And Puppy Dogs' Tails

Anyone of the two - okay maybe four - people who read this blog regularly will remember when there was a Reesie Report . It appeared sometimes once a week and during his last period of illness almost daily. Reesie was our second pup - the first was Bundnie, a smooth haired dwarf dachshund that got us in Cairo in 1991. Reese, much to her disgust, followed three years later when we lived in Chicago. He was a long-haired miniature daschie and, as we discovered much later, deaf. The Cairo Princess and the Midwest Farm Boy - they were as different in character as sunrise and sunset. They both lived to a good old age: our wonderful vet back in Aylmer always said he wanted to be reincarnated as our dog because he knew he'd get nothing but the best. And I guess we did make sure they got the best but then they gave the best so there was no problem.

This shot was taken in Warsaw with my first digital camera - I forget how many pixels it was but it was pretty darned primitive. Bundnie was giving me her famous 'yeah, right!' look.

They both were well-travelled dogs - Cairo, Chicago, Ottawa, Warsaw, Aylmer, Montreal - they had more frequent flyer points than some people I know. Reese made his final journey to Roma with us but he was 14 and the adjustment to a new place was beyond him - he never did like going to far from home. He took ill in October 2007 and when he had a stroke on December 27th that year we decided that we could not let him suffer. If my heart was broken in two when Bundnie had to be put to sleep, it split in four when it came time to say goodbye to Reese. Not that I loved him more just that he was such a sweet, gentle, trusting, little creature and there was an incredible void with both of them gone.

Many people suggested getting another dog - even our Big Boss who is a major dog lover - and "when are you going to get another dog" became a standard question from friends and family. But it wasn't something I could do that easily. The grieving took a long, long time.

So why am I writing this now - well it looks like the time has come. As anyone who has been owned by a daschie will tell you they are addictive as a breed - those little sausage shaped bodies worm their way into your heart. So we began looking for breeders in our area and beyond. It turns out that there was one very close to our friend's Linda and Nazareno in Capena just north of Roma.

The good people at La Casa degli Orsi (The House of the Bears????+) breed wire-haired daschies and Saint Bernards - an interesting contrast. Two of their bitches had litters within the past month and the puppies will be ready to leave their dames by the end of April. So last Saturday we went out to look. The facility was clean but lived in, a home to both the breeders and their animals. There was an obvious affection for the dogs - large and small - and the dames and sires all were healthy, good-looking champions.

However we didn't get a puppy... no we are buggers for punishment... we got two! A female from the first litter and a male from the second. The logic was: its as easy to train two as to train one! I'm not sure how sound that logic is but....

Unfortunately when I went to see them again today I wasn't able to get really good photos but here's what I did get.
The female is the little dark one on the left and the male the reddish colored on the right. And that would be the male in the centre photo. She is a bit on the feisty side, he was very content to fall asleep in the palm of my hand. This is like history repeating itself.

Now comes the hard part - finding names! My darling Dora has suggested Nick and Nora, Laurent has been thinking Pina and Mimmo, I've been pumping for Fred and Ginger, Jack in Beijing has come up with some Chinese appellations, and Yannis gave us a whole raft of snappy Greek names. But we're still looking so if you have any ideas send them to us.
13 marzo - San Salomone

Our Budfordshire

Its been a year today but we still miss him.

27 dicembre - San Giovanni apostolo

One Year On - I

What is left of my addled brain boggles when I think that we arrived in Rome a year ago. An entire year since we hit the chaos that is Fumincino and confronted what we have come to know as the “Roman” attitude.

We arrived with two laptops, 7 bags – Laurent was en route from Beijing and we had to bring enough clothes to last until our personal effects arrived in late September – and a dog kennel with one pissed off puppy inside. After being deserted at Dorval Airport, subjected to the cargo hold of an airplane for 8 hours, the p/o’d puppy had been left at the locked door of the baggage room just after the flight arrived and stayed there until an hour later when a porter let us in on the secret of his whereabouts.

Prior to that the wait for our luggage was only 45 minutes (fast for Rome) but our attempts to get baggage carts had been complicated. The automatic cart dispenser would only accept E1.00 coins and all we had were bills; all the change machines, conveniently located right next to the baggage carts, where out of order; and the Exchange counter didn’t make change only exchange as the young lady laconically advised us when she could tear herself away from her conversation. So we accepted the services of that porter, who up until then had been eying us in an amused fashion – is it too cynical to think he may have sabotaged the change machines?

We had spent the previous days in Montreal completing the last of the required paperwork for importing a dog into the EU including a document signed and dated by a Vet the day before departure!!!!! With a file as thick as Gibbons’ Decline and Fall we marched up to three Customs Officers busily reliving the wrong plays in Sunday's football match. Reese, us and our reading material where of no concern, Roma had lost and it had to be explained. We were impatiently waved along as the inconvient nuisances we would become if they were forced to complete those silly formalities imposed on the Italian worker by the arrogant EU. Despite what Mr Gibbons says it wasn’t debauchery that destroyed the Roman Empire it was total disinterest.

Then for the next two hours we sat in a typical Monday morning Roman traffic jam.

I suppose at that point a sane person would have turned around and boarded the next plane for home but sanity has never been one of my strong points. So I stayed – at times questioning why, but stay I did.

05 agosto - Dedicazione di Santa Maria Maggiore

A Domination of Daschunds

I know that is not the proper collective noun - it should be pack - but anyone who has lived with a daschie will know what I mean. This is my favorite photo of my darling Bundnie and my buddy Reesie taken about 10 years ago by our friend John. They both lived long lives - 16 for Bundnie and 15 for Reese. And they were cared for and loved. And God know's they returned that love 10 fold.

I just wanted to share this photo.

27 decembre - San Giovanni Evangelista

The Reese Report

Last evening Reese slept between the two of us for a short while. It wasn't something he did - he never understood that a bed was for sleeping, he thought it was for wandering around in, fighting with blankets in and once settled down in having your tummy rubbed non-stop - forget this sleep thing.

But last night he was tired, as he has been for the past few months. Tired of the constant itch from skin problems, tired of the pain of arthritis that made walking a chore, tired of not seeing things clearly, tired of being poked and prodded at the vets - just tired. He slept almost all of the time and it was becoming more difficult to wake him up. He wasn't interested in food beyond his treats of poached chicken and yesterday even that had lost its appeal. We think he may have had a small stroke on Christmas morning - he seemed disoriented, his back legs were not fully supporting him and he would bark in a panic if you weren't in direct sight.

This morning, at the Vet's, Laurent and I did the only thing we felt we could do for our Reeser Man (Mister Reese, the Reeser, Baby Reesie, Budfordshire, Buddy - he had quite a few nicknames.) He went to sleep on his blanket as we stroked him, rubbing his tummy telling him it was okay to go "doodoo" and finally he did.

28 decembre - San Giovanni Evangelista

A Little Good News

Patricia Pearson, an author and contributor to op-ed pages of USA Today, NYTimes and the Guardian, offers "a gift basket" of the good news stories that go unreported on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) website. I love the comment about the FoxNews scroll.

I've been in a bit of a "I hate Rome" mood the past day or two so taking a page from Patricia's piece I'm going to start compiling a list of all the Good Things here.


Starting with Laurent and Reese.

17 decembre - San Lazzaro

GPV* - Not To Be Confused With GPP**

Realized I hadn't posted a Gratuitous Puppy Video* (not be be confused with a Gratuitous Puppy Picture**) in a while. So here we have our Reese being bathed last Sunday.

His skin condition has returned with a vengeance so for the past few days we've been walking over to the Vets - well I've been walking, he's been carried. Tuesday I met a charming older couple who were in with their dog. The lady - faded blonde but with a elegance that was unforced and a wonderful smile when she talked about her dog - had found her wandering on the street two years ago. The dog was going to be operated on that afternoon for a tumor that they hoped was benign. We talked about our pets and them being what she called "a loving responsibility," which I thought was a great phrase. I checked with Dr. Benvenuti yesterday and it was benign - I would have loved to see the smile on her face when he told her that.

13 decembre - Santa Lucia

Gratuitous Puppy Pictures

Though as I mentioned in a comment to RG over at Dulce y Peligroso, there is not such thing as a gratuitous Pet Picture.

Like most daschies Reese loves to burrow when he sleeps and that damned collar has made it very difficult. Bedtime the last few nights has been accompanied by as much noise as 8k dog with a plastic thingy around its neck can make before finding the right position - and of course that position must be changed three or four times during the night. Or better yet just to punish the bastard who attached that bloody thing - and who sleeps very light - wander around the apartment in the dark, bumping into furniture and walls, before settling down in a new location.


I took the collar off for a while this morning and he immediately burrowed under his blanket. At one point he came up for air and to give me a disgusted look when he saw the camera.

Sadly there are a fair number of stray dogs roaming the streets of Rome. Often when an animal gets sick the owner will simply turn it loose rather than seek expensive veterinarian care. Since late August there has been a lovely looking black dog - I'm bad at identifying breeds - roaming the area - Laurent saw him near his office a few times, we've seen him down by the train station and every so often near our complex. He isn't aggressive and seems almost apologetic for being here - I know Walt Disney emotions - and today soaked with rain he looked incredibly sad. I want to do something but not sure what.

25 novembre - Santa Caterina d'Alexandria

The Reese Report

Most of his adult life Reese has lived with this strange skin condition that keeps returning - its never been properly diagnosed just treat so its under control. When it flares up - as it did last week - and there's a spot he can reach he'll chew or scratch it until it bleeds and of course spreads. He really did a number on his right flank in the past two days - so this morning off to Dr Benvenuti we went. I carried Mr Reese the 8 blocks to the vet's with a stop along the way to be petted by two older women - that's Reese they petted not me. A few shots, three pills - that now makes 5 pills he's taking each day, I tell you it is like looking after an old relative - and an Elizabethan collar things should get better.



The shots he tolerates and since the pills are served in a piece of poached chicken they are fine but the collar.... what the hell is that about? The look he gave poor Walter, the vet's assistant, as he put it on him was enough to damn the poor man for eternity. He is now walking around the house bumping into things and most upset that he can't burrow into his blankets the way he normally does. I, of course, feel like the absolute worst dog owner in the world and picking up on this he is doing everything he can to make me feel worse. No kisses for me tonight!


21 novembre - Presentazione di B. V.

The Reese Report - Video at 11

Saturday evening when we went to our friends Walter and Robert the first greeting was not "How are you?" but "How's Reese?" Then when Larry and Vin joined us again it was "How's Reese doing?" I guess we know who's the most important creature in our household.



I'm not sure what was in the homeopathic treatment Dr Benvenuti gave him but I'm happy to say that the Reeserman has returned to good if not perfect health. He's eating a variation of my minestrone, walking, demanding belly rubs and most important back to delivering kisses.

07 november - San Eroclano

The Reese Report

This was the sight that greeted me this morning as I came into the kitchen hall with my coffee cup in hand. I know what you're thinking and so did I for a second and almost dropped my coffee cup. Than I remembered the "hanging head" routine. From the time he was a puppy up until his back surgery Reese always did that. He could be sitting in your lap or laying in his kennel and his head would be hanging, eyes-rolled back in a William F Buckley manner, dead-to-the-world asleep. The first time it happened - he would have been about 3 months old - I panicked, he didn't respond to being called and I was sure he was dead. Of course, we didn't know at that point that he was deaf - something the breeder forgot to mention.

So having said that Mr. Reese, the Reeserman, Buddy is on as much of a recovery as we can expect at 93 - eating in a very picky manner, walking unsteadily and sleeping a great deal. As John says: It's like an elderly relative - or me on a bad day!

31 ottobre - Santa Lucilla

The Reese Report

And what do we have here? Another splendid recipe from The Silver Spoon? Another taste temptation to greet Laurent as he comes home from a hard day of saving the world for democracy? Well no actually its Reese's dinner. He hasn't been eating much and has lost over a kilo since he took sick over two weeks ago. He seemed to like my minestrone when we mixed it with ground beef - so let's see how this one goes over.

Appears it "went down a treat" as my friend Deb use to say when we lived together and I cooked something she enjoyed. All except, I noticed, the green beans which where not a great favorite. A few were very delicately spit out on the floor. Seconds were asked for, given but not eaten. But I have a feeling he'll get to it eventually.

I hope to have a post or two on Parma up today and tomorrow. But figured the Reese Report should come first.

29 ottobre - San Petronio

The Reese Report - Today's Update

We've often said that Reese is more like a cat than a dog - his behavoir is quite often more feline than canine - and be damned if like a cat he seems to have a few lives at his disposal. Dr Benevenuti referred to him tonight as his little "Miracle" as we watched him hobble slowly across the waiting room - and frankly on Tuesday he wasn't able to stand so.... We had thought it was only three days treatment but the good doctor - and I must blog about him sometime - continued it tonight and once more tomorrow. Then we will assess on Monday. As long as he is improving and there is no suffering I think for the moment we are not going to have to make a "decision."

So I'm off to Parma tomorrow at 0730 - I finally went to the station to get a reservation. The TrenItalia website is very slick, very "bella figura" but a total disaster for the user. It rejected 3 credit cards and actually froze my Mastercard after the third attempt. A call to a very pleasant lady at their call centre brought the admission that "we have trouble with foreign credit cards on the website." And even she was not able to help as much as she tried.

Hopefully I'll be blogging from Parma including a possible observation - a hesitate to call it a review - on the Oberto, which I'm sure you'll all be waiting for with great expection? Wish the trip could have been as planned but again there is always the next time.

It is now 11:05 and I still have to iron a few shirts, pack my five pairs of underwear (hey I'm going for a day and a bit okay! and I don't want to be hit by a mad motorino driver and taken to the hospital with dirty underwear, okay!) and four pairs of socks (all blue.) And then to bedfordshire.

26 ottobre - San Evanisto

The Reese Report

Well tonight is Dr. Benvenuti's assessment of the situation with Reese: from our point of view he is certainly better than when we took him to the Clinic or brought him home for that matter. He is walking a bit - though if he stands in one spot for more than a minute his back end slowly sinks to the ground. When he sits the one back leg is often in an unnatural position. He is eating - though only chicken, hamburger or slightly cooked vegetables. He is still drinking copious amounts of water which are then recycle - occasionally on the kitchen hallway floor or carpet. He spends a good deal of his time sleeping. He has definitely lost that puppy look and just looks like an old boy now. And he resolutely refuses to give me a kiss!

Went for a caffeine fix yesterday morning with my friend John, another dip-spouse, and I'm not sure if it was the two cappuccini, the chocolate corneti or both but we chattered away for almost 2 hours. When the subject turned to Reese, John compared the situation to looking after an elderly relative - and he's right. He's old, he's in failing health and he's part of our family - so we look after him as long and as well as we can.

Having said that I am going to be a bad person tomorrow - please tater forgive me. If I can get the TrenItalia website to accept my credit card - its rejected three perfectly valid ones already - I'm heading up to Parma early tomorrow morning and returning late Sunday morning. Laurent - being the sort of person he is - insists that I should go and that he can get some quality time in with Reese that way. Though it could be he just wants to get rid of me for a day or so.

Of course this is all subject to change depending on tonight's assessment.

26 ottobre - San Evanisto

A Dilemma

Well tonight is treatment number 3 and Reese has walked around a bit today and eaten a bit. He seems more aware and more lively, but again we are being cautious and not betting on anything yet. And we've found ourselves in a dilemma.

Back in July Opera Chic allerted us to the Verdi Festival in Parma - and I was intrigued by the thought of seeing Verdi's first opera Oberto, particularly in the tiny Teatro Verdi in Bussetto (photo left). So being the far thinking person I am, I reserved tickets for a performance on October 27.

For some reason I kept putting off booking a hotel - first we had to find one that would take pets; then we had to check the regulations on Italian Trains for carrying small animals just in case the paper work on the car hadn't been worked out; when the papers came through and train travel seemed a bit too complicated we decided to drive; so we bought a TomTom GPS as everyone said that was a necessity when driving in Italy; then we discovered all we had to do was hit the A1 Autrostrade di Sol and head north - though the TomTom will be required for other trips. And I still hadn't reserved a hotel - just kept putting it off.

Then, as I have been reporting the past week or so, our Budfordshire (don't look it up, its a made-up word) Reese took very sick and has been undergoing treatment. So what's the dilemma? Well we figure we have four options this weekend:

1. Go as planned (there are hotels that accept dogs still available) and take Reese with us.
2. Go as planned and leave him with our good friend and Laurent's colleague Linda who is more than happy to look after him at her country place outside Rome.
3. I go as planned (I'm the opera freak in the family) and Laurent stays at home and attends to Reese.
4. We just cut our loses - the not inexpensive tickets are non-refundable - and cancel the whole damned thing.

I'm not sure the either option 1 or 2 would be the best thing for Reese and he is, after all, our main concern. At a hotel the incontinence could be a major problem and he would be in a strange place. And not that Linda wouldn't look after him - she loves animals and has already been a great help in finding a vet amongst so many other things, but he would be in a strange place with strangers when he's still sick.

Going alone is not a particularly appealing prospect and to be quite frank its going to cost a fair bit in train fare and hotel - it appears there is no such thing as a single room, Europe is no longer a place that caters to the single traveller the way it did when I first came here in 1968. So though we've pretty much decided on option 3 it may just end up being option 4 - there will be other Verdi Festivals.

I hate dilemmas - even ones as trivial as this one!

25 ottobre - Santa Daria

The Reese Report - A Further Update

Well tonight was trip two to the vets for a continuation of the homeopathic treatment. Dr Benvenuti had a full house tonight: a temperamental Irish Setter - we all had to make sure it couldn't see our various pets, we couldn't quite figure out what that was all about. A very effeminate man or a very masculine woman - couldn't tell which - with a four week old kitten and his/her mother/wife/friend with a large but very gentle dog of unknown pedigree. Two young men with a big old orange cat saddled with an Elizabethan collar and a very laid back reaction to it all. And several other people coming and going with much to do - I undertand now how opera was born in Italy. Through the mayhem our Reese just sat there and only reacted when he saw a Golden Retriever parade by the window - much barking at that point - guess he was far enough away not to accept the challenge.

He was given another series of shots tonight - and for the first time let out a yelp when he was injected. When we got home he ate some of my minestrone mixed with tuna and is now sleeping. I would like to say I've seen an improvement but that may just be wishful thinking. We shall see what happens in the next 48 hours.

Again thanks everyone for your thoughts, prayers and love. It has been incredible.

24 ottobre - San Antonio M. Claret

The Reese Report - An Update

We returned about an hour ago from seeing Dr. Benvenuti. He read the reports and examined Reese and then we talked. He told us that he looks at these things two ways - medically and as a person who loves animals. Medically Reese has many problems but at the moment there is no "dolore" or suffering. He is not in pain and he is well-looked after.

He asked if we would allow him to try a homeopathic treatment for the next three days and if at the end of that time things have not improved then we would make a decision. We agreed and I can only hope we didn't do so for selfish reasons or because we didn't want to face a more difficult decision. The next three days will tell.

23 ottobre - San Giovanni di Compastelo

The Reese Report - Rome

I came into the kitchen hallway just now and found Reese stretched out in the sun on one of the carpets. He has never been big on the warmth of a sunny spot - that was always Bundnie's thing (my girl, she was our first daschie and the bane of poor Reese's existence for 12 years.) He has always preferred burrowing into two or three blankets in the comfort of his kennel but given the chill in the air maybe the warmth of the sun is comforting.

I wish things were getting better but after an initial "looking good" things have taken a downturn. He's lost a good deal of weight and he's not eating regularly - sometimes that chicken and green beans looks good other times he just sniffs it and turns away. One back leg in particular is not supporting his weight and he sleeps most of the time. He is still having accidents and the accompanying embarrassment.

We still really not sure what happened just over a week ago - they assured us at the Clinic that is was not from licking the medication we were apply to his skin which is a relief. The way things are going its almost like his immune system can't handle things anymore. But we'll go to the Vet's tonight with all the test reports, get a professional opinion and talk things over with him. We don't want to do anything rash but we also don't want Reese to suffer. The quality of his life is going to have to be our main consideration in any decision we make this evening.

Thanks to all of you for your concern and thoughts - I know he doesn't hear when I read them to him (and fool that I am I do)but....

23 Ottobre - San Giovanni di Capistrano

The Reese Report - Rome

That's our Reese - always the intellectual, his head stuck in a book - well actually between two books in this case.

He seems a bit lively today certainly more than yesterday but we're still monitoring things very closely. Food has still not been a big attraction - unless, of course, it comes from our plates. But he did seem to enjoy a taste of Nonno Willym's ministrone.

Those books are actually large leather stacking cushions that can be footstolls or backrests; they were created by an Ottawa Valley Artisan who's name I total forget - old age ain't pretty.

20 Octobre - Santa Laura

Mi Sento Giu (Feeling Low)

I've posted this photo of the statues on top of San Giovanni in Laterano seen from outside the Walls, just to remind myself that I am living in a beautiful city.

Before coming on posting I attended an orientation day at Foreign Affairs. Much of the information was technical or old stuff but the session on adjusting to living at Post was invaluable. We talked about our fears, our concerns and a bit about the patterns that have emerged over the years. There are steps in that adjustment that I recall from my time in Warsaw.

1. The anticipation - I'm going to (France! Italy! Burkina Faso?) fill in the blank
2. The honeymoon - I'm in (France! Italy! Burkina Faso?)
3. The frustration - Why am I in (France? Italy? Burkina Faso?)
4. The depression - I'm in (France! Italy! Burkina Faso!)
5. The decision - I'm in (France. Italy. Burkina Faso.) so might as well get use to it
6. Numbers 2-5 can be repeated several times during a 4 year period

This week I think we both hit phase 4 with a resounding thud! As well as Reesie being ill - he couldn't tell us what was wrong, we had trouble telling the vets what was wrong - we had our first Roman fender bender as we pulled into our own driveway - we've only been driving here for three weeks - and one of our neighbours was less than welcoming and frankly abusive*. Plus Laurent is at the end of a four week language course which I know from experience is a draining and frustrating experience. Put it all together with the other little things - traffic, noise, crowds, language - and you've hit stage 4. Sadly some people never leave that stage and either spend the next 4 years cocooned from the world around them or go home before their time is up.

We have no intention of doing either. Laurent is off tomorrow on a walking tour of the Foro Romano, I'm off to the opera on Sunday - Wozzeck, which Laurent wouldn't go to if I paid him to - and we're heading to Parma next weekend for the Verdi Festival. We're in Italy (filled in the blank) and we are going to get use to and make use of it.

*Our neighbour from the second floor - Italian, 65-70ish, probably an unrepentent member of the Children of the She Wolf - has not been very friendly at the best of times. We were coming in from the vets the other evening and met him in the parking lot. He almost closed the lobby door in our face then when we went to get into the elevator with him, he push his way out and rudely told us that polite people waited outside until it was their turn to use the elevator. Wither his problem is that we are "straneri" (outsiders) "affittutario" (renters) or "omosessuale" (need I translate... thought not) or perhaps all three, we're not really sure. But for some reason it triggered this whole depression thing in us both.

19 ottobre - Santa Laura