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)

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

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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’! 🙂

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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………..