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!!

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!

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!!!!

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.

Springtime In Upstate NY With Miss. Greta & Ren

It is the middle of April in upstate NY. The days are reaching the mid 70’s and there is plenty of sunshine. The trees are starting to bud and the spring bulbs are peaking through the heated ground. Everyone is busy raking and getting flower and vegetable gardens ready for our “breath of freshair”. After being in our homes for almost 1/2 year it is truly like a re-birth.

So with that said, I will start my Greta update with her counterpart, Mr. Ren the Chihuahua! Here are some pictures of Ren while he has his short burst of energy:

Ren does get bursts of play time ‘maybe’ once a day. It lasts only for about 5 minutes…then he’s off to the water dish for a drink and back to sleep. He’s old now with a little arthritis in his back legs and a bit hard of hearing. But all in all…he’s a trooper. He weighs about 9lbs, which is actually larger than most chihuahuas. This particular breed has been mixed with a terrier blood line for disposition. Ren is very obedient and an all around good dog. ONLY PROBLEM…Ya just can’t potty train them. If we take him outside, he will do his duty. But if WE don’t take him out, he goes on the bathroom floor. So it is really US that is trained.

Due to their short hair, they don’t tolerate cold very well. So if you see people with a chihuahua with a sweater on and it’s cold out…the sweater is a must. They also burrough under blankets and even my clothes that I am wearing to get warm. Sometimes you will also notice them sleeping with their nose between their 2 front paws. That is so their warm breath is felt on their face. They obviously love the heat and it is very well tolerated during our summer months.

Now Miss. Greta on the other hand does excellent in the winter months. She tolerates the cold very well. The summer’s are killers for her. It is only springtime here and only in the mid 70’s and Greta is panting continuously. Today we had to take her pool out so she could cool down. Here are some pictures of her from today while we were outside ‘putting winter away and taking summer out’! 🙂

Miss. Greta just loves it outside. She has her favorite outside toys. Miss Greta is relentless when it comes to her toys. She is truly obsessive compulsive. We hardly get any work done outside. She is at us continuously to throw her toys so she can run after them. But when we notice her panting too hard, we just have to ignore her and stop playing with her. It doesn’t stop her from pestering us, but we do not interact with her.

We still love the invisable fence. It is truly a God sent. We put Greta’s collar on her everytime we go outside. It gives us a piece of mind. She knows the boundries and does NOT go but a few inches before she reaches them. We have had people with dogs walk by our home and she will sit there and bark but NEVER crosses that line.

Miss. Greta is really shedding pretty good right now. She isn’t actually blowing coat, but there is hair everywhere. We brush her just about every other day but the fur just keeps coming. And it’s not even really HOT here.

We still feed her Eagle Pack with cooked ground meat and eggs twice/day. She still sleeps in her crate at night and also if we are not home. Miss. Greta is still relentless when people come to visit. We’ve given in to the fact that she will always be that way. I guess we just aren’t very good ‘parents’.

Miss Greta’s new thing is when I take a shower. We have sliding glass shower doors on our bathtub. So when I get in the shower in the morning, she nicely slides these doors open, with her nose, just enough to get one of her toys through and drops them into the shower. Then I have to get it and throw it out through the shower doors and out the bathroom door so she can try to catch it. I can’t help but laugh at her during this entire process. So what use to be a 10 minute shower, turns into a 30 minute one.

Well, that’s what’s new with Miss. Greta and Ren for now. I will be back with new updates………..

A Miss Greta Update

Well, here we are in upstate New York and just waiting for Spring to arrive. There is still little snow on the ground. But due to the rain, it is very muddy to say the least. This makes for a messy outdoor run with Miss Greta. There are only certain parts of our back yard that is yet solidly saturated with mud. So we try to pick the areas she can romp on. And that is a difficult task.

Greta is still Greta. She is still just one big puppy with a lot of energy and lovable personality.  Here she is with a “new” toy. It is a squeeky fish that is also made out of that canvas like material. One of the only ones she can’t chew threw.

We also use to have two bowls for her. One for her water and one for her food. They were both kept on the kitchen floor. We found that it was becoming difficult for her to eat as she grew larger. She would actually pick the food up with her mouth and then lift her head to chew and swallow. So we ordered this from Foster and Smith which has made a great difference in her eating. Both bowls are made of a heavy ceramic which is much easier to clean. She is much more comfortable eating now.

Now even though we have both a food bowl and a water bowl for her, she still prefers the good old toilet for fresh cold water!

Now isn’t that a sight? 🙂

Miss Greta is still very playful and still just loves her toys. She would play fetch ALL DAY if only we had the stamina to do it.

Miss Greta still sleeps in her crate at night and loves it. We are sure that she would be fine out of the crate at night while we sleep. But she prefers her crate. We still feed her Eagle Pack with gound cooked meat and 2 scrambled eggs. We continue to mix a teaspoon of Shed-X in her food which keeps her coat beautiful and cuts down on her shedding.  Anyone who owns an animal can certainly relate to that! When they start shedding, my vacuum cleaner is never put away.

My husband continues to take her for walks which she totally enjoys. But one thing we find is that she NEVER gets tired.

She is still a maniac when people come over. She cries, whines, barks and jumps all over everyone. We are still waiting for that to get better. IF EVER! Miss Greta still loves to chase the birds at our bird feeders and chase the squirles and rabits. She never catches them and we don’t know if it is because she is just not fast enough, which we find hard to believe. Or if she just does it for the fun of the chase.

We still don’t put her and Ren, the chahuahua together. I know I have said before that I would take some pictures of Ren and post them. But Ren isn’t quite as animated as Miss Greta is. Pictures of Ren would mostly be of him sleeping. That’s about all the poor guy does. He does engage in some playtime, but it only lasts about 2 minutes. Then Ren is back to his little bed or on your lap for a rest.

Well that is my update for now. We will be back………..

Miss Greta…Still just one big puppy!! 2/10/2008

Miss Greta is still doing fine after her spaying. She is right back to her normal self. My husband took her for a nice long walk this morning. Miss Greta loved it.  So now my husband is taking a nap and Miss Greta is still raring to go!!! I wish we could bottle some of that energy cause I could certainly use it!:)

Every morning my husband leaves for work before I do. So before I leave for work, I let Greta outside for a while. Getting her back in is another ordeal! It is a good thing that we don’t have neighbors around, as for sure they would have me committed. I will open the door and call her to come in and she just stands there and looks at me like I had 2 heads. Then just turns the other way a pretends she never even saw me.

So here are some of the stupid tricks I’ve tried: Ready? I have actually rang our door bell and pretended someone was here. Oh sure she perks her ears up and she looks at the house, but that’s about as far as that one goes. Then I take ALL of her toys to the door thinking that will lure her in. I jump around, squeak them and act all excited. Again the stare and off she goes. I have also resorted to taking pieces of cheese and making a line from outside coming into the house. (ya know like Hansel and Gretel?) Honestly, that does seem to work. So it takes approximately 20-30 minutes of MY insane behaviour to get her in! And yet I love her to death. Go figure!

I have some new pictures of Miss Greta with her favorite toys. This is Greta walking around with her toys in her mouth looking for anyone to play with her.

Here she is with TWO toys in her mouth. She actually tries to get every one of her toys in her mouth at one time.

And here is Miss Greta just trying to look cute and hoping that will draw some attention to herself.

Yup, it’s still all about Miss Greta. Our home revolves around the girl. Of course that is fine since it is just myself and my husband. But when visitors come…watch out!!! Greta just sees new playmates when anyone walks in the door. Maybe that’s why we don’t get many guests anymore! 🙂 Just kidding! Although it is difficult when the smaller grandchildren come over. Miss Greta is definitely in the herding mode then. She won’t leave them alone!

All in all, she is a sweetheart and we love her to death. Oh and the chihuahua, Ren is still here too. We NEVER put the two of them together. Miss Greta would pummel him in 2 seconds flat. And Ren is just a little old man who can’t hear too well anymore. I think that Greta thinks Ren is just one of her toys! So for now, they  live separate lives in the same household!

Till next time………….

How to get more life from these “squeaky toys”

In my last post, I showed you pictures of Miss Greta’s squeaky toys and the one that survived and the ones that didn’t. Well, my mom was over for a visit and I was showing her Greta’s toys and that I was going to throw them out. She had a great idea! She said that as long as the “squeaky thing” still worked and all of the fiber fill was still in tact, she suggesting just taking it and placing it all in a sock and knot it at the top.Well, I went to my husband’s dresser and pulled out one of his socks. I stuffed the sock with the fiber fill and the squeaky thing and knotted the top. SHE LOVED IT! It was like a brand new toy for her that still squeaked. And she doesn’t chew threw it. Of course I can’t say that any other dog won’t be able to rip it apart, but Greta didn’t. So if you have any of your dogs toys that they have ripped apart, just take it and put it in a sock to give it more of a life span.  Of course I just used a plain white sock but I’m sure we could use colored socks or socks that have those funky designs too.Of course, my husband now has one lone sock in his drawer, but at least we can’t say that they got lost in the laundry! 🙂