Deal pals,
Today is the bonus day we get every 4 years. As a wise old dog I get I need to really embrace these bonus days.
Here is what I plan to do with my bonus day.
Roll - I love to roll in grass and fresh snow. However, when they are not available this icy snow will do. It feels so cool on my body.
However you plan to spend it, I hope you love your bonus day!
your pal Phod
Dear pals,
As our weather has been all over the place (one day last week it went from 4C/39F to -25C/-13F), and this has caused the snow against the house to melt.
This is causing a future problem for Lady because something is digging up the bulbs she planted in the fall, meaning she won't have all those flowers. She is trying to be a gardener.
For now, for me and Phod it is creating some really great smells!
We will see what Lady gets in the spring, if any survived our helpers.
Your pal Hailey Bug, the garden patroller
PS after a very rough morning with a sick Man (unrelated, he seems to have influenza) and two dogs that just needed to poop and poop and poop (including a huge poop on the floor as Lady didn't hear the ask while she was working and wasn't expecting because there had already been sooooooo much poop) Lady threw out the expensive poop chews and is back to research.
I realize the Man and I talk about the dogs' poop a lot. We are always asking did they, go, when did they last go, did it look ok, etc. etc. It may be a mild obsession. As mentioned last week, we have a poop eating problem. Hailey has always had this tendency and if anything it has gotten better in old age. Phod has definately developed this more in old age.
So I did some research and landed on trying these:
They past the first test, the dogs will eat them. They have failed the second test as they seem to have upset the dogs' tummies and made them have to poop more (Phod went 6 times one day - he usually goes 3). We have yet to decide what to do about this. So we are doing our best to pick up their poop right away and now the snow is solid this is easier. However, even if we pick up all their poop we have the cat poop, deer poop, turkey poop, sometimes' Callie poop to deal with.
 |
| Phod licking up turkey poop |
 |
| Hailey walking across the snow to look for poop |
Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event.
The turkeys are around almost every day. The love the sunflowers at Lady's feeders. The other day Lady heard someone walking on the deck and went to look and this is what she saw.
Either this bird didn't like being on camera or it wanted to dive bomb its friends. We hope you enjoyed our little dinosaur.
Dear pals,
Lady came back last week and literally got struck with her best guess influenza as she landed. She is very angry about this because she got the vaccine and it has been a week and at best she is at 60%. I am not suppose to say, that is what you get for leaving me.
 |
| Snuggling Lady to make her feel better |
She is grateful it waited until she got home as she had a wonderful weekend in Winnipeg with her friends. She arrived at a very sad time for them. 2 weeks before their senior dog Crosby was called to the bridge. The day Lady arrived her friend said goodbye to his 91 year old father. In spite these heartbreaks, her friends insisted she come and were still gracious hosts. It didn't feel like they had been apart for almost 2 years.
Lady went to a place called the Leaf. It is an indoor horticultural attraction. In the spring and summer they have outdoor gardens too. Here is some colour to brighten your day!
 |
| Indoor waterfall |
 |
| The butterflies weren't very active in the butterfly garden |
 |
| Lady spotted a bunny |
While she had a good time, we are glad she is back and hope is at 100% soon (as she is a terrible sick person).
Lady: I am a little disappointed that you wandered to the neighbour's the other day Phod.
Phod: The snow is hard enough I can go over, and I haven't seen my kids or my Derek (Callie's Man) and I miss them very much. I am a good neighbour and wanted to make sure they are ok.
Lady: You know you are suppose to stay in our yard and come when you are called.
Phod: You know my hearing isn't what it used to be and I don't adhere to manmade boundaries. Besides my Derek always says it is ok I come over.
Lady: So you are saying you just wandered over to visit? Then why did you come out from under the back deck, with a huge smile eating cat poop?
Phod: I am a very good neighbour and I am just trying to help keep the neighbourhood clean, and you don't feed me enough.
Lady: Lies - you get lots to eat. You are a disgusting and gross dog and I am going to trade you in for a less gross version. You obsessive poop eating is becoming a problem.
Phod: You would never trade me in Lady - idol threat - just like it would be an idol promise that I would stay in the yard and not eat poop.
Lady: I feel like we are at an impasse . . . . However, I am going to do some research into stopping this obsessive poop eating. It is new for you and is a bit out of control.
Phod: Can I either go back into the closet to sleep or outside to hunt for poop? This conversation is boring me.
Lady: Oh Phod!
Thanks to my good pals Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event.
On a not too cold winter afternoon, my people took me for a walk to the lot of requirement. This is the lot beside Callie's house that Callie's people own. Lady calls it the lot of requirement because it is the lot that becomes whatever Callie's people need it to be. For awhile it was empty and we liked to poop there (we called it poop corner). Then Callie's grandpa put his RV there and spent time there. Currently, it is housing a car and boat for winter and the place that Callie's people keep their firewood.
Come check it out with me!
 |
| It looks really slippery! |
 |
| Here we go down the road |
 |
| We got to be free to explore |
 |
| I came right back when I was called. |
 |
| Hailey went a little further into the trees |
 |
| She slowly circled back (yep she had to drag a leash and I was free) |
 |
| I checked out the wood pile. |
Dear pals,
It has been really boring around here. The snow has melted and frozen again, making it not pleasant to walk on. Man has returned and we have our routine. We weren't thrilled when he went to work Friday, we were sure he was leaving us forever. Our people left us once on Saturday for pickleball and once to go to the movies. We were good. Lady informs us she is going away for 87 million days (editor's note - about 4 days and 3 nights). She leaves Friday to go to some place called Winnipeg, to visit friends.
At any rate, there has not been much going on here.
I have had time to keep up with my grooming.
Happy Groundhog Day!
Two weeks ago we had bitter cold. Last week we had milder temperatures that brought a combination of snow and rain and freezing rain. Lady was extra glad to be home the 2 days there was a lot of the freezing rain. It is very dangerous.
One of the mornings, it was just below freezing so we got a very lovely snow.
 |
| Can you se the snow falling on me? |
Wow, it is already February. January just flew by! Now we are in the month of love. We thought we would do some posts on what love is for us pups.
Love is
eating out of each other's dish, even when it is the exact same food.
