Tag Archives: Dogs

The Final Adventure

June 9, 2020 Odee 39 Comments

Woof, as you read this I have probably already crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. I wrote this last night and this morning to post after the event and I am keeping it pretty short. Things have really slowed down for me several weeks ago when I got so sick I could barely move but I got a little better. I really had a hard time eating food until Matt started cooking hamburger and eggs chopping them up real fine so I can swallow them and that tasted so good, but now even that really isn’t satisfying me and I don’t want to eat all my food. All the swelling I had is almost gone but I have small bumps all over and that had Matt very worried. I really didn’t feel like doing much other than going down the stairs to go out for a few minutes, use the bathroom, look around at what was happening, and then go back up to our home. Most of the time I sleep and Matt is by my side a lot when I wake up he is right by me a lot of the time. Years ago Matt was sick with the cancer and I stayed by him and Matt says now I have it but with mine it is too bad to fix. Matt has been doing his best not to cry, I hate to see him so sad, I don’t know what to do about that. He tried his best not to do it around me but I know he was and is hurting inside.

Matt said I will be seeing Maverick soon, it’s been a long time since I have seen him and I still miss him. I’m looking forward to seeing him and all the dogs that have been in Matt’s life. I was hoping to have some more time to have adventures with Matt but that isn’t possible. I have really enjoyed sharing my life and adventures with everyone and I hope you won’t be too sad, it’s time for me to say farewell…

PS – I want to end this on a happier note, These photographs below are the fist Matt ever took of me and of our first adventure. All of these were taken in August 2010. We started out having adventures right after I adopted Matt.

This was the first day I met Matt after I adopted him at the shelter. He was visiting his sister in the NC mountains. She went to the shelter looking for a puppy and I got Matt (she didn’t have a dog adopt her.)

Only a week later we got to go on our first camping trip together in the Virginia mountains. We got to go hiking and romping in open fields of flowers and were our all day.

Of course there were creeks and water involved we had a blast!

Even Maverick had a great time, he was still young enough to run around and chase sticks and I wish I had told you some stories about how he liked to swim. He was crazy about it, crazier than I was about my ball and toys.

Well now I must say goodbye!

Staying Home Blues

March 26, 2020 Odee 2 Comments

Woof, things have been different for a while and it really concerns me. I noticed Matt has been distracted and concerned, even tense. We have been staying home a lot and have been only walking places close to home. With Matt being concerned and preoccupied I am confused and concerned also. I miss going to the grocery store and other places we normally go all the time. And I really miss going outdoors, camping, taking pictures, and having adventures. It has been getting so boring. Matt has been trying to make things interesting but sometimes we just sit together. To make it worse I accidentally stepped the wrong way when we were playing Frisbee last week and we had to get some more of my medicine. Luckily that is much better now and I should be able to play again soon, we have been going for walks though.

Just the other day one of our friends came over. I heard the knock on the door so I grabbed one of my toys and stood by the door like I usually do. Matt didn’t open the door so I jumped up on the bed to look out the window to see who it was. I barked for joy when I saw it was a friend but I couldn’t understand why they were leaving. After they got down the stairs we went outside and talked a little, they had dropped something by for Matt. When they left Matt sprayed and wiped all the things with smelly stuff and let it dry before putting them away and then he washed his hands. He has been doing that a lot more than he usually does also cleaning things more and using wipes.

I usually know what day of the week it is because usually one day a week I stay at home when Matt goes to church. I get to sleep in that day and I enjoy my nap time. That’s not to say I am not getting my naps now but I am getting more than normal. Matt has been on the phone with friends and relatives more and it is strange not seeing other people and dogs. It seems like everything in our lives has changed and that is upsetting.

Matt has explained to me there is an invisible danger spreading and we have to stay at home as much as possible to protect us and others. Matt said the shots I get at the animal hospital protect me from things like which affect dogs. He said this is one that affects humans and there is no shot for it right now. I make sure he keeps up with his shots every year like he does with mine, we have to look out for each other.

Our walks are a lot different now. We usually walk close to home and Matt knows some places we can be alone. Other places we make sure we have enough distance apart from other people and dogs too. I know this really doesn’t affect dogs but we just need to be careful. I am getting jumpy too, when we are on our night “potty” walks around the apartment complex sometimes I warn Matt someone is around because I can smell them before he can hear them and he has good hearing, woof!

Matt has been reassuring me these changes are necessary and will be helpful; I understand but don’t like it. Matt said it was okay not to like it but he wanted me to say it is to help everyone right now. Both Matt and I want everyone take care and practice social distancing. That means no petting, or hugging; which makes me sad because I love pets and hugs but we have to do what we have to do, woof, woof!

Our Little Move

October 31, 2019 Odee 9 Comments

Matt called our move to Oregon The Big Move, that was his working folder for photos during the trip, so I am calling this Our Little Move.

Woof, where do I start? We have been so busy I haven’t had time to write and Matt didn’t either, or felt too bad to. He even got his October newsletter out late and he better hurry up on his November one. I never wrote my second part of our camping trip to Grand Teton, we had adventures with the truck and weather as usual and luckily on the truck it was something simple.

Me running on one of my "walks." — Me running on one of my “walks.”

It was when I told Matt to get a motel room because he wasn’t feeling well so we had to drive to the other side of the mountains to get a motel room we could afford. There is a pass you have to drive way up and then way down it is one of the steepest ones I have seen. I’m glad it’s not a real long drive over that pass just very steep, did I say the road went way up and way down? Woof, well that is the way that road is! When we got to the town on the other side Matt discovered an oil leak. We were lucky Matt picked a motel that was only two blocks away from the mechanic. Of course Matt was upset since the engine in the truck had been replaced last year and he imagined something really bad had happened. Well it turned out to be simple and inexpensive so we were lucky it happened where we could get it fixed fast!

We went back to the Grand Teton park early the next day. After spending most of the day there we started our trip back home in the afternoon. Our second day heading home was rainy and we got home on the third. Shortly after we got back we found out Matt had been approved for an apartment, he was on a waiting list and thought it would be a long time before we would get the place. It’s an apartment, at first I thought we were moving into one of those motels because it almost looked like one, only more buildings and a lot nicer than the ones we stay in when we travel. It’s like living in a park, real grass and real big trees, lots of them. We live in a grove of Redwood trees (WOOF! WOOF!) and just on the edge of town near some nice parks and trails.

After we settled in Matt got sick and I had to keep an eye on him. A lucky thing is Matt already had some doctor appointments arranged for regular checkups so I made sure he went to those so his doctors could help him. I made Matt stay at home mostly and even hid his truck keys for a while. When he started getting well we started taking a few short rides to neat places where I got out to run and walk.

Well that should catch some things up; Matt was talking about going to some waterfalls tomorrow. I hope we do.

R&R Part II; and not the fun kind!

August 8, 2019 Odee 4 Comments

Woof my last blog was about rest and relaxation, this time my blog is still about R&R but this time it is rest and recuperation. I must mention here as I have on my Facebook page I was trying to hide the fact I was hurt, but Matt is too observant and took me to the doctor to find out what was wrong. Matt’s truck is a tall one and sometimes I misjudge my jumps. On one of our last trips I fell when I didn’t quite make the jump into the front and ended up on my back. That hurt but I didn’t say anything and acted like I was fine, but oh it did hurt to walk. The doctor took pictures called X-rays of my leg and shoulder. She told us there was no damage to my bones and no signs of bone cancer. Both of us were relieved and Matt said he hadn’t even thought of bone cancer. The doctor said she was worried about that but didn’t want to say anything. She explained to us I have either a muscle or tendon injury and I have to take it easy for at least two weeks.

Well with all that fuss now I am restricted to just potty walks and can only go downstairs from our room twice a day so I stay downstairs for part of the day. Woof, this is so boring, butt Matt tells me it is necessary to help things heal. He does spend a lot of time with me, but we can’t play ball, or go for our walks, or go swimming, or the dog park, or anything! Matt rearranged his room so there is more floor space and moved my bed and added more cushioning to it because he doesn’t want me to jump up on the big bed because it’s high off the floor. I do get massages and treats but it is still boring. The only plus side I can think of is I have more time to work on my photographs, videos, and blog.

I hope we can go on a trip soon I haven’t even gone on a truck ride since went to the doctor’s office. Matt keeps telling me we will go soon but he is waiting for an okay by my doctor. I get tired of Matt’s music too. I would rather hear the wind, rushing water, birds, or something outdoors. Well I do get to go out in the yard and lie down in the sun, but it’s been cloudy the last couple of days so I only get to sniff around the yard and, well, you know what.

You can get all kinds of stuff with my photo on it, or you can even buy photos of mine at www.matthewirvin.com!

Woof, that’s enough complaining and I just have to get better! Oh since I am here at the house all day long I decided it’s time for another Photo Dog Jackson mug Mug Contest. I’ll have some details about it on Friday (8/9/19.) Plus I am making a compilation video from my very first one. I should have that ready next week!

A Trip to the Beach

May 17, 2019 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, I made a new friend and we got to go to the beach last week! We had company visit from North Carolina and they brought Maggie, their new dog and she and I became good friends. I knew Joy and Bob but Maggie was a shelter dog that adopted them. She told me when she saw them especially Bob, she knew they were her people and she would go home with them. Her life before ending up at the shelter was pretty rough but a kind veterinarian made sure she was taken care of. I won’t go into detail but she did escape a possible real bad outcome but now she is a mother of some fine grown up dogs and she has her forever home. Though she is like me and travels a lot.

Woof, Maggie, Joy, Bob, and me at the place they were camping. Matt took the picture!

Joy and Bob told Matt they wanted to go to the coast while they were visiting and Maggie and I were all for that! Luckily a trip to the ocean is a short one from Eugene and our friends were staying at a campground just north of town. We went to South Jetty Beach in Florence. It was a nice day but windy and there we almost no other people or dogs there.

Woof, Bob is finding just the right stick for us. Matt took this picture.

It didn’t take much encouragement on our part to get our humans involved with playing as you can see from the photographs. This beach is long and sandy and flat where we can run and jump all we want to. Maggie likes to chase after the birds while I prefer sticks. Any stick will do, big or little ones. As long as I can chase, run after, and chew them I am happy. We had the best time running around on the beach and had a long walk. We did watch a couple of trucks and buggies try to go over the dunes. One couldn’t make it over and had to drive the long way to get back.

Woof, Maggis likes to chase the sick with me, birng it back, not so much. Joy took this picture. — Woof, Maggie likes to chase the sick with me, bring it back, not so much. Joy took this picture.

Woof, us bringing back the stick. Joy took this picture.

After that we drove up to part of the beach that is rocky and had no beach, it was pretty but no place to play and I don’t like to swim in the ocean and Matt doesn’t want me to anyway because he says it is dangerous.

Woof, one more photo! Me jumping, Joy took this picture.

It was a nice day and I was glad to see old friends and meet a new one. I hope we get to see all of them on our next visit to North Carolina.

Bye for now,

Life at Ole Betsey’s Country Store

September 20, 2016 Odee 3 Comments

Woof, woof, we had the best time last week in the mountains. It was so much cooler up there we stayed outside most of the time. Not like we have been at home, only going out early in the morning. We stayed in a town called Mortimer. The strange thing is there are hardly any buildings there, ruff! We camped at our friend’s place called Betsey’s Ole Country Store. It was a great place to camp and visit with Bruce and all the humans and dogs stopping by.

Betsey's Ole Country Store and Rental Cabins. — Betsey’s Ole Country Store and Rental Cabins.

From behind the store at the back of the campground.

One day we went on a hike to a waterfall where fish hunt, I don’t know what they hunt, other fish, bugs? Or what??? But the name is Hunt Fish Falls. The trail goes down, down, and down more, but when you get there I discovered one of the best swimming places ever! The water was nice and deep and clean smelling (my human likes that.) I did a video of this hike so we should be able to see it soon if my human ever gets it done, woof!

After the hike Matt was pretty tired (I was too, but I was not going to let him know) so we rested on the front porch at the Betsey’s place, but it is really Lucy’s place. She says her human, Bruce, thinks he runs the place, but she is the one really in charge. I like visiting Lucy’s place. I don’t know why she named it Betsey’s Ole Country Store, maybe Betsey is her mother? We spent some time every day there on the porch, my human talking with the other humans. I got to visit with them also plus all the dogs that came visiting. Sometimes it got busy and sometimes it was quiet but it was always peaceful!

We spent a few days at the campground at Ole Betsey’s, it was nice. One evening we went on a walk with Lucy and my human friends Bruce and Candice. Bruce was telling the other humans the history of Mortimer and where the buildings were before the floods made them disappear. One thing I heard was the last big flood was the one that wiped most of the town out. Now it is only a few buildings and houses. Woof, I know my human will be surprised I heard this, all he thought I wanted to do was swim, but I do listen. But, yes I really wanted to swim too; I can never get enough of that!

There are a lot of fish at the pond at Betsey's, that is why I cannot swim there, but you can catch them. woof! — There are a lot of fish at the pond at Betsey’s, that is why I cannot swim there, but you can catch them. woof!

I’m not sure what part of Betsey’s Country Store I like best. I have stayed in the cabin and teepee before they are nice and I like the campground too! Woof, woof, I almost forgot if you like good food Bruce told me they are going to have a Lowcountry Oyster & Seafood boil on October 22. Woof did I do good Bruce?

PS Here is a link to Betsey’s Ole Country Store Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Betseys-Ole-Country-Store-Cabin-Rental-258129213967/?fref=ts

2017 Calendar News!

September 14, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, woof!

Our new calendars have gone to press! Once again PrintingCenterUSA will be producing our high quality full-color calendars. Check their site out at:

http://www.printingcenterusa.com/printing/calendar-printing

Here are the front and back covers of our calendars and this is the first year for mine so I will have mine first and my human’s second, woof!

Photo Dog Jackson's front cover. — Photo Dog Jackson’s front cover.

Photo Dog Jackson's back cover. — Photo Dog Jackson’s back cover.

Matt's front cover. — Matt’s front cover.

Woof, I will show the insides soon!

The Last of our Scooty Trip

September 2, 2016 Odee 5 Comments

Woof, woof, what fun we had on our last two days of our trip! We drove for a long time. It was so hot my human said we were going to head for the mountains in a state I have been in some, Virginia. We drove from a place call Binghamton, I wonder if they have ham there and what kind ham is Bing? Woof, maybe Bing is the name of the man that has the ham and there is a ton of it? Woof, I think I may be onto something. Well we drove all the way from Bings place to a place in Virginia called Shiny Doe National Park. I like going to national parks even though at most of those I am only allowed in certain places.

Ruff, one bad thing along the way was we got stuck on the big road that has so many cars and big trucks zooming by, but they were not zooming at all for a long, long time that afternoon. All we could see were stopped cars ahead and behind us. On the other side there was not any cars, the road was empty. Woof, I have not ever seen anything like it. Cars with flashing lights and sirens passed by us on the part of the road you are not supposed to drive on. Finally we started moving again, but we got to our campsite later than we wanted. Instead of afternoon, we got there in the evening but before the sun went down.

Woof, I can almost see why the park is called Shiny Doe because we saw plenty of does all around our campground and all over the place. There were big deer and baby deer eating all that good tasting green grass there. I just wonder when they are shiny? They did not look very shiny to me! We were camped at a place called Big Meadows and they were big. Not as big at that Gray Sun Park in Virginia, but it was big, woof! We got there in time to take some sunset photos, well Matt did. I am having some problems with my harness my human is going to have to work on so I only took videos on this trip. Though Matt does have some tricks where he pulls out a frame of the video to make a photograph, ruff!

On our last day we went to a place called Dismal Falls. Woof, I do not know why it was dismal, it was fun and I got to swim and swim and swim! I was fun and I think it should be called Fun Falls because there is a big swimming pool right below it!

Well we are back home now so my human needs to work on my videos, look for them soon, woof! He says we have some plans for our next trip, but I am not telling yet. I really enjoyed this trip and look forward to sharing photos and videos of it, woof, woof!

Matt here again to explain a couple of the place names:
– Shiny Doe Park is Shenandoah National Park
– Grey Sun Park is Grayson Highlands State Park
and of course the Scooty is a reference to Nova Scotia

The Cape!

August 24, 2016 Odee 3 Comments

Woof, woof! What a great time we have had so far. We have been in Canada four days now and have been to so many places. After camping near the place where the water runs backwards and has big whirlpools we finally made it to the Scooty place. My human calls it Nova Scotia, I think that sounds funny and guess what? We have been traveling by Funny Bay and it is funny! The water gets real high and real low. My human would not let me swim there because he said a thing called tide (is that not a detergent?) comes in and out so fast I would be taken away by it. I would not like to lose my human so I decided he was right so I just looked at the water. It was not clear most of the time. It was so red that even I could see the color! Woof! We were at Funny Bay for two days camping by the water, it was very pretty there. We went by a lighthouse at a place called burnt coat. I kept looking for that coat to see if it was burnt, ruff, but I did not see one!

Then it started raining so we went to a big city, but it was so busy and crowded we left there and found a neat place close to a famous lighthouse named Peggy Cove. She must have been special to have a cove and a lighthouse named after her., ruff. Woof, woof, I did get an ice cream cone when we were driving there that day and it was good, they even put a doggy treat on top!

It cleared off that night and we got up early the next morning so my human and I could take pictures. He said there would be a lot of people there and the best time would be very early in the morning. Besides, having been an art director for my human I know morning light makes good photographs. We spent a lot of time photographing the lighthouse, the village where the humans live there, and along the rocky coast. It was very pretty. After taking the photos we packed up and went to a place called Picktoo or something like that. I really liked the campsite we got in the park near the Picky place it is called Cariboo something, boo who? After we set up camp we went into town to see the boats and village. I liked it; there were friendly people and not at all busy like that big Halley city. Now we are at some place that has a cape, I have been busy looking for and when I find it, I will let you know.

Woof, that is all for now, I think Matt has something to say so here he is!

Matt here I think need to decode a few names here for everyone. Jackson has a hard enough time with our local place names, but when we headed north he just doesn’t quite understand them. Here are a few interpretations:

Funny Bay – Bay of Fundy

Picktoo – Pictou

Halley City – Halifax

Burnt coat – Burntcoat Head lighthouse

Cariboo – Caribou Provincial Park

Happy Birthday to Me!

August 17, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, woof, what a trip we have had so far. My human and I have been in the truck for days it seems like. Well I guess it has been days, we have gone through many states and a big rain storm. The first night we did not go real far and stayed at a place names after otters, you know those animals that swim a lot? I like them; they swim better than I do. Well Matt said we stayed at Peaks of Otter Campground, it is great those otters have some mountains; I think that is neat, ruff! The next day is when we ran into the big bad storms.

I know he was worried about the storm because we could not see the road when he was driving and he had to pull over to the side while the big trucks went past us and splashed more water on us. He finally gave up and went to one of those big places where humans (and dogs) stay. I was not like the one we stayed in when it snowed so bad on our last trip, everything was inside. We had only camped one night before the big storms. The next day we drove and drove and drove a long time. I got bored with all that and was glad when we finally stopped to find a campsite. We almost did not get to the campground in time but the nice female human let us in. I liked that place were weird sounding birds and very interesting smells. As usual it has a strange sounding name Bomoseen, I wonder who Bomo was and was it named that because he was seen there? Woof, I just do not know!

Us at the Bomoseen campground, it was a little rainy but that did not bother me!

The next day Matt said we were going to slow down and look at some of the sights and we did. I wish we had before, I do not know why he was in such a hurry. He said we were in a state called Vermont. We stopped at a lot of places. I even got to swim at a river that has a bridge with a roof. Can you imagine that? A roof over a bridge outside, I wonder why it has one? Does it rain harder over the river? I do not know why, I am going to have to think about that. Then we took a hike to a big valley called a gorge, at least that is what my human said it was. Now the gorge has an even stranger name Quechee (I had to get Matt to spell that for me.) I did get to swim there also. I like the paces when have been visiting because Matt will let me get in the water. He said it was much cleaner that the water where we live. I believe him. You can actually see the bottom of the rivers and lakes here. It is not like that at home.

Well I am tired and ready to take a nap while my human fixes his dinner. I have already eaten. Matt is always nice to feed me first. I will write another blog post as soon as I can, woof!

Oh before I go, I also celebrated my 8^th birthday on August 16! WOOF! I had a good one!

The Adventures of Odee & Matt