Cute Cat of the Day

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times. Cuteoverload.com is one of the best websites on the internets. The animal-speak commentary just adds to the cuteness of all of the photos of adorable animals on the site.

Today’s cuteoverload.com pic of the day:

This cat’s face just cracks me up! Check out the site for more great animal photos!

Life Lesson #2,415

Enjoy the little things…

Annie Enjoys a Little Winter Sunshine ©But You Eat Chicken, Right?

Obama Dog!

Do you ever get online intending to do one thing and end up totally sidetracked by another? I was doing a google search for news stories on the Obama family dog-to-be, and I stumbled on the best website I have ever seen.  Seriously. I just can’t believe that I didn’t see it (or its star, Lilli!) before the election!

Lilly is adorable. I love how boxers all have similar personalities and traits. I bet Lilly’s owner was blowing gently on her face. That always makes boxers lick their chops!
Go to www.obamadog.com and check it out.

There is an entire page of photos and one of videos. It is amazing how many costumes Lilly has. She must like to dress up!

I can’t get over how much she looks like Bill! He definitely would have approved.

The Diaries of a Dog and a Cat

My sister sent this to me. It is so funny that I just had to re-post it here.

Enjoy!

A Dog’s Diary

• 8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
• 9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
• 9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
• 10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
• 12:00 PM – Lunch! My favorite thing!
• 1:00 PM – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
• 3:00 PM – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
• 5:00 PM – Milk bones! My favorite thing!
• 7:00 PM – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
• 8:00PM – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
• 11:00 PM – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

A Cat’s Diary

• Day 983 of my captivity.
• My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
• They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.
• In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
• Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a ‘good little hunter’ I am.
• There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of ‘allergies.’ I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
• Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow — but at the top of the stairs.
• I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.
• The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

Snow Day!

Annie loves to go outside. She would stay outside all day if we would let her. Her life’s work revolves around walking the fence line, barking at the UPS truck, and getting herself as muddy as possible before coming back in the house.

When I tell her it is time to go outside, she runs to the back door at full speed.  I usually have to hold her back to get the door open, but she doesn’t go far. As soon as she runs out onto the deck, she stops cold and swings around, waiting for her big brother.

You coming?

This just recently started. Sometimes, when it’s time to go out first thing in the morning, Pub doesn’t want to get out of bed yet. She refuses to leave the deck without him. It’s the most adorable quirk. 

The fence has really been wonderful. Pub just turned 10, so he usually likes to go out, do his business, and come back in to sleep on the bed, but just like a little kid, there is something about a snow day that makes him a little friskier, happier, and more energetic. He is no spring chicken, but he can still hold his own when he’s running around the yard with his little sister. He’ll humor her, chase her around for a while, and then he does his own thing. He walks around, sniffs, chews on a toy, and enjoys the time outside.

Snow Angel

 

A few years ago, we got about a foot of snow. It was so cold that the top layer of snow was frozen, and Pub and Bill would walk on the snow, not  in it. While we are not expecting any really big snowfall amounts this week, I am glad the dogs will have a few inches to enjoy.

Lately, I have been worried that Pub might be feeling left out. Annie always finds a way to weasel her way onto my lap, into a snuggle, or into the closest spot to me in the bed. It seems like I am always trying to hold them, pet them, snuggle them, and feed them both at exactly the same time. But when I see how much she loves her big brother, I realize that she isn’t trying to push him out when she noses her way in, she is just trying to share with him.

 

I have the best dogs.

Adorable Photo of the Day.

It’s been a while since I have caught up on the amazing photos at one of my favorite websites, Cute Overload. It was hard to choose just one photo to post!

Confessions of An Apple Addict.

As it goes every summer, our apple tree is heavy with fruit. I can barely begin to come up with enough recipes to use all of the fruit. It’s like I’m channeling Bubba – Applesauce, apple pie, apple butter, apple crisp…

As I was picking the apples from the lower branches the other day, Pub picked up one of the fallen fruits.

He bit into the sweet apple, ate all of the fruit, and started rooting for more. It was like he couldn’t get enough.

I started tossing the apples across the yard for him to chase, and he loved it. When I walked away to go do something else, he barked and barked at the tree, apparently hoping to irritate it into dropping some more apples. He loves to be outside and lie in the grass, and soon, he will have a much larger area to play in. You can see the fence in progress behind Pub in the third photo. We can’t wait until that is finished! I’ll post more on that later.

Between my apple recipes, Pub, and the deer that sneak in for a snack every night, I’m just hoping that the apple tree will be able to keep up with the demand.

Trouble in Doggie Paradise

Everything had been going along so wonderfully. The two dogs were playing, sitting on the ottoman together, etc. Well, the Snausages hit the fan.

Admittedly, the fight was my fault. I wasn’t even thinking about the fact that Annie is new here when I put the bowl of food down between the two dogs. Well, within seconds, somebody touched somebody’s snout, and it was a full on dog fight. Annie, who is about ten pounds bigger than Pub, pinned him on the floor. I screamed and yelled (cries to which nobody came running, by the way – good thing I wasn’t being mugged), and finally was able to pry her off of him.

My husband walked into the room just as I was opening the basement door to send Annie downstairs. He took her down to her crate, and I ran over to check on Pub, who was shaking like a little leaf. With Bill, he was always the dominant dog. Clearly, that is no longer the case. Within a few seconds, we noticed blood on the floor and on my hands. Pub had a tear in the skin of his neck, and it looked bad. I called the vet and he told me to bring him immediately.

I had to leave him for a few hours while he was sedated and stapled. The end result is a sweet, terrified dog with five staples in his neck. He is taking pain medication and an antibiotic. We left Annie in the crate all night, except to go outside, and we put food and water in the crate and made sure she knew she was on the bad dog list.

I was really shaken up by the whole incident. The vet was shocked. He met Annie last week for a check-up, and he thinks that rather than aggression, it was just a typical, run-of-the-mill dog fight for dominance over food. I tend to think he is correct, but I am still nervous. He told me that I must establish dominance, and fast. I have never been good at that, and frankly, I am not sure I know how to do it. I don’t want this to happen ever again.

Annie is back upstairs now, and she is lying at my feet while Pub sleeps on the couch next to me. They have interacted, but I have been trying to keep things as calm as possible. They seem fine together now, but I am so scared that it will happen again. The food is put away, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Any advice would be wonderful. I have never had to show dominance or train a dog to respect me as the pack leader. Also,I don’t spank or use shock collars, so that won’t work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

What Do You Know? Annie is in Heat.

As I mentioned in my last post, the vet said that he thought that Annie might go into heat anytime, and that we should spay her. You can read Annie’s story here and here. Naturally, I wanted to mention it to my husband before I sent her to surgery, so I told him I would call back in the next day or two. As my luck would have it, she started bleeding the next morning. I have never had a female dog or been around one in heat, so I thought we could still spay her while she was bleeding. Wrong. The vet said it was very risky to do the operation while she was bleeding, so we have to wait it out. I am not at all shocked that I would be the person to temporarily adopt a stray dog and have her go into heat. Story of my life.

I went to look for doggie diapers, but the prices were ridiculous, so I decided to buy real diapers and cut a hole for her tail. That didn’t work either. Being the creative one in the house, I decided to take an old pair of my husband’s briefs, stick a pantyliner in them, and tie them on. It’s been working quite well, as a matter of fact. I guess that English degree is good for something.
I really don’t know how long the cycle lasts in a dog, but I hope it is short. Considering she is still potty-training,  the panty/diaper thing is kind of a hassle.

Also, we have no prospects on a new home for her, so it looks like she will be staying with us indefinitely. She and Pub are getting along quite well now–even playing chase. I am happy to see he isn’t jealous of her anymore.

We’ll see what happens. At any rate, she will be getting spayed as soon as it is safe to do so.

Here’s a photo of Annie in her Panties:

Update on Annie

Well, today is day four. Annie did great in the crate downstairs, but we decided that yesterday was the day to get her ready to introduce to everyone else in the house.

The first step was the cat test. We took one of the cats to the basement to meet her on Monday night. She was on a leash, and she did great. She was curious and wanted to play, but when she realized that Linus wasn’t interested, she found something else to amuse herself.

Step two, probably the most important step, was to clean her up. I put her in my next door neighbor’s basement shower, and disaster ensued as her hair clogged the drain, the water rose, and I ended up just as wet and soapy as she did. But it was worth it, because now she is soft, fluffy, and smells like Mandarin oranges. Meanwhile, I just ended up smelling like a wet dog. After we came back home, I put her in her crate with her dinner so she could air dry and relax.

A few hours later, we brought her upstairs to meet Pub. He is very tempermental, and I was concerned about how he would react to her. They sniffed each other (well, he sniffed her butt and he went ballistic when she returned the favor), and she tried to play with him, but he wasn’t interested. In fact, he’s still not interested. He has been avoiding her at all costs, and he is seriously angry about the situation. When she gets too close, his lips pull back in a smile and he groans. We’ll see.

Within a half an hour, we were alerted to the fact that she is in no way potty trained. We decided that she should spend nights in the crate downstairs (and when we aren’t home). I think she is catching on quickly, because she whimpered at the door last night to go out. She didn’t quite make it, but she did try. She’ll learn.

Today was our trip to the vet. She weighs 43 pounds, and she is about one year old. She was given a rabies shot, which she didn’t seem to mind at all. The bad news is that she is not spayed, and she is ready to go into heat. The vet said it could be tomorrow or it could be three months, but I don’t want her bleeding out in my house, so we are going to put a rush order on the operation.

She is an absolutely wonderful dog. She is gentle, sweet, affectionate, and eager to please. She doesn’t jump and she isn’t overbearing; still, we are trying to find her another home. We are still hoping that my mother-in-law takes her. They would be wonderful companions for each other, I have no doubt. No matter what, she will live here until we find a suitable home.

For now, she’s all spiffed up with a shampoo, new collar, and shiny rabies tag. Annie is living the good life.