State of the Union

Tuesday night, Chloe and I watched the President Bark...err, Barack Obama give the State of the Union address with Aunt Pat.  Aunt Pat would say we slept through it, but I respectfully disagree.  It may have looked like we were sleeping, but we were awake.  When Chloe heard the President talk about energy, and the need for clean energy, she perked up.  Her got real perky, she rolled over a little and she got this really funky, happy smile on her face.  Aunt Pat thought it was due to her giving Chloe a tummy rub at the time.  Chloe and I know better.  Aunt Pat made a joke about using dog poop as an energy source, and it got Chloe very excited. Aunt Pat thought it could be dried and burned to produce power.   I swatted Aunt Pat with my foreleg.  She thought I was having a dream in which I was running, so she wasn't mad at me.  Good thing Daddy came home from work.  I got up to see what he was having for dinner.  Chloe still had that goofy look on her face, so Aunt Pat took her outside.  You guessed it, Chloe made her donation to the cause.  She stood there and looked at Aunt Pat, waiting for her to come get her contribution.  So, I went outside and distracted Chloe so she wouldn't be too disappointed.  But, come to find out, Aunt Pat wasn't all wet.  We just saw a commercial for GE who is using manure, among other things, to create energy. 

Anyway, today Chloe and I got to take another ride in the car!  Thankfully, it wasn't just around the neighborhood.  We got to go to the Groomer!  We really needed it.  You've seen our "before" photos.  Now here are our "after" shots. 

Note the very Spring-like color to Chloe's hair bows.  I'm sporting a spiffy Valentine's Day bandanna.  We were so happy when we got home, Chloe ran around the back yard like a crazy dog, and I made a snow dog in the fresh snow that had fallen while we were inside.

 

Having a Ball!

First and foremost, we'd like to extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery to our Groomer, D.  She had paw, err, foot surgery and we hope she feels better soon.  I was told yesterday I had big feet.  They were trimming my nails at the Rehab Vet and somebody commented on how big my feet were.  I wasn't upset.   I didn't take it as an insult.  Plus, the person who said this was giving  me a lovely foot massage at the same time. I know I have big feet.  I am a big dog.  Labrador Retrievers are a large breed dog, period.  Besides, Aunt Pat says the same thing, especially when I step on one of her feet. 

Anyway, at my visit yesterday, they had me do a new exercise.  They had this huge oval rubber ball that they put a towel over.  I was wet after doing the underwater treadmill and the towel was there to prevent slippage.  Well, one person supported my backside while another person lifted my front half over the ball.  The aim was to stretch my hip muscles.  I was a little unsure of what they were doing at first, but once I got the hang of it it was okay.  I really relaxed when they did a laser treatment right afterward.  I had a good night sleep last night, much to the relief of the humans.  More on that in our next post.

New Year, New Diet

 We're a lot like humans, we watch what we eat.  Aunt Pat would argue that it isn't the same.  Chloe and I watch just about anything:  kibble, Charlee Bears, paper, grass, dirt, and stuff we find on our walkies, like hamburger bun pieces, pizza crusts fragments, and a bread stick Chloe found in a snow drift, go into our mouths and into our stomachs.  Aunt Pat says that watching what you eat means to eat stuff that's healthy.  Since Chloe and I would want to sample one of every type of food at the pet store, which the pet store would not like, we trust Daddy and Aunt Pat to make the decision about the main food we eat.

Anyway, Daddy had found out that the manufacturer of the dog food we were eating had been purchased by a very large company.  The last time this happened with our other food company, the quality of the food suffered, and we could tell.  So, Daddy had a nice chat with the owner of the pet store, who recommended an all natural product that he is involved in.  It's made in New York, and uses only high quality ingredients that he and his partners have control over.  The product is called Grandma Mae's Country Naturals Low Fat.  This is dry food, and the kibble pieces are a lot smaller than the food we were eating so Chloe has an easier time chewing this brand.  Daddy and Aunt Pat decided to change our wet food as well, since the wet food was from the same company as our old dry food.  Once we were on the new dry food, and it was obvious that our tummies were doing well, they changed us to a brand called Nature's Variety Prairie.  We didn't have any tummy upset during the changeover, and the humans are happy since my, sh..err, poop doesn't stink as badly as it did.

 

You can see that Daddy hung up the picture he got Aunt Pat for Christmas up over the mantel in the family room.  It's right next to the shadowbox he made to remember Katie, and above our Christmas photos.  The sailing ship is called the Cutty Sark and is a model Daddy and Aunt Pat's father made when they were kids.  The other photo above the ship is a waterfall somewhere.  Aunt Pat got it at some art festival that they don't allow dogs at.  :(  They have some smaller photos on the other side of the mantel and Aunt Pat wants to get something a little bigger to balance the wall out.  She thinks all the dog photos on one side may weigh the wall down a little.  I think the wall would be perfect if they put more photos of us on the other side.  Aunt Pat could enlarge a couple of photos...after all, we are very photogenic as you can see.

Granted, Chloe needs to go to the Groomer again, but afterward, I know Aunt Pat could take some really cute photos and then the family room would be full of....us!  Daddy and Aunt Pat's graduation photos are on the opposite side of the mantel, as well as their dad's retirement portrait with their mom.  Everyone knows you can never have too many family photos.