Life with Dogs is Good. . .

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I think I've said it before, but I don't know how I lived 30+ years of my life without having a dog to share it with.  And having two dogs just makes it sweeter for me. 

Penny was little challenge at first, but nothing we couldn't handle.  It just took a lot of caring and loving her, and trust from her.  I know she was well loved in her first home, so I think it just took time.  We seem to have overcome most of our hurdles with her.  When I come home from work she is there with my Ninja, wagging her pretty tail and kind of waving with her paw.  I can't explain it, but it's so cute how she does this little waving thing with her paw.  She is trusting enough now to come up and ask to be petted, and she has this annoying (but funny) habit of nosing me in the back of the knee when I walk around the house and she wants something.

She is still a little chunky, and we are working on that, but this dog will find any scrap of food and devour it.  Leave a bag from Wienerschnitzel in the trash with just a bit sticking out, and next thing you know you'll find it in the yard, shredded with any little morsel devoured.  I'm sure Ninja is not blameless in this either, but she is just heavier so she takes the blame!  :)

My daughter gives them a bath every week and they seem to really like the attention.  I like the clean and fresh smelling pus, especially after a romp at the duck pond.  I'll get to that in a minute.

Penny seems to really like being on the leash, so when we give her a bath we tend to keep her leashed so she feels comfortable.  Here she is wrapped up in a towel after her bath.  I like her little doggy smile.

Here's fluffy Ninja, with a huge doggy grin.  He's an attention hog, and will subtly push Penny away when she is getting her petting.  Can dogs be passive aggressive?  Penny will have non of it and push her way back.  They seem to have a comfortable relationship, and are almost never apart.  I caught the asleep holding paws the other evening. 

We found a nice path to walk in Riverside.  There's a duck pond and a stream, and it's very pretty.  Ninja, who is afraid of water, went after the ducks and went right into the water!  I think he was as surprised as I was that he ended up in the water.  Luckily it wasn't deep, and he only got his paws and legs wet, but that water smelled nasty!

Here is a little spillway Ninja and I walked over.  Penny didn't want to go, so she waited with my daughter.

And here are some of the infamous ducks.  It's a beautiful place to go at twilight.

If You Ever Wondered Why. . .

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

 I decided to cut the Aussies short, take a look at this photo.  They look happy, but hot.  This was a Mt Rubidoux hike a few weeks ago and they were feeling the heat and all that hair.  I wasn't sure if Penny was up to a four  mile hike, but she did it like a trooper!

My daughter and I love this hike.  And every time we get comments about how we have the cutest dogs on the trail.  Yes, of course we do!  :)

And away we go.  You can see we are almost to the top if you look to the right corner of the picture.  Just around that corner is the top, with lovely, shady trees and the cross on the mountain top where they hold Easter services every year at dawn.  Wasn't the sky beautiful that day?   My daughter does not usually walk both of them, but I needed her to take them so I could take a photo!



Short and Sassy for Spring!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

We went to see our new stylist Bonnie today and look how cute we look!  We are short and sassy for Spring. 

Yes, yes, we are a little chubby, but with the warm weather we can all go out a lot more in the evenings and get fit.  :) Mommy wants to shed a few pounds too.

Tomorrow is the Trip to the Beauty Parlor. . .

Friday, April 29, 2011

It's Spring, and the weather has turned beautiful.  And that means every corner of our house is full of tumbleweeds of Aussie hair.  No matter how much I vacuum the hair just keeps coming.  So that means it is time to get my pups cut short.  They'll be happier and so will my family.  I don't like to cut them too short in the winter because it does get cold.  Not cold like Alaska or Minnesota or anything, but enough that they need some fur to stay warm.

Tomorrow we're going to a new groomer who comes highly recommended.  I got tired of going to our usual groomer who would greet us with something to the effect of, "Oh, there you are with the fat dog!"  No one likes to hear that.  I know we both need to slim down, but that's depressing.  So therefore she loses my business.  Only makes sense, right?

I'll post pictures tomorrow of the groomed and cleaned up pups.  :)

Roller Derby Doggies

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I spent a good portion of my childhood on a pair of roller skates.  I never got into the whole in line skating thing.  I am very comfy on an old fashioned roller derby 4 wheel set of skates.  So comfy, in fact, that this week my husband bought me a new pair of skates (to keep my daughter company on her new pair).  And I learned that it is a really, really fun way to walk my Aussies.  Or run them, actually.

For the past couple of nights I have skated around the park with my roller derby doggies pulling me along. We get going fast when they are running.  Flying around the park, everyone is happy! 

And I haven't fallen once so far. It's like riding a bike- I haven't forgotten a thing about skating. Three trips around the big park and we are all exhausted and ready to settle for the night.


The dogs are so cute when they see me putting my skates on, whining and jumping around and going to the door.  It's supposed to rain tonight and for the next few days so we'll have to put the derby on hold for a few days.

So give it a try.  Grab your skates, the leashes, and a little old 80's mojo and head out.  :)

When you are Bored in a Meeting. . .

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

I don't know about you, but when I'm bored in a meeting, this kind of thing happens.  Helps to make the time go faster.  :) 

I happened to have a picture on my phone so I just drew from that.  I'm terrible with drawing from memory.  I think it turned out kind of cute. 

The Queen Takes Her Throne!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

 When Penny first came to live with us, she seemed to enjoy riding in the car, but she always curled up in the back seat on the floor.  I've seen her improve significantly over the past few months (like coming up to be petted and hanging out with the family when we watch TV), and today she took her throne on the front seat when we went for a ride to the Paw Spa.  We didn't get a bath today (they need one but we ran out of time) but I buy their special dog food there and we were all out!  Just look at her little sweet face.  She's so enjoying hanging out in the front and watching everything going on.

Of course Ninja kept trying to push his way up there too, but she wasn't budging.  Good for her! 

And they are slimming down and looking so shiny with their new food.  I'm seeing Penny slowly lose her extra weight but better than that I see her so much more active!  She and Ninja played outside with the neighbor dogs and she was running around like a puppy with them.

And I found an excellent treat for them today.  They both go crazy and will do anything for green beans, of all things.  Green beans are good for them and won't pack on the pounds, so that's an excellent treat.

All the Aussies and humans in this house are looking forward to turning our clocks back tonight! Enjoy your extra hour of sleep.