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2.13.12 Two Very Different Sisters

Some go one way, some go the other....

Louise and Sofie have such different personalities and I am sometimes amazed at HOW different!  Lulu Belle wants so much to please me. She will come when called and basically do anything asked of her.  She loves training sessions and will even try to anticipate what you are going to ask. Though nervous around strangers she really is pretty laid back at home and just wants to hang where I am. She is a Momma’s girl.  When I open the kennel door at night, she runs in and lays down, closes her eyes, and goes to sleep.  Louise learned to control her barking early and responds well to the ‘that’s enough’ command.  She is shy with visitors, but a cookie in a calm hand will usually get her to come out.  Louise loves her walks and waits with great anticipation for that time we have together. Lulu is afraid of most things at first and it takes her time to warm up but she is trusting more and more over time.  She loves to run at full hound speed around the yard, sometime for what seems like an eternity, and balls and rings are her favorite toys.

Sofie on the other hand will not listen to almost anything unless there is a bribe attached.  She is willful and headstrong and wants her way (pretty much all of the time).  She is loving and silly but on her own terms.  She barks and whines at everything and no amount of squirt guns or towel bonkers seems to effect her desire to have a conversation.  She has an aversion to coming in the door and will stand right out of reach and then run away when you open it.  Sofie would happily jump on every human she sees (if I allowed it) and waits for the opportunity to break the rules with her other humans because she knows she can (like running down the stairs first).  Sofie comes along for a walk (and enjoys it), but would be happy just running and digging up the yard. Sofie is not afraid of much (except white garbage bags).  She likes to lie in-wait for Louise when she is running her laps around the yard and then jump out at her from behind a bush.  Sofie Bear loves to lie her head in my lap and snuggle while she sleeps. Here favorite thing in the whole world is her unstuffed Beaver, which she always sleeps with.  When I open the kennel door at night, she goes a few feet away and lies down there instead.  It is only after a stern word, and sometimes, yes… a bribe… that she will head on it, whine for a few minutes, and then… like many a willful puppy…. fall sweetly, and lovingly, fast asleep.

Sleepin' with the Beaver

One thing I know they agree on – they both hate SQUIRRELS and they both love their Mommy!

Two very different dogs – one happy family.  Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo. ❤

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2012 in Dogs

 

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The Hug Award: How Special !!!

Thank you Misty Shores Chesapeakes for honoring us with a very special Hug Award, you are tooooo kind.  We were really in need of a hug today so it came at a wonderful time.  This is a really interesting award and I was really glad to receive it. Receiving this award sent me to the site it comes from to see what it was all about (http://ahopefortoday.com/2012/01/14/hope-unites-globally-hug-award-guidelines/) and I learned about A Hope For Today.

So, as the rules of many of the awards go, I will tell you more about me: Though I earn my pay in the corporate world, I try to live my life in service for the world good both locally and globally.  To me that means providing hope of a better today for humans, animals, and the environment. I believe you need to be the change you want to see in the world. So, I drive a hybrid (with the license plate ‘GIVEBAK,’ so honk if you see me), I recycle everything possible, I rescue animals (you all know that part), I work with the River Keepers to try and restore and keep my river and the Bay healthy,  I support wildlife (I am a Certified Wildlife Habitiat), I support certain human causes such as Lupus (which I have), Crohns & Colitis (which plagues my family), and all kinds of Cancers (which has robbed me of many family & friends), and currently I am a Commissioner on the County Commission for Women, to improve the lives of women and children.  Yes, I must say that sometimes I do all this for the hugs, but mostly, I do it for the selfish reason that I believe in the law of cause and effect – what you put out there will come back to you 10 fold: to give is the greatest gift I get, and at the end of the day, the only one I want.  I have hope today and everyday, so thank you Misty for reminding me of the greater value in that.

I will pass this along to 5 blogs I have not acknowledged before, who are teaching me something with every blog:

Cats & Co.

2 Brown Dawgs Blog

The Jogging Dog

Walden Marsh

Lead.Learn.Live

Hugs and Hope from the zoo at DogDaz ❤

 
10 Comments

Posted by on February 12, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Sunday’s Nap

Source: weheartit.com

 
3 Comments

Posted by on February 12, 2012 in Dogs

 

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2.12.12 Sending the Vet’s kid to college….

Don’t you sometimes just have those kind of days.  I took the 2 dogs and 3 of the cats (Muffin and the kittens) to the vet on Friday.  Silly me.  I was thinking, why don’t I just pack them all up in the Explorer and get it over with.  Noel and Connie went last week, so they got to stay home.  And at the last minute I actually added Louise because she was shaking her head a lot so I kinda knew she had some ear thing going on.  Soooooo, V & I loaded them all up and off we went for the 20 minute ride to see Dr. Kate.  Did I mention that V is not a dog person:  Cats Yes – Dogs Not So Much.  That must be why the whole way to the vet Sofie whined and whined and whined.  Now she doesn’t normally do that but with 3 cat carriers in the back and V in the front, it was all to much for little Sofie, and way to much for V.  That was only the ride there.

We did the dogs first, and it was a good thing that I brought Lulu because she does have an ear infection.  I sensed it coming but it is a rare occasion that any of my dogs have ever had ear problems, so I was not sure.  Sofie was just getting her 1 year check (we got her in March last year). I put the dogs back in the truck and then we unload the cats.

Stella and Nine needed their first vet check and shots (and they traveled very nicely). And Muffin, well he needed the old man checkup (you know what that means, blood, etc).  Poor Muffin appears to have hyperthroidism, so we are waiting for the blood work back to figure out what meds to put him on.  He is already on heart medication and a baby aspirin, but luckily he is a trooper when it comes to taking pills (as long as I hide them in cat treats). Stella also has an ear gunk, but not really an infection, possibly left over from a recent mite cleaning (but we would not know).Shots and blood done. We load them back in the truck and I go to pay the bill, but of course, my daughter had my credit card (because she had to get her hair dyed and cut yesterday (yet another story, you will have to read her blog to get that one)) so I was really lucky V was with me for this adventure so that we had a way to pay.  And, for those of you with multiple pets, you know what that bill costs.

Sofie whined the whole way home so V was about to jump out the window. Now top it off with, when we got home we had a call from the vet telling us that the kittens have some parasite in their stool, so I guess it back there tomorrow to pick up yet more meds.  Thankfully Lulu is a wonderful dog and she is letting me do the ear cleaning and put medicine in it, but Stella! I am not sure I will have any hands left trying to get ear cleaner in her.

I forgot to rob a bank on the way to the vet, so I guess I will just have to dip into my daughter’s college fund.  But that’s what you get when you decide to run a zoo.  Just another DogDaz morning at my house. ❤

 
4 Comments

Posted by on February 12, 2012 in Cats, Dogs

 

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Thursday’s Canis Lupus Extraodinaire

Source: gfn

 
5 Comments

Posted by on February 9, 2012 in Animals

 

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2.8.12 5:01: Louise is an Otter

Happiness

Louise loves to have her head scratched.  Actually, she loves to have under neither her neck scratched so much that she bends her head back so far she looks like a otter. I don’t have any picture of her like that because I am always busy scratching her neck and am not that good with the camera in my other hand.  Lulu can be a very serious dog.  I think because she is a fearful dog, she thinks a lot about things before she does them. But she has a funny and fun side too, I just need to remember sometimes to pull it out of her.  You really need to understand the personality of your dog, especially when they are the quiet type, to get them to laugh and do silly things with you. Louise likes to make me laugh.  She will bury her head against me and do a total body tumble – then she will start to just get overly crazy and roll on her back.

Lulu in the leaves (being serious)

Lulu sitting and staring

She also loves to sit on her hunches and stare at you. She doesn’t need to be leaning on anything, she just sits  She is a big hugger and likes to put her arms around you and give you a hug, She is just the right height to place her head under my mousing hand and make it jump.  Of course this is a queque that she thinks I have sat at the idiot box for long enough and it is now time to go play with her and Sofie (well, really just her – sometimes I think she wishes I would leave Sofie inside – or sell her to the Gypsies).  I try to spend quality time with each of my animals (but with 7 it is kind of hard).  Louise and I have a very close relationship and I make sure to give her personal tummy rubs and tumbles and ball tosses every day.  She is a Mama’s girl and really sticks to me like glue.  I never thought about owning a black dog or a short hair (I always had fluffy dogs) and we weren’t looking for one when we stumbled upon a rescue event at the pet store that day, 2 years ago.  The coordinator of the event pushed this very fearful, mangy (yes, she really had dry manage all over) our way.  Sometimes you just have to listen to the universe, because boy do I love this dog!  Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo! ❤

 
4 Comments

Posted by on February 8, 2012 in Dogs

 

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Morning Exercise

 
1 Comment

Posted by on February 7, 2012 in Dogs

 

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Cowboy Corgi

dogsoftheinterwebs:

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Dogs

 

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Xylitol – Understand it or it could be fatal to your dog.

I am seeing so many article on this lately that I think it must be causing a real problem in the dog world.  Please make sure you keep all gum and sugar-free candy away from fido.

Reblogged from Life With Dogs: http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/02/xylitol-toxicity-in-dogs/

Xylitol is a sugar substitute in many products, most notable some sugar-free gums and flavored medications.  Xylitol is safe for people (and oddly, cats), but is very toxic to dogs (and probably ferrets).

If your dog has or may have ingested xylitol, call your veterinary team and have your pet examined right away.  Xylitol, even in small amounts, causes an over-production of insulin, which causes a horrendous sugar crash, or, more accurately, hypoglycemia.

hyp/o – low

glyc/o – sugar

-emia – blood

Signs of Hypoglycemia in Dogs

  • lethargy (abnormal tiredness)
  • shaking
  • ataxia (loss of balance)
  • inability to stand
  • seizures

Do not wait for signs to develop!  Insulin release and resulting hypoglycemia begin almost immediately.  Left unchecked, very low blood sugar or liver failure secondary to xylitol toxicity can be fatal.  With treatment, the prognosis is usually good.  The sooner a xylitol toxicity is treated, the better the prognosis.

Conclusion

You are home from the veterinary hospital with a recovering pet, considerably poorer, a bit shaken by the close call and anxious for the recheck appointment, still weeks away, in which you will hopefully learn that there was no long term liver damage.  You rid your home of all xylitol-containing products and warn friends and family of the dangers of xylitol toxicity in dogs.

Alternate Ending

You finish an article on xylitol toxicity and think, “Hmm, that was interesting…I guess.”  You rid your home of all xylitol-containing products and warn friends and family of the dangers of xylitol toxicity in dogs.

May your pets’ health be boring in the best possible ways, and may you never deal with xylitol toxicity in Real Life.

 
6 Comments

Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Dogs

 

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Monday’s Cruiser

You know it’s all because of you on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/16841361

 
1 Comment

Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Dogs

 

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