Luna's Chewbacca

If you have not figured it out yet, Luna is half Siberian Husky which makes her quite the talker. In the morning, at night, after she stretches, to get our attention; Luna talks a lot. Her "talk" is in between a howl and a growl. The only way I can really depict it is by referencing a character from Star Wars.

Chewbacca.

Listen for yourself (it was a lot harder getting her on camera than I thought... Camera shy dog).

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Weekend Adventures: Deep Cleaning

This weekend was pretty laid back. It was pretty hot, so I didn't want to bring Luna out for too long on an adventure. Plus the last couple weekends have been quite crazy, therefore, I wanted to just relax and do stuff around the apartment...Lots of cleaning. 

But on the bright side, Luna decided to help. When I vacuumed she watched my every move, making sure I did not miss a single spot, or that I vacuumed up any of her toys. After finishing vacuuming the entire 896 square feet of our apartment, the vacuum was filled to the brim with fur. I swear, every time I vacuum I could make a new dog with the amount of fur that gets sucked up!

I also cleaned the bathroom, specifically the bathtub that needed a deep clean. I put some Comet down in the tub and let it sit there as I cleaned the rest of the apartment. When I came back to the tub, I noticed little footprints in the tub that lead out to the hallway. Clearly, Luna wanted to make sure she was helping me out. (Don't worry, I checked her to make sure she didn't have any more Comet on her paws and kept an eye on her after that to make sure she didn't consume anything she wasn't supposed to. Luna is healthy and fine.)

After cleaning the apartment, I decided to treat myself to a spa day (aka a fresh pedicure). And if you have ever tried to paint your nails with dogs around, you will know that nail polish is a magnet for dog hair. It is a serious struggle sometimes. I feel like that Lays commercial where the woman eats some potato chips after a fresh mani, and the chips are all over her fingers. Disgusting. Well, imagine that, except with fur. But today's pedi was a success, not too much fur around after vacuuming. 

Source

Now, I didn't just stay inside the whole weekend. Luna and I went to the lake (Lake Borris--the one we like) for a couple hours. She had a great time, as usual, but was happy to go home and sleep. What I've noticed with Luna is that no matter how tired she is, if there are other dogs or people around she can not settle down and chill out. She is just too stimulated and too excited. The only way she can actually lay down and chill out is if we are at home. So that's what we did, we went home so Luna could sleep (and I could nap). And she chose to sleep in her crate with the door wide open! 

A good relaxing weekend for both of us.

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Photo Friday: Roses are Gray, Violets are Gray

When I was browsing Pinterest, I found this hilarious meme, and I couldn't NOT share it with you! First off, the Collie has the derpiest face ever, which just makes you read the poem in a ridiculous voice (for me I prefer using a deep voice with a lisp--one of my many "dog voices" I use to impersonate animals). Secondly, the poor dog can't see color, since you know... he's a dog...and dogs are color blind. Since he can't see color, his poem is so sad and pathetic you just feel bad for the fella. 

Which made me start to think, dogs are color blind, but does that really mean they see in grayscale? I mean when people are color blind, they normally get colors confused because they eyes can't differentiate the colors (or something like that... I don't know, I'm not a doctor). So, I looked it up: How do dogs see color? 

And this is what I found:

This is the colors that the human eye can see: a range of colors from pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, and purples. (Well unless you are color blind, maybe it looks different)

And this is what a dog sees: a range of grays, blues, and yellows. So they can see color, but the way their eye interprets color is different and a much smaller scale than a human. BUT THEY DO NOT JUST SEE IN BLACK AND WHITE! 

Here is an example of the difference between a human's vision of parrots versus a dog's vision. Quite interesting, and different.

Source

Basically, a dog sees the world as a washed out photo from the 1900s, where we see the world as vibrantly saturated photos like a Instagram filter. But, not only do they see less contrast and less colors, they also have less perception of depth. A dog's eye can see 150 degrees each, however they only over lap for 60 degrees. If you look at a person's eye, one eye can see 170 degrees each and over lap 140 degrees. The overlapping vision is what you (or the dog) can see clearly. The rest of the sight is out of focus and probably blurry. Although dogs can see a wider range, their perception of depth is a lot smaller than humans perception. If you think about it, dogs have tunnel vision compared to humans.

Here is a diagram of what I mean:

 Source

So, going back to the meme of the Collie with the "gray" flower... In reality, that flower is probably a grayish yellow. Still not the full color (at least how we see it to be) but it  is definitely NOT gray. HAPPY DAY! DOGS CAN SEE COLOR!

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Luna Shaming: Stuffed Toys

I woke up to this. Luna hasn't really gotten into anything since we have crate trained her, and threw away all of her stuffed or fabric toys. She's been an angel...until last night. I woke up this morning and found fluff everywhere! My first thought was that it was from a toy, but she doesn't have any toys that she could possibly destroy. That means it could only be one thing...the comforter. Lovely. Luckily she just tore it from the corner of the bedding, so its an easy repair. Still not something I wanted to deal with. Thanks Luna!

Luna's Dog Shaming letter:

Mom & Dad took all of my stuffed toys and threw them away. So, when they both fell asleep, I found a stuffed toy they forgot to hide from me... THEIR COMFORTER! -Luna

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Hike with Auntie JuJu

After my #DogMomFail from this weekend, I felt terrible for not taking Luna out for fun activities. But yesterday, Jenna (Drew's youngest sister) asked if she could grab Luna while I was at work and bring her on a hike. What a dream come true! Although I was not redeeming my motherhood failure, Aunt JuJu was willing to take Luna out for a hike which made me feel less bad about not having time for her this weekend.

Jenna took Luna to "Fatty Hill," which I came to realize was the same hike I attempted when trying to get to Del Valle Lake a couple weekends ago. Apparently no one really hikes all the way to the lake from "Fatty Hill," it's supposed to just be a hike up the hill and a hike back down (this makes me feel so much better about not making it 5 miles to the lake).

I came home from work, and Jenna and Luna (and Megan, Jenna's friend) were still on their hike. I had the apartment to myself! No childog to take on a walk, or take out to go potty, or to entertain. It was serene, like I was at the beach on vacation just listening to the sound of waves hitting the shore and the breeze in the air. Is this what it's like when you have kids and they are at school or at a sleepover? This blissful break? It's AMAZING!

I wake myself up from my daydream, and get dinner ready and prepare for Luna's arrival since they would be home soon (which is okay, since it was starting to get weird being by myself in that apartment). When Jenna and Megan came by to drop Luna off, they filled me in on how much of an angel Luna was (I think to myself, "Ya, that's right, my dog is soooo well behaved" and in my head I pat myself on the back) and that she didn't even bark at the other dogs walking by who were barking at her. 

I'm telling you, we got lucky with this girl, she has never been that dog who barks like crazy at anyone that walks by. That is, unless she's in her domain (our apartment) and she does not know you very well, she will bark at you and growl to try to get you away from her territory. I'm okay with this though, in case we ever have an intruder, I'm pretty confident she will scare the crap out of them. 

Aunt JuJu leaves, and I thank her for taking Luna on a hike and tell her she has the "Best Aunt Award" right now. After they leave, Luna falls asleep, pooped after the surprise hike.

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Weekend Adventure: #DogMomFail

This weekend I was a horrible dog mom and decided to do things that did not involve Luna at all (you know, took some ME time--such a rare thing!). I may have had a fun filled weekend, but Luna did a lot of sleeping in her crate (though I did have people check up on her while I was away).

Fortunately on Saturday, I was able to get her out of the house and bring her to a "new" dog park. It's definitely far from new, it's not even new for Luna! Just new for me. We went to Drew's favorite dog park in Livermore, called Vista Meadows. 

According to the name, you would think there is a love view of lush green meadows. Except, this is California, and we are in a drought, so the only view you have is dead and yellow. (Hey! We are the "Golden State" after all!)

Drew really likes this dog park because it really tires Luna out very fast. Vista Meadows is on the side of the hill, so inside the dog park there is an incline where the dogs have to run up and down the hill if they are playing fetch or chasing after dogs or whatever else they do at dog parks. 

It's a pretty good set up, they also have benches, trees (great shade for hot days), and water. You would think the last one would be an obvious at a dog park, but you'd be surprised at how many dog parks I've been to that don't have water for dogs. They expect you to bring your own water! Crazy. But Vista Meadows has that under control. They are even good about having a small dog and big dog water bowl. Well, the small dog "bowl" is more of a crater in the cement block under the water spicket, but it works.

It's funny, I have never really realized the necessity of having a small dog bowl. Since Luna was never considered a small dog, I never understood what the issue was and why people brought their own water bowls to dog parks. I just always thought "Oh, they are those people, that are specific on what their dog drinks out of." Some people are genuinely like that, but I came to realize most people who bring their dog water bowls from home to dog parks is a different issue all together! I didn't understand this issue until I brought Moxie (Luna's cousin who is a Maltese) to the dog park with us. 

The water bowls that the dog parks supply are usually buckets. Buckets that are taller than every small dog out there. These poor dogs can't even reach the water bowl. When I brought Moxie with us to the dog park, I realized this was an issue when she started panting. I brought her over to the water (thinking she just didn't know where the water was located), that's when I laughed. The poor girl was shorter than the bucket and couldn't even reach. How the hell am I going to solve this problem? I pick her up and dangle her over the water bucket, which doesn't go well. She is confused why I'm holding her over this large body of water. So what did I do? I became that girl, and made a basin with my hands and had Mox drink out of it. To other people I probably looked like some crazy dog lady, I might as well have just put the water in my mouth and fed her water like a mother bird to her babies. But hey, Moxie got to quench her thirst, and that's what matters right?

So that was my weekend with Luna. Pretty much a failure as a dog mother #DogMomFail.
I ditched her, and the one time I did actually take her out the grass was all dead. AND I forgot to bring a ball, but don't fret, another dog and his owner showed up and Luna snatched his ball. She is such a ball thief, and a tease. We gave that ball back and headed home, she was pooped.

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Photo Friday: VOTE for Your Favorite!

For today's Photo Friday, I've decided to promote ASPCA and the cats and dogs that have been adopted! They are having a photo contest (submitting photos has ended), and now you can VOTE! Which photo do you absolutely love the most? Here is the one that I chose (though it was quite hard)-- something about a dirty puppy just makes me so happy (as long as I dont have to clean up the mess).

Everybody loves an easy survey, especially on a Friday when you are just ready to go home for the weekend. Well, this survey may not be as easy as you think! There are so many cute photos of dogs and cats, it's a cuteness overload for sure. 

The survey is for Rachel Ray's $100K Challenge Photo Contest. "From June 1 to August 31, 50 shelters across the country are competing to break their own adoption records. This Photo Contest showcases some of the adorable animals who were adopted from participating shelters during the first half of the $100K Challenge."

To vote: CLICK HERE! 

 

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