Animals come into the world with perfect love. We humans spend our lives looking for perfect love. Dogs are born with it. That is why I figure they live only a short time on this earth. They are here to teach us and then they move on. Angels are here to guide us too (if you believe in them). I learn lessons everyday from my animals. Sometimes, when I really don’t want to listen, they force me to become a better human.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
I came upon this great picture the other day. Not only were the 3 labs absolutely beautiful representations of each color of Labrador Retrievers, but the message was so ‘right on.’ I don’t think that dogs’ care about color or breed differences at all. They may be aware of major size differences, but I am not really sure what they think about the other dog when it is bigger or smaller than them – ‘Oh, it’s another dog, but it sure is weird-looking.”
Dogs live in a world of smells; they seem to judge everything through the ‘sniff’ test. If something smells different, then they get concerned. Since sight is so limited in most dogs, I don’t think they care much about how something looks. I don’t think you will ever hear a dog say, “Oh you are ugly, so I am not going to play with you.” Do different dogs smell different? That I don’t know. I couldn’t find much research on this. Does your dog show any sign of perceiving a difference between itself and another dog’s breed/color/etc? Not having ‘single breed’ dogs, I am not able to observe if this comes into play at all. All I can say is that Louise and Sofie could not be more different in breed mixes and color but two dogs couldn’t be closer in affection for each other. (And they both smell equally as bad when wet.)
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Squash E Bear was a great traveling dog. He just loved the car. His large body would take up the whole back seat and he would lay low and ride along. Or if there was a window open, he would position his head, just inside, to have the breeze ruffle his ears. Ah, those were the days. Squash came everywhere with me. He always went on road trips north to NY or Connecticut, and I even took him to Niagara Falls (Canada side) one year. I put together all the needed documentation that you must have when traveling with a pet: vaccinations, microchip info, and even a signed note from the vet (when crossing the border). Finding pet friendly accommodations was easier than I thought, though the quality of some of the lodgings left a little to be desired.
In Niagara we stayed at this great Best Western with a million other dogs and we took some great walks with super views of the falls.
Everyone liked when I brought Squash with me because he was so well-behaved and basically just plopped down wherever he landed and smiled at you. He and I had some pretty cool adventures over the years – like that time he really needed to go pee, so I pulled into a public park, not knowing that dogs are banned from public parks on Long Island, and all these people were giving us dirty looks until a Park Ranger chased us out. Live and learn.
Louise and Sofie aren’t the best car dogs. They bark, they whine, and sometimes, I think Sofie is just plain nauseated by the whole thing. Makes me miss traveling with Squash. Maybe when the girls get older they will be better car dogs. Time will tell.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
And I would not trade the animals for the world, but will someone tell them it is MY BED!
(Did I tell you about the time I found Sofie’s lovey, Beaver, on my pillow? Dogs are not allowed on my bed. Now that was interesting.)
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Glover’s Pika (Ochotona glover)
This cute species is one endemic to china (can not be found anywhere else in the world). A small mammal that lives in rocky clefts and can be found tucked in the crannies of village walls. [x]
I have to take Peanut to her 3 day college orientation in New York this week. It’s about 5 hours away (actually she is going to school about 15 minutes from where I grew up – isn’t that cool). I talked V and K8 into coming with us since they’ve never seen NYC. The 7 animals must stay home of course, so we had to make creative arrangements. The dogs will be spending the week with 5 of their dog friends at Sonja’s house, the dog sitter. This way the can stay cool and safe and play at the same time. I have never kenneled any of my animals overnight, it just makes more sense to me to have them stay in a house with someone. One of K8’s friends is going to house sit for us to take care of the cats (and the house, of course).
We have a dilema though because of Miss Constance Kitty and her peeing problem. We did not want to leave someone to have to deal with the damage she can do on a daily basis if not watched and carefully managed. So she is going to a private kitty spa (aka much to expensive boarding kennel). OMG This place is amazing. I had to tell the sales girl on the phone to stop giving me the ‘how wonderful we are’ chatter and just tell me what it was going to cost. They have 3 different choices for cats: regular, deluxe. or even a suite. I could not believe they asked me if I wanted them to give her special tuna treats and bottled water every evening. Heck, I don’t even get tuna treats! I decided on the deluxe kitty condo (2 floors) with litter on the lower level and sleeping on the upper. I got her the deluxe because she is going to be there for a week and it has a window to see the world (and I hate doing this so I feel guilty, etc etc). Peanut says that Miss Kitty won’t want to come home. It is hard enough for us, the owners, to take care of all our animals at this point because of certain, shall I say ‘idiosyncrasies,’ so this seemed like the best solution.
Dogwood Acres Kitty Condos
Now I remember why we haven’t gone away together as a family in a long time – who can afford all the animal care?
Years ago, when we had the Guinea Pigs, we used to sneak them into the hotels with us and then just never let maid service clean the room. We had some well-traveled piggies. Those were the days when the zoo was up to 11 animals but it seemed more manageable for some reason. Dog went to dog sitter, we had a house/cat sitter, and piggies came with us.
Tuna treats and bottled water – really?!? I was waiting for the Spa to offer her the evening massage rubdown for an extra $1.000. Oh boy!
PS – My sister wanted me to tell any would be robbers that the house sitter carries a gun! Just saying.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
DogDaz Zoo 