Snuggle Saturday

It is still brutally cold here and what better way to spend a day then to snuggle.

Here is some snuggly Phod.

Feline Friday - Old Cat with New Tricks

I was working at home on Wednesday. I had left my office door (which I generally keep closed) open over my lunch break.  When I returned to my desk, I found this

a Nin on my windowsill. He had hoped up from the chair, to the desk, to the windowsill. He had pushed much of what was on it on the floor. He stayed for nearly an hour. I think he loved it because it was super warm as the heater is below the window and the warm air rose up between the desk and wall. After an hour, he needed a nap, and off he went to the couch. He can still be amazingly spree for an old Man!

(Looking out the window, you see the underside of the deck. Our house is a bungalow with a walk out basement. My office is in the basement at the back of the house. Since our big deck runs across the back, my big office window looks out under it.)

This and That Thursday

First, sorry we haven't been around much this week. It has been an incredibly busy week (in a good way).

Snuggling with me

People asked about the rabbit ear the dogs got as a treat. They were  dehydrated ears, fur and all. The name of the company escapes me, but I know it was a Canadian one. I found them at Global Pets, and they sold the treats individually. At first I was sort of grossed out by them, but I quickly got over it. The Man thinks they are totally gross!

The weather has still be very cold limiting our walk time (I know we all have cabin fever, in fact I think the whole city has cabin fever, people have just been grumpy and rude, especially when driving). We are working on several new tricks and hope to have one to show next week.

Hailey is working on: spin (in both directions), under (meaning go under my legs), and cop cop (which is very new and I love seeing her try and figure it out - she knows her paws need to go near my feet but hasn't figured out that they need to go on them).

Zaphod was working on cop cop, but . . . . .  the other day I went to use a physical prompt to help him and he got scared and sort of freaked out and fell on his face, and then Hailey stepped on his face as she tried to get to the cookie. It was a super funny disaster I wish I had on tape. After the fall, he left the training area and went to sulk. We are going to take a break from that one. He is working on under, spin, crawl and continuing to work on back up.

Next week is the police academy training. We will be teaching some courses, so drop by and maybe you will learn a thing or two!

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Wordless Wednesday - Tug

Tasty Tuesday - Very Special Treats

To celebrate 1500 posts and to thank the pups for putting up with the dressing up, posing, and flashy beast, I bought them special treats. For three nights they got to enjoy a new treat.

First up - rabbits ears:

This was the only one Phod hesitated over. He did take it and eat it and appear to enjoy it once he gave it a good sniff. 

Hailey's crazy eyes show how excited she was with this treat. 

Next up - chicken feet. 

Hailey was up first and had no problem taking this one, while Phod watched. 

You can tell my the look on Phod's face, this was a treat he was excited about. 

Last but not least, lamb trachea. 

Quick sniff before diving in. 

Crazy eyes strikes again! 

Overall, I think the pups were able to forgive me for all the pictures etc. with these treats. 

Mischief Monday - A Temporary Set Back

First, a follow up from yesterday's post. Hailey got the woof cookie and Phod the good dog but not because Hailey isn't good, she is a very good girl, but because she barks the most!

I decided not to blog about this until I knew the extend of our problem. Hailey has a history of peeing in the house when we are out. It has come and gone in waves, and restricting her access to parts of the house really help.

In our current home, for a long time the basement was blocked off when we were out because she peed on the floor, dog beds, guest bed etc. Our bedroom has also been off limits because she has peed on the bed. Slowly over the past year, she has gotten access back to the basement without incident, until the first week in January. That first week, after nearly 2 weeks of having people at home all the time, she peed on the floor 3 times. So for 2 weeks, we restricted her access and then due to our forgetful nature one morning, she had access and I am happy to report didn't have an accident. We will continue to monitor and give/restrict access based on her behaviour. We hope it was just a temporary thing.

This picture is from the first month she lived with us. I didn't have a new recently one, but when I came across this last week, it made me smile, so I thought it was worth sharing:)

Black and White Sunday - Worth the Wait

Yesterday, we were out for most of the day to babysit our 7 month old human niece Maggie. My sister, Aunt C appreciated the sacrifice the pups made, with us being out all day on a Saturday. She picked them up a special treat.

Patiently waiting for said treats

The cookies - guess who got which one?

Today We Celebrate

When I started blogging in September of 2010, I would never have guessed that I would come up with 1500 posts. Thank you to all my readers for coming back day after day and sharing our lives. Thank you to our fellow bloggers for inspiring many of our posts. I don't think I would have gotten to 1500 without you!

To celebrate the pups got some special treats, which we will share with you on Tasty Tuesday!

A Letter to My Pal

This post is for the blog hop organized by Murphy and Stanley for tomorrow. We are posting a day early because we have something very special happening tomorrow (and we didn't want to have 2 posts).  As we celebrated Hailey's birthday a few weeks ago and I wrote a post about her, I decided to write my letter to Zaphod.

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Dear Zaphod,

You were the perfect addition to our pack and I am very grateful to Gloria and Jenn from Catahoula Rescue Ontario for not only saving your life, but for suggesting you to us. I had been worried when you joined our pack. Our plan had been to get another dog in September, after we settled into our new home, not 4 days after a huge move.  I also admit to being concerned about having a German Shepherd (that was my breed bias and I am sorry to have had it). However my fears were for not. You were perfect from day one and have helped me and others
overcome a silly breed bias. 

I don't know what happened in the 1.5 years or so before we found you, but I know it was not good. I probably don't want to know because it will upset me too much (just thinking about what it could be upsets me). I am very, very sorry that humans mistreated you. It is not acceptable and I am sure there is a special place in hell for people who are cruel to animals. 

You have an amazing character. Your mistreatment has not made you an angry or distrustful boy. You continue to trust and love humans. Your ability to forgive our species is remarkable and we could all learn about the power of forgiveness from you.

At times in our pack, I feel our attention goes to Hailey and her needs. She is far more demanding and can easily overshadow everyone else. I am sorry if you, with your quiet demeanour, get overlooked. We do our best to make sure you get lots of fetch, treats you like and snuggles. I am proud of you for demanding love and attention at times when you feel left out. It has been amazing to watch your growth over the past 2 and a half years from a timid to a more confident boy. 

I am worried your almost perfect nature has ruined me for other dogs. I don't think I will never find such a sweet, quiet, playful, usually obedient, loving, want to make me happy, dog. You are truly one of a kind and I feel extremely bless to have the honour of having you in my life (and the honour of sharing you with others).

With all my love,

Your Lady

Really - That is the Face I Get?

Since I have this blog, the camera is in my dogs' faces more than it would be if I didn't. Last time I checked my iPhoto I had something like 13 000 pictures, and you know at least half of those are my dogs. You would think after having thousands of pictures taken Hailey would be a good model, but no, she is not.

Here is an example from the recent photo shoot I did for Hailey's 5th birthday:

The fearful look, like I am doing something evil

The surprised look, like she has never seen the camera before

I am not sure what to call this other than ugly face

Bored Face

It took 14 shots to get one that was acceptable for her official birthday picture. You can view it HERE.

Phod on the other hand, was completely jealous about the attention Hailey was getting (and she wasn't getting treats until the pictures were done) and in 1 shot I got a new favourite:

Please come back Saturday for a very special celebration! 

Squirrel Appreciation Day - by Hailey

Dear squirrels, I appreciated you when you are in my mouth. That only happened once, a long, long time ago and my Man was mad. Since then I have been trying to appreciate you again. I have tried climbing trees, I have tried barking, I have tried to get Phod to help. It hasn't happened yet but I know someday the appreciation will happen again.

I am particularly interested in appreciating the little red squirrel named Red John that we see most days and who trash talks me. Of all the squirrels I see, he is the one who makes me the maddest. He really bothers me and I would like the chance to get to appreciate him more.

Today squirrels, I hope to appreciate you up close.

Appreciating a squirrel

Ballet dancing to try and appreciate a squirrel

Tasty Tuesday - A Leftover Picture From Christmas

With the right treat (which is pretty much any treat), 4 dogs will sit nicely!

Barley, Tendra, Hailey and Phod

Phod, Hailey, Tendra and Barley

Mischief Monday - A Story for Frankie and Ernie

This is a story about a snow freak so it is for our pals Frankie and Ernie. This happened in November.

The suit - taken from PetSmart website

We were driving to Grammie and the Big Guys to drop the pups off before our trip. During the drive, Phod's leash got caught around his leg and he chewed it. While we were able to tie it together as a temporary fix, we knew it needed to be replaced. We knew at one of our rest stops we could stop at PetSmart and get a new one. So after 6 hours in the car or so, we arrive at the PetSmart. The pups were very excited to be there. We walked around and found a replacement leash. Then we head to the cash. Right by the cash were a bunch of snowman costumes. Phod lifted his leg and peed all over one of the bright white costumes. We know how he felt about it.  Embarrassed, I quickly hand the new leash to the Man and go outside, hoping not to be caught with a bad peer!

The Man pays, which was challenging as Hailey was freaking out because she thinks we have left without her. Once the Man has bought the leash, we get in the car and leave.

We laughed and laughed and thought the store would no better than to put such a suit at pee height!

Black and White Snuggly Sunday

It has been cold again this week, we have had a lot of this:)

Lee's Birthday Celebrations

I am behind in posting today as I   Lady has been out with a migraine the past 2 days. I may not get to visit everyone today because I want to limit my screen time.  I need this headache to go away as tomorrow I am babysitting a good friend's 4 year old and 5 year old.

Anyway, enough about me, on to Hailey's birthday celebrations.

Hailey got a new baby for her birthday. She and Phod quickly "shared" it.

I lover their crazy eyes

Because I was traveling I didn't have time to make a cake, so I made a fancy dinner. Hailey's is on the white plate.

Phod's is missing the flower cookies as he doesn't like them

Nin tasting Lee's dinner

My happy girl

Feline Friday - A Day in The Life of Nin

As the sun rises (currently 7:00 am or when the people start to stir) - sit on the couch and sing. Then wander around the house and sing at the top of my lungs.

Breakfast: Come up and demand soft food is feed to me on the counter. Don't really eat it, get off the counter. Have a big drink. Go downstairs and check my hard food dish. Sing if there is food, sing if there is no food.

Sit on the couch all day. If a person sits on the couch, sit on their lap. Make sure to walk around in circles and make them very uncomfortable before picking a place.

Evening: Go for a stroll around the house. Let Hailey hump me. Laugh when Hailey gets yelled at for being to rough. Sit on a person's lap on the couch (see note above).

Bedtime: Sometimes go upstairs and act like I want to sleep with them. Get on the bed but decide to go back to the couch.

Repeat.

This is the life of an old Nin.

Training Thursday - What a difference a week makes

Last week I talked about the struggles to get Zaphod to back up. The Man and I continued to work on it, and while it is still not Phod's favourite trick (he still tries to avoid it and will tell you off) he has greatly improved (as the video below shows). Hailey has improved too and she has really been enjoying training time (for the cookies I think).

Wordless Wednesday - Hailey is 5

Happy 5th Birthday To My Girl

It is hard to believe but my girl turns 5 this week. Her rescue papers have different birthdays around this time, but today is the day we picked to celebrate it as it is the birthday of a very special friend (and an true animal lover) Missy G. 

When I was looking back through my pictures to find the ones for today's posts, I was reminded of what a challenging little girl Hailey has been. She has destroyed a lot of things, she has tried my patience more times then I can count, and I have felt exacerbated, frustrated and overwhelmed at times. I admit to having times I just wanted to open the door and let her go. Now, 4 and a bit years of having Hailey in my life (we got her when she was 8 months old), I know I would do it all again. She has taught me more than I could have imagined (and a lot has been about patience). I think a combination of our training and understanding (which I finally have with her) and Hailey's natural aging process has resulted in a wonderful, loving, exuberant girl. There is never a dull moment with Hailey around.

Hailey: Thank you for being the wonderful girl you are. I look forward to another great year with you.

Happy Birthday Hailey!

A picture taken by Hailey's first foster Mom 

Hailey's first day in our house

Hailey is 1

Hailey is 2

Hailey is 3 - and clearly still annoyed about having her picture taken

Hailey is 4

Come back tomorrow to see Hailey is 5!

Blogville Jobs

In a world far away and far more pleasant then the real world, Hailey and Zaphod earn their keep (and I can retire!)

Hailey: 
Hailey is the head of the jail. It is her job to organize the arrival of the criminals (mainly squirrels and the occasional cat) and make sure they are safely housed. As an excellent escape artist (not that we talk about her own jail breaks) she is well suited to make sure no one escapes. She works with the cops in any manner needed.

The jail

The cuffs Hailey thinks are the safest

Cuffs Hailey is sure she could chew 

Zaphod
He is the lead detective. It is his job to organize all the other detectives and make sure things are done by the book. He is a fair but thorough detective.

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PS: Our lack of commenting over the weekend was not because Lady was super busy, it was more because she became addicted to Downton Abbey (blame NetFlix) . . . . we have visited more than commented.

Black and White Sunday - PJs

I wan't organized enough to have this ready for Friday's PJ party at Dory's (and you will see that Phod has escaped this torture) but here is Hailey modelling my pjs.