Leif Hund 1997 - 2009

My beautiful Leif

Leif passed away this morning

Our beloved Leif died this morning at 11:05 in Moncalvo, Monferrato. He was in critical care since last night. Leif died of a cardiovascular collapse. He had been sick since the second week of June from an infection. Leif was burried today at his home in Ponzano Monferrato. We made a beautiful grave for Leif. He is not alone and near his family.
Leif was the most beautiful and intelligent dog I ever had in my life and he gave me 11 years of unending, deep love. Leif's spirit lives on.

Wiener Schnitzel

Saturday started with, me, simply dog's mother, making homemade southern-style buttermilk biscuits for breakfast. After breakfast I made a quick run to the local food shops to buy items for preparing the Wiener schnitzel. In Moncalvo there is an excellent butcher: Madama La Piemonteisa (The Lady of Piedmont); this butcher shop has the best quality meat for making the Wiener schnitzel or any other meat dish I wish to prepare. I don't like to buy meat at the supermarket, but only at the local butcher shops where the quality is of a much higher standard. I remember the days when I grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and how my mother and I would go shop for the meat and sausage at the local German amd Polish butcher shops. I grew up in a rich multicultural envionment as a girl and, I was already at a young age exposed to eating foods from different cultures: Austrian, German, Italian, Greek etc (this was in the 60's and 70's). All this old experience from my Sheboygan days has followed me through my life and to this very day I am insistent on eating the best food I can, and that means buying from local producers and butchers and cooking at home the old-fashioned way (no processed foods please). My dog Leif watches me every time I cook, unfortunately he cannot eat the way I do because the food is not suited to canines.

After grocery shopping, when I arrived back at the house, I was greeted by a dog whose nose and mouth were covered with flour. Leif had rumaged through the garbage bag and pulled out the empty flour bag. I was teasing him saying: "Were you wanting to make buttermilk biscuits?" Leif had such a cute embarrassing expression on his face.
That afternoon I started to prepare the Wiener schnitzel. Wiener schnitzel with cooked potatoes sprinkled with fresh parsely is one of my favorite Austrian meals. And, of course a good tasting Austrian beer has to accompany it.

Leif was eyeing me intently the entire time I was preparing the schnitzel, so as not to miss anything important (that something edible might drop on the floor accidently). Not far from me, Leif would lay on the floor in his typical way, with his front paws crossed and having such a sophisticated aura about him.

The Wiener schnitzel tasted delicious and I am very proud of making them; I have made them many times and it just gets better as time goes on. Leif tasted a few pieces of schnitzel and, of course, was not satisfied and wanted more. Yes, I make an excellent schnitzel. The desert was delicious too: Apfellaibchen with Italian panne icecream. I learned to make laibchen while living in Austria. Wow, what a mix of culinary cultures--the Austrian with the Italian. This of course is 'human being' food and not recommended for canines.

In the photos one can see the Wiener schnitzel, the apfellaibchen and Leif who is looking at and dreaming of eating schnitzel.

copyright Karin S. Fester (c) 2009

Update on Leif's Surgery

Leif's surgical wound is healing beautifully. As one can see in the photo the incision is barely visible. His fur is growing back. Leif is full of energy and has even managed to go for a run around the neighborhood a few times, over the snow laden hills and fields, leaving me to chase him all over the place. Of course no one can catch him, he just comes strolling home when he is finished with his romp.

Every day is a new adventure for Leif.

copyright Karin S. Fester (c) 2009

Simply Dog's Surgery: recovering from skin cancer

My Simply Dog had an operation last week. Leif Hund, his real name, is surviving a bout with skin cancer. Luckily the carcinoma was caught early, as it was only in stage II. It was a cancer in his dermis and had not reached the bone. An abnormal swelling was noted on his shoulder about a month earlier and then suddenly on Saturday 20, December a piece of thick skin fell off opening a large bleeding wound. Immediately the veterinarian was called and Leif was taken to the clinic; upon just gross observation the veterinarian suspected a dermal malignancy. Biopsies were taken from the wound at various depths. It certainly put a damper on the Christmas time and the coming New Year, but we were all thinking positive, as Leif's veterinarian was confident the cancer could be arrested.

Leif was strong and healthy basically and even travelled to Austria in the Christmas period. During the drive to Vienna, along the way, when we were in the Steiermark, Leif had the chance to play in the snow. Leif loves to tunnel in the deep snow, but he had to be a little bit more conservative not to get too frisky in the white stuff as it might irritate his wound. There is a photo of Leif playing in the snow in Austria. Leif is so happy when he plays in the snow and I love to see him happy.

The results from the biospy would not be available until after Christmas. Anxiously we awaited them. The results when they arrived were positive for maligancy, but only in the skin and not further into the bone.

The surgery was scheduled for a Wednesday, but had to be rescheduled for the following day due to a sudden snow storm which blew into the Piedmont region, here in north Italy, blocking our driveway and the roads to the clinic. That Tuesday night and into the wee early morning hours of Wednesday I was shoveling snow. In some moments I was out there at 2:00 and 5:00 in the morning, clad in slippers, pajamas and robe, shoveling snow. I did everything I could to make sure we could drive the car to the veterinary clinic. Chains had to be put on the tires and snow continusouly removed as it was snowing nonstop. But despite the snow shoveling, we had to wait until Thursday to drive to the clinic due to the icey and snow blocked streets. We live in the Monferrato wine producing region of the Piedmont in northwestern Italy, an area of sweet rolling hills with many narrow roads winding through the countryside which become treacherous when covered with snow and ice. It was just Simply Dog's luck that on the one day when he needed to have the most important surgery of his life, a snow storm had to blow in..

The surgery was a success. In the photo one can see the large incision that had to be made to remove the cancer. Leif's Veterinarian, Paolo Conti in Moncalvo is excellent. The assistant veterinarian was an anaesthesia specialist. So, Leif was really in excellent hands for his operation. Leif's veterinarian travels to the United States 4-5 times per year for Veterinary continuing education and in my opinion he is one the best small animal veterinarians in Italy. We are so thankful for the excellent veterinarians who saved Leif, the beloved Simply Dog.

Leif was brought home immediately after the surgery. The most difficult time for him. He was not allowed to go up stairs and had to stay quiet. He was on pain medication and the first night at home he had to be given a pain medication injection. Leif was whining at times and trying to walk around as if he did not know what to do with himself. He was allowed to walk gently outside to go and do his pee pee routine. The first night I could see he was very uncomfortable. The first 24 hours were the worst for him. Someone was sitting at his side all night, keeping an eye on him and letting Leif know he was not alone in his hours of discomfort. The next morning things became easier for him. Leif started to smile a bit in that unique Simply Dog way and is definitely on his way towards a successful recovery and a beautiful life in 2009.

In the photo you will see Leif in his pajamas. I was teasing Leif, telling him he needed a New York Yankees baseball cap to complete the outfit. Leif has to wear a T-shirt over his body to cover the surgical wound.

The sutures were removed on Monday the 19 January 2009. The veterinarians were quite pleased with his recovery. An update on Leif's recovery will follow, so please visit and read his Simply Dog webpage soon.

Moncalvo, 22 January 2009.
Written by: Karin Susan Fester, copyright 2009 (c). All rights reserved.

Coming soon .....Simply Dog

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Here is the "Valentine" I made for my dog Leif. And, I gave him a big warm hug this morning.

He sure is a cute sweetheart.

Dog Friends in Monza Park

Today "Simply Dog" (Leif) and I went for a walk in Monza Park. This is my dog's favorite park.
The park is huge and one of the largest and most beautiful north of Milan city. In this park you will see just about every dog breed in the book. Today Leif was visited by a very pretty female German Short-Haired Pointer. He fell in love with her instantly. And, of course we do not know her name, as her owner was not accompanying her. The two dogs played and played. Lovely. The female was quite agile and fast; she would run around Leif, jump inot the air, swirl, and then gallop, or rather, fly off into the distance. Then to return again to tease Leif. Her tail was quite cute; it was white at the end. Her owner was calling and calling her with a whistle, but she acted like she heard nothing. She did not seem to care and continued flirting with Leif. The two new friend just continued playing. Finally she ran off into the distance again and never returned, her owner still blowing the whistle. I could not understand why her owner did not personally come to get the dog. Leif was quite sad when she left. However, he met numerous other dogs in the park today and it resulted in a very good day of canine socializing !

Copyright (c) 2007 Karin Fester Scala