out with the old...

This is Zuzu's chew toy of choice.   She's been chewing on it a little bit every day for about 6 weeks.  Yesterday when I was running errands I decided it must be time for a new one. Right?

That's much nicer, isn't it?  When deciding what size to buy, Nylabone suggests that if in doubt buy the bigger size.   After the Greenie incident - I wholeheartedly agree.  This one is chicken flavored.  Before I even took it out of the package she was ready.

Speaking of the package, there are guidelines (usually neglected, yet always informative) in which Nylabone advises:

No dog toy or chew is totally indestructible.  Frequently inspect any chew before giving it to your dog to make sure it's whole and intact, with no missing pieces.  Replace a Non-Edible Chew when knuckle ends are worn down, or if it becomes too small to chew safely. 

 I'd say it was time, wouldn't you?   I think Zuzu would agree.

Why do dogs love to chew? With a 10 minute internet search here's what I found:

1. Chewing helps relieve tension and stress. 

Not sure this is the case with Zuzu.  She doesn't really let stress get to her.  She's a pretty firm believer in relaxation followed by a long nap.

     2.  Puppies start chewing around the age of 3 months, when their permanent teeth start coming in and they chew in earnest until the age of six to ten months when most of the permanent teeth have come in.

I'll buy that.  Teething hurts.

     3.  Dogs chew because they are bored.

Really?  Zuzu will chew anything chew-worthy in front of her, but does she really chew out of boredom? My guess is that dogs chew initially as a means of exploration, but once they get going it feels so good, they do it until they get bored.  (p.s. How can you tell if your dog is bored?)

When I gave her the Nylabone,  Zuzu got right down to business.  She sat about 3 feet from me but kept swiveling away to protect her treasure.  If I got too close, she'd pick up and move away again.

We have been very lucky that for the most part;  Zuzu does not chew shoes, or furniture - although she still can't be trusted in Charlotte's room.  There are about 10 different chew toys strewn about the house, which seems absurd for one small doggie, but there are so many choices in the dog toy aisle. What to chew? What not to chew? Currently there is a debate going on considering the safety of some of the more natural chew toys, such as rawhide, pigs ears, cow hooves and other body parts. We were instructed upon adoption that under no circumstances should we ever offer Zuzu rawhide or pigs ears.  They may be a problem for all dogs, but for Frenchies, the excessive salivation produced could cause them to choke (fatally).

So, the rule of thumb seem to be: if you see the item falling apart in chunks or pieces, dispose of it immediately, and, ironically, chew toys made of natural materials are the most dangerous.

That means if Zuzu was ever living in the wild,  she could only hunt in a forest inhabited by brand new,  artificial animals with nylon bones.  And she could not chew on them for too long.

tribes

If you've read much of this blog, you may know I'm a knitter.  Sometimes people ask me what I knit.  Not sure there's a theme really.  If I see someone who needs a sweater, I'll make it.

If I find a pattern that inspires me,  I'll knit it.

And sometimes I just like to make stuff up.

But I do knit - a LOT.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the Squam Art Workshop in Sandwich, New Hampshire. Now that I think about it, I don't think I had a single sandwich.  But I did have one of the most exciting and inspiring 5 days of a lifetime.

It all began with a ride in the fabulous and talented Cal Patch's  dark green jeep.  We had never met which is so hard to believe now.  I guess I sort of hitchhiked on line and she picked me up.  Phew!

We left pretty early but we had so much to talk about that we missed several turns and didn't arrive until dinnertime.

I still can't believe that this was the view outside my window.

While there I took several classes where:

• I learned some excellent knitting tricks from the young knitting wizard,  Jared Flood.
• I learned the meaning of "upcycle"- the act of making something beautiful and memorable from treasured scraps languishing in our cupboards for far too long, from Charlotte Lyons. 
• Most importantly, I found the courage to try something new (which was really hard!).

Maya was the guardian angel sitting on my shoulder when I took the plunge.  Everyone in her orbit saw the halo.  I wish I could have put her in the maya*made bag I bought at the craft fair and taken her home with me.

I went to Squam completely alone.  I knew not a soul.  And yet once I was there, I felt I knew them all - from the women in my cottage to the teachers of my classes to the people I met at the dining hall or walking in the woods. Best of all was being surrounded by this tribe.   We all belong to several tribes.  The first, and most obvious is our family.  Beyond that we have geographic tribes defined by our neighborhoods, professional tribes at work,  political and religious tribes, and more. There is an automatic kinship with the other members - an understanding that creates a space to share ideas, knowledge, and stories.

Many of my tribes cross over.  But my craft tribe is somewhat unto itself.  I very rarely see them. Connecting to them made me see things about myself that I hadn't realized.  Spending time surrounded by them was profound - there were so many inspiring people making beautiful and brilliant work.  It was so hard to leave.  Is that how Zuzu feels when we take her to the dog park?

I was at breakfast one morning realizing I was very near to knitting the buttonhole of a sweater I was working on.  I never liked my own buttonholes, they're just never quite right.  I looked around the dining room and thought, of all of the places I have ever been this is the room where someone will know how to make a better buttonhole.  In fact, sitting right by the entrance 2 women were wearing beautiful cardigans.  Sweet Natalie, who collected our meal tickets. was wearing her brilliant blue tea leaves cardigan with 6 perfect buttonholes.

Next to Natalie, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was wearing a gorgeous green cardigan, which upon inspection,  I realized had no buttonholes.

It had taken a bit of daring for me to get up and wander over to strangers to ask for knitting advice, especially from Stephanie. There were quite a few knitting superstars at Squam - Stephanie (aka the Yarn Harlot) being one. One night she told us stories that had me laughing so hard I couldn't see my knitting through my laugh tears. When I asked them how they make buttonholes they replied in chorus "Yarn over, knit 2 together!".  So obvious!  I said that I usually make the one row buttonhole to which Stephanie responded, "Yes, that's a good one too, but you need to wrap the yarn when you make it, let me show you."  She pulled out the socks she was working on from her bag and demonstrated, on the sock (!), how to make the perfect one row buttonhole.  I stood there smiling and nodding while watching her knit, but frankly I was so mesmerized by watching her knit that I couldn't hear a word of what she was saying.  I have never seen anything like it. It was more like watching a spider weave a web than any knitting that I have ever seen - fast, furious, and impossibly perfect.  I still shudder with disbelief to recall it. I thanked her and when I turned around I thought, "yarn over, knit 2 together".

I knit at every event, many meals, and during all my free time at Squam - and it wasn't rude!  In fact, everyone was doing it.  My concentration wasn't the best, consequently I made a lot of mistakes, but I did manage to finish a striped baby sweater just before I had to leave and head back home.

Zuzu seemed relieved to have me home.  Her human tribe was once again complete.  We have never been separated for 5 days.  She followed me everywhere until finally I sat down.  She jumped up on my lap, snuggled in and went straight into a snorry slumber.

harness!

Every once in a while you've got to shake things up a bit. Zuzu goes for her big walk around the block every day at 11am - that's not going to change, don't worry Zuuz!  Today, as I pulled out her collar and her leash I remembered that I had picked up a little purple spotted harness for her a few months ago.  It's been sitting in the closet mostly because it seemed a bit tight over her sweaters.  Now that we're done with sweaters, I thought it might be fun to take it for a test walk.

She did quite a funny little jump when I tried to put it on her.  And of course it's not so easy to figure out HOW to put it on.  I hope the ring goes toward the rear (please correct me if I'm wrong!).  Once snapped in she seemed to forget all about it.

Zuzu is most definitely not in it to win any races.  She's very curious and she has a lot of sniffing to do on her walks.  It can take 15 minutes to get to the end of the block - and we live in the middle!  We let her take her time when we can, but there are times when we just have to move it along and we need to pull her to get going again.   One advantage of a harness, especially if you've got a challenged walker like we do, is that rather than pulling her every 2 ft by her sweet little neck, the pressure is distributed around her front legs. I'd certainly prefer to be pulled around by my shirt than a necklace.   Wouldn't you?

ancient enemy: blue ball

With the warm weather Zuzu has been spending a lot of time outside.  Although she has a fenced in yard, we humans have to keep an eye on her.  She's quite the explorer.  Ever since she was a puppy she has had her nose to the ground.  Because she's a bulldog (of short snout) her whole face is down there with it.

Like a little vacuum cleaner she will suck up all matter of sticks and clovers and fungii that she finds hidden in the grass - even the plants in the garden bed are fair game.  There are quite a number of ways she can get into trouble if left unattended.  So far so good for Zuzu, although some of the plants are a looking a bit ragtag about 10 inches from the ground.

A dead flower is just as enticing as a moth (or worm - ugh).  I hate to think what we've missed.   If she finds something that smells just wonderful (mmmm...like rotting flesh) she just lays down and rolls in it.

But the biggest excitement is Blue Ball  -  seemingly, the ancient enemy of Zuzu.

It's always the same.  First there's the barking...

then, the chasing... 

until she is able to trap it in a corner where she barks it into submission.

It can be a very dirty job.  But some dog has to do it.

So comforting really, to know that Zuzu is protecting us from the big blue evil.

anticipation

As a producer who works in advertising this made me smile.
As a dog lover I am enchanted...
As a girl who's been on a diet for 4 weeks,  I completely empathize with the single-minded focus of my hungry, furry friends. There are times during the day where I'd do just about anything for a piece of dog food.

little greenie monster

"It has been a whole week," Zuzu's Papa reminded me.  She's sitting right next to me as I write, happily chewing away on the old rope toy she just found hidden under our bed.  She sure loves to chew.

Last week, we traveled to Philadelphia to visit our extended family and friends for the holidays.  We stayed in a lovely hotel that took dogs, right in the middle of town.  The family got together,  celebrated, exchanged gifts, ate entirely too much food, and then went our separate ways.  Before heading home, Charlotte wanted to do a little sightseeing.  As cute as Zuzu is, dogs are not allowed inside the Betsy Ross House, and as cold as it was, her Papa couldn't stand still in the freezing cold waiting for us.  He happened to find a wonderful little pet supply store just around the corner - they even had a French Bulldog on their logo.  We had to buy the bag with the logo on it for Zuzu (or maybe it was for me).

And we couldn't just buy the bag.  We thought about booties to protect her sweet paws from the salty winter sidewalks, but they were a little too snug. Still,  how can you leave a precious little pet supply store with just one thing?  So Papa picked out a Greenie.

It was then my turn to stay with Zuzu while everyone else went on a tour of the Mint.  Zuzu and I got in the car,  I opened the package, and gave Zuzu this dark green half bone half toothbrush-shaped...thing.   Papa had said: "Oh she LOVES these things" - and he was right!  She got right down to business, chewing it like mad - you would think she hadn't eaten for weeks.  She was snorting and chomping away,  right on my lap, and suddenly I thought -what is this thing anyway?  Within 30 seconds all I could see was just the very end of the little green tip sticking out of her mouth. That's when it occurred to me that I didn't really know if a Greenie was food or a toy.  I reached in and pulled it out of her mouth - which was quite a struggle. She did NOT want to give it up. It was still all in one piece and she had worked the toothbrush end of it into a gooey, slimy, white mess.  I inspected the  package and saw that it was described as a treat. Ok, so it IS edible. 

I looked in her big black eyes, so desperate to have it back and I thought what the heck?  I gave it back to her.  It is food for heaven's sake.  And it's green.  Isn't anything that's green good for you?  Meanwhile, I continued to scan the label for any other warnings - when not 10 seconds later all chewing and snorting and swallowing suddenly stopped.

Silence.

We stared at each other and I realized it was gone. GONE.  She had swallowed it in one piece. 

I thought I saw a flicker of momentary regret flash across Zuzu's face before she  lay down on my lap to stare at the dashboard. How long was that thing?  5"?  How long is this dog?  12"?  Oh Zuzu.

I immediately googled Greenies® on my phone. Apart from links to Greenies.com - where you can apparently order them by the boatload -  on the very first page there was a link about Nutro - the pet company that distributes Greenies®.

Back in May Nutro pulled them from supermarkets due to several consumer complaints about people whose dogs had become ill or DIED from intestinal blockage due to their zealous consumption. S&M NuTec, the company that makes Greenies® , were involved in a class action law suit as a result.  I looked down at the sweetest dog I have ever known laying on my lap and I just couldn't believe it.  I called her vet back home and, after they put me on hold for what seemed an eternity, they assured me that Greenies® are edible and mostly (85%) digestible.  They said to watch out for vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy.   They told me to make sure that she passes it.  She should within 48 hours.

Although health information found over the internet is often dubious, I couldn't help myself.  I continued to search the links to the cases of the poor dogs who had died. One of the articles I found, "The Grievance with Greenies"  was published by Healing Springs Animal Hospital in Galax, Virginia in 2006. Mind you, they SELL Greenies® in their webstore so they are clearly biased toward the product.  Their aim was to provide "veterinarian approved information from a known and credible source on the matter."  Hmmm.  The newsletter stated that while they had seen many cases of choking and intestinal blockage, none had been caused by Greenies®.

"The claims against Greenies® require more investigation, but seem to have a basis in truth...Eating is dangerous.  Dogs can choke on any number of consumable products just as children can choke on hard candies"

It's true.  I almost choked to death myself at Ikea on a Swedish meatball.  My dear husband saved my life with the Heimlich maneuver.  My daughter nearly choked to death eating dinner at the kitchen table.  I saved her.  But Zuzu hadn't choked.  She swallowed it successfully.  I was more concerned that she wouldn't be able to digest it.

At the end of the article, Healing Springs advises:

"When you do treat your pets with Greenies®, watch them consume the treat.  You want them to chew it to nothing.  If they bite off chunks and swallow chunks, take it away from the dog and discontinue use of the treat.  Finally, learn to recognize the signs of intestinal blockage."

Oh dear.  How about if I watched her consume it whole???

A week later, I still have a hard time believing she has passed it all.  I never saw a green poo, although I did wish for one.  Papa saw one, but just one.  She has been acting her same old hungry/sleepy/playful self.  I still think about taking her in for x-rays, having now seen some pretty gruesome pictures of undigested Greenies® extracted from other dogs' intestines.

Thanks Internet.  I have been warned.  And poor Zuzu will never again taste another one of those rotten treats as long as she lives.

happy zu(zu) year!

Having the week off gave me the chance to go through all of our pictures from last year.  Since Zuzu arrived in our life last June, it is actually rare to find pictures of humans amongst all of the puppy pics.  And why is that?  Her Papa says it's because she's cuter than all 4 of us put together.  True.  She's definitely softer.  And sleepier.  And sweeter.  And fiercer. And snortier.  A bit gassier.  Sneakier...  and little sillier too.