Scenes from Six Days of Peepers

Curtis comes home from soggy New Orleans tonight, and that means our time with Mister Peepers is coming to an end.  Both he and Maisie seem eager to return to their respective senses of normalcy at this point, but I have been known to anthropomorphize at times so perhaps they are actually just thinking about squirrels.

Here are just a few of the many pics taken during the past several days (with minimal duplication from those already posted on our Facebook page, for those of you who have been keeping up with us there).

two snoozy pups...make room in bed for me, please!

 Peeps decided it might be a good idea to sleep with one eye open when afternoon napping...

two dogs working security are better than one!

getting so tiiiiiired...

crazy Maisie face + yawning Peepers = typical morning wake-up situation

 Peepers hit Maisie in the head with this in an attempt to encourage her to play.  it didn't work.

dignified portrait or cry for help?

 c'mon, let's play!!!

p.s.  thanks so much to Of Pit Bulls & Patience for randomly selecting us as the winner of their 
"True Story Tuesday" contest...we can't wait to receive Maisie's awesome new custom ID tag!

Dog Sitting - First Full Day

My friend Curtis is out of town for a week and I am taking care of his his dog Mister Peepers while he's away.  Peeps arrived yesterday afternoon and will be staying at the Maisie and Me Inn until next Tuesday night.  Although he and Maisie have had many playdates, they've never been together overnight or for multiple days in a row, so we took some precautions to ensure the comfort and safety of both resident and guest.

First, I asked Curtis to bring over an additional crate.  This has made feeding time much easier, especially because Peeps is highly allergic to everything and there would be very negative consequences if he were to get ahold of Maisie's food or treats.  It will also allow me to leave them crated side-by-side if I go out.

Second, he also brought an extra dog bed so there would be no fighting over the bed in the living room.

Since it is actually Maisie's old bed that we donated to Peeps, Maisie has no problem claiming it for herself!

Mr. Peepers is obsessed with toys and Maisie is not, so he is able to play away with no interest from her.

It helps that my house is large enough to allow each dog plenty of space for alone time.  Maisie relaxed in my bed after her session with the dog runner this morning (which gave her some valuable solo time as well).

While Peepers rested his itchy little body on the futon in the office and kept me company.

When they passed each other in the hallway, they barely even acknowledged each other and went on their respective ways.

They both love antlers so that's about the only thing that causes conflict between the two (other than the uncontrollable desire to hump that sometimes overcomes Peepers), so I am restricting their availability.  Usually I keep multiple antlers laying around for Maisie and I did let both dogs chew freely yesterday, but so far today I have kept them put away.  I was concerned that Maisie would get agitated by another pooch sleeping in bed with us, but she adjusted surprisingly quickly and there were no altercations last night.  I have also been feeding, leashing and treating Maisie first to reinforce her "resident dog" status whenever possible.

So far, so good...six more days to go.  And although Maisie is of course still my #1 pup and remains the cutest dog in town, I cannot deny that Peeps is definitely adding to the adorability factor around here.  Now if only we could do something about his truly toxic farts...

"who, me?"

p.s. for more frequent Maisie (and temporarily, Mr. Peepers!) updates and pics, please "like" our Facebook page if you haven't yet!

To Insure or Not to Insure?

I've never had pet insurance. Back when Kaya was my dog, by the time such a thing was well-known she was a geriatric pup with pre-existing medical conditions and I assumed no policy would cover her.  That may or may not have been the case, I didn't think to investigate it at that point.  But now that my money situation is likely to become somewhat precarious, I have been pondering what  preparations I can take in advance to avoid potential financial disaster, and securing pet insurance for Maisie is one step I took.

Not knowing which company to trust, I did some research on the Pet Insurance Review website.  I decided on Petplan because they not only offered three different deductibles and three different coverage plans, they also allow you to choose your reimbursement level once your deductible is met.  Petplan was also very highly rated (9.3 on a 10 point scale) by reviewers.  I opted for the most basic (Bronze) plan, with the highest ($200) deductible but with 100% reimbursement after that.  It will pay the costs of any illness or injury Maisie experiences, up to $8000 total per year.  To my surprise, even alternative therapies were included in the coverage, as long as they are recommended and administered by a licensed vet.  I wish I'd known that was possible years ago, when Kaya was receiving monthly treatments at the holistic vet!  The price of the policy I selected for Maisie is just under $22 per month, and that seemed pretty fair to me.

Best case scenario, Maisie will remain a healthy, injury-free little dog and I will never even need to utilize the insurance.  But considering her crazy, occasionally accident-prone ways, I figured better safe than sorry!

Do you have pet insurance?  If so, what have your experiences been like?  Good/bad?  Please share!

And because we all know who the star of the show is here, I now share with you a photo of Maisie and her antler du jour this morning.  She tried to bring it upstairs with her, but kept dropping it as she attempted to carry it in her mouth and run up the stairs at the same time.  So she settled for a chew session at the bottom of the staircase instead.  Silly silly puppy...

 

p.s. for more frequent Maisie updates and pics, please "like" our Facebook page if you haven't yet!

Friday Favorites

From reading this blog, you may get the impression that Maisie cares for only three things...antlers, food and her mom.  And it's true that there are things that Maisie does NOT like, such as sitting outside in the hot sun.

 And this dog (who she lunged at during our walk for no apparent reason).

Plus of course, being forced to "wait" before eating a treat!

She also REALLY hates being left home alone, thunderstorms and right now, the Chicago Air and Water Show because it means very loud fighter planes are flying overhead and scaring the bejeezus out of her.

However, I now offer proof that Maisie does take pleasure in other things...some have already been covered here, some may be new information.  As previously mentioned, Maisie loves constantly unmaking the bed.

She also thoroughly enjoys a good belly scritch.

As well as lounging on the futon while her mom works.

One of Maisie's most important jobs is working security.  She prefers to guard the deck while soaking up a sunbeam whenever possible.

Maisie also looks forward to resting in the shade during our walks.

In addition to frogging out on the cool wood floor, post-walk.

And finally, getting to eat that treat for which she waited not-so-patiently!

Happy Friday, everyone!  : )

p.s. for daily Maisie updates and pics, please "like" our Facebook page if you haven't yet...and if you have, thank you!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Morning Antler Love Edition

p.s. for daily Maisie updates and pics, please "like" our Facebook page if you haven't yet!

High Anxiety

Since I have been working from home, Maisie and I are rarely apart these days.  I think it has made her even more sensitive to my moods, and that's saying something 'cause she was pretty attuned to them from the start.  But with my work situation becoming increasingly uncertain, I have definitely been worrying more lately (and as you may have noticed, posting less).  Combine my anxiety with all the thunderstorms we've had recently, and I've found myself with a nervous little pup on my hands. 

It's not like Maisie's behavior has completely changed...she still does a lot of this:

And this:

And this:

And this.

treat dance!

I have noticed some differences though.  The last few times we've gone to the park, Maisie's main interests have been eating grass and rolling in the sprinkler puddles.   But she still ran or wrestled with other dogs for at least a bit.  Last weekend when we went, she chowed down on grass as usual but other than that, she seemed kind of scared and refused to leave my side.  She wouldn't go near other dogs unless I literally walked her up to them and turned away (at times even running away) when other dogs approached her.  She sat right next to me (nearly on top of me sometimes) and ducked when other people tried to pet her.
It was a concerning change and one that I hope will be temporary.

Since she won't run at the park and is no longer going to daycare, she isn't getting much exercise which I know is not helping the situation.  So as I previously mentioned, I hired a professional dog runner service to take her out once a week (at least while I can still afford it).  Maisie had her first run last week and I was ecstatic to have a VERY tired dog return home.  Here's the email I received from her runner that night:

"Maisie did well on the run today. We covered 3.8 miles. We kept a pretty easy pace and stopped for water breaks. She wouldn't drink much water so I poured some water on her back a few times to keep her cool. I also took a few walk breaks with her to allow her to cool down a little.  We ran over by the lakefront and she ran right alongside me without getting distracted. Even with bikers whizzing past us at times and going by other people, she didn't really react at all so all in all it went well and I think she'll do great on future runs."

I was thrilled that it seemed to work out so well and look forward to Maisie's second run on Thursday.  Hopefully the activity will help alleviate some doggie stress, and therefore also some mommy guilt!

p.s. for near daily Maisie updates and pics, please "like" our Facebook page if you haven't yet!

Working from Home Wordless Wednesday

Time for a snuggle break...

p.s. please "like" our Facebook page if you haven't yet...there are new pics and info nearly every day...for example, an adorable video of Maisie and her three antler chews that I just posted!