Tony and Ginger are a pair of real walkers. I walk them for at least an hour and a half. Their owner usually walks them for 2! They are also a pair of characters. Tony is a real chowhound and Ginger is an aging princess. You can find them here. Tony likes to roll around in the snow and slide down the snowy hills, upside down. He also loves to chase Coyotes and bark at everything. Its good to know that I’m getting my exercise in again. Ginger, well she’s like a trail horse. She stalls and tries to go back home all the way to the park. And as soon as we head back home, she’s pulling me and trying to take shortcuts across the street. They are both so different! But sweeter dogs, you really can’t find.

And Roy is a sweet little chocolate lab puppy. I just love the coloring on Chocolate Labs, with their brown fur and beautiful green eyes. *sigh* Roy is so young that he’s still learning how to walk on a leash. He will walk and then stop, so I have to get all excited till he jumps up and runs to me. He likes to eat snow and rocks and sticks and anything else he can bite. I didn’t know about the rocks until he coughed it up. So now I’m really careful. Do you know? He even tried to bite a cactus! He’s such a little bundle of energy and love. I look forward to watching him grow up.

Sarah: The Grand Lady

Bella: The Delicate Princess

Shelby: The Tom-Boy

Bandit: Huckleberry Hound

I had a great time watching Shelby and Bella playing. Mostly because Shelby looks so fat and little Bella kept running circles around her, stealing her ball and pouncing on her. Then Shelby would make the most convincing crying sounds I’ve ever heard a dog make until I got her ball back and threw it for her. I laughed so much at them.

Feeding time was chaos and my favorite part. It was extremely detailed as to who gets what and who eats first, second and last. And noisy! But as they all stood at their dishes, peacefully eating and letting my ears rest, you can really see how happy they are.

Funny story- On my first night there, I made the mistake of letting Sarah and Bandit sleep on the bed with me. The notes said they sleep at the foot of the bed, and so I thought that meant on top of the bed. But I realized later, after further thought the next day, that the notes probably meant on floor at the foot of the bed, in their own beds. So anyways, the next night Bandit kept trying to get in bed with me. This sweet dog never makes any sounds at all, no whines, barks or whimpers. But my goodness he is a heavy walker! I kid you not, he spent at least 30 minutes running from one side of the bed to the other side trying get up. Thump, thump, thump was all I heard from his little feet. I faked I was asleep so he would go to sleep too, but it was hard with all the noise he made. Silly guy.

So be sure and check out the gallery to see these cute cute babies!

Dogs in a stroller

We recently came back from our trip to Japan and what a wonderful experience! We had so much fun. We were visiting with Kei’s parents, who live a little south of Tokyo. So where we were, it was almost normal, as if nothing extremely traumatic had just happened. The tremors and aftershocks were very frequent and rough in the beginning, but after some time had passed, they went away. And by the end of our visit, a lot of visitors and tourists had returned. We didn’t get to see the tsunami sight, but I saw plenty of interviews and news updates at night on t.v.. Most of the evacuees are still living in schools and other refuge spots. It was very sad. But for the most part, life was back to normal where we were.

Besides all the food I ate, I had such a fun time just watching the dogs there! I think Japan spoils their animals even worse than we do! I saw many pet shops with the cutest outfits and accessories, even strollers. I saw dogs in dresses, shirts, rain slickers, even track suits and pant sets. And not just on small purse dogs. Most of the time, I saw them while I was on the bike. I am not a good bike rider, and it took a lot of concentration just to not fall over. So I really didn’t get to take many pictures. The cutest dress I saw, and I still kick myself for not stopping to get her picture, was a little backwards-style apron looking dress with strawberries and hearts and frills on the most petite dalmatian I’ve ever seen. She was so pretty! I added some of the pictures to the gallery, so stop by and look there.

I also added some pictures of the cats we saw on Enoshima Island. It’s a beautiful island, absolutely gorgeous, but they have to put up signs telling people not to leave their cats and dogs there. The island has probably 20 or so stray cats already that they take care of, and its a small island. All the shop owners pitch in and buy cat food and help take care of them. So there were donation boxes everywhere to help take care of the cat’s food and vet bills and such. They are very kind to the cats. And they looked happy, as you can see in the pictures in the gallery.

Also! I successfully made a dog scarf that works!! I was so excited, but due to poor translation, I didn’t get a picture of it. So following the same recipe, I will try again on my next clients and get pictures of them.

So glad to be home and ready to work! See ya’ll soon!

The next visit, he was still barking once we passed his park, but as soon as I parked at the field, got out of the car and shut my door, he was quietly waiting for me to let him out. (I must admit, I was mad at him. Why can’t he be quiet while I’m in the car! But at least he was learning)

So THIS time, he just whined the whole time. He whined until he got too excited and started to bark, but he was well past his park and almost to the field by this time. I was so proud of him. Not only this, but I took my new assistant with me to show her how to work with Raphie, and she got him to stop barking! Wow! Isn’t that great??

Poor guy though, he used to love to jump in the pond to cool off while playing, but the pond I believe is frozen over, or just too cold to jump in. So now he rolls in the only patch of snow left in the field. By the end of the week, he had rolled it into ice. Poor guy.

I was just so proud of him this week. And I can’t wait to see what he does next time.

Zoe got the ball!

I had a terrific time with my new puppy client, Zoe. What a ball of energy!! It was super cute to watch her chase the leaves in the wind. (Except for the whiplash, that wasn’t so cute.) She would also just pick up little sticks and walk down the street with them. And I wanted so badly to get a picture of her, but before I could get my camera out, she had already chewed them down and spit them out. She’s so quick!

Kei and I had a lot of fun walking her with Gromit. She loved Gromit, too. He didn’t love her, but he tolerated her well enough. We took them to the park to run Zoe, and play ball with Gromit. He LOVES ball. Unfortunately though, he’s just getting too old for it. He kept missing where the ball landed and couldn’t find it. Zoe knew where it went. It was great watching Kei get dragged as she went for the ball. (J/K, he ran with her, since I didn’t want to unleash her.)

Sad for me, but Zoe is in Arizona now. I wish her and her parents well in that nice and warm state!

It’s hard to pick a favorite of these guys, but I think I would have to name Shadow. ADORABLE! She chattered, chirrped, slept and literally fell into my heart. It was really funny, because she was jumping from one counter to get to another counter that had her food, but I was slightly in her way. She jumped,  skittered on the cabinet for 5 seconds before falling to the floor. I laughed SO hard. It was the funniest thing I had seen in a while. I’m still laughing as I picture it. Poor baby.

I was reading a book by the window and closed the book to outside. Suddenly, Shadow started to chirp like she saw a squirrel, but she was looking at the ceiling. When I realized what had caught her attention, I began moving my shiny book in the sunlight to run the reflection up the wall. Soon I had Midnight and Chloe in on the action. Fun times.

But Chloe was sweetest of them all. All she wants is love and to kiss you. When I took her to the dog park, she wanted all the people to pet her. But I had to drag her away from them because she would just stand there, leaning on them, and she wouldn’t leave them! She would follow me downstairs to spend time with Shady. But once, she got a little too close for Shady and he bopped her on the nose. Kei was so concerned for her! I think he was more surprised than she was. She was fine. I really look forward to seeing them again! Look at their gallery pictures and I dare you to not fall in love with them.

I also had fun with Charlie. This cat is just crazy. I walked into him so many times because he either doesn’t move, or he runs right in front of you like he’s racing you, or he runs into you. I got him in the head pretty good once. Did he learn?? No! Also, his fur is really long, and I don’t think he knows quite how to groom himself well, so his chest got matted really quick. I didn’t know how much his owner must groom him! Plus I think he plays in water. So I spent a lot of time trying to untangle him. He was definitely not happy. But I was! Although my hands and legs aren’t looking very pretty. It was very gratifying getting those globs out. I swear I could make another cat with all the hair I pulled out if his chest alone. Haha, fun times.

As the week went by, Daisy and the cats really warmed up to us. Daisy even stayed with me when I was there despite Bella’s attention seeking growls. Cody and Tanner generally just slept. However Tanner!! Big noisy snorer! Kei had to push him to wake him up so that he could get some sleep. Haha.

We did have some pretty big snow storms, and the area became really beautiful. The poor owners had to cut their trip short due to technical difficulties, so we must get to cleaning before they make it back.

When we were watching him, the city got hit really hard with a wind storm. It actually blew the neighbors hot tub lid over their fence, through the median, through Deuces fence and landed in the yard. When I let him out the next morning and went to the grass, I swear he did a double take and every hair on his back went up. He growled for a few minutes before he decided that it was okay. It was really funny.

He was really full of energy and is the only dog I’ve seen awhile that tried to catch his tail.

That area he lives is beautiful. Full of horses and old farm houses. Reminded me of the hill country in Texas. I loved it!

We took him to the field to play ball and he lost the ball once. He looked and looked and looked…and then he gave up, ran to the car and got himself a new ball. I laughed for awhile after that. He also loves to jump into the neighbors beautiful pond to cool off when he’s done chasing the ball.

He also loved to steal my shoes, counter surf and bark all the way to the park. I was supposed to try to train him, but there is a reason that I just watch them, and not train them. So I definitely needed to keep my eyes open. Adventure!

It will be fun to watch him again.