International Bacon Day!

Sammy at http://onespoiledcat.wordpress.com says today is International Bacon Day. So to celebrate, the pups got a special treat of bacon! [The blog post is late because we had BLTs for lunch today].

Happy International Bacon Day!

Phod: "I'm good can I have it?"

MMMMM bacon

I am ready for it

Bacon fall into my mouth! 

BACON! 

Wednesday is a special day here . . . . stay tuned for more details!

Feline Friday - Nin's results

I had a video of Nin to share this morning, but for some reason it won't email from my phone to my computer, so I will share it another day.

As you may remember, Nin and I went to the vet on Saturday for his blood work. Dr. Woody called on Wednesday with the results. Nin's thyroid is ok. What isn't looking great is his kidney functioning. He is already on the low protein diet as Baggy went on it about 2 years ago. Our next step is to get a urine sample from him . . . that will be fun. This will tell us more about what his kidneys are doing.

The reality may be, that Nin is just old. He is 18 and his body may have almost had enough. . We will take measures to keep him comfortable (which at the moment he is), but we are not going to do any "crazy" life saving measures. For now we will just love him, even if he wants to sing at the top of his lungs at 5:30 am!

Training Thursday - The stupidest trick ever by Lee

For the most part I can put up with Lady's training. She is really good at reinforcing my behaviours (meaning she gives a lot of treats). She keeps saying she needs to thin the schedule of reinforcement, I say, if you do that, I won't do the tricks and when she tries I show her. Sometimes I wonder who is shaping whose's behaviour.

Anyhow, she has been working hard again at my waiting for food. I think this is stupid and this is why . . . have you ever seen someone put food in front of her and say wait? No. She gets to just eat if she wants to eat. She says if she is out she needs to wait for everyone, but I don't believe her. People eat when they want to eat . . . so this is a stupid trick.

I showed her at the end of this video:

Other updates:

The picture from yesterday was Sammy's package . . . . it was the first picture Lady took. She realized she hadn't posted it and she hasn't been taking enough pictures of us this week. The trick did not work. In the end, the Lady and scissors helped open it. 

Lady also got the referral to the behaviourist. She is going to call later today and book that appointment. It is going to be like an 1.5 hour drive to see her, so hopefully it will be helpful!

Wordless Wednesday - Phod leave my mail alone and play with this old rope!

Prize from Sammy and DON'T vote for us!

Last week Hailey won a prize from Sammy for the teacher's pet contest. We were all very excited to receive a parcel from him yesterday. Without further adieu, the prize! (This is just a sampling of the pictures Lady took of us opening it - she didn't want to bore you all)

How do you get into this thing?

I am not sure how you open this. Am liking the shape

Phod it is not for you, get out! 

I am getting the hang of this opening. 

Here I am with the card, the bacon smelling bone (which we both love), a new tug toy (that Lady has hidden so Phod can't just pull it apart. We have to play with it under supervision so it lasts a day or two), and a special treat of granola bars! 

Taste test for the granola bars. They are delish!

Lee with the new bacon smelling bone!

A very special thank you to Sammy for such great prizes. Sending you a special Hailey hug!

 ____________

We were thinking today when we went to the Blogville Calendar Contest at http://www.heartlikeadog.com/2013/08/25/its-here/  that while it is lots of fun to enter contests and get people to vote for us, sometimes it is more fun to try and help a friend. So we are asking all our readers, not to go and vote for us or their other Blogville friends, but to go to Heart Like a Dog and vote for  Benny and Lily.  The proceeds of the calendar are going to go to Benny's treatment for liver cancer. He is fighting like a Frenchie - this is why we submitted a picture of us fighting! It would be a real shame if Benny wasn't in the calendar. So we are asking everyone, to go and vote for Benny and Lily! It is really easy to do. Let's work together to get Benny and Lily in the top 12! They have our vote for the next 5 days! If you take your smart phone off your Wi-Fi - it gets a different IP address and you can vote using it too!

PS: Don't worry about Hailey and Phod not being in a calendar, they are the stars of their own calendar every year!

Mischief Monday - In the darkest of nights

The setting: 
Sunday night, almost 10 pm. It is lightly raining, so it is very, very dark out.
The players:
The Man who is in bare feet
The Lady who is in flip-flops
Hailey who is stressed because the threat of a storm has been in the air since 6 pm

I feel no shame

Zaphod

The event:
Phod rain to the well to mark it.
Hailey was barely off the porch because she was scared and because she wanted to look for toads.
Suddenly, Phod takes off, Lee quickly follows. Barefooted Man and flipflopped Lady try to keep up, but it is so dark and wet they can't. They half laugh half curse as they try and run into the pitch dark in the rain. Soon the dogs are lost in the bush.
Lady runs back to the house to grab a flashlight. Man is praying it is anything but a skunk or a nasty racoon.
By the time Lady gets back, Phod has returned. Lady gives Man the flashlight, and takes Phod to the house. She grabs another flashlight, prepared to go into the bush in her flip flops. Fortunately Man had Lee by the time she got back. So up to the house they all went.

I am just mad I got caught

The consequence:
A tongue lashing and told to look shameful.  Thankful everyone was safe and sound and there wasn't a skunk!

What a way to end the weekend!






________

Please pop over http://www.heartlikeadog.com to vote for the Blogville calendar. You can vote once a day. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see where to vote. Regardless of how we do, we will be purchasing this calendar. Proceeds are going to our friend Benny - who is fighting like a Frenchie - to try and beat liver cancer. This is why we submitted a fighting picture - we are fighting with him!

Black and White Sunday - Emma's visit AND a new contest

Emma

Hailey and Zaphod have been entered into the Blogville Calendar contest. Instead of trying to paraphrase the message I got about this, I have just cut and pasted it!  Please vote for them and consider purchasing a calendar. 

__________

Hello friends and thank you for participating in the 2nd Annual Dogs of Blogville Calendar Contest.  We had an amazing turn out this year and are excited for this year's contest to begin.

We thought it would be helpful for you to have a little information that you can share with your friends/readers/voters to help everyone understand the process and have a good time.

• The post will go up today at 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time (NYC)
• Each IP address can vote one time in a 24-hour period, it's important to note that it is one IP address.  If you are a multi-computer household (like I am) you can only vote on one computer/tablet/phone, unless you have different IP addresses for all of them.  If one of your voters tells you they couldn't vote, it is likely they are sharing an IP address with one more than device.
• Voting will end at 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time next Sunday, September 1, 2013.  
• This year the photo with the most votes will be featured on the cover and have their choice of which month they'd like to be featured in as well.  The next top eleven photos (determined by amount of votes) will be featured in order of finish.  Example, the winner chooses to be featured in July, so second place will be in January, third in February and so on.
• Last year Julie was able to feature all the dogs in smaller photos throughout the calendar, she will do her best to do the same this year, but with so many participants there are no guarantees.
• Once the voting process has been completed and the winners announced, we will move to the purchase portion of this fundraiser.

Last year's fundraiser raised just over $500 with 20 participants, paws crossed we can double that this year.  

One last thing, Julie and I get no compensation for this, all monies made after the cost of printing and shipping go directly to the beneficiary, with the exception of one calendar each, any more than that and we pay for them ourselves.

We will do our best to resolve any issues that might arise and answer any questions you might have, just keep in mind this being only the second time we have done this, we are also learning as we go.

Good luck and have fun!

Jodi Stone
Heart Like a Dog Blog
www.heartlikeadog.com

Julie Melfi

The Daily Dog Blog

www.thedailydogblog.com


_____
Follow up - go to www.heartlikeadog.com to vote!

Nin's big day

Well today was the day I gathered Nin up and we drove the one hour one way to the vet.

The drive sounded like this:

Note: This video was taken in the garage before we left - I did not film and drive.

We arrived at the vet and Nin was so happy to be out of the crate he did a good job on the scale and it was almost impossible to get him back in. He has lost 2 kg since his last visit. He went and got his blood and we drove home.

Whenever I go to the clinic (which is an emergency clinic) something exciting happens. This was not a good exciting. A couple's dog collapsed in the parking lot and they didn't think he was breathing. He was raced in on a stretcher and his owner came in screaming she needed to know if her dog was dead. She was screaming at the staff and screaming at herself . . . she was whisked into a room. I don't know what happened to her dog, but I hope he was ok.

After arriving home, Nin slept. He slept all day. He started in the dog crate and is currently sound asleep on our bed, a place he rarely sleeps. We will get his results on Wednesday.

Now it is time to catch up with all your blogs!

Feline Friday - Friends

Hailey has claimed Nin as her cat. I think she claimed him because she is a bit afraid of Bagheera. She loves Nin. She tries to play with him. She humps him. Occasionally she sleeps with him. They will share a drink together. They are friends.

Tomorrow Nin goes for his blood work. That will be a fun time!

Training Thursday - Where the Lady should go - by Hailey

First, the picture from yesterday is Phod watching the deer in our yard. They are back and we see them almost daily. We missed them over the spring and summer when they moved away, and are happy to have them back. Lady and Man are being mean and don't let us chase them like we should.

Secondly: Lady gets a big fat FAIL for training this week. She did some maintenance trials, but she didn't do any hard core training. She has excuses like with the Man's party and she had a busy first part of the week with work (working 15 hours one day is no excuse). She also says we went on extra long walks and she took us to the lake too cool off last night cause it has been so hot instead. I say FAIL, FAIL, FAIL! When Lady doesn't do hard core training, I don't get enough cookies. When I don't get enough cookies, I am forced to do things like counter surf and steal things like the Lady's muffins. I can't help it, she makes me.

Because of her failure as a person, I think Lady should end up here with Emma:

She promises this week will be better, but I don't believe her.

Your starving and deprived Hailey Bug

Wordless Wednesday - Guard Phod

Phod's back in business

After 8 weeks of rest, Phod is now able to play ball and disc and to swim again. Last Wednesday we reintroduced ball. I kept the session short, but he was so thrilled! I was thrilled there was no limp. He had a short session Thursday. Rest on Friday. He got to play disc on Saturday. A little ball Sunday. He and the Man went for a swim on Monday. All with no limp. YAY!  We are still suppose to be taking it easy and not over doing it, but it looks like his leg is all better.

On the Hailey front, I have decided to start with the behaviourist. Woody said part of the treatment would likely include drugs. I don't like the idea of drugging her (and please note this is not a judgement on what other people have done). I would like to explore all options first and discuss side effects etc. If we pick to do this, I want to do it smart. I am interested in what a behaviourist will say. It is the field I have trained in, I am just trained with a human population. I have realized she is afraid of: new people, children, wind, thunder, fireworks, loud noises, the dark. That is a lot to be afraid of! I hope we can get this process running soon!

Mischief Monday - The Hole

Saturday was the day of the big party! To try and keep everyone safe, the Lady and Man did this to the hole.

Hole covered with large pieces of wood

During the party people were on the lawn playing games like Bolaball, Bocce and frisbee - everyone avoided the hole.  While we were all sitting around the campfire. Aunt C hadn't noticed the hole and asked what we had done to fill it. I told her. I told her it should be so obvious only an "idiot" would fall in it.

Later, as it was time to put out the fire, a comedy occurred. I went to turn on the hose, forgetting there was a hole in it. The water was shooting at Uncle D's radio, I quickly grabbed it and turned it. The water was then shooting at Uncle Chris, who was carrying spoiled Emma in one hand and a chair in the other. When he saw the cold water coming toward him or when it got him (I am not sure which, but he was kinds screaming like a girl), he panicked, and in his panic tripped over the blocked hole dropping the chair and throwing poor Emma. Fortunately, other than a little bruise on his elbow, Uncle Chris was fine and Emma was just put out that she had flown! If only I had taped it. So we now know who the idiot in the family is!

Hole 1: Uncle Chris 0!

_________

A very special and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who voted for Hailey in Sammy's Teacher's Pet contest. Hailey is very happy to have won! It is at a good time for us as I am feeling a little sad for my girl.

Black and White Sunday - My poor girl

Hailey did NOT have a good time at the party. It was too scary to have all those people and particularly one child over. She was completely freaked out and would not stop barking for like the first 2 hours. She ended up wearing her thundershirt in the crate. Finally when the "strangers" left and it was only family left (her people) she couldn't settle because there were fireworks (the joys of living at a lake in the summer). In a nutshell, she spent from 3 pm until after 11 pm terrified.

It is so heartbreaking to see her like this. Especially when you compare her behaviour to Zaphod and Emma's (Emma was a guest at the party). They are just walking around, getting treats and pets from everyone. They are easy to have. Meanwhile Hailey is barking at the top of her lungs, scaring people.

One of the guests at the party was our friend and vet Woody. [Aside: He wants to test Nin's thyroid so we will do that this week]. He wants us either to medicate Hailey or to take her to see a  behaviourist. I totally trust Woody's opinion (we have been friends for nearly 20 years) and I know he wouldn't recommend something she didn't need. We just have to decide if we just start with the meds or if we do the whole behaviourist thing. Has anyone else had experience with either for an extremely anxious dog????

Other than Hailey, everyone else had a great time at the party. To find out if the hole caused some mischief, drop by tomorrow. 

Voting is on at Sammy's until 4 today, so please stop by and vote for my poor, poor girl who had the worst day of her life yesterday!

Are you ready to party?

We got to everyone's blogs late last night and we aren't sure how we will do today because we are getting ready to PARTY!  You see we have a big party happening at our house today. It is mainly to celebrate Man's birthday (his is on Monday), but also to celebrate some more birthdays. Uncle Dustin's birthday is Sunday and Aunt Darlene's birthday is Tuesday - so we need to celebrate for the 3 Ds!

Phod is looking forward to this cause he loves people. Hailey is not really looking forward to this and Lady is worried about how she is going to be with all the people and some kids . . . We are sure there will be mischief.

To help the people get ready for the party, we have been working on our hole. We think it will be a great addition when someone trips and falls in it!

If you haven't had a chance, please go over to Sammy's and vote for Hailey. It looks like there is some stiff competition for teacher's pet (as there should be!)


Also today is National Thrift Shop day. In the past Lady use to buy us babies at Value Village, but we destroy them too quickly. These days all she buys is books!

Feline Friday - Who done it? Joke Day and a contest

We have a lot going on today Friday August 16th!

First our regular Feline Friday: This is the mystery of who done it or was it even done?

Nin - Angry cause he was locked up!

On Tuesday Lady and Man thought they saw blood in the cat litter box. Given that both cats seemed fine and were acting their normal selves, the Man and Lady devised a plan. Lady would pick up a second litter box and they would separate the cats that night and find out who had the problem. The cats were very unhappy being separated, there was lots of yelling in the night. When Man and Lady got up in the morning they checked the litter out. Baggy was in the upstairs bathroom and to show his displeasure peed all over the floor. What was great about this (the floor is white) is Lady could see there was no blood. Nin was in the basement and the litter looked fine. So Man and Lady are wondering if it even happened . . . it is a mystery!

Today Ranger is hosting Tell a joke day.

Phod does not think this joke is funny!

Here is our joke (we don't know many blog appropriate ones, Lady likes inappropriate jokes best).

A dog walks into a bar.
The bartender looks at him and says "I'll pour you something strong. You are looking a little ruff!"

ROFL! [Note Ranger didn't say it had to be a good joke]

Lee's teacher pet picture. Please know
she is scared of the rum so this was a
 challenge to get!

Also, Sammy is hosting a School Daze contest.
Hailey has entered the category of "I wanna be teacher's pet" and has submitted a picture of what she would give a teacher as a gift to be teacher's pet. She has submitted a picture of her beside Cuban Rum that Man brought back from Cuba this year (note: Canadians can visit Cuba no problem!). Lady says that after living with Lee for nearly 3 years (her Gotcha Day is approaching soon) she knows the best way to deal with Hailey's antics is a good strong drink. Please pop over and vote for her.


Tomorrow our plan is to catch up with your comments and the other adventures we have had this week!

Happy Friday!

New Feature - Training Thursday

In an attempt to make myself more accountable with spending time teaching my dogs new tricks, I thought I would make a feature on the blog called "Training Thursday". Here I will feature our progress or lack there of.

This week was an interesting one which may have scarred poor Phod for life. I decided I wanted to do some clicker training (known as TAG - teaching through acoustical guidance in my line for work). I got out my clicker and started with Phod. Turns out poor Phod is TERRIFIED of the clicker. He acted like I was going to beat him. Perhaps a clicker was tried in his last home or it reminds him of something horrible that happened. He ran and hid. Hailey is not scared of it and in fact likes it, but it so stresses Phod out right now, we have put the clicker on hold.

The tricks we are working on:

Take it
Receptive Id of Dish (for Hailey only as this trick also terrifies Phod. I show him running to hide in one of the videos).

Pardon the video quality, I did this on my phone.

Video 1:  This is Hailey receptively identifying her dish in a visual field of 1. You will see Phod hiding.

Video 2: Hailey's Take it

Video 3: An outtake. This is what happens when I don't do training in the bedroom with one dog! 

Wordless Wednesday - Piggy Must Die

Mini Phod

A few weeks ago, Phod entered Misaki's playing ball competition and won! The prize was a cartooned version of Phod from Mollie and Alfie's shop. If you haven't visited their shop, you should, they have some neat stuff.

While I was away the parcel arrived. The Man kindly opened it via FaceTime so I could see it (I couldn't wait until I got home). Here it is:

Here is the model

We love it! Thank you Misaki and Thank you Mollie and Alfie! 

Mischief Monday - Helping Out Edition

Lady says for the most part we have been good, however, we have caused some mischief when we tried to help out.

First we tried to help the Lady take the sheets off the bed.

See we were great help!

Then when the Man was working on the deck, we had to bark a lot and try to go outside and help. He wouldn't let us.

Then we had to guard the house against the deer and other wild creatures by going into the bush.  Lady and Man laughed at how dirty Lee got.

That was our mischief. Again all of it happened when we were trying to help out!

Happy Monday!

Black and White Sunday - Zaphod

One of my favourite features of Phody is his ears. They move and fold unlike any dog I know.

Have a great Sunday! 

Smile - It's Sugar's Barkday!

In honour of Sugar's Birthday today, she asked us to share smiling pictures. Here you go and happy birthday Sugar!

We are so happy for Sugar and so happy our Lady is home. We were beside ourselves when she arrived, jumping and carrying on. When she had a little nap after traveling, we insisted she lay in the middle of the bed so she could pet us both. We wouldn't let her turn on the computer and read your blogs last night cause we needed to love her.  Phody actually crawled into the bed last night for snuggles (Lee was too busy hiding in the closet because of the fireworks). In the morning Hailey came and lay on her legs.  While we are a little miffed she didn't bring us treats, we are thrilled she is here.

Happy Birthday Sugar!

A Traitor's Correction

My parents were not happy that in yesterday's post I said Tendra's name was not creative. They argue  it is a very creative name. They are right. I should have said "naming the dogs after your kids lacks originality." Here they had this opportunity to use a name they didn't use and instead recycled our names.

Further, they do not get the credit for coming up with the creative name of Tendra. When my sister and I were children (I can't remember how old, but I would guess I was 12 or under), we came up with it. So really all the credit for the name should go to her and me. Our parents just stole it from us:) hehehehehehehe! [As I am telling my mother this, she says it is because they are mean like that, and laughs].

Soon I am leaving my parent's place and heading back home. I will be home in time for dinner. Looking forward to seeing my 2! I have the weekend before I am back to work after 3 weeks off . . . ugh!

See you all tomorrow.  Happy Friday!

The Traitor speaks

As mentioned on Monday, I have come to my parents (aka Grammie and the Big Guy who is 6'3 ish) for a few days. They are the proud servants to 2 Labradors. Tendra, the black lab is almost 5 and they have had her since she was a puppy. [Her name is the last 3 letters of my name and my sister's name. My parents lack creativity and named the dog after us]. Barley, the chocolate lab, is 5.5 and was rescued last year. 

Bar and Tenny sharing blanket

I have not been to visit my parents for over a year and a half [They have come to see me, so I have seen them]. I have met Tendra many times, but only met Barley once, last fall when he came to my house for the weekend. As soon as I arrived, Barley decided I am the coolest person on the planet and he wants to be with me all the time. The pictures from yesterday were from the first few hours I was in the house. The Bar Man wouldn't stay off me. Barley has also decided he needs to sleep with me (which is funny as he doesn't sleep with my parents). Barley is pretty much glued to me. I do get some breaks when he needs love from my parents or a favourite family friend who comes for a visit. Tendra, who also loves me, did sleep with me one the first night. She is a little more independent. I didn't mean to be such a traitor, but the dogs decided they needed to maximize their time with their "long lost sister"!

I am hoping my parents will come and visit this fall with their two dogs, because I think the 4 of them would be lots of fun! 

Tendra has won the love from me

Barley with his blanket. Bar carries this with him and
he will suck it when he wants to relax. Never knew a dog
with a blanket before!

Wordless Wednesday - TRAITOR!

Happy Gotcha Day Zaphod

Phod's petfinder picture

One year ago today our lives changed when Zaphod came to live with us. It honestly feels like he has been with us forever. I am sad to be away on his Gotcha Day, but we did take some time to celebrate on the weekend with treats and I told him his adoption story, which is a tradition in our house. He isn't sure there were dragons in the original story . . . but because he was getting belly rubs he didn't argue too much!

Our first picture of Phod

Looking back, Phody has come a long way in the past year. He was far more fearful when we first got him. If we raised our voices (even just to "yell" down the stairs) he would shake and pee. He was very hesitant and scared. Clearly he had been mistreated. His gentle manner and loving nature have allowed him to overcome whatever horrors our once abandoned and severely underweight dog faced in the first year or so of his life. He ability to forgive, forget and embrace life every day is a great lesson for all of us. His ability to love unconditionally is a true blessing.

To our boy - Happy Gotcha Day! We couldn't be happier that we Got Ya!



Lady will talk about her trip later this week!

Mischief Monday - Hello and Goodbye

We have had a lot of mischief this week. Not anything to serious, but enough to make Lady go "oh you guys!"

This week we have gotten into the habit of going to the end of the driveway and sometimes right on the road. By we, mostly Zaphod, or at least he goes first and we girls follow. It stresses Lady out because even though we live on a little private road with only like 6 places and few cars, she worries. Also, she doesn't like when we go near the horse pen. She knows we want to go in and fears we will get hurt.

Lady also caused some mischief with a new edition to the house. Lady and Man put some solar lights up on Saturday. We watched the Lady and Man put them up. We helped. Yet when we went out at night and they were glowing, we thought we were being invaded, so we had to bark and say hello. We have decided these are friends and they can stay. Phod really likes to pee on them now.




Today we say goodbye to Emma. Uncle Chris is back and coming to pick her up tonight. We had a really fun time with her, we will miss her. Lady says she will miss her snuggles and love, but will not miss having to go out every hour or so. Emma had a very bad day yesterday and peed in the house a lot. She had been very good. We tried to tell Lady and Man she was just marking it cause she knows she is going home soon. Lady and Man were still not impressed. Lady has decided her life mission is to find Emma a mom so that if Uncle Chris has to go away again, she has a mom to take care of her.

We also have to say goodbye to the Lady. She is going away for a few days. We are very mad at her. Not so much mad that she is going away, cause we get to stay at home with the Man and that is always fun, he gives us a lot of treats. However, Lady is going somewhere we would be allowed to go. She is going to Grammie and the Big Guy's. Lady says we aren't going because she doesn't want to spend her holidays driving. It is an 8-9 hour drive to their place. She says she drives enough in her regular life, so she is flying. Because she is flying, we can't go. She says she will FaceTime us and tell us all about your blogs cause she plans to blog while she is away. We are just not talking to her about it. We are too mad.

Let's see what mischief we can cause for the Man!

Happy Monday