Sunday, August 26, 2012

What a Weekend!

As the title states, this weekend was definitely a busy one. My husband and I took some time to travel to Memphis for a Sugarland concert on Friday (one of the few vacations I've had in a while) and we decided to leave the fur babies with the boarding facility My Second Home (http://www.mysecondhome.com). The facility is absolutely gorgeous inside, with caring staff that truly want the best for your fur baby (cat or dog.) When we dropped the pups off at 7:30 AM on Friday, our little diva queen, Harlie, was so upset. She hates feeling like she's missing out on anything we do, and that's in part because everywhere we have travelled, 90% of the time the dogs took the journey with us.

We arrived back home in Nashville Saturday evening and were unable to pick up the dogs until Sunday morning, so it was eerily quiet throughout the night. No dogs barking, jumping on the bed, panting in our faces trying to make sure we were up and ready to go at 4:45 AM each day. While the break was a nice one, I'm glad to have my fur babies back with me. I can't stand being separated from them for too long.

Where we live, a lot of our neighbors have cats. Now, I love cats (I love all animals), but I do get frustrated with some of the neighbors because they feel it's their "right" to let their cat wander the neighborhood. That is the neighbor's perogative, but please if you have outdoor pets, be sure to keep plenty of water and food out for your pet. It's too hot to "forget" to leave water outside, as one of my neighbor's once told me (to which I proceeded to fill a bowl with ice water for the cat, who appeared to be incredibly happy with me after that.)

Well, Millie loves cats too. Almost too much. She jumped out of the backseat of the car and took off to see Jackson, our neighbor's orange tabby. Jackson doesn't care for Millie much, but on occasion he will tolerate her presence. Today was not one of those occasions. I had to chase Millie around Jackson's house to try to get a good grip on her leash, with poor Jackson hissing and meowing from the top of his fence. Once again I see that there is no water anywhere, and I know my neighbor does not have a "kitty door."

Moral of today's story is twofold: first, if you have pets outdoors, PLEASE provide at least water; second, if you have a fur baby that is very excited to be home, please don't be like me and think she isn't as fast as you. She is. And she will run.

Thank you, Millie, for my daily exercise. It is good to have you and Harlie both home!

As promised, here is a photo of Millie. This was taken not 5 minutes after she had her bath. She loves water, but she was still skeptical and giving me that "I can't believe you bathed me" look.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

A walk in the park

Where I live, there is a neighborhood dog park. I'm not saying it's the cat's meow, but it suffices when the weather is beautiful and the fur babies want more than just your typical walk. Of course, along with this park comes a variety of little fuzzy creatures that make this park home, specifically - moles and rabbits, with an occasional squirrel.

While taking Millie and Harlie on their morning turn around the block, we encountered a few squirrels, which of course signaled trouble for my shoulders (Millie once dislocated a shoulder - thankfully, not mine) and I'm too stubborn or soft-hearted to use the gentle leader.

But I digress. While on this walk, Harlie has decided that a trip to the park is in order. After all, there might be a rabbit munching on breakfast! Let me note here that when Harlie wants to go somewhere you go. Period. End of story. If you don't go in the direction that she wants to go, she will lay down in the grass, on the sidewalk, or in the middle of the street. Harlie is also known to stretch her front paws out in just the right position so that if you keep pulling on the leash to get her to stand up, the harness comes right off and she is free to run wherever her heart desires.

This morning, my husband was with  me since he works nights at Wild Ginger. So all four of us somehow make it safely to the park. And that's where the fun begins. My husband runs around like a crazy man waving his arms while the dogs try to chase him and each other. I have a video and if I can figure out how to post it, I will let the world see how silly a person can be with their dogs.

Millie tries to dig at the various mole holes around the park and completely zones out, refusing to listen to either myself or my husband, which is unusual since she always listens to my husband. Me? not so much. Like I said, I'm too soft-hearted and she knows that the most discipline she will receive from me is a few seconds of a stern glance. Harlie is running around in circles picking up what had to have been her own personal best speed before immediately stopping and throwing herself on the ground to eat some dirt. Why she eats the dirt I have yet to figure out. I'd like to think she's hunting for bugs and that's what she finds attractive because it's dirt. It has no taste (that I know of) and the very thought of ingesting it myself is disgusting. But Harlie is a dog and maybe dirt is like the piece de resistance of the week. Who knows. Have any of you readers out there experienced this with your own pets? What are your theories?

And now, here I sit at home with two very exhausted sleeping pooches. The husband is wandering around here somewhere and I'm taking a few moments of "me" time. At least the laundry is done, and put away - I don't need any repeats from yesterday.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Day One: We're Live!

After several months of careful consideration (and more than enough sometimes annoying "encouragement" from my husband) I have decided to go live with my pet services company, the Paw Brigade. Based in West Nashville, TN, for the time being I plan to cover other areas of Davidson county as well as the surrounding counties of Williamson and Cheatham.

It wasn't just my husband's persistant nature, but every time I took Millie and Harlie (my two furry babies) out for one of their (many) daily walks, I was reminded of my passion for animals. Harlie is the diva of the family, and Millie just kind of tags along like a little sister would, and gets into any trouble she can find. These posts will focus more on their antics (think John Grogan in Marley and Me) during our daily lives. That's Harlie in the photo. I hope to post some photos of Millie in the near future.

Take today for example. I believe I spent a full 20 minutes chasing Millie around the house because she decided that dirty laundry apparently tasted yummy compared to her new rawhide. Harlie is too "stuck up" to even think of taking laundry out of the basket, let alone dirty laundry. I guess it's true that dogs are like toddlers, and they get into EVERYTHING. But a lab? Labs can get into crevices and stir trouble up where you would least expect it as an owner. Millie once decided to chow down on a roll of Reynold's Wrap instead of her dinner (we feed them Acana Wild Prairie.) $500.00 later for tests and a very expensive mix of hydrogen peroxide and water, both my husband and I have learned that before we leave the house, everything that is within Millie's reach must be placed higher. Oh the things that dog can get into :). Thank goodness for pet insurance.

I only ask that while on this journey of blogging and walking, if you leave a comment, be courteous. Rude comments will be deleted and reported. I'm willing to listen to all advice from other pet owners out there, and hope to hear some crazy pet stories yourself. And of course, if you're one of my clients, I'd love to hear from you. My clients are like my family.