Tutorial: "How to Take a Bath" (Dog Version), by Liah

Hello, Piru's friends.  As you know, I'm Liah, Piru's sister.  I'm the house's Princess, but even that privilege position doesn't free me from frecuently baths.  So, today, I'll share with you the bath process, my version.

FIRST: You have to catch the unsuspected victim, I mean, me.

SECOND: You have to remember to not let the shampoo get into the eyes.

THIRD: Don't let water get into the ears either.

FOURTH: While bathing, say supporting words to your dog, been wet takes away some of our pride.

FIFTH: Begin the drying process with the face, please.

Are we done, yet?

SIXTH: With long hair, use the blower in the cool setting.

SEVENTH: Dry the entire coat, even behind ears.

Oh, I'm already tired.

A fluffier me!

See how my hair moves?  Feels like I'm brand new!

 Well, that's all.  Now, if you excuse me I have to sleep for the rest of the day.  This bath leave me exhausted.

Ola kala!

Family Friday: Kala

Hello.  My name is Kala.  I'm the oldest of the Furry Family; I'm 15-years-old... I think it's like a 105-years-old in a human.  I have to begin my story with a confession: my real mom is The Other One.  So, I'm going to call her Mommy, to differentiate her from Piru's Mom.

I have a big smile.

I came to live at grandma's house when I was a little puppy.  Grandma took me to be the outside dog (guard), but Mommy told her that I was too little to stay outside by myself; so, I ended up been an inside dog.  I was all black, except for a little white area at my chest.  But now I have my face almost entirely white, that's because of my age.

I'm an old dog with a young spirit.

I'm very loyal to my Mommy.  If she isn't home, I won't eat or go pee outside until she arrives; then, I'm myself again.

I love my mommy.

Oh, and here comes another confession: I used to hate cats.  Yep, that's right.  I used to bark at them so hard and run after them so fast that they lose one or two of their lives- JAJAJA... mmmm, sorry, I didn't mean to be disrespectful.  But, my point of view about cats changed when I was still living at my grandma's house and Michi came to live there, too.  I used to bark and run after Michi at the beginning, but, when Michi decided that she was going to live at the house anyway, so I learned to respect her and even play a little with her.

Hi, I'm Michi.

Then, Mommy moved out and, after a while I met Piru and his siblings.  Piru and I have a very special relationship: I pretend that I don't see him and he tries to be away from me.  I have barked at him a few times, but mostly because he gets near my dinner plate... and I can't accept that insolence.  Prince is a little afraid of me, too.  But I only want a little respect, I'm  the senior, after all.

Now, some other facts about me:

Oh, this is life.

I don't like toys, not even a ball.  What I love is to run, even at this old age.  When I was younger, Mommy used to call me "Quickie", because I loved to run very fast all the time and to everywhere.  I, also, love to roll around on the grass, even it it's a little wet. One of my favorite things to do is show my tummy and, if I receive a tummy scratch, is a lot better.

Would you like to scratch my tummy?

My biggest problem is that I'm very scared of thunderstorms and other strong sounds (like firearms shoots and fireworks).  Even when it's raining I begin to get nervous and, when the thunderstorms begin I hide, pant and shake like crazy.

***shake-shake-shake***

There are two things that I do that drives Mommy crazy.  The first one is when she takes me outside to pee and I take a loooooong time to choose the correct spot to do it.  Sometimes, after I have smell all the backyard, I don't want to do it there, so Mommy has to take me to the front yard.  She gets furious and ask me why do I have to be so choosy.  She gets mad specially when she's in a hurry.  The problem is that humans simply don't understand that you can't pee everywhere, it has to be the perfect spot.  The second thing is that, when she's preparing my meal, I'm there waiting and wagging my tail, but when she puts down my dinner plate, I smell it and go away.  I don't know why I do that, I simply go a few steps further and sit giving my back to her.

Why isn't a sirloin steak on my plate?

The problem is that, at that time, my sister Liah has ended her meal and wants to come to check out mine... and I don't like that a little bit.  So, I growl at her or bark.  To avoid that, Mommy takes away my plate for a while or puts me in a room with a baby gate on the door. I don't like it.

Mommy has tried to put some clothes on my, but I'm a natural girl.  I don't like to put on clothes, but I love my collar.  When Mommy puts it on after a bath I do some happy jumps.

I think I can't move.

Mommy, I'm not a cowgirl, get this thing away from me.

I've been a little sick lately.  I have a problem of incontinence since I was a puppy.  It was a problem easy to deal with, because it was just a few drops here or there.  But these last days I've been drinking water like crazy, and peeing like crazy, too.  Mommy says it's like a river.  She's been having a lot of work with my situation, because she has to mop 5 or 6 times daily and to clean me frequently because I get wet.  She gave me some antibiotics, but it didn't work.  So, finally, she took me to the vet again and he did a lot of tests and x-rays on me.  Everything was negative, I'm healthy... allegedly.  But, he doesn't understand the reason I drink so much water.  He'll be asking other vets for their opinion.  I hope he finds out what's wrong with me soon, I don't like to be isolated in a bedroom so I don't pee the entire house.

As you can see, I'm a good girl that loves her Mommy. Maybe, I have a few annoying habits, but then again, who doesn't?

Ola kala!

Family Friday: Liah

Hello!  I'm Liah, the princess of the house and the youngest, so I'm Mom's little baby.  I'm not sure if I'm a dog, I'm either a human baby or a cat (cats are my best friends).

This is me when I was little.

I used to have long hair...

... but, sometimes, I had a bad-hair day.

Now I have it shorter.  It's easier to comb and a lot more cooler.

If the plush is a little big I always act with caution.

Mom loves to dress me up, specially at night if it's cold.

My favorite place to sleep is under Mom's bed, or under The Other One's bed, if she's taking care of me.

I love fans.  If there's one on, I'm in front of it.

I love my Mommy and I'm always looking up to her face (specially if she's eating chicken, mmmm).

I like to nap on the sofa, sometimes behind the cushions.

Thanks, Piru, for allowing me to write about myself today.

Ola kala!

My gift basket!!!

Last June, I wrote about a great news I received. Cokie the Cat sent me an e-mail telling me that I won a gift basket The Anipal Times raffle for @Schmittysays' New Yorkie gift basket generously donated by schmittysays.com! Well, I finally received it and I'm very exited!

But first, I want to talk about Schmitty, The Real New Yorkie. I took the information from the label of Schmitty's beautiful plush:

Schmitty the Real New Yorkie is a five pound pooch living in the big city who's puppy love for canine couture and posing for cameras came in handy after 9/11 when Schmitty started a greeting card company to give back toher brave firefighter friends. Schmitty continues to give back 5% from the sales of her New Yorkie and Real New Yorkie products to good and worthy causes.

Wow, Schmitty has a big and beautiful heart! More information here.

Now, my gift. Mom brought this really big box and I was amazed, I love boxes. But Mom told me that the box wasn't the gift, the real gift is inside; so I went inside.

I love boxes!

Mom and The Other One helped me take the things outside. Do you want to know what was in my gift basket? Here they are:

A lot of things!

Schmitty sent me a set of beautiful cards with different themes and the beautiful Schmitty, too.

I don't know how to write with a pencil, but I surely love this beautiful notebook.

This leash is personalized with Schmitty's trade mark; beautiful color, don't you think?

I told Mom I want to be like Schmitty and have my own calendar. This one has pretty pictures of Schmitty and healthy do's and dont's. Really clever idea.

Finally, Mom allowed me to check all my gifts.

In the basket came also a t-shirt. Here Mom was trying it on me. I think that my husky body (as you know, I'm not fat) will fit a little tight there.

Then, I checked the collar. Here I'm reading the instructions.

Schmitty even sent me a beautiful plush.

I even took a little nap with Schmitty's plush; a good nap company.

I wanted to make sure that Mom didn't leave anything in the basket.

Then came that nosey Prince to ckeck my box.

Mom told me that, as a good brother, I have to share my gifts with the rest of the family. I don't like the idea, but I think she's right.

"Come on, Piru, I never receive anything."

He said hello to Schmitty.

And he tried on the cap, but I think that it doesn't fit him well.

He decided to take one of the cards, the John Lennon "Imagine" Memorial in Central Park, card. It's just his style, he said.

The Other One loves caps, so I let her have it. She was thrilled.

Schmitty also sent me a very big and practical canvas bag. Mom loved it and said that it will be perfect to carry her books. So I let her have it; she's my Mom, after all.

Then, Liah came to check out the things.

She inmediately fell in love with the plush, barked at it a little and then started to play. Now she takes Schmitty's plush to bed every night to curl up with it. Mom and The Other One were laughing so much with Liah playing with the plush that they took this little video. I think you're going to laugh, too.



Note: No plush were harmed during this film.

Finally, Liah tried on the t-shirt and it fitted perfectly on her. She looks pretty, doesn't she?

Cokie and Schmitty, I'm deeply touch and grateful of all the joy you have bring my family with all these beautiful gifts. I'll remember this all my life.

Ola kala!