Happy Belated Gotcha Day

 Yesterday we celebrated 1 year with Tigris and Styx. It is hard to believe it has been one year already. They arrived between the loss of Hailey and Zaphod, and while our hearts still ache, it would have been impossible to survive that 6 week period without them. They bring us joy, laughter and love.

Happy Gotcha Day!

Then

Tigris

Styx

Now

Tigris

Styx

Almost 11 Year Years With Hailey

Saturday is Hailey's 11th Gotcha Day. Our lives have been an adventure since our anxious, independent, determined, sweet, whirlwind blasted into our lives and hearts. Next week will also mark 11 years of blogging. Without our girl, we would not be part of an amazing community and have made wonderful friends. One never knows where life will take you!

I think it is truly fair to say Lee is living her best life. Man works at home all the time still (and likely will for a long time). She is rarely alone. She has more off leash privileges (mainly because she has slowed down a little but she is also listening more). She has a routine she likes, this includes Sunday morning pancakes. 

To Hailey! 

May you have many more sunny days! 

Nature Friday - The Field Spot It and A Celebration

The grass is really long in the field now in places it is nearly as tall as Lady. This means the wildlife can hid.

Lady and Man play spot it before we are allowed in. Sometimes they do spot things like the next 2 pictures show.

For Bertie - see we have the same burrs on this side of the pond too! 

Thanks to Rosy for hosting Nature Friday!

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Now for the Man of the Hour. Happy 9th Gotcha Day Dear Phod!

Wordless Wednesday - 9th Gotcha Day Squishes!

Happy 7th Gotcha Day Phod!

The picture of Phod from the rescue

Lady's new favourite picture of him (shared last week, but he looks so happy!)

Seven Fun Facts About Phod:

1. He is a farty dog and they make our eyes water.

2. He gets really scared when the power goes out.

3. To get people to pet him he stands beside them and leans in.

4. He takes his time picking which Precious to take out today and always counts them when he has to put one away. 

5. He is a Lady's boy (he loves the Man, but he loves his Lady).

6. He is quiet and unassuming, sort of the opposite of his namesake. 

7. Most nights as soon as I go to brush my teeth he runs to the bed and gets in my space. He smiles when I tell him he has to move! He knows he is being funny. (Note: he doesn't sleep on the bed, he prefers the floor or a dog bed). 

Happy Gotcha Day!

Today marks 8 years, since Miss Hailey Bug entered our lives and everything changed.  I wouldn't have Phod. I may not live in the house I do (her needs were highly considered when moving 6 years ago). I wouldn't walk almost daily. I wouldn't have a blog. I wouldn't have met blog friends and traveled to Indiana, Oregon and Scotland. I fear my life would be boring. Lee is many things, but boring is not one of them.

Lee is now the oldest dog we have every had at 8 years and 8 months. While she is calming down in her older age, she still has the same stubborn, feisty, loving, spunk she had when we met her. Good things evolve, they don't totally change! 

To mark the day, we had a celebration yesterday (as it was Labour Day in Canada). We also celebrated Phod's 6th Gotcha Day which occurred on August 6 while we were traveling the world. It was a hot one, with some thunderstorms. I had planned on baking some cookies, but it was too hot.  Instead, they got a special treat, found in the cupboard. 

While they were not homemade, both the dogs seemed to love them. Overall, our day of celebrations were a good one.

We are very lucky to have such wonderful pups in our lives!

Happy 7th Gotcha Day Hailey

Looking serious in her 7th Day Portrait taken Friday

7 years ago today an enthusiastic, energetic 8 month old puppy bounced into our lives. It is fair to say life hasn't been the same since. Without her there would be no blog, no blog friends, no scars on my arms and no stories about destroyed items. There would likely be no Phod. Life would look completely different without our girl who is the best of dogs and the worst of dogs rolled into one!

Happy, happy Gotcha Day Hailey Bug! We wish you at least 7 more!

To celebrate, yesterday I made her cheesy bake-a-bone.

Served to her on her bed in the dining room. 

Shared with Phod

and cousin Emma (who was visiting with Uncle Chris as on Saturday we celebrated Uncle Chris' birthday). 

The princess Lee loved having her treats in bed. She wonders why she doesn't get this service every day!

Happy 5th Gotcha Day Phod

5 reasons we love our Phod:

1.  He is a jokester - He likes to do things like jump into bed into your spot and smile and laugh as you try and move him.

2. He always counts his balls aka Precious' when he is putting one away to make sure they are all there.

3. He is very gentle and friendly.

4. Playing fetch (with Precious or in the house or in the lake) makes him so happy you can't help but smile.

5. He loves a good cuddle and generally leaves a lot of fur on you!

Happy Gotcha Day Phod! We are so lucky to have you as part of our family.

Happy Gotcha Day Hailey Bug!

Tomorrow is 6 years since Hailey bounced her way into our lives and hearts and September 8th will mark 6 years of blogging.

The past 6 years have been filled with ups and downs, joys and heartbreaks, learning and love. Today we celebrate our girl, the good, the bad and the ugly, but the never boring.

Happy 6th Gotcha Day Lee!

First day home 2010

2011

2012

2013 - This toy is still around! 

2014

2015

Celebrating Phod's Gotcha Day - The Not Fun Part

The reason were had to be in the city on Saturday was because it was time for Phod's annual check up. Our vet works one Saturday a month and Phod's Gotcha Day happened to be that Saturday.

Can we go now?

We went in for a run at the pit before heading over.

Phod was less nervous than usual. Maybe because he was tired or maybe because the Man and Hailey were there too.

There was some sort of mix up on our appointment time. I am not sure if it was my end or theirs but we showed up 30 minutes early. Fortunately, our vet was able to see us right away.

Phod weighs about the same - 75 lbs. The vet said he looked excellent. His ears look great (he does have issues with ear infections), his teeth are fine, his muscles and conditioning are awesome. The vet gave his back end a close inspection as we have noticed some stiffness sometimes. The vet's guess is he has some arthritis. But given it is just a little stiffness that goes away, he suggests for the time being we do nothing but watch and wait. We can do things like not over exercising him, but that is all. If we notice he is really suffering we will take a more serious look at this.

Phod was a champ at getting his shots. Hailey was very helpful trying to push Phod away so she could get the cookies the vet had in his hands. It was amusing.

The pictures from yesterday were the 2 of them sharing the seat. When we got close to the city, Hailey pushed Phod off the seat. Phod wanted to see so he got back on and stood over her. After the vet (not pictured) Phod took up the whole back seat and Lee sat on the floor. They were happy, no one was sick, so it worked for me!

I think despite the trip to the vet, Phod had a great Gotcha Day!

Celebrating Phod's Gotcha Day - The Fun Part

I can't believe it has been 4 years since our handsome boy ended up in our house. He is the gentlest and sweetest of our 4 dogs (love them all, but he is by far the easiest). I believe we hit the jackpot with him.

To celebrate his special day, and because we had to go to the city, we thought we would take him to Bruce Pit. I have mentioned this before, but to jog non-local's memories, Bruce Pit is a former quarry turned huge off leash dog walking trails. 

The pups had a great time running and playing and sniffing. 

Phod looks like he is trotting! 

My handsome, happy boy! 

Lee knows there are treats for coming back

Synchronized sniffing - an event for a future pawlympics?

Running

Hailey running back - one of my favourite sights in the world! 

Hailey getting more treats

Uncle Chris and Emma joined us

Cooling off in the sand

Having a drink - Phod must have been hot as he usually doesn't like the water bottle

At the communal watering hole

Phod was so tired when we got home, he really didn't even want to play fetch several hours later.

On Thursday we will talk about the not so fun part!