Category Archives: Dogs

So I am really upset because this little 8 lb Corgi/Papilon mix that V wanted to Xmas was all set to be ours, except when the Rescue called the vet, some person, who obviously was new and did not even know who we were, told them that they had no idea if our animals had their shots or if they were even spayed.  They even said they did not know if the dogs were on heartworm meds.  Ahhhhh!!!!!!  Not only should the vet have records on all 5 of the current pack, but we buy the silly meds from them.  I do not understand why everything lately is such a battle.  It seems like people are stupidder and stupidder (is that such a word?).  Well of course I will be calling the vet in the morning, but we have already lost this little dog, so why bother.  That seems to be the way it is for almost everything.  If you try to do a simple transaction, you end up having to escalate to a supervisor, and then you are transferred to Outer Mongolia, and then back to Colorado, and then they disconnect you.  The more I deal with people – the more I like my DOGs!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting for BoBo to move.

You would think after 16 hours of sitting at this idiot box I call a computer I would want to go lie down or something, but nooooo, here I am typing.  The Muffin cat is licking the milk from my late dinner cereal bowl of Cherioos and Chex Mix that I just finished.  The dogs are sacked out, Sofie on the dog bed in my office and Lulu on the den coach.  It is nice that they both are trained to go to sleep by 21:15 every nite.  They are especially tired because they were in Doggie Daycare today. It is a great thing, this Doggie care; they get to spend the day with their frienddogs; I get to not walk them, and; they come home really happy and tired.  They both jump in the car and can’t wait to tell me all about their adventures. You may wonder how I know this.  Lulu has to stand on the console between the seats and nuzzle up to my ear, and Sofie, well she can not contain herself and jumps into the passenger seat (a big no no but hard to resist) and talks, and talks, the whole way home.  I am really lucky that I have this option right around the corner from my house at a local vet’s office. When Lulu was a puppy I used to put her in 2X a week to give old Squash a break from her and also to get some work done.  Since Sofie came, I don’t use it as much because it is of course twice the cost, but also because they have each other to play with.  They really do love it and also seem to really benefit from a full day of running.  I find that I miss them tremendously during the day when they are not here.  But it is nice to have a break from the walk and the constant up and down the stairs to go out.  Well, just another dogdaz evening. ❤

Have a meeting at 6:30, so I am trying to sneak up stairs and feed the cats before the dogs know that I am gone.  Good thing that I keep a curtain over their kennels so they can not see me putting on my robe and slippers and tip toeing out.  Maybe today they will sleep until 7?  Stranger things have happened.

Sofie when she first came to us, trying to sleep with Lulu.

I wonder sometimes what the dogs think when they run past you on the stairs.  I know that to be the pack leader I am not suppose to allow them to do that, but sometimes I forget.  If I was a dog I would run down the stairs because I would be really really excited to go outside and dig up the back yard and bark at passers by and…  So I think that is why Sofie blows by me on the stairs more than the fact that she wants to leave me in her dust.  Louise stays behind because she is afraid I might not like her.  That works.  Now how do I get Sofie to think I will not like her (just kidding)?  I am failing at the dog leader thing.  I have this ‘calm’ energy that Cesar talks about, but I guess it is too calm.  I wish I could be mean and rotten.  Would that do it?  ‘No, don’t you dare run when I tell you to walk!’  I wish there was some secret to the dog training success but everything I read, watch, all the classes I have attended, in the end – Sofie doesn’t listen.  Hummm, maybe I should call Victoria Sidwell?  Or will she just tell me to build a exercise system in the yard.  A tired dog IS a happy dog – but is it an obedient one?  Just another dogdaz afternoon. ❤

Louise is always checking what might be coming from behind. ❤

So you know that we must be out of our mind for considering adding to our herd, especially the week before xmas.  But there are so many animals out there now that are so in need of homes.  We just can’t seem to stop taking care of these lovely creatures who give us back 110% of everything they have.  Ok, so maybe it will be interesting to add a little 8 lb dog to the pack.  Is it really a dog anyway, if it is smaller than the cats?  It is always a concern when you change the dynamic.  In the last year we have had 4 animals leave us for the great pasture in the sky.  Each one leaves a hole in our hearts that we fill back up with a new spirit.  Nothing actually ever fills the hole that Squash left, but that is a whole other story.  But, V really wants something little to cuddle with and has talked about a pocket dog for quite a while.  We will see.  Maybe next week our numbers will be up to 6.  Another dogdaz evening. ❤

Cold morning in the mid-Atlantic.  Lulu’s coat is not very thick.  She does not even like to sit on the kitchen floor.  Maybe I should look into one of those coats they make for gray hounds.  Sofie on the other hand loves the outside and won’t come in from the cold.  2 dogs.  2 personalities.  Another dogdaz morning. ❤

Lulu has her holiday collar on.  It is a really nice one made out of ribbon.  Red and white with a green ricrack pattern.  Black dogs look really good in red.  Sofie will get her holiday collar this year.  I buy them at a crafts fair from this collar and leash making lady and then give them to my mother-in-law to give me for xmas.  There is really nothing I have needed for years, so it is so much easier just to buy a few little things like this and have people give them to me.  My neighbor has an assortment of collars and leashes for everyday of the year, ah, but they don’t have children so they can spare the expense.  My dogs mostly wear the same collars every day, the ones with their names and my phone number on them.  That way when they are wondering about unsupervised (which has only happened once) they could be returned easily.  I picked that up from the horse farm when a big hurricane was coming.  They painted the barn’s number on the side of the horses in case the fences went down.  That makes a ton of sense to me and also I don’t have to keep moving the dog tags to different collars.  Just another dogdaz morning. ❤

Long day.  Got the waving Santa and the lighted goose with babies out front and on timers.  Now we look holiday-ish.  Dogs weren’t much help.  They sat at the front door behind the glass and created dog art while I toiled in the cold.

Sofie tried to eat the vacuum when I cleaned the house today.  I don’t really understand why dogs attack vacuums, but it is really noisy machine.  Maybe they see it as a huge scary monster.  I am trying to make sure not to encourage the biting of the hose behavior.  That would not end well for the vacuum (my Dyson Animal that does not pick up much animal hair) or for Sofie (because I would kill her).

She is doing pretty good today coming in from outside because I have been bribing her with cooked chicken.  When I call her, she gets chicken. Louise really is loving this training since she already comes on command and just reaps the rewards. Let’s see how long this will keep up for the little one.  All the animals are following me around like the pied piper because I have chicken in my pocket.  Works for me if it gets them to pay attention.

This will be Sofie’s first Xmas (Lulu’s second) with us.  I have a permanent eye hook in the wall to tether the tree (put it in years ago for the kittens, cats and also the blind dog) just in case someone wants to climb it.  I am worried about the lower ornaments this year but we will have to be vigilant.  Haven’t even gotten to the tree place yet, so maybe I can buy a few more days of no worry.  I was trying to talk the family out of having a tree, but not winning that one.

I do actually love all the lights and stuff, it is just such a run to the finish line.  Well, just another dogdaz ❤

So, if you have 2 dogs and one has, like these incredible chewing jaws, and the other is just a slow gnawing thing, and you give them 2 rawhide bones, what do you think will happen?