting very much lately and definitely not a lot of pictures. Well, that is because recently nothing really has been happening! Keena and I have been homebound for a couple of weeks because of the heat and her recovering from her paw injuries. Things have also been really hectic because I work long hours and am looking for a second job! Today after work I decided to focus on Keena because I have been applying online and that takes some time. Now, our big night in was not really just that exciting...we basically just cuddled and had some fun. She decided to use me as a pillow and I am pretty sure she damaged something vital but it was worth it. Hehe. She makes me laugh and can be a real clown. She likes to bury her head into my stomach, chest, and arms and loves to rub her face and back on the carpet. Keena can spend a good protion of her evening rolling around on the floor and when we go to someone else's house that has a different type of carpet she goes crazy! I hope to do more things with my dane groups soon and get back out there and be active but I worry about Keena in this heat. Our area has been under heat advisories all day and night for weeks now! She does not do well with heat...and since I work in it I have to admit that we are both ready for fall (even though that means winter will follow :(   ). 

Not the best picture but she is literally laying on top of me!

I am calling for help...hehe.

She is burying her face in my armpit.

So pretty

"You have my bone, give it...now."

Mmmm...lip smacking good.

Hot Hot HOT!

Sorry it has been a little while since my last post, the last week or so has just been crazy! I went to Evansville last weekend with my dear friend Katharine and had a lot of fun catching up and seeing each other. Katharine was my roommate in college and now she is married (to my friend Philip) and lives in Wisconsin! It is far away and I miss her a lot but we still talk all the time and we made a deal and meet up as often as our schedules and wallets allow us! Keena was excited because she got a day at the spa! I took her to doggy day care on that Friday because we were going to Holiday World and I didn't want her to be locked up all day and all night. She got a a bath and her nails done and got to play with the other dogs and had a wonderful time. There was another Dane, Max, there that day is just absolutely massive! He weighs about 50-60 lbs more than Keena but apparently they get along very well! She was so happy to see me when I picked her up on Saturday that she almost jumped over the counter to get to me! The counter there is several feet high and she would have cleared it if the owner of the day care hadn't been holding onto the leash! It was a great weekend to visit with family and friends and I was able to be there for my sisters birthday! Abbie is my oldest sibling and I was poking a lot of fun at her for turning 29. The truth is that part of me is extremely jealous of Abbie. She is happily married and expecting her third child! She is a wonderful mother and I am very happy that I was able to be there to help her celbrate! (not to mention I love seeing my parents and my neice and nephew!) Unfortunately, no pictures were taken....but it was a fantastic and EXHAUSTING weekend! Since I have been back Keena and myself have been fighting the heat! This week has been averaging 100 degrees at least with the heat index, somedays not including the heat index! It's so miserably hot that I haven't even been able to take Keena on walks in the evening because it is still in the 90s. I also am leary of walking her because of the injuries she had to her paws earlier. After I picked her up from doggy day care she was a little tender footed. The vet said that hot asphalt and pavement can burn their pads too and she also acts like the dry and dead grass pokes her tender spots and is uncomfortable. Soon I am hoping it will cool down and we can walk comfortably!

Injuries

My last assessment of Keena's paw injuries were not correct. It turns out that she has one on all four paws!!! Holy cow this poor doggy! I live in a second floor apartment and getting her out to the bathroom is not fun. She is pretty much refusing to walk at this time...also she is refusing to eat or go out to relieve herself. *Sigh* I called the vet and exlained my situation and he gave me some pain meds for her and told me I could buy something called NuSkin (not sure spelling) and put it on her wounds. They look much better than yesterday and I don't think she needs the skin stuff but I definitely gave her the pain medicine. We will see if she lets me take her out to the bathroom!

Eagle Creek

Tonight my friends, Caitlyn and Logan, asked me if I wanted to bring Keena and go to eagle creek park in Indy. We have never been there so I agreed and loaded Keena and my "doggy bag." After getting a little lost we found the park and got the dogs out. It's a very beautiful area and very busy on this hot evening. The walk went well and Keena enjoyed the company until we noticed that she was walking really slowly. Now, at the end of walks most of the time she gets pretty tired and slows down. This time felt a little different and she kept wanting to lay down. I then noticed that she was limping. I had her lie down and looked and sure enough she has a spot on her front paw where the pad "skin" has kind of peeled back and exposed some tender skin areas. :( I had to really coax her up the stairs and she immediately laid down. I cleaned out her injury and put some medicine and gauze on it. She let me tape it up and is leaving it alone. I believe that she will be perfectly fine but I just hate seeing her hurt! My mom put it into perspective for me and said, "what would you do if it were on your foot?" So, she is bandaged up and will be catered to for the next day or too. Hehe. Good thing she sleeps pretty much all day when I'm at work. I think the injury seemed worse because we were walking on gravel and and she is exhausted fromt he walk. I think we will not walk for a few days...poor Miss Keena. On a good note, she got along splendidly with Caitlyn and Logan's three dogs. I'm so glad because this was the first time she met their dog, Enzo.

Posing by the creek

Sitting nicely in front of the fisherman...who was wearing jeans and in the water up to his butt!

Watching the fisherman

Logan getting Mannii to pose on the rocks.

Shelby (left) and Enzo sitting nicely.

While Shelby and Mannii were in the water Enzo sat next to Keena. Keena is NOT a water dog. Hehe

Its Official

As of today I am officially a member of Forever Friends Great Dane Rescue Inc! I am very excited about this process and really hope to make a difference. I am hoping to get Keena's story out there and really let people know how wonderful these gentle giants are. Keena is now an ambassador for the FFGDRI!!!! She is very excited. She will meet new dogs on a regular basis, get to meet new people all the time AND someday she will have a foster dane siblings. In a year or so I want to become active in fostering dane babies and saving even more lives! This is a very exciting thing for us and it is giving me new meaning in life. That sounds silly, I know, but having something like this to do with my time and more ways to spend quality time with Keena is so important. I have already made friends myself through the one meet and greet I have attended so far. :) Let the rescuing begin!

Dog Days of Summer

Today, after our meet and greet, Charles wanted to go to Dairy Queen. I certainly wasn't going to protest so we went through the drive through and made sure to ask for a doggy dish for Miss Keena. She appreciated it a lot. :) Nothing like the dog days of summer.

Waiting patiently for her ice cream.

Mmmmm..thats delicious!

Meet and Greet

First of all, sorry it has been a little while since my last post! Work has been keeping me really busy (lots of pigs born!) and I haven't had too much time to do anything fun and exciting with Miss Keena. Today, however, was a very fun day! I mentioned before that I am in the process of becoming a volunteer for the Forever Friends Great Dane Rescue Inc. in Indianapolis and today was the first meet and greet that Keena and I were able to go to. Meet and greets are a good way for the rescue to get donations and raise awareness for rescuing neglected and abused Danes. I was so excited to meet and greet! Keena was equally excited when I got our things together to leave...she knows when we are getting ready to go into the car! Charles and I pulled into the Bella's Dog Bakery & Biscuit Company and had a wonderful afternoon! Keena met a few other danes and other doggies that came in with their owners to buy some delicious treats that Bella's Dog Bakery makes. The owners there are so nice and spent time talking to us and of course loving on Keena. These meet and greets are really great ways to help people understand more about this wonderful breed. There are so many misconceptions about Great Danes, most of which are ridiculous! Some of the most common are that Danes eat 50 lbs of dog food a day, they take up tons of space, and that they destroy any and everything in your house. One man even asked me if I spend 150$ a week to feed her! Are you kidding me? I don't spend 150$ a MONTH to feed ME!!!! Some people say that there are no stupid questions....but since owning Keena, I'd have to say that's not correct! Anywho, Keena, Charles and I had a wonderful time and I even bought her a 3 ft long piece of jerky! Don't worry....she didn't eat it all in one sitting. :)

This is Molly, her owner works at the bakery. (see those Jerky sticks to the right of her...that is what we ended up buying for her. She kept trying to steal one out of the container!)

This is Sosie. She is the doggie spokes "person" for the Forever Friends Great Dane Rescue Inc. She is wearing a donation cape! It has pockets for peopl to put in their donations.

Sosie checking out Keena

Switch!

Part of her giant jerky I broke it into smaller pieces. It left a mess on my floor.

Keena's new collar that Charles bought her! Stunning, I know!