Tuesday, January 28, 2014

BEACH DAYS!

We are having a truly bizarre winter this year with temps 10 to 20 degrees above average and no rain in sight. We took advantage of that this weekend and headed to the beach! My mom actually delayed her flight back to Maryland from Saturday to Sunday just to join us for one of the beach outings.


An added bonus to my mom coming is that Zoey got to come too! Since Zoey has occasional dog aggression she really needs one person devoted to keeping their eye on her so I can never bring her somewhere like the beach on my own. She had SO much fun. You would never believe she is 10 years old. She ran and ran and played and splashed around in the water. And the vet said she should barely be able to walk based on her x-rays!

Zoey loves to crouch down and then jump up to join Kaya & Norman when they get closer:)

Though Kaya and Norman always love the beach, this outing was particularly awesome for them because Kaya injured her upper pad last week so life has been pretty boring for them ever since. I've taken Norman on a few solo outings but for the most part he's been on Kaya's lamo exercise schedule and he was ready to run! Plus, there's something about the beach that always gets him running. Even as we were heading out he had to get in some more last minute zoomies.


I normally play fetch with Kaya at the beach but in effort to keep her from re-injuring her pad, I left her ball and chuck-it in the car. In hindsight, I should have let her at least run around with her ball in her mouth because she kept running up to people with chuck-its and leaping up and down in front of them. Norman was pleased though because he was able to distract enough from her ball obsession to keep her running and playing with him most of the time.


And we were there just at the right time to enjoy a beautiful sunset!


On Sunday morning I dropped my mom off at the SF airport and had to hit up the beach for a second time on the way home. Judging from the weather at the airport I thought it would be another sunny 70 degree outing. Unfortunately we drove through a wall of fog on the way to the beach so it was a bit cool and dreary compared to the day before. At least my mom got to go on the perfect day! But we still enjoyed ourselves. The fog and lack of people gave a cool eerie feeling to the beach that I love.


Since she didn't suffer any ill effects from the day before, I let Kaya play ball again for the first time since her injury. I wrapped her leg up good and figured that the soft sand would be a good surface to let her run on. She had a blast and it turned out she spent most of the time entertaining herself by tossing the ball in the sand and then digging at it.




And this is what they looked like for most of Monday...


What did you do this weekend?

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

NORMAN'S TRIP TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!

Just after Christmas my parents, Norman and I headed to LA for a week! A little back story on how Norman got included in our trip...I was initially lobbying for both Kaya and Norman to come. My parents kept insisting that they wanted it to be a dog free vacation(what?!?) but I finally caved and said, "So you mean just Norman then?" And of course they said yes. And it turned out perfectly fine that Kaya didn't come because most of the things we did, she would have found very very boring and so I would have been in a constant state of worrying about draining her energies, keeping her calm and busy. Plus she loves our pet sitters so the ladies - Kaya, Gina and Zoey stayed behind and Norman packed his bags.

Norman's ready to go!


This was Norman's first time in a hotel and he settled in real easy. Even after a 7 hour drive he didn't even bother to sniff around the room, he just plonked himself on the floor...and then the couch...and then the bed.


On our first night in Hollywood, we took him for a long walk down Santa Monica Blvd and ended up finding a store we could not avoid...


Yes, it's a store with food made fresh in house just for dogs. Norman enjoyed some venison treats, belly rubs and butt scratches for at least 10 minutes. He did not want to leave. But when we got back to the hotel he enjoyed his dinner out of a fancy hotel bowl and passed out.


This post would be a mile long if I got into the details of our every adventure so here's the quick run down...





Graffiti Spotting


 

Norman meeting my nephew!









Lunch & shopping may look boring but he picked a LOT of admirers here and was a very happy guy:)

And the highlight of Norman's trip...Motlie!!


My brother and sister-in-law just moved down to Ventura where my brother is stationed at the Naval base. My brother is currently deployed but we hung out with my sister-in-law, Motlie and Kaylie. Norman, of course, was over the moon.


After 8 days away, I was so excited about seeing Kaya and Norman reunite. They've never spent more than a few hours apart so I conjured up an image in my mind of them yelping with glee and spazzing out over their reunion...I even taped it. Alas...all they did was sniff each other and then Norman went to get a drink while Kaya went outside to greet my parents.



And it was business as usual that night.


The next day was when the real fun began. We went on a long hike and they ran and played their hearts out. They were definitely overjoyed to have each other's partner in crime back in action!



And later my pet sitters told me that Kaya spent much of her time lying on the dog bed, staring out the window...waiting for her guy to return.


Did you enjoy any travels over the holidays?

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Norman's Thundershirt Win!
A Very Merry Christmas

Thursday, January 9, 2014

NORMAN'S THUNDERSHIRT WIN!

Car rides are not Norman's favorite activity. Though he doesn't love it, he is okay in my car. It takes multiple delicious treats and a lot of patience to get him in every time. He likes to stick his head out the window but the rest of the time he faces backwards with his head wedged between the headrests. I guess it makes him feel more secure.


But the Jeep is a whole other story. He really hates it. He doesn't have the back seats to stabilize himself and he can't stick his head out the side window because he insists on sitting in the back looking out the back window. And he also doesn't like to lie down because he wants to see out the window so he's constantly struggling to keep steady when the car moves around. It's kind of a no win situation for the poor guy. Since we had to take the Jeep down to LA, I wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for him. So I set out to find him a really squishy bed with sides to help him feel more secure. I ended up finding this one at Target and Norman loved it. I think it helped him a lot.


It was a bit small for him but fit just right when he wanted to curl up or lie down. And I ended up putting his memory foam bed underneath for more comfort. A lot of the time he would sit in the squishy bed with his front paws on the memory foam bed. Hey...whatever works.


But he was a lot more nervous when all the luggage was in the car. He always seems to think the door is going to hit him even though it never has and I always shut it gently. So with the car full, he can't move away from the closing door and then back to his spot. He sits there trembling long after the door is shut and the car is moving. So on I whim I bought him a Thundershirt while I was shopping for dog beds. It ended up really helping him when he got the trembles.


Once he calmed down, I could reach back and take it off him. He only seemed to need it when the car was full. I was very impressed that it helped him so much and relieved to have him be more at ease!


Have you ever tried a Thundershirt?

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Norman's Trip to Southern California!
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A Very Merry Christmas