Long Weekend

On Friday mornings I coordinate with my Mom what time she will be coming to get the girls and somehow they know this because as soon as I get on the phone with her, the girls jump on the back of the chair, look out the window and wait for her to arrive. They won't move until they see her driving up.

I know I give them a lot of credit but seriously, they are smarter than the average dog.

Looking Good Is Important

This is one of Daisy's favorite things to do. Here we have a picture of her washing Brown Dog's face.

Occasionally, Daisy will jump on the side arm of the sofa where I sit and she will attempt to do the same to me starting behind my ear and working her way around. This activity is always redirected. I interpret this as her way of caring for us, making sure that we are clean and looking our best. Daisy is very motherly like that. Brown dog often tries to reciprocate but she is never allowed which is funny because Brown is a larger dog than Daisy. This may not matter as I have heard that dogs are not able to judge the size of other animals and that is why little dogs often act "big."

This scene went down last night just as Kris was being crowned the American Idol. Daisy could see by the look on all of our faces that a little comforting was indeed needed at that time. I guess she figured that if we feel sad, at least we could look nice doing it.

Breakin My Heart

Mornings are not good for many reasons but mostly because I hate to leave the girls at home alone. I know, they have Zack to look after them but it's not the same as when I'm there. This is poor Daisy's last ditch effort to keep me at the house by trying to lure me into a game of fetch. You can see Brown dog's legs waaaaaay in the background with her toy as she is slowly and reluctantly making her way to the kitchen.

A few months ago, the girls started this thing where Brown would run down the hall and hide under the coffee table and Daisy would go the opposite way into my room when they knew it was time for me to go to work. It was too sad. One day it occurred to me that once I got Brown out from under the coffee table and dug Daisy out from under my bed, I would put them in the kitchen on a pallet and sing "A Helper Kind and Good." I figured if it worked for my niece, it would work for them. Sure enough, after a few days of singing praise for getting to the kitchen on their own they haven't put up a fight since. Occasionally, Daisy or Brown will try to distract me, like today, but overall, they are the picture of good behavior.

Ahhh, I miss them....Think I'll head home for lunch today. :)

How Much Is That Doggy In the Window

The girls, like most of us, have favorites. Their favorite time of day is meal time, their favorite TV show is Dancing With the Stars, and their favorite song is How Much Is That Doggy In the Window. This is a picture of them watching TV and hanging out in the den which, ironically, is their favorite pastime as well as mine. It's interesting how many of the girl's likes and dislikes mirror my own. For instance, Daisy (much like myself) is rooting for Adam Lambert to win Idol. Brown is rooting for Shawn Johnson to win DWTS. We all thought that Gilles had it in the bag at first however; his freestyle routine failed to impress. We also all feel that Melissa has had her 15 minutes and it's time to move on. Go Adam and Shawn!!

Bath Time

It was time for a bath. Both Daisy and Brown love the water and have no objection to being bathed which makes life so much easier for me. I like to use Coconut Calypso shampoo plus conditioner (available at Target) because it smells great and leaves their fur very soft and luxurious.

For some reason Brown was feeling camera shy, I think she gets that from me, so Daisy was the only one willing to pose for a post bath photo.

In the winter it is necessary to blow dry Daisy's hair because it is so thick and long that it would take all day to dry and she might catch a cold if we didn't. Brown dries relatively fast as her hair is short and very slick but I hate for her to feel left out so we blow hers dry too.

Too Much Weekend

Here is a picture of the girl's bed. They will be going there early this evening to get a good night's sleep due to the following:

You know how when you were a kid and you would go to a spend the night party, have a blast staying up all night, eating a lot and watching movies then come home the next day SOOOO tired and out of sorts that you do weird things or maybe get in trouble because you say something disrespectful? Story of my life between the ages 10-14. Funny how this seems to be the case with the girls too after they have spent the weekend with Mom and Dad. I was out of town most of the day Saturday so the girls got to spend the better part of this weekend away from home. Bad idea. When they got back yesterday Daisy was so sleepy that she wouldn't even look at me, Brown threw up on the den carpet then got mad at a squirrel on the deck and charged at it from inside the house running head first into the closed, glass storm door. Great. Luckily she was not hurt at all and decided after that to join her mom on the sofa who was watching Twilight for the second time in two days.

Motherhood; not for the faint of heart.

Grandogs

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Almost every weekend, my mom and dad, (pictured here) pick up the girls to stay with them for a night. Once the tradition got started my parents began referring to the girls as "grandogs." I love it! My dad is a pro at spoiling the people he loves thus the girls have a fabulous time when they visit. Dad makes sure they get plenty of treats, as I tend to ration them, and mom takes them for long "nature walks" around the neighborhood. At home the girls sleep in their own bed complete with Winnie The Pooh bedding but at Mom's, they sleep in the bed with my parents! I never thought the girls had it better than at my house but I was totally wrong.

The "Manny"

You may be asking yourself who takes care of the girls while their mother is at work. Well, as you may have noticed, both Daisy and Brown are quite spoiled and cannot attend doggy daycare because they do not play well with others. Boo. So I had to resort to at home help from my trusty friend Zack Stewart. I know, he doesn't look mature enough to babysit but actually, he's 25 years old. Zack does a wonderful job of watching the girls during the day to make sure they don't chew anything they aren't supposed to, or bark too loudly when birds or squirrels hang out on the deck. They love him dearly.

Zack came to live with me the night of my 8th birthday. My mom tells me that at that time buying a Cabbage Patch Doll was like buying something off the black market. Mom said that when she inquired at work about getting me one she got a hot tip from a woman who told her the correct toy store to go to on a certain day. My mom was told to enter the store, do not speak to ANYONE and get directly in line. She had to be sure to arrive early in the morning. She did just that. After whispering her request to the cashier who did not verbally respond, my mom was handed a tiny scrap of paper with a number scribbled on it. She was instructed to go to the loading dock behind the store to obtain her "package." When she showed up at the loading dock she handed the paper to a man in uniform who in turn handed her a box wrapped in brown paper. Mom asked if she could unwrap the paper to see what the doll looked like and the uniformed man stated "I wouldn't." Mom, never being one to not follow instructions, went straight back to her car and came home. That night they presented me with my first Cabbage Patch Doll and he was everything I had hoped for. To this day he has been a very loyal companion.

Not a Happy Face

Hmmmm.....this is not a happy face. This morning when Daisy looked outside and saw it was raining she was not pleased. As mentioned yesterday, I promised the girls a stroll around the neighborhood but it looks like the weather is not on our side. We will have to come up with something else fun to do this afternoon.

By the way, the girls are rooting for Adam Lambert to win American Idol this year. Brown thought Kris Allen did a great job last night and should probably come in second over Danny but Daisy disagreed. She likes Danny's cool glasses but thinks he looks weird in a vest. I agree with Daisy.

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

Today has been a long day. However; all my long days are quickly erased by coming home to play games with the girls. It's true what they say about dogs, they really are always happy to see you. That in itself can turn any hard day around and put a previously nonexistent smile on my face every time. I remember explaining my love for the girls to my vet Dr. Randy one day when Brown was sick with strep throat. I was crying because she was pitiful and pleading with the vet to make her feel better because she is the "most loving, sweet, best companion a person could ever ask for." He replied, "so you could say she's exactly the opposite of my ex-wife." We both laughed and eventually Brown got better.

So what's up with the picture? Well, when we play games it usually involves the above four toys in some fashion. Going from left to right we have Gopher, Crazy Ring, Blue Donut, and last but not least, the Easter Pig. The Easter Pig tragically lost both eyes in a spirited game of tug-o-war but she's still holding her own. Today's game was a favorite of ours called chase me around the coffee table. I, of course, lost and ended up on the sofa where both girls felt sorry for me because I'm totally and horribly out of shape. Maybe tomorrow we'll go for a low key stroll. And yes, the girls have a stroller. We'll cover that one later.

Mother's Day

The girls got together and gave me the prettiest flowers for Mother's Day. Don't ask where they got the money or a ride to the flower shop but somehow, Sunday morning I had these waiting for me at the front door.

Hope you had a great day too.

Ode To A Honey Bun

Oh, How I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways......

How I Got My Name

Bigger, weird I know. It all started in the 9th grade when I broke my nose in a freak frisbee accident with some friends. My wonderful sister (tell you more about her later) was kind enough to carry me to the doctor for an x-ray. Indeed, my nose was broken but that did not stop the kind ENT from pointing out the fact that I had "gotten to the trough" more often than she. I still don't know if this was a comment about my weight or the fact that I am 5'7 and my sister is only 5'1. I hope it's the latter. At any rate, that is the day Bigger was born.

The real reason why I'm here is to share with everyone how blessed I am to own the two most perfect and sweet dogs in the world. Chihuahuas rule. Brown Dog, Brown for short, will be 6 at the end of the month and Daisy turned 4 in September. We have all kinds of crazy and fun games and rituals I look forward to sharing with you in my daily homage to them via this blog.

I am excited to hear from fellow dog lovers and cannot wait to share stories and ideas on how to make their little lives even better. Seems hard to do, they have it pretty good...

What have you done for your dog today?