vampire bill's climb

Hey all! It’s been a long time but I’m doing awesome!  I passed my 1 year ampuversary and am doing incredible, mom says I’ll never slow down. I spent the winter learning how to herd the horses and it’s one of my favorite things to do, although they don’t seem as happy about as I do! But mom says it keeps me busy and out of her hair. I started some agility training and I love that! It’s great, I get to run around and do tricks and have sooo much fun doing it! Mom’s been taking me to other farms too, so I can play with even more critters and people.

My favorite thing to do is swim, although mom seems to frown on that during the winter! But the horses water trough looked like a swimming pool! Totally not my fault that I soaked everyone around me too! Now that springtime is here we’ve been hiking a lot more and soon, very soon we’ll be able to swim all the time! I can’t wait!

Road trips are also very awesome, the whole family got to go to NY for Christmas and I got to see my cousin, Bella! She’s as crazy as I am, so we spent the entire time running around and terrorizing all the kids (they loved it as much as we did) Plus, gramma has a ton of land, so we spent all day and some of the night, running and chasing deer, cats and all kinds of random things. I slept the entire 8 hours home!

Mom says I have to get off the puter now 🙁 Something about an Easter Bunny coming soon…I wonder if I can chase him too? ! BOL!

Hey all!  Mom actually let me on the puter again!  We’ve been reading all of your blogs, but slacking on the writing our own…yet again! Mom says it’s because it’s been insanely busy, but I would think she’d be used to that by now 😉

We had a great summer! My human sisters got out in the middle of June and we had so much fun! We went hiking a lot, usually I got to take one of my friends with me too! I had a great time with my Aussie cousin Clancy (He has 4 legs, but he’s cool). His dad has a place down by the river and we spent hours running around chasing each other and swimming while the girls got to laugh and giggle at us! They said we were better swimmers than they are! Clancy’s dad couldn’t believe how I could keep up with his dog. We’re about a year apart and come from the same place 🙂 He didn’t have anything on me tho! I even ran faster than he did sometimes! Mom just laughed and said I can do anything the other dogs do!

Mom had a lot of visits from pets this summer and I had so much fun with all of them. My favorite so far has been the extra horse she took care of. He was like a HUGE dog and we chased each other and played tag while the other horses just watched. They don’t know what they were missing out on!

On of our cats decided to have a litter of kittens too, so that’s kept me really busy. It’s so hard keeping them all in the same room! They run around constantly and I can’t help but herd them! 3 of them have found homes with our neighbors, so my job is a little easier now. They still keep me on my toes tho! Pippi, a small grey kitten loves to cuddle with me and the other one is slightly evil and likes to sneak attack me. Then mom starts yipping at me telling me to slow down or someone’s gonna get hurt, apparently she hasn’t realized I am invincible and the kitties MUST be stopped! Hehe!

Oh and mom FINALLY got me my harness! Mom loves it, me not so much. I used to be able to lay down when I didn’t want to move and then mom would have to pick me up. Now she only has to take the handle and picks me up quickly! 🙁 I can’t pout nearly as much as I used to! And I can’t weasel out of it like I do my collar. Mom even started my training so I behave. No more rambunctious puppy greetings for my friends. She says I’ll make more friends this way…but how are they gonna know how excited I am to see them?! I guess I’l grin and bare it for now 😉

I tried to get mom to put more pictures up of me, but she says her computer crashed. It’s still sitting on the desk, so I have no idea what she’s talking about. A friend of hers is coming to look at it and then maybe we can see all the fun pics we took this summer! You will not believe the crazy places I have been! I even got to go to a battlefield! they have a lot of civil war things around here and mom looked up the places I could go! She’s so fun like that, there’s rarely a time that she doesn’t take me with the family for outings. Now that school has started up again I have a lot more alone time with her and that’s the best! Don’t get me wrong, I looove my sisters, but they are as insane as I am and I lose out on all the attention! SO now mom takes me for longer jogs and I get to follow her everywhere! She told me there’s a tripawd up in MD and maybe we can figure out a way to get together 🙂 It would be really cool to meet some of you!

Alright, mom’s giving me the evil eye again and the kids are driving her insane, so I’m going to go rescue her! Big wet kisses for all my friends!

Hey all! Vampire Bill here! How are you? Mom and I love to read about you guys, we’re (SHE is) really bad about updating our blog tho! I will try to keep her in line 😉

So today we went hiking, it was incredible! Mom was worried I wouldn’t be able to do some things, but she was really wrong! I showed her! I was running up steep inclines, scrambling down them, splashing in the water and I had a blast!! I got to smell so many new things and meet other dogs. None of them were as cool as you guys though!

Mom brought some friends over for me this week. She said their mom had to go out of town and since they were lonely at the house she thought it would be a good idea for us to play together. well, she ended up being right! Just this one time, mind you 😉 we can’t let her go thinking she’s ALWAYS right 😉 Caspian is a gigantic golden retirever, he’s older so he was very laid back, super cool guy! He mostly stood over me and Teichler (chi-it.greyhound mix) while we played. Teichler was great fun! He was only a tiny guy, our cat is bigger than him! But he runs sooo fast! I kept up with him for a long time tho! Then I decided Caspian’s idea of hanging out in the shade was a good one! Their mom comes back tonight, so they had to go home, but it was so awesome to have them here! Mom says we can go on playdates when the kids and moms all get together 🙂 I can’t wait!

Mostly it’s been me and mom getting ready for summer vacation…which sounds like fun, but apparently that means we have to clean/scrub everything in the house and get the yard cleaned up. I thought it would be fun but I was wrong….Although mom does let me go get sticks and carry them to the burn pile! That part is fun! Drinking from the hose is great too! When mom hoses off the horses she sprays me and it feels sooo good!  My sisters only have a week and a half left, then I get to play with them everyday all day long! My favorite thing in the world to do is wake them up in the morning! I hop up and kiss them good morning. they squeal a lot, but then they giggle and hug me! I think it’s an excellent way to wake up! 😀

Mom was just looking at pictures of me after the accident and she can’t believe how well I’m doing. It hasn’t quite been 2 months yet and I’m running, hiking, playing and doing more than ever! She calls me her miracle 🙂 Of course she’s not calling me that right now since I’ve hogged the puter for too long 😉 hehe -hugs and doggie kisses to all, vampire bill 🙂

So I have taken it upon myself to tell you guys what I’ve been up to, since she seems to think she has a million things going on at once. I don’t know what she’s talking about, the only thing that she has to worry about is if I’ve got my snacks and food and I get to go for a million walks! It’s not like my sisters really need anything, silly mom, it’s all about me!

So I got my staples out! of course that was weeks ago and mom didn’t tell you (don’t worry I’ll take it up with her when I’m done 😉 ) but I was so excited I ran/hopped all the way to the dr’s office! I even got on the elevator no problem. Mom was worried I’d fall, but I showed her! I even did a flying leap when I got inside so I could see my favorite receptionist ever! (yeah, I don’t know many, but she was really cool!) Then everyone had to come out and had to see me. So I loved and rubbed all over everyone, they were so excited for me.  They told me I had to come back and see them and I will! They even had another aussie there that was named Sookie! (mom says it’s the girls name in the book she named me for…ewww girls, but it’s cool she’s an aussie, maybe she’s not soooo bad!)

Once I got the full ok from the Dr I knew I was set! I haven’t stopped running since I got home 3 weeks ago! I even helped mom plant the garden. I am back to sitting at her riding lessons (ok, I wait till she’s not looking and then I run around with the other horse, but it makes her happy to think I sit 😉 ) She still hasn’t taken me to school, even tho I try to get on the bus every morning. You would think she’d realize I’m totally ready! Some of those silly kids didn’t even know I was missing a leg until 2 weeks after I got the staples out! maybe it’s because I like to run everywhere, mom says I’m like a fluffly tornado, whatever that is! something about destruction…I dunno 😉

She likes to let me crawl up into bed with her when Dad leaves for work. They both laughed at me yesterday since I couldn’t wait for him to get out the door and piled on top of both of them 🙂 I don’t know why they want to sleep when the sun is shining and there is just SO much to do! Gosh! Don’t they know that the early bird gets the worm…and the snacks and the balls thrown and I can chase kitties and oh just sooo much stuff out there!

Mom got all silly yesterday too, my middle sister Cassie made her a tripawd aussie out of yarn, she got all teary eyed and couldn’t stop giggling. Was she crying/happy/sad? I have no idea, people are just crazy! I thought it was cool, but I’m even better looking than that…i know it’s impossible to catch all of my glory tho, so she gets away with it 😉

Ok mom’s giving me the eye..again. Guess I’ll go and try to be good…or at least flash my cute eyes at her so I can get as many treats as possible (thanks sooo much for that idea, btw! You guys rock!) -Vampire Bill

Hi all, Vampire Bill here, I stole the puter from my mom when she wasn’t looking (which isn’t often!) But she had the nerve to leave me with Dad for 8 hours yesterday! She says she had to go on a field trip with my oldest sister, but I think she should’ve stayed home with me!  She says I need to learn to stay with other people and I do love my Dad but it’s just not the same! He tried really hard tho, I think he’s even  more over-protective than my mom! They are always worrying about me, telling me to slow down, don’t they know I’m a high energy puppy and can’t sit still?! There’s just so much to see, do and play with!

They told me I only have to rest for another week, Monday I go to get my staples out! I’m really excited about that! It’ll be great to see my friends there again 🙂 They were all really nice to me and still call to see how I’m doing. Nights are a bit rough for me, now that they took some of my pain meds away (mom says it’s because I’m overdoing it, but I don’t believe her) It’s so hard to stay inside when it’s gorgeous out.  I miss my horse friends. Mom brought me out yesterday, but she carried me and wouldn’t let me down when I wanted to say hi to them.  Piper, the rescue horse they brought home even let me sit on her back for a bit, so I guess it wasn’t a total loss…but I still wanted to run with them again! Mom says when I get better she’ll bring me back out and I can watch while she rides….We’ll see 😉 I don’t think she realizes that I’ll be right there with her and feeling fine!

Silly humans always trying to keep me from playing! My big sisters left on the bus this morning, I tried to get on too, the bus driver even said I could! I wish I could go to school, the girls have so much fun there, I know I’d be the star of the class! Maybe when I feel better I’ll be able to go say hi to all the kids!

I’m so glad I got to read your stories! Mom likes to sit with me at night and we look at all the cool dogs here! there’s soo many of you! I hope I get to meet other dogs like me soon 🙂 Those silly 4 legged dogs don’t have anything on us! Alright, mom’s giving me the “eye” I’d better go pretend I like sitting for a few minutes 🙂

Well we are into our 5th day of recovery after Vampire Bill’s front amputation. It’s been a long emotional journey so far and it’s only been a week since the accident. VB is an Australian Shepherd, only 3 months old. He’s been a part of our family from the moment I set eyes on him. He fit in so perfectly with all of our mismatched animals from the start, even loving our kitten (Pew, who will try anyone’s patience) 🙂 and Maynard, the current cat king of the castle. He even curled up with him, which is just adorable!

One night I was on the phone with my gramma and took him for a walk, I brought him back into the house and let the kids play with him while I was talking. I opened the door for a split second to grab something and Pew raced out the door, before I could close it, VB ran out after her.

In less than a minute our lives were changed. Pew ran across the street and VB of course chased her. We live on a back road so there’s never much traffic, but wouldn’t you know it, a car came along just as he started crossing back over. Luckily the driver slowed down when he saw me, but it wasn’t enough. VB’s front right paw was shattered. After scooping him up I called my husband and we took him to the local vet ER….after calling my father in law to watch the 3 kids and borrow the credit card (thank goodness he’s so very helpful and awesome) Not many people would drop everything for a puppy emergency in the middle of the night. When we got to the vet’s they took him back for surgery…they tried to set it the best they could, but we’d have to call a surgeon the next day. Diagnosis? Probably amputation, they could try to save his leg, but being a puppy he wouldn’t hold still for very long, certainly not for the 3 month recovery they were calling for.

The next day I packed up my baby and we drove to Richmond (an hour away) Looking back, I should’ve called a friend. It wasn’t an easy trip to begin with and I got lost…..2 hours later I finally pulled over (i’m also stubborn) and called the surgeon’s office. the women there were so sweet and kind! they helped me figure out where I was and how to get there.  When we finally arrived, they were like family. Vampire Bill was immediately surrounded by them all and loved on 🙂 The vet even sat on the floor with us, since if I moved VB would too and it was painful for him. Dr. Suess was the kindest man, he explained it all to me. Not wanting to tell me he had to amputate, I knew what that look was when he first walked in, so I said it. As a family we had talked about it and knew that we would much rather have a 3 legged alive dog than one that was dead. He’s already been such a blessing to our family, there was no question that we would do whatever we could for him. Thankfully my father in law saved the day again monetarily. He loaned us the huge amount with no timeline for paying it back (I’m a stay at home mom and hubby works for a non-profit organization…we are broker than broke.)

When the surgeon called that evening he said that everything went really well, there was no way he could’ve saved the leg. It didn’t matter at all, the only thing I heard was that VB was doing great. VB had a hard time staying still on his sleepover at the vets, so they just took him out of the crate and held him 🙂 It felt so good to know he was in such wonderful hands.

He came home the next day, our biggest challenge is getting him to stay still. He desperately misses his runs in the am, trips to the bus stop with the kids and trailing after the horses with me. He is recovering really well, but he still has bad times. thankfully they are getting fewer and fewer. I keep telling him, just a little longer and he’ll be back to normal activities 🙂 I sat with him outside today for a few minutes while he was on his allowed potty break, but then we came back inside. I think the sunshine cheered him up some.

So that is the start to our story. I’d been digging online for any and all information I could before and after his surgery and stumbled on your website. It’s such an amazing/wonderful, informative place. Thank you! you will never know how much this has helped us on our journey. -Dani (Vampire Bill’s mom)