Ausie! Ausie! Ausie!

This week's doggie blog is brought to you from Sydney, Australia. The land of digaridoos, rugby and 6% beer. Homer and Mervin are unfortunately not here. They are staying at our vet for the next 2 weeks. But first, let's back up to the beginning of the week.

Homer and Mervin spent a lot of the week with Ellen. She has been home sick with Mono, so the pups have gotten a lot of time to lounge around the house during the day time. Great weather has warranted a lot of play time in the backyard. A lot of the time, Homer and Mervin will chase each otherback and forth. Many parallels can be drawn to greyhound races. They use the width and breadth of the yard. All we need is a little baited bunnytrack and those two would probably wear a path of their own. Homer is particularly found of playing catch with the hairless tennisball. The tennisball is hairless because Homer managed to knaw off all the little yellow tennis folicals. Apparently Homer's GI is fortified enough to withstand a coating of yellow fibers.

This week was relatively unexciting. We did not get to do much with the dogs because we were getting ready for Australia. On Sunday Homer did manage to ralph all over the carpet in the dining room. So I spent a fun 45 mins scrubbing that up. I am getting pretty good at these since Mervin has become a regular offender. This house will not survive 2 dogs. I think I have said that before.

Friday morning I had to take the dogs to the Vet for kenneling. This was Homer's first trip in the escort. He was extremely excited. He spent most of the time looking out the window at all the stuff going by. He actually adourned a waiving fan as we passed through the neighborhood. Homer is big enough to pretty much look like another person in the car. In fact, he actually hits his head on the ceiling. Mervin did a great job in the back in his travel kennel. A no vomit trip is the best kind of trip. He has a bit of a social paranoia when it comes to cars. The second he gets into a car, he starts drooling uncontrollably. If you drive around corners too fast or slow down too fast, he has the potential to vomit. He has done this since the day we got him. We have found that the best thing to do is put him in his travel kennel and drive slowly.

When we got to the kennel, both dogs were excited to be at this strange new place. We entered the vet with much enthusiam, but that quickly deteriorated. Getting the dogs on the scales was a struggle. Mervin had lost some pretty significant weight, pulling down a respectable 27.5lbs. Homer did well again hovering around 75lbs. After the paperwork was complete, it was time for good byes. I have to say, since the beginning of the year, I have definitely become more attached to these two dogs. I was pretty sad to see them go. Mervin gave sufficient kisses even though he was excited to be at the vet. Homer was not as enthused, but mustered enough courage to follow the nurse into the back room and wag his tail good bye. They are in good hands though and will be well cared for.

Sorry, no pictures this week.

Welp, from the land down under... B-Dubs out!!

Homer goes to the Vet!!!

Note to self. When scheduling pups for the kennel you want during spring break, schedule early!! This is the lesson we learned when we tried schedule Homer for time at 4Paws Unleashed. This is pretty much a daycare facility for pets. They do walks, they have play times with other animals, there is grooming and treats and toys and pools and slides. Its like puppy dog heaven. This place sounds better than our vacation. If you thought this place could not get one-upped, you thought wrong. You need to check out, Avondale Pet Resort. Guests get their own themed room, with beds and heated floors and one-on-one times with trainers, and ultra posh spas and grooming and physical therapy and laser surgery. Paris Hilton's rat dog would feel remorse staying at this place. In fact, we would probably need to refinance our house if we wanted to send Mervin here... Either way, we were not able to get either dog into these kennels. Instead we settled for tried and true Altoona Vet. This is like the Hampton Inn of Kennels, clean, good service, but no frills...

Later this week, Homer got to go to Creature Comforts Vet for his checkup. Over course Homer was frantic with all the excitement of a different place and other dogs in the waiting room and the fact that its a hospital. I would be nervous too. They escorted us into an examination room. Homer spent our 10 min wait sniffing out the place and hiding under our chairs. When the doctor came in, not even beefy treats could get him out. He was not coming out, so we had to use some gentle persuation. Homer was good for the doctor though. He sat still for his exmination and his 4 shots. Then the doc and nurse took him in back to cut his nails. We could pretty much hear everything. There was a lot of whine, but mostly from the staff. Apparently Homer's old collar still smelled of skunk and BO and death. But, both Homer and the staff made it through with flying colors. The procnosis: Homer is completely healthy. He has lost 7lbs since his last check-up and the doc said he could stand to loose 5 more. Wish Mervin could have such good check-ups.

After the Vet visit, we hopped over to PetSmart and picked up a new ISU collar for Homies. This one smelled a million times better. Plus this new one is bright and clean and really stands out against Homer's dark fur. Homer also got a new rabies tag to go with his name tag. He looks very sophisticated if I do say so myself. Ellen fitted Homer with his new collar and then it was off to the Brown Dog Bakery for some freshly baked dog treats. This place is like the Old Country Buffet of dog treats. They 48ft of bone chewing selections and full of fresh out of the oven dog pastries. We got Homies a large bone and Mervy pants a little one. The pictures to the left and right of Mervin and Homer each indulging in their bones. I am not sure the shudder speed on our camera was quick enough to capture Mervin breathing in his bone. It was gone in under a couple nanoseconds. Homer on the other hand, savoired every bite. All in all, Saturday was a good day for the pups.

Since is was so nice out, Homer and I went for a stroll. Had I known there were going to be so many little kids and teenagers by the lake, I would not have gone there. But we pressed on anyway. Homer was completely freaked 90% of the time. About every 15 secs, someone walked by Homer was having nothing of it. He was particularly frightened of the 3-5yr old children on bicycles. One child walking/running behind us, thought it would be a great idea to annoy Homer and I. The little punk thought it would be awesome to run right up to Homer and I then stop, wait 15 sec, repeat. And every time the kid would run up, Homer would lurch forward trying to get away from the boy. This went for the first quarter of the trip. The last time he did it, I shot him a nasty look that would bore through steel. And that pretty much ended it. Homer and I completed our walk.

On a final note, I captured a good pic of Homies and Mervies cuddling on Homer's bed. They have been doing this sporadically for the past month or two. Mervin has little man's inferiority complex and insists on being the big spoon.

B-dubs out!!