How Addy Got Her Name

A couple of blogsago, I introduced Addy. How Addy got her name is as good of a story as how Sydney got her name.



We already had Sydney and I wanted a name that went along with Sydney. Once again, I googled 'Sydney' to come up with a duo or anything that was related to Sydney. I was hoping for great heroes in history or famous street corner or even a bank robbing duo. However, the only thing that came up when I googled 'Sydney' as Sydney, Australia.

I finally caved in and started looking at cities in Australia. The cities of Melbourne, Brisbane, Wagga Wagga, Perth and many others came up in the search. But I couldn't see myself calling a dog Melly, Bris, Wagga or Perthy.



I did find the city of Adelaide. I loved the name Adelaide; my husband hated it. I could not convince him of Adelaide, no matter how hard I tried. So, in an epiphany, I came up with shortening Adelaide - to Addy.

My husband was fine with that and we went with it. Now she goes by 'Ad', 'AddyBear' and 'Baby Girl'. I have been asked before, when I am introducing the girls, if I am from Australia. No, but my Australia friends love the connection!

Vet and 1800PetMeds - Round 2

So after yesterday, I just assumed I was just going to have to bite the bullet. I had planned on setting up Sydney's annual appointment next week and then, hopefully, talk them into signing the prescription for 1800PetMeds and everyone would move on. Now, I don't know what to think.

Hillside called today...again. This time it was one of the vet techs who called. She said they found the order for prescription in February and was wondering if that was the problem. I said I was really unsure what the problem was, only that they wouldn't sign it because it was a 1800PetMeds order. I told the vet tech that I would just take care of it when I came in for the visit.

The vet tech asks, "Why do you buy it from anyone else but us?" (I thought this was rather intrusive but I proceeded). "Well, I get a discount and think it cheaper and it is convenient because it comes to the door." The vet tech replies, "We can mail it." **shocked** "Really? Does it cost anything to ship?" "No", says the vet tech. "The thing is we don't recommend buying from any of these outside sources because we don't know where the medication is coming from. It could be coming from outside the US where it is not regulated. Also, the temperature on the medications is not controlled. And we have done our research and we are cheaper than they are." At this point, I reply "Well...I'll have look into that".

Really...did this just happen? Was the vet trying to sell me something? I don't know what to think at this point. Nor what to do...

Vet and 1800PetMeds

I ordered Sydney and Addy's medication from 1800PetMeds yesterday (They are on FrontLine Plus and Interceptor). Interceptor - a heartworm medication - is precription only. The Frontline Plus - flea & tick - is OTC. I take my dogs to Hillside Animal Clinic in Floyds Knobs which according to Google
maps is only about 7 miles away from the house. It isn't a bad drive but it is really out of the way to go pick up medicine. I started using 1800PetMeds so I wouldn't have to drive there, it came straight to my door and it usually included a treat for the girls.

Since the Interceptor is a prescription, 1800petmedshas to have a prescription from the vet. Hillside called this morning saying they won't fill it because 1) they only do that with recent heartworm checks and Sydney is due up for hers and 2) the last record they have of Sydney having any heartworm medication was October 2007. I tried to explain to the vet that I 1) buy Sydney's medication on a quarterly basis. She then argued with me that if I did it quarterly then I would more than a quarter (I buy the 6 pack). Which of course I replied, I have two dogs. 2) I give my dogs their medication every month. I don't miss. She asked me when the last time I gave it to them. This month. The vet said, "Well that will get them until you come in next time".

I have every intention of getting my dogs to the vet. I felt the vet was being very accusing of me and/or was trying to make money. Either way, this isn't the first complaint I have heard about Hillside in the past month.

Long night for Sydney

Sydney got sick last night - 2 sessions of vomit - 2 acts of vomiting in each session. A total of 4 vomits I had to clean up last night. (BTW, Resolve carpet cleaner for pets works great for getting the stains and odors out of the carpet). I took them walking about 7:30 pm, almost 2 hours after they ate. We were walking at a pretty brisk pace and Addy was superexcited about walking. I had to cut our walk short - only about a mile and a half - because 1) it was starting to get dark and 2) Addy just would not slow down.

Sydney didn't show any outward signs of wanting to slow down either. She would grab some grass as we went along (dogs will sometimes grab grass if they feel nauseated to make themselves throw up) but she will eat grass every time we walk - usually without the vomiting. It was maybe 30 minutes after we got back did we have Session #1. Session #1 consisted of all of her dog food, non-digested. She laid down and fell sleep. She was definitely lethargic. About an hour later, she got up and played with Addy - Session #2. Session #2 was more bile - she threw up her dinner in Session #1. After Session #2, I gave her the prescription medication the vet prescribed (yes, we have been here before). It seemed to help her b/c she slept threw the night without incident...

...or so we thought. We were getting ready to put Sydney in her cage this morning when we found another pile (could this be Session #3). We have no idea when it happened...

I have to add that my husband did not, nor never does, clean up the vomit. He apparently gets 'sick' when he is around it. What does he think happens to me?

Bark in the Park - Recap

Due to personnel issues, I am unable to post pictures of the event. Here is a link to the story in the local news.

We started off in the back because I wanted to walk the 5K versus run it. There were only a handful of people walking the 5K distance. When Sydney & Addy saw the rest of the pack running, they were running as well. Addy zigzagged the entire way; probably resulting in a 10K instead of a 5K. The girls have never been to this park before so they were doing a lot of sniffing around.

Part of our route ran along Beargrass Creek. At certain junctions around the creek, there was a rock ledge that bordered the creek (at these junctions there was a pretty decent drop-off from the road to the creek. Addy would stop walking, place 2 paws up on the ledge and look over into the creek. She never made an attempt to get her back paws up therefore I didn't think she would jump. But she definitely showed interest in getting back to in the water.

We did the 5K a little over 45 minutes. Yes, that means we were doing 15 minute miles - I feel accomplished when I do that walking by myself!!! I knew we were going fast but was astonished at that pace. Sydney and Addy started to slow around the 2 1/2 mile mark but were still moving at a very good pace. Maybe I do need to take them on training runs. We didn't stay around for the events afterwards...like I said, personnel issues.

Bark in the Park

The girls and I will be at Bark in Park this Saturday, September 20th, at Seneca Park. I hope to have pictures up this weekend. Assuming we get our electricity back!

144 Hours

I posted earlier that we had a bit of a wind storm here. Well, we are going on 144 hours of not having electricity. Saying it is an inconvenience is slightly understating the problem. They project that everyone will be up by Saturday Midnight. I don't know if that means tonight or early Sunday morning. I am hoping that means tonight.

Sydney and Addy are affected by it as well. The first couple of days they stuck pretty close to us when we were getting ready in the morning with flashlights. Sydney knew something was a little off. Since we have been hanging out with friends, family and at restaurants - where they have electricity - the girls have been in their cages a lot more than usual. It also gets darker earlier - with no electricity - so their sleep patterns, and subsequently mine, are all off.

I knew something was wrong when I fell asleep on the coach the night before. Both of the dogs want to be up on the coach with me but Addy will be next to me and Sydney will be on the other end of the coach, needing her space. Well, Sydney came up and laid as close to me as she could, almost on top of me. She hasn't done that since she was a puppy. Addy would beg to lay near me and Sydney will usually acquiesce...not last night.

Then this morning, they got into the dog food - again. Now, they will sometimes get into the food when we put a new bag in the food bin because the food is right on top. But that is the only time. So when they got into the food this morning, I knew they were acting out to all of our routine changes.

Therefore, I will be very glad when we get the lights back on so we can all get back to our 'normal' routines.

Pet Food Recall

See the link below for the latest Pet Food Recall for salmonella. Click on the box with the brands in it and it will ask if it is for either Cat or Dog. Then the specific name of the pet food will appear in the drop down menu.

Pet Food Recall

We Survived the Storm

Well, we survived the storm that hit the midwest. We still do not have electricity. Sydney and Addy definitely thought it was weird when we were getting ready this morning in the dark.

As I have written in previous blogs here and here, Sydney does not like storms nor rain. Sydney did pretty well yesterday. With wind gusts close to 80 miles an hour, she was really spooked I think at the sounds of the wind and all the trees waving around. She would approach the door but when I would open it to go outside, she ran downstairs. But was attentive and alert, not hiding under anything.

Addy, on the other hand, was the explorer. Every time I went outside, she went with me. She canvassed the yard checking out all of the limbs that were down and all of the smells that had been picked up. When I was outside without her, she become more agitated and whined to get out. She was definitely my brave puppy yesterday.

This article on MSNBC is pretty timely regarding yesterday. It is a superman-like cape that is supposed to disperse the electricity that a dog feels when a storm is coming on. I think Sydney responds more to the noise than the electricity in the air (especially after her reaction yesterday). The Storm Defender is definitely something to look into for future storms.

Introducing Addy

I have focused a lot of this blog on Sydney. So I need to get you caught up on Addy. Addy is our yellow lab. Addy was an 'accident' in every sense of the word.

The same co-worker of my husband's, where we got Sydney, sent him an email the February after we got Sydney with a surprise. The co-worker had planned for Sydney's mother to be spade. The date was already set because the last pregnancy, Sydney's litter, had stressed the dog out so much that my husband's co-worker did not want her to have any more.

However, on February 15th, unbeknownst to everyone, Sydney's mother had 10 puppies; only 6 survived including 1 yellow female.

My parent's dog, Mocha, had to be put down in December. My dad had always wanted a yellow female lab. So my husband told his co-worker to hold the yellow female lab. It was hard on all of us losing Mocha but, starting in March, Dad starting looking at puppies. We wanted to surprise him with it but knew we couldn't keep the surprise much longer.

I sent him an email stating that we had a yellow lab for him (he loved Sydney and even commented on how he would like to have a dog like her) and that we wanted to surprise him with this dog. His reply - 'No, thanks.' Nothing more. Needless to say, we were devastated. What we didn't know at the time was my mother was going through breast cancer treatment and did not feel she could take care of a puppy and it was mom that had said 'No thanks'.

My husband's co-worker had turned down several other people who had wanted the lone yellow female. So we felt obligated to keep her. We had talked about getting another dog down the road, but not this soon.

My husband, Sydney and I all went to see her and the rest of the puppies. She ends up in my husbands lap and just laid there and slept. Needless to say, she won over our heart. And I can't imagine life without her.

Dear Aunt Amy & Uncle Keith

Dear Aunt Amy & Uncle Keith,

I was so, so so excited when Grandma brought Candace over the other day. Mom had to hold me at the door so Grandma could get Candace down the steps. Mom tried to calm me down but I just couldn't stand it. I was sooooo excited to see her.

When I finally was able to come downstairs, I just couldn't take my eyes off her. She is so pretty and she smells really good. I just wanted to give her bunches and bunches of kisses. Nobody would let me do that. I don't think they understand how much I just wanted to love on her.

And then, when she was petting me...oh my goodness...I was the luckiest dog around!!! I can't tell you how happy I was! So I just laid they and did whatever Dad said I could do. Addy likes her too. But you know how Addy is, she gets bored really easy. When she couldn't give Candace kisses, she just got bored. (I promise she likes Candace too!)

I was really, really, really sad when Candace and Grandma had to leave. I watched at the door until I couldn't see them any more. Then I cried for about 10 minute because I was soo sad. I kept hoping that Grandma would bring Candace back so I stayed by the door for a long time. It made me so sad to see her go.

So can you please, please, please bring Candace over more often. I love her sooo much. And I miss both of you too. You are my favorites!!!

Love you soo much!
Paws and Licks
Sydney

Holy Crap! I have taught Sydney to eat poop!

I have a confession to make - the girls eat poop. Now, I don't feel too bad about this because apparently, this is a very common problem. The official term for dogs eating poop is coprophagia. I googled 'dog eats poop' and came up with a variety of sources. My favorite site lists 20 reasons why dogs participate in coprophagia. This is also where I learned I was the culprit.

Here is some back story. We noticed that Addy had this behavior. We tried scolding, taking it away and so on. But this is Addy and most behavior techniques don't work. We think she was either 1) bored or 2) seeking attention. This being Addy, I would say it was both. Now, Addy would eat that which had been 'sitting out' for a while. Once again, everything I have read, says that seems to be normal behavior for a dog. Here is where it takes a turn.

Sydney hates poop. She is my Little Miss Neat. When she goes out, she wipes her feet, tip-toes away from anything that remotely looks like it could be poop. Thus I was shocked when my mother called, after watching her for an evening, and she said she Sydney eating Addy's poop almost immediately after Addy 'made a deposit'. My mother scolded her and, with Sydney, that is all it usually takes and the matter is settled. I didn't think anything of it.

Saturday morning we are out on our normal walk around the neighborhood. Addy has to go and, since I am the conscience neighbohor, have my doggy bags ready. As I am picking up some of the 'droppings', Sydney bends down and ate some of it directly in front me.

I am aghast.

I am shocked.

And of course, there are 4 people standing in their backyard baring witness to the whole thing. I can't really scold her like I want to because then the witnesses would think I beat my dog. I am so shocked and now know that I have a problem.

In doing my research, I found that I was the route to all evil. Sydney was following allelomimetic behavior. It means that a dog will watch you do something and then they will mimic it. This is Sydney every day...just now it involves poop. Sydney learned that she was supposed to pick up after Addy because I always did.

Yes, I win the dog mom of the year award for that one.

A Love Letter to Sydney on Her 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Sydney! As I mentioned in my previous post, Sydney turned 2 yesterday. It is hard to believe it has been almost 2 years since we first saw her.

I had wanted a dog for a while. I have always loved labs and my husband was determined I was going to get one.

I fell in love in Sydney from the moment I saw her. She was the runt of the litter and, although I was concerned if she would develop normally, I had to bring her home. We saw her at 4 weeks, a little too early to take her and I cried when we had to leave her.

My husband went and got her at 5 weeks and 5 days. It was the Friday of Labor Day so we wanted three days with her.

Sydney wouldn't stay in her box in the car and ended up laying on my husband's shoulder for a 30 minute car ride. We took her to the ballpark that night and every one fawned over her.

That night would become the first of many nights to come. Sydney cried every hour on the hour. At first, I would go and comfort her. Then it was discipline. To no avail. So I would end up sleepiing on the floor, my back against the couch and my head in the seat - and Sydney in my lap. We slept for hours like that.

During those wee hours of the morning, I thought it would never end. There are days now, when I wish I could have those days back.

How Sydney Got Her Name

Sydney is our black lab. Sydney turned 2 on July, 23rd. Since she just had a birthday, I thought I would talk a little bit about her and how she got her name.

Sydney was our first dog and I did not have a clue on what to name her. We saw her when she was around 4 weeks old. She was the runt of the litter so she fit into my husband's hand. But other than whine and sleep, we didn't get a feel for her personality. (Albeit, we should have realized that the whining was some indicator).

So, I started searching for names on the Internet. I googled 'dog names' and found the ten most common dog names. But all of those names I either 1) had a dog growing up that had that name or 2) had friends that had those names. Frankly, I wasn't having any luck.

I broke down and searched for baby names. As I am searching, I came across Sydney.

Sydney was the name of my Pound Puppy growing up. My pound puppy was brown and it was one of my favorite toys as a child. It just seemed right that I would name my first dog Sydney. So we did.

Now, Sydney goes by 'Sydney, Sydney', 'Syd' & 'Pretty Girl'. When she is in a good mood and I ask 'Who is my pretty girl?', I can get her to answer with a bark!!!

Rainy Day

Thank goodness for the rain today. My yard & garden desperately need the rain. It is great to feel the cool weather that the rain is bringing in too.

Sydney does not like the rain. She will not go out in it at all. I suspect she some how associates rain with thunder. As you might remember, Sydney does not like thunder. So this morning, like every morning, she is the first up the stairs to go out. She is at the door, moved the curtains out of the way and is fogging up the door because her nose is plastered to the door. She can't wait to out....that is until I open the door.

Addy bounds ahead of her, almost jumping over the top of her to get out (the girl has to go). Sydney lowers her head and starts sniffing. Then when she realizes it is raining, she tucks her tail and quickly gets away from the door before I can push her out!

Addy, who loves anything to do with water, is out there for her normal time and then barks to come back in. Poor Sydney, she just stares out the door. Looks at me occasionally kinda of like 'can you do something about this?'. Wish I could. I open the door but she still refuses to go out. I know she needs to 'go' because she hasn't been outside the house in over 12 hours!!!

I finally have to start getting ready while she sits staring out the door. I am eventually able to get her outside, ok, push her outside, when the rain lets up a little bit. She was perfectly fine when she came back in.

Another reason today was a good rainy day, Addy slept in until the alarm went off this morning. That, in and of itself, is a true miracle!