The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Overtaxed]

I think I'll give my azaleas a little trim this spring. They have a few branches that have shot way above the others. I shudder everytime I see a pruned forsythia.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - sometimes puppies get some growing pains... bones growing too fast for their little bodies or vice-verse...

He's only 4 1/2, that's too young for arthritis isn't it?

Not really too young. He may to be too young to need to bear the cost of Rimadyl (it is expensive for a big dog) but it would not be too soon for him to begin to show some joint aging.

With Logan, it started with stiffness after extraordinary workouts.... After hunting, or after a trip to the beach. He was probably about 5 when I started giving him arthritis pills two days before, and two days after a hunting trip or other exertion. (we only had cortizone then - before Rimadyl) By around 10 he started Rimadyl because he was getting more generally stiff in winter, but didn't need it so much in summer. Only the last year did he get it all the time, and even then, I skipped days until he got stiff again. It is just an anti-inflammatory, and can be given when needed. It really varies, and Logan did not ever get arthritis to the degree many dogs do.

I would recommend you start him on MSM and Glucosamine joint supplement at his age now, because it is a preventative more than a cure, and has proven itself to save you trouble later. They make it as a crystal or liquid you mix in his food, or as a tasty dog treat. It is affordable and available at feed stores (also at pet stores too but would be cheaper at a farm supply or online)

Logan, Bay and Zulu have been getting a MSM/Gluc. supplement the last few years and I credit it to some degree with Logan's longetivity and Bay's clean limbs and movement at age 20.... Those joint supplements are not a bad idea for any of us that are over the hill (I am not there yet!)

Our vet? We'll I guess he's cute, but he's not really my type...

You haven't seen mine! - Hubba hubba!

[ksen]

What's that off in the distance?

[Overtaxed]

We know it's not bacon!

[HairOfTheDog]

My last post is kinda general info (and maybe more than you wanted to know)... I wouldn't assume this kindof acute limping is arthritis unless he starts always getting gimpy after a long walk or hard playing.

[Corin Stormhands]

Sheesh! I stopped buying the Glucosamine for myself 'cause it was too pricey! But I'll check it out.

I wonder if it was Glucosamine Al Gore's dog and mother-in-law both used...

[Corin Stormhands]

Spam Alert! Spam Alert!

[HairOfTheDog]

Maybe you needed to buy it from farm supply stores!

[HairOfTheDog]

What on earth are you two up to?

[ksen]

What on earth are you two up to?

What?

Um, engaging in idle chit chat? As opposed to idol chit chat which occurs on the forum that is not to be named.

[HairOfTheDog]

I haven't found the stuff I buy yet online, but I love this company's ads. Motion. Yep.... that's what we want.

[HairOfTheDog]

Um, engaging in idle chit chat?

OKAY then.... just don't be tryin' to stampede people with idle talk of things in the distance!

[Lil'freeper]

Am listening to Rush right now and he is struggling to find words to express his full admiration for our troops. He attended a fundraiser last nite for an organization that provides scholarships for the children of Marines who have died and posted information on his website.

Given that the Marine G'nad spoke of earlier had a family, the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation might be an excellent choice for a charitable Hobbit Hole project.

Gotta run to another bored meeting. Talk amongst yourselves...

[HairOfTheDog]

Great cause Lil'freeper! I think you are right.

[HairOfTheDog]

GERALDO GIVES PRECISE LOCATION OF PETER ARNETT

[ksen]

Did he draw another map in the dirt?

[HairOfTheDog]

Geraldo Rivera, reporting from deep within the fog of war, is apparently the only one who doesn't know he's been kicked out of Iraq.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Celebrity TV journalist Geraldo Rivera kicked out of Iraq: Pentagon
24 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Celebrity television journalist Geraldo Rivera, who has been on assignment covering the US-led war in Iraq (news - web sites), has been told by US military officials that he is no longer welcome to accompany US troops there.
"I can confirm that it has been done," said military spokesman Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Owens on Monday, contacted at Central Command headquarters in Qatar.

Owens said Rivera, a star of the Fox News television network, was not embedded with troops, but had been "asked to leave the unit he was with."


Military officials were short on details about reasons for Rivera's dismissal, but according to US news reports, Rivera was told to leave Iraq after an on-air appearance during which he drew a map in the sand revealing information about US troop locations.
More....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030331/en_afp/iraq_war_us_television_030331174934

[Corin Stormhands]

Motion. Yep.... that's what we want.

Yeah, he could use a bit more. He gained weight over the winter since he wasn't outside. And I suspect that, even though we cut out the table scraps, he managed to convince anyone that was in the kitchen that he needed food in his bowl. We're watching it more closely and he's trimming back down.

We're surrounded by farms, but I can't think of a single farm supply store...I'll have to look...

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh they are around! - I just love farm supply stores. Course I have a *thing* for really neat buckets. Plan an afternoon and take the family!

[Corin Stormhands]

Oh they are around!

I'm sure they are, but I haven't seen one 'cause I doubt they're located next to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble...