Monday Mischief: Stella's Fault

Well it seems I got into a bit of mischief this weekend! Saturday morning, a beautiful sunny day, but due to all of the rain the park is still very wet with lots of mud. I got to see my BFF Stella show up with her mom and baby sister Kallis. It wasn't long, Stella being the true Lab that she is, found one of the remaining muddy puddles and decided to go for a splash! It looked like so much fun I went chasing after her! So she went chasing after me! Next thing you know I am covered in mud too!

I got home and had to have another bath!

That's my mischeif!

Love, Dolly

xoxox

B&W Sunday: Sun in My Eyes

Lots of sunshine in my backyard yesterday! I was still pretty tired from my Park Day hike on Thursday so I just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine!

Love, Dolly

xoxox

A Shopping "Park"

Maybe I haven't made it clear to all of my followers, but I am a city dog. The lady I rescued and me live in Chicago, one of the largest cities in the U.S. We live on the northwest side of the city though, you almost forget that you do live in the city because it is more suburban where we are at, brick bungalows, yards, street parking, and lots of parks. Oh, parks! Its Park Day!

So where does that lady take me? Downtown! Not only downtown but to Michigan Avenue! You heard her, the Magnificent Mile! Some of the best shopping in the country next to New York's Fifth Avenue! Mom found out from one of her favorite blogs, Sugar, the Golden Retriever, that there is dog friendly shopping in the city at The Shops at North Bridge.  Well, that did it, we were going, but when? She rarely gets to Michigan Avenue, except at Christmas. So when Finn of Finn & Charley Too and Gizmo the Terrier Torrent came up with Park Day we had to do something different, we go to a park all of the time! That did it, she said, we are going to The Shops at North Bridge and go shopping! How many dogs get to do that? I am sure they'll be in parks with great views and scenery but we think the scenery on Michigan Avenue is some of the best. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder right?

You won't find me in this shot!

Yesterday afternoon I got really excited when mom took me for a ride in the car. After we parked we started to go for a walk, I was having such a good time! A new adventure, new smells, where were we going? We stopped for a minute at a very scary spot, mom started to take pictures, then she thought she was going to take pictures of me and I freaked, don't look down! It was a bridge over a river and the bridge moves because it's a drawbridge so the tall sail boats could get down the river to the lake.

We kept walking, I started to get nervous, so much traffic, and people and noise! Wait, where are we going? I did my sit down move, the El train rumbled over our heads, mom had treats! We started walking some more.

We walked into a big building and got in an elevator after mom came to the conclusion that I would not go up an escalator. But mom went in the wrong entrance so we went outside again and walked to another entrance this time there were steps. We had arrived at our destination, we were going shopping!  The Shops at North Bridge, located at 520 N. Michigan Avenue, is a pet friendly place!

We've arrived!

  

Lots of people noticed me, we didn't see any other dogs and everyone said I was cute! They thought I was a dachshund! The first thing we did was find a nice comfortable place to sit down, we were exhausted! By now I won't say I was frantic but I needed to chill out some. It was nice and quiet under mom in the chair. After a nice rest we decided to walk around some. Only the first two floors are dog friendly and since I wouldn't take an escalator we didn't stay long. We were back outside and were now on the famous Magnificent Mile! 

The tulips haven't bloomed yet!

By now I had relaxed some especially because it seemed like we were headed back to where we started. I must say it was good to see our car and hop in and head home! Overall it had been a very exciting adventure. I might not be the city dog mom thinks I am but if we did this more I would probably get used to it. I don't recommend trying something like this for the first time on a hectic weekday. It might be better to do it at less busy time.

A public riverwalk to check out if the weather ever improves!

Mom used her iPhone app WalkMyDog to map our walk and track all sorts of boring statistics. You can check it out here. She would hit pause whenever we stopped so the time is when we were actually moving.

We would like to thank Finn of Finn & Charley Too and Gizmo the Terrier Torrent for motivating us to do this. Park Day is a great idea to get people out with their dogs and go for a good hike. It doesn't have to be a park because us dogs just want to go for a walk!

Love, Dolly

xoxox

Wordless Wednesday: Dinner?

Where to take a hike?

Enjoying my park on Sunday morning.

Don't ask the lady that rescued me! If you read my last post Park Day you will realize that she has no idea resulting in her having to do some thinking outside of the box. But she came across some ideas from looking through the June issue of Cesar's Way Magazine. One thing this lady has realized that working for Bobbi Panter Pet Products has some perks like all the great pet industry publications she has access to. There is tons of good information in them, and it isn't alawys in the web version like Cesar's Way.

Where's that smell?

In Take a Hike... mom found a list of some national parks that welcome dogs. Here are some great ones!

• Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor Maine
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Brecksville, Ohio
• Shenandoah National Park, Luray, Virginia
• Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
• Cape Breton Highlands National Park Ignonish Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada

For more information before you go be sure and visit www.nationalparks.org/. A good source for Canada can be found at National Parks Tour - Parks Canada.

I've got the ball!

Come back on April 26th for my Park Day blog, an exciting event started by Finn of Finn & Charley Too and Gizmo the Terrier Torrent. No matter where you decide to take your dog for a hike they will enjoy it because they are with you! Happy Park Day!

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox

B&W Sunday: Park Day

On the rock steps, our favorite sunny spot to rest before heading home.

Park Day is coming soon! Its an exciting event started by Finn of Finn & Charley Too and Gizmo the Terrier Torrent. Mom and I are very excited to be a part of it. BUT! I go to the park every day! Most of my pictures on my blog are all taken at my neighborhood park, Portage Park. So what to do? Mom doesn't think my readers will want to read about me going to the park, again. Let's see, I've been to a forest preserve before, there's Horner Park, and Lincoln Park, been there done that. But this should be about a new and exiting HIKE! 

Well mom has a great idea. It is so exciting, but you will have to wait until April 26th to read all about where we are going. Hint: I have never been there before and I am a city dog. Stay tuned!

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox


I'm joining the Black & White Sunday Blog Hop hosted by My Life in Blog Years, Dachshund Nola, and You Did What With Your Wiener.

Wordless Wednesday: A Doxie (Mix)

B&W Sunday: Nose Knows

Mom is very upset and frustrated. She doesn't know what to do with me anymore. Or should I say my nose. I have a really good nose. I love to smell, and smell, and smell every inch of things. Mom gets very impatient with me. She gets very angry because I run off on her, when I know I am not suppose to, because I found the food that people put out for the squirrels, and I remember exactly where its at. Once I smell food or garbage and find it I no longer hear mom or even see her. My nose takes over me completely. Its like I become possessed she says. Or like I am in an eating frenzy covering every inch of the ground to find, and eat, every last crumb. She has to take drastic measures to snap me out of my devouring. Then I know what I am suppose to do. I walk over and sit down, while she puts my leash back on, and takes me home. Sigh. I just can't help it.

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox

Wordless Wednesday: Puppy Days

My Allergies: Part II

A while ago I wrote all about my outdoor allergies in my blog post My Allergies: Part I. Unfortunately, last fall at my annual checkup, my vet also diagnosed me with food allergies.

To my mom, this was her worst nightmare. She had been using the immunotherapy on me all summer giving me shots and now this. Here is why the vet diagnosed me with food allergies. I constantly dug at my ears, while mom constantly gave me ear drops. Yet they were still red, and really icky inside. That is the best way for mom to describe how they looked. They didn't feel too great either. At my checkup my mom let the vet know how concerned she was with the ears and the scratching despite the fact that she was giving me the shots. She felt I should not be having these symtoms still. One thing to learn about the immunotherapy is that it can take a few years for it to work completely. But the doctor said that he was sure the ears were caused by food allergies. As a very experienced vet he sees this sort of thing all the time, and he was very confident in his diagnosis. Well, mom is very confident in my vet so she trusted him.

The first thing we learned is that you can't be given a test for food allergies like you can with environmental, or if you do it isn't as reliable. The only way you can test for food allergies is to start eliminating everything. 

Foods to Eliminate

• No grains, including rice and potatoes
• No beef
• No poultry (chicken, turkey, duck)

Then we were given suggestions on what to try.

Foods to Try

• Sweet potatoes
• Lamb
• Salmon/Fish
• Venison

Mom took off to the store and got totally overwhelmed by all the choices and had a hard time finding a food that would fit in with the suggestions. She gave up at the large pet retailer and went to my shelter Wright-Way Rescue because she knew they sold the high quality food by Fromm's. She came home with their Salmon Tunalini for me to try and I liked it really well. She started working on increasing my new food while cutting back on my old food. But, after several days I started to not feel well. Mom noticed me licking the floor and eating leaves and grass outside. Off to the vet I went and after a quick blood test I was diagnosed with mild pancreatitis. I was very lucky that it was caught so soon. The vet recommend that I try a food with less fat. One of the disadvantages of the grain-free foods is that they are higher in fat. My Fromm's food had a crude fat percentage of 16%. The vet recommend staying as close to 10% as possible.

Off mom went to the store AGAIN! This time she came home with Nature's Recipe Grain Free Salmon, Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Recipe. It had a crude fat percentage of 12%. Well, after eating it only a few times my allergies got worse. I had a severe reaction to something in the food. The only thing mom could figure out was that it contained poultry fat.

Natural Balance to the Rescue!

This time mom went to Petco where a very helpful person helped her pick out Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Formula. The third time is the charm! I have been eating it ever since! I love it and have had no reactions to it at all! Thanks Natural Balance for making a high quality, natural food for us problem doggies!

On a side note mom had always fed me a little canned food with my kibble. We found Wellness Lamb and I love it! But Natural Balance also makes a canned sweet potato & bison but our local store doesn't carry it. Maybe Truman will have it at Blog Paws? I hope so!

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox

B&W Sunday: Spring has Sprung!

Not in the mood!

Spring has sprung and with it grass, trees, pollen, and evertyhing else that makes me itch!

Over a month ago I wrote all about my allergies and what mom and I had been through to help me. Now that I am no longer taking my shots and the grass is turning green mom is going to start giving me over-the-counter allergy medications and hope that will be enough to get me through the summer.

If any of my readers suffer from outdoor allergies like I do let me know what you do for your symptoms. Mom is looking for new ideas on what to do for me. Thanks!

Love, Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox

...and the winner is...

Charlie!

Charlie I still haven't heard from you! You have until Tuesday midnight CST to claim your prize!

If I don't hear from you another winner will be randomly selected!

Thanks everyone for entering my first giveaway!

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox

Monday Mischief: Pack Walk

I've changed my mind I don't want to go for a walk after all.

Well, I guess I am going to be doing a regular Monday Mischief blog now. I seem to be getting into a bit of trouble now and then. And it usually is connected with mom taking me for walks. I am a lucky city dog, I get lots of walks, usually to our big park. Mom takes me in the morning where I get to run around off leash, chasing squirrels, playing with pals, and getting into all sorts of things. Then in the afternoon I start to give mom my "look" by 2 p.m. and she'll say "okay" and off we go, to the park again.

This is pretty much the normal routine, which I am very used to. But the problem has been on the weekend. We go through the same look, time, everything but when we get outside I won't cooperate, so she says. I'll sit down, want to go out the front gate, only to come back in, roll around in the grass with the warm Spring sunshine, anything to give her the message that I am not going. She tries all sorts of tricks to get me to go, petting and sweet talking, pulling my leash, and this one, she walks out the back gate and leaves me behind! When I don't follow I hear her say "fine!" and we go back inside. Well, on Sunday, just when I thought I was going back inside, she did without me! When she comes back I hear, DAD!! Yay, a pack walk! I got so excited, wagging my tail, going in circles. I love to walk with mom and dad, usually when we do we go to the store or something, then one of them goes inside without me, which I don't like.

I think I'll sun myself instead of going for a walk.

We didn't walk to the park, but we did go a few blocks around our nice neighborhood on a very warm Spring day. I was very happy! Do you think mom figured out the reason I won't go for a walk on weekend afternoons, the days that dad is home, is because I don't want to leave my pack? You think? #WINNING!

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox

The Monday Mischief Pet Blog Hop

Welcome to Monday Mischief -- The pet blog hop that wraps up the weekend! This blog hop is brought to you by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog and My Brown Newfies.

This is a Blog Hop!