I was in Calgary a while ago and picked up an Alpaca area rug. I had it upstairs on the side of my bed but brought it down to the living room one day to show someone who came to visit. Well, as soon as the dogs saw the rug they absolutely loved it. As anyone with a Shih-Tzu knows, once the dogs attach themselves to an item, it becomes theirs. So my friend left and I went about my business and totally forgot about the rug. When I remembered, I went looking for it but the Alpaca rug mysteriously went from the living room to the boys' sleeping area in the family room. Oh yea...guess who was sleeping on it so I couldn't move it? (They're not as innocent as they look...)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Boys and their rugs
I was in Calgary a while ago and picked up an Alpaca area rug. I had it upstairs on the side of my bed but brought it down to the living room one day to show someone who came to visit. Well, as soon as the dogs saw the rug they absolutely loved it. As anyone with a Shih-Tzu knows, once the dogs attach themselves to an item, it becomes theirs. So my friend left and I went about my business and totally forgot about the rug. When I remembered, I went looking for it but the Alpaca rug mysteriously went from the living room to the boys' sleeping area in the family room. Oh yea...guess who was sleeping on it so I couldn't move it? (They're not as innocent as they look...)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Best Cleaner for your Carpets

Like most people, I've probably tried 75,000 different things on the carpet to get urine and marking stains out. It's been a trying journey with Rocki who, although he's a bit slow to learn, does understand that he has to go poop outside. However, he never quite grasped the concept that peeing is done outside as well. Although I've tried every which way to train him, it's been a losing battle. So I've come to accept that during the day, Rocki will go outside with his brother and at night, he'll just go wherever and I'll clean it up.
I've used this on the bottom of my light colored couch (which is microsuede) and on the carpet. (did I mention the carpet we have left is pale grey? Yellow is quite obvious on it....) This stuff works wonders. I pay about $5.99 for a large spray bottle...I guess it depends on where you buy it. You just spray it on the carpet or furniture and it will remove the odor and the stain.
If the stain is set in, I have had to do more than one treatment. But it does work. The only thing is that when you first spray it on, the urine (or whatever odor is present) gets really strong for a short period of time while the product breaks it down. After that, you don't smell anything. And the nice thing is that this product really doesn't have a smell itself, so you're not covering up the odor with some stupid flowery scent (you know the stuff...you spray it on and later you smell pee AND lilies).
Anyway, this is the website for the company and the product: Nature Clean. Try it...you will like it...and it works.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Selecting a Kennel

Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Boys Visit the Veterinarian
It's that time of year when the boys need their shots so we make a quick trip to the vet.Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Geese Return
It's that time of year where the leaves start to turn shades of amber, orange and red. It's that time of year when the Canada geese gather at our little lake to prepare for their long journey south. And, it's that time of year when Bruiser absolutely refuses to go outside for any reason.It's not that the dogs are afraid of the geese who parade through our back yard twice a day. It's not the incessant honking when the geese gather at night that spooks him. What frightens Bruiser are the "crackers" that go off at intervals throughout the day.
The "crackers" (as I call them) sound like a gunshot. The city has placed them around the lake because there are some individuals who live on the lake who don't like the geese. So, they complain to the city and the city puts in "crackers" to ostensibly scare the geese away. As far as I can see, the geese keep coming back. Some fly away when the "crackers" go off only to return shortly thereafter while others just sit there and ignore them completely. My Bruiser, who is also scared of firecrackers and thunder, will not go outside. At this time of year, he remains in a constant state of panic and will only go as far as sniffing the air when I open the door. If I physically place him outside to go pee, he panics and runs back to the door, madly scratching it if I do not open it fast enough.
So my issue is why do people live on a lake where, obviously, fowl of any kind will congregate at certain times of the year. It's like buying a place next to a cattle ranch and then complaining that the cows are mooing. The geese are here for three or four weeks. Surely people can deal with it! They swim in the pond and wander around. Yea, they poop, and sometimes it hits your vehicle if it's parked outside. So what...other birds poop too. Should we start getting rid of them as well?
So in the end, I am forced to line the doorway with paper all night and day so Bruiser can do his business. The poor little guy has figured out that if he eats and drinks sparingly, he won't have to do his business as often. So for about four weeks my sweet boy virtually abstains from food and water. I talked to our neighbor about it - they have a big black lab. They go through the same thing each year with their dog being petrified to go outside.
Maybe it's just me, but I think it's a sad day when we can't tolerate nature at her finest.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
City boys become country boys

After my mother-in-law passed away, we had to go out to the country to her home to help my husband's siblings pack up the house. The three hour drive was no joy given the circumstances. However, it is made even more onerous when the boys decide that, rather than use the entire back end of the SUV that contains their toys, bedding, water dish and other assorted treats, they MUST spend the entire ride on my lap. Both of them...together. Side by side. They switch positions every two minutes. About 10 minutes away from our destination, they decide that perhaps it's time to go in the back and curl up for a nap.
Even though the boys have oodles of acres to run through and explore, this apparently is not good enough. When things got just a wee bit too quiet in the yard, I decided to go investigating. I found my two "precious" boys digging a large hole where the hose to the sump pit is. I called for the two of them to come out. To my shock, Rocki listened immediately and took off while Bruiser started growling when he realized I was about to take him away from this most enjoyable activity. As I leaned in to physically drag Bruiser out, my husband had caught up with Rocki and was wrestling a dead bird from his mouth. From the tone of my husband's voice, I could tell it was not going to well for him. I let him deal with that. After all, I had a filthy little Shih-Tzu to clean up.Monday, June 29, 2009
The Boys Lose their Grandma

The boys know something is up. We're gone for long periods of time, and they've seen more of our family coming and going than ever before. People are always dropping in and staying the night. And then we're all gone again for hours.




