enough dog posts already!

Someone's not having a great day. And I don't even mean me, the guy who has to clean up after what's-her-muzzle.

Experience has told me that when Daisy is panting like mad, tongue hanging over the floor creating a puddle, I must run and grab some paper towel.

I did so today. It's nice to anticipate these things, as squeegeeing barf off the floor isn't an activity I relish. She obediently deposits onto the towel and we see what happens next.


What happened next was a very quick dash to the backyard. She was runny from both ends today, something her long fur isn't well-suited for. On her way back in afterward I scooped her up and gave her a haircut. Let me tell you, cutting poo off a dog is a whole lot quicker than giving a bath. The fur around her tail may look patchy, but at least she's clean in a jiffy!

So yeah, that's my fun for the day.

On Sunday Carrie wanted to go skating on the canal; I caved and we headed out in -25° breezy weather for some exercise. It's miserable work getting bundled, but once you get moving you start sweating soon enough.

It should be milder for a bit now. Some more snow would be nice...

new year, new... nothing!

We're all recovered from the holidays and life is nearly back to normal... especially now. Last Saturday Carrie's brother came over from BC to pick up a dog that Carrie's other brother ordered from a breeder in Ontario. Most of us had a great time, but Daisy would probably beg to differ. The newcomer, Pepper, was the scary reason why:


For the first two days our legless wonder was deathly afraid of the new pup, and she wouldn't tolerate being near it at all. Fortunately the guest couldn't jump onto the couch, so that's where Daisy safely hung out while the predator stalked the lowlands.


On day 3 Daisy's curiosity and playfulness got the better of her, and she proceeded to pick fights with Pepper. She didn't like Pepper's long paws reaching at her, but she countered this with her own length, using her bum to swipe at the pup and knock it off its feet.


Pepper was no pushover; she got the upper hand often enough.


We left the dogs at home a number of times, but with only one sizeable crate at our disposal, Pepper was crated while Daisy was kept gated in a single room (she's generally in her crate when we're out). This didn't work well the first time, as Daisy pushed over the gate and went to look for her new frenemy. The second time I propped up the gate better, but she simply proceeded to gnaw her way to freedom like a regular rodent. That pretty much got all her rights revoked for life and she will never have our trust again. Stupid dogs.


Sunday was relaxing as usual (if having 15 guests over for supper can be considered relaxing). Relaxing or not, it was fun, especially for those who got peed on while holding the pup.

On Monday we got out and enjoyed a very Ottawan activity: skating on the canal. It was very cold but the ice was decent, as were the beavertails afterwards (deep-fried slabs of sugar-coated goodness) that can be bought at various locations right on the canal ice. A short stretch of the canal wasn't open, but we got in at least 10km of skating.

Having seen our guests off, and having scrubbed all the floors today, everything is peaceful again.