Kristine Gunter, Dog Photographer

Last weekend, at the flyball tournament, the hosting team sponsored a dog costume contest. I had known about the contest for quite some time, but only wanted to enter it if I could think of a truly unique costume. About two weeks ago I had one of those lightbulb-going-off moments and realized I could have a unique AND timely costume for Zoey for just a couple of bucks.

I got the used infant-sized pig costume off Ebay for $2.00. The fake box of tamiflu and the syringe/needle velcroed onto the side of the costume cost just $3.00. And there she was–SWINE FLU. During the contest, I walked Zoey around wearing my lab coat and a face mask and warned the judges to stay away from me–after all, I had SWINE FLU.

We didn’t win but got a lot of nice comments about our innovative costume

One of the contest winners had me highly confused. The judges announced that the “poodle” was the winner of most humorous costume–when the “poodle” and the “poodle’s” owner walked out to accept their award, I didn’t get it. The rather-poorly-groomed “poodle” didn’t even have a costume on!! This contest was clearly rigged!!

Later in the day, I asked my friend Jonae why the “poodle” won–and she gently told me that the “poodle” was really a Doberman Pinscher!

(photo of “poodle” courtesy of Jonae)

Zoey and I just returned from our last flyball tournament of the year–and what a great weekend it was! Our flyball team sent three separate racing teams up to this tournament–when you count various children, spouses and significant others that often travel along with the team members, we had 30+ people with us this weekend.

Zoey had a perfect weekend–no dropped balls, no missed jumps. She earned another 600 700! points or so towards her next flyball title, so that, “Flyball Master” title may be ours someday. Our team was racing well enough on Saturday to end up in first place after five races–sadly there were seven races total and we ended up dropping down to third overall when the day was done.

I feel so lucky to be a part of this team–everyone works together so well and gets along great. It was a pleasure to share my weekend with them. My teammate Steve managed to capture some video of the team Zoey was a part of this weekend–the line-up is Lexi, Marley, Zoey and Pi. Do you think Zoey enjoys this sport?

Took Riley and Zoey to the vet today for check-ups, bloodwork, titers and Bordetella vaccinations. I put each of them on the scale and was surprised by the numbers: Riley was 32 pounds, 8 ounces–quite a bit lighter than I would have predicted. When I carry him up and down the stairs, it seems like he weighs so much more than that! Zoey weighed in at 23 pounds, 3 ounces. She’s definitely on the thin side right now since we’ve been doing so much flyball, but I hadn’t realized she was over 2 pounds lighter than she was just a year ago–she’s definitely a petite girly.

Cassie the Newfoundland

Benni the Entlebucher Mountain Dog

Cori, the Australian Shepherd

1) The Eureka “Boss” vacuum with PowerPaw attachment: I know. I know. Everyone with dogs talks about that ‘other’ vacuum as being the best for dealing with pet hair. I’ve never used a Dyson, but I can tell you for about 1/4 of the price you can pick up one of these babies and suck up A LOT of dog hair! I LOVE the PowerPaw attachment for sucking up Corgi fur off the furniture, etc. It’s awesome. Costco is selling these vacuums (with 10 bags and free shipping) for $140.00. I think it’s quite a deal if you need a new vacuum.

2) Land’s End anti-static fleece: I was skeptical that this fleece would really repel dog hair. Come on–when I wear fleece it looks like I’m wearing a Corgi coat. Fleece and dog hair just go together, right? Well, I finally broke down and ordered a “ThermaCheck” anti-pet-hair fleece pullover a couple of weeks ago and darned if it isn’t the best thing EVER. I wore it all day today and there’s not a Corgi hair to be found on it. And I carry dogs up and down stairs several times a day, so that’s really saying something!  I’ll be ordering more for sure.

3) TazLab safety collars: A few years ago I was driving the truck around town and Riley was riding in his crate in the back of the cab. Suddenly I heard him screaming like I had never heard before. I raced to pull off the side of the road only to discover his dog tags had become tangled in the wire mesh crate door. He was absolutely panicked by the situation and I realized how dangerous tags and collars are, especially for dogs who are unattended during the day. From that day on, I have religiously removed collars from my dogs necks every time I leave them alone. But, I do worry that if they were to get lost, they’d have no easy-to-see identification on them (they are all microchipped). I just found “TazLab” collars the other day, promptly ordered three of them and are thrilled with how they work. By incorporating a small section of elastic into the collar, a dog that gets their tags caught on something can still escape if necessary. I think it’s a great idea and am very happy with the quality of these collars.

4) Black-and-White Cardigan Corgi with fetish for eating cardboard, throw rugs and bath towels: ‘Nuf said.

I’ve always wondered if Newfies really had waterproof coats, but my curiosity was satisfied when I saw Cassie playing in the dewy grass this morning.

Meet Cassie, a puppy who may very well be the most-adored puppy in the history of Reed College. Cassie recently took up residence in the Chemistry department and she spends her days with several seniors who are (supposedly) writing their senior theses. Of course, when you have an adorable 13-week old Newfoundland residing in your thesis office, it can be difficult to concentrate on your academic work.

I’m thankful that Riley threw up at 7:00 this morning–odd thing to be thankful for, yes?

I’m thankful for the event because, once I saw what he had thrown up, I realized he: 1) wouldn’t be needing to take a trip to the emergency vet clinic on a Sunday and therefore 2) he would be able to retain his nickname, “the $10K puppy” instead of having to change it to the “$13K puppy”.

What I discovered in his bed was a huge wad of twisted, bleached and tangled-up towel (see yesterday’s post for explanation). Once rinsed off and examined (don’t ask), I determined the piece to be approximately 4 inches wide and 6-8 inches long at the time of ingestion. How he managed to swallow it without choking (and, for that matter, regurgitate it without choking) is beyond me. That towel has been sitting in his intestine for at least 5 or 6 days, probably absorbing it’s weight in digestive juices many times over. It kind of explains his increased thirst this past week. I thought about including a photo of it to share with everyone, but decided it was one of those things that is better left to the imagination…

About every six months or so, Riley seems to go through a brief ‘naughty’ phase. These are periods when he is exceptionally naughty–and destructive. I’ve never been able to figure out what triggers a naughty phase nor how to stop it. Last week I realized the house was unusually quiet and could only account for two of the three Corgis. I went upstairs to find Riley chowing down on a bath towel that had been inside Rugby’s crate–about 25% of the towel was gone when I discovered it. Just two days later I realized Riley had disappeared again but this time I discovered him down in the basement–where he had consumed most of a rather large cardboard box. Needless to say, the yard has been littered with some ‘artistic’ poop lately…