Happy Holidays

Happy holidays to everyone!  Storm had a wonderful time visiting our local hospital on Christmas day!


She didn't quite like the Santa hat though... but it was my attempt to make it more obvious that she's a girl.  :D

Happy Halloween!

Rogue & Storm both got dressed up for Halloween this year to greet the Trick or Treaters (our town celebrated Halloween on Saturday).  The kids all loved seeing them in costume!

First Post on Things I Love for My Dogs

Ok, I've been away from this blog for wayyy to long...  So I'm going to start now on something new I've been wanting to do -- post about things I love for my dogs!!


I'm going to start this off with some awesome fleece toys that I bought a few months ago for my pups from an Etsy shop called Bentley's Bones.

Above is the Rocker Girl color of the fleece ball... which I got for Rogue.  I got the mini size, which is perfect size for Rogue's smaller boxer mouth.  Unfortunately, Storm's giant great dane mouth thinks it is the perfect size for her too.  :/  Poor Rogue!


I got Storm a larger fleece ball (size small) - which was actually HUGE!  It fits great in the mouth of a great dane, but Rogue has no problem just carrying it by the little strips of fleece.  I got Storm's fleece ball in the Strawberry Lime-Aid color shown below:

Definitely a worthwhile purchase.  My girls have had these for several months with only chewing off small small pieces of the fleece!  These things are durable!  Very well made!  :D


So, check 'em out for yourself, I highly recommend them!  Check out the Etsy shop here:  http://BentleysBones.etsy.com

Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all of the veterans out there!

Busy busy busy...

I've been terribly busy at work lately, and haven't done much at all with this blog - yikes!

But, today the dogs had some fun outside playing...  Storm got a new toy - it looks like a horse toy actually...  A giant ball with a handle on it for her to pick it up with.

So Rogue and Storm both played outside for awhile with it... and this is the result:

I'm thinking I'll have to do this more often... it's going to be a nice quiet night now!  Ha!  :)

Storm has a new toy!

Storm has a new little piggy to play with...  I have to say, it's quite funny watching her play and hearing that oinking over and over!!


I especially love how crazy she starts getting at 0:45.  :)

St. Patty's Day!

Daddy went out partying all day today, and brought back some sweet beads!
Rogue looks so thrilled to be wearing them...  :D

It's an Etsy Sunday...

Even Storm is joining in...  She seems to do this a lot when I'm browsing on Etsy...  :)

Lazy Dog Sunday

Sunday has always been traditionally "Lazy Dog Sunday" around the house...  Today is no exception...   :)


Rogue wants to be in her bed, but in the sun at the same time...  I'm waiting for her to fall out!

Storm is also trying her best to stay in the sun today.  She must want a suntan!

Therapy Dog Stories Catch-Up

So Storm and I have now visited the hospital 3 times now visiting patients as a Therapy Dog Team.  It's been pretty cool so far!  I've been meaning to keep tabs on these visits a little more frequently... so we'll do a little catch-up on the 3 sessions we've done:

First Solo Visit
Of course, I was nervous as crap going to the hospital...  But, once Storm started whining from excitement just before we pulled into the parking deck, I knew it was going to be fun.  We walked down the long hallway to the hospital and saw lots of people already.  Everyone wanted to stop and say hi to her.  Storm was unbelievably nervous - tail between her legs the entire night!  But, she did good regardless!

We went into a few rooms and then into another and Storm did something absolutely amazing... She actually climbed into bed with a patient!!  And, keep in mine, this is a 100 lb. Great Dane!  The woman asked me if Storm would have wanted to go up in the bed.. and I immediately said "Probably not... she's been really nervous."  But, the woman proceeded to pat her hand on the bed and Storm climbed on up - one giant foot at a time!  So unbelievably touching!!  The woman loved just snuggling with her - it was the best first visit ever!!


Visit #2 - Should I have gone in there?
Was a pretty routine visit - in and out of rooms like normal.  Storm was definitely getting more comfortable with the place.  Even wagged her tail a few times in the hallway!  She really loves the nurses and hospital staff there!  It's funny how sooo many people know her by name and come out to see her!


The one interesting visit happened about halfway through our 2-hour shift... The usual routine is to knock on any open patient door and ask them if they'd like a visit with a therapy dog.  So, I did the usual and asked.  The younger man proceeded to ask what a therapy dog does, etc. until Storm came around the corner and he just exclaimed, "Whoa!"  He was very happy to see her, and asked all sorts of questions.  As I got her up to the bed to let him pet her, I noticed something...  He was handcuffed to the bed!!  Then I realized the guy sitting in the chair next to the bed was a police officer!!  Yikes, totally was not what I was expecting!!  I played it cool and didn't make it obvious that I noticed the handcuffs... but man, when I stepped out of the room, I had to take a breather!!  LOL  But, all was just fine, the patient was very nice and seemed to really enjoy the visit - but MAN...  totally wasn't expecting that one!


Visit #3 - Storm saw Grandpa working!
My dad just happens to work Security at the hospital we do the Therapy visits at... so we picked a perfect night to visit, as he was working!  And Storm was hilarious when she saw him!  When Storm is "working" she is a completely calm and actually more nervous than anything.  As I've said before - she usually has her tail between her legs...  :)


But, last night, when she saw her Grandpa - she went absolutely NUTS!!  Hopping around, trying to jump, propeller tail (yep, the tail spins like a propeller!).  So funny!  You can tell she loves her Grandpa!

Happy Puppy Bowl Sunday!

Rogue & Storm are thoroughly enjoying the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet!

She got to the thread again...

Thank you Storm!  Momma loves picking up your mess!

Getting back to the hospital with Storm

Storm and I went to the hospital last night to do some training for our Therapy visits.  We walked around with another team and got to see all of the different areas of the hospital we are authorized to visit.  Storm was a little nervous and excited...  She wouldn't stand still.  But, it was amazing from the very beginning!


As soon as we walked in from the parking deck, we were stopped by several people in the main area of the hospital.  So many people were just shocked to even see a dog in the hospital!  It was great!  Kids were running towards her, and all you kept hearing was "Awww! Look at that dog!"  Being a Great Dane, she was pretty popular immediately, and so many people were just amazed at her size (I know she's big in other peoples' eyes, but she's actually small for a Dane!)  She loved meeting all the people and getting petted by everyone.  She wouldn't stay still though.  People would want to talk to her and pet her, and she would let them for maybe a few seconds and would start fidgeting.


So, we ended up finally walking around the hallways in the sections of the hospital we were allowed, and she made so many friends with all the nurses and staff at the hospital.  When we'd get near the nurses' station, they would just swarm around us!


One of the last places we went to was the ICU waiting room.  You know these people were in the hospital for their friends & family members with most likely some serious situations... but you couldn't tell when they saw our dogs!  They were the most excited and happy people I've seen!  There were a few kids in there, and they went nuts when they saw the dogs.  It was a great evening!


Next week, we're going again with a team to practice the actual visits in patient rooms!  So, I'll post again with updates after next week's visit!


Storm was definitely pooped after all the excitement for the night... I let her rest on her favorite spot in the house - on the couch next to me!  :)

Does faucet water taste better?

My dogs have a strange fascination with watching me while in the shower...  Well, not just me, anyone really...  Normally Rogue will be the main culprit...  You will be just minding your own business taking a nice warm shower, when all of a sudden you feel a cold breeze!  And yep, Rogue's peeking her head into the shower again!  I think it started when she realized there was water in there and started licking the walls.  She definitely won't go into the shower, but doesn't mind getting her head wet as long as she can lick the water.


Today, Storm decided that she wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Luckily, she couldn't figure out how to get her head into the shower.  She just got her head in between the decorative shower curtain and the inner liner.  So, lucky for me, no cold breeze!


But, besides the shower peeping... both dogs have an absolute fixation with drinking water directly from the faucet - namely the bathtub faucet.  Storm started this early on in her life, and will always put 2.5 of her feet into the tub and wait for me to turn the faucet on.  Yep, I said 2.5 feet - which means her two front feet, and then one of her back legs is partially in - resting on the edge of the tub.  :)  Rogue always waits near the side of the tub and drinks alongside with Storm.  I don't get it - why??  Does the water from the faucet taste any different than what I put in their water bowls?  Even when their bowls are completely filled, they still go crazy when someone is near the bathtub and will stand there waiting for you to turn on the faucet...


I think the nice benefit to this fixation of theirs is that it helps me know when the water bowls are empty.  Whenever this has occurred, and Storm is thirsty, she will go into the bathroom on her own & jump in the tub and wait.  So, if you are somewhere else in the house & you hear nails clicking on the tub... you know Storm is thirsty & her bowl is empty!  :)

A spool of thread? Seriously?

So for some crazy reason, my great dane (Storm) has a fascination with spools of thread. I came home this evening (first day back at work since before Christmas) and was just wondering how well the dogs had behaved since my hubby had left for work...

So I get in from the garage into the breezeway, closed off from the rest of the house, and I hear the whining start... Storm, of course. I get into the house and she's just bonkers - and Rogue is too. So far no different... So, as every other walk into the house... I start to peer into the living room to see how they've been. It's dark, so I can't quite tell what I'm looking at... but there's definitely somethings strewn all over the floor . Turn the light on, yep, it's the thread again.

What the heck is her fascination with spools of thread? I've caught her at least 4 times now - usually they're just barely chewed and have dents poked throughout the spool. Not this time - she went to town on it... Shreds and shreds of black thread all over and tons of little shards of plastic... Yuck....

Wish I'd gotten a picture of it - I was just too worried about her eating more, I just cleaned it up ASAP. Now that I'm keeping this blog... we'll definitely start documenting these for show. :)

Storm's Front Page Debut!

Storm is a certified Therapy Dog at our local hospital. On Christmas Day, we spent the morning visiting patients to spread some Christmas cheer! The next morning, her photo graced the front page of our local paper! Check it out!

http://www.pjstar.com/featured/x1045395321/Furry-Christmas-at-the-hospital

Storm's "official" Therapy Dog photo is above. Click on the link to see her news photo.

Happy New Year!

Spent New Years Eve at home with the hubby & dogs. We watched a bunch of episodes of The Office while all snuggling on the couch. It was an awesome way to end the old year and start the new one!