Dog Gone Wednesday

Always one to jump on the bandwagon, especially if the said bandwagon is pretty, I decided to order some Just Dog Gone Cute collars for the dogs and cats at the Allen County SPCA as well as for a special new Foster Parent.  I love how eye-catching they are and adding the "Adopt Me" ribbon is even better.

Kelly was so great to work with, keeping me in the loop every step of the way about my order status, etc, and accomodating the need for two shipping destinations.

My boys are definitely NOT adoptable, just modeling for Mama

 I do admit that I had the shelter's box sent to my house just so I could ooh an ahh over the contents before delivering them.  I also took that opportunity to have a mini photo shoot.

Dola and Max have both been adopted, but look at how cute they are.

I'm really excited to see if these will attract some positive attention at Outreach events.  Have you tried these fancy collar accessories yet?

Learning Experience

This is a post I’ve held while debating on whether or not to let it go “live.”, the day it happened, I knew we’d have to tell the story, but each time I thought about it, my stomach wound into knots.  What if it we aren’t able to articulate it as a positive?  What if the words are regurgitated in a negative way?  I even considered editing a bit, but in the end, it is what it is and too many people I talk to don't understand that a growl is a good thing.  What if, what if, what if…
But the bottom line is, it happened, we recognized it and can even be that much better  to have had the experience and since Asia was there, she has decided to tell the story.

It all happened so quickly that afterwards I almost thought it was a dream. My heart was pounding as I held my daughter close. I’m an overprotective Mom.  Even my own mom teases me about it being a wonder that I made it to the age I am since I sometimes give her “suggestions” when she is watching Baby, but I can’t help it. 

I think all dog owners with small children worry about an incident happening and we did a lot of work with a trainer in anticipation of Baby’s arrival. When I was pregnant I had no idea how Ray would react to a baby and because he was such a high maintenance puppy, I prepared myself for the worst, but in my heart I knew our loving Ray-Ray would be gentle with her. He might be confused with her arrival, since HE was the baby of the house but I knew he would learn and grow to love her, after all, we were prepared.

 

Ray mostly hangs out in the kitchen and living room area, but Baby and I have been spending more and more time with him in there as well as him roaming the house freely. Baby was sitting on the floor while I was sitting above her on the couch and Ray was lying on the floor near us. Any time Baby starts to crawl towards Ray; I pick her up and redirect her. He gets nervous easily and I don't want to push their relationship too fast. This time I wasn't quick enough. I looked away for a second, and Baby had crawled over to Ray who was licking a sore spot on his back leg. I stood up to get the baby, and in that same moment she grabbed his leg and Ray jumped up and made a sound; a growl and bared his teeth. I picked Baby up and we were both shaken. I smacked Ray's butt and yelled "bad!"  (I know, I know!) Then I left the room as he slinked under the kitchen table, his safe spot.

Ray did not touch her and he would not have even if I didn't pick her up. He had been startled and I knew that he was just giving her a warning, "My legs are sensitive and you pushed my limit" but it scared me, obviously. Afterwards I called my mom and she explained that it was a good sign that he showed this warning. By him doing that it helps us know what his boundaries are. He was not trying to hurt the baby; he just wanted to ask her not to do that. I went back in the kitchen with the baby and saw Ray lying on his mat under the table looking sad. I felt horrible. I shouldn't have yelled at him, because really what he did wasn't bad at all. I got a treat and coaxed him out of his safe zone; pet him and let him give the baby a kiss.  I'm thankful that my mom has done a tremendous job training Ray and that he is so loving and patient with the baby.  Our cats are extremely patient with her as well; I couldn't ask for more from them. 

Yes, what happened shocked and scared me, but after the fact it was a great Learning Experience.
I'm glad Ray shows us signs and that he didn't bite or hurt her in any way.  Some dogs would skip the warning and do harm first and I know that we want him to continue to show us his limits and I know to allow him his space.
As a new mom and new part-dog owner, I encourage people that are introducing a baby to a pet to take it slow and be patient.  You can't expect the animal to understand right away what you want.  And you also can't expect the baby or small child to know how to treat a dog.  As my daughter grows up I look forward to teaching her how to treat all animals the right way; with care, caution, and respect.  Animals are not toys and they deserve to be treated like a human being, in my opinion.

Sickie Poo

You know how karma has a way of putting you in your place?  Yeah, well sometime last week, I had started to feel kind of burnt, overwhelmed and discouraged so in my mind, I declared that Saturday was going to be Selfish Saturday.  I planned to sleep late and cuddle with Ray, get a pedicure and not clean the house -at least in the morning. 

While I had my hedonistic morning, something else happened and if you follow him on Facebook you already know;  Ray got sick.  He starting throwing up in the early afternoon and every few hours throughout the evening, once overnight, again a few times on Sunday.  I was starting to feel a bit panicked because he only ate half of his breakfast on Saturday morning, refused food all the rest of the day-even the boiled chicken and rice I made him.  Thankfully he still drank water and ate ice chips to keep hydrated.  Also, Ray usually smells like nothing and I could smell sick-dog smell on him. 

 

The really cute and somewhat sad thing about Ray is that he hates to throw up in the house.  He runs to the door and stands there, waiting to be let out.  He actually seems to hold it as long as possible until he can go out to a good spot.  Everytime we missed the signal or overnight, there was a bit of vomit by the door.  What really started frightening me was when he vomited on his foot and didn't even seem to mind. 

I think he probably ate something that disagreed with his tummy and after thinking and talking about all the possibilities, we feel it was a certain one of his treats, which we will obviously no longer give him. Finally Sunday afternoon he ate his chicken and rice with a little kibble and acted like he was regaining some strength.  By Sunday evening he was acting a bit more playful and even begging for a taste of my sorbet and this morning my happy wiggle butt was back.

Thanks for all the good healing thoughts and wishes you all sent over the interwebs.  We really appreciated all your kind words.

Feline Friday

With some good "leave it" training, some sturdy gates and a lot of praise for "doing the right thing," Ray now (for the most part) has very little interest in our kitties.  Though the kitties show varying degrees of interest in him which manifests itself in unique ways.

Jae spends most of his time on top of hte table that Ray sleeps under.  He is the one who walks anywhere he wants, drinks from dips his piggies in Ray's water bowl, and steals kibble.  They can pass each other in the hallway without so much as a "how ya doin'" to each other because Jae has learned that a moving cat is FUN to chase and a stationary cat isn't even worth the effort of nodding to.

Miko is our largest and youngest cat.  As Asia mentioned, Miko is our Inspector.  Everything has to be just so and follow the rules of Miko.  If the gate is open and Ray is laying on his mat, Miko will sit on "his" side of the gate feeling as if he is in the safety zone.  He can talk and meow at Ray to his heart's content because whether or not the gate is open, Miko is on the right side.  He will also venture into Rayville and steal kibble, sit by the garage door and whine (the garage is "outside" to Miko) or just generally sit in the choice sunspots as long as Ray is out of Miko's sightline.  When Ray is moving about the house, Miko tends to hug the walls behind furniture and keep a clear path.

That's 9 lbs of Boo Kitty and 20 lbs of Miko.

Boo Kitty is our oldest and smallest cat and she used to have a best friend.  Our dog Bam Bam (Baa Baa) was Boo Kitty's friend, guardian, and cherished companion until Bam Bam when to the bridge.  Boo Kitty feels it is her bound duty to remind Ray at every opportunity that he is 'not the Baa Baa.' 
Recently, Ray was laying in the living room on the sofa and behind the coffee table.  Boo Kitty enters the room walking on the opposite side of the table, see's Ray, hisses, doubles back to stand in front of him and hisses again, you know...just in case he didn't get the first message.

She definitely has some chutzpah.  Who is your bravest fur baby?

Walk This Way

Asia has graciously offered up another post!

When Ray comes upstairs with me, he always has to reach the top first. No matter if I'm ahead of him the whole way until the last two stairs, he always pushes his big butt past me to win. I told my mom this and she said, "I'm not surprised, you are the same way." And really, I am. Ray and I are lot alike, as well as my cat Miko is a lot like Ray and me.


Ray and I are both completely in love with our mommy, and sometimes all we want is her attention. Just being around her makes us feel happy. We will follow her around, and wait for her to get home. Ray is very calm most of the time, as am I, but we both also get so worked up sometimes that we can't calm down. Me, while playing soccer and him while playing with his toys. I've found that Ray is a great opponent in soccer, and I enjoy playing with him.

When we got my cat Miko, he was just a baby and since we had two other cats he lived in my room with me for the first week or so. Everything in the house belongs to Miko, and if we get something new he is our inspector. I am very much the same way in everything is "mine, mine, mine!" Sometimes as a joke, but most of the time I am serious.

This makes me wonder, when our pets are born do they already have their own personality, or do their humans influence how they act? Do any of your pets act like you, and how so?

Your Words on Wednesday

We've been scarce here and I thank you for your patience.  Like I mentioned before I have several post ideas in my head and even some started in draft but not published yet.  We've been busy trying to figure out how to get our Glamour Girl adopted and sharing some other great adoptable dogs as well. 

We thought we'd leave the creativity to you on this fine Wednesday.  What do you think is on Ray's mind today?

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

If you follow us on Facebook, then you've already seen this picture of Miss Glamour.

Beautiful girl

I was fortunate enough to escort her to Prom the Petco National Adoption Weekend.  But that wasn't all!  Asia was able to volunteer at this event as well, so I got to spend the afternoon with two Glamour girls.

Glam squad

I actually got the option to take either Glamour or Casper and opted for our gal to help get her more exposure.  Casper has had some good interest, but so far no one has shown much intererst in Miss G. so I was hoping that we could light that spark. She is definitely a little firecracker and as the minutes ticked by I fell more and more for this little gal. 

Miss Glamour

She definitely attracted a lot of attention with her sparkling personality and super soft hair and  I was happy to get to spend a significant amount of time with her to see how she reacts away from the kennels.  This little miss wanted all the squeaky toys for herself and even darted in for the steal when her companions walked away from their toys. By the end of the event the score was Glamour 6 -Squeaky toys 0. 

We also had the pleasure of Casper's company.  This chill guy was a fan of the obligatory adoption event bully stick and won over many fans with his shiny brindle fur and laid back friendliness.

Casper

It's been a little while since I've done an event like this and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do this one and especially so since it was with Asia and Glamour. 

If you know anyone in our area who is interested in this spunky little diva, please have them visit her at the Allen County SPCA.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented on Friday.  Your stories and comments really put a smile on my face and warmed my heart.