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

Lost in the Woods!

I am extremely lucky in that, whenever needed, I am able to bring Dobby to work with me. It's a small office and everyone loves him (of course) so since the house is showing today, the little guy is here with me at the office.

I often drive past a little park on my way here, and today I decided to take Dobby there on my lunch hour for a walk. It was a little cloudy and calling for scattered thunder storms, so I took my umbrella and figured we wouldn't be out long, so it would all be alright.

I had been there once before with Dobby, sticking to the main roadway through the park. It looked like it was about 2 miles long, and I figured the park couldn't be much wider than just the area I could see. The trail there is called "The Big Loop", but I had no idea how 'big' the loop was. It seemed like just a small community park. Boy, was I wrong!

As it turns out (I've just looked it up) the park is 250 acres, and the Big Loop is over 4 miles long! Dobby and I started through the woods from a parking lot entry point, and quickly got "lost" (can you really get lost on a trail called a "Loop"?). After about 45 minutes of walking, we ran into another hiker and he let us know we were almost smack-dab in the middle of the loop- darn! We couldn't even get back faster by re-tracing our steps back the way we had come, so we kept moving forward. It was raining, but the trees kept us from getting wet. It wasn't too hot, but it was extremely humid! We were both damp and tired by the time I recognized the golf practice area of the park and cut through the woods to get back to the main roadway. It was another 500 yards or so to where we were parked.

Once we got out of the woods, I could see the dark clouds all around us- it was still only sprinkling rain, but the thunder was happening more and more often! We were both very happy to get to the car to cool off in the AC. I was happier than ever about my habit of carrying a water bottle in the car, too.

Now we're safe and sound, back at the office, Dobby asleep in my lap. What an adventure!!