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.

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.

Wordless Wednesday October 30 2013

Yeah, the heat's on now. I held out as long as I could. And I don't get tired of Doberball pictures. Really I don't!

Wordless Wednesday October 26 2013

Made by Meadowcat: Custom Doggie Fleeces

As you know, gentle readers, we do occasionally put clothes on Elka, but only for necessity. She has a hoodie, and a fleece vest, for those occasions when it's super cold, super windy, and her teeth are chattering. Or, sometimes she asks for the hoodie, though she doesn't really have a separate word for that yet. But I digress.

One of the mods on DobermanTalk, Meadowcat, has taken to making fleeces for dogs. It started out just for her own dogs, as so many of these things do, but she's expanded into a small business and is working on getting an Etsy store up. You can visit her Facebook page, Made by Meadowcat, to see both the custom fleece coats that she makes, and also the snoods, though I am sharing just one image below, of Harley, who is owned by a member of Doberman Talk:

(photo from Made by Meadowcat Facebook page)

They're easy, they're comfy, they're snuggly. Oh, and for orders through the rest of February? Meadowcat is having a "Share the Love" special. Not only is the order 10% off, but 10% of profits this month will go to the Doberman Assistance Network! You can contact her with any questions (and I assume orders) at Madebymeadowcat AT gmail DOT com.

XL Fleece Jammies auction (Benefits the Doberman Assistance Network)

So, I don't know about you guys, but we've been freezing our tails off here. Such as we've got them.

We had several days in a row where 12 degrees (Fahrenheit) was a balmy heat wave, and as of this writing, it's 24 degrees and sunny and I just went outside with Elka in long sleeves and a hoodie because my coat was too warm. Comparatively.

So, as a result, Miss Elka has wanted her hoodie on every day. And we've also put her fleece vest on over her harness, so that she was toasty in that. Elka loves frolicking in the snow, which brightens things up a little, but frigid days of grays are not happy making.

So! If your dog is XL, and requires something to keep him or her toasty warm, you might consider fleece. Fleece pajamas, specifically. There's an auction on eBay right now, running until February 2 (That's Saturday), and the proceeds benefit the Doberman Assistance Network. I think my fiance, or Elka, or both would slay me if ever I put her in jammies, but that shouldn't stop me from making you guys aware of them, right? Right.

So here you go. Share the love!

Dreams of Summer (Happy New Year)

I confess, in December and January and February, I think of June and July and August an awful lot.

Maybe it's because, back in high school, we had a February break, and on that break, we took a trip to warmer climes a couple of times? Key West one year, Cancun another.

There are times when it's icy and cold and winter seems like it's going to last a million more years. I don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I do get bluesy and irritable in the winter. I do think about green grass and blue skies and fireflies.

Elka gets cold, certainly. She rarely, if ever, seems to mind the summer heat. It can be ninety degrees out, with heat shimmers hanging over the pavement, and she wants me to throw a tennis ball, wants to go for a walk, wants a squeaky toy. She doesn't ask for walks in the winter; she asks for her hoodie. She asks to be under the blanket. 

But, wintry grousing aside, Happy New Year to my readers and bloggy friends. May your toes be warm enough and your houses draft free, and dreams of summer sun-kiss your face until it's again a reality.

Wordless Wednesday December 5 2012

Wordless Wednesday October 17 2012

Monday Mischief, January 9 2012

This is going to be one of those posts where mostly,  the only bad thing is my photography! I guess to people who are horrified of dogs on furniture, it's mischievous.

Last week, I did mention that it was so very cold for a few days. The cold makes me sluggish, and lazy, and really, I just wanted to park it on the couch and play video games or watch movies. And Elka, with her love for being warm and snuggling, obliged as well.

First she was under the little fleece blanket as well, but then shifted to this:

Wordless Wednesday, January 4 2012

The Cold

Every winter, whether we like it or not, the cold does come. We people have done clever things like invent clothing and build houses to deal with it, in addition to having harnessed the power of Fire in the first place.

Dogs? They have fur. Most dogs, in fact, have lots of fur, in multiple layers. The Doberman, sleek breed that it is, does not have an undercoat. Elka's fur in particular reminds me of eyelashes, and when I find one of her hairs on me, or when she's not around, I wonder if it is, in fact, an eyelash or not.

So, thin glossy hair plus winter? Cold Doberman. A lot of the time, this also means sleeping Doberman.