“The journey not the arrival matters.” – T. S. Eliot

We recently went to visit family in Baltimore for the Thanksgiving holiday. And since Dolce basically becomes Ghandi and goes on a hunger strike every time I leave her, we figured it'd be best to bring her along with us. And so, Dolce's first road trip commenced.

As we got ready and we were packing the bags to leave I was chatting with my mother and she told me we'd be taking my dad's truck and not her car, so we could bring stuff back with us.  I was immediately perturbed because, anyone who has sat in the cab of a truck for a long period can attest, it's super uncomfortable and not very roomy.  But nonetheless we made due.  So I immediately started planning and figuring who was going to sit where, as I had planned to sit in the back seat with Dolce, in my mother's car.  And I was immediately informed that  my father had "called shotgun" for Dolce a few days prior. Yes, he called shotgun for a dog, I'm not sure what's worse, that  or the fact that he'd rather sit next t the dog than his wife or daughter, but I digress.  Dolce loved it up front, for most of the drive.  David pet her, played with her, she got to keep watch out the windows and she slept in her own seat.  But then a few hours in we started getting the face you see above.  She was just dying to get in the back with Nancy and I.  We eventually switched during one of David's mandated "Dolce breaks" and Nancy moved up front and Dolce and snuggled in back for the remaining hours down to Baltimore. I have to say all in all she handled the trip really really well.  I thought for sure she'd be a terror in the car since it was pouring buckets and she didn't get a walk before we left.  But she mostly slept and we played intermittently between her naps.  She did really well adjusting to her city life at my brother's place, although I think the cats in the neighborhood were none to happy to see us walking down the street, giving me a new found respect for what Smudges deals with every day. And after a few fun days in the Charm City, we headed home again, Dolce now an experienced traveler kept her eyes on the road and said good bye to her first road trip and hopefully the first of many big adventures on the road.
 
 



"Time, the subtle thief of youth" - John Milton Sonnets 7

Dolce - May 2011 and November 2011

Every morning when I get ready for work, since the day we got her, Dolce has sat on the rug in my bathroom while I blowdry my hair. I took her picture (on the left) the first day I left her, to go back to work. It was one of my very first blog posts.  She looked sosad, I hated to leave her. I just remember looking at her on that rug thinking how little and helpless she looked and I just wanted to stay home and squeeze her all day.  Then this morning as I was getting ready for work, blowdrying my hair, I turned to say something to Dolce and hada realization that she has sat in that spot every morning.  So I took the picture on the right this morning.  It wasn't until I really looked at it and thought about it that I realized how big shes gotten and how far she's come. She's no longer that tiny, piglet looking little puppy.  She's like a real dog! Dolce has looked "bigger" to me every day, but every day I look at her and I think she's still my little puppy. I think I knew this all along I just hated to admit it.  I tried to pick her up and put her in my lap last night while I Skyped, and she's just too darn big, weighing in at a hefty 47 pounds now, a far cry from the 8 pound puppy we brought home, not 7 months ago. So I guess John Milton was right.  Time is the subtle thief of youth, because I feel like I turned around for two seconds and she's all grown up, and I have no idea where the time went.  Such is life, tempus fugit! (especially when you're having fun!)

Its almost that time of year again...

Leaves are all finally gone and that can only mean two things...Christmas is almost here and there's lots more things to find on our walks! Found a new trail to hike at the Paine Estate, not too big but pretty trails and lots of hills to tire us out. And Dolce and Nancy shared a walking stick. Then we found the perfect Charlie Brown Christmas tree along the way!

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Albus Dumbledore



With winter well upon us the days are getting colder and shorter.  This is hell for the working dog owners.  It leaves us little to no time to play at the park after work without either bringing home a still energetic dog or scuttling about in the dark with a flashlight trying to locate your dog.  Well after a few weeks of this I've said enough is enough. After talking to other dog owners and doing some research online I found some awesome alternatives in the form of light up dog collars. Lets list this under the heading of "Things I never thought I'd research online, before I had a dog"  Well anyways after much debate we've found the best collar with the longest life and one of the brightest lights (that doesn't flash constantly and induce seizures to all those present) is the Night Ize L.E.D. Dog Collar.  It was relatively inexpensive ($15) and serves the purpose well, by being visible up to 1,000 feet away and having a super long battery life of 100,000 hours! All in all I'm pretty impressed, and I haven't lost Dolce yet, so that's always a bonus.  And its a great conversation piece! "Oooh love your prison orange collar, where'd you get it!?"

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December." - J.M. Barrie



Well, we live in New England for sure! It's October and its already snowed! We had our first experience with snow unseasonably early this year, just before Halloween. Dolce was interested in it for sure.  Mostly in our back yard she only wanted to go to the bathroom, eat it and then run back inside the house.  But when we went to the park she couldn't have been happier to be playing in it.  She was digging rolling and chasing the snow and generally loving playing with her friends in it.  I've never seen her "frolic" so much, the snow must just do something to them.  Cant wait til we get a real storm and see how she likes it!  Dolce gets snow, and mommy get snow boots so her feet don't freeze! Everybody wins...

Choo Choo! Arriving at Inspiration Station!

So those of you that know me, know that I kick around good business ideas pretty much every day. With that said my latest idea/obsession as a result of no longer having puppy class at the local pet store and the impending terrible winter weather is an indoor dog park or playground.  This is non-existent in the Boston area without having to be enrolled in a regular doggy daycare program.  But what about us owners that want to spend quality time with our dogs after work in the company of other dogs/dog owners, without a flashlight and a parka?! I thought that I may have hit a gold mine and potentially be a genius innovator among thel ikes of Albert Einstein and Alexander Graham Bell, and then I found my very dream already exists...in CANADA. Doggie Central is my dream in carnate.  They offer daycare, classes, open play time (only $10, not bad), grooming/self grooming services and a store front.  AND they even offer frequent buy program so for every item you buy/dollar you spend, you end up saving.  And so, without totally considering the business, insurance and legal logistics, not to mention the financials, I ask my internet followers this.  If a service such as Doggie Central were available to you in your area would you use it?? This could be extremely helpful I grealty appreciate any response!

Would you use Doggie Central type services if provided in your area?
	Yes
	No
	Maybe
pollcode.com free polls

If yes, would you be willing to spend $10 for two hours of "free play"?
	Yes
	No
	Maybe
pollcode.com free polls

Hiking with Brittany!

Took our first hike with the new roommate Brittany this weekend in the Blue Hills in Milton, MA.  It went great.  It wa a beautiful, sunny 80 degree day in the middle of October here in New England, couldn't have asked for better weather. We started with an easy trail, partly for Dolce's sake, and probably partly for ours too.  It was a pretty easy hike.  Next time I think we'll upgrade to a bit tougher trail, didn't seem that bad and it will totally poop her out quicker. And naturally she found a delicious stick to chew on while we stopped for a rest, and hated to move on and leave it behind. Only downside, Dolce got her first tick on the walk, we'll have to be vigilant until that first frost hits!  Butno worries, grandpa came to the rescue and removed it for us!  Thank god I'm a crazy dog mom and checked her out afterwards! Check out the cool photo montage/collage I found online at Smilebox, and it was totally free.  Hope you enjoy!  Happy Fall everyone!

This free collage customized with Smilebox



Reach for the stars!

http://smile.greenies.com/

COULD DOLCE BE THE NEXT STAR?

ENTER THE SHOW US YOUR PET'S HEALTHY SMILE CONTEST AND FIND OUT.

Is your dog meant for greatness? Does your cat have that certain je ne se quoi? Then you need to enter the Show Us Your Pet's Healthy Smile contest. The winners, one dog and one cat, will be featured in The Bark! Magazine and on greenies.com. And, to keep them smiling, each will also receive a year's supply of GREENIES^® Dental Chews or Treats. So grab your camera – someone's about to be famous.

 

 

Just entered Miss Dolce's adorable face in this contest...please visit our link below and vote for us!!!! THANKS FOR MAKING ME A STAR!!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsmile.greenies.com%2Fsmile-gallery%2Fvote.aspx%3Fid%3D6749%26fb_comment_id%3Dfbc_10150341086256380_18887167_10150341089921380&h=CAQDycW-lAQAe9R3yvTtEU1cb3u9mgdZoBq6l_2vt-t61rw 

It's official...

We're having hot dogs for Halloween this year!

Yummmm! We look pumped to wear this costume dont we?!  Muahaha the joys of having a helpless adorable animal, sorry Dolce! Also, be on the look out for the hotdog's accomplice, Mustard Girl!

    

Cuteness Alert!!

Yup thats right I am obsessedwith my dog. I love her to death, moreso then I like most people. So we did a Jers-day morning photo shoot to get us in the mood for awesomeness to come! Live it, love it...Deal with it!  And most of all enjoy!

"We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves" - May Lamberton Becker

So last night I snapped this picture of Dolce sleeping on me and I realized I took one almost exactly the same about 5 months ago.  Once I started looking at the two picture together I could help but notice how much Miss Dolce has grown right before my very eyes and I didn't even notice it!
 


Big Dolce



Baby Dolce



 

Where does the time go?! I swear it was just yesterday that she was a whopping eight pounds and we were snuggled up together on the couch with room to spare!  Now clocking in at about forty pounds, I'm lucky if I can breathe when she sits on me, and the couch is certainly a much tighter squeeze. I mean I can't even fit her into my camera frame anymore let alone on the couch with me!  A couch which she now thinks she owns, as nightly she attempts to "push" me away from her with her feet so she can have more space, or maybe just get rid of me all together! But I don't care, I love her, so I'll take the abuse for that adorable face and the fantastic snuggles any day of the week! 

Apparently, we're are not a fan of...

So apparently we are not a fan of the curtain fixtures in mommy's house!  Well forget her! I like my curtain tie backs.  She literally spent the better part of the morning barking and growling at this thing.  And when I attempted to go over and "pet" it to show her it was ok and it wouldn't hurt us she jumped in front of me to protect me I guess. Took over an hour to finally convince her it was not a threat, thank god she finally realized it because we were at threat level red, and I for one was beginning to get worried!

Tough day in the City...

No car means no park for us...guess we'll being doing lots of walking and back yard playing this weekend!

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." - Mark Twain

Well it took us a few months of practice and lots and lots of treats but we're finally not afraid of the vacuum! I was so excited I could have cried!  She was never THAT bad with it, just barked at it and chased it around the room, never tried to bite it or anything. But this day she just sat there and watched me and eventually was more focused on an itch then my vacuuming.  Next step, cut her nails without being nibbled and licked incessantly!

Downy...the Wonder Dog!

I am beginning to think we should have called her Downy, the Wonder Dog!

Literally daily we find her with some article of clothing that has either fallen on the floor, that she pulled off the bed ( usually because it's to be worn to work that day) or out  of the laundry basket.  As I was blow drying my hair this morning realizing it was awfully quiet and she hadn't come over to have me blow the hair dryer in her face yet.  I went looking for her and came upon this scene.  That is in fact Dolce on one of her beds surrounded by various articles of both mine and Kevin's clothing, to be exact: one pair of my pajama shorts, one of my socks, one of Kevin's dress socks and a pair of my underwear. Naturally she is chewing on my expensive lace underwear.  When I asked her what she thought she was doing she looked at me, whined and proceeded to drop my underwear.  Yea, she knows when she's busted, happens so often these days, but more so shes annoyed that I was about to take away her "toy".  And she could not have looked sadder when I took those clothes away. I don't know what her affinity is for fabrics, she just can't get enough of them, she'd much rather have an old sock then a chew toy or a tennis ball...such a weird little dog...ahhh Downy! 

Sometimes all a girl needs is a best friend...

Not much to say except this is the scene I walk into, pretty much daily.  Either they're napping together snoring away together or she's watching TV and "protecting" him while he sleeps (no seriously I walked over to them in the picture on the right and she was none too happy I was disturbing her).   These two have a very serious love affair.  And I know that I say this alot in my blogs but once Kevin is really gone for the whole season I dont know what she's going to do with herself.  She snuggles with me and other people but its not quite the same. Haha what are you gonna do, they're besties!

I'm a big kid now!

Well this one is well over due about 2 months or so ago Dolce started spending her alone time during the days out side her crate and in the kitchen!  The vet told us when she went one month without and accident that we should think about giving her more freedom.  So its pretty much been good. The first time out she had a small accident but never again.  I think for the most part she likes it.  She can look out the windows shes got her food and water dishes there and there's definitely more room for activities.  Its been pretty uneventful until about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I was swamped at work so I didn't get a chance to come home and play with her and take her out at lunch. I wasn't really worried I knew she could hold it.  Well when I got home I realized that wasn't the issue but the wall was.  Just at the corner of the wall in a tiny little spot on the molding she had started to nibble away.  Well I guess that's my punishment for not coming to see her!  We're in the process of experimenting with brain teaser toys and frozen peanut butter in her Kong to keep her busier during the day.  Ahhh the things we do for our babies!

"When the well is dry, we know the worth of water." - Benjamin Franklin

Took Dolce on a little evening stroll the other day and halfway through we stopped at a park to play and rest and have some water.  After playing for a bit we took out our water and our little collapsable dish.  While I was sitting in a grass having some water myself I noticed the air was lacking the tell tale lapping sound when water is consumed.  In fact it was awfully quiet in general, never a good sign with Dolce.  And low and behold, upon scanning the park, I found Miss Dolce running off to the other side ofthe playground towards a group of children, with her water dish in her mouth, water still in it!! And barely a drop spilled. I'm not really sure why she did this, what she was goingto do once playing with the children or how she managed to run across the park without spilling it all over the place (especially considering she cant manage to keep food in her mouth while eating at her dish) but nonetheless it was hilarious, adorable and pretty impressive!

Neighborhood Watch

Not much of a story goes with this post except that nightly, the view from our couch is the following...

There are literally a million other things she could be doing and about 50 toys laying around the house she could play with, not to mention the 4 humans in the house who would play with her.  And every single night without fail for about an hour she just perches herself on that couch staring out the window and watch the 'hood and barking at all the clearly offensive, threatening and completely oblivious people, animals and in animate objects the make their way down the street. Seemingly adorable, most definitely inevitably annoying and a complete facade. She is the least tough dog, with one of the loudest voices I have ever seen. All bark, no bite, totally cute!

Look mommy, I did it all by myself!

So for all of you in the Boston area, I have a pet owners trade secret that I recently discovered.  It is a large discount pet warehouse, PetEdge.  They primarily take orders online or over the phone, but they have a warehouse right here in Billerica so you don't have to pay for shipping!  I have found that I can either run over to the store and they have what I need right there, or I can call them up and place an order for pickup at the warehouse thereby avoiding shipping fees!  And pretty much everything is super cheap!  Case and point the Gold's Gym toy she has in the picture cost me a whopping $1.50...and the green Polo Shirt she has on in my other post, Absence and death are the same, was $3.00!! But I digress...

So I have been taking her there with me and picking up little things here and there as she needs them, but this picture was from the first time that we went together and I actually brought her in to the store.  Not only was she pumped to see all the other dogs but she was literally like a kid in a candy store.  She was all over the place sniffing things and attempting to steal toys.  I could just envision myself, "I swear officer it wasn't me, my dog did it!" Well when we went in this time she was very persistent about hanging out in the stuffed toy aisle.  After about 5 minutes of tugging me back to them I just surrendered and let her check them out.  She immediately started picking up toys and putting them in her mouth and after a second or two dropped them back on the shelf.  After a few passes at this she keyed in on that Gold's Gym toy, don't ask why, I have no idea what is so interesting about it.  Normally I wouldn't have an issue with this except that this toy happened to be hanging on a hook about 3 feet off the ground.  Upon realizing that I was unaware of her desire to have this toy she proceeded to jump up on the display shelving and reach for the toy herself.  This is typically something I would giggle at, except that pretty much everyone in the store turned to look and see what had mad such a loud thud down in aisle 5 and I got the much dreaded, "You're child is out of control, they shouldn't be in this store much less the zoo!" look. Naturally I shamefully grabbed Dolce off the shelf put her on the ground and said "No!"  It wasn't two seconds later that I turned around to walk away and she was back up on that damn shelf grabbing for that toy again! At this point I figured better to accept defeat and just give in to her wants so we could hightail it out of there rather then to fight with her over it, because I assure you she is persistent and we'd have gone back and forth like that all day. Well she could not have been happier or more proud of herself.  She was such a little ham running around the store with that thing in her mouth showing it off to everyone in line for checkout. And when we got in the car to head home she insisted it be right by her side while she chewed away on her new treat, as I buckled in she looked at me with a big doggy smile looking so happy and proud and I swear to God if she could have at that moment she'd have said "Look mommy, I did it all by myself!"