So… we went to a pumpkin farm in Half Moon Bay last weekend for Bernese Mountain Dog day. At first I was dumbfounded by all the “Bernies” there, but then I got obsessed with picking the best pumpkin while Quinn ran all throughout the corn stalks. Surprise surprise.

P.S. We are talking a LOT more. Quinn likes to talk more than I do, but I’m giving him a run for his money.
P.P.S. I’ve also decided that I’m shy now. I think it’s just a phase I’m going through, but if you are not mommy or daddy, don’t even THINK about talking to me!

First I wanna say, I’m a tough guy. Ok – now that it’s been documented, I can admit that I miss my buddy. Mom took Bernie and I for a walk today (pictured) and we couldn’t even smile because Coop wasn’t with us. I gotta say, at first it was kinda cool to get all the toys to myself, but something is definitely missing – and I hope it all comes back together soon.

Mom had a chat with me today about what’s going on with Coop – and I thought I’d share what I heard…

* Bad news first – he’s still on the respirator (in baby talk, that’s a breathing machine) – this way his little body can focus on healing the pneumonia rather than fighting to breathe (which was nearly impossible before intubation).
* Good news is that he’s improving and the wonderful doctors and nurses are weaning him from the machine in hopes of extubating him (yeah, that’s taking the respirator tube out) in the next day or two.
* He’s on a ton of medication to keep him sedated and temporarily paralyzed. He needs this medication to keep him from pulling out the tube that is currently down his throat. The nurses say he’s at a difficult age because he’s old enough to know how to pull something out, but not old enough to understand that it needs to stay in… so he requires a lot of medication until we get the tube pulled (interesting to note is that ex-NICU babies require a LOT more sedation medication than even adults because of the tolerance they built up while in the NICU…) In other words, we are just plain tough.
* They put a tube to his stomach today to start giving him some food. They’ve given him straight-up nutrients, etc. over the past couple days, but today they started real food – 1 teaspoon of formula per hour! Geesh – I killed about 8 teaspoons in 5 minutes before bed tonight! Just goes to show how sick my little friend has been.
* Coop goes from 0-60 in about 3 seconds, so the nurses have learned to have his medication drawn so they can give him a few seconds of awake time to flail/stretch before letting him go night-night again. He’s sleeping so much (basically 24×7 for 5 days), mom and dad might be reliving the early twin days of NO SLEEP once he gets home.

That’s really it for now. Please continue to think good thoughts for him. He’s still got some work to do, but we are hoping he’ll be finished kicking this pneumonia’s but soon.

Hopin and a’ prayin.

Quinn

So, Bernie has a park that’s got all this yucky green stuff on the ground. Mom calls it grass, and we hate it. We sit on a blanket like it’s an island, and the grass is shark-infested water. Every once in a while, we’ll dip a toe in the green sea, but jerk it right back to safety. Now we know what it feels like to be that baby in Lost…

(special post from our brother, Bernie)

Merry Christmas, my furry bumm.

My, my… how things have changed since last Christmas. A year ago I ruled the roost here – with frequent trips to the park, unbridled affection and free reign of the house. Well, let me just say that I haven’t seen the business end of a leash since those two “small versions of my parents” came along (what breeder would make such hellions?). And I’m lucky if I get brushed as they pass me in the hall.

Yeah, things have changed this year. But I guess it’s not all that bad. According to my colleagues at the park, I’ve still got it pretty good. And don’t get me wrong, I really like these little people – they’ve just stolen my parents. And my Christmas.

Ba Humbug,
Bernie

I don’t normally post here, but given the extenuating circumstance, Quinn and Cooper agreed it would be appropriate. As many of you may have heard, the World’s Ugliest Dog (WUD), Sam, died last week at 14. Being the Worlds Cutest Dog, I don’t have an idea what it must have felt like to live in his world, but I do know the pressures that such a title can bring. He lived that title every day – and I applaud his strength, courage and hideousness.

RIP, Sam.

Peace out, good buddy.

Bernie (WCD)

P.S. This is a REAL picture of him itching his mouth with his foot. Grody.

Quinn – 13 lbs

Bernie – 120 lbs

Cooper – 12 lbs 12 oz

I thought it was going to be bad enough having one brother to knock me around, but now I gotta deal with this 130 lb guy? oh boy…

Note from Bernie: “I was just trying to check out my new family member. Geesh. Exxcuuuuse me for livin.”