Another lovely Friday in Dog Town, thanks to my new client Dodger:
13-week old Dodger the Goldendoodle had “sit” nailed before I even arrived:
And he mastered “down” within minutes, but was too excited to perform it in front of the camera at the end of the session. He kept watching me (and jumping on me), waiting to see what I was going to pull out of my bag next.
We have four bolster beds in our house; there’s one in the family room, one in the kitchen, one in the work room and one in my office. Sumner and Zeke happily shared all of the beds in the house, no matter how tight the squeeze. (Sometimes they truly looked uncomfortable, but they wanted to sleep together.)
For weeks after we lost Zeke, Sumner continued to curl up on the various beds in the tiniest ball possible, as if leaving room for his beloved friend. (Yes, it made me sad.) For the past five months, Sumner has also been choosing to sleep in the kitchen bed instead of in the bed next to my desk, pictured in the above video. I realize now that Zeke “claimed” that bed as the end approached. Sumner rarely tried to share it with him, but I was too busy worrying about Zeke to notice Sum’s absence.
Was Sum now avoiding the old bed because it had too many memories? Because it was still “Zeke’s bed”?
I missed having Sumner in the room with me, so I decided it was time to get a new bed that didn’t have any baggage for him.
There are a ton of pet beds out there, but after over 10 years of dog bed trial and error, I knew exactly what type would work for him. My considerations?
1. The bed had to have a bolster, or something to lean against. Preferably a doughnut-type bed. (Given a choice, most dogs prefer a bolster bed over those flat “LL Orvis” catalog beds. Trust me on this one.)
2. It had to be stylish. That means faux-sheepskin chain pet store beds need not apply. Think about it – a dog bed is essentially a piece of furniture!
3. It had to have dark fabric. As much as I love light patterns, the reality is that big dirty paws make big dirty paw prints. Dark fabric hides the evidence between washings.
It took me a while (too many choices!), but I selected this bed in the “chocolate bones” pattern. (Check out the fabric swatches- awesome options.)
The new bed arrived last week.
Does Sum like it? You tell me:
He did an elaborate “spin, dig, sniff, spin” dance in it before he settled down, but once he found his “perfect spot” he didn’t leave it for the entire night. As in, he spent the night in the new bed in my office instead of moving to his regular nighttime bed.
The old bed? I’m going to donate it to a local shelter and hope that the warm history conveys to the next dog who gets it.
Her story is pretty awful, folks … Mari has spent all of her life in a small breeding cage. She was rescued along with 285 other dogs in what is being called one of the largest puppy mill busts in N.C. (Watch the video at the bottom of the page – it’ll break your heart.) All of the dogs rescued had severe stages of dental disease, skin infections and urine burns on their feet, and some had maggots in their ears.
I think it’s time for Mari’s happy ending.
She’s extremely affectionate and is loving her new life. She is around 8 years old and has just finished weaning her 2 pups. She will be going into the vet soon for her spay and dental and will then be ready for her new home. She is learning to walk on a leash, to pee and poop on grass, and be a regular lap dog in her remaining years!
Want to shower Mari with the love she deserves? Click here to get started.
For the next few Saturdays I’ll be working with Cricket the Norwich Terrier in the morning, then I’ll drive a few towns over to work with her “cousin,” an 8-week old Norwich Terrier belonging to Cricket’s person’s parents.
I have a feeling I’ll be singing this song after I finish up each week!
My very, very dear friend from college came for her annual visit this past weekend. She’s met Sum on a number of occasions, but that doesn’t mean that he wanted to greet her with open paws. During the first evening there was lots of, “Yikes! Omigod, who are you? Where did you come from?” every time she entered a room or gestured too broadly.
Thankfully, his full-tilt freakiness didn’t last. One day later he managed to sit on his bed, bored and unimpressed, while we attempted Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” dance in our pajamas. And he didn’t budge during a particularly demonstrative story about a visit to the doctor’s office. Atta boy!
And when my wonderful friend took her position in my makeshift “studio” so I could do her head shot (she’s a writer without a head shot!), Sumner walked over to her and did this:
