Life on the Leash

“My daughter is getting a new puppy, and we need help.”

That’s music to my ears. Puppy? Help? You’re in the right place! The puppy in question in this scenario was a Frenchie, so, like, *swoon*. I offered my suggestions (including my DVD), and made her promise to bring her granddog in to visit me.

Enter, Scout!

Yeah, I know. I’m in sugar shock over here.

Scout did some shopping after posing for the obligatory red chair shots. She also checked to make sure that every bowl was empty. You just never know.

Her people and I decided that she’d be the perfect shop dog.

Now how do I go about stealing her?

My Uncle and his 15-year old dog WingNut are visiting my parents for the holidays. Sumner, normally inhospitable to any dog or person in “his” domain, has adjusted well. Probably because Wing is a total badass, and won’t suffer shenanigans from a young’un like Sum.

The coping strategy on both sides seems to be, “You go there, I’ll go here.”

Sum even let Wing eat from his bowl and drink his water.

“I’m not just a tolerant elf, I’m a good elf!”

The winter wallop was a kind one … it didn’t really kick in until late yesterday afternoon. This new merchant was very happy that we didn’t have to close too early on the Saturday before Christmas!

We woke to beauty this morning. Sum was thrilled! The dog digs snow.

I watched him frolic and thought, “Hm. It’s really cold out there. I think he needs a coat.”

“Uh, are you kidding me, lady?”

It’s cold out there … cold enough to drive a French Bulldog to don the Union Jack:

Gunner’s person is British, hence the cross-cultural confusion. Maybe that makes him a “British-ie Bulldog”? (”English Bulldog” is obviously taken.)

I used to have a little sign in a flower pot outside our front door that said “Dogs Welcome.” I had to set it out every morning, then drag it back in at the end of the day. It got peed on. Frequently. The plant died when the weather turned (I’m sure the non-stop marking hastened its demise), so I started using some fake-y grass in a vase. It fell over repeatedly, and looked blech.

I wanted a permanent way to let people know that Fido was allowed to come in and shop too. Something … awesome. I think I found it:

Super adorable, yes?

Many thanks to Andrew out in Seattle for his creativity!

(The water bowl right below the sign froze in a mere 3 hours yesterday! The toy is standing on top of the ice. It’s flippin’ cold out there!)

I’m sooo late getting these pics up from our event on 11/28 … seriously, where does the time go?

“Pet Portraits with Santa” at LOTL was a huge success. Santa didn’t get bitten or peed on, and the Doylestown Dog Park Fund made some nice cash. The Dog Park crew did an amazing job setting up the backdrops and managing the throng that showed up for photos. I’ve never been a part of such an efficient volunteer organization … there’s no doubt that we’re going to make the dog park happen!

Things were crazy behind the scenes:

But we had lots of smiles come show time:

Our lone kitty did a fine job:

And Lucy brought the cute:

The dog park crew has another photo session coming up this Saturday from 10:30 – 3:30 at the Market at Del Val … join us!