Rainy Day at Doggy Daycare

There is nothing more entertaining that logging onto facebook and seeing that the doggie daycare you send your beloved pet to has posted a picture like the one above. Needless to say it made me belly laugh and I just thought I would share how cute my Cleopatra looks battling the rain in a poncho. Thanks Mill Pond. You guys are the best. 

Dog Friends Galore!

Cleo was finally allowed to go back to daycare today! Yay! It's been 5 long weeks since she has gotten to go because she has been in heat. She knew where she was going this morning as soon as we pulled in and she basically dragged Jim up to the front door. I'm pretty sure she ran her hardest for 5 straight hours. Cleo only has one speed and it's called go for broke.

When I picked her up her weinerimer friend was getting picked up as well. It's always so nice that there are other sporting breeds there because when all the normal dogs quit playing because their tired she still has hyperactive dogs to run with. So when I got her home she ate, drank and passed out. She is such a happy, spoiled doggie.
  

The Truth about Cat's and Dogs

Yesterday I was on facebook and saw in my news feed a post from the German Shorthair Rescue listing a link to story done by the Examiner called, "Great dogs in rescue, thanks to ignorant prioir owners". Here is a link to the actual story: http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/great-dogs-rescue-thanks-to-ignorant-prior-owners. The article is mainly about a GSP named Lody who was turned over to the Great Plains GSP rescue a month ago. To make a long story short Lody attacked her family's cat and they ended up giving her away because of it.

I have two cats that I love dearly. The first one is Bailey a milk chocolate point Siamese who is about 8 years old and the second one is Little Man a chestnut oriental who is 4 years old.

 

When Jim and I decided to get a GSP my biggest concern was how it would be with my cats. I would never put them in danger and was very concerned because GSP's have such a high prey drive. The first thing I did was discuss my concerns with the breeder. Bob Corsaro who is the owner of Nobelle's was very informative and honest with me. He told me that it was possible to have them coincide in peace but it would take training and ground rules. Jim and I then contacted a couple who live about 40 minutes from our house who have two GSP's that hunt and also have 2 cats. Jim and I went and visited them to see the interaction first hand between the two and also to get some advice on how to train our dog to not want to eat my cats.

We have never had an issue with our cats and Cleo. She was trained from the first day to "Leave it" when it came to the cats. If she ever overly sniffed the cats and pushed them around with her nose she was immediately corrected. She will let the cats lay on her and walk across her. The most amazing thing I ever witnessed with her is when her sister Molly came to stay with us this past summer while her owners where at a wedding out of town and she protected the cats from Molly. See Molly wasn't raised with cats and through no fault of her own thought they were fair game. Molly cornered Little Man on the counter and it was Cleo who pushed Molly out of the way and barked at her frantically as if she was saying, "Leave it". I was astounded. Cleo clearly protected the cats from danger.

I do want to say that Cleo is smart...almost too smart. She understands that when cats are in the house they can not be touched. She displays no aggression to our cats or to the cats that roam her daycare/vets office. But make no mistake...if a cat is outside its fair game and she knows it. She wouldn't hesitate twice to run it down and do bad things. Which brings me to my point....Lody the rescued GSP did nothing wrong. She is a product of years of prey driven breeding and was just doing what she does best which is hunt prey. That whole situation was caused by her owners ignorance. They clearly didn't research the breed or take the steps to train Lody correctly and sadly Lody paid the price.

So in case anyone is wondering cats and dogs can live together in peace....and that's the truth.  Cleo is the living proof.

Gone to the Dogs...

Twice a week, weather depending, Cleo goes to Mill Pond Doggie Daycare in Quakertown. She goes from 8:15am to about 12:30pm. She runs all morning with her doggie friends and comes home tired and happy. Jim and I love the days she's at daycare because its a phenomenal outlet for her and she gets to be with other dogs which is one of her most favorite things. Below are some pics of her taken at daycare this past summer.

Clearly she is in all her glory. So today I pick her up and Ryan the guy who watches the dogs at the camp brings her out to me and I ask how she made out today. Ryan said it was pretty windy but other than that they had a great day. I mentioned to Ryan that Jim and I didn't have her wear her fleece vest today because we were afraid that it would get wet because of all the rain yesterday and she would be stuck in a soaking wet vest all day. He looked at me and said, "So far Cleo is the only one who's vest has held up." I went on some dissertation about how its such a nice quality vest...blah blah...has a zipper...blah blah...velcro's...blah blah.  Ryan looks at me like I have lost my mind and says, "Have you ever seen your dog play with other dogs?" I cringed and said yes...knowing full well where he was going with this. Ryan says, "I'm pretty sure the only reason Cleo's vest has survived is because she is the one wearing it." Apparently, Cleo has a habit of ripping the other dogs vests off so they can play tug of war with them.

I can't help but wonder if the outward destruction of the others dogs vests is some passive aggressive outburst to how mush she hates her own vest. Either that or the white sash on her forehead really is the mark of Satan. Regardless I called Jim to tell him about it and we both laughed like hell. That dog is beyond sassy. 

Hunting Couture

Cleo's orange fleece hunting vest came today from Ugly Dog Hunting!! First I have to say it is such a nice quality. Much nicer than I had expected. The fleece is thick and soft. It zippers onto her and then has a really nice Velcro flap that covers the zipper to protect it and make it look more finished. I was so excited to put it on her and see how it fit her and looked. Cleo on the other hand was not so excited. It was like trying to dress an octopus! But once it was on it fit her great. We went with a size large because of how big her chest is....29"!

Once it was on she just stood there staring at me like I was a complete jerk. I got her to do a few laps around the kitchen and then took her to the door to let her out into the yard. She just stood there!! She didn't want to go outside....like the neighborhood dogs were going to make fun of her for having a sweater.  I laughed right at her and pushed her out into the yard and after a few minutes she forgot it was on. The whole thing was hilarious. At least next time she goes to daycare and its 10 degrees outside she can rock her hunting couture and be hottest dressed pup there. Lol.

So as promised paparazzi pics: Please note the completely dejected look on her face.

So I finally broke down and....

So I finally broke down and purchased a bright orange fleece vest for Cleo. I know...I know...she's a dog and she doesn't need clothing. BUT Jim and I both discussed it and we feel she needs it. I feel I put up a pretty argument as to why it will be beneficial to her.

Cleo loves people but what Cleo really LOVES is other dogs. She waits impatiently every morning for the German Shepard named Natasha who lives up the street to come and visit her first thing every morning just so they can get their early morning play in and sniff butts. Her favorite dog people in the world are my brothers basset hound Fisher and her sister and litter mate Molly. Unfortunately, Cleo doesn't get to spend as much time with them as we would like. So twice a week she goes to Mill Pond Vet in Quakertown to their doggie daycare. They have a huge fenced in area where the dogs can run freely, they have some agility equipment and barrels they can play on and most importantly there are at least 10 dogs for her there to play with. She knows the days she goes to daycare and sits in the front seat of my truck bursting with anticipation. But lately its been so cold. Some mornings its been 17 degrees with a wind a chill of 5 degrees and Cleo has little to no fur. She spends hours outside playing and I would just feel better knowing she had some additional protection from the harsh cold and wind. Mill Pond does a great job monitoring the dogs and periodically bringing them to warm them up but Jim and I both feel on certain days its not enough.

My second reason is we live in the sticks and everyone and their brother owns a gun...or two...or three. When we take Cleo to the fields and run her out for her daily exercise both Jim and I dress in orange so we don't get shot but all Cleo has is her orange collar. On opening day of shotgun for deer hunting this season in our town a local hunter was shot and killed while dragging his 9 point 200lb deer out of the woods to gut. The man...David Manilla who shot the hunter was illegally hunting with a high powered rifle. Needless to say since that happened both Jim and I want Cleo as visible as possible.  You can read more about that here:
http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2010/12/18/montgomery_life/news/doc4d0bd2426a33b677636163.txt

So the fleece vest she is getting is coming from Ugly Dog Hunting. It's pretty fly. Check out the picture of it below:

  

The fleece cost $44.00 dollars but in reality the piece of mind it will bring on the few days she will wear it is priceless. As soon as it comes I will get a paparazzi pic of her and post it. Lol.