Stats (take 2)

Presently, I'm waiting for a new camera to come in the mail.  I've got several things I want to write about (the hubbs conversations of "back talk" from the dogs, dognomics, more from the dog mall, walking with furiends) but no pictures to go with them.  Here's hoping the camera comes before Friday, but in the mean time, here's a post from when I first started the blog a few months ago.

     Greetings to Poland, Russia, the UK, Taiwan, and Germany!  I'm starting to goof around some with the behind the scenes info of the blogger world.  I've always loved math and science and I'm getting such a kick out of which posts are viewed, when they're viewed, and where they are viewed from.  Also, as a computer teacher, I'm enjoying seeing what OS and web browsers are being used to view the blog as well (yea, I'm a dork).
     I'm wondering, are the views from people I know (or at least know in the blogville world)?  And how well does this blog translate into other languages?  I've had some students from other countries over the years who don't speak English when I meet them.  Often, I've wondered how much of my "overgrown real life cartoon character" personality scares them.
     So please post a comment below and let me know any of the answers to the semi statistical questions above!  I'm really excited to hear!

More from Dinwiddie

Please e-mail me at Kclarion04@yahoo.com or at AnnieNPaulMom@gmail.com if you can help any of the pups.  There's no foster program and this is a rural area.

Annie: AKA, Miss Pee Ear

     I unfortunately don't have any good pictures to go with this posting.  By the time we got home, Annie's ear was dry, and the baby wipe that I used to wipe hear ear off didn't do it justice.

     Last night when we were out walking Annie and Paul, A&P discovered a bush that smelled very interesting.  Paul sniffed it first and buried his nose at the bottom of it (some days, I wish I knew what they smell).  A moment later, Annie and I caught up to the Hubbs and Paul and Annie started smelling it.  

     About 15 seconds after Annie started smelling the bush, Paul decided it would be a good idea to mark the bush.  Leg goes up, and Annie's ear gets in the way of Paul's marking of the bush.  The Hubbs and I burst into giggles, because really, what are you going to do at that moment.  Annie was soo engrossed with the smell on the bush, she didn't even flinch when Paul peed on her.  

     One of our neighbors was outside when we got home and Annie and Paul went over to visit and be petted.   The first words out of my mouth weren't a friendly, "Hi, how's your evening?" but an abrupt statement of "Don't pet her ears, Paul peed on her!"  Thankfully we have neighbors that have their own dogs and are very understanding about pee on ears.

Bath Time: Part 2

     After Paul got his bath, Annie knew it was her turn.  I was totally soaked from Paul, so the Hubbs was nice enough to pick up Annie and bring her into the bathroom for me.  Paul's water was filthy, so I drained it and Annie got nice clean water for her bath.

Woe is me!  I don't like baths!

     For all of the moping that Annie does while getting a bath, she is our "mature" puppy.  I can almost hear her say, "Ok, fine, I'll stand here so you can bathe me, but I'm not happy about it!"  She stands still in the tub as water's poured over her, soap is worked in (thank you Rupert's Simply Smoochable Doggie Shampoo that we learned about from Emily over at Our Waldo Bungie), and rinsed off.

     While Paul tries to escape, Annie just looks hopelessly sad the entire bath.  Because of her allergies, we use the unscented dog shampoo with minimal ingredients in it to try and help her have as few allergic reactions as possible.  

Does anyone else out there have any strategies you use to give your pups a bath?

Worried.......

     I'm very good at worrying about things.  Honestly, it's one of those things that I excel at.  Presently, I'm worried about dogs at the shelters.  Right now, we're a 1 income household with 2 dogs and I'm being financially responsible when I say that's what we can afford.  But today, I'm worried.
     A friend of mine tagged me in a response on Facebook to a friend of her's who is a shelter volunteer.  "Hey, you know a lot of dog people.  Can you help this friend?" was essentially what was said.  And I'm now trying to find resources to help this volunteer shelter worker who watched 11 pit bull mixes be taken in by the Dinwiddie County Shelter in Virginia today.
     The first and nearest suggestion was Gracie's Guardian's in Richmond, VA.  They're a part of Richmond Animal League and GG works specifically with pitt bull type dogs.  (The name Gracie is from one of the Vick dogs that a RAL board member now has.)  There's also Ring Dog Rescue in Richmond.  Once again, they work for pitt bull type dogs.  But that's where the list ends.  Richmond is a "major" city for us.  And as cities go, it's on the smaller end of the scale.  On top of it, Dinwiddie County doesn't have a lot of resources on it's own.  Most of the residents are farmers.  And while it's beautiful country, farmer's aren't rich by any stretch of the imagination.
     Below are some pictures MPW took of the puppies and Mom who were dropped off.  She's trying to find any rescue in North Carolina, Virginia, or Maryland that will help her get any of the pitties out of the shelter.  The pups and mom total 7 (6 pups and mom).  There are 5 other pitties at the shelter that aren't part of the family, but who still need to be rescued.     Please contact me at annienpaulmom@gmail.com if you're interested in adopting, rescuing, helping at all.  I'll pass any information along to MPW.

Bath Time: Part 1

     I always know Annie and Paul need a bath when Paul stops rolling in the grass to get rid of his "nice clean smell."  This past weekend, before the stomach flue hit,  Annie and Paul got their bath's.
Paul got to go first.  We've never even tried taking either of them somewhere to get a bath, Paul developed a fear of PetSmart when an inexperienced nail trimmer trimmed his nails.  Now when we go in, he does his best to drag me away from the salon.

Please excuse the duck tape on tile in the background.  That's the present home improvement project that we need to finish! 

     Paul's improved from when we would first bathe him.  It would take both the Hubbs and I about 20 minutes.  I'd play goalie to keep Paul in the tub, and Hubbs would be in charge of washing him.  Because of Paul trying to climb out of the tub by going over, around, and through me (I'm stronger than I look) I'd wear long sleeve shirts and blue jeans to try to protect my skin from his nails.  (I swear Paul is part cat).  For this bath, he only tried to go over my left shoulder once (Yea, progress!).

   
     Part of what has calmed him down is running a few inches of bath water before I put him in the tub. We used to use the shower head and he didn't like that at all!  Now we use the bath water and an old plastic drink container to pour water over him.  Paul's still not a fan of the bath, but he'll tolerate it better now.  I can even wash him by myself!

Annie Helps (sort of)

     Annie has started this new thing lately when I try to work on the computer.  She puts her head on the keyboard and tries to get me to pet her (and usually succeeds when she does this.)  Somehow she knows which hand I have to type with next and puts hear head over top of that one.

     The other fabulous maneuver she has is to stand between me and the laptop (usually when I'm sitting on the bed trying to work).  This works as a great distraction because she positions herself so I can't even touch the computer, I have to pay attention to her.  

     I know she just does it for attention, but I usually make a comment about being my office helper for the day.  

  

Jump! (For the meat!)

 

     Annie and Paul love meat!  And lets be honest, most dogs do.  Both of them know to go into a sit when "asking" for a treat.  Their behavior after that ranges from jumping for the meat (Paul) to jumping on us to get to the meat (Annie).

Sick Mom

     Annie and Paul here.  Mom's sick.  It's not the coughing sick that scares us away, but she's lying in bed and watching movies sick.  So no blog post today, just snuggle time with us!

     She said she'll blog on Wednesday (whatever that means, we just hope it involves food)