dog

Sleeping in Stereo

Normally Toby likes sleeping in his kennel.  He even has a performance he puts on when he wants to go in at night.  For some reason, last night was an exception.  He cried and whined as soon as the lights were turned out.  I opened his door to see what he wanted.  He didn’t go to his dish.  He didn’t go to the door.  Instead, he ran to the bedroom where Geordie was sleeping in the laundry.

Toby isn’t usually allowed in the bedroom because he is still young enough to be a destructive force of nature, but last night I made an exception.  While Toby fussed and investigated all the corners, I decided to leave for a few minutes and let him figure things out on his own.  When I came back, I found this:

Cairn terrier sleeping on bedroom floor.He had found some lap blankets and made a little bed for himself.

Geordie was less than thrilled to have The Usurper in his own private room.  (Geordie and I have arguments over whose room it really is.)  He huffed and puffed and made discontented noises all night to let me know he was not happy.

Life’s the same

We’re sleeping in stereo

Life’s the same

Except for the toots.

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Don’t forget, if you still have any Amazon gift cards from the holidays, a copy of Poopiter would make a great gift for yourself!

 

Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

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And So It Begins

For the final act of 2018, Toby managed to get into the bathroom and grab not just the end of the toilet paper but the whole roll.  “Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw” went the Toby.

And how did 2019 begin?  With Toby throwing up in his bed at 4:00 a.m. “Yark, yark, yark,” went the Toby.  But, dog puke is auspicious, isn’t it?

And so begins our new year….

Spitting Cottonballs

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Did you get an Amazon gift card for Christmas?  Then consider ordering a copy of Poopiter for yourself!

Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

Poopiter tells the illustrated tales of my boys during their first year together.  Sure to bring a smile to your face!

 

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The Closet (The Coat)

I had though that the season change was off to an auspicious start when I was able to repair a purse for under $0.50.  Surely this was a sign of good things to come!  Not.

A quick perusal of other Winter gear showed a coat with definite cold spots.  OK, it is at least 12 or 13 years old.  Surely I could at least think about possibly finding a new one?  Maybe one with a hood?

Thinking is about as far as you can go these days about new things.  With all of the talk I hear about the flourishing economy and American-made pride, I thought I would be overwhelmed with great choices.  Choices yes, but certainly not great ones.

Anyone who lives up north knows the value of a warm coat.  Sadly now I do too.  It is approximately a mortgage payment.  I had always been lucky enough to find something at an outlet store, but there don’t seem to be any around here anymore.

A check online showed that not only are coats super expensive, but for some reason every manufacturer has decided that current coats must a) be very form-fitting and b) have a zippered turtleneck.  Models demonstrate the coats’ attributes while wearing stilettos and nothing else.  Really?  Are we supposed to be wearing our down coats over cocktail dresses?  What happened to dressing in layers?  How are you supposed to fit a wool sweater under one of those?  I find this level of stupidity very frustrating.

And then there’s zippered turtlenecks.  That is all you can find.  I loathe zippered turtlenecks.  They catch on your hair.  They catch on your earrings.  They constantly poke you in the face.  Seriously?  No one could think to buck the trend and place a zipper to the collar bone then a snap-closed insulated collar?  Even if I could afford a coat I would either have to hate it as-is or commit surgery and void its warranty.

So, my unfortunate puppies are closet orphans for another week as I try to once again fix what I have.  Toby enjoys going through my fabric bin with me and pulling out different insulators trying to find something to help.  If I can’t find anything, maybe I’ll just stuff him in there.  After all, my boys are always bragging about how warm their fur is.

Cairn terrier pup standing in snow.

My fur is warm.  N’yah, n’yah, n’yah!

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Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Poopiter!

  Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

Available at Amazon.  Makes a great holiday gift!

 

 

 

 

 

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Not Cool, Mom!

Sketch of Cairn terrier dog.

Seriously, you chose this picture?!?

When Geordie saw the picture of Toby I posted on the blog, he insisted that I put a picture of him up next.  For some reason he is unhappy about this one.

This is a draft of one of the pictures in his (and Toby’s.  Don’t tell him Toby is in the book too) next book.  Although I have been working on it for a year, it feels like I am never going to get done.

This book is filled with so many memories for me.  It has also been a great opportunity for me to learn more about working with digital media.  At the rate I am going, though, I will die of oldness long before I ever get done.

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To read some of Bitey and Toby’s already finished adventures, pick up a copy of Poopiter.

Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

Poopiter is available at Amazon.  It would make a great Christmas gift for the dog lover in your life!

 

 

 

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How Do You Live With A Dog On Steroids?

A tired woman brushes her itchy dog at night.

Last week Geordie had an appointment with the vet, and she gave him steroids to help with the full-body itchies he gets at this time of year.  I thought this would be a great thing – my boy would finally stop nagging me because he was miserable and didn’t know what to do about it.  Maybe we could both get some sleep!

And yet, no.  Instead we have substituted one misery for another.  The steroids have given Geordie an appetite beyond belief.  He spends all day squeaking at me to give him  biscuits.  He’ll take kibble or table food, but he wants biscuits.  Milk Bones, Liva’ Snaps, Marrow Bones…it doesn’t matter.  He’ll eat them all.  Literally.

An unexpected side effect from Geordie’s steroids is that Toby is gaining weight.  Why?  Is he getting into Geordie’s meds?  No, but every time I feed Geordie, I need to give Toby something to preserve equity in the house.  Even if I only give Toby one piece of kibble, Geordie eats so often that my little Toby has turned into a butterball.  Today I made him go for a long walk around the neighborhood until he flopped down on the pavement in surrender.  We’re going to need a lot of those before the weight comes off.

Fat dog thinks angry thoughts.

Whatchoo talking’ ’bout?  I’m not fat!

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If the Bee Stings

A very sick little dog.

Is this the saddest little face or what?

My poor little boy had a rough weekend.  He started it out by stepping on a bee.  I watched him for symptoms like difficulty breathing, swelling, hives and excessive drooling, but he didn’t have any of these.  What I didn’t realize was the tiredness and soft poos he was having were signs of a reaction bad enough that he should see a vet.  (I was blaming the tiredness on Benedryl.)

Should your pup come out the loser in an encounter with a bee, first remove the stinger.  (The pup will not like this.)  Then put a baking soda paste on the wound.  (The pup will not like this.)  Apply ice to help with the pain.  (The pup will not like this).  Then give a Benedryl.  (The pup will really like this if you wrap it in peanut butter!)

Along with the Benedryl, I gave my boy some of the topical cortisone spray I keep on hand for his hot spots.  It isn’t as strong as what the vet would have given him, but it did seem to bring him a bit of relief.

Be safe around those bees this Summer!

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Flashback Friday

Can you find the puppy hidden in this picture?

Carn terrier puppy hiding under a chair.

When Bitey was little, this was his favorite hiding space…until he got too big and needed help getting back out.  Wasn’t he an adorable itty bitty beast?

In instances like these, I try to envision non-linear time.  What might it be like to have your little dog with you as a puppy and a senior and every step in between simultaneously?  I suppose we have that with memory, but to us the points of time don’t fall together but are strung apart.  I imagine that in the world beyond this one, time is non-linear.

I guess we won’t need Flashback Fridays then!   : – )

 

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Guess Where I Went?

To the museum!

Friends will know that I have been wanting to visit the museum for a very long time, and yesterday I finally did.  I wanted something by which to remember my trip, and I picked this little guy to come home with me.

Triceratops pendats from a visit to the museum.

A lot of the gifts in the gift shop were handmade by crafts persons in countries with struggling economies.  I thought this was a great partnership.  When I found this tiny hand carved triceratops made of tiger’s eye, I simply had to have him (or her).

Foolish me, I didn’t realize that there were different types of triceratops.  In movies, they always seem to look the same.  In reality the horns weren’t always spaced the same, and some had curved horns or narrow faces.  It was interesting to see the different types of skulls side by side.

I was only gone for a few hours, and when I got home I immediately grabbed my pups’ leashes and let them out of their kennels for a potty break.  Geordie refused to come and yelled at me that he was very angry at my stupidity!  Stupidity?  What did I do wrong?  Well, it turns out that the first thing he wanted was a drink, not to go outside.  Toby would simply have walked to the water bowl and had a drink before heading outside, but Geordie had to make a point of telling me how stupid I was.

I am glad terriers don’t come with horns.

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Watch Out, Peppermint!

 

Toby and new stuffed girlfriend looking off into the distance.Isn’t this cute?  The two of them are even starting to look like each other!

Watch out, Peppermint.  Someone new is after your man.

This is Toby’s new “girlfriend”.  You may recall from Poopiter that my boy has a particular fondness for his toy peppermint.  Now, though, there is a new lady in his life.  This little gal doesn’t have a name yet, but I think she needs one.  Any suggestions?

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