I Was So Good!

Aunt C said I was so good this weekend, the Lady should blog about it. Saturday morning, Aunt C and our human cousins (M aged 4 and T aged 2) arrived for a sleepover. When they first got here, I barked a lot. I mainly barked because I was so excited to see my Aunt C. I love my Aunt C. 

Then I was good and only barked a little when other people came and when Uncle Chris got home (he is back and Emma is gone), and when things like ravens were on my yard.  The kids were good and didn't upset me. 

I was a little nervous at night because of Canada Day there were SOOOOOOOOO many fireworks. I mostly just refused to go out and hid (we won't say anything about the accident I may have had cause I was too scared to go out, I blame Emma, she was still here at the time).

How I spent most of the weekend

Anyway, the kids did good and I did good and we had a fun time, in spite of it being hot, and the fact that the people went to the beach and we had to stay in the house . . . . 

I didn't even chew on any of the toys that were all over the floor! 

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday Aunt C

And happy belated first birthday cousin Troy (it was May 6)!

The cake Aunt C made for Troy

Aunt C and Troy

Happy Mother's Day!

Today we send a special shout out to all the moms, grandmas, aunts, or any other loving female of 2 and 4 legged kids.

We also send a very special happy Mother's Day to our Aunt C, who gave birth to our new human cousin Troy Arthur, on Friday May 6 at 9:36 am. This is our cousin Maggie's little brother. (More about this tomorrow).

Troy and Aunt C

Our Hanukkah Party

We had 3 tables

Sunday was our annual Hanukkah party. To be clear, we are not Jewish. We celebrate Hanukkah because I am weird  because I loves Hanukkah food. I celebrate Christmas without religious belief, so I see it as the same. It started in 2003, I think when I was looking for a different idea for a holiday party and has grown. We have Hanukkah dishes and Hanukkah decorations and Hanukkah music (oh we love the LeeVees).  I exchange Hanukkah gifts with my niece Maggie.  It is the my favourite holiday.

This year we had our biggest party yet. 21 people and cousin Emma (who is a dog). The Man, with Uncle D's help spent like 5
hours cooking latkes. The Man spent over 8 hours slaving over the stove and that isn't an exaggeration. It was a feast fit for a king. (We have leftovers, yay!)

Hailey has issues with kids and people in the house, so it is always hard. Aunt C, Uncle D and cousin Maggie arrived early (so Uncle D could help the Man in the kitchen because I am useless). After a time in her crate, Hailey was great. Then more people arrived and Hailey got totally stressed out. She went back into her crate for a while (over an hour). When we let her out, she was amazing. I didn't get a picture of it, but for a time she was laying on her bed right beside where the kids were playing. I was so, so, so proud of her. I would still never leave her alone with kids, but it was huge progress. Maggie is spending a few days with us over the holidays so we hope she will get use to her.

Phod was slightly stressed throughout the day. He was calm, but you could see he wan't sure. However, he was great with the kids.

Helping Maggie open day one of Hanukkah gift

Maggie was standing and Phod went to stand with her

Overall, while it was a tone of work, and we were exhausted when the last guest left around 6 pm (we ate after 2), it was a great Hanukkah. Although, maybe next years will be a little smaller!

Aunt C is one of her favourite people, so Hailey made sure to give her lots of kisses!

Introducing our Human Cousin

Aunt C gave us the go ahead so we are pleased to introduce the cousin!

On Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 12:24 pm, 12 days early arrived . . . . . . . .

 

She loves being dressed up as much as we do! 

Margaret "Maggie" Marie

She weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz. Aunt C was very glad she was early given how big she was. She got to leave the hospital last night as everything is going well. We hope they had a good night's sleep.

Lady with the baby - she is about 4 hours old in this picture

We look forward to meeting her!

Excitement and Best Friends

We interrupt our regular post to say that the world has gone crazy in our house today.

You see, our Aunt C and Uncle D are expecting their first baby, our human cousin and Aunt C went into labour in the wee hours of the morning. So now we are all waiting for this baby girl to arrive. We fear it will be a very long day for us!

Our house is in extra chaos because the Big Guy (Lady's dad who refuses to be called a grandpa to dogs) our Grammie and their 2 labs (Tendra and Barley) are currently packing up and driving to stay with us. They live 650 km away or about 400 miles, so it is a big drive. They will be arriving later today.

Life will be chaos, and hopefully all good chaos and we will do our best to stay up to date. At least if we are gone for few days, we will have lots of adventures to share. 4 dogs in the house, now that could be fun (Lady is hoping Man will see that 3 could be do-able).

Please send all your good thoughts to our Aunt C and soon to be human cousin for an easy and safe delivery! Please send good thoughts to Uncle D. He is gonna have to deal with a cranky Aunt C (whom we love very much, but when she is cranky, look out!)

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Today Ranger has organized Best Friend's Day.

The best friend's (besides the cats and in my semi-chaotic state this morning I can't find a picture of them together) in our house were Loki and Gemini. While Loki disliked Gemini the first few weeks she was with us, they grew to be the best of friends and they were always snuggled together. As I have said before, Gemi was so connected to Loki that when he got sick, she got sick too. It was just the anxiety of knowing he was sick (we had everything and then some tested). That was her love and she mourned for his loss greatly (she would sit and cry).

Gemi and Loki - 2009

Black and White - Celebrating and Catching Up

Yesterday I was exhausted and maybe a little cranky and really did nothing but let my body rest after the craziness of last week. Because of this we are a day late saying:


Happy Birthday Aunt C! 

Today is also Aunt C and Uncle D's 1st wedding anniversary. So happy anniversary to them!


Lady would also like to send a big Happy Mother's Day to Grammie!

Now the catch up part:

Man is on the mend. His gut is pain free, but he is still not eating a lot and he is weak. Lady thinks her exhaustion is a thing of the past and plans to spend today catching up on life. Again thank you all for your love and healing vibes, it was much appreciated.

Project Hailey:
Last week didn't quite go as planned. She got lots of walks and exercise that way, but I admit to being too exhausted to do the extra training. I am not beating myself up about it, as last week was unusual in many ways. I am just proud of how well the pups did early in the week when we totally challenged their schedules. No messes or destruction! What I did was enough for those days. This week, Project Lee, should go better, knock on wood!

Tour of Our Yard:
We are very blessed to have such a cool yard. The house was built by a 20 some year old mason, who had planned to live here forever but once he was a father he decided this wasn't the house or location for that. When a brick mason builds a house, the stone work is extra beautiful.
Our morning big walk is usually done down the road. Our after breakfast walks and evening walks are usually done around the property. Lady says soon the evening one may be done to the lake! Paws Crossed!

We Got Mail 1
We are very happy with these great rope toys. They are holding up well. Thanks for the tip about washing them, Lady hadn't thought about that yet! We checked with the sender and everything that was suppose to be in the package was, so we know Canada Post didn't keep anything, even if they played with it all!

An update:
Nin and Lee are good friends now. Lee sometimes tries and plays a little rough for our almost 19 year old cat, but he does play back. They often sleep together too. We are lucky that the dogs and cats get along so well!

Guest Post - Happy Birthday to Our Cat Cousins

By Aunt C

Happy Birthday to Panda and Lupul!

Just over a year ago, my best friend Lemew died.  It was not a surprise, he had a long life despite some health issues that were pretty easy to manage.

After he died, my husband and I planned to wait until after our wedding to get 2 cats through the humane society, as a wedding gift from a very good friend.   Well, one day, 2 weeks pre-wedding, we were in a store that had some Humane Society cats, and we instantly fell in love with two great ones, Panda, our sweet yet sometimes cranky alpha female of the house, and Lupul, our crazy, skittish little boy.

It’s been almost a year, and they have become such an important part of our lives, we can’t imagine a day without them!

Here’s some more about them:

Panda

Age:  3

Colour:  Black and White (she has the cutest little French tips on her front paws and beautiful markings all over)

Likes:  Cuddles, soft blankets, wet food, boxes, her tunnel, more cuddles

Dislikes:  Other animals – While she tolerates her brother, she has been known to attack small dogs and gets quite upset if other cats are too close to her turf

Lupus

Age:  2

Colour:  Fawn tabby (not quite orange, but almost)

Likes:  Climbing and jumping up on things, FOOD, treat puzzles, playing soccer

Dislikes:  Unsolicited cuddles – but he does love pets and belly rubs on his terms

We’ll be celebrating their birthdays on Sunday with some new toys, a new treat puzzle, and lots of treats and cuddles!!!

A busy weekend

I had a very busy weekend.

Friday, I stayed in town late to go out with a friend. I got home around 10:30 pm.

Saturday morning I got up around 7. The dogs and I went for a walk (even with only one hand, I have figured out how to walk them both, we have a coupler so I can have them on one leash). We got groceries and then around 11 left to go to town. See my dad (aka the Big Guy) was in town so the plan was lunch, the afternoon at the War Museum and dinner. Then the Man headed home and I stayed in town to have hang out time with my sister (aka Aunt C). On Sunday we all headed back to our place to have a birthday lunch for Auntie K. 

As it has been winter, we haven't had too many visitors to our house. Hailey did ok. She was very, very excited at first. She jumped up a little much (Aunt C got a scratch) but with some help of a puzzle toy she settled down.

Phod, was a little excited, but was mostly just thrilled with all the pets he was getting.

As people have been asking about my arm, it is getting better. Every day is better. I can do more and more without pain. The biggest challenge remains things with weight. Carrying heavy things, lifting heavy things, remains a challenge. I am just glad how fast it is healing. I was very concerned that this could be a long recovery. 

Thank you Aunt C and Uncle D

We are behind and haven't thanked Aunt C and Uncle D for the wonderful Christmas gift they sent for the pups. Lady and Man let them open them ourselves. Phody thought it was bad to open it and wouldn't so he needed some help. Hailey opened it hers no problem.

"Can I really have this?"

"An antler, my favourite!"

"Gotta open this."

"Ooooooo, it is my favourite!"

"Thanks for the antler!" 

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Remember the joke off is on Friday. Be sure to come and vote.

People asked how we made out on Sunday/Monday with the storm. We got lucky and didn't get too much snow. The freezing rain did make the roads horrible and the Man turned around on his way to work and was able to work from home. [He is not a winter wimp like the Lady so it must have been really bad]. Lady had scheduled a work from home day. It was windy and cold Monday afternoon, but our power stayed on and we were safe and warm by the fire (after a crazy walk . . . .Lady is so glad she has Lee Valley icers for her boots!.

Hope everyone is safe!

Feline Friday - Guest Post

First: Congrats to everyone for knowing that humping Baggy was the untrue story. I caught her chasing him last week, but she wasn't successful.

 Now to our special guest post!

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For those of you who don't know, I am Aunt C and I have two cats, no dogs.  My cats are Panda, a 2.5 yr old black and white darling girl and Lupul, a 1.5 yr old fawn tabby boy.  We got them almost 7 months ago through the Humane Society, and they are the perfect cats for us.  They are energetic and playful, and Panda is the cuddliest girl!  They have a lot of fun chasing each other, and their favourite toys include a tunnel, a laser pointer, various cat nip mice and each other!

I had read on a blog about someone using treat puzzles made for dogs for their cats.  As a matter of fact the exact one i saw is one I got for Lee a few years ago!  Anyway.... I decided my cats needed a puzzle toy to work their brains.

I ended up finding the RawHide toy at a very good price.  The idea is that you put the treats under the cups and the cats have to get the cups off to reap the rewards.   They were very interested in the process of preparing the puzzle, as they are very interested in treats:)
Almost right away, Loopy figured it out.  He would open his mouth super wide to get around the cup, and take it off and set it down away from the toy.  Then he went back for the treat.  Panda watched carefully, but she had a different approach.  After a few times of watching Loopy, Panda realized that in the time it took him to set down the cup, she could easily swoop in and grab the treat without having to do any actual work!!

We've tried the puzzle a few more times and have determined that the treats need to be something special, not the usual Greenies, or Lupul isn't very motivated to remove the cups.  We have also determined that Panda sees absolutely no need to do any work herself, and she still gets treats. Fortunately Loopy's getting faster, so she's not stealing too many:)

Here's my pros and cons from a

cat perspective (keep in mind the toy is designed for dogs)

Pros
- easy to clean, dishwasher safe
- easy to fill, light weight and transportable, although works best for our cats on carpet
- easy to do.  Lupul figured it out super fast!
- multiple ways to get the cups out.  While Loopy uses his mouth, they could move the cups with their paws

Cons
- the cups are a bit big for cats, Loopy has to work a bit to get his mouth around them
- lots of pieces, there's 7 cups plus the base laying around my floor
- maybe a bit too easy, since he caught on so quick, despite it being the first treat puzzle we tried.

Overall, we do really enjoy it, and give it 3.5 paws out of 4.

We are back!

Hi everyone,

Aunt C thanks you all for the birthday and wedding wishes.

We had a great horrible time at camp. All we got to do was play and watch TV in our suite. It was just awful. We were all very tired when we got home and we had a big nap.  We will catch up with all of you tomorrow.

In the mean time, apparently people love weddings, so my Lady says we should share some pictures of that. Plus it is funny to feature our Aunt C and new Uncle D's wedding on a dog blog. Teehee!

Our Grammie the traitor holding a dog in the hair salon

Lady's cousin Jake walking Grammie 

Aunt C and the Big guy going for a walk

The Lady and Man. They clean up ok.

Aunt C and Uncle D. It looks like they are happy.

Feline Friday - Party Time

Baggy: "Man make sure they have a windowless cell and only get gruel."

Dear Blogville,

First, Happy Birthday to my Aunt C. She loves me Baggy the most of all the animals in this house, even if I bite her nose.

Secondly, the real party starts later this morning when Man, Lady and those stupid dogs leave. The dogs are going to jail (where I have been saying they need to go for decades), while the Lady and Man are busy with  Aunt C and soon to be Uncle D's wedding which is tomorrow.  

As I am independent man, I get to be in charge of the house while the dogs are gone.   For that time   I get to do whatever I want when I want [Editors note: This isn't really different than when we are here] and won't get sniffed by those stupid dogs. 

Aunt C, soon to be Uncle D and Lee sharing a kiss

Lady is concerned about boarding the dogs. In the 13 and a half years she has ruined my life by having dogs she has never had to board them. People would always take them or come and stay with us. This was necessary for the evilest of the dogs, Loki, who couldn't be vaccinated and therefore couldn't be boarded. But now, she has bad dogs, and the people who would likely take them are all going to the wedding, so they are going to jail. I say good on them. Lady figures Lee will be completely freaked out next week and destroy things. I say, oh well, maybe you could just leave her there.

At any rate, Lady wants me to let you all know that she will write about jail and the wedding on Sunday or Monday. She will be busy and not be blogging.  She won't tell me the computer password. She says that she needs to monitor me on the computer. 

I say, Happy Birthday Aunt C and Congratulations Aunt C and soon to be Uncle D  I think it is great that for your birthday/wedding you gave me the gift of being dog free. 

Love a very happy king of the house Baggy

Black and White Sunday and Exciting!

A bird pooped on Lee's head! It is the first really nice weekend of the year and this happened. The people can't stop laughing at it!

Exciting News:

Several months ago, our cousin Lemew, Aunt C's cat, died at the age of 17. We were all very sad about this. Aunt C said she was going to get new cats but was waiting for her wedding which is now in 2 weeks.  However, yesterday she accidentally found the purrfect new cousins for us at the Humane Society. [We aren't sure it is an accident if you are there looking at cats!]

So we are thrilled to welcome our new cousins to the pack. We can't wait to meet them!

This is Lupul, named after a hockey player keeping with that theme. He is about 1. He is very playful.

This is Princess Panda (our Lady added the Princess part cause she thinks she looks like a princess). She was named by the Humane Society. She is about 3. She is a little bit shy and is not sure how to play with Lupul yet. They have only lived together for less then a day, so we will give them time to adjust.

We are doing yard work most of the day, so we will pop by your blogs this evening.

Mollie: Lady says over the next few weeks she will share more pictures of the house. She has to take them and is lazy this morning cause she got to sleep in. Here is a picture of the outside.

Might of been the whiskey

Could have been the gin. Might of been the 3 or 4 six packs, I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in.

Lee dressed in the party colours!

This is the song Zaphod is singing this morning. He was very sick in the night and it could only be cause of the festivities last night. See, our Aunt C is getting married in 1 month. And even though we are not invited to the wedding, we thought we would help Lady throw her a party. So a bunch of girls came over and ate and laughed and played games. Then we had a big sleep over.

While Phody was really sick in the night (perhaps having sympathy for the boys who were up to we don't want to know in the city last night), I, Hailey Bug am just very tired from all the merriment.

I will write more about it later this week. I need to nap now.


PS: I am glad to see that most of you have people who need a little more training!

Race Update and Self-Promotion

We are pleased to say that our Aunt C finished her 10 k under her target time. It took her 1 hour 13 minutes and 33 seconds. Go Aunt C!

We would also like to say that Phody's story is at: http://www.fromalonetohome.com/.  So check it out!

Happy Saturday evening!

Good Luck Aunt C by Lee

Today Our Aunt C is running her first 10 k run. We are all excited and proud of her.

When she did her first 5 k 2 years ago, Gemi (who was still alive then, our Lady may keep the urns, but she doesn't take them to events) and I got to go cheer her and my Auntie Kaitlyn on.

My Lady doesn't love me anymore and I don't get to go (something about going out for lunch and errands after and me not being trustworthy alone in other homes, I don't know what she is talking about).

I will lead the cheering with Phod, Bags and Nin from afar. (I would like to run the 10 k with her!)

Go Aunt C go!

Love your Hailey Bug

Me with Gemi, Auntie Kaitlyn and Aunt C at 5 k

More Excitement - by Lee

I am very happy to announce that I will be having a new Uncle soon. Seems my Aunt C is going to marry Dustin (he will be my Uncle D). I love him already, he plays with me and feeds me more treats then I should have, so I don't see how this will change my life, but I am still excited. I hope I am asked to be a flower girl (just joking I don't like crowds or kids).

Congratulations Aunt C and future Uncle D!

I want in on this kissing - (Picture from New Years 2011)

A visit to Aunt C's

As told by Lee

The other day I got to go somewhere special, I was so excited in the car, it was somewhere new.

We got there and Aunt C was there and it was exciting but she was in my way, I needed to get into the house. 

Finally I got in and it was so exciting. There was my Grammie and the Big Guy and Dustin and Aunt C and so much to smell and search.

Then I found cousin Lemew. I was so happy to find him. He didn't want to come out. I tried to get him to come out from under the chair. I tried to get under the chair with him, but that didn't work either. Finally Aunt C got him out and he ran to the basement and I wanted to run too but my people kept stopping me. I tried to go down really slowly on my belly to see if they would not see me when I was in my stealth mode, but they caught me and brought me back upstairs. They put chairs across the basement and then Lemew came up, but he didn't want to play. It made me sad.

Lee talking to Lemew

To help with my sadness, my Lady had some new babies for me. I got to take them out of the bag. While I do love them, especially the new turtle, it was too exciting to play.

Lee opening the new babies

Aunt C had the best machine in the world. You put a cup under it and push it and fresh water came out. I tried to get some water that way, but my Lady wouldn't share and she just took me back to the pet bowl. I think I deserve to drink from the water cooler. 

I was very good and went to the door and scratched when I needed to go out.

I had so much fun sniffing and sniffing and jumping up on people and showing off my tricks. I was sad to go. I got out of my harness in the car again. I don't like being in the car in the night.  I came home and crashed and slept like the dead.

I hope I get to go back to fun places like Aunt C's again.

Editor's note: Lee was a very good girl, just a very busy and active one!