Monday Mischief: There's Always One!

Every year when I put my Christmas stuff away after New Year's, there's always ONE thing that evades me, which is a pain since the Xmas decor gets crammed, er, packed with great precision into storage boxes. The heavy boxes are then hefted up onto the top shelf of our storage closet/pantry, with all manner of odd-sized/shaped things piled on top.

So, any missing item gets to spend the year sitting on the shelf in the closet surveying our comings and goings. (Since this is also the closet where Rita's treats reside, we come and go a lot!)

Because of the "there's always one!" problem, I usually do a military-precision-style sweep of the house, going through each room several times to make sure no one gets left behind. I pile everything on/around the dining room table, and when I'm sure I've got it all, I start cramming, er, packing.

Well, I really thought I'd rounded up and exiled everyone this year, until Rita pointed out that we had a stow-away hiding between two dining room chairs.

Mirth Watch Thursday: 7 Smiles, 1 Scream & A Giveaway

A week or so ago, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal on the benefits of smiling. According to the article, "Researchers are finding that wearing a smile brings certain benefits, like slowing down the heart and reducing stress." One of the researchers added, "You can influence mental health by what you do with your face, whether you smile more or frown less."

So, bring your face over to Pooch Smooches and engage in some smiling. No, it's not just dorking around and a waste of time. You're reducing your stress levels!

In order to induce today's smiles, I give you: seven smiling dogs, one screaming pepper, and a chance to win fun stuff.

Seven Smilers

An adorable pup from the shelter where I volunteer. (He got adopted!)

Mirth Watch Thursday: Rita's Rant

Hi everypawdy. Rita here. I have a bone to pick with the authors, illustrators, screen writers, directors, claymation-ers and muppeteers of this here world!

I want to know - where are the bitches that a little girl-pup like myself can look up to?

I beseech you. Seriously... what gives??

Mirth Watch Thursday: Your Doggy Doppelganger

Do you have a doggy doppelgänger? Or maybe your dog has one?

I started thinking about doppelgängers the other day when one of my fave blogs, I Still Want More Puppies, posted a link to the "2013 Oscar Nominees and their Animal Doppelgängers". You should really check that link out (I think my fave is Tommy Lee Jones = Grumpy Cat, but there are other funny ones as well.)

Anyway, it reminded me of two things:

1) I once noticed that my friend's angel dog, Max, had a puppy pic that looked exactly like Ron Swanson (a hysterically gruff character on Parks and Rec, played by Nick Offerman). Am I right? Since Ron really likes meat, and Max did too, they were even somewhat of a personality match.

2) There is a web site that lets you find your doggy doppelgänger, appropriately called: Doggelganger. It's from Pedigree and the New Zealand SPCA. The tag line is: "Human to canine pairing software. Your best friend search starts here."

It's fun to play with. You're supposed to be able to add your own image either with your web cam or by loading a picture, but I couldn't get the web came image thing to work. So, I loaded a photo. (They say to load one with a neutral image - but, other than Ron Swanson above, most people smile when you point a camera at them.) Anyway, first I loaded my b&w "author photo" and I got a 62% accuracy match with this adorable 7 mo. old female Mastiff/Greyhound mix.
 

I also tried a color photo - but I guess I look a lot older in this picture since I got a 67% accuracy match with this sweet 12-yr-old Fox Terrier mix: (at least she's a fox....)

I do have the same worry wrinkles as both of these girls, so I think they did a pretty good job. It's a fun thing to play with - so hopefully the NZ SPCA is getting a lot of local folks on the site who then find their new best look alike friend!

I also looked up doppelgänger for this post - I thought it just meant "a look alike", but the actual definition from Miriam Webster is "a ghostly counterpart of a living person". Ghostly... hmm. So Tommy Lee Jones = ghostly Grumpy Cat I guess. 

Anyway, go have some fun and find your doggelganger.

Why the Dino?? (& Abby Stuff)

Thought I would take a short break from the actual events of this stop on the Kill Barney Tour (KBT) to 'splain a little bit more about Barney and what the KBT is all about. I explained it a bit a while ago, but folks may have missed that, and also I didn't explain what I think Barney means to the Tripawds community.

The very same Barney that we are now hosting once belonged to Jerry, who is now known on the Tripawds site as Spirit Jerry since he's no longer with us in the flesh. Jerry was the Original Tripawd--the dog that inspired his pawrents to start the Tripawds site. Jerry has been gone since 2008, but his spirit lives on in the Tripawds community, which has been a really amazing place to go for support and answers during all of this. Everyone on there is very nice and very helpful - and some of them are damn funny.

Which brings us back to the KBT. If I'm counting stops correctly on the KBT map, we are the 25th house to host Barney. Barney travels with a journal and everyone who has hosted him writes about their tripawd pooch and a little bit about Barney's visit. Here is what one woman wrote, which I think sums up nicely why we are all spending time doing silly things with a stinky purple dinosaur:

"I cannot begin to express my gratitude over this Barney. I believe he carries strength from all the tripawd and quad-pawds he's visited. He has been a great source of comfort to us during his visit."

Here's what I'm planning to write in his journal:

"It’s been an honor to host Barney. The Tripawds family has been so great and supportive and it’s nice to have something tangible we can all share that brings a good laugh along with it. Barney is a great symbol for sharing our strengths, our hopes and even a laugh in the face of tough times."

So hopefully that explains why a grown woman is playing with a stuffed dino. It's nice to bring a little silliness to the sucky roller coaster ride that is canine osteosarcoma. I mean, really, how can you not look at something like this and at least crack a smile?

In other news (many of you will already know this from Facebook)... remember this drawing I did of Abby?

Well, the Tripawds folks are putting it on T-shirts and gifts and such, and you can customize the items with your own caption. I ordered a bunch of stuff today, most of it with the caption: Tri to relax. Can't wait to get it!