Throwback Thursday (because yesterday was National Puppy Day) 3/24/16

I missed both Wordless Wednesday and National Puppy Day in one fell swoop, so here's one of my first Elka puppy pictures.

What Elka (and I!) have been up to

We're still here. I know it's been awhile.

Let's see, where did we leave off?

We took the standard New Jersey trip at Christmas. My grandparents' neighborhood does luminaries on Christmas Eve, and so Elka and I helped with that.

Wordless Wednesday July 1 2015

Product Review: Kurgo Tru-Fit Dog Harness

Recently, I was contacted by reps at Kurgo, to see if I wanted to review their Tru-Fit Dog Harness. You see, they'd recently revamped the design and then crash tested it at the University of Michigan (and you can watch the video at the above link). I said YES, because continued improvement on the safety of car harnesses for dogs is always fantastic in my book!

Product Review: Fromm's Four Star Nutritionals Treats (Parmesan)

We got these treats to review from Chewy.com, and this particular flavor (Parmesan) leapt right out at me from the list. Does Elka like cheese? Oh yes she does!

So what happened to May?

I'm sorry folks, I didn't mean to pull a disappearing act for nearly the entire month of May.

Wordless Wednesday April 29 2015

Wordless Wednesday March 25 2015

Elka does not know the difference between skunks and cats

I did not witness this particular adventure; my fiancé related it to me after coming back in the house. I have no pictures of this adventure, so I'll provide you with some stock photos and you can use your imagination.

Because the backyard is still techtonically snowy and icy (spring is here or coming or something), we're still just letting Elka out the back door and into the fenced area to go potty (which reminds me, I'm going to need a new poop scooper for when that is no longer the case). We're working on self control, so she doesn't just bolt out that door as soon as it's opened, but rather waits to be released.

I literally have no idea what this dog does and does not understand

So, the other day, we (the household, Elka included) were sitting on the couch, watching a movie. Night Watch, for those interested. It's a Russian urban fantasy film based on the first of a series of books by Sergei Lukyanenko. Very much worth checking out.

But I digress.

(this is a blog stock photo, it's not warm enough yet to have the door open, not by a long shot. But this is approximately where she was on the couch, anyway)

*Does* music soothe the savage beast?

Sometimes Elka is whiny and anxious for no reason that we can tell. Sometimes it's something we can do nothing about at the moment, like ice falling off the side of the house (note to self: insulation).

She can be distracted, and sometimes consoled, but the same thing doesn't work all the time. A peanut butter Kong only does so much when you stop licking it periodically to mohawk up and grumble around the first floor. I think it's worse for her if we know what the deal is, because we can't make her understand. Sometimes "leave it" just isn't good enough. In a way, this is a "willful disobedience" sort of situation; we're telling her, "it's okay, get over it", but she's like "no, for serious, THERE'S SOMETHING DANGEROUS WHY DON'T YOU CARE??!!?!?!"

Wordless Wednesday March 11 2015

Product Review: Surprise My Pet Box

I was approached by Surprise My Pet to do a product review of one of their subscription boxes. I haven't yet personally committed to an ongoing subscription box of my (or Elka's) very own, but I love the principle of them, and they're always fun to try.

Surprise My Pet was no different.

We got the box and I set it on the floor for Elka to peruse. She promptly nosed it, because that's how she interacts with most things, so I apologize for the blurry action shot.

Adventures in Winter Recall

Our -12 degree potty routine, our three feet of snow potty routine, is send Elka out back, call her back when she's done. And she gets done pretty quickly, and with good efficiency, as I've mentioned. Lately, though, some of that distractibility has crept back. God knows why, it's still -12 some mornings, and there's still three feet of snow out there.

But, I've begun to utilize the three count. I'll tell her to go potty, I'll say hurry up, and then I start to count. If I reach 3, I call her back and we go inside. Mostly, she gets busy at 2, if I even need to count.

Wordless Wednesday February 25 2015

(This picture was from August. I miss August. So does Elka)

Today is Love your Pet day!

Well, we're hanging on here in frigid central New York. Persistent single digits, lots of snow, wind chill....it's been a brutal winter. Lots of laziness, lots of huddling on the couch in hoodies and under blankets. To add insult to injury, even sunny days aren't warm ones. Quite the opposite!

But evidently today is Love Your Pet Day.

Wordless Wednesday February 11 2015

So we had a bit of weather....

Sunday night into Monday, it SNOWED here. Quite a lot. I have Mondays off now anyway, but the library even got a snow day.

Wordless Wednesday January 28 2015

Elka understands what blankets are for, just not why they don't do what she wants

You know how they say dogs and their owners resemble each other?

Well, I haven't attained a supermodel physique like Elka's (yet!) but she definitely shares a very strong opinion with me: she doesn't like being cold.