May I have your attention please?

As the coonhounds Lady in Waiting, I am also responsible for press releases.

 

I would like to announce that “Coonhounds in the City” will no longer be an appropriate title for this blog. The girls are moving. Don’t worry, the interweb address will be the same so all their followers can still find them.  But their home will be moving from a population of over 335,000 to just over 27,000.  Sadly “Coonhounds in a Moderately Sized Semi-Rural City” just doesn’t have a good ring to it-so it will be a work in progress.

 

The girls will be happy in the end-they are going to have a yard to call their own! They will be able to run and play and be happy. Plus, almost twice the amount of indoor space than they have now. In the meantime, this is how they are taking the news, and general uproar in the house:

Pbtthh!! You go pack...I'm gonna nap.

Oh dear! lots of noise, lots of activity, not sure whats going on here!!

 

 

So, besides my normal duties as the Lady in Waiting, I also have to pack-in less than 2 weeks. (yes, things move fast here).  So, please hang with me if I’m not posting as much. I’m going to very busy for the next few weeks but will be sure share anything great the girls do!  I will also let you see the girls in their new crib as soon as I can!  I also need to apologize to some of you I think. I recently found out I have a “spam comments” folder and that some good comments are being sent there. Of course, this folder is regularly emptied by wordpress so I have been missing some comments. From this point forward, I will be checking it regularly so I don’t miss anything y’all have to say to me!

Wordless Wednesday

Get that camera out.of.my.face!!

Oh what a year it has been!

One year ago today my life turned upside down, and today, it is a better life because of it.

 

 

First day home, so skinny.

I decided it was time for me to have a dog in my life again. I did my research and planned everything out. I knew where I wanted to adopt from and starting watching the adoption pages as the date I had chosen drew near. I was looking for a dog with a certain personality. I wanted them to be calm, yet curious about me when I knelt by their cage. I did not want a dog that was barking its head off at all the passersby. I hoped for a low to medium energy dog. I knew I might not even be able to find a dog on the day I went. I did have a few hopefuls based on the descriptions provided and wanted to look for them while I was there. I kind of also wanted a dog that would fetch.

 

 

Grannie came with me that day for moral support. We walked into the first set of kennels. I saw several of the dogs in person I had been looking at online. Then there was Bella. She was so thin every bone showed. But she was right there at the kennel gate, watching everyone, hoping. I bent down to her level and she came over to sniff me. I knew I wanted to meet her. As I walked away she jumped up to lean against her kennel wall. Knowing her now, I think that was a last act of desperation in her. She does not like her feet to come off the ground.

 

Bella was the second dog I met that day. When she came into our meeting area, she sniffed all around. She was a transfer from animal control, not an owner surrender, so we didn’t know her real name or anything. She was very curious about the other dogs walking around, and curious about the kid in the meeting area next to us. She was nervous, but not afraid.  Then she just came over and leaned on me. It was not pity I felt that day looking at her, but love.

 

When she got back to my place, she sniffed around once then collapsed into a deep sleep in the corner of the living room. It would be the last peace for a while.

 

Bella turned out to be fearful. She spent most of her time hiding in her crate. Outside, walks were done with her tail tucked. I signed up for a basic training class. Her teacher was really nice, but Bella just wanted to stare at the wall.  I cried a lot that first week or two. I wondered if I had made the right decision. I knew I was in way over my head.

 

 

Four years old today

It would take Bella 3.5 weeks to learn to sit. The fact she didn’t (and doesn’t) like to really work for food made it hard. It would take 6 months for her to stop skipping meals all the time. It took 8 months for her to want to go out on the balcony without being encouraged to do so.  She can take walks without her tail tucked now. She spends more time out of her crate than in it these days.  She wags her tail regularly and seeks out attention from me.  Her turn around has been amazing.

 

 

Bella celebrated her birthday by getting some alone time with me at the park. She was able to sniff to her heart’s content without impatient Daisy there to bother her. She also got a nice piece of elk jerky.  It has been quite the year sweet girl. You’ve come so far. You surprise me all the time and I can’t wait to see what next year brings.

 

Happy Birthday my Sweet Girl!

Daisy’s first boat ride

Ok, warning: the wind noise gets pretty loud about half way through this video.

 

Daisy recently took her first ride in Grandpa’s bass boat. She did much better than Bella. Bella melted into the floor and tried to hide under the steering wheel.  Daisy was curious about the engine revving. She liked smelling the air and looking around. You will be seeing a lot of pics from this boat trip. I took about 150 and I must say Daisy just looks fabulous in most of them.

 

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog….

because our dog treat prize from Something Wagging This Way Comes just arrived!!  Personally, this is an exciting day because 1. The Lady in Waiting loves getting mail and 2. it is the first prize we have won through blogging!

Of course, Daisy was all over wanting to open up the box. Bella just wanted out of there!  My two opposite girls.  The good thing is Bella takes treats veeeeery slowly so I can get a picture of her enjoying them! Not possible with Daisy. Both of the girls really liked the treats and I love that they are wheat free!  I just hope the girls don’t start expecting all the mail to taste this good.

Oh! Is this box for me?

Not too sure about this box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!

Um, I really don't like that box!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daisy is very excited about FOOD! Bella is trying to run away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open them please!!

 

 

 

Yummy Berry!

Wordless Wednesday

Life on the Road….

Well Bella, my frequently carsick dog, threw up before I was even out of the city.  I think that is a new record.  When I stopped to clean it up Daisy climed out of the back set, over the console, and a suitcase, to get out the door and out of the puke. Her face was pure panic as the vomit was coming out of her sister’s mouth.

 

So, I cleaned up the back seat as much as I could. I covered the front passenger seat with a towel and put Daisy up with me.  Luckily, she is great in the car and sat or laid down the whole trip.

Too big for the passenger seat

Bella was not done throwing up an by the time we reached the Grandparents’ house, the whole bottom of the hammock in the backseat was soaked.

 

Can’t say I’m looking forward to the trip back home.

Wordless Wednesday

Everyday Life

Day to day around here can get pretty boring. It makes it hard to write about something. It’s why I see no point in Twitter. Not enough exciting things happen around here to tell the world.  The girls are going together to stay at the Grandparents house this weekend. Daisy has never been there and has never stayed in a different house. I am trying to not worry. Daisy is a very good girl-but she is very curious about things and will not be hiding in her crate like Bella does when she visits them. She’ll be more like having an actual dog in the house as opposed to a piece of furniture.

 

It will be ok, I am sure.  Or, that is what I keep telling myself.

 

 

Not Your Dad’s Old Watering Trough

So, the Cadillac of Dog Parks comes complete with the ultimate watering contraptions for the dogs. They are scattered all over.  In such a large place there is the issue of providing water for the dogs, and not having it sitting full of dirt and mold. Not to mention lost/stolen/broken bowls, and huge lakes of mud around the bowls.  Well, problem solved! The only slight issue for me is I have to be there to turn the water on, but today there was a dog who could turn the water on for himself so it isn’t an issue for everyone.

 

Thanks Bella, for the demonstration.  You can see, there is the top part of a trashcan buried into the  ground and filled with small rocks for drainage. The post comes up and the bowl is bolted to it. The water comes out by pressing or pulling that small blue piece of PVC type pipe.  The bowl has a small hole in the bottom, so the water can drain out.  It isn’t too big-the girls can drink their fill before the water is gone but large enough for dirt to run through. This invention provides, clean, fresh water and eliminates most of the mud issue and the dogs can’t trot off with the bowls or use them as toys. How does your dog park solve the water bowl issue? Or is it one that has all the issues?