I like this idea!

Posted on facebook by a friend of mine:

Dog for rent. Enjoys chewing boxes just to see what is inside. Can't stand confinement, but thinks his backyard should be bigger. Also known for going through garbage cans and disliking being locked out of places he considers "his". Needs to be returned for guard dog duty at night, but available from about 5 am until 8 pm every day. Hours negotiable, rate is free.

I suggested that whomever takes her dog may want Lolly during the night.  I love her and enjoy her playfulness, but the nightly attack loves are still a little much for me!

Fred

I've always known that I'm incredibly lucky to have known all four of my grandparents, plus four of my great grandparents.  What I sometimes forget is just how lucky I am to still have three of my grandparents around. Here I am, solidly in my thirties (yes, I admit it!) and I have three happy and relatively healthy grandparents.  This amazing fact was reinforced yesterday when I spent my afternoon off taking my grandpa to a movie, then having dinner with my grandparents.  Grandpa is 92 years old and has been in and out of the hospital a lot lately, but just the fact that I was able to take him out for the afternoon is incredible.  He and Grandma still own and take care of their own home and lead relatively active social lives.  Yes, he can be a crotchety old man, but it's those days like yesterday, when I get to know that I'm the one who put that smile on his face, that I plan on relishing for years to come.  I am so lucky to love such awesome grandparents!

Lilies

I was outside planting some Fall bulbs when Lolly got ahold of a couple and I'm pretty sure she ate one. Operation research whether flower bulbs are poisonous to dogs, commence now!

UPDATE: Turns out many bulbs are, but thankfully what I'm planting is not on the list. Check out dogfirstaid101.com for the full list!

Product placement

I've always prided myself on the fact that, despite having an inside dog, my house has never smelled like dog...until Lolly came around. She gets baths just as often as Wolfey, but she's just a stinky dog. And unfortunately, I've noticed that the house has started reflecting that. Not that my house smelled bad, just that it was evident that dogs live here. So today I remedied that! Two products I couldn't live with inside dogs without: Murphy's Oil Soap and Arm and Hammer Pet Fresh. I started with the couches, sprinkling the Pet Fresh on, waiting the requisite 15 minutes and vacuuming it back off. Since the cushions on the back of my couch come off and the dogs like to pull them down to lay on them, I did both sides. I've found that I have to put the dogs outside for this process or Wolfey likes to roll in the Pet Fresh. Not sure why that is. The house smelled so much better after that, but I couldn't leave well enough alone. Since I had the vacuum out anyway, I swept the entire house and then mopped with my Murphy's Oil Soap. Not only is it good for hardwood floors, it also helps eliminate any doggy accident odors (and we all know how Lolly had issues with peeing everywhere!) that may be left behind after day-to-day clean up. So now not only does my house look nice, it smells fantastic! So fresh and clean, but without the chemical smell you get with harsh detergents. I love it! Oh, and a shout out to BBS who recommended that I buy one of those refillable spray mops. It's like a Swiffer wet jet but you wash and reuse the mop head and can use whatever cleaner you like. I love that thing! It cuts my mopping time in half, which is a pretty big deal when your entire house is hardwood! So yes, I'm excited about cleaning, but really, with results like these, who wouldn't be?!

Notice: all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and I was not compensated by Murphy's Oil Soap or Arm and Hammer in any way. That being said, if anyone from these companies is reading this, I love these products enough, I'd be happy to do some endorsements!

Easy like Sunday morning

Snuggling on the couch :)

Game night

Tonight, with BBS, the monkeys and the best mom ever.  Can't wait!

Oh, and did I mention we're having tacos?  Bonus!

Good things come to those who wait

Wolfey and I used to have a really nice wake up routine.  The first time the alarm went off he'd come snuggle up to me.  The second time it went off I'd pet him, we'd play or snuggle and have some good Mommy/Wolfey time.  The third time it went off he'd jump down off the bed and I'd get up for the day.  It worked out well, with both of us getting what we needed - some snuggle time, some fun time and a relaxing way to wake.  Since Lolly has joined us, the routine has morphed several times.  The first change was as soon as she came.  Lolly would wake me around 4am (the alarm doesn't go off until about 7:15) and I would spend the next couple of hours fending off her "love" until I finally gave in and got up.  Wolfey would generally get neglected during this time.  Gradually I got her to let me sleep until about 6:00, and we continue to waver between 6:00 and 6:30.  This, I can handle.  Still, the process of waking up has changed a few times.  For a while Lolly would still attack me and force me to pet her.  From the time she woke up until I finally let her out she would stand on me, climb over me and generally insist that I pay attention to her.  We went through a phase where I could pet her for a little bit and get her to snuggle in so I could snooze for a bit, but that didn't last long.  During most of this time, Wolfey was still being neglected in the morning, only because if he tried to join in Lolly would push him away.  Finally, Wolfey got up the nerve to try to get in on the morning attention and refused to let himself but pushed off.  After several days of Wolfey standing his ground Lolly conceded, but would only let Wolfey sit or lay next to me, and ensured that she got the majority of the attention by laying directly on top of me.  This morning, we had another (hopefully final) alteration to our routine.  Wolfey hung back until Lolly got settled in, mostly next to me.  He walked right up, looked at Lolly, and claimed his rightful place - laying right across my belly!  Wolfey has had to wait more than two months, but he has finally reclaimed his place as Mommy's snuggle pup!

Princess

While talking to BBS on the phone today, Princess was fussing in the background. In an attempt to distract her, BBS asked Princess if she wanted to talk to Aunt Karen. Princess got on the phone and we "talked" (baby talked) for a minute. I asked her if she was being good for Mommy and she said "uh, oh!" and gave the phone back to BBS. Busted! Love my littlest monkey!

I've found Lolly's Halloween costume.  I'm going to add a disclaimer, though: kisses, free, whether you want them or not!

Mixed emotions

I just got a call from DCS, requesting information about the boy.  He's been gone for over a year and I still know more about him than they do.  It's so frustrating that DCS doesn't have all his information in some file for him to see when he turns 18, but at the same time, it helps me feel connected to him. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him and wonder how he's doing, and it's actually kind of nice to get these little tid bits.  I really hope that some day, when he's older and wants to know about his childhood, he'll look me up and I'll be able to share all my wonderful memories.  I really am lucky to have been a part of his journey.

Repairs

I've had a repairman at my house for the past two hours. Wolfey was pretty upset and wanted to know why there was a strange man in his house. Lolly just wanted to know why he wasn't playing with her!

Poor Lolly just does not understand why I won't let her go give attack kisses. I know it's not the most pleasant way to wake up, though, and I don't want to lose my Coolest Aunt in the World status! Schmo just couldn't keep the smile off his face last night, and kept saying, "I'm having so much fun, just you and me!" I really am incredibly lucky to have such awesome nieces and nephews!

Whoa!

I haven't checked my stats in a few days - 180 posts (this is #181) and more than 2030 page views!  Woohoo!  My last blog did much better, but I think fostering is much more interesting to most people than dogs, since anyone can and does have a dog, but fostering is more rare.  Still, I'm pretty happy to see that people are actually reading what I have to say :)

As for what I do have to say...I'm FINALLY taking Schmo on his birthday outing tonight!  Yay!  It's hard work being the World's Greatest Aunt (patent pending) but I love every second of it.  I take the kids out, one-on-one with Aunt Karen, instead of buying a birthday present.  I think we're going to play laser tag and have a sleep over.  Should be an awesome night!  I'm so lucky to love such fun monkeys :)

The dog ate it

Will be a totally reasonable excuse for why my kids don't have their homework/permission slip/pajamas/shoes/band instrument. Good golly, this girl is going to be the death of me. Or at least the death of my household decorations!

Coverage

I really enjoy covering other stores.  It gives me a nice break from my usual day-to-day, lets me see different customers, gives me an opportunity to check out other stores and get ideas for my stores, and most importantly - I generally cover stores that are busier than mine, so it's not so boring!  I hate to be negative, because I'm super thankful to have a good job, but my job can be painfully boring this time of year.  So when a friend called me last week to cover his store today and tomorrow, I jumped at the chance to get out of my store for something different and offer my employees a few extra hours.  The problem: EVERY time I work at this store, I have a major flub-up.  Every time!  It's always something personal, generally something that doesn't affect my performance, and never something the higher-ups in the company ever find out about, or would worry about even if they did know, but it's also always frustrating to me.  The first time, I packed soup for lunch...but no spoon.  The second time I packed my lunch...and left it in the refrigerator at home.  And this time is definitely the best.  I have to leave my house about 20 minutes earlier than I'm used to to work at this store.  On top of that, I had to stop and get gas this morning.  So, in my dreary state, I didn't pay much attention to what I put on, knowing that jeans and a work polo is pretty mindless.  Of course, I probably should have paid more attention to the jeans, and NOT grabbed the ones with a giant hole...in the butt.  Oops!  Good thing it's a cool day and I've got a fleece on!  Looks like I need to tie it around my waste to cover my little faux pas!  I really am lucky to have this nice break from the tedium of working the same slow store every day, and to have a friend and coworker who trusts me to cover his store; I just wish I was more on top of things and didn't screw something up every time I come here!

Bodies, bodies, everywhere

And not a man in sight.  I generally pride myself on being able to handle just about anything life throws my way, and not needing a man to take care of anything for me, but this was one (two) of those times I would have gladly handed over the reigns and let a man take care of it all!

Eww, gross and yuck!  Last night, as I was following a car up a state road (thankfully from a little distance), I saw the car hit their breaks, then something tan go flying.  They'd hit a deer.  Living in the country, this isn't uncommon, but what the driver did next was.  She pulled over so she was partway off the road, but still had close to half her car in the lane.  She just sat there, with her breaks still on and put it in reverse.  Then she sat there.  Since the shoulder is more than wide enough for a car, I was a little worried that she had been injured.  I stayed back for a minute to see what she would do, but she didn't back up, didn't pull over the rest of the way, didn't get out to check the damage.  I slowly pulled up next to her and asked if she was okay.  She stared at me for the longest time before realizing she needed to put her window down to hear me.  Once she did, I asked again and I could tell she was really rattled.  I backed up to put my car behind hers so I could get all the way off the road and put my blinkers on.  It was a small, older lady, so I felt fairly comfortable, but I still grabbed my cell phone, just in case.  She was completely clueless as to how to proceed, so I instructed her to call her husband, while I called the police for an accident report.  She kept saying how shaken up she was, how she didn't know what to do next and how scared she was to be there on the side of the road, so I offered to stay with her until either her husband or the police showed up.  I don't know how many times she went over and checked on the deer, even though it was clear that it had been killed on impact.  It's not that I've never seen a dead animal before, but I really didn't want to hang out with one.  Gross.

This morning, about half an hour before I would have usually gotten up, Wolfey started going a bit nutso.  It wasn't his usual "I've got to pee" whine, or his "I want attention" whimper and I was kind of lost as to what was going on.  If it had been Lolly, I would have chalked it up to the fact that she's a bit of a nut job, snuggled her into submission and gone back to sleep, but usually when Wolfey acts out, there's a reason.  I got up and opened the bedroom door and he bolted for the back door.  I assumed he must have had to pee and I just wasn't reading his signs right and went around to check the mouse traps - oh, yeah, did I mention I found mouse droppings the other day?  I've had a mouse in the basement before, but never in the upstairs and I was pretty grossed out by that and immediately went out and bought, and subsequently set, several mouse traps.  Well, I found the source of Wolfey's angst - there was a mouse on the trap in the closet.  Not just any mouse, though...a LIVE mouse!  I think I'd had this idea that the mouse would get caught as soon as I left for work one day and would be dead by the time I got home and had to deal with it, but no, this one was wriggling and squeaking and fighting for its life.  So after the traumatizing events of last night, then I had to kill this poor mouse this morning.  I actually went so far as to call my dad and ask him to drive out to the house to take care of it!  Of course, he wouldn't, and told me to just put a piece of cardboard over it and step on it.  Ick!  I couldn't do that, but I did use an old magazine (sorry, Glamor!  Not very glamorous today!) to pick it up, so that it was between several layers, took it out to the garage and dropped a 2x4 on it.  Twice.  I'm happy to say little mouse is now in mousey heaven, but it was still a pretty rough way to start the day!

So that brings my dead body count to two in the past 24 hours.  I think we can stop there.  Please!

See that little red dot? That's a light I put on Lolly's collar. When it's just us at the park I like to let the dogs off their leashes so they can run faster and burn off more energy. With the lights along our walking trail, I can see Wolfey's white tail, but Lolly is too darkly colored and incredibly difficult to see. I put my jogging light on her collar this evening - perfect solution!

Yep

I'm a happy girl. The past 24+ hours have been pretty awesome. Last night I met a good friend of mine, BBS and a good friend of hers for dinner and karaoke. This morning the dogs and I met a friend for a nice walk along the river. Then this evening, my mom made my special birthday dinner and BBS, her hubby and the monkeys and both sets of grandparents joined us for dinner and ice cream cake. I am so lucky to love so many amazing people!

Furry Venus fly trap

Wolfey is the best little fly catcher anywhere. As I sit here typing, he is patiently stalking the fly that keeps buzzing me. He has already caught one, while Lolly jumped at it, ran into the wall and quickly moved on to other activities. Success! He's lying down licking at something and I no longer hear buzzing. Good job, Wolf!

Top 10 reasons Lolly is the perfect name

I thought long and hard on what to name Lolly.  Wolfey was already named when I adopted him and although I wasn't a huge fan of his name, I also didn't want to change it after he'd been called that for two years.  When Lolly came to stay with me, she had been called Bonnie for two months, only because the agency had to have something to call her, but they didn't know what her name had been before.  I didn't like the name and she didn't really respond to it, so I decided to change it.  I agonized over what to call her and asked input from everyone she came in contact with.  Finally, I took her to my sister's house and asked the monkeys.  They came up with what I thought was a silly but cute name, and it stuck.  Now that I've had her a while, I realize it was actually the perfect name.  Here's why:

10. She's part Australian Shepherd. Australians call suckers lollies.
9. Same concept - she's super sweet, like candy...like a lolly!
8. BBS claims Lolly looks like she has a French pedicure and therefore should have a French name. Lolly could pass for French ;)
7. Along the lines of French names, Australian Shepherds are actually from France.
6. She most definitely does everything in her own sweet time.  In my family, we call moving so slowly "lolly gagging".
5. I love to sing.  My new favorite is "Lolly Pup, Lolly Pup, ooh Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Pup!" and I can even do the popping sound.  Of course, I usually don't get that far into it, because as soon as I start singing her name she gives me this look like I'm a complete fruit loop!
4. I also sing "Lolly wally doodle all the day" to her.  Hey, it works!
3. It's better than Dog Dog, which is what Doll Baby wanted to (and sometimes still does) call her.
2. The monkeys named her, and in my house, what they say goes :)
And the number one reason Lolly is the perfect name...
She's a total ding dong - always in la la land!

Kidneys

Lolly has had more accidents in my house in the two months I've had her than Wolfey has in the four years we've lived in this house.  I've been working with the vet to figure out what is going on, including taking a urine sample, asking lots of questions and most recently having blood drawn yesterday.  I just got a call from the vet that Lolly's kidneys are failing.  She is down to less than 25% kidney function, and needs meds (natural supplements, to start with) to help support it.  They want to do more bloodwork in 6-8 weeks to see how the treatment is working but if this doesn't help, she may have to go to an internist to figure out what the problem is and where we go from here.  I'm really hoping the supplements do the trick, because I'm not sure I can keep spending money like this!  Would it be completely ridiculous to buy pet insurance?  And do they even cover things like this?  I think it's time for me to do some research!

Lesson learned

It's not a savings to buy Halloween candy early and on sale if the dogs are going to eat the entire bag. At this point, I'm almost okay with the whole chocolate-is-poison-for-dogs thing.

Vet call

I just got a call from my vet, in which she answered all my millions of questions (yes, I still had lots of questions, despite the fact that I spent more than an hour there last week and have another appointment scheduled for next week) and took lots of time with me.  I love that they are so helpful and willing to talk to me even when I'm not paying for a visit.  If you're in the market for a good, holistic veterinarian, I would highly recommend The Veterinary Wellness Center.  I love my vet, they give awesome care, and the dogs really seem to like them, too.  I'll admit it's not cheap, but it is worth every penny!

Yumm!

I really do have the most wonderful mom! I've been digging into what causes my throat issues and learned that I have several food allergies, including wheat. I was told not to deprive myself, but to be mindful of what I eat and eat my allergens in very small amounts. Mom's birthday is Saturday and we're doing dinner tomorrow to celebrate. BBS suggested we do an ice cream cake to eliminate the wheat but I insisted that we'll do what works for me for my birthday (next week) and do Mom's favorite - yellow cake with chocolate icing for Mom. I figured I'd just eat a few bites. Mom found the happy medium, though and requested cheesecake. That way I can eat a whole piece without having much wheat. Bonus - I'm baking it now and the house smells amazing! I think this wheat allergy is working out!

5am

That's what time they woke me this morning, begging to go out. Now it's 5:30 and neither one of them is anywhere to be found. I don't want to yell too loudly for them, for fear of waking my neighbors. Usually if they have to go out during the night (okay, early morning) they go out, potty and come back in within seconds. At this point, I'm seriously considering just going back to bed without them!

UPDATE: Hmm...I can tell I wasn't quite awake when writing this - several typos!  It's now 5:00pm and I am seriously dragging butt.  I just can't stop yawning.  I'm really looking forward to a quick walk and crashing early tonight!

Cuddle pups

Unless, maybe, you were allergic to dogs, how could you not want to snuggle in with these guys?

Sleep deprived doggy mommy shoots two dogs, sleeps for days straight

Seems like a pretty likely headline, considering our night last night.  I've gotten used to Lolly's 6am wake up licks, and although I don't like being woken up so early, I do enjoy the snuggle time we generally have as a result of her morning assaults.  I've learned that as long as I keep petting her she lays peacefully and Wolfey and I can snuggle, too.  If I stop petting, I better be ready for her to bring on the scratchy paws and attempts at French kissing!  I've learned that I just need to go to sleep a little earlier so I'm functional waking up that early.  Last night, though, both dogs decided 10:30 was too early.  Every time I thought I had them settled down and started to drift off, one of them would step on me, lick me or just get in my face.  The last time I looked at the clock was 1:48am and I know it was a little while after that that  I finally fell asleep.  Then I got my usual 6:00am wake up lick and was NOT a happy camper!  I am seriously dragging butt today!

Vet visit, part II

Okay, where were we?  Oh, yes - I only got through the scabies (still yuck, by the way).  So our other issues, listed by dog:

Wolfey

Itchy
This was pretty well covered with the scabies issue, but it was also determined that he is probably allergic to fleas.  All dogs will scratch when they've had a flea bite, but a dog who is allergic to fleas will chew at the base of their tail/top of their butt for up to four months after having been bitten.  This was news to me, but so interesting, since Wolfey has gone through phases of chewing there.  He was given steroids to help with the inflammation and will have to have a better form of flea protection in the future.  Right now, the scabies meds will prevent flea bites, but once that's done, I'll have to get him something else.  I'm not sure what, yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Sores on paw
This was addressed in the earlier post, but I just touched on it.  Basically, Wolfey is an anxiety chewer.  Where some people binge eat, cry, cut, etc., Wolfey chews.  I was already doing all I could do, with using the drops to help heal it, but this may just be an ongoing effort, until he gets comfortable with Lolly being around, and it may be something we have to deal with every time there is a change.  Just like having a child with mental health issues, having a dog with anxiety means being patient, providing support and care and helping them through all the rough patches.

Worm prevention
We are nearly out of Wolfey's worm prevention and I learned that the type he has been taking is no longer being made.  I had concerns, since he had whipworm in the past and I had heard that he would forever need whipworm prevention, that it may be difficult to find something he could take.  I learned that once the whipworm is cleared from their system and from your environment (it can live for a while in the surroundings and the dog can pick it back up by licking the ground or eating feces) it is no longer a concern and he can switch over to any heartworm prevention.  Since Wolfey's whipworm has been gone for eight years now, I figure we're safe!  The scabies meds will take care of all worm prevention for the next two and a half months, then we'll start up on something new.

Lolly

Flea prevention
When I found fleas on Lolly when she first came to me, I put flea medication on both dogs immediately.  I really hate to give my dogs chemical treatments, though, so I was hoping for a homeopathic option.  I know garlic helps prevent fleas, but I wasn't sure if that was enough, since she had live fleas when she came to me. I learned that when a dog has fleas, you want to do the flea treatment for three months in a row.  Darn :(  The up side?  The scabies meds will cover this, too.

Rough paws
Yes, I'm beating a dead horse, but she really does have the roughest paws of any dog I've ever known.  The vet recommended I increase Lolly's fish oil and be patient.  Not my strong suit, but I'll try!

Eye boogers and sneezing
Dogs can have allergies, too.  I figured all this could be chalked up to seasonal allergies, but I wanted to make sure.  It's nice to be right every now and then :)

Incontinence
I asked if Lolly peeing everywhere could be a sign of something wrong.  They asked lots of questions, like whether she's leaking or just going more frequently than most dogs (just more frequent), whether it's a lot or a little (usually a lot) and how consistently she's having accidents (for a while there is was several times a day, every day, but recently it's been more sporadic) and couldn't settle on any one diagnosis, so they asked me to collect a urine sample.  Yes, I had to get my dog to pee in a cup.  Talk about interesting!  It actually wasn't as difficult as I expected, and I'm currently awaiting the results.  I'm sure there will be an update soon!

Stink
Lolly is the stinkiest dog I've ever met.  Even when she came home from the groomer's, she smelled like a dog.  Yes, I know, she's a dog, but she stunk like a dog.  It turns out, she had the dirtiest, stinkiest ears in the world.  Okay, I may be exaggerating a little bit, but seriously, the vet cleaner her ears and got a ton of gook out.  She also had ear mites, which were causing her to itch even more. She's now on drops for the mites and I'm having to stick cotton balls in her ears to clean them out. More than once I've told her "it's a good thing you just like attention and don't see this for the torture it is!"

My poor girl was just a mess!  It's no wonder she's needy, whiny and scratches all the time.  She must have been miserable.  I'm so glad I have such an amazing vet, who took the time to thoroughly check out both my dogs and answer all my questions.  If you think it's overwhelming here, you should have been in the appointment!  Yes, four prescriptions, increased homeopathic remedies and a follow up visit seems like a lot, but I learned so much, and if it means things will settle down at home and my babies will be healthy and happy, it's totally worth it!