Josie is Rosie!

This is Josie. She is a new sit for me and she is so sweet. Her mommy and daddy are very nice as well. I am doing a 'test run' with Josie this weekend as it is just an overnight visit. I begin an 18-day stay on June 5th, so you will see a lot of Josie to come.

When I arrived, she was in full guard dog mode. She barked and growled as if she were a Rottweiler! It took her a bit of time to warm up to me. She wanted to be friends, but she needed to protect her territory first. After a few cookies and a good walk, she warmed right up to me and is now laying in my lap watching T.V. But don't believe for one second that she has forgotten her mommy and daddy. She goes to the front door and sniffs under the door. She knows they are coming back and she wants to greet them.

She is very cute and very well-behaved. I enjoyed walking her as she loves to walk. I can tell Josie and I will become very good buddies!

Brandy and the Gang!

Meet Brandy! She is sweet as sugar and smart, to boot. She lives with her two-legged owners and sisters and brother. She has quite a diverse family of fur relatives as well. Three dwarf hamsters, a guinea pig, a rat, a bird and two fish!

I am delayed in posting Brandy's picture due to not having wireless access at her house. So, I came home today to post her beautiful mug on my blogspot.

Brandy has been the perfect angel. We go for walks, play in the back yard and just hang out. I have spent a lot of time with her this week and she may be spoiled when her family comes home because shhhhhhhh....don't tell anyone.......she hasn't been in her crate since they left!

Brandy is very smart. I believe her mommy told me that she is a retired service dog. Her tempermant is perfect for socializing as well as being part of the family.

All of the fur and feathered children are doing well and their family can return to a peaceful, welcoming gang!!

Kira and Nala

Kira got her buddy back. Nala came to visit yesterday. She barked behind the fence over the weekend but couldn't come out to play. I think she was locked out and couldn't get over to Kira's house. They had a good day romping when the sun would come out, but once it began to rain, I let Kira in to wait it out. Nala? She laid on the deck getting soaked. She wasn't budging until Kira went out to play with her. I never noticed that Kira likes to catch bugs. Ewwwww. She kept smacking her jaw at the air and at first I thought she was just quirky. But, then I looked over and she was trying to eat the knats. She's a funny girl.
Kira was absolutely perfect as she always is. She loved all the time I spent with her this time. I only left her long enough to feed my own dog and shower, so she was never alone for more than a couple of hours.
Today we will play and walk. Her mommy and daddy come home tonight so we will make sure the house is clean and Kira is worn out so that she will sleep. I know she is going to be very excited to see them come home. I'll miss her until my next long stay in July. However, I am fortunate to see her on an occasional Friday. She's one of my faves!

Raining, Raining, Raining.....

Rain, Rain, Go Away....Come Again Another Day

I can hear Kira singing this song. She looks out the door and when she sees it raining, she turns around and jumps back in the bed. She definitely does not like being outside in the rain.

This seems funny to me because her mommy tells me she loves the ocean.

So, I can assume, she likes it on her paws, but not on her back.

She is stretched out this morning chewing on her bone. We have been up since 6am

and she has had a cookie, played ball, tug-o-war and gone outside.

Its all about Kira and I think she knows that.

As soon as the sun peeks through, we will take a walk.

She won't mind getting rained on if we are exploring!

Happy Dog!!!

I apologize for the delay in journaling Kira's progress. We have been having a 'technical difficulty' accessing the internet, as we cannot connect to wireless at Kira' house.

Whew....enough of the apologies.....................

Kira is doing fantastic. We have had 85 and above degree weather over the weekend and yesterday. She is getting a lot of outdoor time and we have been playing with her great big basket ball and her little orange ball outside. She has also been playing with Nala, although Nala has not come to visit since Saturday? She visited with the dog on the other side of her house while all the kids were out playing, but never went beyond her boundaries.

She is getting lots of treats, walks and social time. I am with her quite a bit as this is a slow period for me so I can devote all my time to her. I plan to take her for a ride tomorrow...it is raining like crazy today and we are just hanging out. She doesn't like the rain at all. I have to walk out with her or she won't go outside. I am SURE she has me trained!

Not much new to report. We are having a good time and she is getting a lot of love and attention. She hogs the bed still, but that's okay, I love her anyway!!!

A Raisin In The Sun

Isn't she beautiful. Kira and I have been together for two days now. She has a playmate named Nala who lives next door. Our first morning, Nala came very early to visit. She stood outside the door and barked until I opened it to let Kira outside. They are very cute together and Kira and Nala played for a long time before laying down on the deck and resting.Much like children, when Kira wanted to come in, she came to the back door. Nala took her 'waiting' spot in front of the garage and Kira would come into the house for a bite to eat, a drink or just to hang out with me. I am able to spend a lot of time with her as I have no other visits at this time.

She likes hanging out in the yard, but our 85 degree weather makes it

very warm for her so she has been happy to alternate.
We are going for a long walk in the evening. It will probably be 90 degrees

today based on how it feels outside this morning. We went out on the deck

to have tea and enjoy the morning. Nala has not come to visit today?
Kira is still a bed hog, but she is a sweetheart and it is easy to just sleep

next to her and pet her belly as she loves this!
I will take her for a ride this week and we will spend our evenings walking and seeing the miniature horses. She is doing great even though she misses her Mommy and Daddy.

After the SPAW.....................

Abbie was so excited that we were going to play a new game. She jumped around like she was two years old. That is.....until she saw the dreaded hose! Today is fairly warm and the sun is shining. I wanted to get her cleaned up as she went out the other day and rolled around in the dirt. She had quite a few mats that were not budging with the mat splitter, so we had to do a little removal on some. No problem, she was laying on her back and I was brushing her and she was in dog heaven!

She wasn't quite sure what we were doing when we began, but she soon got into it. I didn't leave one of her collars on (wrong move on my part) and she got away from me while she still had her doggy shampoo on her. She proceeded to hit the shrubbery and roll around in the bark and dirt. Soooo, we had a second bath a and I learned a lesson....leave one collar on her so I could hold onto her. But, all is good. As you can see she is napping now. She was rewarded with a treat and now she is ready for a nap. We will finish the job later by giving her a good brushing and maybe a big pink bow on her collar. She is so sweet.

Raccoon Bowling Night at Abbie's!

Well, there were no noises in the closet last night, but I swear there was bowling on the roof! I could hear scurrying across the roof and a couple of thuds every few minutes. It literally sounded as if the it was bowling night for the wildlife!
After checking the traps this morning, I found no signs of extra critters in the house.
I ran an errand and was gone no more than thirty minutes. When I returned, Abbie was waiting to go outside at the back door. I let her out and she went straight into the shrubs that line the back of the house and she kept looking at the roof. I said 'What is it, Abbie?' and she intently looked up at the roof. She was not taking her eyes off the roof and she was in hunt mode, relentlessly sniffing out the shrubbery and the earth around it. She definitely knew there was something on the roof and it had been down on the ground earlier. She must have been watching whatever it was out the back door while waiting for me to come back in. She did not give up until I said 'Okay Abbie....you chased it off' and we returned into the house.
My guess is that this is a opossum or a raccoon and it has access to the house via the vents on the roof and the wall entries. I am very surprised this is the first we are hearing from this critter, but I hope it takes up space somewhere else in a hurry because Abbie's mommy is not going to want to come home!!!!