Stringy Things Stuck On My Dogs This Spring

Every Spring we get these stringy things in our yard.

I’m pretty sure that they come from our oak tree and I think they are called catkins, but don’t quote me on that.

What I do know is that they are a BIG mess and they get stuck everywhere on Sherman and Leroy and they clog my drain on the patio.

If they are stuck on them then they track them through the house on my carpet, in my vents, in my bed and just about anywhere they go.

They kind of gross me out because they remind me of worms.

I’ve been doing my best to try and get them picked up every time I got outside but we had a pretty windy weekend and they were just literally flying off the tree and the dogs were doing just a fine job sweeping them up with their fur.

It was like their fur was velcro for these stringy things.

My house is messy enough. I don’t really need stringy things stuck on my dogs that look like worms, to make it even worse.

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10 Ways My Dog Tries To Wake Me Up In The Morning

This year Leroy has become very comfortable with jumping in my bed in the mornings.

He use to never jump in bed with me. He use to just sit at my bedside and breathe hot air in my face but I guess that got boring so now he has decided that jumping in bed with me is a way better approach to waking me up.

The thing is, I’m a pretty heavy sleeper and most of the time, unless he misjudges his jump and lands on me, I don’t even know he’s in bed with me.

Just like a few weeks ago. I felt hot breath on the back of my neck when I was sleeping and I assumed it was my husband but when I rolled over I realized it was Leroy.

He was laying just like my husband, head on the pillow, all sprawled out and sound asleep.

Weird but cute.

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A Dog Tag Fit For A Newf

Sherman and Leroy don’t wear dog tags.

They only wear their collars when we go somewhere, and we go somewhere they are on a leash, so I’ve just always figured they don’t really need a dog tag, but maybe I’ve been wrong all these years.

I mean why shouldn’t my dogs have a little bling bling on their collars when they are wearing them?

After all, dog tags aren’t what they use to be.

These days you can get a dog tag for just about any dog that says just about anything.

That’s why I was super excited when Paul from Packleader asked if I would be interested in doing a review of their dog tags that were originally designed for their Newf Heidi, who is constantly swimming in the sea, and needed a tag large enough to be visible and withstand the constant submerging in water.

I was sent 2 dog tags to review. One for Leroy and one for Sherman.

Out of several designs to choose from I of course chose the one with the brown Newfoundland displayed on it, although the Newfoundlands Are Kind Of A BIG Deal one was pretty awesome too.

I had a their names, addresses and my cell phone engraved on the back.

I was really impressed with the quality and size of the 45mm brass tags. Big enough to be seen on a large Newfoundland, but yet not so big that it gets in the way or looks awkward.

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Road Closed

For the past week our normally very busy street has been closed.

It’s been glorious.

Not only is it extremely quiet and private, but it has also given us an alternate route to walk and explore.

Or if you’re Sherman, a new place to lay down and relax while your owner takes pictures of you in the middle of the street.

It’s been really nice to walk in the opposite direction of what we normally walk without any type of traffic.

Normally we can only walk North on our street because their isn’t any sidewalks going South, I mean there is sidewalks but they are about 500 feet down from our house on the opposite side of the street and there isn’t a safe way to walk that 500 feet and cross due to the way the terrain is.

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Dog Therapy. Best Therapy Ever.

courtesy of Life+Dog

I saw this sign on Facebook yesterday and it got me thinking and it really hit home because I think a lot of us feel this way, I know I do for sure.

It’s been a bad year and if I have any hopes of making it through to 2014 I need to just realize that life is as good as I make it and while some things may be out of my control, the way I deal with them is totally up to me.

Dealing with some of those things in a positive manner can sometimes be totally exhausting and stressful but over the past few months I’ve learned that, while I’m not to the point of needing professional therapy, I do need some sort of therapy to help me cope.

Lucky for me I have two very good pieces of therapy right in my home.

They’re a bit furry and drooly but they are just what I need to keep on truckin along.

Meet my therapy:

You might know them as Sherman and Leroy. I now to refer to them as Therapy One and Therapy Two and here’s the kind of therapy they provide:

1.Fur Therapy. I brush them. After a long day at work and when the kids are in bed, I sit down next to one of the dogs and brush. It’s extremely therapeutic for me and for them, and sometimes I even find myself thinking out-loud to them. (that’s an entirely different blog post for another day)

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April Showers Will Bring Cute Umbrellas And Rain Boots.

The Coconut Oil Experiment

Leroy has come down with a moderate case of dry, flaky skin.

It’s not that surprising to me because this is the time of the year when he is exposed to dry air and the fact that he is no longer eating a fish based diet anymore isn’t helping.

Normally in this type of situation I would add some fish oil to his food and be done with it. However, we are suppose to be staying away from all things fish with him, and since we are making progress with his ear infection, I don’t want to take the risk of throwing that progress off.

So what’s a girl to do with a dog that has dry skin, but needs to stay away from fish that is packed with Omega’s?

Well I had remembered reading a few articles on coconut oil a couple of months ago. The 2 articles that stood out to me were The Bombshell About Salmon For Dogs And Other Healthy Alternatives, from Kimberly at Keep the Tail Wagging and Everybody Is Asking About Coconut Oil, from Jana at Dawg Business.

I was intrigued when I read those articles earlier in the year but didn’t have a true motive to experiment with coconut oil just yet so I kept the information locked inside my massive brain. (lol-it’s really not massive, just overfilled)

A few weeks ago I returned to those articles and asked around to see if anyone else was using coconut oil for their dogs. I was amazed at how many people are and have seen great results.

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The White Towel

We had 4 days of glorious weather last week followed by 6 days of severely depressing rain and cold weather.

Of course the rain equals mud and mud equals happy and dirty Newfies and happy and dirty Newfies makes for a sore back and extra loads of laundry for me.

I’m not complaining about that. It comes with the breed and the lovely state that I live in.

What I am complaining about is white towels and the fact that I even own a white towel.

I normally use dark towels to wipe the dogs when they are wet and muddy.

It’s the mind game that I play with myself because dark towels don’t show mud as well as light towels so of course if I don’t see it as well, it’s not that bad.

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Wordless Wednesday. Oh! Those Big Brown Eyes!

Sherman Goes For Laser Therapy

As promised I wanted to share our experience so far with Sherman’s laser treatment on his torn cruciate.

Sherman’s first treatment was on March 13th and he just had his second treatment last Friday.

He is scheduled to have 5 treatments total every 10-14 days apart and we will see how things stand from there.

The yellow sign on the door behind Sherman says, “Please turn off cell phones.” shhhh….don’t tell them I used it to take a picture!

Sherman is going to Dancing Paws Wellness Center in Richfield Ohio and his vet is Dr. Sivula. Dancing Paws is a “holistically minded practice that specializes in acupuncture, chiropractic care, nutritional counseling, rehabilitation and other natural therapies.”

Our first appointment was about 1/2 hour long and included an exam and consultation with Dr. Sivula about what my expectations were for the laser therapy on Sherman. We talked about getting Sherman off of pain medications, further rehabilitation and nutrition.

Then Dr.Sivula performed the laser treatment on both of Sherman’s knees. He explained that the only side effect that Sherman might experience with the treatment was a little bit of tiredness because the laser treatment releases endorphins. I would say Sherman was mildly tired after his appointment but I’m not sure if that was because he was mentally exhausted from his visit or if it was from the treatment.

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