Well, summer's about over. And it blew right on by. Autumn is a great time of year but it's to short and winter here blows for waaay to long and I hate it. But Cuervo doesn't.
It was shortly after my last post here that Cuervo's behavior took a turn south. Just when I thought we had finally turned the corner with his freakshow paranoia about flies and bees he really started to regress.
I've spent $100's of dollars on different pills, medicene's, a collar that was useless that was supposed to have a calming effect, perscriptions, vet bills...and nothing has worked.
That liquid product I mentioned in my last post here that you just put a few drops in his water worked great for about 2 weeks. Then Cuervo caught on he was being "poisoned" and just quit drinking his water. Trying to force his jaws open to squirt some of the stuff in it mouth directly proved fruitless too as he seemed to build a resistance to it.
I was finally recommended to a behaviorial specialist at Michigan State Universaty who contacted me about Cuervo's problem. Way to much detail to put in here but I'm hoping her expert suggestions will prove to be helpful in dealing with this flying insect problem, and it's a serious problem, of Cuervo's.
When the sun is out and he happens to be outside, he'll either be in his coop seeking shelter from the flies (most of them are imaginary, if he sees or hears just one his entire day is shot and he runs for cover), in the garage or wanting to get into the house or basement.
It really sucks!
He's fine at night, it's just during the daylight when the sun shines that he's just gotten to be super high-maintenance with this bug thing of his.
He can't wait for winter and I wish summer would last forever. He'll get his wish before I'll get mine.
That's about the latest with Cuervo. I've been busy dealing with him and his freakshow since the last post, trying to drum up business and pay some bills in this lame economic vicinity we're in, shopping for another vehicle has taken almost 2 months so it's just been a bunch of time-consuming jibberish lately.
Haven't seen any shows since my last post here but we're going to the Blues Festival in Old Town this weekend to listen to some good live blues music and sip some cold ones. Weather is supposed to be sunny and in the low-mid 70's. Excellent.
That about wraps things up this time around, and until next time around >> Cheers \_/
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Blues Musician Larry McCray One of the Best
Right off the bat I'm going to apologize for not keeping up with this blog as frequently as I should. Lots of irons in the fire, breakdowns and a host of other reasons as to why I haven't been keeping this blog updated with Cuervo news.
It's a work in progress.
Cuervo has been having a good summer, better than expected considering he's been freaking out the past couple of summers with bugs and bees. He became an insane freakshow and very stressed out everytime the sun came out and the temperature warmed up.
Finally I decided the bs I was paying at the vet to calm him down was over-priced and pretty much useless. I bought a product from Soldan's by Natural Homeopathic Remedy called Anxiety for something like $14.99 and it has been working like a charm.
What a world of difference. You just put 3 or 4 drops in his water and it really has a calming effect on him. He's very obvious that the stuff works or I'd be the one stressing out dealing with his frantic freakshow all summer long. He's been much better and I highly recommend this product if your dog is having high-anxiety issues.
We've been to a few concerts this summer and they've all been great. Early in July we seen the great Sammy Hagar who has to be one of the best live rock-n-roll performers touring these days. Sammy and his band really tear up the stage and with his 30+ years rocking and rolling there is no shortage of rock-n-roll jams in his musical inventory. www.redrocker.com Definately one of the few artists I'd pay to see again and worth the money.
The next night we seen Kenny Wayne Shepard at the Common Ground Festival in downtown Lansing (www.commongroundfest.com) . Kenny has quite a history of playing the blues already at 27 yrs old. He released his first album (and best IMO) at the age of 17 called Ledbetter Heights. He's played with everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughn at the age of 13, to the great B.B. King and a zillion others. Kenny Wayne showed why he's known for his shredding abilities and him and his band played an awesome couple of hours of blues on a hot, muggy night. One word-JAM!
This past Friday night we went to see the local legendary Larry McCray sizzle on the guitar with his blues and his 4-piece band, 2 of the members consisting of his brother on drums and his cousin on bass. This guy is so under-rated it's a shame. He's been around a long time and just hasn't gotten the recognition he so deserves. The man can play, all the musicians flat out jam and his band has a really good groove. Larry McCray and his band are a fantastic blues band to go see if ever you have the chance. The only info I could find on Larry was his MySpace page so you'll have to do a search for Larry McCray there.
Today's a gorgeous day, sunny and about 80 so I'm heading out to take Cuervo to the park to let him for awhile. Then back to work on the puter projects I've been trying to get published and online. Hope to have at least a few of those projects wrapped up very, very soon.
It's a work in progress.
Cuervo has been having a good summer, better than expected considering he's been freaking out the past couple of summers with bugs and bees. He became an insane freakshow and very stressed out everytime the sun came out and the temperature warmed up.
Finally I decided the bs I was paying at the vet to calm him down was over-priced and pretty much useless. I bought a product from Soldan's by Natural Homeopathic Remedy called Anxiety for something like $14.99 and it has been working like a charm.
What a world of difference. You just put 3 or 4 drops in his water and it really has a calming effect on him. He's very obvious that the stuff works or I'd be the one stressing out dealing with his frantic freakshow all summer long. He's been much better and I highly recommend this product if your dog is having high-anxiety issues.
We've been to a few concerts this summer and they've all been great. Early in July we seen the great Sammy Hagar who has to be one of the best live rock-n-roll performers touring these days. Sammy and his band really tear up the stage and with his 30+ years rocking and rolling there is no shortage of rock-n-roll jams in his musical inventory. www.redrocker.com Definately one of the few artists I'd pay to see again and worth the money.
The next night we seen Kenny Wayne Shepard at the Common Ground Festival in downtown Lansing (www.commongroundfest.com) . Kenny has quite a history of playing the blues already at 27 yrs old. He released his first album (and best IMO) at the age of 17 called Ledbetter Heights. He's played with everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughn at the age of 13, to the great B.B. King and a zillion others. Kenny Wayne showed why he's known for his shredding abilities and him and his band played an awesome couple of hours of blues on a hot, muggy night. One word-JAM!
This past Friday night we went to see the local legendary Larry McCray sizzle on the guitar with his blues and his 4-piece band, 2 of the members consisting of his brother on drums and his cousin on bass. This guy is so under-rated it's a shame. He's been around a long time and just hasn't gotten the recognition he so deserves. The man can play, all the musicians flat out jam and his band has a really good groove. Larry McCray and his band are a fantastic blues band to go see if ever you have the chance. The only info I could find on Larry was his MySpace page so you'll have to do a search for Larry McCray there.
Today's a gorgeous day, sunny and about 80 so I'm heading out to take Cuervo to the park to let him for awhile. Then back to work on the puter projects I've been trying to get published and online. Hope to have at least a few of those projects wrapped up very, very soon.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Cuervo's Entertaining Month
Cuervo has allergies, I believe, and he's now paying the price for them. I know, I used to have them this time of year in a really bad way. But as I've grown older my allergies have really diminished for some reason.
Cuervo isn't as lucky though.
As of this moment I have his left front paw taped up since he has licked it raw, red raw. The vet seems to think (without actually doing an allergy test) that he very possibly could have allergies right now and why Cuervo is licking his paw raw. So for tonight I have it taped up to keep him off it and keep any kind of bacteria from possibly seeping in his foot.
Other than that he's been doing pretty good. He did attack another dog a couple days ago at the park. It was my fault as we were the only ones in the park at the time and were almost back to my vehicle when another couple showed up with their dog. Instead of waiting for us for maybe 2 more minutes to reach my vehicle, they jumped out of their car with their dog on a leash and Cuervo immediately started angling towards them. I told him repeatedly "No....No...don't even think about it Cuervo..." and in a split second he bolted the 20 yards to their dog and attempted to wrap his jaw over the other dog's head.
Their dog wasn't injured, they were obviously distraught and not happy and I was embarrassed and very upset with Cuervo for disobeying my commands and doing what he did. It won't happen again as next time I will have him on a leash whenever there is another dog in the vicinity.
I think Cuervo did what he did as a territorial-type behavior since he never sees other dogs at the park and to him it's "his park" and here arrives another dog all of a sudden and Cuervo was going to let him know whose boss. And he did.
He's still shedding like a banshee even though we're brushing him out at least every other day. How can a dog have so much blooming hair is beyond me. It never ends. Piles of it everytime I brush him out. The birds appreciate it when he's brushed out because they swoop in and snatch a small pile of it and fly off. I assume it's used to build their nest. Nice and cozy nest I bet.
We have an appt on June 5th to get Cuervo groomed for the summer. Yeaaa!
I vacuumed out my van Monday night for my first spring vacuum after the long winter and it took me a full 90 minutes to really do it right and get as much of Cuervo's hair out of it as possible. And there was alot of hair in all the nooks and crannies let me tell you. Unbelieveable.
So I'm really looking forward, probably as much as he is, to getting him groomed next week finally.
The temps here have been alot cooler than usual for this close to Memorial Day weekend. Right now our ave temp is generally 71 degrees but we're struggling to even get out of the 50's right now. It's pretty bleak especially since we're only about 13 weekends away from Labor Day weekend already.
How depressing is that?
The only good thing about the colder than normal temps so far is Cuervo isn't freaking out about the flies and wasps right about now as he usually does this time of year. They've been pretty non-existant so far and I'm as happy about that as he is.
Happy Memorial Day and tell a Veteran thanks.
Cuervo isn't as lucky though.
As of this moment I have his left front paw taped up since he has licked it raw, red raw. The vet seems to think (without actually doing an allergy test) that he very possibly could have allergies right now and why Cuervo is licking his paw raw. So for tonight I have it taped up to keep him off it and keep any kind of bacteria from possibly seeping in his foot.
Other than that he's been doing pretty good. He did attack another dog a couple days ago at the park. It was my fault as we were the only ones in the park at the time and were almost back to my vehicle when another couple showed up with their dog. Instead of waiting for us for maybe 2 more minutes to reach my vehicle, they jumped out of their car with their dog on a leash and Cuervo immediately started angling towards them. I told him repeatedly "No....No...don't even think about it Cuervo..." and in a split second he bolted the 20 yards to their dog and attempted to wrap his jaw over the other dog's head.
Their dog wasn't injured, they were obviously distraught and not happy and I was embarrassed and very upset with Cuervo for disobeying my commands and doing what he did. It won't happen again as next time I will have him on a leash whenever there is another dog in the vicinity.
I think Cuervo did what he did as a territorial-type behavior since he never sees other dogs at the park and to him it's "his park" and here arrives another dog all of a sudden and Cuervo was going to let him know whose boss. And he did.
He's still shedding like a banshee even though we're brushing him out at least every other day. How can a dog have so much blooming hair is beyond me. It never ends. Piles of it everytime I brush him out. The birds appreciate it when he's brushed out because they swoop in and snatch a small pile of it and fly off. I assume it's used to build their nest. Nice and cozy nest I bet.
We have an appt on June 5th to get Cuervo groomed for the summer. Yeaaa!
I vacuumed out my van Monday night for my first spring vacuum after the long winter and it took me a full 90 minutes to really do it right and get as much of Cuervo's hair out of it as possible. And there was alot of hair in all the nooks and crannies let me tell you. Unbelieveable.
So I'm really looking forward, probably as much as he is, to getting him groomed next week finally.
The temps here have been alot cooler than usual for this close to Memorial Day weekend. Right now our ave temp is generally 71 degrees but we're struggling to even get out of the 50's right now. It's pretty bleak especially since we're only about 13 weekends away from Labor Day weekend already.
How depressing is that?
The only good thing about the colder than normal temps so far is Cuervo isn't freaking out about the flies and wasps right about now as he usually does this time of year. They've been pretty non-existant so far and I'm as happy about that as he is.
Happy Memorial Day and tell a Veteran thanks.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Cuervo Rocks but Robin Trower Didn't
Cuervo has been doing pretty darn good as of late. I know it's been awhile since I've stopped by here to share some Cuervo news and I apologize for the delay. Time flies though and all of a sudden a month has flown by. But he's doing well, eating well and generally just being a good boy.
Did I mention he's shedding like no tomorrow? There has to be some use for all this winter coat hair he's losing besides letting it fly through the backyard whenever we brush him out - which is probably daily now.
Although the calendar says it's spring we've been lucky to reach 50 degrees yet. Maybe once so far since Mar 21st. Winter has just seemed to really drag on this year, or at least it feels like it's been longer than most winters past. The warmer weather hopefully is just around the corner which is good news for me and bad news for Cuervo.
Went to see one of my all-time favorite artists last Saturday, Robin Trower, who played at the Royal Oak Theater in Royal Oak , MI. WHAT A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT! It was general admission, which I'll never do again, so the place was packed of course. No tables or chairs, just stand toe-to-heel like sardines in a smokey theater. The sound was horrendous. How could a sound engineer be that clueless? Tix were $40 ea for that "performance" and it was pretty much a waste of money. I've been a fan of Robin Trower for 25+ years so I was really looking forward to this. What a letdown.
I know I'll never be going to another general admission show (unless it's some outdoor show) after this fiasco for a $40 ticket price. For that kind of money I want to sit down, relax and enjoy the show which isn't even an option with general admission. I don't care if the original Led Zeppelin passes through town, if it's general admission, no thanks, I'll pass.
Did I mention he's shedding like no tomorrow? There has to be some use for all this winter coat hair he's losing besides letting it fly through the backyard whenever we brush him out - which is probably daily now.
Although the calendar says it's spring we've been lucky to reach 50 degrees yet. Maybe once so far since Mar 21st. Winter has just seemed to really drag on this year, or at least it feels like it's been longer than most winters past. The warmer weather hopefully is just around the corner which is good news for me and bad news for Cuervo.
Went to see one of my all-time favorite artists last Saturday, Robin Trower, who played at the Royal Oak Theater in Royal Oak , MI. WHAT A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT! It was general admission, which I'll never do again, so the place was packed of course. No tables or chairs, just stand toe-to-heel like sardines in a smokey theater. The sound was horrendous. How could a sound engineer be that clueless? Tix were $40 ea for that "performance" and it was pretty much a waste of money. I've been a fan of Robin Trower for 25+ years so I was really looking forward to this. What a letdown.
I know I'll never be going to another general admission show (unless it's some outdoor show) after this fiasco for a $40 ticket price. For that kind of money I want to sit down, relax and enjoy the show which isn't even an option with general admission. I don't care if the original Led Zeppelin passes through town, if it's general admission, no thanks, I'll pass.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A Heavy Heart Today
It's been about a month already since I stopped by here and updated the blog. I had every intention of doing so today but eventually changed my mind.
I won't elaborate, but today is the 1 year anniversary already of my Momz passing and I'm just not in the mood to write anything today. We went to the cemetary to visit her gravesite, and the memory of that day is still pretty fresh and a painful reminder.
Cuervo went along, he's doing fine.
I'll write more later...
I won't elaborate, but today is the 1 year anniversary already of my Momz passing and I'm just not in the mood to write anything today. We went to the cemetary to visit her gravesite, and the memory of that day is still pretty fresh and a painful reminder.
Cuervo went along, he's doing fine.
I'll write more later...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Photo Sharing Cuervo
I wanted to mention this in my last post but it slipped my mind and I wanted to jot it down here while I was thinking about it. http://www.CuervoRocks.com started out as a site I wanted to build about my dog and get some practice along the way doing it. Other than the domain name the site is free to expieriment and practice on but it comes with limitations.
I've already maxed out on the bandwidth so I can't ad anymore photos of Cuervo. I've deleted many of them to make room but it hasn't made alot of difference. That's why I started this other leg of the site with the blog but until now wasn't sure how I was going to provide any more current photos of Cuervo since my bandwidth was limited.
So my solution to my dilema is using a photo sharing site that I will have a link to on Cuervo's site. I'm not sure what photo sharing site I'll be using yet so I need to do more research.
But the good news is you can soon click onto the photo sharing link and it'll take you to a site with recent photos of Cuervo. And I'm currently expierimenting with video with my camcorder so we'll see what develops with that in the future and if I can figure out how to transfer the video online. Stay tuned!
I've already maxed out on the bandwidth so I can't ad anymore photos of Cuervo. I've deleted many of them to make room but it hasn't made alot of difference. That's why I started this other leg of the site with the blog but until now wasn't sure how I was going to provide any more current photos of Cuervo since my bandwidth was limited.
So my solution to my dilema is using a photo sharing site that I will have a link to on Cuervo's site. I'm not sure what photo sharing site I'll be using yet so I need to do more research.
But the good news is you can soon click onto the photo sharing link and it'll take you to a site with recent photos of Cuervo. And I'm currently expierimenting with video with my camcorder so we'll see what develops with that in the future and if I can figure out how to transfer the video online. Stay tuned!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Cuervo's Already Begun Shedding
That's just grrrrrreat. Cuervo is already at the early stages of shedding his winter coat. When he's shedding there is nothing worse than gobs and gobs of dog hair EVERYWHERE. We brush him daily and it keeps getting more and more insane. And it's only the beginning.
In another couple of weeks his shedding will get even worse. Cuervo loves to go for a ride anywhere but when he's shedding so much we're reluctant to take him along. Those big blue eyes get all sad and you can almost tell he's saying "why can't I come with you? What did I do wrong?" and we relent. When I get back home I regret taking him along again as our vehicle is full of his shedding hair and now needs to vacuumed out - again.
This time of year really sucks if you have a long hair dog that begins shedding. These next couple of months I'll be spewing out many colorful 4-letter words in my frustration with all the dog hair inside the house, inside our vehicles and pretty much wherever he momentarily lays down. By the tail-end of March I'll bring him in to get groomed and shampooed and he'll be ok.
Then the weather will begin warming up and we'll have a whole new crisis on our hands: the flies and bees begin coming around and Cuervo absolutely goes nuts after them to the point where we have to put him on anti-anxiety medication for the summer so he doesn't freak out about any flies or bees that get within 15' of him. I never said he wasn't high maintenance.
In another couple of weeks his shedding will get even worse. Cuervo loves to go for a ride anywhere but when he's shedding so much we're reluctant to take him along. Those big blue eyes get all sad and you can almost tell he's saying "why can't I come with you? What did I do wrong?" and we relent. When I get back home I regret taking him along again as our vehicle is full of his shedding hair and now needs to vacuumed out - again.
This time of year really sucks if you have a long hair dog that begins shedding. These next couple of months I'll be spewing out many colorful 4-letter words in my frustration with all the dog hair inside the house, inside our vehicles and pretty much wherever he momentarily lays down. By the tail-end of March I'll bring him in to get groomed and shampooed and he'll be ok.
Then the weather will begin warming up and we'll have a whole new crisis on our hands: the flies and bees begin coming around and Cuervo absolutely goes nuts after them to the point where we have to put him on anti-anxiety medication for the summer so he doesn't freak out about any flies or bees that get within 15' of him. I never said he wasn't high maintenance.
Friday, January 11, 2008
January Blues
All of our snow has melted now. Everything is gray, gloomy and dead. And soaked! Lots of people had to deal with flooding. We lucked out and just had some minor flooding in our garage.
When the weather is like this in-between stuff you can't really do any outdoor activities. No snow so you can't ski, snowmobile or enjoy any winter sports. It's to wet and cold out to work in the yard. And the lack of sunshine is what really gets to me after awhile during these dreary winter months. 25 years ago when winter arrived it would stay winter and we'd have snow on the ground the entire winter. Those days are long gone I'm afraid. Global Warming is definately a possibility as to why.
The holidays are over and done with (thank goodness) and the gloom and doom of January has set in.
Back in the old days I'd be chewing at the bit to jump into a big truck and hit the big road and make a trip down to Texas or out west for a couple of weeks. Just to get out of here. I enjoyed the trucking part but after many years I burned out from the "trucking business" end of it. Hurry up and wait. Every load is a "hot" load. Got fed up with being treated like a dirtbag and never hearing so much as a "thank you" from anyone for busting my ass got real old too.
I was fortunate enough to hook up with a concert tour and got a gig hauling concert gear and eventually driving a tour bus on various tours. Sure beat the hell out of hauling freight. I traveled constantly all over the US on concert tours and one year seen my house for a total of only 33 days the entire year. That wasn't the only downside.
Where there's lots of money there's lots of shysters and behind the scenes in the entertainment business there's lots of them. My experience in the USAF for 4 years taught me to "CYA" and it certinately came in handy during my touring days.
It took me years to get the diesel out of my blood once I left the road. Nothing like the feeling of the open road with the wind at your back on a sunny day.
Every once in awhile I get the itch to jump into a rig and make a trip out west or down south. Nothing I'd want to do permanent anymore. But when the 'ole Jabnuary blues surface it sure sounds like a good thing to do to get out of dodge and feel some sunshine for awhile.
When the weather is like this in-between stuff you can't really do any outdoor activities. No snow so you can't ski, snowmobile or enjoy any winter sports. It's to wet and cold out to work in the yard. And the lack of sunshine is what really gets to me after awhile during these dreary winter months. 25 years ago when winter arrived it would stay winter and we'd have snow on the ground the entire winter. Those days are long gone I'm afraid. Global Warming is definately a possibility as to why.
The holidays are over and done with (thank goodness) and the gloom and doom of January has set in.
Back in the old days I'd be chewing at the bit to jump into a big truck and hit the big road and make a trip down to Texas or out west for a couple of weeks. Just to get out of here. I enjoyed the trucking part but after many years I burned out from the "trucking business" end of it. Hurry up and wait. Every load is a "hot" load. Got fed up with being treated like a dirtbag and never hearing so much as a "thank you" from anyone for busting my ass got real old too.
I was fortunate enough to hook up with a concert tour and got a gig hauling concert gear and eventually driving a tour bus on various tours. Sure beat the hell out of hauling freight. I traveled constantly all over the US on concert tours and one year seen my house for a total of only 33 days the entire year. That wasn't the only downside.
Where there's lots of money there's lots of shysters and behind the scenes in the entertainment business there's lots of them. My experience in the USAF for 4 years taught me to "CYA" and it certinately came in handy during my touring days.
It took me years to get the diesel out of my blood once I left the road. Nothing like the feeling of the open road with the wind at your back on a sunny day.
Every once in awhile I get the itch to jump into a rig and make a trip out west or down south. Nothing I'd want to do permanent anymore. But when the 'ole Jabnuary blues surface it sure sounds like a good thing to do to get out of dodge and feel some sunshine for awhile.
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