St. Bernards/Rule #1. Don't postpone daily walk.

Tuesday night instead of taking Lara, Ollie and Barney for their 5 p.m. visit to the dog park, I decided first to make oatmeal cookies for a dinner at Sharon and Richard's at 7 p.m. My thought was to take the pups to the park while the cookies cooled. So I pulled out oats, cinnamon, eggs and flour -- then ran to the store to pick up butter and brown sugar. I arrived home to what looked to be a blizzard in the kitchen. Lara and Ollie were hiding while Barney, the only one tall enough to reach the flour on the kitchen counter, was unapologetic.

Ooops. Lara Gains 4 Lbs.

Sorry it's been so long since the last post, but I've been sidelined with a bug that doesn't seem to want to go away.

Anyone who's tried to lose weight in a household where someone's trying to gain knows how difficult it can be.

Barney arrived a couple of months ago weighing 104 lbs., about the same as Lara when she came at the beginning of June. Trouble is, Lara's ideal weight is
75 lbs. while Barney's is a minimum
of 120 lbs.

I've tried to bulk him up with snacks, but it's hard to do so without including Lara. Instead, I give her smaller pieces. Even tried baby carrots. Barney loves them, but Lara spits them out. Anyway, no snacks for Lara. She's very active, more so than Barney and Ollie, so that should help to move her weight in the right direction.

During our visit with Dr. Harrison he noted, "Lara's doing well. Her neck has cleared up -- no reflex or misalignment in the cervical spine. She's alert, friendly, no stress."

Presenting "Beach Blanket Amigos"

Everyone will enjoy this feelgood movie about Ollie, a little black mutt, as he introduces Lara, an English lab used as a backyard breeder, and Barney, a severely neglected St. Bernard, to new friends at Dog Beach in Del Mar, Calif.

The Trailer

The Movie

"Lean On Me." Lara and Barney Enjoy First Party

Lara and Barney enjoyed their first party last weekend -- to celebrate Joey's 18th birthday. A couple of apologies: I'm new to video taping and couldn't figure out how to end the clip at the conclusion of the performance. Also, the video file was too big for my blog, so I uploaded it to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S69qOhEwJXs

Note my third dog, Ollie, taking care of Barney's oral hygiene (drooling). "The 3 Amigos" made such a good impression that one friend said she was going to talk to her husband about adopting a second shelter dog.

The lady petting the pups is friend Kathy Herington, formerly with The Mar-Dels. The background singer is friend, Laurie Lehman, a former blues singer turned social worker. The cockatoo is Lucy, Joey's new booking agent.

Rancho Santa Fe Turkey Rescue, Sept. 13, 2009

Today when Lara, Barney, Ollie and I returned from a long hike at San Dieguito County Park, we heard cooing as we approached our van which was parked at the lower level entrance on El Camino Real. I looked up to see a brilliant white hen and tom turkey standing on the far side of the road. I saw a couple of people trying to block them from crossing the busy thoroughfare, so decided to lend a hand.





One of the Good Samaritans was Karen Carhart, a volunteer with the San Diego Humane Society, Large Animal Rescue. She called Leslie Buncher, a fellow volunteer who arrived with a cage. A passerby said she had a dog kennel we could use to house the tom temporarily. It went very smoothly with minimal stress to the birds. Leslie explained that he was transferring the couple to the humane society with the hope that their owner would claim them. If they don't, he assured us that both birds would be adopted out together since they were obviously mates, and pets. It was a great outcome. You can view a video of the birds on my other blog, Lillian's North County Notes.

Lara - The Movie

Minus 19 lbs. and Dropping

Lara's followers might remember the trouble we had on June 29, trying to get her to mount the scale at Acacia Animal Health Center. That day she weighed 100 lbs., down 2 lbs. from her starting weight.

At one point it took 3 of us to get her on the scale. Not so any more. She steps right up these days following direction from Julene, the receptionist at Acacia. Over the past 3 months, Lara and the front office staff have become quite fond of one another. The weight loss no doubt has also made her feel younger and more agile.

Dr. Harrison was pleased to report that a month after her last adjustment, Lara remains in perfect alignment except for one small part of her neck. "I expected that," he said. "Everyone goes out of alignment at some point. This happens when there is more muscle tension on one side of the neck than the other."

"This can be applied to the human condition -- muscles are being tightened and pulling vertebrae into states of tension and structural fixation," Dr. Harrison said. "This is why the adjustment of veterinary orthopedic manipulation (VOM) is so helpful because it remobilizes that joint system for better movement and nerve coordination between the brain and the body."

Feeling happy and fit, Lara will return for a follow-up appointment in a month.