Tag: dog

Categories
Dog

It’s National Dog Biscuit Day! Who Wants to Celebrate?

Mostly True Memoirs

National Dog Biscuit Day

Is This Really a Worthy Celebration?

It’s National Dog Biscuit Day.

Who thinks of these things?

I mean, I’m glad that there are dog biscuits.

Blue certainly likes them.

In Wrigley’s last days, when she wasn’t eating much, she still loved her treats.

But a national day of celebration?

Is that going too far?

Do we even know if they are good?

I do recall that my brother, when he was 5 or 6, ate a dog biscuit.

Or maybe it was dog food.

I could ask him if he thinks this holiday is worthy.

He’ll probably deny that he ever ate such a disgusting thing.

But I remember.

At any rate, Blue has started obedience training, and the treats are sure coming in handy.

I guess that’s as good a reason as any to celebrate.

Happy National Dog Biscuit Day!

Categories
Dog Lifestyle

Utilities! It’s the Ultimate Reason I Hate Snow a Whole Lot Less This Year.

Mostly True Memoirs

I hate the snow a whole lot less this year

I Hate The Snow a Whole Lot Less This Year

I hate the snow a whole lot less, I have discovered, when I have working utilities.

I didn’t mind so much chatting outdoors with the neighbors in the bone-chilling cold while my feet were getting wet because I knew I would return to my well-heated home, turn on the lights, find dry socks, throw the wet socks in the dryer, and warm myself with a hot cup of coffee.

This is in stark contrast to last year when we had a statewide power outage during a record-setting arctic-chill snowstorm.

That was awful.

We had no lights, no heat, and no water.

Today it has warmed up, and the snow has mostly melted.

Except in the shady corners of the property.

Blue has found every single shady corner.

That dog is determined to wring every last little bit of fun that she can out of the snow.

Now it’s mostly mud.

And it’s all over my floors.

I keep mopping, and she keeps tracking it in.

I have begged the family to keep the doggie door closed.

That way we can clean her up before she comes into the house.

They keep opening up the doggy door.

“It’s a beautiful day,” they say, as if that somehow justifies the mud.

Yes, it’s a beautiful day.

I would prefer to keep the beautiful day outside.

Sigh.

Categories
Dog

It’s 19 Degrees This Morning

Mostly True Memoirs

19 degrees

It’s 19 Degrees This Morning – Please Bring Your Pets Inside!

It’s 19 degrees this morning.

Everyone is being urged to bring their pets inside.

That’s very good advice.

But my dog doesn’t seem to care.

Blue is outside in the bitter cold stalking the woodpile.

There must be a rabbit out there.

Or maybe a ratsicle.

I was going to give her five more minutes.

But she came inside on her own.

I guess it’s too cold even for her.

The lure of the warm house was stronger than the lure of the bunny.

At least for today.

Categories
Dog

I Got Played By The Dog.

Mostly True Memoirs

I got played by the dog.

I Got Played By the Dog. Seriously? I Thought I Was Smarter Than That.

I got played by the dog.

Blue has been with us for two months.

She is settling in nicely.

Last night, at about 5:00, she did a happy dance by her bowl.

It was time for dinner.

She ate voraciously, as if she hadn’t been fed in a week.

Soon after she finished eating, Bob walked in and said, “I already fed her.”

Seriously?

I got played by the dog.

She manipulated Second Dinner out of me.

I sat her down and explained that she will destroy her girlish figure if she keeps this up.

She just smiled and wagged.

She has no regrets.

She’ll do it again if she gets the chance.

She won’t get the chance.

I’m on to her now.

Categories
Dog

Are Poodles Water Dogs?

Mostly True Memoirs

Are Poodles water dogs?

ARE POODLES WATER DOGS?

YES, AND APPARENTLY THEY ARE MUD DOGS TOO!

Are poodles water dogs?

Wrigley was a poodle mix.

Her mixed part must have been a breed that hated water.

Wrigley was not a water dog.

She was always very disgruntled when it rained.

Blue, who is a purebred standard poodle, seems to love the water.

We got over an inch of rain yesterday.

Today the yard is soggy.

Blue went outside, and she came back absolutely caked in mud.

She didn’t mind at all that I had to hose her down.

I minded.

It was only 48 degrees outside.

But I had no choice – that mud was NOT coming into the house.

I’m not sure, but I think she was laughing the entire time.

Lesson learned – Blue stays on a leash when it’s muddy outside!

Categories
Dog

Such An Amazing Thing!

Mostly True Memoirs

Such an amazing thing Blue taught herself to do today!

SUCH AN AMAZING THING BLUE TAUGHT HERSELF TO DO TODAY!

I have been trying to get Blue to use the doggy door.

She’s terrified of it.

I haven’t pushed the issue.

I don’t want to stress her out.                          

She’s only been with us a few weeks.

I do hope that she figures it out before the weather turns cold.

I’m dreading the thought of opening the door on frosty mornings.

Today she stuck her head outside and looked around.

Then she tentatively brought her front legs out.

I gave her a gentle push from behind before she could cower back inside.

She startled when the door flap bounced off her rear end.

But then she was very pleased to find herself outside.

All day long she went inside and outside and inside again.

Each time, we did a happy dance together.

What a good girl.

Such an amazing thing Blue taught herself to do today!

Categories
Dog

Photos of An All-Black Dog

Mostly True Memoirs

Can you help me take better photos of my all-black dog?

Can you help me take better photos of my all-black dog?

An all-black dog is hard to photograph.

She is gorgeous, but her features blend together in a pic.

I tried to use an eye-enhancement app, but it said that it could not detect any eyes.

Which is exactly my problem.

To make matters even more difficult, she is curly.

The camera just doesn’t know where to focus.

I’ve taken a zillion pictures of an undefined black blob.

If anyone has any advice for taking pics of a curly, all-black dog, let me know.

But please, please, please keep any advice idiot proof.

It’s all I can handle.

Categories
Dog

Good Girl, Blue, Who’s My Special Girl?

Mostly True Memoirs

Good girl, Blue, good girl

GOOD GIRL, BLUE, WHO’S MY SPECIAL GIRL?

We had a good rain last night.

Blue the Rescue Dog went nuts this morning.

She spent two hours sniffing every square inch of our wet back yard.

I don’t think she’s ever experienced a rainstorm before.

She was rescued from an abusive situation.

She spent her whole life in a crate.

She never went outside.

The last couple of months she lived in a loving foster home.

They treated her very well, but we didn’t get much rain this summer.

Today may have been her first post-rainstorm sniff ever.

She was a little disgruntled that I insisted on toweling her off before allowing her back in the house.

Sorry, Blue, that rule applies to everyone.

Even the humans have to clean up before coming inside.

Good girl, Blue, good girl.

Categories
Dog

We Named Her Blue

Mostly True Memoirs

We named her Blue

WE NAMED HER BLUE

We named her Blue.

We had a hard time coming up with this.

I wanted to give her a flower name.

The guys nixed that idea.

I suggested Monet.

She could be an impression of a flower.

They nixed that as well.

They suggested all kinds of hooker names.

Yeah, I nixed those.

Our neighbor dog who we all love is Bear.

We thought of Bear variations.

Yogi. Boo Boo. Smokey. Ted. Paddington.

What about Baloo from The Jungle Book?

We all liked that.

But when we called out the name, it came out as Blue.

The dog responded.

And so she chose her own name.

Categories
Dog Family

Good Girl, Wrigley

Mostly True Memoirs

Good girl, Wrigley

GOOD GIRL, WRIGLEY

Wrigley.

August 3, 2005 – August 3, 2021.

Well, we aren’t really sure about her birthdate.

We rescued her on August 3, 2006, and she was about a year old, so we assigned her the birthdate.

The boys were little, and birthdays were important.

Wrigley has been with us for 15 years.

She has seen us through a lot of hard times.

She comforted both of our mothers during their final illnesses.

And she consoled the family after each loss.

She saw the boys through their teen years.

And she helped each of the boys, in turn, adjust to their T1 diabetes diagnosis.

She was the anchor in our family, and now she is gone.

The house feels adrift and bleak without her in it.

We rescued her, but I think that she really rescued us.

Good girl, Wrigley, good girl.