Groomed Poodle

Today was "beauty parlor" day for Gyp. Not one of her favorite things to do. With the hot weather here she needed a shorter cut. If we cut her much shorter than this she looks like a refugee. Skin and bones.

Fathers Day Weekend

It is Fathers Day weekend. The weather on the eastern shore could not be better. My better half is actually away this weekend visiting friends and having a big time leaving me on my own. Well on my own with the exception of Gypsy and the herd cats. This leaves me as the responsible adult in the house in charge of Cat Box Duty.
Hey, don't you mean Cat Box DOODY???
Yep, lots of that going on.

The weekends that Sandi is away usually turn into Poodle weekends. Gypsy and I walk more since there isn't much else to do. Today we met Oliver the pig on the walk. Oliver is huge!!!

Hey Oliver, step away from the buffet!!!

He is a happy pig I must say. His little tail is always going. 

Poke (Po-Key) is also growing at an alarming rate. Plus he has a thing about messing up the rugs throughout the house and pulling towels down off the rack.
So, I'm going to get my chores done and embark on a poodle weekend with Gypsy.

More Birthday Pics.

Relaxing at "home base"

Birthdays are very exhausting...

Poke

Meet Poke. Pronounced Po Key. Like the super yummy tuna dish. Sandi has always wanted a Siamese and so she now has one. Sandi has a friend that is a cat magnet. I swear if there is a stray cat within 100 miles she comes across it.  She found Poke wandering around a Walmart parking lot. Who would dump a tiny kitten off like that?

It didn't take long for him to fit in. He learned early on that the dog bed is for cats too. 

The other boys showed him how to take advantage of the sun spot in the morning. I have to admit he is a cute kitten with a great personality. 

Birthday Gal

 Wow, I've not blogged since the beginning of April. I guess that shows what exciting lives we lead on the Eastern Shore.
We were going out for coffee on this cloudy Sunday morning and Sandi remembered it was June 5th. Gypsy's Birthday!
She is 11 today and that is hard to believe.
Hey, never mention a girls age dude!!!
Sorry about that.
She still looks and acts like a puppy much of the time. She still has a big smile on her face. She gets very excited when she sees a bunny or any other little furry thing. (with the exception of cats) She continues to keep our air space free from big black birds. She still gets very excited when she sees us putting on walking shoes.

She is showing some signs of age though. She is getting more gray in the snout, ears, and top of her head.
Hey, look who's talking!!!
True, no room to talk. She still loves to walk but our walks are getting shorter and slower. She is spending much more time in her bed either sleeping or just hanging out.

I think today will be a "Poodle Day" dedicated to Gypsy on her 11th birthday. We'll hang out in the back yard, I picked up a new pork chew thing for her, and who knows maybe we can convince her Mom to take her shopping for a new collar?

Athletic Poodle

 This is the time of year when we can start taking Gypsy with us when we go sit outside and have lunch. Although is snowed yesterday...
The town we are in is a very popular destination for the major cities on the east coast and in the nice weather we usually have many visitors from out of town. More often than not we'll meet people that are not that familiar with Standard Poodles and they are surprised when I tell them how athletic Gypsy is.

 She loves to run. In any kind of weather. You can tell she loves the snow. We are fortunate that we live in an area surrounded with fields and we can let her off leash and let her go. She loves it.

 When she was younger she was an amazing jumper. I'd set up a jump I made and she would put on a show. She can't fly quite as high as she used to these days.

 When she is off leash, running she smiles.

She is getting a older

and showing signs of aging. Can't jump as high or run as fast. She even tires out more quickly on her walk. Even though she is slowing down, she enjoys every minute of play time.

One Dog

For those of you that read this blog (handful) you probably are wondering why I haven't mentioned Prim. I've debated saying anything at all not knowing what feedback I'd get from the militant dog people out there. Short story is we decided to return Prim to the breeder. We loved Prim with all our heart and it was a very difficult thing for us to do. Prim was about as rock solid puppy as you will ever find however, we felt she had an issue that we just could not get past. I'm not going to go into detail about this issue but we felt it was serious enough to take the action we took. Prim is now in a good home and I'm sure doing great.
Gypsy enjoyed playing with Prim but has reverted to being a single dog just fine.
At least I don't have to share Dino!!!

Sunday

Sunday was a bit cooler out than it was earlier in the week but we managed to have a Poodle Day in the backyard. Gypsy still plays like a puppy, although the gun shots we could hear from the gun club stressed her out some. If the wind is blowing in the right direction we can clearly hear the gun shots. Some hunting dog she is...
By the dinner time she was ready for a nap. She can't party like she used to.

Zoe on the Mend

Zoe gave us a scare with the mass on her bladder last week. She has been on the mend and acting just about normal again.
What is normal for a cat???
That is true Gyp, nothing normal about most cats. Sandi set up a little hospital bed for Zoe while she was not feeling very well and the other cats felt like she needed some company. When one of the cats is not 100% the others can sense something is going on.

Cat Sunday

The Red Boys are on the lookout for "No Bells" our neighbor.

Zo Zo Scare

Zoe gave us a scare this past week. Sandi noticed she was acting strange over last weekend. Zoe started going into the box often. Having multiple cats we are used to dealing with infections and things but this seemed different. Then Sandi noticed blood in Zo Zo's urine. Not a little bit of blood but a lot. Off to the vet they go and after an xray, we're told that she had a mass on her bladder. Sandi was really upset. We were to bring Zoe in the next morning and they were going to operate on her to check out what was going on with the mass. We assumed the worse and had a difficult night, thinking it was the last night we'd have with our Black kitten. Sandi didn't sleep a wink that night. When I left for work the next morning I thought it would be the last time I'd see Zoe. Sandi dropped Zoe off and was a wreck. Our vet's office had a visiting vet in house that morning that could do ultra sounds. Zoe wasn't scheduled for an ultra sound but they did one anyway and determined that she had a bad infection. We are treating her now and she seems to be on the mend.
Sandi didn't sleep much for a few days. Zoe is her special cat.

One Year Ago

This was one year ago, last March. We had a big snow and Gypsy loved playing in the field behind our house. This year we hit 80....
I grilled out for the first time this year.

Cat Sunday

Here is a picture of Zoe that has been touched up using the "super photo" app. Zoe is all about Sandi and could care less about anything else. The boys try to play with her from time to time but Zoe wants nothing to do with them.

Hanging On

Sandi decorated a little "Charlie Brown" tree this year for Christmas and decided to keep it up. It is hanging on despite the hurricane force winds that we've seen. I think it adds a festive air to the backyard.

Cat Sunday

It has been so overcast and dreary out that the cats are taking full advantage of a good sun spot.

Still Hunting

Gypsy has always had a thing about rabbits.
I hate bunnies!!!
I know you do gal. And we have an abundance of the furry critters in our neighborhood. They are everywhere. You'd think that they would know not to come into our yard but, more often than not, first thing in the morning we have a few out there grazing without a care in the world.
Make my day bunny rabbit!!!
Gypsy goes after them with gusto, and the bunnies scatter. They have escape routes through the wood fence or under our deck. Gypsy then will sniff everywhere they've been. With all the rain we've had over the last few weeks, she has been getting a bad case of the brown nose.
She has never caught one but has come close a few times. At first I thought I'd try to get her to cease and desist this behavior but, I think she has so much fun doing it what the hell, let her have fun.

Wrestle Mania

Here is a sample of what goes on in the backyard. We think that Gypsy enjoys the interaction with Prim. Most of the wrestling involves Dino, Gypsy's favorite toy. They both will sleep for a few hours after a bout.

Standard???

At first Prim looked more like a Springer Spaniel to me than a Standard. She is getting taller by the day and I think beginning to look very Poodle like. A beauty with a great personality.

2 Poodles

 Yesterday was a total Poodle day. For once it was dry and the temps were not too bad. We spent the entire day outside with the Poodles. They played all day long. Most of the play was centered around who had Dino.

Gypsy really seems to like Prim. Gyp will coax Prim into attacking by dropping Dino. After several rounds of doggie wrestling, they settled down and relaxed with us up on the deck. They were exhausted. 

After a good drink of water and nap, Gypsy got up for a break and Prim followed. Girls always go together.

Prim Update

This is week two with Prim in the mix here on the Eastern Shore. I was away at meetings for the week and so Sandi had to handle the entire crew solo. Gypsy, the Cats, and new pup. I thought either two things could happen, either upon my return Sandi would be stark mad or, things would be good. Very happy to report things went very well. Prim has been an easy puppy so far and Gypsy likes her company. The first few times we put her in the crate she protested loudly, very loudly. But then a switch went off and she easily goes in the crate. In fact most mornings I have to ask her to come out after I open the door. House breaking seems to be going well. I think she is going to be a quick learner.
She has noticed that Dino is Gypsy's favorite toy so, she is always trying to get Dino first.

Prim at Home

Let the games begin!!!

Cat Sunday

With Prim entering our house, that cats have been somewhat neglected. At least from me. Moose is always looking for a way to get more comfy. Yesterday I dumped a load of laundry on the bed and before I could fold it, Moose made a little nest in the warm pile of clothes. What a great way to get warmed up on a cold morning. I found something else to do until he was ready to move.

Poodle Palooza

This past weekend we loaded Gypsy in the car and headed for Charleston, West Va. to meet up with Linda and Prim. Linda breeds standard poodles (www.crossbrookpoodles.com) and Sandi has been waiting for a few years to get a puppy from her beautiful and sweet Violet. So, off we go and don't let anyone tell you that from the Eastern Shore to Charleston is not a long drive. Gypsy did enjoy the fresh mountain air.

I wasn't really sure what to expect of Charleston but went with an open mind. First thing, we had to find a dog friendly place to stay. We ended up at a Holiday Inn on the South side of town. A very industrial area with a beautiful view of the refinery. At least it was clean. I knew we were in trouble when we asked the guy behind the desk for a dinner recommendation and his response was, "we really don't have anything very good close by." Humm, that is customer focused. We did find a neat Bistro a few miles away on top of a mountain that was very cool.

Saturday came and it was time to meet Prim. Another couple from the Boston area arrived to pick up their pup. Talk about a long drive! A very nice couple and we discussed poodles, beaches, Charleston, and had a beer while waiting. Imagine finding my favorite beer from Cleveland while staying in W. Va. Linda arrived with three poodle pups and another of her own dogs. She had a car full. After the initial introductions, the puppies played in the courtyard. Gypsy was very patient with them and had some good interaction with the pups.  After a short visit Linda packed her dog and hubby up and headed back to St. Louis. The Boston couple packed up their pup and headed north. Sandi and I were left with Prim, Gypsy, and another puppy that we are dropping off in the DC area.  That night, since we had two puppies and Gypsy we decided to pick up something to have in the room. We ended up with Beef Jerky and frozen shrimp. Not sure how that happened but it seemed like a good idea at the time,
Is that West Virginia surf and turf???

Bright and early (it was still dark) the next morning we headed back home with Prim, and the other puppy in the back seat with Gypsy. We called the other puppy Red. Red was a bit of a whiner but all things considered it wasn't such a bad ride.
Those puppies smell and they kept touching me!!!

Gypsy and Prim were troopers the entire weekend.  It was a long weekend to say the least and both dogs were exhausted by the time we got home. Prim is fitting in nicely and Gypsy is adapting to having a little one roaming around.

Road Trip Time

 She has soulful eyes.

Her legs are getting long...not to mention the long tail. I'll check in after we meet her.

Road Trip For Prim!!!

Looks like the weather is going to cooperate for us this weekend. Gypsy, Sandi, and I are going to travel to Charleston, W. Va. to meet Linda with Crossbrook Standard Poodles and pick up Prim. We'll return with Prim and another pup that is going to be dropped off in the DC area. We're getting excited.
Speak for yourself!!!
Here she is getting checked out at the Vet. They grow so fast. I have a hard time remembering Gypsy when she was so tiny. Sandi is going to focus on Prim, taking her to work, walking, and generally being Prim's person. My focus is going to be on keeping my quirky old lady Gypsy happy. We will see how it works out.

Another Sun Spot

This picture makes me sleepy.

Snowy Sun Spot