Monday, December 31, 2012

Our Dog Bed Collection

We've got several dog beds spread out around the house from all sorts of places.  Honestly, Annie and Paul are allowed to sit where ever they'd like because they're in the house more than we are (think about it, we go to work, they stay home)  So we've amassed a collection of dog beds that are everywhere for them to sleep on.


     Let's start in their room.  We have 3 different places for them to sleep.  On the far right edge, you can see the full sized mattress and box spring with a gray fitted sheet.  Then there's the supper thick dog bed that I re-covered and the thiner dog bed that was on sale.  Behind both of these and against the wall, there are 2 pillow cases that I stuffed with stuffing from a craft store and sewed them closed.  And that's just the beginning.

I know the quality of this picture is rotten, but you've got the idea.  The IKEA couch is fair game.  The slip covers come off and are easily washed.  Next time I choose slip covers however, I'm going for a more dog friendly color (thinking gray).  The black shows white and brown dog hair like crazy.  


Any time we're home and not sleeping, our bed is fair game.  Annie and Paul have spent a number of hours curled up sleeping, bugging me as I type, or just watching the world go by out the front window of our room from our bed.  We tried sleeping in the bed with them when we first adopted them, but after a week of me in bed with A&P and the Hubbs moving to the couch at 3 am, we nixed that idea.


When Annie joined our family, I crafted a huge pillow to sit in this window since she liked to sit in this window and look out.  Paul ate it the first week he lived with us.  Even though I don't craft as much as I'd like, any fabric, yarn, stuffing, or anything else I need to store is tossed into these large storage bins. I made the pillow on top of here for Annie and Paul to sit on when they look at the back yard and bark at the cats and squirrels.  



After several years of looking at Ms. M and Mr. B's Molly Mutt beds, we splurged this winter and bought one each for Annie and Paul.  Mr. Roboto is on the left and sits in the living room next to my desk.  Paul's other bed had been replaced in his cave by the title track.  


Friday, December 21, 2012

I love my Mommy! (life according to Paul)


    I love my Mommy!  She bakes me cookies, and picks up my poo, buys me squeaky toys, and walks me (and gives me CHEESE!!).  She gives me bully sticks, and snuggles with me.  I spent last night sleeping on her feet because I didn't have to sleep in my room.  She's been kind of nervous lately.  So I've gotten lots of pets.  And last week, Annie got a bath and I didn't!  So I'm still her big, slobbering, stinky teddy bear!  

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

On the Road

We didn't go far, just to the dog mall, but, as always, Annie and Paul watched where we were headed.  And took a few moments to just watch the world go by.


 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Dognomics: Comparative Advantage

The comparative advantage is when you use what you're good at to work.  "What do the dogs do better than any other pets?" is the basic question for comparative advantage.  And there's a pretty simple solution: give affection.  No matter what type of day I've had, no matter how much work I still have to do when I get home.  No matter how long I've been gone (taking out recycling v. school day v. trip) they're always happy to see me again.









Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Paul's "Cave"

 The Hubbs has a juicer and a rice cooker that have been sitting on the kitchen table for a while.
Everyone needs their own private island, right?
Last week, I bought a small kitchen island for the Hubbs from a friend of ours.  So the small appliances have been moved to their own island.

But now I'm realizing that I don't know where to put the kitchen table.  I pushed it into the corner of my  room, and it sits over Paul's bed in my room.  (Paul tends to hang out there when I'm cooking or doing laundry.)  It took me about 20 minutes to get Paul to go to his bed, and I did it by stretching out on his bed to snuggle with him and give him a bully stick.  But now, when I give him any treat, he goes right to his bed and seems to love his new cave.

My cave!  

Monday, December 10, 2012

Dognomics: Substitution Effect

     The substitution effect talks about what you do when you don't do the "normal" thing.  ( I heard a report on it on Friday morning on NPR about the NHL and the substation effect there)  For Annie and Paul, it tends to take effect when we leave them alone during the day. Most times, it's Kongs stuffed with peanut butter, but about once a month, I discover we're out of peanut butter.  Out come the bully sticks for them to chew on.
     Annie and Paul are fed 2 meals a day.  At each meal, they get at least half a cup of dry kibble and then something else mixed in.  (Yogurt, canned pumpkin, pureed green beans, rice, and chicken broth have all found their way into their diet.)  And depending on what the budget is for the week also kind of helps to dictate what else they'll be eating beyond kibble.

Today's substation is Chicken Broth!

Friday, December 7, 2012

You know you're a dog's mom when......

     You get all the way into school and hang up your coat before you realize the poop bag dispenser is still attached to you.   Instead of wearing a poop bag dispenser all day, I took a picture of it on my counter top and tossed it into my purse.  The key for my classroom we clipped onto my hip and the day began.



Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Exhausted: Wordless Wednesday

 

I've had a crazy long day with at least an hour extra of driving.    So you have 2 pics of Annie and Paul stretched out chilling.  Which is what I'm doing at the moment.  Happy Wednesday!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Dognomics: Resource Scarcity



There is only so much sauce in the spaghetti container that either Annie or Paul can eat so there are 3 ways that sauce can be rationed out for them. 
1) First come, first serve: We finish the spaghetti, and whistle and who ever come running gets to eat the spaghetti sauce.  Since Paul is so nervous about coming up to the hubs, Annie usually gets the most food that way.
2) Second is by lottery.  We get a coin and assign heads to Paul and tails to Ms. Butt (get it: butt, tails?  Anyhow) We flip the coin and whatever side the coin lands on, we award the spaghetti sauce to them?

3) Third is by auction.  We can call over both Annie and Paul and say, who ever gives the most kisses to the mom gets this spaghetti sauce.  So Annie would offer 4 sniffles and a kiss.  Paul, since he’s much more loving, would offer a million kisses to the Mom!  Since obviously, a million is more than 1, Paul would get the spaghetti sauce that way.