I swear the invisible fence was created by Satan himself to torment me and my dogs!

As you know we moved from the county and into the “burbs” which means I do not have a fence and neither do any of my neighbors. In fact, I am the only person in the entire housing addition who has any semblance of a cordoned off area. We are the only ones that have a pool with a wrought iron fence securing it. Many people have dogs and the only way they can have their dogs out in a “yard” is to install the underground invisible fencing. This is a great idea for people to let their dogs out to potty and catch a bit of fresh air. I however would NEVER install one for my lot. The fence does not keep anything out (including my dogs) and provides their owners with a false sense of security. The neighborhood residents put their dogs out and leave them there all day long completely unattended. They bark, escape, roam the streets (pooping in front of my house I might add) and charge out of their hiding spots as we walk by. Every single time I walk the dogs I have to contend with ill mannered dogs “contained” by invisible fences. So far we have been lucky not to have an incident, but I fear it is just a matter of time before one of them come charging out and either bite us or my dogs step on them.

I have chosen to walk my dogs very early in the morning and extremely late at night to minimize the chances that we will run into an invisible fence dog…. oh the burbs!

I haven’t been around much this past week or so. We sold our house and moved to the suburbs. Yes, the suburbs!!! No fenced yard and lots of noise. Well, I have been really busy packing, moving and unpacking and have found some very unpleasant things along the way. I dont want to bore you since you are here to read about dog stuff, but let me just say this – when houses sit vacant over and Ohio winter, they MUST be winterized. That is all the water needs to be drained from the pipes. Having said that, this house was not and we have dealt with some really nasty water issues all week – broken pipes, fixtures and fittings all over AND water pouring from the ceiling!

The dogs are doing soooo well with the transition. I was terrified it was not going to go well. I expected them to bark and genuinely go nuts nonstop. The first day or so was a bit much for Hera and everyone barked at everything that went by. But now we are on a walking routine and they are quite content to lay about. B and R already have their own favorite spots. They seem to like laying on the landing between the first and second floors… I keep trying to catch pictures of them, but I’m not quick enough.

I am finally settled enough that I will be able to sit down and catch up with my blog reading and posting. I have been jonesing.. lol. Running around like a headless chicken does not suit me, I am ready for some serious lazy time I’ve missed everyone and can’t wait to catch up!

Hera and Brutus checking out the pool cover

Eris loving on Rufus on the landing

The new house

Eris’s birthday is right around the corner. I can’t believe she is going to be 7 years old. It seems like just yesterday that I rescued her at 3 ½. Father Time marches on and my kiddos continue to age. Hera turned 8 in November.  I called the vet just today wondering when I should switch them over to Senior formula.  She said around 7-8 is when I should make the switch.  I can’t believe it… My dogs are getting “old” and are joining the growing “Pet Boomer” population and Zeus isn’t far behind.  He will turn 6 in July.

One of my readers, Sarah Woodward, made a comment on one of my last posts that really got me thinking about their age and the changes I will have to manage and accommodate. I asked her permission to reproduce her comment as a guest author’s post and she has graciously agreed to allow it.

Forty-five million strong, the “Pet Boomer” generation (cats and dogs age seven and older) is experiencing many of the same health problems as their “Human Boomer” counterparts. Yet, most pet owners fail to notice these signs, therefore missing the opportunity to proactively manage their pets’ health to extend their four-legged friends’ lives by years. Here are a few resources for you and your readers to use to learn about the Pet Boomer population:

1) Online Video: This short video segment from Marty Becker, DVM, a nationally recognized pet expert, author and Good Morning America contributor, features five common health conditions in aging pets.

2) Not-for-Profit book called The Merial / Merch Manual for Pet Health: This manual, authored by 200 veterinarians, is the first comprehensive guide to health care of all pets, especially the Pet Boomer population. If you are interested, I can send you a copy of The Merial/Merck Manual for Pet Health and any supporting photography for your blog.

3) PetBoomers.com: This new Web site is a resource for all pet owners. It offers quizzes, facts, statistics on the aging pet population and is a terrific resource for pet owners dealing with traveling with a pet, pet poisons and emergencies. www.petboomers.com

If you are interested in any or all three of these resources, please email me and I will be glad to share more information or provide digital assets.

I think you and your readers will find these resources highly valuable for owners with pets of all ages, especially those with pets entering their boomer years.

Best,
Sarah Woodward
sarah.woodward@mslpr.com

Thanks Sarah… They are all great resources. Unfortuneately its time for me to bone up for my “pet boomers” – I will be ordering this book. Its available on Amazon for $15.61

52 hours and counting!!! Our new Party Pets – Plush Stick Buddy is still going strong! It has withstood 52 hours in this house with my labs and is still in one piece! AMAZING is all I have to say. Although stuffies are cherished in this house, they tend not to live very long. Actually only a few hours unless it is durable. Those that are will last months. Apollo and Zeus love them and will carry them around everywhere. All I have to do is ask them where their baby is and they come running with the toy de jour clamped between their jaws like a trophy.

The fact that this toy has made it past the 24 and 48 hour milestones with excessive playtime says alot! It is durable and excellent quality.

We give K9-Cuisine’s Party Pets – Plush stick Buddy

The dogs got some goodies via Fedex today! The truck pulled up and a box was left at the door. All 6 of the dogs were glued to the entry windows watching the man walk up. Low and behold the box was from K9-Cusine and for them!

Zeus & Apollo have now found their new favorite toy! A grey, dog Party Pets – Plush Stick Buddies! OMG! I pulled it out of the box and their eyes lit up like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. I gave it a couple of little squeaks and they were hooked! Apollo has been running around with it squeaking it for the last 30 minutes.

Apollo loves stuffie plush toys, I mean he really LOVES stuffie plush toys! You can see the smile on his face even with his mouth full of plush! Zeus wants in on the action too – Can you see how intensely they are playing with it!

Since it is plush and not loofah material it is much sturdier and will hold up much better in the jaws of my super chomper labs. This toy retails for $5.99 and is real bargain! There’s a cow and moose too. I’ll let you all know in a week how well it holds up. But so far it has survived for 2 hours and that is a GREAT sign around here! Right now Apollo is curled up with it sleeping.

Also in the box are some samples of treats and food (I will review them as we try them out). I quietly opened the packet of Salmon Strips Plato Dog treats and Rufus woke from a dead sleep hopped up and was sniffing the air intently. Then the water works started and he came in search of the tastie scent. They all came running and absolutely devoured the treats. There is a packet of Kangaroo Strips too… We’ll try those later. They are all natural, have no artificial preservatives, by-products and are 90% meat! A 6 oz bag of the Salmon Strips is $7.49 and a whole pound is only $11.99. I am so ordering these… They smelled good and the dogs loved them. Thanks for the samples K9-Cuisine!

Our fancy new dog tags came in the mail Saturday afternoon! I love them. They look so good on the dogs. And they are color coordinated to the mardi gras collars . They are the perfect size for my Saints. The 1 1/2 inch ones might be a little too big for the labs, but they look really good on them.

I was surprised how heavy and high quality they are. Its a huge benefit to have the lifetime guarantee if the writing ever dulls. I was really impressed with my dealings with Doggiezbest.  I received email updates from the owner about their status and was alerted when they were shipped.  They shipped fast too..  within 24 hrs of my order!  How awesome is that!  Thanks for the great service Matt at Doggiezbest.com

It’s pretty obvious from a distance that I want to make sure they get back to me if they ever get out.

Tonight we met my husband’s college friend for dinner at Jimmy V’s. Its way on the other side of town and we were running a bit late and didn’t have time to drop off Rufus. He went with us to run some errands this afternoon so he had to go to dinner with us. I really didn’t want to leave him in the car and lucked out because Jimmy V’s had a patio. We ate outside and Rufus joined us! He was really well behaved and everyone lavished attention all over him. Everyone but our waitress. She was afraid of him and gave us terrible service. She wouldn’t even bring our plates over to the table and Rufus was no where near where she would have to approach the table. Needless to say she got almost NO tip. What a joke – How could anyone be afraid of this smooshy face?

Literally look at what is hanging around! I have a stray cat (Miss Kitty) that hangs out around here. She is a feral stray and we can not even get close to her. But Miss Kitty and I have an understanding, she leaves my trash intact and I feed her. This little arrangement has been working out very well for us up until the past week. The food I was leaving out for her and lasting all day suddenly was gone almost instantly. My trash has started being rummaged through again and strewn about my porch. I just couldn’t imagine that she was eating all that food and if she had a new buddy, the two of them couldn’t devour that quantity at such breakneck speeds.

Tonight I had to go out really late for dog and cat food and on my way in I found out what is really going on. We have an interloper. One of those masked bandits has staked out our house and targeted us for kitty food theft. I caught him on my porch, technically above my porch but I caught him none the less. Brutus spotted him hanging from the side of the house for dear life. I cautiously went inside and waited. I waited almost 45 minutes and I peeked out the front door and he was still there grasping on to the log walls. Apparently he was raiding our trash and when he heard the dog coming up to the door he climbed up my wall and is hovering there for his dear life. I have no idea how I will get him down and supose he will just have to get tired on his own and either fall into the box or climb down on his own. Lord knows I am not touching a wild coon. They are nasty and can carry rabies. At least I know it wasn’t Miss Kitty that reneged on our arrangement.

I found the first nasty bugger today. I knew it wouldn’t be long until they reared their nasty little blood sucking heads since we have had a couple of consecutive sunny days in the 70°s. I always dread April. April showers… try April ticks. They are everywhere! Even with Frontline on the dogs I still seem to find them. I guess that is one of the downsides of living rural on acreage that has alot of mature vegetation. They fall from the trees are in the brush.. ugg! Today I found one on ME! It fell out of the trees on me when I went to my car. I about had a conniption.

I don’t Frontline my guys from about October til tick season starts in early April.. I hate the idea of chemicals on them. But around here, we have no choice in the spring. It will last about 2 months then it will die down and we wont see any of the disgusting little buggers until the next spring. So, needless to say everyone got their Frontline doses tonight.

I took the boys out to get a few more pictures of their new collars in the sun. I am just so pleased with them that I had to add a few more and plug the Sew Crazy Dog Lady again. Enjoy!

After a whole ordeal with the post office to get my package, they are here! OMG!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!

The collars I ordered from Jen at Sew Crazy Dog Lady are even more GORGEOUS than I had anticipated! They came so quickly and the quality is absolutely excellent. She does great work and I would recommend picking one up. I ordered the extra wide 2 inch collars with snap buckles in the very colorful Mardi Gras pattern w/blue stitching. I can’t believe how well they show up on my long haired dogs! As an added bonus she sent me a matching lanyard key chain.. How cool is that! I match my dogs!!!!!!!!

These collars are the first non leather collars B and R have had since I got them almost 2 ½ years ago and now I am hooked! I am going to have to buy them matching holiday(s) themed ones now! I just cant get over how nice they turned out. I wonder if I can get matching pumpkin ones for the Circleville Pumpkin Show in October. Make sure you keep my measurements safe Sew Crazy Dog Lady… These collars are my new addiction

Thanks Jen for the amazing collars!

Hip hip hurray! The temperature started on the raise today! It made it up to 57° which is a HUGE improvement from the 29° this morning. I had to run errands this morning and there was actually frost on the grass and my windshield. Ohio has two seasons, HOT and COLD and we teeter perilously between these two seasons for months. We got lucky today and got a nice and dry/warm day! Which of course means we spent some time outside and got some pictures. It’s about time too, I was starting to get cabin fever. Tomorrow and Thursday it looks like we will hit the 70°s and sunshine! NICE.

Brutus has been sort of sad today since he hasn’t gone bye bye for a few days. Rufus got to go to the bank with me today and Brutus sat at home feeling left out. So I thought I would take both the saints for a car ride and get a little treat this evening after dinner. There’s a DQ about 10 minutes from my house and back in town. So we go to DQ and I order the boys a vanilla kids cone each and watch them lick away. They love icecream, but dont get it very often. High concentrations of milk and sugar is not good for them and can wreak havoc on their “constitutions.” Normally we don’t have an issue with it and it is so infrequent they get it I didn’t give it a second thought. That was my first mistake! I had to run into Walmart to pick up a few office supplies for my husband and left the boys in the car. I was a inside Walmart for no more than 10 minutes and when I came out my car smelled (and I kid you not) like a skunk had exploded in there. A fart storm had descended on my car. OMG it was so bad. We came home, they went out and took care of business and so far so good.. no more farts. I am praying I am not woken up in the middle of the night to let them out. But if I have to, its my own darn fault.

I think the boys would say it was worth it ~ they loved that ice cream. Brain freeze and all!

I finally ordered the tags for all of the dogs. Cost me $69.00 for all 6 in Large. I didn’t want to get the large ones at first, but thought what the heck… they are gorgeous tags! I ended up getting the following combos:

• Brutus-Large Blue Paw
• Rufus-Large Red Paw
• Zeus-Large Green Hydrant
• Apollo-Large Blue Dog
• Eris-Large Pink Heart
• Hera-Large Red Heart

Their website says they ship in 24 hours and shipping is 7days (I cheaped-out and went for the free option) so they should be here by next week. Whoo Hoo! Now I have two sets of goodies to look forward to in the mail! YEY

I just got word from Jen at Sew Crazy Dog Lady – My collars are DONE! I immediately paid the invoice and am now early awaiting my fancy Mardi Gras Collars! As you will remember I ordered the super wide 2″ ones for both Brutus and Rufus just a short while ago. Jen just sent over pictures of the actual collars, thanks Jen!!!!

I am soo excited! I can’t wait for them to come. I will definitely get pictures of the boys wearing them and post them as soon as the collars come. I also broke down and decided to order Red Dingo dog tags for the dogs. I found them for $11.50 w/free shipping at Doggiez Best Their old ones were in really bad shape and you can’t even read a couple of them. The address is correct on them, but not the phone number since we changed to Vonage phone service. Now I just have to decide which dog gets what on their tag. Too many color/picture combinations! So I need a little help deciding. Here is what I am thinking so far:

Brutus and Rufus will get the LARGE (1.5″) discs and Brutus will have Blue (B = blue and Brutus) and Rufus will have Red (R= red and Rufus), now I just need to decide between the dog, bone, hydrant or paw. Apollo is getting the blue dog in medium (1″) disc and Zeus is getting the Green Bone in medium. Hera and Eris will both get mediums in Pink or Orange in either the heart or flower. I just cant decide. I want to order them tomorrow night so if you have any input it would be greatly appreciated. Here is what is available:

Click on Image to see Larger photo

The weather didn’t last. I knew it wouldn’t. T-storms started at about 3am this morning and have been on and off all day which means board and lazy dogs in the house. I had hoped it would stay nice for the remainder of Zoey’s stay. Yes, Zoey is still here. She goes home late tomorrow night. I am sure she will be good and exhausted by the time she goes.. lol. We made a little something for her mommy:

I came home tonight to find Eris had raided my shoes and chewed up 3 of them! A belt I was working on for a new collar also perished in her wake! The ungrateful cow! But who could stay mad at that sweet face! So I thought I would make our little thief an outlaw poster! The only thing that would make that poster better would be Bon Jovi’s dead or alive playing in the background.. lol

Thanks to Maggie and Mitch the Airedales for the great Smilebox idea!

We dodged another bullet with the weather. I fully expected torrential downpours and thunderstorms today and yesterday. They have held off and we had a gorgeous spring day yesterday and a cloudy morning and sunny afternoon today. The dogs have been loving it and spent plenty of time out doors. The labs came running in soaking wet and stunk! I mean STUNK to high heaven. Somewhere they found themselves a dead fish and rolled in it. And not just rolled in it, but really, really rolled in it. I about gagged. They all had to have baths and I can still smell it. – Thank dogness they Saints didn’t partake in their folly.

Why do dogs like nasty things? Why do they roll in dead things? Ugg! I swear they are some nasty pooches!

This is an undercover video that the HSUS took about a year ago of Puppy Mill Dog auctions. The Buckeye Dog Auction is featured, showing Amish “farmers” in Millersburg, Ohio. I know this is the gospel truth and not a media smear campaign or propaganda video. I have been there and seen it first hand! This is where my chocolate lab Eris came from. She was #179 and I still have her cattle tag. She was sold there for only $50 bucks and near death! She was kept in one of those overcrowded wire hutches her whole life and is the reason she has scars all over her elbows and chin. When her uterus gave out and could no longer produce pups, they decided to dump her on some other breeder.

It breaks my heart to see this video. I never expected to find it. I was looking for Oprah’s expose and found it as a fluke. The emotions that rushed over me when I saw it were overwhelming. I have rescued 4 other dogs from there as well. I refuse to eat Amish food (even though I LOVE their cheese and dairy products) or buy any Amish products that would support them.

Please don’t breed or buy when homeless pets die!

I tried my hand at a second collar. This one is for Rufus. It’s quite Blingy. I think it turned out pretty good. The leather was really thick and sort of hard to work with.

Today was day 3 (in a row) of gorgeous weather! Its hard to belive it actually may be Spring. It made it almost to 80°F today and actually got a little warm upstairs – Rufus was panting… Tomorrow and Thursday are going to be wet but the forecast looks good for Friday. I can’t belive how much I have missed the sunshine and warmth. The back door has stayed open and the dogs have been able to come and go as they pleased. They really enjoy it and will lounge and sun themselves on the back deck. The spent most of the morning and early afternoon outside but by the late afternoon is was nap time.

Maybe tomorrow we will bake treats. Lets hope the rain moves in and out quickly and we can get back to this gorgeous spring weather!

I thought I would try my had at making a greenbelt for Hera. I found this really pretty belt at the thrift store last weekend and recycled it into a collar last night. I added the studs, gemstones, buckle and D ring. It was really fun to make. It certainly is no Greenbelt, but it will do for Hera the hurricane.

Here are the pictures from our day playing. The dogs are all exhausted and knocked out cold on various chairs, couches, pillows and blankets throughout the house. I could use a nap about now too from my “swimming” excursion.

Today was GORGEOUS! It was 72°F even at 6:30pm.. The sun shone, it was warm and perfect for a play date. I invited my friend over with her greyhounds and we had a fantastic time. A fantastic time that is until her foster Candy decided to take a flying leap into the pond from a dead sprint. Now if she was a lab no one would bat an eye, but she’s not. She’s a right off the track racing greyhound. They have next to no fat on their bodies and are solid muscle. Having said that, muscle weighs more than fat and fat floats, muscle does not. Labs swim… greyhounds do not! She made it way out into the pond with her flying leap, puttered and sputtered a few strokes and started to drown. My friend panics and starts screaming Candy, Candy! So I spring into action with out thinking and dive in to save the dog. HOLY HELL that water was COLD! It was nice today, but it hasn’t been for ohhh six months and that pond is freezing. Great to swim in if you are a lab or a saint with the proper “attire” but as a human with NO fur.. OMG it is COLD! I wasn’t just wet, I was SOAKED. My wellies had several inches of water in them! Thank goodness I have an extra pair so I could take a quick hot shower and go back out to continue playing.

Lucky Candy – she’s just lucky I put my Canon camera on the chair before I dove in!

My boarder Zoey came a day early. Her owner’s son had a school emergency and had to go back a day early. She’s a really cute little yellow lab. As soon as she went out back and we rounded the trees she saw the pond and took off full speed for it and dove in. She loves the pond. Hera and her ran around like goofballs and swam for a quite a bit.

Aint she cute?

I am sooo excited! Jen at Sew Crazy Dog Lady emailed me yesterday about the mardi gras pattern collars I fell in love with. She came across some more of the fabric and wanted to know if I was still interested in getting them for the boys. Boy, am I! I ordered Brutus and Rufus the 2″ wide buckle collars. They are going to look soooo handsome in them! They are bright and colorful with out looking girly. Best of all they are handmade. I can’t wait to get them. You better believe there will be tons of pictures posted when I get them too.

She is opening her Etsy store soon too. Big thumbs up!

I managed to keep Rufus out of the pond all day yesterday.  Let me tell you, it was no SMALL feat!  He normally gets up and goes outside first thing  for his “morning constitutional” and makes a bee-line straight for the pond.  This is his morning ritual from about March (when the pond melts) ’til November (when the pond freezes).  In fact, he gets in the pond every time I let him outside, but the morning just sets the tone for the day.  He is wet and lazy all day long.  Its kinda gross, but I can’t keep him out of it.

I knew I was going to be meeting my friend and her greyhound at the nursing home for a therapy visit last night so I had to be ever so vigilant to keep him dry.  Much to his chagrin he went out to potty on leash in the morning.  Then same for the afternoon.

6:15 rolls around, its time to leave for the nursing home.  He charges in and does his rounds.  He doesn’t like to stay in one room too long, he knows there are so many people to see.  If we walk past a door that isn’t open or a room because the resident is sleeping he wants to go in.  He will stand at he door and look at me like.. umm mom you are forgetting someone.  He just loves it and laps up the attention.

Next we head to Petsmart.  I had to pick up replacement filters for the Big Dog Drinkwell.   I tell you this, that thing is great!  The dogs love it, it filters out their slobber and they have clean water all day.  I do have to fill it up several times a day since I have 6 dogs, but when I was using the bucket, I had to do the same thing and towards the bottom the water got icky.  The replacement filters are $9.99 for 3 at Petsmart.  They are $6.95 on the Drinkwell site, not sure how much shipping is.

At Petsmart Rufus was a little excited and needed correcting a couple of times when he first went in.  But once he walked around for a few minutes and settled down, he was a perfect gentleman and greeted a black lab x dane who was not too sure about how big he was.  LOL.  I just need to get him out more I think.  And dont you just know as soon as we got home Rufus went outside and got in the pond!

Well, it looks like it is going to be a glorious sunny (but chilly day) day so I need to get off the computer and get ready to go outside and play.

I have been quite busy lately. Lets see I went to the Zoo, helped my brother-in-law move his entire office, ran errands and worked on a website for a friend’s business. The actual implementation of the site was not too time consuming, but the research and planning sure was. It is in the finishing stages now so I will be able to get back to playing with the dogs and blogging. I didnt realize how addicted I was to it until I missed a few days.

Not much has happened in “doggieland”. I am sure they are feeling quite neglected since they aren’t accustomed to being left alone for hours at a time. Poor things. Brutus did get to go on an adventure last night, he helped us move the office. He behaved so well and stuck to my side like glue as I toted things in and out of the the office/uhaul.

Rufus had a ride today to the courthouse. Hubby is an attorney and had to spend the morning in court and of course needed me to bring him papers so Rufus tagged along. We stopped at Tim Hortons on our way back (one of his favorite destinations – ever!) and he got a 10 pack of Timbits. For those of you who have never had Tim Hortons, it’s a doughnut and coffee place that was started by some hockey players out of Canada and sold to the Wendy’s corp. Timbits are those little doughnut holes. They are tasty. They keep a cup of them at the window for the canine visitors! Sure keeps us coming back. Everyone there knows my dogs too and says hi to them by name.

We have a guest coming this weekend. Zoe is a yellow lab and has stayed here before. She is a sweetheart and gets along really well with all of my dogs and LOVES to play with Apollo and Hera. She will be coming on Sunday and staying for an entire week. After about two days the dogs will be exhausted. I hope the weather is nice. I promise photos of her.

Tomorrow Rufus is going on a therapy visit with Gabby. If I can keep him out of the pond and dry that is!