Erin left for college in the middle of August, which has been a huge adjustment for all of us ): She's only an hour away, so she comes home every weekend and we still have plenty of adventures. She's required to live in the dorms on campus her first year, but next year she'll be in an apartment and the crew and I will be moving to Columbia!
I've got a lot of new goodies on the way to help me cope with our new schedule. Retail therapy always cheers me up!
In the mail we have:
1. The Zoom Groom, which we've heard great things about!
Even though we have short hair, we still shed like crazy!
A new bed (Fetch just got a new one, but I stole it, so now I'm getting my own!) like this one, but I'm probably going to send the human to TJ Maxx or Ross since they have an awesome pet section!
We love beds with high sides so we can really burrow and feel snug!
And probably a new sweater is in order for Fetch, since he's older with thinner furs. It never gets cold enough for me to wear clothes, but Fetch is a little more 'delicate'
And we've recently gotten a few new things already, like a new collar for me from TwistedPetsDesigns on etsy:
Fetch taking it out for a spin-- note he's also wearing my webmaster... the nerve.
He's not ashamed to wear purple!
Fetch also got a puppia, which we've had our eyes on for a while.
Before and after his trip to the Farmer's Market
Fetch has been going on a lot of outings lately, since he's a really bombproof dog, and I've been working with my reactivity, though my progress has been slowed since we can only work on the weekends, and by then the focus is usually draining my energy so I can focus better. But we'll keep working at it! Hopefully we may try to do some group classes, with the trainer we worked with last spring, over the summer.
From Fetch's trip to the Farmer's Market
For now, though, we've mostly been sticking to the trails, with no complaints from me!
As a side note, Erin finally started clipping our
nails herself! When we were getting daily walks they maintained themselves
pretty well, but since we only get walked on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
now, we get trimmed every week! Fetch behaves like a perfect gentlemen when
getting trimmed, after a good bit of conditioning and plenty of treats, and
Erin's pretty proud at how short she's got them now. Fetch doesn't make a sound
even when he's walking over hardwood floors, which is a huge improvement. I, on
the other hand, am not a fan of having them trimmed, even if treats are
involved. We've made a lot of progress though, and just take a little bit off at a time. My nails are a lot thicker and darker than Fetch's, so she's a little more cautious with them, but so far neither one of us has ever been quicked, thank dog. It's going to take a while to get the quicks to recede, but they're getting closer to where she'd like them to be!
We also made the switch from Blue Buffalo Life Protection to a grain-free food, Taste of the Wild! We started off with High Praire Canine and are working through Southwest Canyon, with a final addition of Wild Wetlands to the rotation. Erin didn't expect a drastic difference since Blue Buffalo is a pretty decent food, but we both have even MORE energy than before, and our coats are slightly shinier. The cats are in the process of switching from Innova canned Cat & Kitten formula (largely due the grossly frequent recalls and the ownership of the company) to Dave's canned Cat food, which is grain-free. She hopes to add a few more brands to the rotation, so feel free to comment if you have any suggestions!
In other dog related news (before I share some updates on the cats), Erin started volunteering with a Service dog organization in Columiba to get her doggie fix during the week and to gain experience, and so far, she's had a blast, and is really learning a lot!
Tally, one of the service dogs in training. (They use the EasyWalk, just like mine!)
Annnnd now for the cats! Sage is getting really huge! He just turned five months in October, and is scheduled to get neutered this month. He's really grown a lot! As he continues to grow, Erin's seeing more and more of a Siamese influence, in both his appearence and his mannerism. He's the most social, vocal, and intelligent cat! It only took him a few minutes to learn sit, come, and his name. We've also started working on leash training, which he's taken to like a champ! He's a lot more outgoing and less skittish than Tyger. He's also the worst beggar! Tyger has never had an interest in people food, so it's been pretty amusing to see how food driven he is. He's almost as bad as Fetch, and definitely more persistent. He's come a long way from the feeble, flea-and-worm-ridden stray he was when we first got him! He moved into our house for good (previously he'd been living with Erin's boyfriend and visiting daily) before school started, and he and Tyger are best buddies, even if Sage can be kind of annoying sometimes!
The best of friends
One Classy Kitten
Brothers can be annoying sometimes; sometimes you just have to teach them a lesson
Sage's first walk on the trails. Fetch was there to supervise.
Tyger's had a rough few months. He took Erin's absence really hard the first few weeks, and even got a stress cold the first week, which made Erin feel really bad. She keeps telling us that she has to go to school and get a good job to support our expensive lifestyle habits (cat food costs us a small fortune every month) (ha!) which makes it a little better, but it's hard to remember sometimes. He's really a one person cat, and is pretty skittish around everyone else, despite socialization as a kitten. However, since Erin's been gone, he's starting to relax a little bit. Initially he would just stay upstairs (in her room) all week until Erin came home on the weekends, but he's started venturing downstairs again and behaving more like he would if she was here, though he still waits in the window a lot for her to come home. He's become even more cuddly and affectionate (to Erin, atleast) and actually seeks out attention from Matthew (her boyfriend), and is hanging out downstairs in the living room even when the family's around and there's a little commotion going on (which is a HUGE improvement for him). We think having Sage around, who's very very social and loves the family, has been really helpful for bringing Tyger out of his shell, and he's made a lot of improvements. It's funny how different they are; basically polar opposites, but they get along so well!
Tyger hanging out in the living room with the family-- a rare sight.
That's all for now! Sorry for the super long post! We hope to start posting much more regularly now that we're getting into a routine; it's been really crazy lately! Hopefully we'll be posting at least once a week.
Woofs & Meows,
Susie the Doxie & the Crew
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