Bonnie and I have just returned from our first vet trip. We received good news- heard all the things we wanted to hear. She has great teeth, muscle definition and is considered to be at a good weight. She's been spayed and is up to date on all of her shots. All in all, she's healthy, so I'm happy.
Going to the vet I knew that I was going to be given the opportunity to gain some insight into what her life might have been like before us, before the humane society. Within her life time, she's had puppies. I'm torn, because part of me wonders what happened to them, whether any of them survived or made it into a good home. The other half is still beyond happy she's here safe and sound. The bottoms of her feet are the most sensitive area for her. I'm assuming that she spent a good chunk of time on concrete, and because of this has sensitivity in the pads of her feet. We attempted to have her nails cut at the vet with no success. That's okay though- baby steps.
From what I can tell, she's a sweet dog. She was AWESOME on her  leash this morning during our walk. Put Bailey to shame. Naturally, the dog who took part in leash training can't heel properly, yet the unclaimed dog from Mexico is doing it like a pro. 
She is very gentle, in particular when taking a treat from your hand. I've been waiting to see some food aggression  between her and Bailey (even her and the cats) but so far there doesn't seem to be any signs. 
She LOVES to rip around the backyard (which they are doing as I type). She and Bailey seemed to be matched up quite well on energy levels. Bonnie is able to sit, stand up and slightly give a paw. Considering it's only day two of being in Canada, I think that's rather impressive.
She is timid around men, which has made the process of her getting to know Scott a little more difficult. Thankfully, Scott's one of the most patient and understanding people on the face of the earth. Last night, after a few hours of the stealthy sniffing, Bonnie finally fell asleep with her head on Scott's leg. I just love progress!

Just a quick FYI- it's really hard to take a picture of dogs eating. Yes, I get a perfect picture of the floor, their dog bowl, maybe even perhaps a rogue kibble on the ground... But trying to catch a shot of them chomping away is very, very difficult. And kind of blurry.....

Bonnie and Bailey have managed to completely tire each other out, which-not going to lie- I LOVE. 
Bonnie also just learned that she's allowed on the couch. Yes....that's right.....she's allowed on the couch. We live on the edge here at our household :)

This post will be on the shorter side. I'm sitting at my computer, with this adorable little white and orange dog at my feet. We arrived home from Toronto about an hour ago, and have been in love with Bonnie since. Not only are the cats completely okay with our new house guest, but Bailey seems beyond thrilled to have a buddy to chase around the backyard. This little mexi pooch hasn't left my side, and to tell the truth, I'm kind of loving it.
We brought back another pooch named Negrita from Toronto to Ottawa. They were on the same flight from Cozumel, and our contact from Loyal (who is awesome and took Bonnie for the night) asked if we could give Negrita a lift to Ottawa to meet up with her foster. They were so well behaved the entire ride (5 hours!) and barely made a peep. Bonnie, Bailey and Negrita had a few minutes to run like mad around the backyard and engage in a serious tournament of ''bitey face" before Negrita's foster mom picked her up.
Both Bonnie and Negrita will be available for adoption. Please check back for more information regarding temperament, personality and availability!

Up top is Bonnie in her crate when we got into our car. She was riding in the 'trunk' of the jeep, while Negrita (below) was in the back.

After the necessary introductions, Bonnie came into the house and began to explore. I think she's used to having pictures taken, because she was definitely  hamming it up for the camera!

You can't say no to that face!

I love my pets dearly. And I mean, I love them more than life. We’re pretty lucky- Bailey is an incredibly well behaved dog. Zoe is an absolute angel. And Rascal, well he’s a riot. BUT, is seems as though over the past few weeks our Rascal has been doing whatever is needed to live up to his name. Fun right? No. Not at all.

Now that we’re living in a house, I was worried about the cats trying to get outside. We had a little experiment to see what they would do if they were to get outside. Turns out Zoe is so disgusted by the outdoors that she took one sniff, and turned right around and went back inside. Rascal on the other hand seems to like going out onto the porch and rolling around on the concrete. I’m assuming it was the scratchy goodness that caused the worm like movement. Whatever floats your boat I suppose!

Since that initial experiment, Rascal has graduated from staying on the front porch to running around the front yard. To clarify- they are NOT outdoor cats. They are not allowed outside. So, as you can imagine my stress level goes way up when I see that little orange butt sneaking out from underneath my feet and running outside. It’s become a part of our daily morning freak out. Scott and I are rushing out the door, completely unaware of the fuzzy orange face hiding behind the front door waiting for his great escape. Just shoot me now.

In addition to his morning break out, Rascal has picked up a BAD habit that I had foolishly thought was broken months ago. For some reason, he runs around the house SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. It’s like this. MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW. No breaths in between. I don’t know how he gets oxygen. This morning, he had me up at 1:30 AM freaking out. He meows for food, I lie in bed cursing his name trying to ignore his vocal abilities, and after an hour of wanting to pull my hair out get up and feed him.

5:00 AM. Meowing again. Excessive meowing. Now I’m thinking about how I might lock him up in a sound proof room. Except I don’t have a sound proof room. Damnit!

6:00 AM. Now Scott is yelling at Rascal, and I’m pretty sure Rascal is yelling back.

6:30 AM. The meowing is closer to me now. I open my eyes, and Rascal is sitting there staring at me. It’s scary, and I debate waking Scott up.

7:00 AM. The only time where Rascal opts to be quiet, which means I get some sleep. But wait, aren’t I supposed to get up at 7:00 AM?

8:00 AM- Leave house, have to park at work because cat is insane and is trying to kill me. Death by meow. That’s a real thing, right?

This funny little schedule has been going on every morning for the past week. Needless to say, I am at my wit ends. I could always spray him with water, but he loves the sink and to get his fur all soaked so I am doubtful in the success rate for that route. I could give him up. JOKES. Clearly not a choice. I think I’m left with the Thundershift for CATS. That’s right! For cats! I’d like to thank Google for bringing me to the Thundershirts for cats webpage, and the Thundershirt company for being so super duper and offering some slice of sanity during my night time sleeping. Woot woot for sanity!

We have a new house guest! And no, it's not a lizard.

It's SOPHIE!!!!

For those who don't know, Sophie is my parents' dog. She's an Australian cattle dog who is 11 years young. This dog has surpassed MANY health obstacles, including cataracts, skin infections and diabetes. 

Living with a diabetic dog can make things a little more difficult. Not impossible- just a little more difficult. In Sophie's case, she needs to have insulin administered twice a day; once in the morning and once in the evening. All this really means is that instead of catching an early movie or an early bird dinner, you have to hang home a little longer so she can get her insulin.

She is AWESOME when it comes to giving her shot. I think she understands that getting the shot makes her feel better, because in most cases you just have to physically show her the needle, and she'll come waltzing over. Although, you have to be careful some times with how you say you're going to shoot her. We've gotten some pretty weird looks before. . . . can't say I blame people though. I'd be a little confused if I overheard someone saying "No, it's okay. I'll go home and shoot Sophie. It's my turn".

You'd think that the only downside of Sophie staying with us means rearranging our schedules to accommodate her insulin. But truth is, it's not that big of an adjustment. The only downside of housing the Spoofia for a few days is her chewbaca like howls. And of course, her intense love for barking at 5:00 in the morning, purely because one of the doors to the bathroom was closed. Heaven forbid!

I suppose having some early morning barking is worth it if it means that I get to spend some time with my Sophie Doo. Bailey LOVES having another dog here during the day (I'm pretending that having Sophie here is a warm up for Bailey and Boni, but really I just love having two dogs in the house)

Most fun part of her sleepover so far? When she worked up enough courage to jump on the bed. Okay. . . . . I picked her up. . . .you know- incredibly awkwardly. . . . but still! She made it up! Looked pretty pleased with herself :)

What a weekend!

For those who don’t know, I moonlight as a Highland Dance teacher/competitor in my spare time (or between when I wake up and go to bed. Sometimes I just HATE wasting 8 hours sleeping). This weekend was a big one for our dance school, as we had two competitions back to back. My dancers had a great weekend overall, and everyone went home with some medals and ribbons. Without going into major detail, the Sunday competition has a dance called ‘The Cake Walk’, which as you may have guessed, as a cake instead of a trophy for the winners. My duet partner and I had won this award several times, and as a way to give back I’ve offered to sponsor the cakes. This year, rather than just sponsoring, I got my ‘cake boss’ on and made them. Here’s a quick shot of one, which I like to call ‘The Tiffany Cake’.

Wait a minute! That’s isn’t about dogs at all!

But while I’m at it, here’s another little tiddly bit that is also not about dogs.

It’s about a lizard.

Kimbo Spikes to be exact.

Scott’s younger brother is out of town, and we are watching his pet lizard for a few days. He doesn’t really do much, which I’ve heard is tres typical with lizards. I’ve attempted to engage in a staring contest, but knew flat out I would not be walking away the winner. This morning I dared Scott to touch it, which was immediately followed by us screaming when he moved. We are so very, very brave. There was also a cute little dog named Halle Berry (yes, that Halle Berry) that needed to be pet-sitted too, but somehow Scott’s parents ended up with the cute dog and I got the lizard. I’m still trying to figure that one out. I did receive some concerned emails from friends asking me if I had decided to get into the lizard fostering world too. I’m happy to report that this event will be a one-time thing. Sorry Kimbo!

I’m beginning to go a little crazy.

For Christmas, my lovely husband bought me this outstandingly amazing camera. With said camera, I was able to take a bagillion pictures of my pets, which by the way is in fact completely necessary. These pictures fueled my need to blog, and therefore gave me photographic evidence to back up my stories.

Somewhere in the move from hell, the charger for my camera ran away. I was surprised, as I thought I had given this charger a good life, with a nice clean outlet to live in. But I must have been mistaken, because it left without warning and has failed to return.

I bet you didn’t know how difficult it is to buy another charger at a store. I sure didn’t! After weeks of searching, and one sadly failed attempt at purchasing ‘the ULTIMATE CHARGER’, I’ve had to order one online. Let’s hope that in 7-12 business days I will be snapping the moments of my pets’ funny little lives! That being said, until such time arrives I am forced to continue using my Blackberry for pictures. This means that I now have to take extra care when I ‘throw’ it into my purse.

This weekend we were going to meet up with our good friend Liz and capture some snazzy pictures of the dogs enjoying some serious cottage time. But as luck would have it, it poured like absolute craziness during our allotted photo time. This seems to be fairly common when we go to book pictures with Liz. Our initial appointments always get rained out. But believe me, it’s worth the wait. Liz’s phenomenal pictures of my pets are all over my house, proudly framed in my stylish yet afford IKEA framing. Although the dogs didn’t get to strut their stuff on the dirt path runway this weekend, I’m sure when we do get together the results will be amazing (and will add the pictures covered my house!).

It actually worked out well that we had to postpone our photo shoot- Sophie, the oldest and in my opinion wisest of the family dogs currently has a skin infection. Australian Cattle dogs are typically on the fluffier side, especially after spending their day swimming and drying in the sun. The infection has caused Spoofia to lose a LOT of her hair. Thankfully, either way she’s still a darling little Aussie! The summer has given her the chance to shed a little holiday weight, and along with the loss of fur, she looks like someone took a regular dog sized head and put it on a puppy. Not to worry though- she’s still fetching sticks in the water like they’re escaped fugitives and she’s the best cop around town. She wasn’t overly fond of the ‘medicated baths’ we had to give her, but hey- you probably wouldn’t have either. I do have to say though, Sophie post towel dry is the cutest little thing!

Bailey spent the better part of 10 days up at the cottage with my parents. Although I was convinced she missed us terribly, it was not the case. At all. She was beyond excited to be up there the entire time just enjoying life. She LOVES being up there- she’s even started the insanely excited dog cry when we turn onto the dirt road. Obviously, she needs a weekend getaway from the tough life she leads in the city. I too, would be exhausted from sleeping on a comfy bed all day. It’s a tough world little dog………

In other news, Rascal has a catnip problem. Intervention is Thursday. I came home the other night to this seen. I’d say he’s hit rock bottom, but let’s be honest. He’s enjoying it way too much.

Rascal. Look at yourself. You're a mess!

This is unreal. Where is Zoe? I don't want her to see you like this.

GASP.
WHAT?
I expected this from Rascal...but Zoe?

Happy Monday Folks! Hope your week is as awesome as a cat rolling around in a bag of catnip!

Exactly one year ago today, this tiny little black puppy entered our lives. Since then, things have never been the same. Our lives have changed in the best possible way.

The story goes like this........

I had wanted a dog. Badly. One night, I rolled over in my sleep and said the word 'dog' to my husband. That's right- I wanted a dog so much I was dreaming about them. Scott was fairly adamant on not getting one. "We don't have room for a dog! We don't have time for a dog! The apartment isn't tidy enough for a dog! When will you walk the dog?". These statements haunted me. I knew that we could give a dog the most amazing life. We were dog people! We had the lifestyle that would allow a dog. Between the two of us, we have a cottage beside a lake, and a hunting camp that sits at the bottom of a mountain, covered in trails. The Sundays we spent doing nothing at home could very easily be traded in for a few hours at the dog park. I just knew that we were meant to have a dog.

I spent weeks trying to prove to Scott that I was ready to have a dog. I kept the apartment clean, I got up early to prove I could walk her before work, I came home straight from work to prove I could make the time commitments to let the dog out. I even re-arranged the furniture, highlighting the perfect space for a dog crate. Simply put, I was determined!

It was SHOCKING when Scott agreed to respond to the add I found on the internet. Yes, I know how terrible it is to get a dog online, and believe me I would never support it again. But for the sake of this story, we have to admit that we got Bailey from someone with a bogus story about why they were selling her. I emailed the woman, and woke up periodically throughout the night to see if she had emailed me back.

Thankfully, somewhere in all of this I managed to not only I convince the woman to not sell the dog until we saw her, but lightly influenced Scott to drive out to the middle of no where with me to go see her. All I had to do was make it through the next day and a half with Scott not changing his mind. Don't get me wrong, he definitely invited me out to lunch the day of the visit, and expressed his second thoughts. The whole conversation was devastating, as I had already imagined my life with this little black dog, that I would name Stella. Thankfully, using my inherited big brown eyes, I drew on the puppy dog look and whimpered my way through begging Scott to go see her.

That's all it took. He saw her, she saw him and that was it. For a while I was worried that things wouldn't work out- Scott wanted a night to sleep on it. We politely told the questionable people that we'd call them later tonight with a final answer, and I somberly walked back over to the car. About ten minutes into the drive home, a song came on the radio. I like to think it was whatever higher powers that are out there telling us that we were meant to have that dog. It was "Good to you" by Marianna's Trench. The words are along the lines "If you were good to me, I would be so good to you". It struck a chord with him. All he could think was that if we gave this dog a chance and were good to her, the amazing things she would bring to our live would be irreplaceable. He turned the car around, and the rest is history!

I've learned so much from Bailey. She introduced me to the world of dog owners, and in particular dog blogs. She ignited this passion for dogs that I never knew I had. It's because of her that I volunteer with Hopeful Hearts. It's the utter happiness on her face when I walk through the front door that makes me want to help other people find their dog. The love you get from a pet cannot be replicated. It's something I wish on everyone- I always have. It took Bailey showing me how great it is to help me make a difference and do what I can to get other dogs home.

I knew that I would love having a dog- I just had no idea how phenomenal it would be.

For the past few months, I've been following the progress of a dog named Boni.
You see, I tend to spend my lunch hour looking at rescue dogs online, which I'm told is fairly common among dog owners. I came across the Humane Society of Cozumel, an organization that works with Loyal Rescue in Ontario to help get dogs over to Canada.. From what I can gather, if you're not a puppy or a pure bred, your chances of being adopted in Cozumel are slim to none. These dogs are usually abandonned, with good samaritans bringing them into the humane society.
Boni has been at the shelter since April, 2012. I've been checking the site periodically, hoping to not see that sweet little face under the 'adoptables'. I know you can't know anything about a dog by a picture, but I have to say that I feel like I just might. Boni has the same look Bailey gets when she's nervous and scared. It was the same look that convinced me and my husband to bring her home that day. It's the face of a dog that is desperately looking for a chance, and I really think that we might be the people to give her that.
I contacted a rep for the humane society to discuss Boni. She was heart worm positive and needed a sponsor for her medication. At the time, sponsoring her medication was the most I could do. I'm in Ottawa, she's in Mexico. If I could drive over and pick her up, I would do it in a heart beat. Somewhere within all of this, I realized that I could bring her to Canada. I could bring her here, foster her, and help her find a family that will love her until the end of her days.
Right now, I am in the process of getting her onto a flight to Toronto for mid September, at which point we would take a quick wee road trip to pick her up. I'm also waiting to have a home visit done to be an official foster for Hopeful Hearts. In my spare time I volunteer with Hopeful Hearts by completing the home visits for foster and adoption applications. I have to say- it's a little weird being on the other end of things!
So that's where it stands. I'm in this limbo of waiting to get everything confirmed. But if all goes well, Boni will be joining us in Ottawa, Canada by mid September. Fingers crossed!

Allo! I apologize for the lack of pet blogging. My now husband and I got married this past Saturday. As you can imagine, my brain has been packed full of seating charts, thank you cards and wedding speeches and not so much with the pet stories. Hopefully I will be able to catch up in the next few weeks!
Here's a photo from the wedding- I will post more when our fabulous photographer puts up a sneak peak :)

Enjoy your long weekend!