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.

first snow

Snow can be pretty confusing for a schnuppy.  We got up late this morning and we knew Zuzu had some things to take care of outside, but what happened to outside?

The ground was gone. And with it went the grass and the dirt and all of the smells of everything she has ever known.

 

 

She just didn't know what to make of it (or where to make) until she had sniffed the entire perimeter of the yard.  Ultimately of course, she figured it out - or maybe she just gave up.

Success!  Such a proud moment, and of course her magnificent intelligence was rewarded with a tasty chicken treat. 

4 hours later (so maybe we lost track of time) we realized our sweet genius probably needed to go back outside.  But Zuzu had already found the perfect spot - she had made a big pile of poo right next to the Christmas tree.  Pretty smart!

sweater weather

Snap!  It's cold here in Montclair.  I suppose it's to be expected - December 17th already, but we sure have been spoiled this fall.  Especially this baby doggie - she doesn't like the cold at all. Whatever the weather, she'd rather sleep on my lap than walk around the block, but now that it's 20° - this poor schnuggie won't leave the front porch.  She just runs right back into the house.  It's most definitely sweater weather.

I made this sweater for her when she was only 4 months old.  It was actually July - and a hot day to model a wool sweater in the blazing sun.  Bad Mommy!  But she was rewarded with a mozzarella stick...  at least not a mean Mommy.

And now that it's so cold, if she's wearing her sweater, she can stand to be outside just long enough to do her business.  That might even make me a good Mommy.

For you knitters out there this pattern is called 102-43 Knitted Dogcoat by Drops Design.   And it's FREE. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash.   I made the sweater a tad big, having no idea if it would fit this winter - but it does! 

Happy Halloween

 

 

 

temptation

Zuzu doesn't get upstairs very often - unless it's bedtime.  When she does we have to watch her pretty closely.  There are a lot of interesting things in Charlotte's room.  This basket for instance.

Admittedly, there's a lot of fun to be had with this basket.  It's filled with cute little doggies, monkeys and other undefinable stuffed friends.  Personally,  I'm partial to Pablo, the blue Backyardigan.   He's the enthusiastic, energetic one, always ready for adventure.    But Zuzu's never seen the show.

She's more interested in Madeline.  Could it be her beautiful red yarn hair?  Or her yellow felt hat?
Hard to say.

This is Caramba and Lalo.  About a week ago Charlotte woke up crying - which really only happens if she has a nightmare or a fever.  She was sobbing, in fact.  Caramba and Lalo are the two animals Charlotte sleeps with every night.  I knit Caramba for her about 2 years ago.  We made Lalo together this summer.  I'm a fairly able knitter, but I never did learn how to sew.  Lalo was a learning experience for both of us.  But he came out pretty well and it was nice that they had each other.   Not long ago, Charlotte and I talked about what we would save if we ever had a fire in our house.   Caramba and Lalo were at the top of the list.

We made the mistake (which, I think we can safely say will never happen again) of leaving Zuzu in bed with Charlotte when she went to sleep.  Doesn't look like Zuzu got much sleep.

 

Caramba (the kitty) looks pretty bad, but she shouldn't be too hard to fix.  Why the eyes?  Maybe Caramba was looking at her funny.  Lalo (the elephant) is actually the tough one to fix.  Zuzu worked on her ear for a while, it's pretty stretched out.  Hmmm.

For now, we have to keep a close watch on Zuzu when she's upstairs.  Like a kid, she loves toys.  But like a baby wolf, with big sharp teeth, she has a slightly different idea of how to play with them.