7 Summer Safety Tips

Summer is a fun time for everyone. The pool is open, the whole family is swimming, or boating, or having fun in the water at some point. Even the dog! But summer can also be a dangerous time of year for your dog, and Olivia and I are going to share some summer safety tips with you!

1. Always supervise your dog in and around water. It only takes a second for something horrific to happen, even in a very shallow baby pool. Last year, right before my eyes, 9 week old Olivia walked right off the edge of the concrete and fell in the pool. She sank like a rock. I threw my phone on the ground and jumped in, fully clothed. Thankfully, she was okay because I was there when it happened. Had I not, it could've ended very badly.

2. If your dog is not a strong swimmer, no matter the breed, a life vest can be a great purchase that will totally be worth its price. It can also give you peace of mind that God forbid your dog end up in the water and not be able to swim, they won't drown. Last summer after she fell in the pool, Olivia always wore her life vest outside.

Olivia in her new bigger vest

Olivia last year in her original vest

Olivia's two vests side by side

3. If you have a pool make sure you take your dog in the pool with you and show them how to get out (most likely using stairs or a shallow end) in case something happens.

4. It gets very hot in a lot of parts of the country. Make sure your dog has fresh water to drink at all times. The chemicals in the pool do not make it a viable choice. Ponds or lakes are also not ideal.

Sometimes Olivia cools her feet in her
 water bowl

5. Any dog can over heat if left outside too long, especially without any shade. Snub nose dogs (like Olivia), black dogs, and hairy dogs can get especially hot. Make sure you keep an eye on your pet and look for signs of distress. Don't wait until your dog tells you they want to come in, it may already be too late- especially if they've been running or very active.

6. If you have a dog like a Chinese Crested then I'm sure you already know you need to apply sunscreen to them. But other dogs, particularly ones with pink skin, may also need some SPF protection in the warmer months.

7. Avoid going for walks during the hottest parts of the days. Instead opt for early morning or later at night.

Summer is such a great time of year to spend time and bond with your dog, just make sure you do so safely!

Thoughtless Thursday

By Ruckus the Eskie and co-host Love is being owned by a Husky

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I'm A Boston!

I found this really cute shirt for Olivia on Etsy in the Clevotine shop. I love their stuff, it's all Boston Terrier related and now their even making stuff for dogs too! I have their pink v-neck and I wear it all the time (including when I picked Olivia out of her litter-mate and as well as when we picked her up two weeks later) and now Olivia has her own Clevotine shirt! It says "I'm a Boston Terrier, Not a French Bull Dog" on it which is really quite appropriate because I get asked that question all the time. "Is she... a... a... French... uh..." "She's a Boston" "Oh. Right." I'm really glad the people at Clevotine wrote that the dog shirts run small, I ended up getting Olivia a large and it fits perfect :)

New Trick... WAVE!

So I mentioned that Olivia learned Wave at her petsmart class yesterday, and today I taught it to Fern, too. I made a little video!

Olivia Goes to See Christmas Lights

Last night Brian and I took Olivia to see Christmas lights at this place we have here in town called Hopeland Gardens. They boasted 100,000 lights over 1.5 miles of trail.

We had to park the car at a park and take a shuttle over. I didn't know this in advance and was a little worried they wouldn't let Olivia on board. Good planning on the town/whoever was in charge of this event because they actually had one dog friendly bus! We were the only ones on board it. Olivia thought it was great fun and really enjoyed trotting around the park. I'm not sure she loved having to pose every two steps with various light displays but oh well, and I'm sure Brian (who was holding her leash) must have gotten tired of hearing "pose her with [fill in the blank], yes, right here, no not there, here". With other people around and distractions I couldn't always convince Olivia to look at the camera... oh well.

Here's the photos:

I didn't mean to be trendy.

When I set out to get a Boston Terrier of my own it was not my intention to get a dog at the height of its current popularity, or a dog that's trending like a top #hashtag on Twitter. But it seems I did. I didn't realize how popular of a dog Bostons were until I had my own. Now I see them in every single ad it seems. Just this morning my mom showed me a cholesterol ad with a Boston in it that she saw in Taste of Home magazine.

Maybe ads have always had Bostons in them and I've never noticed? But I'm thinking it's more because Bostons have come into popularity [again?]- which this article proves. I must admit that I don't mind have a popular dog. I love seeing cute Bostons every where I go!


I think this Nikon ad is pretty funny and cute:

Wordless Wednesday: Olivia's Photoshoot

Back when we went to the Amazing Pet Expo: Atlanta, Olivia had her photo taken by the pet photographer. The photos were then green screened and sent to me. Here's how they came out:

And The Winner Is.....

Congrats, Duke!

And a big thank you to everyone who entered!

Stay tuned for future contest/giveaways!

Christmas Carols

As Christmas approaches and I get in the holiday spirit, I've found myself making up my own Christmas Carols. They go something like this:

Jingle Bostons, Jingle Bostons

Jingle all the way!

Oh what fun it is to ride

In a fart powered sleigh!

Olivia is quite gassy (I hear it's a Boston Terrier thing) so this one is based on the fact that Olivia farts constantly whether she has to go potty or not.

Hark the Harley

Olivia sings,

Glory to Fern Louise!

So Harley is my cat and those of you who read my previous post from Monday know that Fern Louise is my parent's/the family dog. 

My own bad singing made me interested in other pet related takes on the classics, this is what I came up with:

But First, my favorite dog Christmas video... yes it does star a Boston....

Ok, here's the Christmas carols:

Happy National Mutt Day!

Today is National Mutt Day! I'd like to dedicate this blog post to my family dog/my parent's dog Fern Louise.

We got Fern Louise at one of those huge Pet Adoption Fairs that I found on Pet Finder in 2010. It was in a mall parking lot. My parents and I had lost the second of our two greyhounds a few months before and my mom and I were missing having a dog. My dad wanted to wait until we made the move from New Jersey to South Carolina but I didn't want to wait that long. The house just wasn't a home without a dog!

My mom and convinced my dad to take us and there we found a scared and sad looking terrier mix, sitting like a bowling pin in her chain link enclosure. Her shelter name was Mustang Sally, she was estimated at 10 months old, and she was rescued by the group who had her from a kill shelter in Georgia. It was the second day of the adoption fair and we were told someone was going to adopt her the previous day but pulled out.

We became that scared little dog's Furrrr-ever Family. My mom liked the name Fern Louise, which she had gotten out of a book she had once read, 1000 White Women. 

Fern came with her fair share of baggage. She can feel a storm coming hours before it hits, she's terrified of loud noises (gun shots, fire works, thunder), she's dog aggressive with dogs she doesn't know. Despite that, she has friends- my riding instructor's 3 dogs (a Boston, a Carolina Ditch Dog [mutt], and a Golden), another friend's Lab, and not to be forgotten, Olivia. She loves to play and wrestle and frolic with Olivia for hours- but we did have to be careful with introducing them.

Fern is a good dog, a sweet dog, and my family is happy to call Fern ours.

Fern the race horse with her jockey
costume

a bed to call her own (shortly after adoption)

"I'm allowed to be here, right?" Answer: No.

Fern in my old stroller

Fern and my late cat, Chucky

Fern and Santa at a Christmas parade

Fern in her Christmas dress

Fern and my cat Harley in their Christmas duds

comfy in bed

living the life

"oh hey there"

Fern and Harley

Christmas 2012 visit with Santa
Fern and Harley (and me)

Fern, Brian and I - Christmas 2012

Fern and her friends

even though she's too big for a lap dog... she still tries

Playing with her buddy

Olivia's Christmas Dog Toy Giveaway!

Olivia and I would like to spread Christmas cheer with our fellow [dog] bloggers (sorry kitties!). I put together a prize pack that I hope will be appropriately sized for most pups.

Contents:

1- Mickey Mouse Bottle Cruncher

1- Ginger Bread Man Crinkle Toy (Stuffing-Free)

1- Sweet Potato Pie Wet Nose Stocking Stuffer Sized Treats

1- Apple Pie Wet Nose Stocking Stuffer Sized Treats

If you would like to be in the running for Olivia's Giveaway please e-mail me with the subject Olivia's Giveaway and in the body of the e-mail your name and email address so I can e-mail the winner. 

I tried to set up a linky tool but got confused. I'm going to pick the old fashioned way- put all the names (with their e-mail addresses) in a hat and then blindly pull one.

I will pull the winner on December 10, 2013 and will let the winner know via e-mail as soon as I can after that. Hopefully, if everything works like I hope the winner will receive their prize in time for Christmas!




The Amazing Pet Expo: Atlanta

So I've been taking a blog-cation. But here it ends.

Brian (my fiancee), Olivia, and I went to the Amazing Pet Expo: Atlanta on Saturday. We drove 3 hours to get there and we were there when it opened at 10 am. We brought the stroller but Brian insisted on carrying Olivia around.

The East TN Boston Terrier Rescue was there and they loved Olivia. I made a $25 donation for their calendar, which is really well done! The photos are all based on movies and it's so cute :) Especially if you like Boston Terriers BOL.

There was a pet photographer who was taking the photos for free and emailing them to you later on. If you wanted to buy the photos you could once you saw them. Of course, we had Olivia's photo taken.

There were free dog cookies every where you turned, free handouts, flyers, all sorts of free-bees. We got many frisbees and tennis balls, travels bowls, and chap stick, even.

I bought Pet Cakes microwave dog treats, a JackSack poop bag holders, and some misc. other Boston Terrier and doggy items. Olivia also got her nails trimmed for free!

We got to see lots of demos, frisbee, obedience, and agility. It was funny how interested in it Olivia was. We saw Shorty Rossi (Pit Boss) and Hercules. And the biggest celebrity we met was the blogosphere's very own Preston!

Preston is very cute (he was wearing a nice polo) and because we follow his blog we got a PrestonSpeaks frisbee! We chatted with Preston's parents and then later heard Preston's mom talk about how to save money buying stuff for your pets, with an emphasis on traveling. It was really interesting!

We had to stick around until 5 pm for the costume contest and some people took it overboard, check out the photos below to see what I mean!

Olivia exhausted at the end of the day

our swag

shorty and hercules

preston and olivia and their daddies

with the petco dog

toy dogs and tiaras (spoof on
toddlers in tiaras)

toy chihuahua

olivia watching frisbee

min pins dancing for snacks

"georgia peach"

olivia and her preston
speaks frisbee