Oh My Dog!

obsessed with dogs

Turns out, Emmett loves Mexican food

I’m still putting the final touches on Emmett’s Bucket List, but one of my goals was to incorporate more one-on-one activities with him. For many years, while he was working as a therapy dog, he and I did so many exciting things together. We both missed that.

So, as soon as I heard that the new Mexican restaurant in town allowed dogs on their patio, we planned a night out!

When we got there, he was SO excited. I posted his look of amazement on Instagram:

Honestly, it couldn’t have been a better evening. John and I, plus our friend Matt (Lukey’s musical pal) got a great table on the edge of the patio. Emmett immediately became the center of attention. The wait staff all came over to give him scratches, and he made instant buddies with a darling little boy at the next table over (who barely ate his dinner because he was watching Emmett the entire time).

He looked dashing in his collar and scarf from The Proper Puppy, I think! I’m calling this his “going out” set now.

Emmett tries a Mexican restaurant

Amy at GoPetFriendly.com frequently makes the point that it’s important to support pet-friendly businesses. I completely agree! As far as I know, this is the only one in Houma, so we may make this a weekly hot spot for Em! (Plus they have incredible margaritas for the human end of the leash.)

He did get bites of a few treats: chips, a little piece of chicken, a tiny bite of fish, a zucchini. He loved every minute of his night out! We’ll be doing it again very soon!

Does your town have many pet-friendly restaurants? Do you take your pup out to eat? 

 

6 dog-friendly tasks to add to your spring clean

Let me just start this post by saying right upfront: I’m a dork. I know it. I love to clean.

And I love this time of year. After a long, dreary, gray winter, splashes of color start poking out of the ground. Dog walks that were short, rushed, or nonexistent become long and meandering. The dogs have to meander, I think, because after a smell-less winter, spring’s scents are just too darn tempting. And exciting.

I love spring, too, because it feels like such a time for renewal. Windows are flung open to let in fresh air, and that’s what this season is all about. Fresh air. So, of course, I am a huge fan of spring cleaning. Giving the whole house a thorough scrub is one of my favorite parts of the season. So – in addition to filing my taxes. blergh. – I plan on cleaning this weekend. Here are my pet-friendly cleaning tips to get spring cleaning off to a strong start:

  1. Open your windows. After a long winter with your house sealed against the elements, it’s oh-so-critical to allow in fresh air. It will rejuvenate you and your pets!
  2. Ditch the harsh cleaning agents. Think how badly bleach and ammonia sting your nose. Imagine how much worse it is for your dog! There are so many eco- and pet-safe cleaners that do a great job that there’s really no need for such harsh chemicals.
  3. Air out your rugs. Freshen up door mats, area rugs, runners, whatever you can pick up and take outside. Shake them out and then let them air out in the sun. These rugs can be dander traps, and most vacuum cleaners don’t do a stellar job of getting out all that fur that gets embedded into the carpet pad. (Or does that just happen to me??)
  4. Groom your dogs outside. If you can give them a bath with the hose on a warm day, great! Otherwise, aim for a thorough brushing, especially as most dogs are dropping their winter coats right now. You’ll end up with less fur and dander in your house and a more comfortable pooch, all while soaking up some much needed Vitamin D!
  5. Wash those windows. It probably depends on the height of your dog, but we have nose prints across every single window of our house because the boys just love to gaze outdoors. Wiping down all those nose prints is sanitary, of course, but it also allows more sunlight to stream in. For a pet-safe (and eco-friendly) cleaner, mix a cup of water with 1/8 cup of vinegar in a spray bottle. Add a couple squirts of liquid dish soap. Shake and squirt.
  6. Examine your baseboards. Seriously, if your baseboards are anything like mine, there’s this minuscule ledge – just a couple mm wide – that is apparently the perfect storage spot for pieces of fur and swathes of that dirt/dander mixture that accumulates all winter long. I use the store brand Magic Erasers to get that cleaned up.

Bonus task: Clean all your dog toys! I collect the zillion toys from the yard and all over the house and sort them by hard and soft. Hard toys go in the sink filled with soapy water, soft toys go through wash machine. It’s amazing the new life you can give your toys when they’re back to their original color. The boys seem to think that, all of a sudden, I rushed out and bought them a whole slew of new toys!

Are there any other dog-friendly cleaning tips you could share? Are you even a cleaning fanatic like I am?

On blogs and dogs

Earlier this week, my blog crashed.

Unrelated sort of, but in this pic, Cady looks crashed!

When I realized what was going on, cold, icy panic took over. I submitted help tickets, waited on hold for customer service, and – of course – tweeted my anxiety. The only thought that kept reverberating was: What if all my content is gone?

Obviously it all worked out. But there was a huge lesson in this: Save and backup, then save and backup some more! Had I lost everything on here, I would’ve been crushed, especially since my one-year blogiversary is right around the corner (June 1!!).

So to all you bloggers: Make sure you have a backup system in place! Learn from my mistakes! 🙂

On another note, TGIF! I hope you all have fun weekend plans with your dogs! Looking for some inspiration? Check out GoPetFriendly.com for pet-friendly activities in your town. We have company in town this weekend, which is just as exciting as can be for Emmett and Lucas. They love nothing more than having new sets of hands around the house that are more than willing to give them pats and rubs.

We’re also going to hit the farmer’s market tomorrow, which is pet-friendly (except in the areas where food is sold) and a great place to work on socialization. And then, finally, you all have inspired me tremendously with the city dogs vs. suburban dogs discussion. Looking back, I’ve realized that the boys have gone fewer and fewer places lately. So if the weather holds, we’re going to drive (yeah, drive… gotta love the ‘burbs) to Indiana University’s campus, park at one end, then walk to the other end of campus to sit outside at Starbucks to people and dog watch! Then a nice jaunt back to the car, and Emmett and Lucas will be two happy, tired dogs!

What are you and your dogs doing this weekend? Any fun plans, activities, or destinations?