GOTT NYTT AR ` HAPPY NEW YEAR

                                       Happy 2015, and thank you all followers for 2014.

Its been (and is) couple of hectic weeks, and I am not referring to the "well-known" Christmas stress. We didn't have any Christmas or New Years Eve. Not that we didn't want to, other things came in between.

When a family member gets sick or hurt, it affects the whole family. And also friends. Your safety net shows if its stable or have any wholes in it. Especially as a family that lives far away from family, and in a country they are not familiar with the language 100%

My beautiful nine-year old daughter has been riding since she was three years old. She loves horses. Every Friday evening is her most happiest time of the week. To go to the stable and ride. I think we've been members there for 2-3 years now. Its a small loving club with only three lesson horses (they are searching after a fourth)

Aragon is a BIG horse with a lot of power. Normally one group was riding before Olivia so Aragon would be quiet and calm when it was Olivia s turn. But this Friday the 19th, Olivia was the first one to ride Aragon.
The other two horses spooked around, it was a strange mood between the horses. Outside, the wind was blowing and made some noises. Suddenly, Aragon took off and ran around like crazy. I stood up, held my breath, "Please, please Olivia stay on!" I mumbled. It seamed like she would make it, but then, he took the corner with a sharp turn and Olivia flew up in the sky and hit the ground. (she had helmet and protection vest) I heard this scream right through the thick window to the clubroom where stood.

I ran out and in to were she was laying. My little pale girl laid in a strange position. I think I screamed, I don't remember. As a mother, this was the worst thing ever, to see your child laying in horrible pain.

It felt like forever before the ambulance came.....Olivia screamed, not only out of pain, but out of fear for the Ambulance people. They were working on her, Max my 7 year old son and I held hands, watching, feeling helpless and praying.

They moved her into the ambulance, cut her cloths. Olivia fights with screams, her eyes are wild. I sat in the front with the driver. Everything was so unreal. I tried to think. Where did she develop this fear? I went through her years trying to remember if something had happen. I couldn't remember.

We came to the hospital and Olivia went through a two hour surgery. Max slept in my arms. A wonderful nurse came with a chair that developed into a bed. Max could sleep. Midnight we could sit by her bed. My tears rolled down the cheek, watching her hooked up to all the cords and monitors.

I hated that I had to leave one a clock in the morning, but no one was home, and all the dogs had been alone since late afternoon. I didn't have my cellphone I couldn't call anyone. That was my biggest lesson that evening.

Max and I got a taxi to the stable to get our car and drive home. I carried Max into his bed 0200 in the morning, and I carried him out 0700 to go back to the hospital.

#1 Never forget a charger in your bag.

#2 Have important phone numbers written down in your wallet.

#3 Know your child's weight -- Olivia laid in a stretcher and couldn't be weighed (and to save time for the op team) and had to go in to emergency surgery

#4 Have snack in your bag and coins for the machine for drinks/snacks

#5 Do not take pictures!

A Heartwarming Story

This is a heartwarming story from Tom Brouns and his family. I want to share this with you since dealing with many sad animal cases, it sometimes make us forget about those dogs that has a great family. And, families that has a great dog!
Tom Writes:
"This is our dog, Keiler. He looks like a golden retriever,but he's a (German) Hovawart - bred to guard. However, we're fairly certain he'd greet any would-be burglar with a wagging tail and a slobbery tongue. Because the kids were young, and we'd rather lose a stereo than have a child bitten, we've tried to teach him that people are universally good (if only that were true.) Hopefully his bark, which can be quite fierce, would be enough to keep any troublemakers away.

Besides being our guard dog, he's a member of the family. He's 7 years old, but we think he believes he's one of the kids. He's a former Therapy Dog, having worked at Womack Army Hospital, Fort Bragg, NC. He's a foot-warmer on cold nights. He's a great swimmer and loves the water. And for years, he's been my running partner. But we've known since he was about a year old that his running career would end at some point, because he's got hip dysplasia.

About six months ago, he started having trouble keeping up. But he would never tolerate being left behind on a run. From the moment I picked up a pair of running shoes, he'd never leave my side. We took him to the vet and they said it was his heart- it simply couldn't keep up with his exercise regimen. He was put on blood thinners, and his endurance improved, but he'd still start dropping back after a mile or so - when he usually leads for five. So we took him for a second opinion.

We were told that he was in extreme pain, his left hip was nearly gone, and his right leg muscles were about twice as big as his left muscles, from compensating. But the good news was that there is such a thing as a doggie hip replacement. Though the procedure would be quite expensive, they could give him a hip that would last him well past his life expectancy of 10 or 11 years. We didn't balk at the offer, and are fortunate to be able to afford it - because putting him down would have been heartbreaking.

They kept Keiler for 3 or 4 days, because apparently "the part" was late coming in. We were a bit shocked to see that he'd been "pantsed" - they shaved his lower extremities, leaving the fur on his tail and little "booties" - which made him look ridiculous. After a regimen of antibiotics and pain pills, he's going to have to be kept down for the next 2 months - no running, jumping, stairs, etc. Apparently this is necessary for his hip to "set" properly. But we're told if everything goes right, he should be able to live out his normal life, with his artificial hip pretty much as good as the real thing. So far he's doing well - the most difficult part is keeping him sedentary. And I have to put on my running shoes in secret - he wouldn't understand."

Thank you Tom and family for sharing this Amore story.

Going Against Intuition

When is the time to say good bye to our four legged friend?

That is a difficult question that many people ask me. Many times they call me and ask me, "Is he ready?"

You know when the time is there, you can feel it. But sometimes other people interfere with their eyes and logic instead of their gut feelings and that interference disconnects the intuition. Animals know. They prepare themselves and leave the pack so they are not a burden any more. That is still unconditional love from them into the end.

Some people are watching with their eyes, "He is not in pain, he is not howling."

Animals go into a state of mind were they start to close the world off. They have to be strong right up to the last minute. They can not "scream," they are protecting their pack from attracting enemies, and to scream would signal weakness and vulnerability.

When mourning you start to go through, if and whys. Questioning and re-questioning decisions you made, or didn't make, that maybe contributed to the end result. It eats at your mind and your heart, everything is aching. You wish, you hope, you want to wake up from a bad dream.

Saturday, Max's baptism was a wonderful day. We had our four dogs on the back side of our house. No one would go into the back yard and bother them. The Barbecue started and at some time, someone threw in a rib to the dogs. Ranger, our Black Labrador ate one. A person who no doubt thought that "he" did something nice, instead started a chain of events with a deathly outcome. also believe a plastic cup blew in where the dogs were, and Ranger smelled something wonderful and took a bite that would later lodge in his throat, and yet later when he vomited, he would aspirate into his lungs, eventually sawing his lungs up and causing internal bleeding.

Later we heard him coughing, clearly something was stuck in his throat. People said, "If he is not good 'till Monday I will show you were the ER veterinarian is"

Later, too much later, I said "He wont make it through the night, he is getting worse, something is cutting him."

People said, " No he probably scratched his throat."

Later, was too late!

When he threw up with blood, after everyone else had left, it was finally crystal clear that he was in dire circumstances. Todd called to get the friend out of bed to show us where the 24-hour clinic was (note, always know this when moving to a new location), and he sped Ranger there.

Emergency surgery took care of the rib in his throat, and took out some other stuff from his stomach: plastic, a balloon, whole olives. But the physical damage to his lungs was apparently too much. He continued unconscious under anesthesia for about 7 hours, but when he should have been transitioning out of the anesthesia, he went into respiratory distress, followed by failure. The vet clinic says they tried several things to revive him, and actually had him for about 30 seconds, but they lost him in the end.

Try to always go on your gut feeling. When it comes to your friend, your connection with him is stronger than stranger's eyes.

Our Big Amore Goof! We Are so sorry we didn't listen to our heart. We are so sad without you!