Happy Adoption Day!

Normally we celebrate birthdays... but when you deal in *used dogs* that just isn't possible!

Three years ago today we adopted Harley at a *pet adoption event* sponsored by Lost Paws held at the American Fork Petco. He has added so much to our family. What a character!



One thing that really bothers me is ill-mannered dogs and I try very hard to teach my dogs to be well-mannered. And sometimes that takes some thinking on the human's part.

We found early on that Harley loved his toys and understood that they were *his* (I've blogged before about him killing the squeak!)  He would proudly meet us at the door, when we arrived home, with one of his toys. My friend says it is his way of saying, "Look! I live here! These are my toys!"

So to avoid the ill-mannered jumping and excitement when company comes, or worse yet, dashing out the door, I gave him the job of getting one of his toys to show off when we have company. That way his energy is channeled into showing instead of jumping. He understands the concept of "Good dogs get treats!" better than any other dog I've ever had.


CAN YOU GUESS WHICH RUBBER ANIMAL HE'S HAD THE LONGEST?

As you can see, Harley loves his toys! He knows it's OK to chew them up, lose them in the backyard, leave them as *assassins* on the stairs and take to bed with him (Poppa's bed, of course!)

Now here is the funny part... he kept losing his toys in the nether-regions of his domain. We would get home and he would be nearly frantic with anxiety at not being able to greet us with a toy. Now what do we do for our little children? A toy box! So I got one of my baskets and gathered up all of his toys and bones and put them in Harley's toy basket; it lives at the top of the stairs. Now he knows just where to find his favorite toys when the occasion rises... what a funny pup!



Happy Adoption Day, Harley-boy! We are glad to have you as a family member!

233- Our Newest *Grandchild*

About a month after Camille and Kevin got married Camille called me to tell me she *had some news*! I was pretty sure it wasn't that news...

She told me they had a new baby kitten. Poor baby kitty had been dumped up by the golf course and Charlie, her new bother-in-law (bwahahahaha, I had to leave this typo!), found him under the dumpster!

Understandably, he was a little skittish at first. Yesterday I went to Camille and Kevin's house to take care of *for real* grandchildren while they went to her staff back-to-school BBQ. I beat her to her house so I let myself in. I did my normal *kitty-call* a high, quick, meow-meow-meow-meow and got an immediate response from baby Simon! (He already knows his Grammie!)



Simon came trotting out of the nether-regions where kitties lurk when no one is home and was pleased to be picked up and loved. I saw he was low on water so I filled his little dish. After drinking he was ready for more loves.

That funny little baby-cat-Simon curled up high on my chest, right under my neck, and promptly went to sleep! I had to disturb him to make dinner for B,K & E but each time I sat back down he was there to snuggle up with his Grammie.

He has the most beautiful markings. I thought these markings were called tortoise but after some research I find that tortoiseshell is the same as calico. He is probably a classic tabby "having a whirled and swirled pattern with wider stripes that make what are referred to as "butterfly" patterns on their shoulders, and usually a bullseye or oyster pattern on the flank. The legs and tail are more heavily barred and the pattern is variable with respect to the width of the bands."(cited here) I also learned that Tabby isn't a breed or even a color but a pattern found in many breeds.



I think that little Simon will be a happy addition to Camille and Kevin's new home! And I'm pleased to have a new little grand-kitty.

Meet Harley

After 10 months of grieving and healing over the loss of our Buddi we decided that we were ready for another dog. We've been looking for a dog for a couple of months now. We went and looked at a couple of American Cockers but things just didn't click. We even seriously considered a miniature Schnauzer, but decided against that as well. Buddi was just such a good little poster-child dog for American Cockers we decided we wanted to stick with that breed.
ordon started looking on KSL's online classified for Cockers. He sent me several links of cute little dogs. One of the links was broken, so I looked at the KSL ads and saw that they were having a pet adoption event at the American Fork Pet's Mart. We decided that it was worth a trip up there to see who was there and if any of those little friends needed to come to our house.
We are almost immediately drawn to the cage with Harley in it. The Lost Paws lady came and took him out on a leash so we could get better acquainted. I won't say it was love at first sight... but I knew immediately that this little boy needed to come home with us. He showed right away that he had some training and I had to ask myself again, "How did someone let this wonderful little dog get away from them?"
So we filled out the adoption request, had him micro-chipped, paid our adoption fee and brought him home.
Harley is parti-colored (in his case, brown, carmel and white) American Cocker. He, like Buddi, is small for his breed, only 18 pounds. He is longer legged and longer in the torso than Buddi and (sorry Buddi) smarter! We don't know how old he is. The LP people had him listed at 7-9 months, but his teeth had so much tartar build up that the Vet thinks is likely closer to 4 years.

His first night in his new home he showed quick learning skills on how to use the pet-door (remember this is a cat-sized door) and when it was bed time he went right into the crate when I tapped it and told him to go in. We have been on several walks (on our warmer days, you know, the ones in the 20's!!) and he walks quite well on the leash. He comes when called and let's see... loves to harass Simba. And Simba likes him just about as much as the last little interloper who decided to invade his territory!!

One of the happy things about Harley is that his previous people didn't introduce him to the pleasures of human food so his is not a begger-dog. We are so pleased with this lack of interest that we will not spoil him with table treats and hand-outs. And the other thing that I DEFINITELY won't teach him is how to jump up on the bar stools and eat at the counter with us. (Can you say Buddi-the-bread-snatchin'-dog??)

We are looking forward to many happy years with our newest little family member.