Ninja's Shiny Coat

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Ninja loves avocados. He nearly knocked me over one day while I was eating one, and that's not like him. Usually he's very polite. But he just loves them, and they are making him sparkle! He has a beautiful coat to begin with but after eating avocados for a couple of days he is brilliant.

He's also blowing out his coat right now which is pretty miserable for everyone. Dog hair everywhere! My husband suggested we shave him. I don't have the heart to do that. Look how beautiful that curly black coat is. Could you shave it?

I called the local groomer to see what it would cost to get him a trim. They start hair cuts at $60. Good heavens! I don't pay that to have my own hair cut! I talked with my friend who is married to the breeder where we got Ninja, and she said it would be easy to just trim up the hair on his hind quarters myself, which is where the biggest problem is anyway. Here's a picture of how long his hair was in back.

So the other night I sat down with a shedding comb, a rake comb, a brush, some trimming scissors and thinning scissors. Ninja loved being brushed and clipped, although he likes to lay down during the process and that makes it a bit hard. I filled up an entire grocery bag of hair.

I had a hard time getting a shot of his clipped hind quarters. He seemed so happy with his new look. He certainly bounced over to my husband when he got home, and my husband even commented that he seemed to be showing off a bit. This was about the best shot I could get.

One word of warning- the ASCPA site claims that avocados may have a toxic substance in them to dogs, but it appears to be mainly Guatemalan avocados. All of ours around here come from California or Chile, and Ninja doesn't seem to be having any negative side effects after a week of eating them. But if you let your dog have them make sure to not give him the pit. They can choke on it. And maybe check with your vet- my dog seems to have an iron stomach after surviving chocolate and rat poison.

Ninja and In N Out Burger

Sunday, November 16, 2008

A few nights ago my husband worked late and stopped at In N Out Burger for a bite on the way home. In case you aren't from Southern California, In N Out is a Hamburger drive-through that you either love or you don't. Ninja and I love it. I suppose I've spoiled him because he always gets the last bit of my Double Double. I purposely order a bigger hamburger than I can eat so he can have some. Sometimes I even order him his own burger.

So it should come as no surprise that when my husband came home late and set his food on the table, Ninja expected that he would get some. I was asleep. My husband set down the box of food on the sofa table. It comes in a little box with no lid. He went into the kitchen to wash his hands, then came back and. . . no burger. He told me he had a moment's confusion and thought perhaps the burger had fallen out of the box and was on the seat of the car. But he looked outside on a whim and there was Ninja munching away on the double double. The ensuing roar woke me up, sent Ninja scurrying away to the corner of the yard, and the neighbor's cats home in a hurry. My poor husband went to bed hungry but Ninja slept well with a belly full of hamburger.

The Brownie Thief

Monday, June 9, 2008

On Saturday I went to my ceramics class and came home to a very happy pup. There is nothing like seeing that little wagging behind (remember the docked tail) waiting for me at the door.


He had stolen one of my shoes and taken it out to the yard, but there wasn't too much damage and I can still wear it. That's a good thing.

We tend to bring lots of goodies to munch on during class. This Saturday was no exception, and I was sent home with a rather large plate of brownies. I set them on the kitchen table, told my kids to help themselves, and settled down on the couch with a large iced tea and the remote for a short rest.

About an hour later my daughter asked where the brownies were. Only a forlorn, empty plate with one black hair remained, and it was on the floor.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaa!

Our Daily Bread

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Do all dogs love people food? As Ninja is my first dog companion, I can't answer that. DH says that one of his dogs would eat almost anything except potatoes. Ninja's Mum, Indy, is a picky eater. Give her a tortilla chip and she'll just look at you with the "What else ya got?" stare.

So far I haven't found anything that Ninja doesn't like, except perhaps apples. And that is only to say that he doesn't tear into an apple with reckless abandon like many other foods. Give him an apple slice and he'll hope for better, but if that's it, it gets eaten.

The other night we went to see Speed Racer, which all four of us loved. DH and I are both huge fans from when we were kids and we liked the movie a lot. I know some others won't agree, and that's OK (ala Stewart Smalley). But we enjoyed it.

The point is that we were out later than usual, and Ninja was home, annoyed. When we did get home the kids wanted PB&J. Fine, sounded like a great bedtime snack. Except that there was no bread. I had two loaves of bread when I made lunches the night before, now there was none. No one in my house likes plain old white bread enough to go through a loaf and a half in one day. So where was it? The rat issue has been resolved. Speaking of which, the house next door to us has been abandoned for nearly a year, which makes me wonder if the rats have moved in over there and that's why one ventured my way.

But back to Ninja and the bread. The next day I went out to straighten the back yard, which consists of gathering up anything that Ninja has confiscated that isn't his. And guess what I found? Yep. Two shredded bread wrappers. He must have worked hard to get those loaves of bread off of my counter. And apparently the one didn't satisfy him. Time for a bread box. Oh, I forgot. Ninja has opposable thumbs. Nevermind. . .