Meet Helen

For those of you that were trouble by my loss of George and Weezy and thought I would be despondent by their departure, I wanted to let you know that a new companion (of sorts) has presented itself to me.

Meet Helen.  I tried to make the picture too big and freak everyone out.  But she is substantial.  And has decided to park herself right at eye level outside my office window.

So no need to worry.  I am not alone.

And Tom is living on the gate to our fence, just a few feet to Helen’s right in this picture.

For those of you not getting the whole naming protocol that exists here, I suggest you brush up on your 1970’s television.

More Bark for my Buck

So the dogs went to daycare today. It is cleaning day and it is just easier for the dogs to be there, than here.  And we all know about Solo and his 4pm temper tantrums.  Well, I just happened to look at the dogs on the camper cams around 4:15 and do you know what I saw?  Solo.  BARKING.  So if he is doing the same exact thing there that he would do here, what is the point?  That I don’t have to listen to him.  THEY can have more BARK for my BUCK!  Hahahaha.

Future Kong Testers

I bought the dogs new toys yesterday.  I found a Kong that squeaks and figured, Kong’s are pretty indestructible.  So why not give it a try?  There was a red stick (seen here).  And a green bone (seen here).

They were SO happy to see new toys.  Who wouldn’t be.  It lasted less than an hour.

First, the stick was the one everyone wanted.  Then Annabelle took over the bone, so of course Solo wanted that as well.  And within 45 minutes, the green bone squeaked no more.

After that, Solo was very territorial about the stick and wouldn’t let Annabelle play with it.  And kept taking it away from her.  So now, I am hiding the stick to eliminate any issues.

I should submit some of the photo’s and stories to the Kong Company and see if we can get these two set up as toy testers!!!!

Thundershirt Update

Up till yesterday, my review of the Thundershirt (see original post here) was going to be a strong review of how the shirt is a thunderstorm deterrent.  Every time we had a storm right on top of us, I would put the Thundershirts on the dogs and the storm would magically disappear.  I thought it was pretty cool, the way it could control the weather like that.

Until yesterday.  A massive hurricane managed to miss us completely and yet a small thunderstorm popped up yesterday and gave us some much needed rain.  I put the shirts on the dogs.    Solo climbed right back on the couch and continued his nap.  He is not completely freaked by storms however, until Annabelle freaks out.

Annabelle, rocking her shirt the way only she can, climbed up on the couch and lay down.  This is an improvement in several ways.  Normally, she would begin by pacing around the house, looking scared.  Next comes the panting.  Then she would typically find a hiding spot.  Downstairs, that means by the bathroom door or in the kitchen.  Upstairs is in front of my dresser.  So the fact that she stayed on the couch seems to be some level of improvement.  She did still have a look of mild fear about her, but wasn’t panting, pacing or hiding.

I will continue to try the shirts whenever a storm present itself.  And, according to the materials that came with it, once in a while for no reason at all.  This is to ensure that the dogs don’t associate wearing the shirts with the storms.  And Michael, always loving my out-there purchases, did comment that no matter what they did for the anxiety, they would make EXCELLENT shirts to keep them warm on their cold, winter walks.

Solo’s tantrum

I recorded about 3o seconds of Solo’s 30 minute tantrum yesterday.  But when I tried to post it, it wouldn’t go.  And you should all thank me.  Because even 30 seconds can seem like a lifetime.  He wanted his play buddy, he wanted attention, he wanted my seat.  Eventually he wore himself out.  But it is hard to stay mad at a face like this.

Today is a whole new day.  Obviously, the morning walk is not always the best indicator of how the overall day is going to go. He is still asleep on the couch.   I walked both dogs around 2pm, just in time to beat the school buses.  And he still pitched a fit.  But it was at 6:15 instead of 4:15.

At least he ate breakfast and dinner.  I think I will spend some time looking for new dog toys and games while I am doing my volunteer cat duty at PetsMart tonight.