Cats, Dog and Our Yard - Oh My!

In case you missed it, it snowed 5 inches on Friday in Everett! It's April. It isn't supposed to snow. What is going on? Luna loved the snow though and I tried to capture it on video but I had a long week at work so working our digitial camera as a video camera just wasn't one of my skills that day. But I tried. She loved rolling around in it and I'm glad somebody was happy about the snow.

Saturday was relaxing, well, as relaxing as doing laundry and housework can be. I took a nap with Fidel and then drove Luna down to Seattle for Yappy Hour while Matt was at work. She did better than last time at Great Dog, but she was too shy to go in. When she is shy she will snarl and snap if the dog gets to close. We hung around the outside holding area where she could still see, hear and smell the other doggies but they couldn't get to her. One of the trainers came out and worked with us. She also refuned us our money ($3). She was really sweet and told me that if we want to keep bringing her back for Yappy Hour we can and they won't charge us until she is ready to go in and play. At the end of Yappy Hour, when there was only a few dogs left, she went in and ran around with me. She also investigated all the smells. There were two greyhounds in there but she ignored them. I can't take her back next week, unfortunately, I have to take her to the Vet along with Nikita and Fidel. Oh, that is a car ride that I can't wait for!

Sunday, we took Luna to Lowell Park in Everett. We really liked it because it is completey fenced with a security gate. I followed the advice the trainer gave me the day before and let her off the leash once we entered the security gate area. All of the other dogs came up to greet her. She was not happy and hid behind Matt. After a few minutes I opended the gate and she went in, but started to back up when the other dogs ran up to greet her. I wouldn't let her go back so she came in to the dog park and wanted nothing to do with the other dogs. She snarled and snapped at them, which the trainer said is OK, because she is setting her limits. Luna pretty much ignored them the whole time we were there. She did really good running back and forth between Matt and I and she even broke up a couple of fights with her barks! It was hilarious. By the way, at every dog park we visit a black dog has to give Matt love. I don't know what it is about him, but he always seems to attract big, black dogs.

After the dog park, Matt and I went to Home Depot and Wal-Mart so we could work on our muddy yard. It really was a swamp. We invested in some tire much and lava rocks to help with the mud problem. I also planted some (pink) plants and some hanging plants. I think it is a big improvement. This summer we want to purchase a BBQ and possibly some new chairs. I still need to contact Mosaic about a pet fence for Luna, although she was out there for the whole time and never strayed from us.

In my last post I promised cat pictures. They were not feeling photogenic today, but I do have a few!

So like I said, next weekend I am taking 3 out of 4 of our furbabies to the vet's which should be interesting. Fidel is going in for another blood panel to see how his kidney failure is progressing and if the hyperthyroid pills have helpt. Nikita is going in for his annual shots and Luna needs a distemper booster and whatever else the vet thinks she needs. My friend Megan (Mariner) will be in town from the East Coast which I am really looking forward too :)

Ciao!

Yappy Hour and Dog Fashion Show

Last night Luna and I headed down to Kirkland to Dooley's Dog House Pet Store for Yappy Hour and a Fashion Show put on by Planet Poochie. This was a fundraiser for Pasado's Safe Haven. We got to meet some dogs that were looking to be adopted too.

At first Luna did NOT want to go in. I had to all but pick her up and carry her through the door. Of course, being the adorable Corgi that she is, everyone wanted to pet her and oohed and ahhed over her. Meanwhile all she wanted to do was hide under the table!

It took awhile and a lot of pets from mommy before Luna was at home and munching away on her dog cookies provided by Simon and Huey. They even had wine and beer for the humans! She really liked an Eskie that was there. So much so that you could tell the Eskie felt smothered. There was a 7 month old English Bulldog there that loved Luna. Luna did not feel the same way, so the Bulldog was reduced to flopping on the floor so she could slink closer to her. Ahh, puppies.

The Yappy Hour was impressive! For the dogs, they had a nice spread of cookies from Simon and Huey's. Luna didn't want her cookie at first, but once she warmed up to all the dogs and people she happily munched her's down. And then another... and another... and I took some home for her to eat later. What can I say? She loves sweats just like her mother!

For the adults, Yappy Hour consisted of beer and wine, plus some "pupp-etizers" donated by a local deli. It was all yummy. I had fun mingling with the other dog owners and after awhile Luna warmed up to everything. In fact, she wanted all of my attention. She insisted on jumping up on me so I would kneel (way) down and pet her. She was having fun.

The fashion started about 45 minutes after we got there. It consisted of two parts. We stayed for both. We saw lots of cute dogs in funny outfits. I think after awhile Luna wanted to get up on stage herself! Daddy says she's not allowed to wear outfits, just her raincoat and a Halloween costume, so she was living vicariously. At the end of the show though, we were allowed to put our dogs up on the red carpet stage for picture taking. Luna was such a star! Everyone was taking her picture.

We had a great time and it was all for a great cause - Pasado's Safe Haven.

I promise in my next post I will talk more about the cats. They have a very exciting event coming up!

One Tired Dog

This weekend was all about Luna. On Saturday I brought her to Seattle so Matt could show her off to his friends at Comacast. They all loved her! The most popular question of the day was "Is she full grown?" The answer is she's 3 and she's as big as she is going to get. Just in case you are wondering, I measured the size of her legs. They are as long as my hand from my fingertip to my wrist! We like to call her "stubby paws."

After Comcast, we ventured over to Greenlake. This is a very popular spot in Seattle for people to walk their dogs and boy, did we see lots of them! Luna did great though and only snarled up a few times.

We were there to meet one of my Meetup groups for a nice Saturday walk along the lake. While we were waiting at Starbucks (where else?) we met another Corgi girl. The funny part is this same Corgi would be at our Corgi meetup the very next day at Marymoor Park! But I digress. We met up with our group which included a different Corgi named Oscar. Oscar doesn't like a lot of other dogs but he really took to Luna. The two of them had fun walking together.

Greenlake is a 2.8 mile walk. Luna and I walked the whole thing! She didn't want to get in the water though, but she was at least willing to go wherever I went and I wasn't willing to get in the water either. Greenlake is known for having nasty duck-poop-filed water. Yuck.

After Greenlake we said good-bye to the Meetup ladies and headed over to Great Dog Shoppe in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle. Let me tell you, little miss Luna did not like this store. I think the problem was they also do grooming and doggy daycare so there was probably too many smells for her. There was also a line of people and their puppies waiting for Puppy Playtime to start in the daycare space. I am hoping to bring her back some Saturday afternoon for Yappy Hour where she can run around with the other dogs in the daycare space. For now, she needs to work on getting used to other dogs outside her breed.

We left Great Dog without finding what we needed (a rectractable leash for the next day) and headed over to PetSmart. I'm not a fan of big chain pet stores, but they had what we needed and Luna actually liked it there. Until we ran into the puppy obedience class that was doing some training around the store. Ugh. Luna does't like those wiggly pups!

So we tiredly paid and straggled home. We plopped on the couch and watch "Oprah!" from Friday, the show on puppy mills. I didn't finish watching it because Matt banned me from viewing it while he was home and he walked in halfway through. I still need to finish it.

Saturday night was the first night Luna spent out of her crate. There was no problems. We thought maybe she'd fight with the cats, but all interested parties respected The Berlin Wall (baby gate).

Sunday

Today we got up early to drive Luna down to Redmond's Marymoor Park for a monthly Corgi meetup. It was obviously our first one and we plan to attend more. We got there late and spent a good 1/2 hour looking for everyone. The place is HUGE! The off-leash dog park is 40 acres! The entire park is 640 acres. I don't think we saw the whole thing.

Eventually people started telling us that "the Corgi Convention was over there" or that we were late for the "Corgi Parade" over there so we found the group. Luna was OK with them, but really just wanted to go back to the car or sit on our laps. The other Corgis were good with her and respected her space. She didn't like the bigger dogs either and made sure to leave plenty of space between her and them. She snapped a few times and we corrected her ("AAAHHHH") but she also let a few dogs sniff her butt. Again, I couldn't get her to jump in the water, but we're working on it. She's used to being a show dog not a jump-in-the-river-after-a-ball dog. Maybe its me and I'm just too used to having big boy dogs!

When we came home we took a 2 hour nap on the couch with Fidel and Nikita. Vlad is still pissing her off royally, but he angers us sometimes so its no shock. Tomorrow will be her first day at home "alone." I'm a little sad about that, but we have big plans for next weekend. I want to drag her and Matt to the Edmonds' dog park on Sunday. Just not as early as this week's adventure!

Luna is Home!

Its official: Luna is home! We love her to pieces and we're so glad she is here with us. I took today off to be with her and get her acclimated to the cats before she had to stay home by herself starting on Monday. There has been minimal growling and hissing so far. Still, we want da boys to be safe.

I did some journaling earlier in the week on how she was getting acclimated.

Tuesday Night

She did great coming in the door. Matt had run in ahead of us and put up the baby gate. Instantly Nikita and Vlad FLEW over it and came running for her. She was terrified. Poor baby is still shaking. So far there has been no hissing or growling. Just some very curious looks. Vlad got within 5 inches of her and she was so scared. She's been hiding from the cats either behind us or in our laps. Awww. Here are some pictures from tonight. I don't have many because I was concentrating on video. Unfortunately all the video I got was lame because the cats seem to be OK with her.

Wednesday

Vlad is driving Luna crazy. Just like he drives his brothers crazy and he used to drive Princess crazy. He's been circling her like a shark since she got home. Her only refuge is the couch or my lap where she now sits while I type. We think its her tags. Vlad is obsessed with his lazer and it comes on a keychain so it makes a very distinct noise when it is picked up. He always knows when he is going to get to play when he hears it. Well, her collar tags make the same kind of noise so he's been chasing after her and chattering at her like she is hiding his lazer! She definitely does not like to be left alone when she is out of her crate. Matt said she barked while I was showering this morning after our walk. He is still sleeping. Then I went in to the office to check my email and I heard her bark again. When I checked on her she came running out of her crate. Poor little girl just doesn't know what's going on!

Thursday

We had our first growling incident last night and hissing this morning. Its between Vlad and Luna. I think last night she had enough of him following her around chattering so she turned on him and growled. He ran and she pursued. I tried to break it up, but the baby gate saved the day! I immediately put her in her crate for a doggy time out. She also chased Nikita over the gate yesterday too but I don't think there was any growling or hissing. I think she just saw something move and wanted to chase it! This morning when we came back from our walk, Vlad was on Luna's side of the baby gate. I was tried to put him back on the cat side so she could eat and I could shower. When I picked him up he hissed at her. I'm glad of glad he did so she knows the kitties mean buisnes. She's still a bit of a scaredy cat when I take her on walks and there are people she doesn't know. She hides between my legs or starts walking towards home. She's getting more comfortable inside though. Last night we were playing fetch with her pretty pink purse and shoe. She had so much fun! Now that is video-worthy. Tomorrow its my turn to stay home with Luna. Not sure what we are going to do. I think we may check out one of the dog parks in Everett.

Friday

I am home with Luna today. We hope to go to a dog park but we woke up to rain. The good part about that is she got to try out her raincoat this morning. Isn't she cute?

Tomorrow we are supposed to go for a walk around Greenlake. Its a 2.8 mile walk. I'm hoping it will get Luna and I ready for the Furry 5K fun run/walk that we will be participating in in June. We are looking for sponsors. All proceeds go to the Help the Animals Fund. It is a non-profit organization that helps sick, injured and abused animals that are in Seattle-area shelters.

Wish us luck!

Its Puppy Day!

When Matt kissed me good-bye this morning the first thing he said was "Its Puppy Day!" Thats right. Today is finally the day. The day we bring our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Luna, home.

Since we came home from our honeymoon in Mexico, yes I know I need to finish that story, I've been scouring the internet looking for the perfect Corgi. For awhile there we were going to get a Corgi but then we found out about Luna and the idea of having a fully house and crate trained dog was just too much to pass up.

We've been visiting with her over the past two weeks so we can start bonding with her. Her breeder was very generous to allow us to do so. Before she could come home she needed to be spayed. We decided to let the breeder bring her to his Vet to be spayed and then she could rest and relax at his place before she moved in with us and our commie kitties. We really didn't want her associating getting spayed with moving in with us. That would not be good!

She was spayed on March 24 and I called the breeder on Saturday to see how she was doing. He said she's been running all over the place and even chased the neighbor's cat! Ugh oh.

The boys are in for a big surprise tonight!