Updates Left and Right!

Hi all! Dobby and I have had a super busy two months since my last post. We moved 400 miles away from our home in North Carolina so that I can start my PhD program at WVU this fall. Since we moved about 3 weeks ago, I have been in intensive workshops preparing to teach English 101 to freshmen :) I'm excited and a little nervous.

Dobby has been having a great time! Although he did NOT like moving AT ALL he settled in quickly at our new house, which has a much larger, fenced in back yard. Yay! Our neighborhood is super dog friendly (almost every home has a pet!) and fairly walkable. Here are some of the fun things we've been doing.

I bought a new chair for our new house! I call it the "old man chair" because it looks like something a grandpa would love sitting in. It rocks and swivels. Here is Dob checking it out when I brought it home:


We went to a Chihuahua Rescue and Transport picnic and met a lot of chihuahua friends!
Sadly I don't remember anyone's name. There were a lot of cute new doggies to say hi to!


Some of them were even up for adoption. It was tempting, but with the move coming up I just couldn't take anyone new home.

Here is Dobby with Zinnie, Zinnie's mom, and her friend:

And here is everyone all together:

This is the beautiful community garden where it was held:


We said goodbye to all our favorite people in Greensboro, like my boyfriend (we broke up since I was leaving :( )


And we had to say goodbye to Dobby's best friend Zinnie, too. It is sad to think I won't be doggy-sitting her regularly anymore. And I will miss having her mom to call when I need someone to watch Dobby. We will definitely be getting together whenever I visit Greensboro!




A lot more happened, too! I will try to update again in the next few days :)

PSA, Product Plug, and a Visitor

We have lots to tell you about this week!

It all sort of weaves together, so I will just jump right in. Last weekend, I took in a stray dog, a minpin I called Max. I found him on Friday, so he had to spend the weekend with me since my vet was closed until Monday. He was covered in ticks and who knows what else, so he had to stay outside, but I gave him a bath, pulled off all the ticks I could find, and made him super comfy with my outdoor cushions and lots of towels. He was adorable and made himself a little nest.



Because he was roughed up a bit and my posters, craigslist ads, etc. hadn't gotten any responses from his owners, I sort of didn't want him to go back to them anyway. It didn't seem like they were taking good care of him, and didn't want to find him. So on Monday, I had mixed feelings about finding a microchip. He had a chip, but luckily the number on file was disconnected. So, I felt like I did the right thing trying to find his owner, but was also glad he didn't have to go back there! The vet called the person they know who does minpin rescue, and she came and picked him up right away. They all said how friendly he was and how easily he would be adopted. Happy ending!

So, TICKS! This is my Public Service Announcement: Finding so many ticks on little Max reminded me it is bug season. Everyone, please be careful about treating your pets for pests. Also, when I took Dobby to the park today, a tick got on my TOMS Shoes so remember to be careful even when you are in a well-kept area and stay on the paths. They can still get you!

And that is my product plug. Free advertising for TOMS! They are a fantastic business model and the shoes are beyond comfortable. Basically, for every pair you buy, they give a pair to a child in need. They're my go-to shoes. You can wear them straight out of the box (no break-in period at all), and I never get tired of wearing them.

And lastly, since this IS a blog for Dobby, here he is modeling his new froggie harness:

Milestones

Well, I still haven't gotten back into blogging as much as I'd like, but I hope that I can start posting more often soon :) For now, just a quick update! I forgot to blog about Dobby's two special days!

Dobby' birthday was September 1- he turned 4 years old! The evidence is in his increasingly gray beard :)

and!

Dobby's gotcha-day was October 13! I've had my little buddy for 3 years now. Time flies when you're having fun. This picture is from the first time I ever met him at his foster mom's house. It was about 2 weeks before I brought him home with me.


I don't think I took any special pictures of him on his special days, but he got extra love and treats. We need to go to the pet store some time this week anyway, so he will probably get some fancy cookies!

I also look forward to posting our annual Halloween photo shoot!!! This year I even remembered to take pictures when we went to pick out pumpkins, so I'll post about that soon, too.

Much love!
Sharon and Dobby

Weekend activities and lots of updates!

Hi all! Dobby and I had a fantastic weekend. I have been bad lately about taking pictures of him, but hopefully I'll be getting a new camera for Christmas and will get better about that. (My current camera is about 8 years old; it still works fine but it is so big and heavy that I never take it anywhere with us!)

On Saturday, Dobby and I went to All Pets Considered (I think of the Munchkins going to Harry Winston every time I go there now!) APC is a privately owned pet shop that has high quality kibbles, exciting chewies like moo tubes (trachea), bully sticks (...you know), and Dobby's new favorite: Texas toothpicks! Texas toothpicks are sheep tails, I think. They look really kind of gross when he's chewing them, like he has bitten off someone's finger! Since I don't have any pictures of our trip to APC, here are some pictures of Dob with a Texas toothpick.

Anyway, we went to the store to get him some new kibble and, after much deliberation, came home with Wellness Core original. I also looked at car seats and will maybe buy one soon. Dobby had a good time smelling all the smells and looking at some of the new outfits they had, but all we took home was the food.

After the pet store, we went to pick out pumpkins!! Dobby has gone with me to pick out pumpkins at a local church every year he has been with me (this was his third time). He always gets lots of attention, and loves being somewhere completely out of his ordinary routine. We picked out 3 great pumpkins and 2 adorable gourds to put around the house as decorations. Pictures to come soon!

Sunday, Dobby and I went to a little dog get-together at a park north of town (the same park where we got lost in the woods). There weren't as many people or dogs there as I had hoped, but there were tables set up for local vets, pet-sitters, and other dog related goodies. There was even an agility course set up! Dobby has never done agility before, but I've always thought he would be good at it. He was too distracted to try much, but I got him to jump over a little pole several times. One of the people running the thing took video of it, and as soon as I know if it's posted online somewhere, I'll put up a link! It was adorable! After meeting lots of new dogs and sniffing around for a while, we went home happy and tired.

It was a great weekend. Today is also a special day- Today is Dobby's gotcha day! I've had Dobby for 2 whole years now. Here is his adoption story. He also just turned 3 years old last month- I was so busy I forgot to post it that day, so I figured I would wait and post it today with his gotcha day post. Happy gotcha day, Dobby! I love you!

-Sharon

So much excitement!!

In all the excitement yesterday with the photo fun, I forgot to mention that it was Dobby's "Gotcha!" Day!! He has been with me now for 1 full year- and we are loving every minute. He's really adapted well to the house and life with me. I am very lucky to have found such a perfect little guy to adopt- he's well socialized and in perfect health. Here is the entry about how I first met Dobbs, and a reminder:



Don't Shop, ADOPT!