July 2014 Blog Posts (29)

I have never had a problem sleeping.  My oldest sister reads a book while she walks, can’t sit still for a minute and thinks naps are a waste of time.  We once went on a ski trip with her and her family and I felt like I was at boot camp with Jillian Michaels or the Energizer Bunny.  We would finish one activity and she would immediately want to know what we were doing next.  If I said we were going to our room to relax, she wanted to know for how long and if I gave her any kind of a…

Me: Lachlan, ummmmm, what are you doing?



Lachlan: Napping, duh.



Me: You do know that you're surrounded by more-comfortable places to nap, right?



Lachlan: M'comfortable. Shut up.



Me: You're stuck, aren't you?



Lachlan: Well ... yeah, a bit.



Me: Would you like a hand getting down?



Lachlan: If you…

Hello, Lady Belle Here, 

In my first post I filled you in on my first 2 ½ years – Life with a family, going blind, being turned in to a shelter, adoption 1 for 90 days, back to a shelter, then being rescued by my foster mom, Melissa.  I ended the post with a statement that my life was about to change again.

About this name thing. First I was called…

I know these blog posts are coming fast.  But Belle and I are trying to catch up.  Right now, her posts are about 10 days behind today.  Changes are happening so fast right now that 10 days is a big gap.  Once we’ve caught up, the posts will slow down.  For now, enjoy the ride.

In her next post, Belle will talk about her first two days in her forever home.  Blind dogs, especially those that were born with sight, go through a significant transition as they adapt.  We can help them…

Hey all, just wanted to post another photo update of Darwin! He turned 5 in May which is completely crazy to me - I can't believe it's been 5 years! In some ways he still seems so puppyish - as the photos will demonstrate. Yet in other ways he has definitely grown. Here are some of the ways he has changed and the ways he hasn't.

What hasn't changed

-He is still a complete goofball.

-He still loves all people and children.

-He is still treat…

Hello.  Lady Belle here.

I thought I’d introduce myself.  My name is Lady Belle and I am a first generation Labradoodle.  That means one of my parents was a purebred Labrador retriever and the other was a purebred Poodle.  In my case the Poodle was a Standard Poodle, so I’m a big girl, around 65 pounds.  I like to think I got my brains from the Poodle…

Part Two of Ann and Mike's  Central Coast visit

After lots of texting and phone calls we met Ann and Mike at -- where else? --

a great dog park in Morro Bay where Skip and Mike threw balls and frisbees for fetching.…

Some people recently posted about their visitor from California which was very nice and all, but if DJ had just stayed home, the visitors would have come to her!   Ann and Mike Kendig traveled from Ohio to visit the California Redwoods and central coast.  …

Background

As I write this it is Saturday, July 26, 2014.  A week ago today my wife Chari and I drove 900 miles round trip to southern Illinois to pick up our newest family member, Lady Belle, a 2 ½ year old Labradoodle rescue.  We went through an application process, had references checked and were selected to adopt her by the…

I posted this initially in Laurie's latest blog but feared the truth would get lost there.  So read Laurie's blog and then read this if you want to know what really happened.  In that blog, she spun an elaborate theory about my untrue identity as Doris Day.

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Meeting with Cheryl and Laurie was such a treat, but I confess that I worried a lot about Laurie.  She kept calling me…

Not long ago, Cheryl (and Finnegan) asked me if I would be interested in meeting DJ (and Chance), who was coming into Philadelphia.  Since I love meeting DK members and Cheryl, DJ, and I all started with Camilla’s photography classes at the same time and developed a bit of camaraderie, I was thrilled to accept the offer.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to meet the mysterious DJ?  I have long wondered about her initials and whether or not DJ was running from the law, leading some sort of double…

I want a place/ digital photo album that will chronicle Finnegan's life journey.  

I want to post pictures so that I can one day see how much he's changed. 

Also, I would have found a similar blog handy to observe the mysterious coat change doodles are so well known for:)

I hope this helps !

Right off the bat, I am going to tell you that I hate the name “alpha”.  In fact, I would go so far as to say I don’t care for the names Spanky, Darla, Buckwheat, or Porky, either.  Now, before you start yelling at me that I mean to say Alfalfa and not Alpha, I know that, but I like to open with a joke. I also know very little about The Little Rascal kids, but I am betting Alfalfa is the one with the hair that sticks up.  The reason I have deduced that is, because on several…

Last night when we arrived home from our beach trip at 10 pm and unloaded the three kids and two dogs who were covered in drool and barf, my husband (who had stayed home "to work") said, "Yeah, I'm smarter than that..." He's only limping a little this morning.  So the car sickness has not improved with age... the Dramamine, the crates and the other things we have tried do not seem to help consistently either.  We have some meds from the vet which any sane person would have…

I am jumping on the bandwagon and hoping to get a blog in edgewise.

Have you ever had one of those weeks that if you had to go back and do it again you absolutely wouldn’t?  Well, this has been my week and I would like to exchange it for a better week.  In the scheme of things, it wasn’t any one moment that made it bad, but a series of annoyances that have added up and because I rarely suffer in silence, I am going to share it here.  I love going to the movies, but at times…

If you have steps at one end of your pool, a good training tip is to have one person at the steps and then introduce the dog (Sully the foster goldendoodle in this case) to the deep end of the pool and call the dog over to the steps.  That way the dog will quickly find that the water is shallow at the steps and it can rest there between swims or more easily get out of the pool.  Of course, some dogs will find the steps on their own but it is better to be safe than sorry!…

Milton made the berry picking cut yesterday, and he was oh so giddy about it!  My sister and her boys did not join, which means Milton was in because the littlest boy does not quite see all of our goldendoodle's "charms," like sloppy kisses, protective barks, and clean-up licks.  I am confident that the Milt will win him over by summer's end -- He tends to have a downright happy effect on most people.…

Belly breeze.  Soft tummy hair fluttering.  A comfy door mat and warm sunshine mixed with a light wind from the open screen door. 

Ultimate relaxation

Belly…