I love to dress up my dogs. There I said it, does that make me some kind of weirdo? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking leather lingerie, just little tee-shirts, maybe a hoodie now and then. Or a sundress.
I wasn’t always a dog-dresser. It started when my little three pound pommie Kibble, developed Alopecia at about five years of age. Though her head and legs were still fully fluffed, she lost most of her fur on her back and chest and her little tail was completely bald! The clothes began innocently enough, a little preemie sized tee-shirt to keep her poor little bald back covered when we went outside, then it progressed to tiny jackets and hoodies…hats and scarves, soon she had an entire wardrobe and was better dressed than me!
Kibble passed away two years ago come August. I saved all her little clothes, they are folded in a drawer in my dresser. I can’t bear to reuse them. However, I have purchased several sweaters and coats for Weenie, who is always cold. And I can’t seem to resist dressing Twinkie in costumes…
Though only four pounds, Twinkie fancies herself a watchdog. Which is reassuring I guess, but unnecessary. Our house would be like running a gauntlet for any burglar. First they would have to get past Ginger, who likes to sleep right beside the front door, most likely he would trip over her and break a leg. In the meantime the other three dogs would be putting out enough barkage to wake the entire neighborhood.
BUT, if a burglar did somehow get past the downstairs dogs, I suppose it’s comforting to know that Twinkie is on the job. She takes her guard duty so seriously it even extends to inanimate objects. Yesterday my husband and I moved a HUGE antique bookcase upstairs. It was truly terrifying, picture those scenes you see in movies where a New York Moving Company is lifting a grand piano up to a third floor townhouse window…It was that tense.
Our stairway goes up a few steps, hits a landing and makes a sharp right turn, there is a window on the south side, gorgeous and fragile turned oak spindles on the east and a lovely and thus-far, undinged plaster wall on the west side. We had less than an inch to maneuver the thing and I still can’t believe we got it up there without damaging anything.
But I’ve wandered from my point. The bookcase now sits in the anteroom off our bedroom, which serves as a small library, and it’s driving Twinkie nuts! Every time she walks past the looming bookcase startles her and she has to stop and give it hell. I really hope she grows accustomed to it soon. I can’t even imagine getting it back downstairs…
My dogs are nosy so it makes them crazy when they hear noises coming from the other side of the fence and they can’t see what’s going on! A number of times, I have found Wishbone with her face pressed completely flat against the fence trying to peek between the cracks….she looks hilarious when she does this, reminds me of Snoopy doing his imitation of a vulture.
I saw a product on a website today that I think our dogs would love! It’s called The PetPeek™ window. It’s basically a clear acrylic dome which you install into your fence, giving your dogs a safe and secure, goldfish-eye look at the world beyond the yard. The Pet Peek measures 9.5 inches around, and is deep enough to accommodate even a snout like Weenie’s.
It’s official! Beans is the biggest loser! I recently put her on a low calorie diet and cut back her treats and today I weighed her, she’s lost two pounds! Yeahhhh Beans!!!!!
However, I still can’t see her waist, so we have a ways to go. I have been perusing websites, with the idea of finding interesting toys and low-cal treats to help Beanie regain her girlish figure, but I keep getting side-tracked and finding things for me.
I love to shop online. Being out in the sticks, it’s pretty much the only way I can find unusual items! You can get some great deals online and discounts too, like Overstock coupons for places you like to shop. I can no longer imagine a world without online shopping…
Weenie has been going to work with me every day and performing the “pet” part of our pet therapy. The Alzheimer’s residents simply adore her! She is quiet, good-natured and seems to have a knack for always knowing who needs some comforting. She also visits with the non-Alzheimer’s residents and they adore her as well. She’s quite the little star!
It’s been cold all this week and she’s had to wear her little red coat with the fake fur trim and everyone in the facility gets a chuckle out of seeing her humping down the hallways in her hoodie jacket. And Weenie is an extremely hard worker, she spends almost her entire day in resident’s laps or their recliners–which reminds me, I need to show my husband the website for the zero gravity recliner…Some of the resident’s could really benefit from such a chair.
Right after we remodeled our kitchen and purchased a new brushed stainless steel stove and refrigerator, we began pricing stainless steel coffee makers, toasters, cannisters and microwave ovens. It’s taken a couple of years but we now have most of the items on our list. The only thing missing is a stainless steel pet treat jar.
Today I found this premium brushed Stainless Steel Dog Treat Canister! This stylish treat jar has an embossed pawprint on the front and a silicon ring inside the lid for maximum treat freshness! It’s exactly what I had in mind!
Remember the adorable bobble-head dog auto accessories? My grandparents had one in the back window of their Ford and I played with it so often I nearly discombobulated him.
These doggie bobble-heads look a lot like the ones from my childhood too, molded plastic covered with fuzzy flock. The dog bobble-heads also come in several breeds, Husky, Dalmatian, Retriever, Beagle, Chihuahua, Poodle and Bull Terrier to name a few.
Oh the pups are SO excited, little Kizzy came home for the weekend! There was much joyous barking, leaping and butt sniffing! (By the dogs, not me) Kizzy was a little flummoxed by the new dog door, but she had it mastered in minutes. We replaced the dog door last week because the old one was letting in too much cold air and Ginger was just a little tall for it, she had to stoop every time she came in or out.
Today is our anniversary, we’ve been married 28 years! We’re going out to eat, but we haven’t decided where, maybe Italian or Mexican, but we love Chinese too. We also adore seafood and steaks…Actually I can’t think of many foods we don’t both love. Our mamas didn’t raise any picky eaters. We may see a movie, too. Or not. The last time we went to the movies, it was really loud, and later that evening I got a migraine, though I don’t know if the noise had anything to do with it. I seem to get them pretty regularly and usually for no apparent reason, but I definitely don’t want one on our anniversary!
Do you vaccinate your dogs yearly? Have you spayed or neutered them? Do you keep your best friend on heartworm medication? Protect him from ticks and fleas?
As a pet owner, I realize that these medications, procedures and vaccinations can run into big bucks, especially if you are a multiple dog family, but the cost of prevention is nothing compared to the time, worry and suffering, as well as the cost of drug treatment associated with treating diseases like Parvo, Lyme disease and conditions such as heartworms.
With pets, as with anything, the old adage remains true; An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Beans is getting too fat. She’s getting older and less active and now that’s it’s cold out, she’s really packing on the weight–she’s gained eight pounds in two months! We recently put her on a diet which she hates, really hates. She stands there giving her low-fat food contemptuous looks, all the while hopping from foot to foot, as if she’s waiting for the real food to be brought out. We’ve also cut back her treats. Cutting back treats was particularly difficult because we have five dogs and we couldn’t give everyone but Beans a treat–she’d be heart-broken. So we began giving her smaller treats, which she notices. I know she notices. She looks right at me, then at the other dog’s treats as if to say…”MOM! Her treat is bigger than mine!” Which makes me feel terrible–it’s not like I can explain that it’s for her own good…
It doesn’t help that poor Beans is totally focussed on food 24-7. It’s like she has an addiction! Like I used to be with cigarettes! But while you can find addiction treatment for humans, poor Beans has to tough it out. The only thing that has helped satisfy her are rawhide chews, which she quickly devours, so I’m not really sure they are all that helpful. I guess I should be grateful that Beans can’t open the fridge.
