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I have mixed emotions about fire alarms. I get that they are in place to help save you should an actual fire invade your home. But for some reason, the only 'fire alarms' I've experienced were nothing more than a routine drill. Our apartment building has a routine fire drill quite often, making it's tenants a little less frantic about there ever being a real fire. Personally, when I hear those bells go off I want to throw my pets in a bag and run for dear life. My fiancé however knows that they are simply drills and reminds me that there's no need for urgency. A few weeks ago we were on our way out the door when the fire alarm went off. Unlike the beloved drills, this sound wouldn't stop. This constant "BBBBBRRRRRIIIINNNNNNGGGG" was filling every single corner of our apartment. The whole thing went something like this. Me: "I think that's an actual fire alarm" Scott: "No. It's just a drill" Me: "Ya....but people are leaving the building" Scott: "It's a drill, they do it all the time" Me: "Fine. But if I hear fire trucks, we are out of here". Outside world: "FIRE TRUCK SOUNDS!" Me: "Holy crap! There's a REAL fire!" When we brought both cats home, I opted to keep a cat carrier near the patio door should we ever need to make a quick get away. As Scott and I start to scramble trying to figure out what to do, I say "The cat carrier! It's by the patio door!". Look me at go, all prepared and such for these events. Sadly, I hadn't thought about the fact that Rascal is the size of a dog, and there was no way we could fit BOTH cats in this tiny wee carrier. Rascal butt actually burst the door open, and both cats made a bee-line for under the bed. In the past, I've always been worried about my felines' absolute love of treats. I hated that they were so obsessed with it, and would drop whatever they were doing to respond to the sound of a treat sounding bag being opened. So as were freaking out because both cats are MIA, my brains goes "SHABAM!" Treats! Turns out my cats will risk their furry little lives for some Temptations! We coax them out, throw them in the dog crate and leave immediately. The entire thing probably last less than four minutes.  Turns out someone on the fourth floor "forgot" they were cooking something, and the smoke set the fire alarms off. Thankfully, we were on the second floor and had no trouble getting out of the building (if it meant saving my pets, I'd jump off any balcony!). Aside from strongly wanting to kick the "I like to cook and leave it to burn" person in the shins, the whole things ended up being pretty funny.  So, it turns out that dog crates double VERY well as a "don't let your cats burn to a crisp" escape option. Another highlight- people asking us if Rascal was some kind of exotic cat because of his size. Thinking back, I should have said a lion or something!
Bailey, my lovely little poochini is in fact a mix of two different breeds of dog. She's a lab/beagle mix, and depending on the day we see different characteristics coming out. When she runs, she gallops. Almost like a donkey learning to leap off the ground for the first time. When she sees some delicious food, she drools. Badly. Like a baby teething. And when she sleeps on the bed, she takes up as much room as possible. All of this, I believe, is the lab in her shinning through. But then there's the beagle side. Tis a little bit sneakier, this side of Bailey. Beagles are smart. Not book smart. Nose smart. When a scent crosses her path, her little wet black nose is down on the ground and following a trail. Sometimes I want to put a trench coat, fedora hat on her and magnifying glass in her paw. It's all very detective looking  This weekend we were up at our hunting camp for Easter dinner. Bailey and Scott went up a night earlier than I did, leaving me to drive up the following day (without getting lost, despite the bets I'm sure were taken assuming I would!). When I got up there, Bailey was pleased as pie to show me what she found in the woods. You'd think it was a stick.......but it's not  It's a deer leg. A DEER LEG! It had been left over from the hunt in the fall, and Bailey with her beagle nose went into the woods and found it! She was quite proud of herself for discovering it, and went out of her way to keep it from the other dog up at the camp.  This actually is a stick. Don't worry, we didn't let her eat the deer leg....ewwww... As I'm sure you can understand we did NOT let her bring the deer leg home. Knowing our luck and her beagle/lab tendencies, that stupid leg would end up under my pillow, and I would be caught in the middle of a scene from a horror/murder mystery movie! I'm surprised I haven't already had nightmares about some three legged deer out there, calling out "Give me my leg back......wooooooo (ghost sounds)"
 Whoops! I have been caught up in things and have lost track of time. Here's a quick little catch of what the furry family has been up to in recent weeks. Bailey got to enjoy some serious dog time with Rizzo and Sophie both last weekend and this weekend.  "Aww....c'mon guys. Let me in...I'll be good, I swear!" Poor Rizzo. She's literally on the outside looking in!  "But I don't want you to take a picture...."  In case you're wondering, there were ribs and chicken on that BBQ....surprised you can't see the dog drool on the deck! Naturally Rascal and Zoe were at home getting ready for their close ups......   Check out those whiskers!
 Oh Ottawa. The only place you can find a humidex warning, thunderstorms and a chance of flurries in the same 5 day forecast! This weekend we couldn't resist the beautiful weather that was Ottawa! We brought the Bailster out on Saturday to enjoy the many many smells that only a beagle mix could appreciate.  This past winter, we discovered Bailey's intense desire to bury things around the apartment (there's still a dog bone under the armchair cushion). She didn't develop this fun new little habit in time for last summer, so when we got outside and she realized she could bury her face in leaves and grass instead of bedsheets, it was like a light when off in her head.  I think I can fit my nose in here!  I think I can fit my nose AND my paws in here!  ALRIGHT! I'm going in! I can see it now. When I close my eyes and dream about our future home with the cute little fence, driveway with two cars, beautiful decor.......oh ya....and a backyard that will be demolished by this  Let me know when you get to China ok puppy? Sunday was equally as beautiful .Thank goodness. Some of us needed the fresh air after St. Patrick's day.....    Who drank all that beer on the balcony? Rascal..........................is there something you want to tell me?  You're still drunk, aren't you cat? Hope you all had a fantastic weekend  We bought Bailey a nice, big pillow a few weeks ago. Since she travels with us quite frequently, we opted to move her dog bed into the car (it's all about comfort), and so because of this we had to get a replacement for the apartment.  When we first brought Bailey home, it was *decided* that she would sleep in her dog bed on the floor. You know, like this  But let's face it. That beautiful little scene up there was never going to happen. Why? Because my nights usually look a little something like this...  That would be me. Awake. In the middle of the night, on the edge of the bed. It's not uncommon to wake up with a dog paw in my face, or pushing into my back. I know it looks like Bailey doubled in size in this picture. It's because somehow when she's sleeping, she manages to expand her body to the size of a full grown lab. But as if by magic, when I wake up she's back to being Bailey sized. Now that I think about it, something is missing from the picture above..  Nope still something missing....  Yup! That looks about right! At some point EACH night I'd got all three pets on my side of the bed.
Dogs to the left of me. Cat to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you. Bailey, my lovely little dog has been slightly driving me crazy. Okay...maybe a little bit more than slightly....ALRIGHT! She's in her terrible twos and is driving me nuts! It seems as though our house breaking conquest has taken five million steps back (and our feet have taken far too many steps into something else). And so, as we go back to Square One, I thought I'd share some funny photos sent to me this morning. Enjoy!        I guess Bailey's bad habits aren't so bad.....at least she doesn't poop in the car!
I don't know about you, but I have one million pet names for my pets. Funny how that works out...pet names for your pets...... We learned last night that Bailey, who has been called everything from Bailster to Biddle has begun to respond to the name 'Dogis'. I don't mean she'll casually look your way when you say it, I mean she will come running from another room at the mere mention of the word 'Dogis'. Apparently Scott calls her that fairly often, and she's started to turn her head when either Bailey or Dogis is said.  Dogis? This got me thinking about other pet pet names we use. Zoe has been called Zoe Bear, Panda Bear and Zoester from the toaster (a personal favorite!). But Rascal, other than being called names that aren't suitable for a child friendly blog, never really had one. That is, until Mexico. When pet owners travel, we tend to find characteristics in our pets in the foreign animals around us. We're able to link our domesticated pets with any tropical animal within view. Don't lie- I know you've done it. I'm sure we've all had our "Do you see that parrot? He looks JUST like my dog back home!" moments. The non-pet owners around you roll their eyes and go along with your statement, probably saying something like "yes, the resemblance is unbelievable...." And so when we arrived in beautiful Mexico last Spring (has it been a year already?), we met this creature. I was fairly certain that he was either 1) something I was imagining as a result of heat stroke or 2) an animal some mad scientist had assembled in a Frankenstein fashion.  It has the nose of a pig, the body of a monkey and the tail and hands of a racoon. They were ALL over the resort, trying to get into garbage and walking right up to tourists. For some reason, I immediately assumed that this creature's personality would match it's adorable appearance. You'd think I'd consider that neither a pig, monkey or racoon are the friendliest of animals. We (my parents, brother, brother in law and Scott) decided that this crazy looking thing needed a name. Rather than consulting Google, we chose to name it the Rascoon. Why? We unanimously (this is where people go along to indulge me) felt that it deeply resembled our Rascal back home.  Rascal  Rascoon I know what you're thinking. It's like they came from the same litter.
Six days into our seven day stay in paradise I chose to shed my tourist mindset and did some research on my furry little friends. Here's what I found out. Name: Coati Mundi Behaviour: Unlike racoons, the Coati Mundi are active during the day. They use vocal signals to communicate, and their pig like snouts can be rotated at an angle of 60° in any direction! Sure, I knew the name of this weird little animal. And yes, I could have educated my family about the interesting little tid bits I found out. But my entire family spent the entire vacation calling them Rascoons. One German couple sitting beside us one day thought that was what they were called! So I chose to give my Rascal his 15 minutes of fame. The Rascoon encounter led Rascal to being solely called 'Rascoon' for an entire month after our trip. This was then shortened to Scoon. Which turned into Scooner. Then Scoon Dog. And this my friends, is the pet name for Rascoon. I mean Rascal. Happy Friday Everyone! Yes...I know it's not Friday (I'm not crazy). Clearly it's Wednesday. It's true! Your computer will back this up- scroll your mouse over to the time on the bottom right hand of your screen. It's okay- go ahead. You see? It says Wednesday! I am leaving for Florida tomorrow morning, and because of this I am waltzing around my office with the joy and pride that only Fridays can bring. And so for me, on this beautiful warm day, it is Friday. And because I am in this lovely Friday mood, I thought I'd share some a funny story about the Bailster. Disclaimer: There are a few moments in this story that I was unable to capture with film. Although when a thougth bubble pops in my head, I've been told that others do not see the tiny little clouds form to display my thought process. Thankfully I've had YEARS of experience re-capturing these moments with Microsoft Paint (thank you University!). And here I was sure I'd never get to use this hidden talent! Our story begins yesterday (Tuesday. Or Thursday. Depends who you ask). We have been desperately trying to come up with a way to get Bailey to communicate to us when she needs to go to the bathroom. She doesn't bark, so the "bark like a crazy animal at the front door" approach won't work. We've got her on a schedule, BUT let's face it- no one really pees on a schedule. It starts off like this.  It's important to act like going outside to pee is the absolutely most fun, most amazing thing you could ever do. After making the world's biggest deal about peeing on the grass, I usually get this response from Bailey.  And so I thought about using the bell training. Essentially you train your dog to hit the bell when they want to go outside. It's awesome for non barkers like Bails. Usually you hang a bell somewhere, which allows the dog to ring it I imaging her ringing it quite diplomatically. British almost. Something like this.  But the reality is a bell hanging from a string in the front hall would not last two seconds in our house. Rascal, the almighty cat protector would massacre that bell. It would never see it coming.  So I sat for a moment to contemplate my situation, and BAM. The solution was so simple! I would buy a bell that you have to hit- like the ones they put at hotels for you to ring when there's no one at the front desk. If the people in Staples could see my thought bubble, they would have been so impressed.  I ran home. Well not really. I didn't run. I walked.....OKAY. I bused. Anyhow, I burst through the door. I couldn't contain my excitement. I was dying to get on this bell training and teach Bailey how to communicate. I even deemed it "The Bathroom Bell" (creative- I know). I would ring the bell, then immediately give her a treat- I wanted to associate something good with the sound. I then placed it on the ground and put a bunch of treats around it like this (good news- I have real pictures for the next part).  And as I turn around to show Bailey how wonderful and magical the bell is with it's circle of treats, I find her hiding in the corner in the cat bed.  And to top it all off, when I go back over to the bell, this is what I found.....  Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Its a cat. EATING THE DOG TREATS. Let me show you one more time....  And where is Bailey in all this?  Well there you have it folks. I don't know what the future is like for the Bathroom Bell. I do know that my cat will eat anything. I have a dream that one day, my tiny little black pooch will walk on up and somehow tell me "Mom. I have to pee. Right Now". We've all got to have dreams. And this my friends, is mine.
Bailey was featured as the Dog of the Week on the Ottawa Dog Blog! To view this post, click here 
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I am the proud owner of Rascal, Zoe, Bailey and Bonnie. These animals not only keep our lives exciting, they also remind me every day the joys of living with pets.
Picture courtesy of elizabeth&jane photography 
.November 2012 
.All 
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