Buying In Bulk: A Storage Problem

Living in New York makes buying in bulk nearly impossible. The problem is two-fold. Its nearly impossible to cart multiple lbs of (insert ANYTHING here) home, but usually even harder to store them in your tiny apartment once home. Yet, something about the uphill battle, the forbiddenness, makes it even more intoxicating for this bitch, when it comes to two items. I present the first:

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Doggie iPhone App: A Bitchy Review

If you are looking for an iPhone app that will make your dog come when called, you are out of luck. But we enjoyed watching this bitch turn the product on man-at-computer (aka Husband) when the dog recall thing did not work out so well. Full Video on Animal Planet.

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Raleigh Pop Approved: MarmaLady’s Munchies

When you get a dog, you expect that you are going to smell a little. I always thought the bad thing I would smell like would be the actual dog. Turns out Raleigh smells great most of the time, it’s her treats leaving the bad odor on me. I have hands, pockets, even whole bags that smell like fermented pork juice. I have to carry treats with me to get her to come home from the park, so this is just the sad reality I have accepted.

At least until our friend Cherise shared her MarmaLady’s Munchies with me. We tried a bag of the Sweet Tater Rovers, which smell like sweet potatoes instead of something long dead and dried up. As if that was not enough, some of the treats also feature my favorite thing ever. Icing! They were so fancy, I fed them to my dog on a plate.

Dog Eat Dog

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Would You Wear the Thundershirt?

This morning we ran across a post from The Dog Trainer’s facebook page about the Thundershirt. We laughed. Must there be a dog costume for everything? But apparently this is more than a costume, its anxiety therapy for fear of thunder, separation anxiety, barking, travel anxiety… basically its the dog equivalent of popping a few Valium before a plane ride. At least according to the company.

Thunder! Lightning! The way you love me is frightening!

It sounded bizarre. So we watched the before and after videos online. And it is still bizarre. We might have to try it! While we are a travel pro that does not bark, sometimes we flip out a little when Owner leaves or all hell breaks loose from the heavens (thunder and lightning!) If that goofy looking outfit wants to give us a big hug to make us feel better, we’d try it. But only in the privacy of our own home. We are a skinny bitch, and that getup just adds bulk to the midsection. Always unflattering.

Update: We emailed the company and they are sending us a Thundershirt in Heather Grey. Expect a full review in a week or so…

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The At-Home Groomer

As mentioned earlier, I was thrilled will Raleigh’s summer shave down. But I don’t really want to pay upwards of $30 on a monthly basis for hair removal. Hence, the scene in my bathtub earlier this week.

I cut all that off myself with an Andis Pet Clipper. The Model I have one is that my dad gave me from about 1995. It is the model AG Detachable Plus, but the one online looks totally different (updated!), so I would not go ahead and give it the full RP seal of approval, but I would not knock it either. Mine tends to get pretty warm and clogged with hair after extended use, but like I said: its old. And my dog is a hairy mess. So I like it just fine.

We used 1/8″ comb for this hot look. Each comb detaches so you can get a really close shave in summer or just trim scraggly edges in winter. It’s not so bad doing it at home, but it does require a rigorous bathtub drain cleanse. That terrier hair is intense!

Probably the best part of the at-home cut (aside from the $$ savings) is the ability to go places the professional groomers refuse to. I’m talking mohawk. Oh yes I did!

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The Flea Fiasco Birthday, Fleasco If You Will

Yesterday we happily reported that on June 29th, our fabulous third birthday, we received a wonderful Artichoke to play with. This certainly beats the other gifts we were given: Advantage Flea Control Solution and Flea Shampoo. We are not sure what the humans were thinking, but in an act of birthday defiance, we made our opinion known by carting our bag of birthday treats around the house, husky-pulling-sled-style. As we are unexperienced in protest parades, we are not sure that the message was properly received.

Step One: Attach Bag to Neck

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We Had A Birthday. There Was Artichoke.

Having made it back to home base in Brooklyn, we are taking the rest of the day to nap while Owner unpacks our luggage. Tomorrow we will (finally) be back to blogging regularly and shall happily regale you with birthday tails. In the meantime, please be jealous of our most awesome new birthday toy. That and how good we look, thanks to the summer diet and haircut.

The Orbee- Tuff Artichoke is available at Sammy Snacks (located in Hippie Dippie Charlottesville, VA.)

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Aunt Margaret Dog Sits: OM(Flea)G

An email from Aunt Margaret to Owner:

It’s fleas for sure. Catherine found one on her and has a few bites, too. Raleigh is still rather itchy. The shampoo I got her has oatmeal in it for her skin, too, since terriers have skin problems.

Feel free to blog about this- I’m sure you have readers who have been fox terrorized by fleas! We’ve been vacuuming and washing dogbeds/rugs like crazy. At the very least, her bathtime pictures are cute.

I’ve ordered the “Advantage” flea treatment from the vet based on the advice of our itchy facebook friends. We’ve never, ever had this problem in Brooklyn, but I suppose from here on out, it will make sense to keep using this. I’m curious to hear what Raleigh has to say about all this, but she’s still in the tub at the moment…..

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Brooklyn Doggie Daycares

As mentioned yesterday, Raleigh has an excellent dog sitter this week and I am happy to have her. But when it’s not possible to rely on family, we’ve hit up doggie daycare in the past and there are two I’d like to recommend.

The absolute best value in Brooklyn is the Brooklyn Dog House. For $20 a day you can leave your dog from 7 am to 10 pm. (That’s for dogs under 90 lbs. Bigger ones are $25) The front desk guy has a special place in my heart because he’s been super nice about me showing up drunk at 10:15. (Sorry, dude!) It’s not the most beautiful play place, in fact, you might call it bare bones, but the staff does care about dogs and it shows.

The proper response to a full day of daycare is total blackout.

For those in Park Slope, I’d also try Paws in Paradise. The hours are not as great if you are into happy hour, since they are only open 7:30 to 8:30, but the facility is definitely nicer. The absolute best part is the notes. The dogsitters fill out little cards about what your dog did, ate, and how many times she pooped. They are awesome. I still have three on the fridge at home even though Raleigh has not been there since we moved and I shall cherish them forever. One of them says something about how there is no dog like her in daycare. They may say that to everyone, but I think they really only mean it about Raleigh.

In an ideal world, I’d have someone dog sit her in my house, or take her out to one of those upstate farms for boarding. But I’m a grad student on a budget, so these sorts of places can be a life saver.

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Dog Milk: The Confluence of Style And, It Would Seem, Space Dogs ?

I’m not a big shopper for myself or for my dog. But I do like the blog Dog Milk, which covers modern products for dogs, because they have a great eye for good looking stuff. At least I thought so at first. But looking at it today, it strikes me that way too many dog-stuff makers come up with ridiculous, completely useless products, and that a site devoted to all types of products might need to be more critical. Here’s what started this complaint.

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