a word from mommy about Dorothy's birthday

Today is Dorothy's birthday which meant she got a special birthday breakfast.  After that, mommy surprised us by giving fresh bones to both of us while she wrote a post on her blog about how Dorothy became part of our family.

I wanted to share it with everyone as well, so here it is:

A puppy born on Halloween

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Most people are celebrating Halloween today but the most important thing in our home is a birthday, because exactly one year ago this little ray of sunshine was born.

Six short weeks later, she became part of our small family and a large part of our joy!  Will’s condition for taking her home was that we keep with our pre-nuptial pet agreement and derive her name from the Anchorman movie.  Much to my dismay, the gorgeous little baby was given a grandma’s name and Dorothy Mantooth was homeless no more!

She was so tiny that she fit XS clothing and such a baby that she wasn’t even weaned from her doggy mummy, trying to find a suckle-point every time anyone held her. 

When we brought her home, her older brother Baxter experienced a range of emotions that changed daily.  First he was cautious: keeping his distance and fleeing the room every time she made a sound.  Next he became curious: sniffing her, her toys, clothes, blankets and bowls incessantly.  Once he figured out that she was staying, he became mean and jealous: inserting himself between her and whomever was cuddling her at the time, taking away anything she was playing with and putting a resounding growl and STOP to whatever fun she was having.  This period lasted longer than the rest, yet Dorothy has the sweetest, most forgiving nature and never even considered holding a grudge.  Her older brother was back then, just as he is now, her absolute idol.  She followed him from room to room and tried to mimic him in every way, much to his ever-increasing irritation!

As the months went by with her trailing him and Baxter taking steps to shake her off (if anyone knows poodles, they know how smart they are –and some of his methods were HILARIOUS!), her resolve and adoration never wavering; Baxter’s began to crack. 

The first sign of his changing affection came on a trip to the park when a border collie tried to get too friendly with his sister – Baxter wouldn’t have that for a second! Up went his tail; out came his teeth and high-pitched bark as he ran charging at the imposter, not stopping until quite sure that the collie was a safe distance away.  Since that turning point, their friendship has grown slowly, starting with Baxter allowing Dorothy on his couch, then closer than 3ft to him, then it progressed to him not taking toys away from her the moment she picked them up, then she was allowed to sit NEXT to him, then drink out of his water dish and finally to touch him!  Now he’s as smitten with her as we are, still enjoying his time alone but clearly missing her before long.

Although Will and I never expected to have two dogs – let alone two small dogs – we are thankful every day that we gave Dorothy Mantooth a home.  She is absolutely the best dog we could ever imagine to complete our family and make us smile numerous times a day.  Thank goodness for a tiny dog who – through her complete way of forgiving, loving and not sweating the small stuff – makes us conscious daily of the type of people we should be.  

Happy birthday bubba x

Atlanta's changing seasons

It's summertime in Atlanta right now but I've been around long enough to know about the changing seasons here: they're out of this world.  

In springtime I like to smell the flowers, roll in clover fields and chase the hundreds of squirrels that come out of every hiding hole.

In summer the days are so long because the sun doesn't set until 9.30pm and I can spend much longer than usual playing at the park or at grandma's.  This means I'm warn out well before bed time

In fall (or autumn as mommy calls it) I love crunching leaves beneath my paws and catching them when someone throws them in the air or they fall from a tree. 

My very first fall when I was still a pup in Piedmont Park

In wintertime it snowed last year but my parents say that's not typical.  I loved the snow and sat by the door begging to be let out so I could sniff it and taste it but also feel it melting on my fur. 

But even if it doesn't snow I like to be outside because I have lots of coats to keep me warm.  

My trip to Savannah

I got to go along with mommy and daddy to Savannah over the weekend: it was so much fun! Here are some snapshots:

The trolley tour was pet friendly!

And I was very well behaved

We ate out a lot

Went on heaps of walks

Did some shopping

And had plenty of down time

Sweetwater Creek Park, Atlanta

Mommy's been working a lot lately, she's only home with me once or twice a week now -  that's why she's been too busy to update my blog (even though grandma and me keep bugging her to)!  It's almost been an entire month since daddy found us this wonderful, dog friendly park... but mom's only just got the pics up, so I can finally share them with you!  It's called "Sweetwater Creek Park," really close to our place, we spent an entire afternoon there and walked almost 6 miles!  I was wiped out when we got home.



Hurry up and take the photo mom!

It's about time!! That took forever... I'm off!

One bath later... I'm done!

My Midtown life

We've lived in Midtown Atlanta for almost a year and a half now. I've gotten used to living in the city.  Mommy says I'm the perfect size to be an apartment dog.  I disagree with that. I wish we had a yard because there's nothing I love more than running free and rolling around in grass to get rid of the doggy deodorant smell that mommy loves to spray on me.  But mom and dad are determined to live in the city and although it's boring being cooped up all day while they're at work; they are quite good at making up for it when they get home at night. Weekends are my favorite! We get to go visit various family members, go on trips to the mountains and parks or spend more time at Piedmont park off my leash. (shh! don't tell).

Here is Piedmont Park where I go for walks most evenings: 

Here is my favorite park in the city:

(It's a private garden for people who live near it - we used to live near it but since we know everyone there now and I have lots of friends, we're still allowed to visit.  And I get to spend the whole time off my leash!) 

Here is where I get "groomed" (tortured more like):

The man who cuts my hair is called and I suppose if we met under different circumstances I would like him but as it stands, he always washes me and cuts my hair so I run away every time I see him.  

Still, I guess living in the city isn't SO bad...

Where the heart is

Mommy says we're 'moving,' I'm not sure what that means but things have been so confusing lately!  “Home” isn’t home anymore – I sat by and watched as mommy and daddy took everything apart, carried it out and scrubbed head to toe until there was nothing left in my “home” aside from the nails in the walls that our photos hung from.  I searched for my kennel and toy box but they were nowhere to be found until daddy brought me to a strange new building that contained with all of my things!   

I didn’t like it one bit when he left me here and went out again – it seemed like they had left me here on my own!  I sat by the door and cried, no longer interested in my toys – why was I alone with all my things?  Then suddenly, I could smell mom!  I got my courage up to go and find her, following her smell to where I thought she was… but it turned out to be a box full of mommy’s clothes.  Still, I decided this meant that at least mommy would be coming to live with me and this perked me up.  I nestled into her things and went to sleep feeling silly, when has she ever left me before? 

I was right!  Mom came back later that night and with her came dad and all of his things!  They set up our bed almost straight away because they were tired and when we went to sleep I left my usual spot at the foot of the bed and snuggled up to mom all night. 

After that, mom and dad came and went a lot over the following days – each time bringing more and more things that smelled like home.  Now most of what we had at “home” is at the new place and it’s starting to smell like home did.  Mom and dad haven’t brought anything else into the house for almost a week now, so I wonder if that means we’re settled?  I for one, still don’t like it here and I miss home. This place is very loud at night and I get startled frequently by our neighbors out in the hall or wailing sirens and tooting car horns out in the street.  S'pose we are all together though and I definitely like having mom and dad near me better than when I thought I would be alone.  Maybe home isn't in a building at all...

A walk in the nick of time

I'm glad mommy took me for a walk when she did today - otherwise we would have been rained on!  Not that I mind getting wet but mommy would have hurried home and I would have missed out on a decent play in the park. 

It was lucky she put my sweater on too cause it sure has gotten cold outside over the last two weeks!  Although the good thing is that Mom's walking a lot faster in this cold weather and I like that since usually I can't wait to get to the park and I pull her along but now she's keeping up with me and we are at the park in no time!