American Toad (by dmott9)
6.7.12 Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments Award & Versatile Blogger
Thank you so much to Worldly Winds for giving us this most unusual Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments Award.
Worldly Winds is a lovely site full of poetry by Alexandra. Alex describes herself as a “Buddhist, Mother, Wife, Writer, Poet, Introvert, Eccentric,” and you will see that her poetry absolutely reflects all those parts of her. Definitely check out her poetry. The zoo and I enjoy the deep pauses.
With the award there are “Ten Commanded” questions that I must answer, so here I go:
- Describe yourself in seven words.
Mother, Partner, Sister, Animal Lover, Friend, Blogger
2. What keeps you up at night?
It’s not the ‘keeps me up” but the “wakes me up” that I suffer from. Nothing and everything. I have not slept more than 4 hours at a time since….. who can remember? (Memory, of course, is the first thing to go when you are sleep deprived… rofl)
3. Whom would like you to be?
Well, I like who I am, but if I had to chose, maybe Angelina Jolie. She does good work both humanitarian and on film, is absolutely gorgeous (even without makeup), has what looks like a great relationship with her partner in life, and a bunch of fun kids.
4. What are you wearing now?
Blue jeans and a pink and purple t-shirt.
5. What scares you?
People being mad at me. The dogs running in front of a car. Losing someone I love.
6. What are the best and worst things about blogging?
Best – pushing myself daily to find interesting and fun things to talk about focused only on my zoo and all the incredible other bloggers I have met in blogland all around the world.
Worst – not having more time to read blogs and write comments.
7. What was the last website you looked at?
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey (I leave to Istanbul in a week)
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To be more even tempered and not wear my emotions on my sleeve.
9. Slankets, yes or no?
Nooooo !!
10. Tell us something about the person who nominated you.
I did in the opening remarks, so go check out Worldly Winds and read some of her gooooooood stuff.
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And to top off an already great day, the adorable guinea piggies at Hutchagoodlife bestowed upon us a Versatile Blogger Award. 
I love those little cuddly wuddly boys and girls, Nibbles, Nutty, Bingo, and Buddy. Since I have been honored with this award before, I will let you see my answers on my Awards page.
Thank you so much you four little cutie patuties. You are sweet.
So in all fairness, as most of you know, I pass awards forward to new sites that I have not yet honored before but I really think that some of my old friends need a smile, so I hereby give the following blogs a DogDaz PICK OF THE LITTER Award. You get to pick one of the above awards for your very own, as well as proudly display that you are the DogDaz Pick of the Litter!
Thank you all for wonderful reading – here is the current DOGDAZ PICK OF THE LITTER:
Collies of the Meadow
Bongo Dog Blog
Cupcake Speaks:
2 Brown Dawgs
Thank you and a million times thank you to Worldly Winds and Hutchagoodlife for thier wonderful acknowledgement.
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
6.6.12 Sitting Proud
I love when the dogs and I are out on our daily walk and the post lady drives by in her little white truck and tells me what a great job they are doing. They sit nice and wait until she passes. I am sure that postal workers see the worst of animals when they have to come up to people’s homes to drop off mail and packages. It is sad that so many dog owners do nothing about allowing aggressive animals to confront strangers and workers that they invite on their property. As the owner of a fearful dog (Louise), I try really hard to ensure that she is not somewhere that she can lunge at a stranger or put herself, or them, in a compromising position. I watched a new TV show last night where this trainer was called in because this business owner refused to leave her aggressive dog home; it jumped and bit at everyone that came through her office door. She refused to accept that the dog should not be in the office, and she said “doggie looked sad if she was not near Mommy.” First the trainer said, “leave the dog home.” But the woman refused. So next, he tied it up under a desk in the corner so it could not bolt to far. Well, that seemed to make the owner happy and after a few frustrating lunges the dog actually did lie down. But, did it calm down? Truthfully, I think the dog would be happier and less anxious with the freedom of it’s own house and have less stress of the people coming in and out of the office all day, where it has to ‘protect’ Mommy. This isn’t about the dog obviously. It is about people who just don’t take the time, energy, or care enough, to try and put their animals in the safest and most calm environment for the animal. Oh my… did I just get on a ‘soap box’ for animal rights! Hummmm… anyway, I am really proud of how far my little angels have come.
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo ❤
6.5.12 Who Wants To Be Boss, Anyway?
K8 took this picture and sent it to me on my phone. It was just one of those days I guess when everyone wanted to take a nap. If you look at the bottom of the picture you can see Muffin’s left ear. He has taken over the center of the coffee table lately and decided it is his bed. The dogs were waiting at the top of the stairs because I wasn’t home, and they want to be ready, just in case I walked in the door. Sometimes Sofie lies across the steps and refuses to move; all cats and humans have to jump over her when she does that, and… we do. A trainer told me that if you watch how dogs go up and down stairs with their humans, you can tell who is in charge. So for a minute I did actually have the dogs stay behind me on the stairs, but now I just let them go bounding down the stairs first and then I don’t have to deal with thinking about it. I guess we know who is in charge in this house.(ROFL).
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo ❤
6.4.12 Mom’s Sick Day
Remember when you felt like ‘sunshowers’ should be legal grounds for cutting school. I wish, other than being ill, there was a way to just get a day off of the responsibility roller coaster.
Animal caretakers don’t get a day off. Animals still need to be feed and cared for, no matter how bad you feel. It is not their fault the human is sick; they still deserve to eat. Dogs need to be walked or at least let out. Cat boxes need to be scooped. Cages need to be cleaned. And even human children (up to the age of 30, I think) still want to know what Mom is making for dinner (even if you have not gotten out of bed since the morning).
The concept of Mom being sick is incommodious in this house: inconvenient and not given any space to exist. The animals, though non-comprehensive of why Mommy is asleep during the light hours, at least try to cuddle and make contact. The humans….. they just fall apart, In my house the world kind of comes to a weird slow down. Children, who were capable of making decisions yesterday, all of a sudden need input on things while you are sleeping and they need it now! Or there is the other ‘responsible adult,’ who is in total denial of the situation (maybe in fear that giving it credence might somehow make it last longer then desired), so the mailbox overflows, the newpapers pile up, etc. All in 36 hrs…. hahahahhahahaha.
When you are part of a pack, a zoo, a family wheel, with roles, tasks, and inter-dependencies, it is really hard when the linchpin slips. The wheel kind of woobles until it is reset. I am glad to say everyone survived my food poisoning episode (though I thought I would die), but just in case I do something stupid like that again, I will try to make sure there are dinners in the freezer and that the dogs are already walked and feed before I collapse. And I will try not to do it when family is coming in from out of town, one of the kids is graduating, and ……
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo.
6.3.12 Sofie’s Blog
Mommy still does not feel well so she asked me to write the blog today. This is really hard because, though I have a lot to say when it comes to whining for food, a toy, to go somewhere, to get attention, I really do not have much to say to humans. I do not like when Mommy is sick in bed and yesterday, when I got home from doggie camp, I jumped up on the bed again and again to be with her, but she did not like that. Louise is big enough to just snuggle her nose up to Mommy but I am not. I want to be on the bed. The cats are on the bed. That is just no fair! But Mommy pats my head nice when I come to her side on the floor, so I guess that is where I should go, so I get a nice pat instead of yelled at, which happens a lot to me. No, Sofie. That’s Enough, Sofie! Sometimes you would think that they did not like my behavior. But that can not be possible, since I am the most perfect saggy blond thing you ever did see.
Feel better Mommy. I don’t like writing your blog, and I really really really do not like when you can not walk and play with us.
Love – Sofie Bear
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo ❤
