The Amazing Technicolor Dog Coat

I made the mistake of saying to Chris “I think Dory needs a winter coat.”

New England weather is notorious for being nice one minute and freezing the next. Sun, turns into rain, which then morphs into a blizzard – I’ve seen it happen. So with this in the back of my mind I noticed while brushing Dory she doesn’t have what I call an under coat. Don’t get me wrong she has a beautiful coat of shiny black fur, but some dogs also have this dense under coat that really protects them from the elements – Dory is just not one of those.

So I’m starting to worry about the undercoat thing then I notice that she seems to be seeking snuggly spots a bit more now that the temps are dropping and of course this leads me to ponder – does Dory need a doggie coat??

Well when I finally said it out loud Chris gave me the look of death. He indicated that no self-respecting Lab or Lab-mix would ever be caught dead in a “fru-fru” coat.

I have tried to convince him that it wouldn’t be as bad as he thinks!! I had no intention of something over the top, just something functional and feminine. (He scoffed at the feminine part of that discussion)

So of course, I have now spent hours looking at every sort of dog coat imaginable. There are so many choices, I fully believe dog coats must be a key factor in our global economy.

The coats range from silly to sweet, fancy to utilitarian, fleece to neoprene. I have no idea what I am going to do or what type of coat I should get, but as a doting doggie parent you bet your bottom dollar I will make sure Dory is warm and toasty once the snow flies!

Pizza! Pizza!

Dory and I have finally awakened from our turkey induced coma and decided to have pizza for dinner.

Now I know it sounds like we have pizza alot and honest we don't - but it is Dory's favorite food thing in the whole world. Never in my whole life have I seen a dog go so bananas over one particular food.

Tonight was no different, Dory had her traditional doggie food dinner, a romp in the yard, we ordered a small pizza, pepperoni and mushrooms and from the time the door bell rang she became a wild thing.

She could stare down a serial killer if he had a slice in his hand - I'm not kidding. Not since Garfield loved lasagna has an animal had such a love of an italian food. She loves pepperoni, sausage, onions, ANYTHING on a crust with sauce and cheese.

Tonight (and I pray my vet does't read this) she got her very own slice and is now peacefully sleeping. More than likely she is dreaming of a pepperoni with extra cheese!! Hey maybe we can make her a "Birthday Pizza" - only 16 days and counting until our Divine Miss Dory turns 4!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night...

We just wanted to wish all our blogging Dogs With Blogs (DWB) friends, our friends from Labs4Rescue and everyone who makes this blog so fun to write - a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
We love having all of you (especially our Ohio State University friends – you know who you are) as part of our online circle of friends! So go out have some pie, spend time with those you love and reach out to friends who are far away during this very special time of year.
We will see you all when we get back to Massachusetts – the home of Plymouth Rock and the very first Thanksgiving in North America!!
As Dory pointed out to me on our visit to down to Plymouth, MA – even Plymouth Rock has a crate!!!

Are you ready for some football...

Dory here and whew - another busy weekend.

This was really a football weekend. Mom is a huge fan for what she calls "college ball" and Dad loves the "Pros". Mom has been excited all week because the "big game" was going to be on Saturday. Mom spent all moring cleaning and making food "YUM", Dad was out and about running errands but at 3:30 we were all settled in and ready to go. I had my University of Michigan collar on and the pigs in a blanket were very aromatic.

Mom was all excited and sang "Hail to the Victors" and shouted "GO BLUE"! Hopes were high that the Wolverines would win. Mom says going to Michigan was a family tradition going back to my great, great grandfather!! I have no idea where Michigan is but it sounds impressive and from what I've seen during football season kind of loud too.

Unfortunately Mom's team, Michigan didn't win, she was sad, but she said there is always the Rose Bowl - I'm not sure what the Rose Bowl is but I hope it's filled with piggies in a blanket!!!

Sunday was Dad's turn, the Patriots were playing football against the Packers. This game went better because both Mom and Dad were happy. They had tacos today and of course Dad was good enough to share a little taste with me.

This evening Mom put on my "Thanksgiving collar", it is kinda brown and doesn't really enhance my natural beauty, but it made Mom happy. We are headed back to Gramma's in New York on Wednesday for what Dad calls Turkey Day. I am very excited to be seeing my furry NY friends again - I will have to tell Mollie about the Piggies snacks - they were VERY yummy!!

Time to eat the donuts....

Okay, Dory and I go visit my mom for a few days, and as a gesture of kindness we decided to bring back a gift for Chris. He was home alone for several days it was the least we could do.

So Dory and I get up early so we can beat the crowd at our favorite place, Lakeside Farms in Ballston Lake, NY. So we drove over and got a dozen of their famous Apple Cider Donuts, thinking this was a great plan, and it was a great plan because when we got home Chris was thrilled we got the donuts and seemed to enjoy eating them - until this morning.

Now, Dory and I have a different relationship than Chris and Dory do. I am clearly the Mom/rule maker/disciplinarian and Dory and I practice our obeidience skills every day together. We are a team, but I am clearly the leader,for the most part anyway. Now Chris is the chronic good guy, he is like Santa giving out treats, cuddling on the furniture and playing rough in the house when he shouldn't with her. He really enjoys being the hero, good guy, treat giver - but today he went over the top!

Dory and I went out this moring as we always do and when we got back in the house, Chris was getting ready for work when all of a sudden I see him feeding Dory one of the donuts we got for him. I was appaulled there he was breaking up the donut into pieces and playing catch with Dory right in front of me!! Good grief!!! Here was a special gift being used for doggie treats!! Maybe it is a guy versus girl thing - perhaps "Men are from spoil the dog land and women are from attend obedience village"??

I love Dory but she did not need a cider donut today. It's hard being the rule maker - sure I want to break down and give her her own dish of frozen yogurt when I am having some, but I know better and I want her to be a good citizen, a well behaved guest and a healthy dog.

Some people say that having a dog is like having a child - and I think in some ways that is very true. What they don't tell you is that having a dog means everyone (except you)in the house turns into a child too?!