Ok, I have a confession to make: sometimes, I don’t like my dog very much. Like last night. Now, I know you all think he’s cute and charming and naughty in this adorable “Peck’s Bad Boy” sort of way. But sometimes…..well quite frankly, sometimes I want to kill him. Yesterday I was busy. I worked and walked dogs and did housework. My last task of the evening was to work on the planter in my front yard. It was hot and I can’t let Grady out in the front because the neighbor’s gang of rogue Dachshunds tries to kill him if I do (that’s a story for another time). So I went out and battled the power tools and the giant mosquitos on my own. I finally finished up around 8, tired and ready for some dinner and relaxation. I opened the door into the utility room and what did I find?
Cat Poop. Lots of it. All over the floor. See, part of living with Hazel the Chow Hound and Grady the Connoisseur of Cat Poop means that the door to the utility room (home of clean kitty litter, dirty kitty litter, cat food, dog food, and generally all things tempting) stays shut at all times. This lesson was learned (clearly not very well) after the Great Cat Poop Debacle of 2011 – again, another story for another time. At least this one didn’t require a shovel.
The most beautiful (do you sense the sarcasm here?) part of this whole tale is that my uber brilliant, AWFUL SlobberDog somehow managed to lock himself inside the utility room during this little escapade, thereby confirming his guilt.
Quiz question of the day – donuts to you if you get it right: Is there anything in the world worse than dirty cat litter ground into tile grout? ……..
…………YES!!! It’s dog slobber mixed with dirty cat litter and flung onto the walls! Needless to say, dinner was NOT at 8 and Grady and I are still not speaking.
Where was HazelNut while all this great fun was going on? Check it out…
I swear I heard her chuckle at his idiocy.
May is an exciting month over at Pets Blogroll. If you haven’t joined up yet, or if you haven’t visited in awhile, you should think about stopping by. We have two great giveaways lined up for this month and SlobberDog has been most excited to sample the products and tell everyone how much he approves!
The reviewers wait patiently for their first taste
The first giveaway is from Best Pet Health, which is a brand new website that offers the full line of Nutri-Vet products. They have a really cool Diagnostic Dog and Cat feature to help you choose the best product for your pet. Amanda sent us some samples of their products and they get 4 paws up from my crew!
Clockwise from left: Nutri-Vet Hip & Joint treats are our first giveaway from Best Pet Health; The pork is sourced in the US only; Milo loves the tasty Hairball Paw Gel
Hazel even braved the camera to get a sample of these tasty treats!
The second giveaway is for IN Supplements for dogs, donated by ALC INovators, Inc. This family owned business has made a goal to provide a great supplement for family pets of any breed.
The crumbly nuggets work great as a treat or crumbled and sprinkled over food.
FDA tested, SlobberDog approved! Note eyes closed in ecstasy and enormous goober being generated.
If you would like to enter either (or both) of these contests, please visit Pets Blogroll for complete details.
Hazel(Nut) has never received a proper introduction on this blog, so I figured now was a great time to go about it. I discussed her story briefly about a year ago (read here and here) but she never got the introduction she deserves. To recap, I found Hazel on the side of the road the day after I returned from BlogPaws 2010. Talk about fate. I was charged up about meeting the need for change, and talking to numerous bloggers about rescue and pets in general really fired me up. Then I came across this dog, who I am sure was placed in my path for a reason. The past year has been a huge challenge; logistically, financially, emotionally. Although I’d toyed with the idea of getting a companion for Grady, it just never seemed the right time. Quite honestly, I’ve had my hands full just keeping up with him!
The above two photos show Hazel not long after I took her in. The vet wouldn't even spay her until she put on some weight.
Sleepy Hazel after her first long car ride with me
Fast forward one year. Anyone that knows me could have predicted that this dog was going to remain in my life, despite my noncommittal claims. Many, many thanks to Jenn (formerly from University of Doglando) who fostered her for many months until I got settled enough to take her in myself. Hazel has come a long way. I’ve had rescue dogs many times before, but never one this abused and fearful. She had health difficulties, primarily because of her extremely low weight. She had never been socialized to dogs, people, cars, leashes, etc. She had basically lived her life in a cage, with occasional forays out to hunt hogs or be bred (according to varying reports, neither of which I believe to be true). Once she got attached to me she developed extreme separation anxiety, which was exponentially harder to deal with due to her abject terror at being left alone in a crate. Too many memories, I guess. Despite her traumas and fears, I saw glimpses of a loving and brilliantly smart dog. Every day I see those traits more and more.
This is Hazel today: belly full of food, life filled with love, and mind filled with plans for her next act of destruction!
This dog is one of the smartest I’ve ever seen. She is a logical thinker and a prankster. She can get herself out of any enclosure. She is fast as the wind and never tires. Behind her often fearful persona lies a bold and adventurous spirit. She’s active and up for anything. She’s a hurricane of frustrating, funny, and loving quirkiness that swirled into our lives and turned it on end. Generally speaking, she’s pretty much the polar opposite of Grady. However, she has reignited his love for trouble and believe me, two is WAY more than one plus one! I hope that she entertains you all as much as she amuses me and I hope that you enjoy watching her transform from this wild dog into a respectable companion (I’m an optimist!) along with me.
Hazel graduated from the University of Doglando in January with her A.A. in Dogology, presumably a polite member of society. Uh huh.
I didn’t realize that “My Dog Ate What?!” was going to be a daily post. This is what I came home to today…
This used to be a pillow that was on my couch.
Guess who the culprit was. At least this one didn’t involve a carpet cleaner or a shovel. I can’t believe this is really what I’ve been reduced to. As long as the cleanup doesn’t involve power tools, I’m grateful.
Guilty? Me? Nah...
Welcome to today’s edition of “My Dog Ate What?!” Did I mention recently that Hurricane Hazel was down to a Category 2? Well, there’s been a resurgence and she’s back in full force, folks. Last night was not a good one. I returned home from the barn at 8:30, exhausted but still needing to complete my list of tasks for the evening. What did I find upon my return? Two leaping, licking, happy, NAUGHTY dogs! And this…
(what follows is a reenactment of actual events. No additional library books were harmed in the making of this post)
Never mind those stains on the carpet. That's just from when Hazel decided to have tea with honey while I was at work. I haven't rented the carpet cleaner yet...
It’s never good when I come home and spot a little shred of blue plastic on the floor. Especially not when it looks suspiciously like the packaging from the book the library JUST SENT ME 4 HOURS AGO! My stomach dropped and I followed the trail of plastic down the hall and into the living room, where I found the skeletal remains of my library book. See, Orange County has this nice little program where you go online and choose your books, and the library delivers them right to your door. I like it because a) I’m lazy and don’t want to go to the library to actually LOOK for books and b) I get something in the mail that isn’t a bill. So today I came home from work, grabbed the package from the doorstep, and put it on the kitchen counter which is where it stayed until SOMEONE saw fit to rip it to shreds.
Guess what? It's a bill now. A $30 bill to be exact. We'll call it a library donation. It hurts less that way.
Lest you think SlobberDog is innocent; fear not! I have zero doubt that he had a hand in the dismemberment. Although there was no slimy evidence to implicate him, I know that HazelNut is teaching him the art of being sneaky. He was kind enough to oblige me a photograph of him with the evidence.
Red Rocket censored for your viewing pleasure.
Hazel, however, refused to be photographed with anything incriminating and was practicing evasive maneuvers.
"Woman, I REFUSE to sit there posing for photos with my failed attempts at mass destruction. What IS wrong with you?
This past Saturday the StinkDogs and I headed down to Lake Eola in downtown Orlando to celebrate at the Central Florida Earth Day festival. This festival was hosted by the Vegetarians of Central Florida, Orlando Sentinel, and Aeon Blu. Orlando is such a dog friendly town and this festival was no exception. The weather was beautiful and hundreds of people, children, and dogs milled about the booths scattered throughout the park. Vendors included everything from eco-friendly home products to personal products to artists. A mind-body section contained massage therapy, yoga, and pilates – all free! There were several stages where musicians entertained the crowds, singing songs of evolution and change. SlobberDog particularly enjoyed the Food Court, where many vendors sold the most amazing teas and vegetarian fare. It was delicious!
We met up with one of Grady’s friends, Albert, whose Daddy works with me. Albert was a little jealous that Grady was getting all the attention.
Grady was ashamed to get his photo taken while he was having a pawdicure
In addition to the great selection of vendors, there was a large animal rescue section that housed a number of local rescues with many dogs available for adoption. I hope many of them found homes on Saturday. Finally, there was a stage where presentations were offered throughout the day. Topics included things like composting, preparing herb water, and vegetable gardening. Although I didn’t see any of the presentations, they looked very interesting.
The festival was a lot of fun! Lake Eola is a gorgeous park whose backdrop is the Orlando skyline. Swans mill about the bank and swim in the water. A walking trail loops the entire lake. It was the ideal location for this festival and we had a great time! As always SlobberDog was a hit with children and adults alike. Even HazelNut came out of her shell and made some friends. All in all, it was a lovely day with my two best friends in a beautiful city, celebrating our world.
“Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.”
~ Kenyan proverb
We hope you have a wonderful day today! Plant a tree, hug your dog, and recycle something for us!
After our long and playful Saturday, Sunday dawned slowly. We slept in a bit and went for a walk in the field behind Z’s house as he made us breakfast. It was a lazy start to the day, but not for long! This day we decided to go for a drive to one of our favorite places – the Beach! There are actually a few nice, dog-friendly-ish beaches in the area. This time we opted to visit Keaton Beach, which is about 17 miles north of Steinhatchee. This is a pretty nice beach that juts out into the water with lots of private space so the dogs can play without disturbing anyone. There are also several pavilions for grilling out, a playground, and a long pier for fishing. We opted to head to the far end where there were fewer people, hoping to avoid a repeat of Saturday’s Slobber Fest. The dogs had a blast, splashing in the water and exploring the sea grasses. It’s amazing how quickly Hazel is overcoming her fear of the surf.
Hazel spent most of her time hunting for crabs (left) and seagulls (right)
Grady played for a while, then in typical Grady fashion decided to rest for a bit. It’s funny, but Steinhatchee is quite a bit cooler than Orlando and Grady loves the weather here. We can actually do outdoor activities that he can participate in, at least for a little while longer.
Ahhh....this is the good life!
It wasn’t long before Grady realized that Z was munching on some sunflower seeds. He thought if he did his very best sit with a super cute begging face, he might get a few. He didn’t have any luck but Grady is persistent….he begged. And begged. And begged. He followed Z up the beach, sitting cutely with each pause. He followed Z down the beach, blinking sweetly with his funky eyes. And he finally followed Z into the surf, where he did his extra special sit-plop in the water (followed by a bit of wiggling tail spray just in case Z was hot from traveling all over the beach to avoid the begging SlobberDog). Eventually, guess who won?
Who do ya think won?!
Once the SlobberDog starts, he can’t be stopped. He soon lost interest in the sunflower seeds – well, he lost interest after they were all gone. Which didn’t take long once Grady was on the scene. He headed for me as I was sitting on the beach, full of slimy, salty slobbers he was just waiting to share….and then -
Uh oh...do you know this face yet?
Yep! You guessed it. Our neighbors just down the beach had arrived with a cooler. Before I knew what happened, Grady had alerted Hazel to our visitors and they were off! They are stealthy and operate under the guise of play, but I knew better! Sure enough, as soon as they were out of my reach they headed striaght for that cooler and there was SlobberDog trying like heck to open it. I fought my urge to crawl into the sea oats and disappear as the visitors began to shout obscenities in Spanish. Out came the leashes and we packed up to head home, heads hung in shame once again. But one more surprise awaited us before our departure! Just as we were leaving the beach area, Z spotted the tiniest sea turtle I have ever seen, just hanging out on the beach. Of course, being the marine biologist that I am (meaning I love to play with creatures of the sea) we had to stop for a photo session. SlobberDog was still too worried about the cooler down the way to bother with some hard, inedible thing but HazelNut obliged with a photo.
Hey whaddya do with this thing? If you throw it, I can fetch!
I’m still a bit perplexed by this one. I haven’t identified it yet, but based on its size it’s fairly newly hatched. The timing is all wrong so I don’t know why it was there, but it was still the coolest experience I’ve had in a long time! Good eye, Z!
Since we could never top the turtle fest experience, we decided to head home. The bad dogs and I had to head back to Orlando and we were hot and tired from our day on the beach. We packed up our gear, got in the Goober Buggy and called it a day.
Hey wait a minute! Just a few more minutes of this charming face and I would have convinced that man to share his fish with me!
I attempted to upload some video of the kids playing at Steinhatchee Falls. However, as usual, my lack of technical expertise has gotten the best of me. We’ll conquer the beast of video some other day. For now, we’ll end Saturday’s adventures with this charming image:
After a long day of driving and playing, the three of us settle in to watch some movies and cuddle.
The past Saturday found me and the heathens hittin’ the highway to go visit a friend in North Florida. We were heading to a little town called Steinhatchee, Fl. Steinhatchee is an interesting place. Talk about rural…I guess it’s quite the place to go if you like hunting or fishing but if you’re coming to this part of the state, you better love the outdoors because there’s nothing else to do! We like it because it is uber dog friendly. We always have a great time when we go there and this visit was no exception!
Grady and Hazel are packed and ready to roll
We headed out and the two of them promptly fell asleep in the backseat. They sure aren’t much company on the road! After about 3 hours, we arrived in Steinhatchee.
The weather was perfect and there was plenty of time left in the day to enjoy some fun…and wreak some havoc on North Florida. We picked up my friend Z and headed to Steinhatchee Falls. The dogs love this spot, as do I. There is a small park area with picnic benches and toilet facilities (well, a Port-O-Let, does that count?). Down the stairs is the river and the teeny little waterfalls. There are trails to hike – although I have developed tick phobia since this town is a neverending tick fest, and for some reason they seem to love me far more than any dog or man ever to set foot in that place. Anyway, the park is generally empty and we let the dogs run and stretch their legs after the long ride. Today was no different and I headed down to the water to take some photos as the dogs played.
Hazel takes a break from chasing squirrels
Grady enjoys cruising the river bank
We paused the fun for the obligatory photo op:
We'd rather be chasing squirrels right now...
All was fun and games until Grady’s evil alter ego SlobberDog emerged! And now he’s got backup – the newly christened HazelNut was right there to join him. As Z and I played down by the water, taking photos of bugs, we heard shouts and barking from above. Oh no! Park visitors….and as I climbed the hill to investigate I saw that these visitors brought…..
Is that a barbeque I smell?
…FOOD! So our peace was shattered as HazelNut circled the pavilion barking like a madwoman (Men! MEN! OMG! WhatdoIdo? Holy crap! MEENNNNN!!) and SlobberDog stalked them with his seemingly menacing glare (really he just can’t see anything and is 100% focused on sniffing out the source of those heavenly smells). So…..needless to say that shortly after the new visitors arrived, we leashed up and made our exit. Not to worry, though! Plenty more adventures awaited us on our trip. Stay tuned tomorrow for more of SlobberDog (and HazelNut)’s misadventures!
Are you really taking me away from that food? Are you kidding me?