Lulu Dreaming
on Peanut’s Bed
Mommy has taken the younger human, Peanut, somewhere. We do not know where but we know that there were lots and lots of suitcases and bags and stuff that left the house and went into 2 of the big moving things with wheels that we ride in to go places. This seemed different than other times because almost all of Peanut’s stuff went with them. Will Mommy be back? Will we ever see Peanut again? Her room seems different. It is clean: there are no clothes or hair-things or shoes to chew on. I like Peanut’s bed and that is still there (thank goodness). She lets us on her bed (well me actually, Sofie does not really like to jump up so high). I like being on her bed (and so does Muffin and Nine). Mommy does not let us on her bed (but I know that Sofie sleeps there when no one is looking – she jumps on the stool at the end of the bed and uses it as a step). I do hope Mommy comes home soon because I always miss her when she is gone. Can I have Peanut’s room if she doesn’t come back soon?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: Animal, animals, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, funny dogs, Pet, pets, postaday
Acronyms are funny things, they could mean so many different things. Misaki (The Misadventures of Misaki) left me a comment the other day and wrote, “BOL.” I am thinking, “BOL, what the heck is that?” So, I type it into trusty Google and it comes back with:
BOL may refer to:
- Bill of Lading, a document acknowledging specified goods as cargo.
- BOL – to express a short burst of laughter
- Bol (film), a Pakistani film directed by Shoaib Mansoor
- bol (music), a feature of Indian rhythm
- Bol, Croatia, a town on the Croatian island Brač
- Manute Bol, Sudanese-born basketball player and activist
- Bol, Chad, a city in Chad
- Boľ, a village in eastern Slovakia.
- Bol Airport, an airport on the Croatian island of Brač.
- BOL, an Internet Slang term for Bahaha Out Loud, a substitute to LOL
- BOL, an Internet Slang term among dog owners/lovers for Bark (or Barking) Out Loud, a variant of LOL
- Bol, a derogatory term for people of Bolivian descent.
- BOL or BOLO in law enforcement parlance is the abbreviation for Be On the Lookout (see All-points bulletin)
- Bread of Life Ministries International, is an non-denominational Christian megachurch in the Philippines
- Buzz Out Loud, a “CNET’s podcast of indeterminate length”.
- 2-Bromo-LSD, a pharmacological agent.
- BUPERS Online, a single point of entry application for logging into numerous web-based applications maintained by the Naval Personnel Command in Millington, TN.
Well, I figured ‘Burst Of Laughter” was what the person meant. Ok, I like that. But, that was not what it was at all. It was “Bark Out Loud!” I love that even more. How cute is that? Dogs having their own internet slang. What does Google or Wikipedia know about anything when you really think about it? If I let them I am sure that Sofie and Lulu would text all day long (or eat the phone).
ROFLWMDHAGT = Rolling On The Floor With My Dogs Having A Great Time. (I just made that up). BOL.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, Bark Out Loud, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, funny dogs, Pet, pets, postaday
Squash E Bear
Fall 2007
This weekend I was missing Squash E Bear a great deal. He will be gone 2 years in February. Now you know I love my current dogs. Louise and Sofie, very much, and I have had many wonderful dogs and cats and guinea pigs over the years. But every couple of month I just really miss Squash. I think it is weird because Nikki, my Cocker Spaniel, who I adored, was with me for 18 years, but she does not come to mind with the ‘missing’ that I feel for Squashy. Squash was rescued already middle aged, he was with me only 5 years, and he was a medical handful because of the twice a day insulin shots he needed for his brittle Diabetes and the overall care when he went totally blind. However, I think Squash was so easy. He and I walked off lead most of the time (when he could still see) and he stayed within reach (in the woods he would walk in the trees and I would walk on the trail but we were always in cadence.) Squash never barked unless he had something urgent to say (which was not often) or he was telling a joke (which he liked to do while rolling on his back and laughing). He loved to travel with me and filled the backseat of my Prius with his 90 lbs of fluff and would just lay down and stay there for long rides anywhere. The only time I saw him angry was when my neighbor’s aggressive dog came running out of the house toward a member of the family while he was on leash. Oh yeah, he did like to be a little too dominant at the dog park. He would find one beautiful ‘bitch’ that he liked and then would not let any other dogs near her. Squash would proceed to place his paw over top of any male dog that might come to close. (We did not go to the dog park much for obvious reasons). Ok, so he did have a few quarks. I guess maybe it is the impending changes in my life this week, with Peanut leaving to college for the first time and K8 going back, which means V and I will be ’empty nesters’ for the first time ever – if you can call having 28 paws (7 animals multiplied by 4 paws) to take care of ’empty.’ Or is it just that Squash and I enjoyed our fall walks so much? Change is in the air.
Squash Fall 07
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, animals, Cocker Spaniel, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, dog rescue, DogDaz, Guinea pig, nature, Pet, pets, postaday
Sign repinned from lol
I am sooooooooo tired of Sofie’s whining. I have been making a study of this, and she even whines in her sleep. This must be a Sheltie trait. Never having a dog with this breed mix before, I am not sure, but I have never had such a big baby like Sofie Bear. So I decided to do some research. I went to “Sheltie Planet: Your Guide to Everything Shetland Sheepdog,” to find out if this is a breed problem. And, it sort of is. They say you should ask yourself these questions to try to figure out why she is whining:
– Is she in pain? NOPE
– Is she simply bored or lonely? Could be, but we could be in the middle of a major play session and she will whine (or maybe dog talk), so I will say, MAYBE.
– Is she afraid or anxious? I don’t think she is afraid, but anxious, well of that I am not sure? I don’t really see her as an anxious dog, but I have Lulu who is pretty high strung, so in comparison maybe I am missing something. I will have to think on this.
– Does she need to go outside? Well if she asks, I take her, but that is super rare.
Sofie is a very vigilant dog, she can hear a fox outside 200 feet away. She will bark at noises that we human’s just don’t hear, but I figure that is vigilance, not anxiety. Shelties are bred to guard the flock and warn when intruders are around, so it is in her DNA. I guess I am more tolerant than other people when it comes to innate traits. A dog is a dog and you have to allow them a bark or two or an occasional whine. Poor Sofie definitely has reasons to whine: (1) When she wants Nine to come out of the cat room and play with her; (2) When she wants Muffin to stop helping me make dinner, especially when it is the dog food kind; (3) When she wakes up and wants me to let her out of her kennel (but I can tell her to go back to sleep and most of the time she will), and, for sure; (4) When she wants a toy that Lulu has. The family says she whines all the time, but maybe I just don’t hear it. I have been told that she whines terribly when I leave, which is something I really need to figure out how to help her stop. The Sheltie website said basically to ignore the whining, but that sure doesn’t work around here. When she was a puppy I tried to give her positive reinforcement for not whining, but that was really hard, since it is not a predictable thing. A lot of times I think that Sofie is just dog talking to me though. She likes to sit there and have this whole conversation. I am not exactly sure what the story is about, but I know that she likes when I make eye contact and tilt my head as if listening. “Well, Sofie my love, would you like a little cheese with that whine?”
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, animals, cute dogs, dog, dog rescue, DogDaz, Dogs, nature, Pet, pets, postaday, Sheltie, Shetland Sheepdog, whine, whining
I am so proud of the dogs. This week I have left them alone twice for increasing longer periods of time in the house, out of their kennels. First it was for about 2 hours. But today I had to go visiting and to dinner, and I knew that I would be gone a long time because I had to drive over an hour away. I locked the kittens and crazy Miss Kitty away so that they could not get into trouble; I gave everyone a really good snack (because I knew that I would be late for dinner); and I left (I don’t believe in making a fuss or they will fuss). I was gone 5 1/2 hours. This is a first for me 
and for the dogs. I have never left them unsupervised, out of their kennels for that long. On my way home I was envisioning shredded couch pillows, ala Wonderbutt, or chewed up pens with ink everywhere, or a dead cat (though Noel would more likely kill them before they would get her or Muffin). But, other than mauling me at the front door, they were great. This is so exciting. I hate to go out for more than maybe 3 hours when I have to leave them in the kennels, though I have left them as many as 6 hours. They probably just sleep, but I worry about stiffness and such, even though they can stand and turn around. I really want them to be able to be out, except at night, and that really is because they like to wake me up to play at weird times (which I attribute partially to the fact that they are not usually out at night when I am sleeping, but also because they are not allowed on the bed, so they need to get close to me somehow). This is a new phase at the zoo. Free roaming canines. I like it and I hope they keep up the good work.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, Animal welfare, animals, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Kennel, Pet, pets, postaday
Have you ever sat there and looked at your child, or your lover, and just had this kind of stare that is just made up of pure love. You know that look; the one that says, no matter what happens at any other point in time, this point is perfect, and you are just the being that I want to be near. This is the look that I have for my daughter when she is just looking a certain way or doing something, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy and mommyish inside. That unconditional, no matter what, love and adoration. Well, that is how Louise and Sofie have been looking at me since I got home. I can not go anywhere without them of course attached to my side. But the looks… the I must be in your presence, you are the center of my being, kind of looks. Now, I really do not feel that I deserve this undying devotion. Come on, dogs, I just left you for 10 days, why aren’t you mad at me or something? Instead, they just want to kiss me and snuggle, and rub deep against me. There is so much that is said in a look. I think that is why the virtual world craves pictures so much. People really want to ‘look’ at things. They want to see the form and the movement. Even though we may be disconnected in space and time, beings want to look at each other. Ok, I know that people that do not have sight may not have this concept, but I bet (I don’t have anyone I can ask so I am guessing), that they have, in their own unsighted way, ‘the look’ that I am talking about. Come to think of it, Squash E Bear, when totally blind, used to tilt his head to me in that kind of ‘I love you and will follow you anywhere forever’ look. Look back at this picture of me, Lulu, and Squash and see if you don’t agree? I find it incredible that the animals can sit and stare at me that way. Noel does it too, but not Muffy, Kitty, or the others. Is it love? Is it obedience? Do animals look at each other that way? Do they stare at their young the way that I do mine? Sometimes, I guess I stare at the animals that way too. Like when I took this picture of Louise yesterday. She is watching Sofie on the other side of the deck with a rope toy. I was struck by her musculature, her calmness, and her beauty. I probably had ‘the look’ in my eyes when I took the shot. I guess maybe next time I will turn the camera around and see.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, looks, love, nature, Pet, pets, postaday
Here is a sequence of Sofie and Nine watching me drive away. (How sad is that?) You can see the reflection of the car in the front door glass. This was the image I was left with on my way to the airport. Two of my goofballs snuggling and watching me go. Notice how Sofie is straining to see me over Nine in the last shot. It is so wonderful how close the animals are. Sofie had no idea that Mommy would be gone a long time. She just knew that I was leaving the house and getting into the moving thing without her. I have talked about separation before, but this trip was a really hard one for me and for the animals and humans. Probably because of the length of time (10 days). For me, my animals are a calming and life enhancing force. I miss my humans very much too, don’t get me wrong. I need my humans as a constant sustainable energy of love and comfort, but the animals, my need for their presence is different. They give me a sense of peace. They are my home. They are the earth force that seems to remind me to eat and take walks during the day. Having so many animals, there is always someone near by wanting something; pet me, feed me, let me out, walk me, play with me, scratch my head, hold me …. I adore my zoo. I find great comfort in the company of animals. So, this is what leaving looks like at the zoo. What’s it like at your house?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animals, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, leaving, Pet, pets, postaday
Welcome Home Mom Attack
Lulu won’t let anyone near me! “My Mommy!” she growls.
My understanding is that both the humans and the animals were losing their minds by the 5th day I was gone. The animals were being so annoying they just wanted someone, anyone, to pay attention to them. I heard that Sofie actually started hitting Louise in the head to get her to play. While I was gone my daughter took some pictures, so I will have to see them to understand some of the antics. I did Skype with Muffin and Nine but they were not very talkative; the dogs were at daycare, so I missed them on the call. The report was that the dogs actually did sleep until like 8 AM which never happens when I am home (very interesting). Like JetLag (which takes a major toll on your circadian rhythm especially when you were 14 hours ahead and now you have to come back), MommyLag is similar. It takes time for everything to return to ‘normal.’ Right now both humans and animals want to be near me a lot more than usual. Sofie won’t let me out of her sight. Lulu wants to crawl inside me and keeps one paw on me at all times. I’ve read that JetLag takes one day for every hour you need to readjust, I wonder how much time it takes for MommyLag? I am sure the humans will be back to taking me for granted way before the furballs do. Nice to be home.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: animal awareness, animals, Circadian rhythm, cute dogs, dog, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, JetLag, Pet, pets, postaday
Tags: Animal, animals, Cat, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, funny dogs, Pet, pets, postaday, Puppies
Mommy has taken the younger human, Peanut, somewhere. We do not know where but we know that there were lots and lots of suitcases and bags and stuff that left the house and went into 2 of the big moving things with wheels that we ride in to go places. This seemed different than other times because almost all of Peanut’s stuff went with them. Will Mommy be back? Will we ever see Peanut again? Her room seems different. It is clean: there are no clothes or hair-things or shoes to chew on. I like Peanut’s bed and that is still there (thank goodness). She lets us on her bed (well me actually, Sofie does not really like to jump up so high). I like being on her bed (and so does Muffin and Nine). Mommy does not let us on her bed (but I know that Sofie sleeps there when no one is looking – she jumps on the stool at the end of the bed and uses it as a step). I do hope Mommy comes home soon because I always miss her when she is gone. Can I have Peanut’s room if she doesn’t come back soon?
DogDaz Zoo 