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2.8.12 5:01: Louise is an Otter

08 Feb

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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2.5.12 6:16: We love rawhide, is that OK?

05 Feb

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. ❤

 
10 Comments

Posted by on February 5, 2012 in Dogs

 

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2.2.12 5:54: Puppies!

02 Feb

hippiesandgypsies:

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 ❤

 
3 Comments

Posted by on February 2, 2012 in Dogs

 

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1.14.12 9:55: Are you a Dog Person?

14 Jan

If you have never shared your life with an animal or had any kind of personal relationship with one, then you just might not understand this post (sorry but you won’t).  And to make matters even trickier, if you are a cat person you don’t necessarily understand a dog person, and a dog person may never really get what another person sees in living with a ferret or a snake or an iguana. And then there are some of us who fall in love with a host of different animals. I wonder what makes some people attracted to one kind of pet vs another?  (I must admit that I am really not a Rat or reptile person (but I can accept the choice to have one)).

Louie

I always thought of myself as a DOG PERSON.  I did not grow up with cats.  I met some cats in the neighborhood but I don’t really remember having any significant relationships with one.  My sister says we had an outside cat for awhile, Ginger, but I have no recall.  The only resident cat I remember is my Aunt Harriet’s big fat mean cat that used to sit on her dining room table and swat at you if you got close. I used to bring kittens home all the time and sneak them into the basement, but ultimately my Dad would find them and ‘take them for a ride’ (I think he took them to the park and left them at the golf course for someone else to find.) So, I did not really know what cats were about. I had the stereotypical view that they didn’t need much from humans, were independent, and kinda mean and scratchy.

Ever since I was little we had a dog: Louis Pierre Andre the 14th of Edgewood (I guess 3 kids could not agree on one name).  Louie came to live with us when I was about 5 or 6.  We first had a dachshund, named Fraya, but she got hit by a car.  Then, if I remember the story at all, some friend of my sister’s owned a pizza parlor and had this French Poodle puppy that was making them crazy.  So, that is how we came upon living with a silver miniature poodle. My mother, being the 50’s NY housewife, made sure he was always well clipped and even had silver nail polish to match. Louie was the best dog for a kid.  He let me dress him up in little dresses and would tolerate anything I could throw at him.  He lived to be about 18 I think.  He passed when I was away at college.  I was definitely a dog person.

Eddie 1

So, how did I become a cross over?  Well, in college I knew that I could never care for a dog but I wanted furry companionship.  So the next best thing, I figured, was a cat.  First I adopted a little kitten from a guy named ‘Ed.’  She was black and white.  I named her ‘Eddie.’ Ed told me that all animals start out named, Ed, and then people gave them their forever names. I did not question that assumption.  My dorm allowed pets but my roommate was not happy.  And, I knew nothing about what a cat would need and ended up having to give her up at the end of the first semester when I went home and my, ‘we don’t do cats!’ parents, would not let her come home with me.  But, I was smitten with the cat bug and from then on I was both a CAT PERSON and a DOG PERSON.  I actually had many cats after that before I felt settled and responsible enough to have my own dog.

What about you?  How did you fall in love with your non-human companion?

Just another DogDaz morning at our house. ❤

 
16 Comments

Posted by on January 14, 2012 in Animals, Cats, Dogs

 

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