Monday Morning Chuckle – Yorkie Becomes International Canine Supermodel!

Move aside Kate Moss – Manfred of Sweden has arrived!

And I thought those imported Irish sweaters were pricey!!

Manfred is a Yorkie who lives in Sweden but can’t handle the cold weather. So his ingenious owner designed and created a line of clothes of the same high quality and design as her own clothes, and the multi-million dollar company, Manfred of Sweden, was born.

Manfred isn’t just the inspiration for this line of canine clothing and matching bags, he’s also the model and has become the top canine supermodel of the world. Manfred of Sweden clothes are carried in only the ritziest boutiques, and they’re made with materials like lambskin, real gold, sterling silver, fine pearls, Swarovski crystals – you get the idea!

While this is nothing short of brilliance on the part of his owner, the chuckle comes to me from the prices people are willing to pay for dog clothes – how about $1,471 for the American Bag dog carrier that matches the $601 American Jacket?

Or maybe you’d like to tone it down with a $220 black retro T-shirt….

And of course, your pooch can never, but never, wear the same thing twice….  🙂

Rewind: Frozen Havachon a la Coat

Before the Big Storm, we’d just bought Daisy a new weatherproof fleece-lined coat. The hand-me-down dressy coat just wasn’t cutting it with all our snow this year. It just got soaked and weighed her down.

This is SO humiliating!

When we tried the new coat on Daisy, she froze in place. Positively froze. Wouldn’t move.

And when we put the hood on her, she lowered her head as if it weighed a ton and just stood there like a dozing cow. I got down on the floor with her, and once again she shoved her head into the crook of my arm, as if she was so embarrassed by this new contraption. (Very reminiscent of the Great Christmas Antler Humiliation!)

This is NOT a hat-loving dog!

I can't see a thing!!

Ugh! Not another hat!

Snow…Daisy… Havachon Winter Wonderland!

No need for words today, the pictures tell the story of our 14+ inch overnight snowfall and one happy Havachon puppy! Have a cup of cocoa while you visit with us, these pictures will give you chills even if you’re in a warm climate!

During the snowfall. Wheeeeee!!!!

Daisy modeling her new winter coat during the snowfall.

Put the cocoa on! I'm ready to come inside!

Over 14 inches!

Nature at her most beautiful in winter.

Only room for one at the Avian Diner

Large branches weighed down into the snow.

Back yard beauty…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting his turn at the feeder

Back yard beauty

Another Tuffie Toy Bites The Dust

Well it didn’t take long. The Tiger Tested Tuffie Toy has succumbed to a 15 pound Havachon. Yet again.

The beginning of the end for this Tuffie toy.

This toy lasted all of several weeks. And it’s a Level 9 Tuffie – they only go up to Level 10! Somehow I don’t hold out much hope for that last level either. I don’t think I’ll waste another $11-$15+ for 7 weeks of “fun”.

Tuffie toys are billed as being “the most durable dog toys”. This doesn’t give us much hope for any future toys.

At this rate, I expect that over the course of Daisy’s life, we’ll spend more on her toys than on her vet bills and dog food bills combined!

As usual, little Daisy worked at finding – or creating – the toy’s one weak spot, then she went after it like she was on a mission for MI5. She goes into a super-focused attack on a spot once she hears that first rip, eyes open wide, ears alert, little front teeth clamping and pulling, the world blocked out. She’s like a starving wild dog making its first kill in weeks.

You can't take my Tuffie away! I have more destruction to wreak on it!

Yet we can take the toy away from her without a problem; she just gives us a disappointed look. But while she’s got hold of it, she’s “in The Zone”. World class chess players should have such an intense focus!

We should have just named her Destructo.

The Seed is Always Sweeter on the Other Side of the Bird Feeder

We finally have a true winter in the northeast, with lots of snow, ice, and freezing rain. Temps below the freezing mark for many days in a row – no wimpy winter this year!

Light snow today, followed by a Nor’easter tomorrow through Thursday with “significant” accumulations.

Yesterday had below zero wind chills.

As a result, the winter birds are looking for food, since so many of their usual sources remain buried in snow or are encased in ice. So we keep our bird feeder filled, and in return, they give us the beauty of their presence.

I knew it was going to be a rough winter back in fall, when I saw the squirrels’ bodies beefing up beyond their normal winter fullness and their tails thicker than ever.

And the birds were getting fatter and fatter in preparation for the long winter months ahead. While the weather forecasters predicted a mild winter, Nature knew differently.

The perches on our 4-perch bird feeder are constantly filled with birds and there’s a waiting line! One bird waits its turn on the squirrel baffle, one on top of the feeder, another on top of the pole, a bunch in the tree branches watching and waiting. Another dozen or so pecking at the fallen seed on the ground, just waiting for an opening above.

Waiting their turn...with a dozen more on the ground and more in the trees

But the puzzling thing is: when there’s plenty of food in every trough, why do they always have to move to another perch and pull food from that side? Why is the seed always sweeter on the other side of the bird feeder?

Sometimes they even go so far as to push another bird off its perch so they can taste the delicacies around the corner. Other times, when there are fewer “customers” at the Avian Diner (LOL!), they go from perch to perch, around and around the feeder, sampling morsels from each.

It’s all the same stuff. Wild Bird Food. Period.

I’ve noticed that the female cardinal’s colors are suddenly getting brighter on her neck and under her tail; even her beak seems to be a brighter orange.

Deep winter blesses us with abundant beauty.

Monday Morning Chuckle – Dog Poop Lawsuit

This dog-related lawsuit is SO crazy that it was even a topic of discussion in the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey discussion forum!

Humans sure can be silly. Why sue when you can nap??

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) ― A New York woman has filed a $100 claim against Norwalk saying a family outing to the Maritime Aquarium was ruined by dog feces.

The woman claims her child’s shoes, along with the entire outing, were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in dog feces outside the Maritime Garage.

City attorney M. Jeffry Spahr says the official response is that her claim is denied and in his words, “poop happens.”

Kelly DeBrocky of Mahopac, N.Y., wants the city to reimburse her for $54 she spent replacing her toddler’s ruined shoes and the expenses for parking and aquarium admission.

I mean, just think of the time and filing fees this woman incurred! I guess this should be filed under the “Get A Life” category….

Chihuahua Attacked By Owl — And Survives!

There’s an amazing video on The Weather Channel about a poor little chihuahua who was attacked by an OWL, of all things!

OH NO! My poor fellow doggy! I'm so glad he's okay!

His owner was walking him at 1 AM (yes, that’s not a typo, it was the middle of the night) on a leash when an owl suddenly swooped down, sank its claws into this poor pup, and tried to carry him off!

Fortunately, the owner was able to save him, but the interesting thing is what saved the dog’s life – his winter coat! Apparently it prevented the owl’s claws from sinking too deeply into the dog! (Good thing it wasn’t spring or summer!) It seems that only one claw actually pierced the dog’s flesh, and that wound is healing nicely now.

However, it left the dog with a fear of the dark – he won’t go out once the sun sets! Funny thing is – he’s not afraid of owls, just the dark!

Moral of the story: Don’t walk dogs late at night, and don’t skimp on protective clothing! LOL!

Do Dogs Have Nightmares? This Havachon Puppy Did!

Another “first”‘ for Daisy in her young life – she had her first nightmare during one of her many daytime naps (maybe that’s a “daymare”? Or a “napmare”?). I’m sure this is one “first” she could have done without!

There she was, sleeping comfortably on her warm blanket, when suddenly she yiped out of nowhere and thrust her entire body to the side so hard, I heard her leg bone smack the floor. This was far from the usual mini-yaps and leg twitches we see during normal naps.

I said “Are you okay?” and she looked up at me with BIG scared eyes. I’ve never seen her look scared before! She even looked a bit disoriented.

At first I thought that maybe some rogue spider got in and bit her, so I shook out her blanket and checked her over. Thankfully, nothing. I HATE spiders…I mean, I really HATE them! I’m not a fan of the creepy-crawlies in general.

So I went into auto-mommy comfort-mode, scooping her up and cuddling her. Boy, did she ever sink into me! I guess she needed comforting.

What on earth could she have had a bad dream about? So far in her little 10-month life, nothing bad has happened to her. Maybe she dreamed she fell off the couch? Or got buried in an avalanche of snow? Or missed her dinner? So I did a little investigating online……

It seems that researchers have found that dogs do have nightmares, particularly dogs who have endured difficulties, like abused dogs. But they say any dog can have nightmares, and that most commonly, it’s young dogs and older dogs who have them. (I guess that’s one positive thing to be said about being middle aged! LOL) It’s interesting that they classify nightmares as “dreams gone wrong”….sure sounds a lot more benign than it feels!

Daisy at 3 months old

The occasional doggy nightmare is nothing to be concerned about, but continually-occurring bad dreams that awaken not only the pooch but the owner as well can be problematic.

An article on Hub Pages says that if a dog is clearly agitated during sleep, indicating a nightmare, the owner can wake them up with soft talk and gentle pats. Personally, I don’t think that’s a good idea. If the dream is really bad, the dog could be startled awake and bite the owner without realizing what he’s doing. An expert on Pet People’s Place agrees that waking a sleeping dog is not a good idea.

Although this article says that dogs having nightmares are hard to wake up, it would seem to me that it’s best to talk or make some kind of sound outside the dog’s biting range, just to be safe. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog stuck in nightmare-mode, but it must be pretty intense.

The Hub Pages article suggests that since a night light or stuffed animal works to help children overcome nightmares, dog owners might try the same thing if their dog has recurring bad dreams. I’m not sure the psychology would be the same for dogs…what do you think?

The Great Havachon Mirror Wars of 2011

I throw down the gauntlet! Surrender, you beast!

This should go down in the Havachon History books. The Great Havachon Mirror Wars of 2011.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned with this little puppy, it’s to always have my camera close at hand (I should really have a video camera strapped to my shoulder to get all her antics!). You just never know what Crazy Daisy will get up to next!

A freezing rain was carrying on outside yesterday, so I decided to  stay in. It was, as we like to call it, a “Cocoa Day”.

I was cleaning the master bath when, from the bedroom, I heard a series of thunk-thunkthunk-thunks. I knew Miss Daisy was up to something very…..Havachon. So I whipped out my trusty camera.

The full-length mirror was swinging wildly back and forth (it’s on its own stand), and Daisy was racing out of the room, away from the mirror, while looking over her shoulder and barking holy hell at it. The only thing I can figure is that she was investigating the back of it, discovered she could move it, and somehow managed to jump over its base, pushing the mirror forward and causing it to swing like crazy.

This must have either terrified her or really ticked her off. The mirror had taken on a life of its own.

She stood at the other end of the hallway barking her head off, as if there was an imminent threat to herself and her treasured domain. It was nonstop. I’ve never heard her carry on like that before. Even when someone comes to the door, she just whines….

Slowly she made her way back up the hall, in tiny double-steps, stopping every couple of steps and letting that mirror have a piece of her mind. Her Crazy Daisy mind.

Very cautiously, she approached the mirror, continually growling, bfffffing through clenched teeth, and bow-wow-wowing like a maniac. But it was so funny to watch, I just couldn’t tell her to stop. I wanted to see how this whole thing would play out.

She finally got close to the mirror – in the picture, she’s growling. I couldn’t time my shots right to get a picture of her barking (an annoying fault of digital cameras). If I hadn’t witnessed the entire event, I’d have thought she was angry with or threatened by the dog in the mirror!

How DARE you impersonate me!!

Well the barking escalated; she yelled at that mirror continuously for ten solid minutes. I realized that this could go on infinitely, so I called her away and closed off the room.

This morning she went back in and, after a few innocent minutes, she realized the offending mirror was still there, even after all her warnings. The War was back on.

The room is now closed off.

What a crazy little puppy!

Basking in the Winter Sunlight – A Havachon’s Answer to Cold Weather

We had a bright, sunny day on Sunday. Normally this wouldn’t be comment-worthy, but with all the snow and gray/white skies we’ve had so far this winter, it’s become a BIG deal when it’s sunny out!

And today we’re back to gray/white, with more snow expected tonight into tomorrow.

I’m not complaining – I LOVE snow and icicles and the way they sparkle in sunlight. When there IS sunlight!

Anyway, during our bright sunny Sunday, Daisy seemed to be here, there, and everywhere. She wasn’t interested in continuing the Sofa Wars, and she wasn’t following us around as much. I wondered what was up with all her little disappearances, so I tracked her movements a bit, and here’s what I found:

Ahhhh, it's much toastier here!

She was following the sunlight through the house, as it moved from room to room, basking in its warmth! She seems to have learned that once the sun leaves one room, it shows up in another, and she just followed it down the hall, going from one room to another, soaking up all its glorious but all-too-short-lived warmth.

Aren’t canine instincts amazing? 🙂

Happiness is squinty puppy eyes in the warmth of winter sun!