Taking a Snooze

OK, some of the cats could care less about Gypsy's "Gel Memory Foam" beds. Chloe isn't shy about sacking out just about anywhere. Here she is, "The Queen Mother" laying on her back taking a nap. There is some back ground noise but if you listen you might be able to pick up her snoring.

Bed Time

Gypsy isn't spoiled. She only has three beds.
They're "Gel Memory Foam" too!!!
Yes they are, only the best.
Her beds are strategically placed throughout the house. One in the family room, one in the bedroom, and one in the office. So where ever we are she has a comfy place to lay her bones. From an early age she has understood the "Go to Bed" command. She usually will hit the rack in an instant but sometimes she just stares back with a puzzled look.
This can only mean one thing.

The cats are staging a "not so hostile" take over of her beds. Here is Stormi (former pet of the year) claiming the office bed.

Here is Virgil relaxing in the family room bed.

Gypsy is very patient with the cats and will just go lay on the floor and wait her turn.
Those cats sure do sleep a bunch!!!
Yes they do.

Ram Update

 It has been a while since I talked about Rim. He is the beautiful, sweet boy that we bought into our home thinking it would be a good thing for Gypsy. We did some research and visited many different breeders. We found a great breeder www.crossbrookpoodles.com and we had two beautiful poodles. You can go back and read all my posts about Rim back during this time but I just can not tell you what a great dog he was. Still is. We wanted a sweet, laid back dog that we could possibly turn into a therapy dog. Rim was all that and more. Gypsy on the other hand, didn't share our affection for Rim. She just did not like having another dog around to share her humans with. As Rim got older Gypsy's anxiety increased. Sandi and I had many conversations trying to figure out what to do. Gypsy was basically in a state of depression.  Sandi discussed our predicament with her cousin in Chapel Hill. She had an older Standard Poodle and was more than willing to bring Rim into her family. So, Rim went to Chapel Hill where he became Ram. Ram has now completed all his therapy dog studies and is very active in the Chapel Hill community. Ram going to Chapel Hill, in my opinion, was a meant to be thing. Gypsy returned to her quirky self almost immediately upon Ram's departure.

Ram at the groomer with some of his friends. 

The good news is that we have visitation rights and get to have a Ram fix from time to time. 

Bully Stick

Gypsy has never been much of a chewer. Even as a puppy she was never interested in chew toys. We bought her Kongs and all the things other toys puppies go nuts over. I never gave her the raw hide chews. I think they would upset her stomach. I was at the Tractor Supply store the other day and picked up a Bully Stick for her. She has been wearing it out. Yesterday she was outside by herself, laying in the middle of the backyard chewing away. This is something she never does. If she is outside by herself she is usually on the deck, peering into the back door. I haven't done any research on these things. I hope they aren't toxic or anything like that for her.

Dog Park

 Sunday morning we took Gypsy down to the Town of Oxford dog park. The park is a converted base ball field. We had the place to ourselves. Not another dog in site.

 I don't think Gyp minded being the only dog.

She ran and tried to engage Sandi in a game of tag. Gypsy was worn out after just a few minutes.

Sun Spot

Sushi (aka Junior) is learning where all the best sun spots are for his morning nap. The top level of the perch is prime real estate.

Whats That???

Gypsy spent about an hour checking out a bird nest in one of the pine trees yesterday evening. She rules the backyard and not much gets by her. She keeps track of things. On the search for bunnies, and keeping our air space free from the big black birds. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the nest.

Spring Time

This was the first really nice, spring weekend and Gypsy was excited for Poodle time in the yard. You can see she was ready to go.

After she calmed down, we pick out a Spring time collar from her vast collar collection.
Pink with flowers? I'm gonna pull your "Man Card"
I know but it looks good on you.

Inside the house the cats are also happy to see the warm weather. The new little boy, Sushi quickly figured out where the sun spots are. This is a prime spot on a perch first thing in the morning. He couldn't keep his eyes open.

Pretty Poodle

This past week was "beauty parlor" week for Gypsy. Yep, it was time to get her groomed. She has gone to the same groomer since she was a pup and I think she does a great job on Gyp. She always cuts her to our specification and is tuned in to our quirky little girl. Gypsy is always really excited when we first get there. Once we walk in the shop though, she realizes where we are and she acts like I'm putting her on death row.

We let her hair grow a bit long in the winter. When it is long she almost looks normal. With the "puppy" cut she just got you can clearly see how thin she is. Just under 39 lbs. She is healthy and has actually been eating good recently. She just is a thin dog. This is about as short as we ever cut her. When she is this long she looks like a refugee.

I think she looks great. The good news is, when we got home it was nice enough to sit outside and keep an eye on the bird feeders.

 We had a visit from the Cardinals. We have a pair that have been hanging out all winter long. I'm not sure if they will stick around this summer.

Chloe was outside too but was way napping. She could care less about the birds.

Changing of the Guard

So, if you've followed Gypsy for any length of time, you probably know that she is fond of her toy Dino. Dino is really the only toy she has ever shown interest in. A few years ago I went to purchase a new Dino for her and was shocked to see they weren't in production anymore. The new model was just like the old except without the tail. She could care less about the so called "new improved" Dino. So, Sandi and I did some searching on the computer.
When it doubt Google it!!!
That's right. And we found a source and picked a few up.  A stash of Dino's.
Replacing Dino this time of year is a sure sign that Spring is here. The blue Dino above has had a great life. The new red Dino is looking pretty good.

We put them both out for Gypsy to decide if it was time to go with a new Dino. She never paused, grabbing the new toy. She was really excited with her new treasure.

It didn't take long for Gyp to break in the new Dino.

Fun times...

More Moose

My big red boy, Moose has been hanging out with us much more recently. He usually keeps by himself, upstairs trying to avoid Chloe. She has a thing about Moose and will chase him. It usually isn't much of a big deal. Moose is much faster than she is.

Yesterday I was in the kitchen with Moose and he peeked around a corner and proceeds to calmly jump up on the fridge. Just then Chloe comes stomping around the corner looking for him. She is too fat and gravity challenged to get on top of the fridge. Moose just hangs out up there for a few minutes until Chloe retreats to the food bowl.

It is great to see Moose downstairs, playing with the other cats. (Minus Chloe) It's like he discovered the "Fountain of Youth" Actually he has, here he is having a drink.

Traveling

I was out of town last week for a few days on business. Work always gets in the way. It's kind of strange, sitting in the hotel room and not having a poodle by my feet.
Hey, they have pet friendly hotels!!!
Yes pet friendly hotels do exist. We stayed in a pet friendly B&B one time and it was very yucky.

The good part of going away is....coming home. Gypsy was glad to see me. A few sprints around the yard proved that. She can still move. Maybe not quite as fast as she was but still very quick.

She still tries to get us to play tag. She and Sandi have had some epic battles of tag in the back yard. Each trying to out wit the other by hiding behind trees. For years Sandi wasn't able to get a hand on Gyp. I think now, she might be able to.

After a few laps she usually goes back to Dino, her favorite toy to relax. Hopefully this weekend will bring some nice weather and we can begin getting the back yard into shape.