Thunder Shirts: Annie's version

     I've written before about Thundershirts [Here].  We love the pups thundershirts for anything that freaks them out, or as an added layer when it's cold out.  But the one thing that kind of drives me nuts is that both Annie and Paul's shirts are dark gray.  It's hard to figure out quickly who's shirt is who's.  In the interest of Annie no longer giving me the stink eye when I dress she and Paul the same, I decided to dye the shirt a dark purple.

Paul's got the shirt, his hat, his pack, and is happily ready to go!

Annie, because she's dressed like Paul gives me the stink eye and is less than thrilled.

     So I bought deep purple dye at JoAnn Fabric and craft (yea teacher discount!)  I followed the directions in how to prepare both the dye and the Thundershirt.

Honestly, I have to admit that I let this soak for 48 hours instead of the time it said on the package.  I also dyed Annie's hat while I was at it.  

   The color of her shirt turned out very well, I think.  Even a couple months after I did this, the purple is still bright on her shirt and it's much easier to toss the shirt on her now.  The hat, unfortunately, didn't turn out as well.  

Wordless Wednesday: June 26

Does anyone else see the puppy running in the cloud?

Annie v. Rain

     I posted on our Facebook page on Saturday, Annie standing inside the doorway of Tiffany's at Stoney Point Fashion Park trying to stay dry from the rain.  I've got to brag about the people who work at Tiffany's.  They saw me, dripping wet, with a back pack that was dripping wet, and 2 dogs who were soaked and not one of them was rude about it.  As a matter of fact, each new person from Tiffany's who came over to see what was going on in the doorway started to giggle when told that Annie was taking shelter from the rain.  (and from someone who can't afford Tiffany's, that's an amazing reaction.)  I finally had to pick her up to get her out of the store.  (Yes, they were really nice, but I was still embarrassed of my wet dog taking refuge in Tiffany's.)

     We've gone into Tiffany's before when visiting the dog mall (Annie and Paul love to smell the carpeting for some reason.)  and they've always been friendly to us!

More from the Dog Mall

     I took Annie and Paul on their 3rd trip to the dog mall this week.  Like I said before, it's my favorite place to walk them when the hubbs can't help.  Yesterday, he went up to make a food drop in DC, and didn't get home until late.  So off to the dog mall we went.

     It always starts off with a trip to 3 Dog Bakery to visit with our friends, score some carrot cake, and stretch out on the cold tile floor.

     After that, I've discovered that I need to walk them for a bit to take the edge off before we go into other stores.  So we walk about a third of a lap; just far enough to let them do their business, meet some other pups, and eat some grass.
     Most of the stores stock dog treats for any visiting pups that come in, this is how we stumbled upon Cache.  We walk in, Annie and Paul get treats, pets from the staff, and Paul stretches out on the cold tile floor

     After Cashe, the next stop is typically Yankee Candles.  I know many people who get migraines as soon as they walk into Yankee Candle because of all of the smells.  Perhaps this is the same reason Paul and Annie love it.  They walk in, head to the side of the counter to be petted, and walk out.  All without nocking over any of the displays or sniffing anything too closely.  

     The turn around seems to use 2 different stores.  One is Wolfgang Jaspers, the talented photographer who took our family photos.

Photo by a person named Ann P.

     The other is Lens Crafters.  Every once in a while, the Hubbs glasses break.  We tend to get his glasses from Lens Crafters because they're easy for us to get to for a quick fix.  Annie and Paul have now been inside the store enough times, they think it's part of the dog walking ritual.  It's really not, but they're really good with having them in the store, and Annie and Paul are pretty chilled out when they go in.

Wordless Wednesday

No, Mom, I'm not waiting to eat the left overs from dinner.

Last Day of School: Round 2

     This is my last day of school for this school year, the kids last day was yesterday.  Annie and Paul aren't coming in with me this year because of a lunch-in I need to go to.  So this is a short post for the day while in the middle of the pile of paperwork for the end of the school year.  Annie, Paul, the Hubbs, and I will return to some adventuring this weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

Mom's Birthday!

     Today is Mom's Birthday!  She just says she's "old enough" and won't tell us her age!  One of her friends at work bought us/her a birthday present.  She put it up onto the back of the couch on Saturday and all of the dogs of the house left it alone.  The friend jumped into the shower this morning, and when she got out, her dog Goliath came in barking at her like something was wrong.  The friend ran out to the living room and found the bag of duck treats on the ground being eaten by her grand puppy.  BOL!!!

   

Here I am sniffing for the puppy treats I smell in here!

     Mom said she's just excited the coffee mug (Mom's no fun without her coffee!) didn't break!  Thank you very much Mrs. H for the thought of the treats!  We got bully sticks, so it's ok that your grand puppy ate the rest of the duck!  Annie does that all the time to Mom and Dad with their dinner!

ABC's of Blogs: A, B, & C

A couple of weeks ago (ok, like a month ago) I posted about wanting to do an ABC's of blogs.  This isn't the be all and end all of a blogging list, not by any means.  However, these are some of the blogs that I read on a weekly basis.  They are the ones I read when I'm frustrated, in need of brain candy (light hearted reading), or need advice.  They are also my "I wish I could do that" thing sometimes.  They've also been fabulous reference points when working on my own blog, and useful to point out to others when doing things.  So with out further ado, I give you A-C.  (You didn't honestly think I'd do all 26 letters at once, did you?)

A 

Annie and Paul's World

      The joy of this project and Annie's name starting with the letter A.  (And, hey, if you can't put yourself first at something, what's the point?(joking))  I cronical the semi daily lives of our 2 rescued dogs Annie and Paul.  We don't do much and we don't go far, but welcome to a little window on my family.  This blog is just over a year old and is updated about 3 times a week.  Monday's are usually dognomics where we link economic terms to things with the dogs (our own twist on Planet Money meets Freekanomics meets the world of dog lovers) We've got a small following (6 people at the beginning of this ABC blog project). 

A Thrifty Mom

Icon from "A Thrifty Mom"

     This is one of those blogs I can't even remember how I found it and started reading it.  She's a stay at home mom who lives on a dairy farm (ok, so not so much stay at home, since home is where the work is) with 4 kids.  Needless to say, pennies get pinched.  Her de-stresser is finding deals and posting them online.  I've also found really yummy recipes here (since, I'm not the most inventive cook.)  There's a menu down the left hand side to find what you're looking for.


B

BadRap and BadRap Barn Blog

Icon from Badrap

     Living this close to Richmond, VA, I remember when the Michael Vick trial happened.  And I remember hearing the news story of the group from California who came out and rescued the dogs.  With adopting Paul soon after, I couldn't help but fall in love and follow these amazing people.  

C

Chango the Handsome Pittie

Photo curtousy of Chango the Handsome Pittie and his Mom.

     Good things come in small packages, is the perfect thing to say about this micro blog.  Chango's family only posts on Facebook, so the link takes you to his facebook page.  Because of the small number of characters you can see in a FB post, that's what makes it a micro blog.  There are daily posts featuring all sorts of cool costumes and news from the world of Chango in Chicago.  

Wordless Wednesday: June 5

Dognomics: Relative Scarcity

     A few months ago, I read an article on NPR about the relative scarsity of women in China due to the one child rule.  Many families were thrilled when their one child was a boy, but now that this generation has come to the age of mairage, there is a major problem.  There aren't enough women for everyone to marry.  So the women are asking the men for things like their own appartment, cars, and money for their families.  It makes sence and got me thinking about the problem with rescue groups in America.
   

Um.....Mom, you do remember that we were both from rescues?

    Right now, we have the opposite of the above problem.  Soo many shelter dogs, and so few families willing to adopt them.  A quick scroll through my Facebook feed breaks my heart because of the number of dogs that need homes (and financially we can only afford 2 pups).  But just imagine if we had the opposite problem....

     Imagine that there are soo many families that want to adopt mutts and pure bread dogs.  That there was competition to rescue groups as to who could adopt instead of who wants to adopt.  Imagine a shortage of dogs that needed to be adopted into loving homes.  (Ok, maybe I've spent too much time these past 3 weeks imagining a world where state standardized testing doesn't exist.)  But just imagine it for one moment.  What a wonderful world that would be........

     We're back from our picture's only blog posting break.  Happy Monday!