February 2012 Blog Posts (78)

Gratitude -…

I walk my dogs every morning.  Lately, my neighbor has been walking with me and has taken to calling Fudge her part time dog. She loves both my dogs, but usually walks Fudge and I walk Vern.  All I have to say to Fudge and Vern is, “let me call Rhonda,” and the dogs race happily to the door.  We drive to the nearby State Park and until the campers show back up in April, we have the entire park almost to ourselves.  Because they also allow hunting in the park, we stay off the paths in…

Harley EATS grass!

Harley ENJOYS eating grass!

Harley EATS grass REGULARLY!

I don’t know about you, but I remember being told that “dogs eat grass because they’re ill, and it makes them vomit, then they feel better.” Never made much sense to me, but then I didn’t own a dog back then either.

Harley comes along, and somewhere between his second summer season and Leo’s arrival in the fall, he…

Thanks for the great welcome! I have already learned a lot from reading things on this site. I just wish that I had known some of it sooner! My Bella is 5 years old now and I can't  begin to tell you how confused I was when she lost her puppy coat. I have had other dogs in my life but I didn't understand what was happening or what to do! I plan on getting another puppy soon. I will do better this time!

We rescued Angelina from a Los Angeles shelter on Valentine's Day.  She had been wandering the streets as a stray!  Usually, our rescue Maltese have to be just about clipped down to the skin because they are such bad shape.  However, although Angelina was dirty and somewhat matted; Judy managed to save her coat.  This was a nice Valentine gift for us and an even better one for this darling little girl. …

... it's pretty dang terrific!  Awhile back, I donated to the Doodle Rescue Collective - they are the wonderful folks who do so much to make sure that abandoned (often sick and/or abused) doodles find perfect forever homes.  DRC was having a drawing, and even though "I never win anything", I actually won!!!  And what a fabulous collection of goodies - perfect for a doodle and her "mommy".  Leashes, a clicker, poop bags, a treat tote, pet bowl cleaner, picture frame, dog blanket, DRC mouse…

So I had a stomach virus ALL WEEKEND long.  I stayed home from work yesterday to recuperate and minimize my risk of infecting anyone else. 

I was feeling better, cuddled up on the couch with Peri at my feet and Tacky the chihuahua on my lap under the blanket. 

Please note the blanket was a purchase from our Ireland trip - cashmere, just my favorite luxury item in the house basically.

I am drifting off when I hear the gag reflex from Tacky.  He…

Dear Duncan:

You are my Furry Valentine. I love when you rest your head on my lap.

and I love when you play with your cute little doodle butt in the air

and I love how you stretch those legs back in the morning…

When Sir Riley is ready for bed/crate at night, pretty easy task normally!   When I put him to bed, he just immediately heads for his crate when let in from his nightly duties.  When my wife does it, she always gives him a small biscuit before closing and locking him up for the night.  Wife always asks me, " Did you give him his treat?".  My response has been, he does'nt need one!. 

Well apparently Riley thinks differently.  Over the course of time, Riley knows if Julie puts…

Toby will be going to a perfect furever home on Friday.  We definitely wanted a family who was used to having dogs around because Toby is occasionally a bit puppy naughty and is always vivacious.  We wanted a family that had a yard beause Toby has lots of energy and we also wanted a family with kids - Toby will have a ten year old human brother and a twelve year old human sister.  He will also have two dog buddies to play with.

His new mom's mother has a labrador cross and a…

Recently, I did a blog about my mom attending a Neil Diamond concert in Cleveland, which has landed me in hot water with my mother.   

http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/blogs/transport-needed-to-get-85-year-old-woman-across-two-states-for-a

As I do with all my mom blogs, I sent her a copy and went about my business.  Today, I spoke with her on the phone…

We bought our house for a great price because it came with an unfinished basement.  We are now renovating it and we've come to the point where we have to pick paint and furniture colours.  We've already purchased laminate wood flooring (beech), which closely matches the hardwood in the rest of the house. 

Here is the basement as it is now (about to put in sub-flooring)…

Just before Christmas, with Finn 8 months old and on my last nerve, my neighbor's daughter came to visit. (Her dad is in Baton Rouge, very ill, and she was here to spend a month or so taking care of him. Her dog died in May and I had actually sent her a photo of Finn, but the timing wasn't right.)  Without any intent on my part, Jeanne met Finn and fell in love. Her husband wasn't here, so she wasn't sure of his response. Also, she has a 10 year old Maine Coon that had to weigh in. I…

Oh, and so is her momma!  It has been a rough 3-1/2 months since I found out that my DH (and I no longer mean dear) wanted to continue his life without me.  I had just started a new job and was in a town we had relocated to because of his job.

My dream house (had built on a golf course) has been up for sale for the past 3 months...getting some action on it now and I am praying it sells soon.  Many people have said they wanted to buy it, but they had a house to sell first. …

As a relative newbie to reading blogs and forums like DK, I was perplexed by the shorthand being used by the veteran bloggers.  Their pieces are inundated with mysterious abbreviations like OMD. 

So I finally decided to look these up on the internetslang.com website.  What a RELIEF it is to know that OMD doesn't mean On My Deathbed, but rather Oh My Days.  And DH?  Not Daft Hypocrite at all, but Darling Husband.  Now I don't know if I would call my husband darling.  He is great, and…

I am seeing and hearing all about doodles in the news this week.

Sadly there was an accident that killed eleven people and left three fighting for their lives near our community. They had a segment on the news about the driver of one of the vehicles and he was killed on his way to his eleventh wedding anniversary. His neighbors were interviewed and were talking about what a great guy he was and how often he spent time with his two Labradoodles! I don't know if they were on this site…

When your child starts school  – especially pre-school, or kindergarten, you “live” to hear the teacher tell you that little Jason “really knows his colors” or Samantha “can count all the way to 10!” This will go on until your child is able to articulate their own activities, adventures, pitfalls, and whether or not they ate their lunch.

Believe it or not, if you take a four legged child to “doggie daycare” you secretly want to know pretty much the…

My title might be misleading because it looks like I bought Fudge and Vern a Valentine’s Day gift.  I adore my dogs, but I don’t consider them my sweethearts, so getting them an expensive Food Dehydrator for a romantic holiday seems like something that could get me booked on the Maury Povich show.  I would hate to be the first one in my family that winds up on a talk show discussing with Maury what I think are The Ten Most Romantic Gifts You Can Give Your Dog, because someone…

I feel like I haven't been here in FOREVER! It has been a crazy/busy month with school (and moving!)-Eric and I just bought a new house- which needs a TON of work (water damage, UGH), so we can't move in just yet. We rented out our old house, so Jack and I are at the summer condo in Okoboji until we get the new house fixed. It's so nice here (and quiet!), and Jack LOVES it....especially not having to have leash on during our walks! It's a ghost town here during the winter so we can pretty…

Two of Holly's Maltese buddies had upset tummies last night and vomited.  Nothing serious, they are perfectly O.K. now.  Holly woke us up by whining to let us know that here friends were sick.  Now that's a great friend!