@ the Grand Canyon June 29, 2007

We spent a day at the Grand Canyon on our way back from California, mostly on the South Rim. It was getting hot when we started our walk. Amy, within the first five minutes, when we were walking on the trail,got scared of a little boy and his mom, who were carrying an umbrella (not sure if this was what scared her!), gave a little yelp / bark and managed to pull herself out of the collar! I am sure the boy got a little scared too and we were quite perplexed about what caused her to panic suddenly. She calmed down within a minute and was happy trotting along and posing for pictures.

The best thing about taking Amy out was, she was so friendly to everyone (except the boy, of course) and was O.K with people petting her. She even sat down for a little kid, about 2 years old, who even pulled on her ears and she was fine with it. She has been around kids and is usually great with them, but I wasn’t sure if she could stand someone pulling her ears. As always, we are so proud of her

Amy got tagged & the 10k fundraiser… June 27, 2007

Amy is tagged by two of our friends – Gomer and opie, of Dogs Aye View and Johann of Johann The Dog! But before we write 7 random facts about Amy, we want to Congratulate Dogs Aye View, for crossing the 10,000th visitor mark and for all the good things that dogmom is doing. To participate in the first annual 10k fundriser, please click – Dogs’ Aye View. Here is how it works:

• For every visitor* to the blog over the next 10 days (from Tuesday, June 26 till Friday, July 6), dogmom is going to donate 10 cents to Friends For Life Animal Sanctuary, where she adopted us!

• But wait, there’s more! She’s going to donate another 10 cents for everybody that posts a comment to our blog … about anything … to Southwest Metro Animal Rescue, located in Chaska where we live, since they have the same no-kill philosophy about domesticated animals.

• But wait, there’s more! If you tell us in your comment that you also clicked the purple button (upper left side of our blog, under our picture… or this link) The Animal Rescue Site on our blog to help feed shelter animals … then she’s going to donate another 10 cents to EACH of these fine organizations — Friends For Life, SWMAR and The Animal Rescue Site.

• And, if you post a blurb and a link on YOUR blog that tells everybody and links back to us — then she’s going to donate a whole dollar (!) to the animal rescue group of your choice if you email her their information at dogsayeview@aol.com.

Now, here are our 7 random facts:

1. Amy has been to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California! She wants to hit at least one more within this year, to round off her count to an even 1o.
2. We actually ended up buying a house, so we can have a dog – and Amy moved in with us, the day we started living in our new house.
3. As I grew up with dogs, Amy is my 7th pet dog.
4. Amy loves to sit with some peanut butter in her kong, and can spend hours licking it
5. Amy has had the chance to swim in the Ocean, a lake and two streams!
6. Amy has actually been trying to catch flies recently.
7. Amy is scared of Nikko and Pepper.

We are tagging Ypsi, the dogs of Jackman Ave, Fido and Baxter, Kenya, Ridge and Elsie to write 7 random facts about themselves and tag 7 others!

So What? June 24, 2007

Amy says: So what, if I am stuck in the backseat of the car for a while? I can still have all the fun I want, with my new Ratty toy!

After her sumptuous breakfast @ Williams, Amy started playing with her toy, as we entered Grand Canyon and went on with it for a while and wanted me to join the fun too!

P.S. As of Thursday, Ratty is missing one leg and doesn’t squeak.

Spoiled! June 23, 2007

When we are on the road, Amy usually gets pampered a lot! We feel bad about subjecting her to the confines of the car, though she loves it. yesterday, once she saw me take a shower and get ready, she ran to the car and sat by it, not wanting to come in, but to go for a ride and whined a little!

So, when we travel, she gets to eat human food, usually as an additive to her regular pet food, to encourage her to eat. She sometimes refuses to eat in strange places or around people. In Williams, Arizona (Day – 2), when we wanted to get breakfast, we found this place two buildings down from our hotel, that served food outside. And, they were o.k. with us taking Amy. I usually get a side of scrambled egg to go, to mix with her food, but today she got spoiled!

They served her too – with cold water and scrambled eggs, on human plates. She had Shankar’s toast and my pancake to compliment the eggs. She finished everything before we could take pictures.

The only thing missing were the napkins Amy was sooo happy that she got to eat with us, and just her treats. She did all her tricks for the staff and the other patrons. And we never get tired of people praising her for being such a good girl

On the Road – Day 1 June 22, 2007

We all made it back home a couple of days back and have been catching up on sleep. I have been spending a lot of time with Nikko (who btw, is sitting on my shoulder as I type) and Pepper, who were really delighted to see us back. In fact, they woke up at 3 am to greet us! Now we are back to writing and catching up with our pet friends.

Last week, after a wonderful four days with Sephora and family, we decided to spend another evening with them and left early morning on Friday to LA, where Shankar was waiting for us. Since the four and half hour drive, combined with a late night and crazy traffic, Amy and I went for a short nap at the motel.

Little did I know that after this, Amy decided that the best way to spend the day is to take more naps!

When we neared the desert, she had to lose window privileges so as not to get super hot.

We made a quick water stop by the Mojave Desert National Preserve and then drove on to Williams, Arizona for the night.

We are going Home! June 13, 2007

Things have recently changed for me at California and Amy and I are going to hit the road tomorrow, on a long drive back to Wisconsin. Shankar is also going to join us from LA, to help with the drive. We are really excited to be together again. However, we would miss all our friends here in CA. Especially Amy is going to miss Sephora a lot! Hence we have been spending the last few days with Sephora, her parents and the three cats. More soon on our trip to CA and back.

Being away from Amy June 8, 2007

Last year, during Thanksgiving we had to board Amy for the first time. It was just for the weekend. Well, in a small town like Owen, WI having a place around to board pet animals is a big deal. The place in nice, but small and the owner and her daughters were really nice. However, she was not happy to be separated from us and went without eating for more than a day. When I went to pick her up, she was tired and not too happy to have been left at the kennel. She also had an appointment for her spaying on that Monday. We had to wait for two months to get a date in Owen – unbelievable, but true! At least we did not have to wait to get her shots. They had her in a kennel similar to the one she was in the shelter at the Vet after the surgery and the moment she heard me walk in the door, she started whining and did not have the patience to hang around in that place, till I took care of the bills.

We boarded her again in the same place during the Christmas break, and this time she knew we would come back to get her and did not fuss about eating. After I moved to California, I had to vacate my room after some issues and had to board Amy for a week, before we could move into another place. I visited her everyday, both before going to work and after. She couldn’t understand why I was leaving her there and wanted to get back in the car with me. For once, I wished so much that she could understand everything I tell her. It was a rough time for both Amy and I, and we hope to never go through it again. We made up by going to the beach twice that weekend

When I went to Kansas last month, I was looking for a boarding place with a larger play area, but our friends C&R offered to take care of my little girl and she was so happy, to be able to stay and play with Sephora all week long! Sephora’s dad is Amy’s Vet here and I know even if she got in to any trouble, she is in good hands. Now we (the parents) are in Albuquerque for a few days and Amy is again staying with Sephora. What more can we all ask, when she is with her best friend, playing in a large yard and being well taken care of by her Vet?