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Tag Archives: Dogs
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! ❤
Monday’s Cruiser
You know it’s all because of you on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/16841361
2.5.12 6:16: We love rawhide, is that OK?
Lulu & Bone
I have been told that beef rawhide is not good for dogs. But they love it! Also,I have not found anything that keeps them as entertained and happy as a nice new rawhide bone. I try to limit the size and the consumption of them to once a week so that it does not build up in their stomachs (or whatever that is about). I also try to find bones that are ‘Made in USA,’ because I heard they are better than China or Mexico beef hide, but they are not easy to find around here. I admit that I get the best I can when I can but it is not always perfect. For some reason, my dogs don’t really like old rawhide. It needs to be fresh out of the package. The old stuff (the ends or the chunks I take away for another day) does not seem to hold the same intense enjoyment. Basically, the don’t even take it from me when offered (Pooh, give us something good!)
Bone & Sofie
Let me ask your advice:
- Should dogs have beef raw hide bones?
- If so, how often? Does it matter?
- Can it really hurt them inside?
- What’s a good alternative that you have found?
I love my dogs and would never ever ever want to hurt them, sometimes I just feel dumb when it comes to food choices and toys. Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo. ❤
2.3.12 6:01: How long is a dog day?
Sofie waiting on the step
Sofie keeps an eye on the front door waiting for me to come home. She likes to watch the world go by from this vantage points (and she has also figured out that it is an effective blocking strategy so that the cats can not get up the stairs). I think it is interesting how dogs react when their humans return whether from a 20 minute trip to the grocery store or a 5 day trip out of town. My dogs greet me with great joy and the feeling that I am the most important human in the world. Sometimes I wonder how dogs perceive time. They appear to have a rhythm to the moon cycles but do they perceive time as the period between sleep? Is a day maybe one feeding to the next? If a human has gone away is the day over when the human returns (no matter what the length)? How long is a dog day? Just another DogDaz morning back home with my zoo ❤
2.2.12 5:54: Puppies!
Nikkolette (look alike from the internet)
Still traveling, so today I thought I would focus on my puppies. Baby animals are sooooo cute. Sometimes I wish they would stay little forever.
Nikkolette (aka Nikki), my buff Cocker Spaniel, was 8 weeks old when she came to live with me. She was the first dog I ever got on my own and the youngest puppy I ever had. That was a real experience. I learned a lot about dog care and about getting up in the middle of night (I recommend you think twice when you live on the second floor of an apartment building and have to take a puppy out to pee several times a night). I remember in the middle of one cold New England night, carrying her down the indoor stairs (I think there were about 20 steps to my apartment) and falling down most of them with the puppy in my arms. Not a scratch on her, but boy did I hurt in the morning. Ah, puppies. Nikki was an easy going and sweet dog. Except for the time that the cats (Alice and Gertrude were kittens then) knocked a plate of brownies off the counter for Nikki to enjoy (and proceed to get sick all over the house) while I was out. In general with Nikki there was very little puppy damage. She shared her life with me until she was 18 years old.
Puppy Lulu
Louise (aka Lulu Belle) was about 5 or 6 months old when she came to me. I still had to potty train her but she was a fast learner. She was mistreated in her early days (she had a flea collar embedded in her neck, was covered with dry mange, and was afraid of everything when she was rescued) but she was the cutest thing, It did not take her long to learn that she was safe here and no one was ever going to mistreat her again. Louise is a really smart dog and I enjoy watching her figure out things. Her puppy time went quickly and I only lost my favorite boots and a 12 roll case of toilet tissue to her puppiness. Lulu is 2 1/2 years old now, but in many ways, she still has a lot of puppy in her.
The current puppy, Sofie Bear, turned 1 in November. We rescued her at about 12 or 14 weeks. I always wonder why a puppy ends up in a kill shelter, but I guess we will never know. From the way that Sofie acts, I think she may have run wild until she was brought into the shelter. If it was up to her she would still run wild today. Sofie is the most strong willed little bit that has ever come my way. She loves to carry around my slippers when ever she can and has a real affinity to chewing on things she shouldn’t.
Sofie Day 1
Ah! Puppies…..
Just another DogDaz morning from the road ❤
2.1.12 5:41: Wiiiiiiiii
Since I am on the road and can’t see what is going on at the zoo, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane, hope you don’t mind. So I went through my pictures and I came upon this one of Squash helping me exercise. You see, I bought the kids a Nintendo Wii video game machine for Xmas a few years back. Figuring they should not be the only ones to have fun, I asked for a Wii Fit for my birthday. The Wii Fit is an exercise game that uses a balance board.
Squash helping with Wii Fit
So I get on this little white board and hold the game controller in my hand and try to do the exercises it tells me to. As you can see in the picture, Squash figured he would help. The only problem is that the devices weighs you as it goes. Maybe that is why I carried an extra 50 lbs. for years?
I don’t know what happens in your zoo, but every time I try to get on the floor to do exercise, I end up with multiple animals thinking that it is just a lot of fun to jump on the human. Truthfully, I am not someone who likes to exercise, so my zoo makes it really easy for me to find an excuse to do something else (not that I need much of an excuse), LOL – Just another DogDaz morning from the road ❤
P.S. All my business colleges are down at the hotel gym working out and I am here typing to you. At least my fingers get a good workout,
