'Tis the Season

I'm skipping over Halloween (momentarily) to post about the awesome cards on Shutterfly. Right now, Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards.

I'm still not sure which card design I will choose, because there are so many! They have Christmas cards, Hanukkah cards, and even Christmas invitations if you plan on having a holiday party.

When choosing a holiday card, I usually opt for something that isn't too Christmas-y. A lot of people I send cards to don't celebrate Christmas, so I like to stay a bit neutral. Plus, pictures of Sadie are the main focus anyway, so we don't want anything too distracting! I'm thinking about using a design that allows for multiple photos, like this one:

 

But then there are so many awesome designs that just allow for one larger photo, and I'm tempted to use one of those instead. Something like this is really pretty, I think:

 

But I'm not sure I have one really amazing picture of Sadie and me. I was going to possibly put some of my "photography" pics on card that allows for multiple photos, including pictures of Sadie. What does everyone think? Maybe I could create my own photo collage and then upload it to a design that allows for one large photo. Not sure if that would be too busy then? Hmmm, well I am going to have to decide soon! The problem is, I have a lot of great photos of Sadie alone, but she refuses to pose for pictures when I'm in them with her!! Is it weird to just send a card with Sadie on it? Haha.

Lastly, if you would like to receive 50 FREE Holiday Cards from Shutterfly for posting an entry like this on your blog, check this out.

Say Goodbye to Summer/Fall

I grew up in Florida, so there was only ever one season there: Summer. Sometimes during the year you could call it "Hotter Summer" or "Cooler Summer" but we never really had Fall, Spring, or certainly not Winter. I was never really a fan of this when I lived there for 23 years. But now that I have experienced brutal winters (in Boston and NY), I do revel in the Summer heat now. This year, I have been in denial about the fact that Summer is over, and the temperatures are going to continue to drop. Sadie LOVES the snow, but I certainly do not love walking her when it's freezing out. I meant to post these videos of Sadie swimming several months ago...but I actually didn't think my phone had saved them, because I dropped my old phone into the pool as I was filming one of them lol (oops). But they survived somehow! So there is one short one of her swimming, and another of her barking at the bubbles from the filter. She was obsessed with trying to "catch" the bubbles in the water haha. So this is our tribute to the end of Summer. We hope you enjoy it :)

P.S. I may have bought Sadie two more Halloween costumes yesterday because PetSmart was having a 75% off sale!! Oops. So yes, she now has three costumes. I have a problem. Haha. I don't know which costume she'll wear this year though!!!

Friendly Friday (A Day Early)

I recently discovered this great site for all pet bloggers called Pet Blogs United. They're doing something called Friendly Friday tomorrow, where you post about one of your fellow pet bloggers to get to know more people here! Check it out:



Because I discovered this wonderful blog through Our Life: Dozer and Coop, I thought I should blog about them! :) If you don't know Dozer and Coop (and Nancy) already, you should go check out their page!! They post about a variety of topics, and there's always a lot of humor involved (and adorable pictures).

Dozer is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi (yay corgis!) and Cooper is an American Cocker Spaniel. As you'll see from the blog, Dozer really runs the show, but Coop gets his time to shine as well (much to Dozer's dismay!).

Here's one of my favorite pics from their blog (which I hope Nancy doesn't mind me posting):

Hey, they're even available on your Kindle (if you have one). So go check out Our Life: Dozer and Coop -- you won't be sorry!

Wordless Wednesday

**Sorry we haven't been around lately! Been very busy and haven't had much to write about...but stay tuned in the coming weeks for Sadie's Halloween costume :)**

Update and Other Nonsense

Well, Sadie is still acting scared on some mornings. I still don't know what the problem is though. I think it might be because I am getting ready for work. This all started after I went away for a weekend. So maybe she is just remembering that? Or it's just her remembering the morning when the carbon monoxide detector was beeping. I try to ignore it as much as I can. She calms down when we are in our bedroom, but if I get up, she will follow me and stay as close as possible. It just makes me sad, but I think she is okay.

Another fun thing that has resurfaced...when we go out for walks now (because the weather has cooled down), Sadie will decide she doesn't want to go inside. So she just lays down on the sidewalk, the grass, or the street and refuses to move. She just looks at me when I reprimand her. And if I pull on her leash, she contorts her head so her collar comes off (and the collar isn't loose). I try picking her up, and she lays right back down. It's really frustrating. I know this is clearly because Sadie thinks she's in charge. Unfortunately for the most part, she is. I just don't know how to get her to stop this, or to just listen to me! She does this to my aunt and uncle, too, but she seems to listen to them more when they say no.

Other than that, I've been really busy with work and school, but this past weekend we went to the dog park. Sadie was very excited! It has been awhile, because it was so hot this summer. She started crying when we got close to the park. I even let her swim in the lake for a little bit...but then I gave her a bath right when we got home. She wasn't too thrilled about the latter. Hope everyone is doing well. I can't believe it's October...and the weather is getting so cool :( Do not want winter!

Wordless Wednesday

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

In Need of Help/Advice

First, hello! I am back from Florida. The reunion was kind of weird, but we had fun. There was a lot of alcohol involved lol. I missed Sadie terribly, but it was great coming home to her wiggly little butt!! She was very excited. And so was I. I cuddled with her all night.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I think Sadie has some kind of PTSD. I thought she had gotten better after this last incident, but I noticed Sadie was still acting weird in the mornings. Every morning when I wake up, she is the same as usual: excited to go outside. She runs to the front door, we go for a walk, and everything seems fine. Then when we get back into the house, I get her breakfast ready, and she just starts acting funny. She hides under the table and looks petrified again. And here's what's really bothering me...she won't come eat her breakfast! Sadie ALWAYS eats. But she won't even come over to the food. She just looks around the kitchen with her ears back and her eyes wide. It's like she sees or hears something and is afraid of it.

I have been bringing her food into my room, and she sometimes will eat in there. But this morning, it took a long time for her to calm down enough to eat. Besides the not eating, she is refusing to drink water in the morning, too. I got her to lick some ice cubes this morning, and I left water for her, but that still really worries me.

The only thing I can think of is that this other incident happened in the morning last week, and she was in the kitchen when she heard it. So maybe she is still having some kind of PTSD episode? My uncle mentioned that when my aunt went to go pick me up at the airport on Monday, Sadie was trying to get out of the house, pushing her nose up against the glass door constantly and crying. Something is scaring her. But what can it be??

It's starting to really upset me. And I really am afraid to leave her every day now. Does anyone have any suggestions? What would you do? Should I bring her to the vet? Help, please!

Separation Anxiety

I have been posting a lot lately! Hope you all don't mind :) You'll get a mini break from my rambling starting tomorrow. Which brings me to this post...

I am leaving tomorrow to go to Florida for my 10 year high school reunion (which is why I was on a weight loss mission for the past several months and lost 45 pounds!). I will be there until Monday afternoon. This means I have to leave Sadie here in NY with my aunt and uncle (who she loves!). But, I still have to LEAVE her. Which kills me. She guilt trips me, and just looks so pathetic when I leave, which breaks my heart.

The suitcase has come out, and she knows something is going on. I feel horrible leaving her, but it's great to know that she will be in good hands! I wish I could bring her with me everywhere though :) Hope everyone has a great weekend, and we'll see you again here next week!

More Corgis with Blogs Calendar!

As many of you know, Kelly at Corgi Butts held a photo contest for her Corgis with Blogs calendar that she designs. Sadie was a finalist but unfortunately didn't make the cut for the calendar this year. She was up against some stiff competition!

But, because Kelly is so awesome, she created a second calendar including all of the corgi finalists that didn't make it into the calendar. And so, the More Corgis with Blogs calendar was born! Sadie is Miss August, and she looks adorable, if I do say so myself hehe. (And check out Mr. Bender on the cover! Love that pic!!)

You can buy this calendar here. If you'd prefer the original Corgis with Blogs calendar, you can purchase that here or here. Or, you could do what I'm doing and buy one of each! :) Thank you, Kelly!! Oh, and by the way, all proceeds go to Lakeshore Corgi Rescue!

PTSD

As you know, I rescued Sadie several years ago. (More on that here.) But I still don't know her history. In the years that I've been with Sadie, I've certainly seen some classic abused dog behaviors though. I have no idea if she was abused as a pup. I honestly would rather not know what really happened to her, because I am sure it would upset me. But Sadie certainly has some history that I'm sure she wishes she could forget. I really think she suffers from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and it kills me every time something sets her off.

We experienced one of these episodes this morning. Any time Sadie hears some kind of beeping noise, such as the smoke detector (whether it's going off or the battery needs to be changed), Sadie FREAKS out. I've mentioned this briefly before here. This morning before I got ready for work, the battery alarm on the carbon monoxide detector started chirping. Sadie went running. I found her shaking in a corner with her ears back and her eyes wide. Her heart was racing. It didn't help that the cat decided to smack her as she walked by either lol.

I picked up Sadie and put her in the bathroom and quickly tried to replace the battery. (It took me awhile to figure out it was actually the carbon monoxide detector and not the smoke detector, too.) After I replaced the battery, I went back to check on Sadie. She hadn't moved. She looked petrified. I tried to calm her down as much as possible, but when she gets like this, it takes a long time for her to calm down. Every sound seems to get amplified for her, and she is just on edge for awhile. Her heart had stopped racing by the time I finished my shower, but I still had to carry her into my room, as she wouldn't leave the bathroom (even with the promise of treats!).

When this happens, it breaks my heart. I had to leave her, too, to go to work, which was even worse. She had calmed down by that time, but still looked a bit shaken. This is how she looked before I left:

You can see how scared she is in her face. And her ears stay that like for awhile after it happens. Every sound freaks her out. (And yes, I gave her that bear and her favorite blanket before I left in hopes that it would help her lol.) The best way I've discovered to calm her down is to just talk to her in a soothing tone and cuddle with her. I was rubbing her face and just being close to her for awhile. Something else that helps is Rescue Remedy, which has a version made especially for pets. It's a natural remedy (and they have a human version as well) and it definitely works. I've used the human version on myself. And the pet version definitely seems to calm Sadie down. I don't use it every time; only when it's really bad and she can't stop shaking in the corner.

Do your pets have similar reactions to certain sounds or sights? What do you do to calm them down? It's so sad seeing Sadie like this.