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not another dog sweater

It's true. What's wrong with me?  Am I really the type of girl that likes to dress up animals in clothing?  Even when my sweet doggy runs from me the second I pull it out of the closet?  Even though she freezes in place for a good 5 minutes when she is put in her sweater?  Then walks like a zombie when she wears sweaters?  Um, yes - I am that type of girl.


I'm quite happy with the way this turned out - it definitely says "I'm a GIRL doggy" -which is fairly important because, for some reason, 90% of the world thinks she's a boy when she's naked. Can they not see what a glamorous girl she is?  I also finally remembered to leave a hole at the base of the collar for her leash to attach to her collar - which has eluded me on every other sweater I've made her so far.

I will say - that even though this is an incredibly quick knit - I managed to spend an entire weekend knitting, unknitting, and re-knitting - rearranging the color and thickness of each stripe until it felt right.  And when I say an entire weekend - it was an "I-will-not-get-out-of-bed-until-I-figure-this-out! I-don't-care-if-it's-4:00-and-you-haven't-eaten.  Make-yourselves-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwiches-for-heaven's-sake-kids!" kind of obsession.  I could have made 12 dog sweaters in the time I made this - if I had been more decisive.  But boy - once, they're done, stripes sure are fun - right Zuzu?

zuzu's got a booboo

Sweet ZUZU it's been a long time since we've updated this blog!  Hard to keep up with this schnoobadoob.  Zuzu's been pret-ty busy.  When she's not napping.  

You can probably guess one place she's been if you watch the first minute of this little video clip ...

Yup - that is Jon Stewart.  Yup - he was talking about Zuzu. Sometimes her daddy takes her to work.  Too bad he didn't bring her in that day.  She and Betty would have gotten along famously.  Zuzu did visit The Daily Show just a few days ago - because we just couldn't leave her home alone looking like this:

Last week she scratched and scratched and she made a bad booboo on her lip.

It got a little swollen and messy so we had to slip a cone over her head to keep her from tearing her little face apart. 

It worked.  But it was a little tough for her to eat and drink, and she she had a hard time getting cozy in her bed - although she always seems to find a way.  They have a much nicer option in Japan.

Doesn't that dog look happy?  Even with a giant blue puffed doughnut around it's neck?  The real question is - does this dog ever NOT look happy?  I'm not sure if that would have been quite enough of a deterrent for Zuzu, but it does make you think, why a horrible plastic cone?   Zuzu's all better now - and much happier taking naps without that darn cone on.

2!

This Friday Zuzu will be 2!  

In honor of her birthday Charlotte has designed a cake (for the human celebration).  As you can see, the back and front edges of the cake are shaped like dog bones.  Atop the cake is a glorious sculpture of Zuzu made out of foam and covered with fondant.  It's a technique she has learned from watching 50 episodes of Ace of Cakes - perhaps the greatest show on television.

And for the doggie's celebration - a layer cake of yogurt and peanut butter cake with sweet potato flavored icing. The bones on top are dog treats, chicken and cheese flavored - her fave.

Now all we have to do is make them!

why?

humans are just silly...

I'll admit that I do love to dress up my dog - in fact I've just knit her another sweater.  But people. Or should I say - Dog People!

All credit for the photos to the LA Times for their gorgeous coverage of the Westminster Dog Show.  Now that it's over I'm sure all of the contestants will be quite relieved to return to their little doggie lives.

big girl sweater

Poor schnuksie really doesn't like to be outside when it's cold.  She makes lots of very loud snorty sounds when I put her in a sweater, but the truth is, an extra layer really does make going outdoors much more tolerable.

Now she runs under the bushes to do her business....

And then she'll stay outside to find a nice loooooong stick,

 chew it for a whole minute,

run it up the stairs

 chew it to pieces.

and stare at the door until mama lets her in.

the great escape

Even though Zuzu is almost 2 - she's still not entirely to be trusted.  Is any dog?  OK, how about any FRENCH BULLDOG?

When we leave her in the morning, we STILL put Zuzu in her crate with her dog bed, a treat and a toy.  She doesn't seem to mind so much.  As soon as her peanut-butter-smeared-purple-treat-saucer is placed inside the crate, she plants herself next to it and stares at us while we frantically clean up breakfast dishes, pack lunches, hopefully all of the homework, and push kids out of the house.   She sits very still and focuses all of her energy on us making sure we don't forget to put her IN the crate WITH the treat.   But doesn't it seem like a nearly 2 year old dog should have more freedom in her own house?

Baby steps...or gates.  We put up baby gates in the kitchen so that she could at least roam the one room when we are not there.

But every time we come home - she's at the front door to greet us.    We've tried piling chairs in front and behind the gate and still - our little houdini manages to get free.  How does she do it?

Secret cameras reveal...

it's the old face-smush trick.

It works every time.