Category: A Dog’s Life

Dog Tired but SO Comfortable

dog tiredMy mom wants me to get LOTS of exercise. What’s a dog to do? I’m exhausted. And it’s pouring rain. So I’m on my mom’s bed, totally sprawled out. I’m supposed to be curled up on my dog cushion but who’s counting?

This is what being a princess is all about. Lying on a soft comforter, relaxed and asleep. My mom says she’s like to curl up next to me but she has to work so we can pay for these comforters, not to mention the dog walks, food and…time for another nap.

One Fact Not Worth Knowing About OUR Cat

My mom just came across this article: 17 Things Worth Knowing About Cats. cat sleeping on sofa

The article said a cat can run up to 30 miles per hour. That’s an ordinary house cat, they said.

Whoever wrote that article has not met our Ophelia. However, I admit Ophelia can move pretty fast when Creampuff is chasing her.

ONE thing worth knowing about dogs. We are superior to cats. And we love to sleep.

Two things? I am a dog. Who says I can count?

Dog Owner Gets Scrooge-Y Around Holiday Time

My mom Cathy has a secret. Well, it’s not exactly a secret since she showed me clippings of published articles in newspapers, proudly presenting her views on holidays. She hates them. You can read her article here.

Cathy especially hates Thanksgiving. “Long dinners with small talk with people I barely know. A feast of food, mostly not healthy. Who needs this?” she asks. “Gracie, I could just take you to the dog park for an extra run.”

I like that idea.

Of course, as a dog, I enjoy going visiting. I love meeting new people. Everyone makes a fuss over me. Usually I can persuade a kind soul to slip me some turkey when my mom isn’t looking. (Don’t ask me what else they feed me. My mom would have a heart attack.)

What are you doing for the holidays?

Brrr!!! Winter in Seattle has come too early this year.

My mom and I are bummed. Cathy wanted to take me for a good, long walk today. “I’m going out this evening,” she said last night. “So we’d better give you some exercise.”

Then we woke up to a cold, rainy morning. I hurried through out early “do your business” walk and my mom hustled me back home. “No strolling around today,” she said firmly. “Too bad the Dog Lounge had to close the Belltown location. You’d spend a few happy hours there.”

Yeah, I agree with that one. I miss seeing Summer, Cynthia and my other good buddies every week. It’s just too far to get to the new locations. My mom says she doesn’t know any other dog lounges that are convenient and anyway, she’s loyal to the Dog Lounge. So am I.

The really good news, she said, is our ceiling seems to have stopped leaking. The management company actually fixed it! That means we can move my crate back to where it belongs.

“Let’s just be sure,” my mom said. “I don’t want to leave you in your crate with water dripping like a torture chamber.”

Good thinking, Mom. I mostly like my crate. It’s cozy and the cats leave me alone. Let’s keep it that way.

Dog Owner at Internet Marketing Conference

My mom admires Connie Green, an Internet empire builder. So when Connie organized a pre-conference get-together, Mom flew in to join them. She left on a 6 AM flight and arrived on time in Las Vegas.

The group posed for a photo. Connie’s in back, wearing pink, with a big warm smile. Mom’s the one on the far right, wearing a hat. She’s crouching down just a little so people can see the folks behind her. Nobody dresses up because they all work from home on the Internet .Some of them don’t even have suits anymore.

“Do I look OK, Gracie?” she asked, showing me the photo. “Not too old or too fat?”

What do I know? I am a dog, remember? I think she looks fabulous when she’s got a hand out to give me my treats.

Back to work (sigh…)

My mom went out of town last week and I got to spend 5 days in the Downtown Dog Lounge. Yaay! It was like a vacation. I played with my Big Sister Summer and got a nice spa treatment on Sunday: bath, mani and pedi. They even did my ears.

Aunt Sara picked me up on Monday because Mom doesn’t have a car. When Sara dropped me off, she said, “Gracie needs a new leash and collar.”

Finally!

“I was going to give her a Christmas gift,” my mom said.

“Nope. You need it now,” said Aunt Sara.

My mom is well-intentioned but a little clueless sometimes. What happened to my birthday?”

But I knew I was back at work this evening. Mom was feeling a little tired. “With all the flu going around,” she said, “I am not taking any chances.” She headed off to bed and pressed me into service as a heating pad.

“It’s cold out there,” she said.

Other people would turn the heat up. Not my mom. She’s into ecology and healthy living. She opens the window, piles on the quilts and grabs her dog. If dogs had a union, we would modify the contract. Dogs go on walks. They don’t do heating pads. I should get overtime pay.

Smart Dogs? Hah. I could do that.

The New York Times ran a story today about a Labradoodle who serves as combination service dog and psychiatric aide. They said the Veterans Admin will spend $300 to study the impact of service dogs.

Save your money, Dogs are natural psychiatrists. I personally keep my owner, Cathy Goodwin, sane and motivated. Without me, who knows how she’d spend her time? Would she get out of the house and do things if she didn’t have to walk me? Would she go to bed early if I weren’t waiting for her?

I am a natural social worker. I go up to strangers on buses. I snuggle up to strangers sitting on benches on the street. People pat me when they want a dog fix.

And while I may be a princess, I’m not a high-priced breed by any means. The government can save its money. There are dozens of wonderful mutts like me. If I can keep my owner in line, any dog can do anything.

Seattle Public Library to Mom: “One book is just like another”

My mom Cathy is an avid reader (as if you couldn’t tell). She’s also a dedicated library user. I’m not allowed in most library branches and I have no desire to go to the Central Library. Dogs are not made for revolving doors.

But my mom was infuriated by the new policy on holding books. She realizes the Seattle Public Library needs to cut back but she can’t understand their logic.

I don’t read, of course, and logic isn’t much of a dog’s specialty. But even I couldn’t miss the idiocy of a comment sent by the librarian to my mom. “We have trained librarians,” the librarian said, “who will help patrons find alternatives to the most popular books.”

In other words, this goes beyond, “Let ’em eat cake.” It’s like saying, “When you go to the library, you want a book. Any book.”

So you say, “I want a book about dogs.”

Will the librarian say, “Well, Malcolm Gladwell’s book, What The Dog Saw, is already up to over 100 holds. But what about The Art of Racing In The Rain? That’s a great dog book.”

Fall is coming to Seattle and dogs are getting colder

Here I’m standng on a street corner, waiting for my mom Cathy to lead me across the street. Notice I’m surrounded by wet leaves and I’ve got leaves caught between my two hind feet. Wet and slippery. Yuk.

I’m always alert to protect my mom from weird strangers. The problem is, I can’t share my definition of “weird” with my mom. Sometimes I’ll bark at a person who seems perfectly nice and respectable.

Recently we walked past a woman who looked like a street person. I barked assertively. But the woman stopped and politely asked permission fto pat me. “I used to train dogs,” she said. “This is a good one.”

She gave me a complete butt massage..aahh, that felt good. I snuggled up to show my appreciation. Then my mom reminded me, “Gracie, we are out here so you can do your business.” Oops…almost forgot. With a friendly wave (mom) and tail wag (me), we were on our way. What a great way to have a morning walk.