Bissell Spotbot Pet

I recently got a Spotbot after my Little Green Machine died.  I can't believe I haven't tried it sooner.  This machine is fantastic.   

I have a back injury, so getting down on my hands and knees to scrub is miserable.  My 3 dogs rarely have accidents, but I have been watching my sister-in-laws dogs for the last week and they are not as well trained.  The Spotbot has been a lifesaver.   

If you have pets, I highly recommend getting one.  

Still A Favorite

This cloth rope, a Christmas gift for my four-legged kids a couple of years ago from Katreader, is still one of their favorite toys.  Usually there is a three-way tug of war.  Nash makes a sound like an engine trying to start while he tugs on the rope. 

Time Flies

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted.  So much has happened and I haven't even written about any of it.  Here are some of the highlights since my last post.

• We had lots of trick-or-treaters come to our house on Halloween.  I love seeing all of the little kids.  This year the Transformer Bumblebee and Thor were the hot costumes.
• I had a deshed treatment done on my lab mix and the groomer brushed her so aggressively that her whole back and her legs raw and bleeding.  Thankfully no special vet treatment was needed and she is back to normal now.
• We came home one day to see a cute little hawk sitting in our flower bed.  As soon as we tried to pick up the phone to take a picture, he flew away.  He was so regal looking just hanging out in the  yard.
• Our garden has exploded with peppers (jalapeno and cayenne).  We picked so many that we gave the neighbors a bag weighing over 2 pounds.  There are still tons of baby peppers on the plants.  My cherry tomato plant is doing great too; it has about 50 little tomatoes that we are waiting to ripen.
• My nephew turned 3 and like a bad Aunt, I totally forgot to send him a card.
• Hubby and I have really gotten back in to Geocaching.  Our goal is to get 100 finds per month.  So far, we are right on track.

Those are the highlights, but mostly I have just been focused on work and completing the required report for my master's project before the semester ends on 11/30.

New Addition

We have added a new member to our family.  He is a blue fantail Betta name George (aka Fish Stick).  We have had him about 2 weeks now and he comes to the edge of the bowl when I talk to him.  I haven't had fish in a while, so I had forgotten how nice they are to watch.

Pet's in the Grocery Store

I love my dogs as much as anyone, but there are some places they do not belong.  The grocery store is one of those places.  I was in the grocery store today when a family walked in with their new puppy.  It was definitely cute and couldn't have been more than 8-10 weeks old, but I don't want to see their dog, or any dog, near the open olive bar or the produce or any food which I am planning to buy.  I understand taking guide animals in to stores, but this was clearly no guide animal.  I told the store manager, who nicely asked them to take the dog outside. 

I just wonder what makes a person think it is okay to bring their pet grocery shopping with them?

Bump It

You know how some people bump fists instead of giving each other a high five? Well, hubby and I are teaching our lab to "bump it". When we give her the bump it command, she touches her nose to our fist. She already knows how to give a high 5, but this is something she can do from a standing position instead of the sitting position. She is catching on really quickly.

Do your pets have any new tricks you want to share?

Little Man Goes to the Vet

Today I took Nash to the vet to have his teeth looked at. His baby canine teeth did not fall out and his permanent teeth have already come in, so it is really crowding his mouth and making his other teeth come in all weird. At first they weren't going to do anything except check him out, but since I had done the fasting routine (just in case) they went ahead and pulled his two teeth. He came through like a champ and is enjoying the special soft food he gets for the next couple of days. Now maybe his other teeth can come through like they should.

Ingrown Toenail

I took hubby to the doctor today to have an ingrown toenail removed. They let me stay in the room and watch. It was really fast and I had no idea how much nail grows under the skin. When I saw him pull out the pieces (about 1/2 the size of a dime on each side), I was amazed. Then they put this stuff inside his toe to kill the root of the nail. Watching them put that stuff in was wild. Thankfully hubby's toe was numb because it was giving me goosebumps watching that part. He has a list of post op instructions and the biggest one is staying off of the foot for a day and not letting it get bumped or banged for a couple of weeks. Our lab mix likes to walk on your feet, so we are definitely going to have to keep an eye on her.

New Addition to the Family

We have decided to take the plunge and add a new member to our family. He is a Yorkie born on 7/22 out of a forbidden love affair. His mother is a CKC registered Yorkie named Cassie and his father is an AKC registered Yorkie named Rooney. The two were not supposed to "hook up" since they are from different registration groups, but they found a way to make it happen when no one was watching. As a result, Cassie had a litter of 5 but only 2 survived; a male and a female. When they were taken to the vet for their initial check up, the vet said he had never seen a puppy as small as the little male (the one on the right). We have decided that he will fit perfectly in to our family and can't wait to bring him home. He should be ready to come home around Labor Day weekend. Now we just have to come up with a name.

A Birthday, A Dentist, A Busted Lip, and A Broken Leg

A birthday, a dentist, a busted lip, and a broken leg. What do all of these things have in common? They are all events that have preoccupied my time for the last 2 weeks.

A birthday: Riley turned 1 year old on June 1st. We made her a Peanut Butter Carrot Cake and she loved every bite of it. It is amazing that the little 6 pound fluff ball that we brought home is now a 50 pound fur machine. She has become a really good dog and gets better every day.

A dentist: On my last routine cleaning, the dentist discovered that what we thought was a stain was actually a cavity and had to do a filling. I don't handle dental work well, but this had to be done so I put on my big girl pants and scheduled the appointment. It really hurt the remainder of that day and part of the next, but it is all better now.

A busted lip & a broken leg: This past Friday (6/12), Riley and Abbie were playing in the yard while I watered plants. All of a sudden I hear a really loud snap, and then one of the dogs yelping. When I turned to look, little Abbie was holding her left leg up and I could see her little foot was dangling. Her leg was broken. I ran over to her to scoop her up and in her panic, she bit me on the lip and gave me a busted lip. As I was heading to the front yard, hubby was coming to the back yard to see what the commotion was and then he saw her little leg. We grabbed the bare essentials and rushed her to the emergency vet. They confirmed her leg was indeed broken. Both bones just above her little wrist were broken all the way through. They were able to put a splint on her and give her pain meds, but they were not able to fix it. On Saturday, we took her to our regular vet who also was not able to fix it and gave us the names of some surgeons that could possibly assist. We were able to get in touch with one of them and he was willing to take a look and see what he could do; he even asked us to come in today (Sunday) even though his office was closed. Based on what I had told him over the phone, he had two of his vet techs come in as well and they actually did the surgery today. She had to have a metal plate and several screws put in her leg and will have a 9-12 month recovery period. She is not going to be happy because she will have to have limited activity for at least the next 8 weeks. She stays in the ICU at the hospital tonight and we should be able to pick her up in the morning.

I know some people will think I am nuts because of the expense of the emergency visit and the surgery; but this is my baby and I would do the same thing over and over again.

Twang Beer Salt

Have you ever heard of Twang Beer Salt? I personally am not a fan, but hubby loves the stuff. He buys 2 of the lemon lime ones every couple of weeks and eats it straight - never with his beer. Well, now my dog is hooked on the stuff. Any time Riley sees hubby pick up the container, she comes running over wanting some. She will eat as much as you will give her and keep coming back for more. The other dog, Abbie, smells it and backs away. It is too tart for her.

Do any of your pets have crazy food habits?