Reflections

I remember the days when I would take my eldest daughter with me to visit Harry and Gus.  She was barely learning how to walk.  And they had to adjust their hyperness to such a small person.  The years have passed by and my daughter is now 7 and can now walk Gus on her own. 

My youngest daughter went on a walk with us and there was an instant flashback of my eldest.  My youngest is almost a year and is learning how to walk.  Gus towers over her.  Since he met my eldest daughter, his family has grown.  He has learned to deal with babies, since his owners had two of their own.  Harry is no longer with us, but Gus seems to be handling it well.

I don't want to fast forward to the day my youngest is walking the dogs instead of being towered by them.

We are very fortunate to be able to take our daughters with us to "work".  Yet on sunny days when our job is to take a dog out on a walk, it hardly seems like "work".

Summer heat - a dog's perspective

I wish pets could talk.  I wish my dog Bella could tell me if she's too hot to be outside or for that matter if she's too hot to be inside.  Does she need a fan?  Does she need more cool water?  A bath?  Hmm, I don't think she would say yes to that!  My dog hates baths.  She tolerates them, but would prefer never to have a bath again.

I think Bella would tell us to keep her bed cool.  She would want the sun beaming on her head only.  She likes to sun bathe but only if she doesn't move.  I wish I could lounge all day too.  What a life?  As the weather continues to creep up, I look forward to a summer of sunshine and heat.  I bet Bella looks forward to it too!

Take Your Dog To Work Day

First celebrated in 1999, Take Your Dog To Work Day was created to celebrate the great companions dogs make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs. This annual event asks pet lovers to celebrate the humane-canine bond and promote pet adoption by encouraging their employers to support TYDTWDay by opening their workplace to employees’ four-legged friends on this one special day.

On Friday June 25, 2010, businesses, animal shelters and pet-care professionals from around the world will work together to better the lives of shelter dogs everywhere. Thousands of businesses will GO FURRY to promote pet adoption by opening their doors to employees’ furry, four-legged friends on this day in celebration of the great companions dogs make.

We encourage everyone to participate in this fantastic event!  If you cannot take your dog to work, help spread the word by encouraging others to adopt a pet.

We adopted one of our dogs from a shelter.  It felt so good to know that we had saved a dog.  In the end (after 12 wonderful years), we now know he saved us.  He was the missing piece of our family.

Returning to Work

We have returned to work after a much needed vacation.  For the first time in my life I felt like I want to go back to the vacation!  Usually, it feels normal to go back to work and the normal routines of life.  But this time, I had such a good time that I finally get why people love vacations so much.  The trick was not to cram so many activities into one trip.  I am glad to get back to work so that we can start saving for our next vacation!

Vacation and Pet Sitting

We are finally going on a much needed vacation!  The last time we traveled was in 2007!  Now we will be traveling with two kids (one 7 year old, one 9 month old).  Looking forward to just landing and settling in - let the fun begin!

It's hard to take vacation when your business relies on "vacationers".  We never want to turn away business.  It is hard to say no.  But we rarely take time off and feel that we deserve a break.  We definitely don't want to burn out.  I hope we will come back refreshed and ready for the busy summer.

I will keep this short today, lots of stuff to do before we leave...

Top 10 dogs that worked in horror films

Top 10 dogs that worked in horror films (from eatmybrains.com)



1.Cujo - St. Bernard (Cujo)


2.Beauty and Beast - German Shepherds (The Hills Have Eyes)


3.Price - Rottweiler (The People Under The Stairs)


4.Nanook - Siberian Husky (The Lost Boys)


5.Blood - Mongrel (A Boy and His Dog)


6.Max - Tibetan Mastiff (Man's Best Friend)


7.Unknown name - Husky (The Thing)


8.Unknown - Rottweiler (Alien 3)


9.Dickie - Alsatian (The Beyond)


10.Chips - Collie (Dawn of the Dead))

Babies and Pets

Bella, Reno, and Katie were our kids for a long time.  We got married in 1995 but didn't have our first child until 2003.  We were worried about how our pets would react to a baby in the house.  They noticed the baby things creeping into our home and would often go and smell them.  The day our daughter was born, we took a hat she had worn for our dogs to smell prior to us leaving the hospital.  They were happy to see us when we got back from the hospital.  They smelled our daughter and were satisfied with doing that.  Over the years, our daughter tried to ride the dogs, aggressively pet the cat, dress up the dogs, and race the dogs.  They were eager to have someone solely dedicated to playing with them. 

In 2009 we had our second child and our dogs were now 12 and 13 and our cat was 11.  Our pets were less concerned with the arrival of our newest daughter.  Our first daughter luckily kept them entertained when the baby got fussy.  Our boy dog Reno did not get to spend too much time with the baby - he passed away the day after Thanksgiving.  We feel bad that our second daughter will never really know him.

Before having kids we never thought our pets would be neglected in any way.  But after having kids it seems it is more of a balancing act.  We constantly have to remind ourselves to pay attention to them.  Our eldest daughter is good about giving them the extra attention they need.  I can't imagine life without our furry kids and our human kids.