Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie, Even if Squished

Sometimes a pile is a good thing on a chilly morning.   L&P shared a love bucket on a chair next to my desk and fell into a deep sleep.  Phoebe's fleece always manages to slide off her shoulders making her looked like she's a pink burrito. 

Fast friends. 

This morning, at least.

Lulu's Mystery Ear Ailment

 

You call this a meatball sub?  Got some spare thumbs?

Lulu's ears make up half her overall size if measured end to end.  Ok.  Almost half her size.  Lately they've been giving her problems.  She has had more ear gunk problems since last spring than any one puppy should.  We've treated it with the standard stuff, with antibiotics, with cleaning, with goop (an official word in the ear cleaning world) and by making sure Phoebe doesn't help and try to lick everything off.

She's visited the vet to the tune of a small college fund and we are still no closer to solving the mystery.  She is not flaking, scabbing or having other skin or hair issues anywhere else and she seems to be having relatively minor outdoor allergy issues this year.

It's a mystery.  And now her ears are peeling on the outside, on the back of the ear.  She seems to relish having it peeled.  Think sunburn and pesky skin (ok, somewhat gross).  Scared me the first time.  I thought it was gunk (another official term) that she had gotten into and wasn't I shocked to find I was peeling off her ear, skin and hair included.  The interesting part - if you are still with me here - is that she loved it.  Go figure.  If I look at her funny, she pouts or whines, but peel the skin, and hey, she rolls around in happiness.

You'd think she would have bald spots, but not.  The space where it peeled looks normal and has hair.  Almost like she had a double layer of ear back there? 

Today, she squealed an unhappy chorus when we rubbed her left ear so we investigated and it is scabbing and peeling on the inside.  No odor.  No dark gunk.  

Mystery.   I'll update when we talk to the vet/or visit the vet again.  Perhaps it is time for another donation to her kid's college fund?  But whatever.  It's for a good cause.

Meantime, Lulu is fat and happy, sleeping it off.  Tim thinks she has selective hearing these days.  I think her hearing is at issue with all this.  Let's hope we get the mystery solved.  Soon.

When Dogs Smile

There is something about a dog's sleeping smile that either means he/she is passing lots of gas or loves that you are scratching them while they slumber.  I've never been able to actually determine which, but I can tell you that it still warms the human soul.

Lulu rarely smiles, but when she does, her lips flop a little to the side and then roll up into a grin.  But Phoebe smiles a great deal and when she does her whole face goes with it.  Her muzzle is so wide that when her lips start to turn up, inevitably her teeth will show a little which makes her look all the more adorable.  Or scary, depending on your dog world experience.


This afternoon, while reading on the sofa, surrounded by both dogs who were snoring away, I absently reached over to scratch Phoebe's hip.  I glanced up from my iPhone book and was stunned to see the evolution of the smile as I was touching her.  She seemed to know, deep in that nap, that someone was caring for her and she rewarded them with a huge grin.  It remained there long after I removed my hand from her hip.  She stretched a little bit and moved more toward my leg and gave a great big sigh.


Love.  In that one little moment, the love of a dog for a human was made quite clear.  That made my day.

The Art of Never Quitting or Go! Dog! Go!

While Mr. Slater (of Jet Blue fame) was sliding down that chute to unemployment and jail, Lulu and Phoebe were busy doing the opposite.  They dramatically reenact what might be in store for Mr. Slater (r).  But in the meantime, they also demonstrate the rewards of pushing through when the going gets tough.
These cleverly designed puzzles are the mental equivalent of taking the dog on a five mile hike or playing Frisbee until everyone collapses and needs a beer. 

Like humans, learning for dogs is as individual as it comes.  Watching two different dogs work through the puzzle is exactly the same as watching two human siblings play poker.  One will always be a shark and the other will never be able to manage a poker face.

Lulu, while working that little tiny apricot sized brain, will delicately and deliberately work the puzzle until every last morsel is obtained and then she is sure we've hidden more.

Phoebe, with a head twice the size of Lulu, but a brain the size of a purple grape, will use the kill instinct to get through the puzzle; like a tiny gentle giant, she tries to slam the thing around to see what falls out.  Eventually she wins, but you can see that she has not one clue why.  Doesn't matter to her, because she will never ever give up.

You might say, in fact, that these guys are the anti-Slater-ites.  As a human who can find many excuses to quit, give up, or walk away, these two have been an oasis in why giving up is most times stupid.  The best rewards are often the very ones that seem unobtainable; in fact, the interminable unemployment is finally over.

My new motto; Go! Dog! Go! applies to more than just a dog with a silly hat.

Lucy does Twister

Phoebe kills Twister

Happy Birthday Lulu: The 3.1M Minute Photo Essay

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hello. my name is lulu and my human is embarrassing me again

 

 

 

 

two pound Lulu at 12 weeks meets the boy

at age 2, Lulu enjoying her Annie Leibovitz moment

 

paparazzi following Lulu ( age 3) to Eiffel 

 

 

 

 

 

hiding from the paparazzi deep in the 8th arrondissement

 

 

 

 

 

 

the princess uses her sister's head as a pillow

 

 

 

 

halloween fairy age 3 ("I will bite you, woman" was overheard)

 

 

 

 

midlife identity crisis at 4 

 

 

 

 

lulu's first electric vehicle age 5 cures midlife crisis

 

 

 

 

 

and lulu with phoebe does San Francisco

 

 

 

 

please explain humans to me again...

 

 

 

 

really?  I'm turning 6?  seriously? old....

Separated at Birth? Doppelganger Week on Facebook

The latest Facebook silliness is to post an avatar photo of the celebrity people most mistake as your doppelganger.  Lots of airbrushed very young celebrities have been popping up everywhere.  I am way too old to even guess at half the names. 
However, the whole thing got me thinking.  Who in our house has a doppelganger?  Certainly not me, although when I was young people assumed I was the Jolly Green Giant's cousin.   The Geek on occasion gets mistaken for Mark Harmon, but that's only if we are in Los Angeles (where tourists want his autograph).  The rest of the time, he gets mistaken (correctly) for a geek.  
But as luck would have it, there is one little member of our family who does have a doppelganger.  Phoebe is Sister Bertrille's long lost separated-at-birth twin.  No one said the species had to be the same.  
See for yourself.   Phoebe, just in case you might wonder, is not the first photo.   Wondering if Phoebe can fly?  Why, yes.  Yes, she can.  Stay tuned.
 

Plagiarism

self portrait, with teeth, no thumbs

Dear Diary,

I just wanted to let you know that we have our own byline and the human has been claiming credit for it. For quite some time, she has been submitting our articles and using our name and telling people she wrote the stuff.

I am here to set the record straight. She does not do any of the writing except the stuff that requires opposable thumbs, like this note. Lulu and I, well, really me. I think up this stuff and get it all formed in my head and then I write it all out.

I am taking online courses that teach you how to master the keyboard without thumbs, so in no time at all I will personally be submitting the work and the human will have to be satisfied with picking up poop.

Just wanted to set the record straight. Now. Can someone open the treat jar? Why do they make those things so you need thumbs!!!

Sincerely,

Phoebe