To-Go Pet Towel Review

Modeling the towel for size

It is tiring being a model

Remember when I reviewed Poochie Bells?  Well the great people over at PoochiePets also sent me a To-Go Pet Towel to review.  Here is what PoochiePets has to say about it-

The reusable, disposable to-go Pet Towel is a 100% biodegradable drying sheet for your
pet.  It offers drying without dirtying bath towels.  Soft, compact in size, yet absorbent and
trouble-free to store and use.  Great for foul weather, after swim or bath.  Wring out, hang
dry and reuse again and again!  Each towel measures 17"x 31.5", great for all breeds.

Short story - LOVED IT.  Going to buy more.

"Help me"

Long story- Honestly I wanted to use it twice before I reviewed it because as you know I like to be thorough and only recommend the best products to you guys.  After all I am in this blogging thing to help other dog owners not to blindly say I love any free product I get.  Well I washed the dogs once- then...  You see I don't wash my dogs very often.  Under normal circumstances I do it every 6 months.  My dogs just don't get stinky!  Dirt gets on them and it just seems to fall right off.  Since we ditched kibble all dog odor left them and the only reason I have for washing is getting out excess hair.  It has been cold and I decided it just was time to publish this post even without a second bath.

What have I ever done to you?

"But Annie- don't your dogs ever get muddy, or go out in the rain, or jump in the lake?"  I live in the desert so no.  I think it rained once a few months ago, don't really remember, but puddles didn't stick around.

Is it over?

For those occasions when my dogs DO get wet I really liked this towel.  It was very absorbent, and after I washed one dog I just wrung it out and used it to dry the next one.  It is meant to be re-usable several times but also disposable and I like that for traveling.  It is the kind of thing I can use over and over but if it gets gross I won't feel bad tossing it.  It was a nice size for drying everyone, and it would even be good for a bigger dog.  The best part, particularly for traveling, is that it dried very, very fast.  What more is there really to say about a towel?  I am going to but a pack of these towels to keep in my camping stuff and a few singles for the car.

I have loved every product I have gotten from PoochiePets so far and can recommend them totally!  I also hope you enjoyed the hilarious bath-time pictures.

Foster Dog George

As I have said before we foster through a great local dog rescue called A Home 4 Spot (a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation).  If you are in the Las Vegas area and looking for a new dog you should check them out!  If you are looking for a chihuahua or a pit bull I of course always recommend starting at the two kill shelters in the city The Animal Foundation and Henderson Animal Care and Control.  They have a big selection of those two breeds (and many more) plus the more dogs adopted from those two places the less dogs need to be pulled by rescues like AH4S.

This past year we had a great foster dog named George.  He was with us for a long time and I really got attached to the little guy!  Luckily for me his adopter has stayed in touch and tells me he is doing great!  As long as I think the dog is safe I never pester adopters, or require updates, but it really is a great thing when I get them.  Now that George is in a wonderful adoptive home I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of him I had sitting around but never made the blog.  Have fun basking in the cute that is that amazing under-bite!

Wordless Wednesday

Updated Pages

I updated the "About us" "Copley" and "Kerrigan" tabs.  There is lots more up there about us and a good information section about Copley's Lyme Disease diagnosis, treatment and recovery.  Check them out by clicking on the little bones in the navigation bar under the top banner.

That's all!

Why my dogs shouldn't exist

I first posted this on another place online in response to lots and lots of people who either want to breed their chihuahua simply because they are "cute" and it would be  fun to have puppies or want to get a dog from a pet shop, puppy mill or otherwise shady and irresponsible breeder even though they know better.  When I wrote it I was angry, ranting, and more than a little bit upset- but my angry ramblings seem to have touched a few people so upon request I am posting it here too. 

I am sitting here with three dogs that me and my husband love more than anything. They are family and I am so incredibly grateful to have them in my life. Copley was with me during a very intense time career wise and he taught me to take a break and look at what is important in life. He gave me friendship, a hobby, and a reason to get out of the house every day. He has brightened my world in a way that ho human can and I LOVE him. And Kerri- she is beautiful, just gorgeous. And so happy and goofy! She not only brings sunshine and light into my life but into the lives of so many other people as a therapy dog. Then Nova, my beautiful little diamond in the rough. They are just amazing wonderful creatures.

But dogs don't have to suffer for us to have them in our lives. In a perfect world I would be sitting here with three different dogs. Dogs who didn't go through HELL to get where they are today. Dogs bred by responsible, caring breeders who know what they are doing. Copley has structural faults so bad that he is sure to get arthritis later in life. In fact he already sees a chiropractor! And his teeth- they are so messed up. He is like you took random parts from two totally incompatible breeds and just glued them together.

But people will always say that their pet store/puppy mill dog is healthy, good knees etc. So lets say the puppies will not have totally messed up joints and teeth. Where will they go for the rest of their life. Can their homes afford to fix them? Will you be able to keep track of every one of the puppies and know how everything works out for them. If not I have news for you. Odds are one of those puppies is going to get thrown out a window in a supermarket parking lot, left at a bus station, dumped in the desert. In fact the LUCKY abandoned dogs are the ones that end up at the pound. The unlucky ones get out and fend for themselves, half starving out in the elements. The unlucky ones get used as bait dogs in a dog fighting ring. The unlucky ones get locked in a kennel for the rest of their lives being bred.

Some dogs win the rescue dog lotto. In my state sadly it is only about 8% of abandoned dogs who ever get a new home. Those 8% get picked up by people like me, and other wonderful rescuers who are cleaning up the dirty messes left by irresponsible breeders. We take the traumatized, beaten, abandoned dogs of the world and we spend the rest of their lives trying to convince them everything is going to be ok. That they can finally relax a little bit and enjoy life.

And what about me? One day I want to have a dog that has never been abandoned. A dog that has been raised properly and right by caring people who love it and are smart enough to keep it safe. I want vet bills to come from unexpected accidents and illnesses that no one could have predicted- not from lack of health testing and vet care. I want a dog with really short nails- you know that have nice short quicks because they have been trimmed regularly from puppyhood. I want a dog that I didn't have to drag terrified from a shelter the day I met it.

So if you want to breed your dog because it is cute, it is friendly and it would be fun to have puppies- wake up!!!!!!!! I know you may not think right now any of your puppies will end up abandoned- but they will. No one breeds their pets with the intention of them ending up unwanted- but it happens.

The absolute terror that guides every decision Nova makes is the responsibility of exactly one person- the one who bred her, or her mother, or whatever generation in her line first ended up on the street. But the saddest thing is that I bet that person is still doing it. Because they are living- like most other people- in ignorant bliss. They have no idea that the cute puppies they sell end up suffering these horrible fates. ALL we have on our side is education. I can volunteer and save as many dogs as possible and it still won't stop the problem if we can't get to it's source and educate people.

So to responsible breeders- keep up the good work! The more puppy parents that are educated by good breeders and the more dogs sold to responsible owners and with spay/neuter contracts the better!

EVERYONE ELSE- wake up and smell the roses. My dogs may be the bees knees but I still wish you never bred them. The tired old argument "well my dog wouldn't exist without a puppy mill/BYB so therefore I can't say they are all bad" does not work on me. You don't need suffering to have a good dog- in fact they are much better off without it.

Sorry for the rant- I just think more stories like this need to be out there, like I said education is our only hope.

Nova's New Outfit

Nova's sporting a new outfit around the house these days.  She is wearing her beautiful and stylish XS Thundershirt and while we are home she will be dragging behind her a matching shoelace!

That is Nova giving me the evil eye for making her wear this ensemble.

Why am I torturing her so?  Well our trainer came by the other day and we decided it was time that Nova was forced to be a little more involved with the family.  Right now it is hard to force her to interact with us because as soon as she sees we want her to do something she runs and hides.  In order to be able to work with her more we are going to attach a long line to her collar when we are home (only when we are home, because it obviously is a huge strangulation hazard).  That way when we want to do something with her I don't have to go chasing after her and grab her.  I think it will actually help her be more independent in the long run because she will be forced to do a lot more on her own this way.  For instance when we go up to bed she will be able to walk with me up the stairs instead of me carrying her.  That brings me to the thundershirt!  With this new way of reeling Nova in I am now able to put the thundershirt on her without a long stressful chase.  If everything goes well I am going to have her wear it for most of the day because it really does help. 

We are using two boot shoelaces tied together for the long line.  It is about 6 feet long and seems to be relatively unobtrusive.  I have had to untangle it a time or two but overall the shoelace seems to be good at not getting caught.

This is a good step in the right direction for Nova.  It is good news that she finally is comfortable enough for us to force her to do more on her own but it is also a lot more work for us.  Not to worry though- I am happy to put in the work for this little one.