Greta loves her pool and OURS!

We are now into our summertime here in upstate New York. And it is HOT! 90+ degrees. We love it but Miss Greta isn’t really a summer dog. She does play outside, and will continue to as long as we are playing with her. But we always have a “kiddie pool” filled with fresh water. When she gets hot, she goes to her pool and takes a dip.
We also have a pool for us, the humans. 🙂 And Miss Greta found a way to use our pool to play. When we are in the pool, she jumps up on the side of the pool and drops her ball in it. So then “we” have to fetch the ball and throw it out for her to catch. This can go on forever! But she will also take a dip in her own pool. Here are some pictures of her:

Well there she is! She is so funny!!!! And yes she is still is not very social when people come to visit. With Miss Greta, it is all about HER! And she is relentless when she has her ball. On July 4th, we had about 25 people over. We had to keep her inside. If we didn’t, she would be herding the kids and dropping her slimy ball all over everyone!

On hot days like this, she goes outside to play. But she also loves coming into an air conditioned house where she just sprawls out and rests.

We still feed her Eagle Pack. She is in excellent shape! Our little Chihuahua, Ren, is still with us. Mostly blind, a little stiff and can barely see. But believe it or not, he does very well. He gets a burst of energy at least once a day. I throw a little toy for him that he fetches. That lasts for about 2 to 3 throws. Then he’s done. Ren does sleep most of the time, but still eats (Eagle Pack for seniors), plays and “smiles”. He is 16 years old!

Well until the next time, be a responsible pet owner. Make sure they have plenty of fresh water when it is hot. Don’t over work or over play them in the heat. And give them ample time between feeding and playing. Strenuous playing or working should not be done right after eating. Give them about 1/2 hour.

HAPPY SUMMER!

November 2009 – “Happy Thanksgiving”

Well here we are again in upstate NY, waiting for our first snow flakes to arrive. Not that we are in a hurry! But it is that time of the year for us. Actually, it has been pretty mild. In the 50’s and sometimes in the 60’s. That is warm for us in November. Thanksgiving is next week, and we’d like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. It isn’t quite Thanksgiving yet and I have started my Christmas Shopping. The sales are great and there is no snow on the ground. Not to mention that our family is very large, so there are many to buy for. Christmas is, by far, my most favorite time of the year! I feel like I’m a kid again. (and that was decades ago)

Well on to Miss Greta. She is still a sweetie. And I have some pictures that I took tonight to show you. This first one is Miss Greta laying on the rug by our bed:

This next picture of Miss Greta, is her ON the bed:

And lastly is a picture of Ren, our 14 year old chihuahua, who is almost all white/grey now from old age:

Mr. Ren is thankfully still with us. He can hardly hear and can’t walk too well on his left back leg. He sleeps most of the time, but gets spurts of energy once in a while. They only last about 5 minutes. Mr. Ren is still smiling and seems to be adapting to his old age. We still keep him and Miss Greta apart.

We feed Mr. Ren Eagle Pak for senior dogs. And we don’t feed him anywhere near what we use to. We find that if he eats too much, he gets sick. Miss Greta on the other hand, still gets her Eagle Pak twice a day. In the morning it is mixed with a scrambled egg. In the evening it is mixed with cooked ground hamburg and cut up cheese.

Miss Greta is still VERY active. She still loves being outside. She’s been out quite a bit these last few weeks, as we were outside raking leaves. Miss Greta still lacks the social graces when visitors come to the house. Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve, she will have to stay in her crate. We will be having family over for dinner and presents, which will be about 20-25 people. And we always have Santa pop in unexpectedly for the little ones. Can you imagine what Miss Greta would do if she saw SANTA! 🙂

Well, until next time, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And if I’m not back before December 25th, have a happy and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

August 2009 In Upstate NY

Well here we are in Upstate NY in August. One would think that it should be hot here, but that is not the case. It has rained practically all summer long.  Which is very discouraging to all of us since we wait all year to have our cookouts, our gardens and summer clothes.

Our tomato plants rotted out. Including some of our flowers. Today it is cloudy and only in the 70’s, with a high humidity and thunder storms are forecast for later today. Of course!

Miss. Greta is doing just fine. I’m sure she appreciates the cooler days as she does not do well in the heat. She still uses her pool when she is outside. And she still is on the Eagle Pack diet. Miss Greta continues with her bad behavior when people come to visit. We put her in her crate until our company is settled, then let her out. She get crazy for about 2 minutes then she settles down.

Ticks have not been a major problem for us so far this year. We have pulled out about 4 so far. We have bird feeders and Miss Greta love chasing them. She also loves chasing the squirrels and chipmunks. Speaking of chipmunks, we have many. There are holes everywhere. So we invested in a cage to catch them in. When we catch them, we drive them about a mile from our house and release them in the woods. We have caught 2 so far and are working on the third.

I took a video of Miss Greta today on my new Flip Video Camcorder. I love it. It is no bigger than my cell phone and I highly recommend it to everyone. So with that said, here is her new video:

Hope you enjoyed Miss Greta’s little video. Next time I will take a little video of Ren, our chihuahua. Yes he is still with us. He will be 14 years old. Considering his age, he is doing pretty well. He sleeps quite a bit and is a bit deaf. But all and all, he’s doing fine.

Well, until next time, enjoy the rest of your summer and be a responsible pet owner.:)

Miss Greta and her pool

Well here we are in upstate NY, it’s the beginning of June and waiting for summer. It’s coming, but so slowly. It is in the mid 70’s today and we all think it is “hot”.  It takes us some time to adjust to the weather here.

But we were outside today and of course Miss Greta was with us. So I thought I would take a very short video of her in her pool. (with her ball of course). So here she is:

This will be a short post. It is so nice outside that I don’t want to spend the day inside. So until next time, enjoy everyday to the fullest and be a responsible pet owner!!!

Miss Greta May 2009

Sorry I haven’t been updating Greta’s blog, but things have been hectic here. But Miss Greta is back. It is spring time in upstate NY. We experience a few sunny warm days mixed with freeze warnings at night.

So today was in the upper 60’s and sunny. As I have mentioned before, Miss Greta does better in the cool to cold weather than she does in the warm. And today appeared to be a bit too warm for her. So with that said, I will stop posting and just show you pictures of Miss Greta, taken today. My husband and myself were working out in the yard and of course Miss Greta joined us. So here she is…..

 

…..And here is Miss Greta looking at her ball on the ‘other’ side of her invisible fence. It is a God sent. She will NOT cross it.

 

I hoped you enjoyed her pictures. Miss Greta is 2 1/2 years old now and is just a big puppy. Although she is a small shepherd. She only weighs about 70 lbs, if that. But she is in very good shape.

Well, until next time, be a responsible animal owner!

January In Upstate NY With Miss. Greta

Here we are in upstate NY getting ready for another major snow storm. They’re calling for a foot of snow starting tonight. I don’t mind the snow, but I hate the ice. Miss Greta loves the snow. She is much better in the winter than she is in the summer. But even though Miss Greta enjoys being outside in the winter, she also enjoys being inside. She loves looking out our front window. Here are some pictures I took of Miss Greta looking out our front window:

Isn’t she just a cutie? 🙂 Miss Greta will enjoy the snow storm that we will get tonight, since she likes to go outside while my husband snowblows the driveway. She jumps up and tries to catch the snow that comes out of the shoot with her mouth.

We are still giving her the Shed-X with her food to reduce the shedding. It did appear to work in the beginning, but it seems that I am finding dog hair more and more every day. I guess it can only do so much. But her coat is still nice and shinny.

We are expecting family from out of state this weekend. They won’t be staying with us, but they will be here for my mom’s 84th birthday. I will be at our house which means that Miss Greta will have to stay in her crate until everyone leaves. She is still just too wild when people are here. And there will be a total of 25 here, so Miss Greta would be really over the edge.

Well, I’m glad you came to visit our German Shepard Dog, Greta. Hope you come back to visit again!

Miss Greta is 2 years old!

Hi! And glad you came to visit Miss Greta!
First, here are some pictures of Miss Greta at 2 years old:

Ok, so there you have it. Our very own Miss Greta at 2 years old. Greta is her same old self, but has grown up some. Although she is still very much a puppy yet and thinks the world revolves around her, we have been getting her to listen a bit more. Well actually it is “I” that tries playing the more authoritive role. My husband is just a big mush. Greta thinks that my husband is her play toy and my husband doesn’t do too much to discourage that. So when the house is left to just Greta and myself, we practise commands that she responds to quite well.

I use to have a difficult time getting her back in the house in the morning before I went to work, but now I just clap my hands, say “good girl” and she comes right in. And no treat needed either. She will sit for me and lay down on command. But she will just do that with me.

The invisible fence is still a blessing. She knows her boundries and does not go over them or even near them to give her the correction. When we put her correction collar on, she gets very excited and she knows it is then time to go outside.

We still feed her Eagle Pack Dog food, mixed with ground beef or turkey twice a day with her daily dose of ShedX which keeps the shedding down and her coat shinny and beautiful.

She still loves her crate. We just bought her a new bed for her crate and she loves it. It is very thick and soft compared to the one she had before. She can scense when we get ready to go to bed at night as she will head right for her crate. Of course during the summer, with the humidity, we would have our a/c on to keep the house cool. But we would also have a fan in the room she sleeps in to keep her even cooler. (aren’t we just pathetic?) Only in America, huh?

We also give her the beef soup bones that we get from our butcher. She loves them and it occupies her for a long time.

She is still very protective of small children. When our grandchildren or our friend’s smaller children come over, she becomes very very protective of them. And of course she goes into her hearding mode and is at their feet constantly. But then again, that is her job.

Miss Greta is still overly friendly when people first arrive. Still embarassing of course. So we keep her outside or in her crate until everyone comes in and gets settled. Miss Greta seems to be able to handle that better. And so do our guests of course.

We still have Ren, our little Chiahuahua. He is still hanging in there. Mr. Ren can’t hear too well anymore and walks with a limp. His back leg is arthritic. And yes, we still keep the two of them apart by a gate. The do visit one another at the gate wagging their tails and smelling each other. But we don’t dare put the two of them together. Miss Greta would be way to much for the little guy.

We are in the most beautiful time of the year in upstate NY. It is fall and the leaves are magnificient. The smell in the air is crisp and clean while making way for the winter. Miss Greta does much better in the cooler weather. During the hot humid days of the summer, she would play for a bit outside and then actually go to the door letting us know she wanted inside. She would lay in her pool outside, but I guess it wasn’t quite enough. But now until next June, this will be her time.

So until the next time, be a responsible pet owner and love your animals and treat them with respect.

And with this being a presidential election year, get out there and vote! For the man you think will do the best job for you. Remember, WE employ them, so check out their resume very closely before you “hire” them for the next 4 long years. And then let’s say a prayer that we pulled the right lever!

Till next time………….

Greta’s first movie!!

Well here we are coming up upon the 4th of July. It’s been a while since I blogged Ms. Greta. So today I used my Cannon Power Shot camera and took a video of her. Please forgive my unprofessionalism as this is the first time I used this camera for a video. I usually use it just for still pictures. Believe me, this video is wonderful compared to the dozen previous ones I took. So again I apologize for this not being the best video, but I promise to practice and put more one this site. Hopefully better than this one. So here we go:

 Greta's First Movie!!

 
My husband was throwing Greta’s rubber bone so I asked him to throw it past the invisible fence line so I could show you how well it does work. Well, for Greta anyways. As you can see, she whined and paced (ran) back and forth but would not cross that line. That was part of the problem filming her. She would just turn on a dime and it was hard following her as she moved so fast. But all and all, I’m proud of myself! 🙂

We are getting our house and yard ready for the 4th of July. We always have a cookout with about 30 people. We will probably put Miss Greta in her crate until everyone is here. If she were loose, she would be jumping on each person as they arrived. Some people will come with little kids and babies so we can’t have her jumping. And of course you have the people who don’t really like dogs like we do. So we try to make it comfortable and enjoyable for everyone. 

Miss Greta is still doing great. We noticed that there were dead/burn spots on our lawn everywhere that Greta would urinate. So we now have her on LAWN GUARD TREATS for dogs from Foster & Smith. It neutralizes her urine and protects against lawn burn. We give her 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. We mix it in with her food. It took less than a week, and we do not have anymore lawn burn. We highly recommend it to anyone that has a problem with strong dog urine and lawn burn. It works!!

Well, I promise to take more videos of Miss Greta. And I will certainly work on my filming skills. Hopefully, I will update Greta’s blog sooner than I have been in the past. So have a safe and happy 4th of July and enjoy your pets!!!!

CORRECTION: Regarding “Frosty Paws” Ice Cream

My husband just informed me that he does purchase Frosty Paws at our local supermarket chain, Price Chopper.  So I stand corrected. Sorry folks!!

Miss Greta Loves Her Frosty Paws Ice Cream

Well it is that time of the year in upstate NY. SPRING/SUMMER TIME! We are getting are flowers planted and bbq’ing outside. And of course we stock up our freezer with some icecream. At the end of a hot day, and just before the sun goes down, my husband and I go outside on our patio and enjoy a cold refreshing icecream. And it can be just about any icecream. From cones, to banana splits to just plain icecream in a dish. When we are done with our icecream, we usually leave a bit for our dogs, (not if it is chocolate), and let them feast on it as well. And yes we let them lick it right from the bowl. If you are a dog lover, you won’t be saying or thinking “YUK” right now. 🙂
So since they love icecream so much, we now buy them “Frosty Paws” which is icecream specially made for dogs. And just in case you are wondering, yes I’ve tasted it. And for that I WILL say “YUK”!! It comes packaged just like Skippy Cups. And it looks like vanilla icecream, just not as white. It tastes like cold, moist dog biscuits. BUT THEY LOVE IT!
So hear are some pictures of Miss Greta eating her Frosty Paws “off of a spoon”. (and no “YUKS” please)

And here is Miss Greta after eating her icecream. She is all happy with herself now.

We buy the Frosty Paws at Checker Hill Farms on Freeman’s Bridge Road. Actually we get her Eagle Pack and everything else from there too. I believe that Frosty Paws are sold in places like Pet Smart as well. Believe it or not, Price Chopper use to sell them a couple of years ago. But we haven’t seen them in a long time there.
So now we know for sure that it is summer, even though the calender shows differently, cause the Frosty Paws are on the scene.