Operation: Send Lily On Vacation!

Hi everyone! This is Trixie! Long time, no blog! Mama has been so busy with her student teaching and her big project, she hasn't had time to help us. Usually when she comes home from student teaching, she just collapses and falls asleep... and on the weekend she just works on her project! :(
I do have some weird news! Gramma and Grampa are getting the floors in the house fixed. While the people are in the house fixing it, nobody is allowed to be in it. So, Gramma, Grampa and Mama have to go stay in a hotel for a few days! And Lily, Sammy-Joe and I also have to find places to stay. (We can't go to the hotel because we'd have to be alone in the hotel room all day while the humans are at work, and Gramma is afraid we'd either destroy the place, or the housekeeper would let us out by accident, or some other nonsense!)
I am lucky because a nice lady who works at my vet's office wants me to come stay with her for a few days! I will get to sleep at her house, and hang out with her on her days off. On the days that she works, I will get to go to the vet's office with her. Sweet deal, right?
Sammy-Joe, on the other hand, has to stay at the kennel at the vet. Luckily, he doesn't mind being in a cage too much. It reminds him of the cardboard boxes he loves to sleep in all the time at home. Mama will send him with his special blanket. She's going to sleep with the blanket a few nights ahead of time, so it will smell like her and he will be able to think about her while he's at the kennel!
Lily, on the other hand... well, Lily has special issues. She's never stayed anywhere except with Mama, or with Gramma and Grampa, in her life! Mama is afraid that if Lily stays at the kennel, she'll get really upset, and when they go to take her for a walk outside she might squiggle out of her collar and run away. Well, she really might! So Mama is sending her to a doggie hotel!
The difference between the kennel and the doggie hotel is that, at the doggie hotel, Lily will be able to play with other dogs all day long. She'll only have to be in a cage at night, and she'll be so tired she'll sleep the whole time! Also, instead of walking her outside by a busy street where she could get away, Lily will be going to the bathroom (and playing) in a fenced-in play area that is impossible to escape from! 
So... Lily doesn't know she's going to the doggie hotel yet. We're trying to break the news to her slowly. The operation has multiple steps.
Step 1: Lily had to go to the vet and get all her vaccinations updated! She had her rabies shot already, but the doggie hotel requires dogs to get bordatella and distemper vaccinations as well. Lily also got a complete physical exam. The vet says she's a little chubby, but otherwise in great health!


Step 2: Mama went to take a tour of the doggie hotel. She told them how nervous she was about leaving tiny little Lily and that she needs to know Lily will be in really good hands. The people there suggested Lily come in for a few days of day care, so she could get used to the place before she has to actually stay overnight there!


Step 3: Lily went to doggie day care for three hours. Yes, three big whopping hours! After that Mama  went into withdrawals and had to go pick Lily up! The people said Lily did really well and played with all the other dogs! They even snapped a few pictures of her! As you can see, Lily likes hanging out with the BIG dogs! 

I think that dog smiling in the background might be Lily's body guard!

Step 4: Next week, Lily will spend a full day at doggie day care while Mama is at student teaching. Mama will pick her up at the end of the day and she won't have to sleep there.


Step 5: Mama will drop Lily off at the doggie hotel, and not pick her up at the end of the day! Thats when I'll be with my friend from the vet's office, Sammy-Joe will be at the kennel, and the humans will be at the human hotel.


Friends, Mama is freaking out about this! She can't stand having to be away from all of us! She says she's going to cry all night long, every day. However, she also said she is kind of looking forward to going swimming at the hotel. At least if she's in the swimming pool, all her tears will wash away!  


I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

Wordless Wednesday: No More Blog, Mama! Take Break, Now!

Not Quite Smarty Sunday!

Hi everyone! Smarty Sunday is being postponed this week because Mama is busy working on a giant project for student teaching! She has to write a book! The book has to be all about activities that people can do with their little human kids to help them do better in preschool. She was typing typing typing all night long and didn't give Sammy-Joe any time to write his Smarty Sunday post!


Luckily, we do have something cool to show you. Mama took these pictures this morning. Want to see?

Can you tell what it is? Here, look closer!

They are little foot prints! 

They look kind of like Lily footprints. But they were made in the fresh snow, before us dogs got a chance to go outside in the morning. We had a secret visitor! 

It looks like the visitor walked in a big circle...

And then he (or she) tiptoed along this ledge...

And maybe the visitor slipped on the ice! 

What kind of visitor do you think we had? A dog? A cat? A raccoon? Maybe we should set up a hidden video camera so we can see them! 

We just wanted to show you that because we thought it was kind of mysterious. And now, we have to give the computer back to Mama so she can work some more on her book. We hope all of our friends are doing good!

Wordless Wednesday: Super Size Milkbone!

Rescue Pepe!

Hi everyone! Do you remember way back during Mayzie's Rescue Me Week when we wrote about the hoarder lady who used to work at a pet store and who had 50 dogs in her house? Almost Home Foundation found homes for most of those dogs, but there are still a few left. One of them is Pepe, an eleven pound chihuahua/terrier mix who is very sweet but can be very nervous around new people.

Pepe is another one of those chihuahuas who just doesn't trust people. This has been aggravated by the fact that he was raised by a hoarder, and did not get a lot of human contact. When he sees a hand coming towards him, he doesn't know what that hand is going to do to him, so he sometimes growls or tries to bite! But never after he's gotten to know and love a person. For instance, he knows and loves his foster parents, He will cuddle on their laps, play with them, and be a wild little guy around them! He loves to play fetch, and peek-a-boo. He is great at learning new tricks, and is very interested in getting some agility training if his new family would be willing to work with him! He is also usually fine with dogs who are his size and smaller, although he is afraid of larger dogs. 


One thing our Mama said she noticed, when volunteering at Almost Home Foundation's adoption days, is that many people who want to meet a small dog will walk up, and lean over the dog. This makes many smaller dogs, including Pepe, frightened! It can be frightening or intimidating to larger dogs as well. We thought we'd share a few tips for people who might be interested in meeting Pepe, or any other new dogs. 


Remember to always ask whoever is handling or walking the dog if it is okay to pet him. If it is okay, curl your fingers into a fist, and offer your fist to the dog to sniff. Don't shove your fist in the dog's face, but hold it far enough away so the dog can be the one to move his face over to you for a sniff. If he keeps on sniffing and seems happy, or if he pushes his head under your hand to ask you to pet him, you can! 

When you meet smaller dogs, if possible, it is a great idea to sit on the floor instead of standing over them. If you cannot sit down on the floor, ask the handler if they could pick the dog up so that the dog is at your level. Sitting or crouching on the floor can be the best way, though! If the dog seems nervous, it can help to avoid eye contact. With Pepe, our Mama has noticed that whenever she is sitting on the floor and talking to a human or playing with another dog, Pepe will walk up and put his paws on her or even climb into her lap! This may be because a person who is sitting down low, and who is not looking at him, can be the least intimidating person to a nervous dog. Once the dog has gotten a good sniff of you, he'll probably be more willing to be petted! Pepe is not as nervous as, say, Bermuda, and he will almost always become friendly within a minute or two of being petted.

Here are some things not to do when meeting a dog, especially a nervous dog. Do NOT lean or bend over the dog. Do NOT put your face right up to the dog's face unless you don't mind getting bitten in the nose. (Of course once the dog is yours, it may feel natural to put your face close to his and give him kisses, and once he knows you well he probably won't mind! But don't do it to a strange dog!) Do NOT run up to a dog or approach him in a quick, startling way. Do NOT walk up to a dog you don't know and start petting him, without giving him a minute to get to know you! (This may have worked out fine for you with a few dogs in the past, but you don't ever know which dog is going to be the nervous one who will think you're trying to hurt him!) And NEVER pick up a smaller dog that you don't know. Ask first. Some dogs will let anyone pick them up. Other dogs will be frightened by this gesture. 


Finally, the quickest short cut to a nervous dog's heart? Treats! Many nervous dogs will get over their stranger anxiety if you have something delicious to share with them!


If you live in the Chicago area and feel like you'd enjoy having Pepe in your family, please email plutollf@aol.com  for more info. We know you're going to love him! 

Smarty Sunday: Winter Safety For Pets

Hi, everyone! Its me, Sammy-Joe, here with another super smart episode of Smarty Sunday! I can't believe its been a week already!
The other day it snowed here in Chicago, where we live. It may have snowed where you live to! Do you pets know how to keep yourselves safe during the winter? I thought I'd talk about this today, now that it is officially winter! Let me share them with you.


1. Dogs and cats...  You may love to play outside in the snow! But watch the weather, and trust your humans to use their best judgement about how long you should stay out. If it is so cold that your human doesn't want to stay out for very long, then you probably shouldn't stay out very long either. I know sometimes we don't notice the cold until it is too late! If it is below freezing, especially, just go outside long enough to do your potty business and then hurry back in. Some pets might like to wear coats to help keep them warm. But if you do wear a coat, ask your human to supervise you just in case you get caught on something! 


2. Your humans have probably heard that they should not leave you alone in a hot car in the summer. But do they know that the same goes for a cold car in winter? The car can act as a refrigerator, making it even colder inside there than it is outside. If you are left alone, you could get hypothermia. Please make sure your parents know this! 


3. If you do go outside on a snowy day, make sure you are wearing your collar with your ID tag at all times. If you go for a walk, ask your parents to keep you on your leash. Why? The snow can mess up the scents that we are used to. If we wander off and get lost, we might not be able to find our way back home using our trusty noses. If we are wearing our collars with ID tags, we have a better chance of getting a helpful human to take us home.


4. Cats... if you are allowed to roam free outdoors, do not climb into the hood of a car to stay warm. It is a bad idea! The human may not know you are there, and if he starts the car, you could be seriously injured or even killed. If you, or other cats in your neighborhood, do roam free, ask your humans to bang on the hood of their car before they start it up in the morning. This will scare away any cats that might be curled up underneath. 


5. When you come in from playing outside, do not lick your fur until your parents have dried you off! I know you probably have snow and ice on your fur and you want to clean yourself off. But the snow and ice could have salt, antifreeze, and other chemicals in it, and that could make you sick! So tell your humans to dry you off  with a towel as soon as you come in. Don't try to do the job yourself with your tongue. Have them dry your feet off well, too.


6. What if you do get lost, or sneak out, and end up being outside in the cold longer than your parents wanted you to be? You should know the signs of hypothermia and frostbite, and share them with your parents. If you can't stop shivering even after you get in, if your fur looks all puffed up or is standing on end, and if you seem disoriented or lethargic, you could have hypothermia. If your skin turns bright red, pale, or black, you could have frostbite. If either of these things happen, your parents need to get you to the vet! 


7. Remember, antifreeze is poison! If you see something blue on your driveway, do not lick it! In fact, tell your humans to clean up any antifreeze spills right away, just in case you forget that its poison. 


8. Do your humans use a space heater in areas of the house that are cold? Remind them that you need to be supervised whenever the space heater is on. They shouldn't leave it running when they are not in the room. You might chew the cord, or knock it over while you are running around playing, or jump on top of it if you are a cat. I know none of you would do any of these things because you are perfect angels. But still. Also, even just rubbing against the space heater could be dangerous, if the heater is too hot. Be careful with those things!


9. If you live near a body of water, be careful. You might notice that the water turns to ice, and you might feel like you can walk across it. But the ice could break, and you could fall into the cold, cold, cold water! This has happened to other dogs and cats before. So please stay away from bodies of water unless your parents are absolutely sure that the ice is thick enough for ice skating. To be sure, please remind your parents again to supervise you when you are outside, and keep you on a leash during walks. 


Maybe I made it seem like winter is terribly dangerous for pets! But winter can still be a lot of fun. Just be careful, and make sure you stay warm enough and are supervised, and you'll have an awesome winter!

Thanks for reading Smarty Sunday, everyone! I hope you feel smarter! 

Mama Keeps Leaving!

Hi everyone! We've actually been doing pretty good at our promise to write at least two posts a week... but those posts are usually Smarty Sunday, Rescue Me day, and Wordless Wednesday! The reason for this is kinda good news and kinda bad news.
The good news is... Mama started student teaching! She will be student teaching for five weeks at a preschool program for at-risk kids, and then for ten weeks at another school. She really loves it! She thinks the kids are so little and cute, and the days go by really fast for her. That is also why it is hard for us to keep up with posts... by the time she gets home, Mama is too exhausted to type!
The bad news is... Mama started student teaching! Yeah, we know we said that was good news. It is good news for Mama, but bad news for us! We miss when she used to stay home with us for most of the day! She used to snuggle in bed with us until almost lunch time,  take us out several times a day to play, share breakfast and lunch with us, and talk to us all day. Sometimes she would go to school or work for a few hours, and then come home. 
Now she has to be gone seven hours a day! She gets up early, takes a shower, takes us out to play, shares her breakfast with us, and then leaves. We are always so sad when she leaves. 
Here is a picture of the doggies among us, missing Mama.

Mama says she misses us too when she's gone. She says she thinks about us all day. She says! But who does she share her lunch with now, we'd like to know?