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.

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!