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………….

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………..