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The LA Times has a sweet photo section called "Pets Behaving Badly". Pet owners can submit their photos in an online form, and readers can view photos organized by "most recent", "most viewed", "best", "title", or "photographer" as well as vote for their favorites.
Here are some I especially like.
"Why do you always take me places to be poked and prodded and handled and stuck with sharp objects?"
We had our rabies shot this morning (as well as an ear-cleaning), so Sky is likely to be feeling a bit under the weather for a couple of days. But now, I think, we can finally relax into a normal schedule and not have any more shocks to the system such as reproductive organs interfered with, getting pretty much shaved, showered (not her favorite by a long shot), temperatures taken in intimate places, eyes examined, anti-flea stuff applied, vaccinations, etc., etc.
We shouldn't have anything else on the schedule until a blood test in a month or two, assuming all goes well, and maybe we can all relax a little and just have fun. Regarding rabies vaccines, it's unfortunate that Greece requires them every year, since there is a great deal of controversy swirling around the question of over-vaccination. The U.S. has revised their rabies vaccination protocol to every three years, as I understand it, which is considered a conservative move (as in pro-vaccine), since a great many experts feel that the true longevity of rabies booster shots are probably five to seven, or even nine years.
The University of Wisconsin is currently doing research on this, with the goal to recommend five and then seven year vaccinations, but I expect it will take quite a while for full results to be compiled. I'm very disappointed that Greece hasn't shifted to at least every three years, but then there isn't a very strong animal advocacy presence here... or at least not one with much political clout.
If you have a dog or cat, you should really check out information on the over-vaccination issue - not just for rabies. It's very scary stuff, indeed. I won't link to anything in particular, but there's a ton of info out there.
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm gonna open up your gate
And
maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
How adorable is this little girl? I swear on my honor I don't have a bias towards girl dogs, or Si-Husky-eyed dogs, but she is just too irresistible, isn't she? Hello? Dog lovers in Greece? Any Greek person out there, especially in or around Athens, who is looking for a wonderful pet and would like to save one from a homeless existence - please think about getting a rescue dog or cat from stray.gr or another rescue organization. To find out more about Phaedra, in Greek and English, see this stray.gr page. And if you have questions of any kind, you can email them for information - they are very responsive, and know a lot about the personality of the animal, and try to find as much information as they can about their history. They'll also help you out with problems and questions after the adoption, so you aren't all on your own.
Also, here's the song that I referenced in the first paragraph. Nice song! Nice name! Nice dog! Click the arrow below to hear the song - one of my favorites. (or if you have trouble, go here.)
Oh my goodness! Sky's "dogfather" (godfather, but for dogs, ya'know?) from the U.S. sent Miss Thing a care package stuffed with omg-goodies... and poor-l'il-baby-never-had-a-toy hardly knows how to act. Check it out - we got: a Kong toy that you can stuff with treats, plus treats to stuff it with; a scary, scary, Big Mean Kitty stuffed toy; an Orka Tube supercool chew toy; an Air Kong Squeaker dumbbell chewy toy... and most importantly, for me - a clicker for obedience clicker training - something I haven't been able to find here. [note to self : beware your typos - it's CLICKER training, not Licker training, because that's a totally different thing]
This all came from the our friend, the owner of beautiful Silver and adorable Saffron. Awwww. I didn't want to completely blow her mind all at once, so I gave her the stuffed Kong first... and she was underwhelmed. As usual. I really wonder if she's never-ever-ever had a toy? So I bounce it around a bit, and stick it in front of her nose and pull it away, and roll it to her, and eventually she gave a bit of a half-hearted attempt at participating in this strange behavior I seemed to insist on exhibiting... and a treat dropped out. YUM! TREAT!
And so I put the toy near her nose so she could tell that this is where it came from, and suddenly it's not some alien doofus thing anymore... no. No, indeed. Now it's her preciousssssss that she carries around and puts in safe places and loves and guards, because it's hers, and its price is beyond rubies. It's so cool to see her play with something.
Thank you, Dogfather!
Maybe a third. We went to the groomer yesterday, and all that long, horribly matted coat is gone, gone, gone. Sky definitely looks like a frou-frou dog now, and while that's not really what I want, and I do miss her long tresses, it will be great for summer - because it's already too hot for even half the fur she used to have,and more importantly, we are rid of those terrible clumps that were twisted right up to her skin and almost certainly painful.
She did really, really great throughout the quite long ordeal, and was a perfect angel - until we got to the tub part. Turns out she's really not fond of being bathed, apparently. Still, it was just a matter of desperate attempts to escape the tub, and no growling or snapping at all. Of course. And afterwards, it was obvious that she felt so much better.
Her head now looks a few sizes too big for her little body, but she insists on acting dignified regardless. Because she is a pretty, pretty princess, yes she is.
Well we had our first home cooked dog food today - and it was a ringing success. You might remember that I was trying to find the one brand on the Whole Dog Journal approved dry food list that is supposed to be available here in Greece, and the importers sent me somewhere they said had it... but they didn't.
So I had to step up my home meals project without the chance to buy any extra ingredients, since shops were closed yesterday, and we ran out of food last night. I made a turkey/rice dish based on something our friend Fay makes for her Branco. I boiled two large turkey legs, minced the meat (and threw out any small bones), and used part of the broth to cook two cups of brown rice (four or five cups after cooking). While the rice was cooking I threw in a couple of handfuls of frozen spinach. I grated a large carrot and a large zucchini and mixed it all together, sprinkled a bit of garlic powder* and couple splashes of olive oil... and that's it for this first batch. I refrigerated half, and froze half. I also mixed a teaspoon of yogurt into the bowl before I put it down for her, because it adds calcium, and I hear it "contains 'good' bacteria, which can aid in digestion and help keep your dog's digestive system clean and functioning optimally". But, hey - also, yum!
So, that's it for the first entree on the menu... I'll be beefing it up with some other stuff once I can find the things I want, but this is better than the bad dry food I would have buy on the spot right now when we're out of food. We'll be doing a mix of both dry kibble and home made, but I still need to find a decent dry food. In the meantime, I don't feel bad about giving her this.
* Too much garlic is not good for dogs, so this was just a very small amount. Many believe it's good for overall health and flea control - and pretty much everyone says dogs enjoy the extra flavor.
Since I have a shot of Branco on the couch, I figured we'd add one of Sky, too. Though we're looking considerably more bedhead here - both dog and couch. Tomorrow, the groomers! Goodbye, long hair!
Sky had her first doggy visitor last night - our good friend's dog Branco (who has stayed here before, when his mommy went out of town). Oh, the frolicking! They had a great jumping, leaping, running, rolling, nosing, kissing, sniffing time, despite a small spat about a chew bone, which is really funny, because Sky has never touched that chew bone before. Not once. I try to interest her, and she stares away into space or wanders away hoping I'll stop being so silly. But once Branco claimed the bone, it suddenly became a lot more interesting... irresistible, in fact. And today she's chewed on it some more, so Branco has schooled her a bit in The Way of the Dog. I hope he can also teach her to go peepee on the terrace in an emergency pee situation (as opposed to, say, the bedroom). Next time I'll be prepared with equal chewy bones for all.
Branco was also... let's say, amorously inclined - but sorry Branco, old boy; that ship has sailed. No passionate doggy romancin' under the hot Grecian sky for you two, I'm afraid.
It was pretty dark by the time I got my wits together and pulled the camera out, so most of my shots are dark-and-blurry useless. The shot above is the only one that came out and it barely shows Branco, but it will have to serve as a record of the historic first meeting.
Here's an earlier picture of Branco, a Poodle/Belgian Griffon mix who is about eight or nine months old, on our couch - when he was staying here for a couple of weeks, before Sky came to us. He's the one who inspired us to take the plunge and finally get a dog, so Sky also has him to thank for that (assuming she's thankful, which I think she is).
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