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A No Grainer

Because I’m still constantly trying to figure out what Ray is allergic to and sensitive of, I have to be very sparing in introducing new treats and foods, especially in the summer months it seems.  I’ve learned from experience that I can’t just rip open the BarkBox and let Ray sample one of everything right off the bat and therefore, I just got around to letting him try the No Grainers Soft Chews. 
You may recall that he went bonkers over his Max & Ruffy’s Tree of Life treats, so just having those in our BarkBox was a huge hit.  I decided to try the No Grainers when I wanted to do a quick training sesh in the morning and I figured we could check them out.
When I opened the bag and Ray caught a whiff of the meaty aroma, he got so excited and tried to pull out a majority of his arsenal of “tricks” in an effort to get one.  My poor little guy started quivering, sitting, running to his mat, lying down, etc. just to offer a behavior that would yield a tasty tidbit. 
Talk about a High Value treat!  I’m definitely going to have to add these to my list of good treats. 
If you haven’t ordered a BarkBox yet, what are you waiting for?
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Setting Up For…

Failure.

Recognizing your weaknesses.  Acknowledging your prejudices.  Knowing your limits.

Every Thursday throughout the summer we have Lunch on the Square, where a local musician plays music, the food trucks descend and people fill the square and enjoy lunch al fresco.  We also bring a couple of adoptable dogs from the SPCA to strut their adoptable stuff and hopefully find a home.  After one near fiasco with a dog who didn’t do well in crowds, we stuck to the best of the best, so to speak.  We brought some true ambassadors for the shelter and by that same token, heard some valuable feedback.  People sought us out to see the star of the week and we heard more than one surprised person say that they had no idea such awesome dogs were available.  Too often the public’s perception is that of the broken and abused dog who will need so much work.  People don’t realize pets make their way to the shelter for a multitude of reasons and some of the most wonderful companions are waiting for their second or third chance.

Recently during some extreme heat, I decided to sign up at the last minute for a Lunch date and showed up to collect my date.  I knew it was probably a bad idea because of the heat.  I knew there were several dogs that I wanted to spend some time with and if I went to Lunch I would forego their company. 

I was paired with a long haired small dog who pancakes when being taken out of the kennel but is a happy little wiggle butt when outside.  I had my doubts.  I felt apprehensive.  This dog walked in swirly little circles in front of me.  This dog jumped at noises. 

We arrived at a parking garage and had to park on the uppermost level.  This dog doesn’t do stairs or elevators so we walked down the ramp to the street level.  She sat for a few pets then hid under the park bench and quivered so I knew that since neither of us were having fun, we should head back. 

I felt horrible because this dog is literally one of the sweetest little gals ever, but in my breed specific prejudice, she started out with a strike, in my mind.  The hot day and my disappointment at not being with one of my big-heads made me small and mean spirited, but also taught me a little bit more about myself.  I knew this wasn’t a good idea with the heat and a slightly hesitant dog, so I should have felt confident enough to express myself.  I should have acknowledged that staying close to the shelter and going for short walks would have been the best option for all involved.

A lesson learned.

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How Timely

Right on the heels of our post last week where we wrote about our new Organizing Utility Tote and About Town Blanket, but noted that we misplaced our folding water bowl, our July BarkBox arrived. 
This month’s BarkBox was so full of doggety goodness that I could have sworn that it was packed with things especially selected just for Ray.

Yes, that is a SafeMade flexi-bowl that I can add to my doggie bag as well as some great treats and dispensers.

While we haven’t yet tried everything, the Max & Ruffy’s Tree of Life treats were a HUGE hit.  They smelled a bit like a gingerbread cookie and I was somewhat tempeted to sample one myself, which I could do because they are made with organic human-grade ingredients.  As if that wasn’t enough, they’ve included a coupon too!  I’ve perused the Max & Ruffy’s site a bit and I can guarantee that we will make use of that coupon.  I try to be very careful with introducing new treats to Ray with all of his pink piggy sensitivities and these are definitely winners.

What was your favorite part of this month’s BarkBox?

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Doggie Bag

So often while heading to the shelter or while actually out on walks, I remembered things that I wanted to bring with me.  This began happening so often that I decided to get a bit more organized and luckily I had an occasion to purchase some Thirty One items.  Actually what had happened was I borrowed a bag that Asia had purchased and I loved the functionality so much that I decided to give hers back and get one in a color that suited my needs and with a saying of my choice. 

Thus, this became my dog walking bag that I keep in my vehicle.

I decided not to have anything embroidered on it about Ray or Peaceabull just because it will be used for  so many different events and dogs.

backside


 The multitude of pockets is perfect for just grabbing things I might need and the inside is roomy enough for other essentials.



So what all did I decide are essentials that I either use regularly or just want to have “just in case,”  you ask? 

From the top, a spare harness (and leash) that actually no longer fits Ray but will fit many of the dogs I might walk, though the only other pooch who has worn it was Glamour/Kya and it was a bit large on her.  Clicker.  I don’t really click with the shelter dogs but if I have Ray out and about I like to have my clicker handy.  Carabiner.  If you have a dog, have ever walked a dog or needed a free hand or extra hanger you know how valuable this is.  I could hang carabiners all over myself and be very happy.  Comfy, flat walking shoes.  Although I’ve written about walking in 3″ heels,  I’ve found that while I still do it occasionally, I’m getting wise enough to utilize the flats more.  Bio spray and lip gloss.  Only one of those are for pooches and the other is for me.  I stash lip gloss all over the place like a squirrel hiding nuts.  Seriously, I have at least seven different kinds in my desk at work and two more in the door handle compartment in my truck.  Groom mitts.  These came in a BarkBox and they’re completely awesome.  I’m also not above admitting that on a super humid day, I may have made use of one on a certain human before heading back to work.   Lint roller, because dogs shed.  Treat pouch and poop bags.  Kind of self explanatory.  Last but not least is my new “dog mat.”  I didn’t even know Thirty One made anything like this, but it will be so handy for the truck or any other time we need something portable and washable to sit on.

Fleecy side

Water resistant side

I love that it folds up and closes with velcro and it even has a zippered pouch for money or other things I don’t want stuffed into the open pockets.  It’s also roomy enough to fit at least one person and a dog. 

So tell me, what is in your doggie bag and what am I forgetting?

*Not pictured is our foldable water dish…I misplaced it, so we’ve been making due with water bottles.

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Question

Has your heart grown fonder?  Because we have been absent for over two weeks and really have no excuse.  Well, no good excuse.  We’ve been doing a lot of this:

…and a lot of this:

….while always still making time for this:

We’ve missed being here and do have some posts planned, so thanks for hanging in there with us!

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Heads or Tails

One of my favorite people in the world is my sister.  I’d say that statement is true 95% of the time but that’s a pretty darned good percentage, if you ask me.  She is fun and we have a history that goes back, obviously, a long time so that we get each other’s quirks and twisted sense of humor.  We are totally alike and totally different.  She says we are like the two sides of the same coin. 

She had a Pit Bull-type of dog way before I was interested in them and recently she has been doing something that I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time.  In the last week of May she got her first foster dog and tomorrow she will be sending her second foster dog to his forever home!

Buddy

 Her first foster, Brutus, was losing his foster home due to a medical issue with his foster parent, so my sister took him in until he was adopted.  That actually left her foster-less for a week or two while everyone ensured that Bru’s adoption would “stick.” 

In the meantime, a call was put out about Buddy.  He had been in rescue since April and was being kenneled on location, though clearly not liking it.  When my sister’s spot opened up, she took him in and after their first adoption event together, she texted me that they had received a good application on Buddy.

Not one to usually dress up her pets, but rather one to mock Ray endlessly about his “outfits,” I was pleasantly surprised to see her make use of the Adopt Me collar from Just Dog Gone Cute.  If you are in the Michigan area and are looking for a great pet, check out Seven Star Rescue in St. Joe.

I don’t really say it ever often enough, but I’m proud of her.

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Kya

I think that I might have started this post in my head nearly a dozen times, but when it came to typing it out, I couldn’t formulate a coherent thought.  Maybe that’s a sign that I’m addressing this too soon.  Maybe the emotion of the week is still wearing off and I’m still riding the waves of such a new and life-changing experience.

Last week, one of the folks at the shelter that I was talking to called me something that meant the world to me.  Something that made me feel like a super hero.  She called me “Glamour’s foster mom.”  Today, I
am proud to announce that Glamour, now known as Kya is:

Her perfect family has found her and she is now the happy little sister to her Doberman brother and is already loved and cherished by her people.  How do I know that?  They have messaged me and graciously friended us on Facebook, so we’ll get pictures and updates!

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Feline Friday-Miko Makes a Stand

Miko has decided that the family room belongs to him, so he has taken up residence on the back of the sofa.  The sofa that Ray lays on in the room that Ray spends the majority of his time in.  Miko, however, has decided that not only does he own the room, he’s done with Ray being in there, so Miko has begun to hiss and growl at Ray (when confronted nose to nose) and whenever that results only in more tail wags. A good solid whomp to the block head will suffice.

Miko sitting in Ray’s antler box.

Recently, the three of us were on the sofa, Miko on the back, Ray sprawled across my lap, all peaceabully coexisting until Ray decided to greet Miko.  Miko hissed and growled and stood his ground for a few seconds before begrudgingly moving to the side table.  Ray followed, got kitty slapped and slinked around the coffee table with his tail between his legs, properly chastised, and returned to my lap.

With Miko being our youngest kitty, I think Ray is going to have a long road ahead of him.

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"Dog-ality"

A local trainer teaches a seminar on dog personality types and graciously offered this free of charge to fosters and prospective fosters of the SPCA, so I was able to use some Community time off and attend.  I found it fascinating and interesting yet also took it with a slight grain of salt, which is why I won’t do any links right now. 

What was really interesting is that we took a little six question quiz to determine our personality or dogality type and then talked about how that matched up with our canine companions or fosters.  The dogality types were Dominant, Outgoing, Guarding, Supportive and submissive (intentionally lowercase)  D.O.G.S.s. then we talked about traits and physical behaviors that would help us determine what type of dog we were dealing with.  We had live models of behavior (one was a Miss M. doppelganger!) to see each type of dog in real life as well as pictures of humans and dogs displaying these characteristics.

Naturally, there are various instances and characteristics that make all of these up, so with that in mind, the two dogs that I know which I had the most trouble classifying were Ray and Glamour.  With some of the issues that have happened with Glamour it would seem to be easy to peg her, but it turns out she is a very different dog with me than she is with many others.

I figured she was Supportive.  After all, she is constantly trying to please me and is very easy to redirect with just a word.  She checks in with me a lot and she knows when I approach that if she doesn’t sit, she doesn’t get attention.  Supportive, right?

Last night Asia took Glamour out to the back yard.  Asia jokes a lot that the animals see her as an equal in our house, and I always say that they don’t even give her that much status.  Glamour went outside with Asia and jumped right up on top of the patio table as if that was planned, hopped down and proceeded to run zoomies around the yard like it was her job.  Girlfriend had a lot of energy pent up.

“I’m ready to come in, now.”

 I’m finding that Miss G pushes her boundaries and likes to test the waters but is very willing to take redirection.  It’s like she really, really wants the structure of rules.  I believe she is a Dominant, after all, it just took me longer to see it and it is much clearer when looking at the situation without being in the mix. 

What was my “dogality?”  Of the six questions, I ended up with two Guarded and four Dominant. 

Shocker.