Camping Trip!

So last weekend we took Teagan and Daisy camping in a nearby state park. It was Daisy's first time camping with us. We went hiking and settled by the fire before piling into the tent. I think Daisy and Teagan were the only ones who got a good nights sleep. I can't sleep on such hard ground- I guess I'm too citified :) And Teagan and Daisy had their cushy beds too...I guess that could have helped...

Teagan got a chance to use her nifty little backpack for the first time in a while. She loves it.

As much fun as it is to rough it- I think we were all THRILLED to go home. Teagan practically raced me to the door! I guess I'm not the only one who's citified...

All in all- a good time. We had a nice long hike too!

Goodbye for now!

This Friday Snuggle brought to you by the cutest dogs EVER.

HAPPY FALL!

Some snuggly autumn weather has finally reached us! It rained yesterday and was actually kinda chilly. We had a nice fire in the fireplace and sipped hot apple cider. In weather like this, I want to hibernate!! Teagan and Daisy had the same idea too...

Doesn't she look comfy snuggling in her down blanket? I thought it was rather cute. And then I realized Teagan was snuggling her elephant. And it was probably the most precious thing I've seen in my whole life.

Warm and snuggly weekend- coming up!

This Week at Kitty Academy.

So inspired by the kitty doing tricks video, I decided to try some on our cat, Mo.

AND HE IS AWESOME. He now knows how to sit, gimme 5, spin and up. It is precious. I guess you can tell he's kinda food-motivated. :)

Cats rule, dogs drool...

My dogs don't even do all these tricks!!

What a supercat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gKPpXkPzFA

Dogs and Diapers.

Baby fever has hit and I currently know 17 people who are expecting or have recently had a baby in the past couple months. (I know right?!) The best part is: I'm going to be an aunt for the first time! We're super thrilled and excited but since we have dogs, not children, my immediate thought was- what about the dogs?

I've always wondered how people introduced their dogs to the new babies, especially when the dogs WERE the babies beforehand. After some brief googling (yes it is a verb now), I found you can actually take courses in preparing your dog for baby. AWESOME. And I just thought that's what they made "baby gates" for...

It turns out there is whole list of things you should do before you bring home the kiddo to meet the dog. One site recommended that you BORROW DIRTY DIAPERS FROM FRIENDS so your dog gets used to the smell. Ew. That might be an awkward request to make: "Excuse me Jessica, can I borrow your baby's diaper? I want to take it home and have my dog to smell it". You might get the police called on you.

I also saw where you could record a tape of your friend's baby crying or babbling to get your dog used to the noise. If I were you, I'd ask a different friend than the one with the diaper- you've already made some pretty weird requests, she may not return your phone calls if she thinks you're stalking her baby.

One lady suggested watching reruns of The Baby Story on TLC since babies cry in that show all the time. I remember watching The Baby Story in college and thinking "OMG, I will never ever be that lame" but still watched with horrified fascination as these normal couples were transformed into hormonal, emotional, terrified, sobbing creatures. My favorite episode was where the lady wanted to do a natural birth and then the contractions were so painful she decided to do an epidural and her husband was like, "Baby, remember what we decided" and she was all, "I DON'T CARE THIS HURTS GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID MAN". And then she got the epidural, put a flower in her hair, put on some red lipstick, smiled, pushed for a few minutes (without breaking a sweat) and had that baby. I remember thinking- "If I ever have a baby- I want it to be like that". Word.

My friend Meghan said she carried around a doll to train her lab when they were expecting her son and I got this great image of her carrying around a baby doll acting like a crazy person. I know quite a few people who didn't do anything at all and just went with it. Some turned out great- some not so great. What are some ways you prepared (or would prepare) your dog for baby?

Just needing a little laugh.

We're still having an insane week.

We're both crazy-busy with work and I've got a lot of stuff coming up in the next few weeks for school and coaching that I've been trying to get a head start on.

In dog training news- I have been trying to teach the girls "come" and Teagan is convinced I'm trying to trap her when I go to grab her collar and hides under the table like the only time her collar gets grabbed is when she's about to receive a terrible beating. As far as I know, she's never been beaten so either she's going crazy or she thinks I'm going to steal her collar. No offense Teagan, but your collar just isn't my style. Hot pink is not my color. Don't worry.

In general, Teagan isn't acting like herself and I'm convinced it is my fault. I think we left her one too many times and now she has post-traumatic stress disorder or something.

Daisy is having the runs from all that cheese.

I can't de-stress by running because my knee is old and crabby this week so I just have to look forward to yoga on Thursday to get it all out.

And to top it all off- it is raining.

Here are some funny dog pictures to make it all better. :)

This one reminds me of Teagan. When she's not fretting about collar thieves.

Doggie DooDoo

OK- it has been a busy couple of weeks!!

We visited some of my husband's family over the long weekend. Unfortunately we had to leave Teagan behind with her dog-sitter, two pugs and a lab mix named Marley who is her bff. Teagan expressed her sadness by having diarrhea on her dog-sitter's floor. When I got the phone call, the nicest dog-sitter in the world told me it was ok and not to worry about it but I still felt terrible. I gifted her with a few more bottles of wine because I know that is exactly what I would want after cleaning up dog diarrhea but I still feel guilty about leaving my emotional dog in another person's unsuspecting home. And then I felt even more guilty about leaving Teagan. But her cousin Emma had some weird contagious wart and it was really gross so I left Teagan because her and Emma play incessantly and I figured it would less painful than quarantining one or the other. So in a way, I'm a good dog-parent. And in another way, I'm still a meanie.

Poor Teagan.

Daisy is doing well in doggie school. According to her instructor she has both "brains and beauty" and I think she's got a big head now. Oddly enough, our last class was filmed for the company and I felt a lot of pressure for Daisy to perform well and then I felt like a stage parent and then I gave her extra cheese. And now she'll probably have diarrhea but that's ok, as long as it is on my floor. I've got plenty of wine.