My Two Pitties: Cuddles

Showing posts with label Cuddles. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: GOOD MORNING BUBS ♥

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

CRAZY FOR KAYA

Years ago I adopted Kaya from San Francisco Animal Care & Control which is SF's city shelter. I recently got a newsletter from them saying they would be posting stories from adopters on their Facebook page in a "Love Stories" album for Valentine's Day. Of course I had to send Kaya's story! Lately I've been hearing stories of my internet friends running into those who helped and cared for their dogs before they were adopted. Maybe this is my chance to reach one of those people who knew Kaya! If not...I'm just happy to share and maybe make someone smile. Here's what I wrote...

I adopted Kaya (then Daisy) as a little puppy almost 4 years ago! She has grown up to be such a loving, loyal, affectionate and hilarious dog. Her favorite activities include sunbathing, fetch, hangin' with her "brother" Norman, giving kisses, digging in the sand and being a big lap dog.

Kaya was the first in my animal family that is now a very happy & adorable trio including my other former pound puppy, Norman and their kitty, Gina. When I adopted Kaya I didn't have much, having just moved back to the area. An apartment, an airbed, a pile of clothes and a dog...what more could you need!? And it was perfect. I quickly started fostering cats because I wanted to socialize her from a young age. I nicknamed her "the cat whisperer" because she was able to turn even the most scaredy of scaredy cats in a dog lover.

After a few months, I realized she needed a dog buddy too. When I adopted Norman I could have never imagined 2 dogs could be so perfect for each other. They sleep on top of each other, share all their treats & toys, wrestle for hours in the back yard and follow all the same smells when out on the trail. They adore each other endlessly. Norman thinks Kaya is just about the coolest thing on the planet. While Kaya loves having her dutiful companion at her beck and call.

Kaya is also a master at fetch. She leaps with joy at the sight of her beloved chuck-it & ball. She'll bring it back over and over...and over. And I always marvel at her quest for the missing ball should she have missed where I threw it. I've seen her sweep an acre's worth of land and come up victorious time and time again. Swimming fetch is another great passion of hers. She never gets tired when she's out but she certainly crashes hard once we're home!

When not playing fetch, Kaya is a great adventurer. On most days, we go on long hikes in the Oakland hills. She explores many nooks and crannies on her own but any mention of "go up there" "go down there" "go over there" with a point in the right direction and she's off to investigate! She also loves the snow at Lake Tahoe and running her little heart out on the beach. And we've been lucky enough to move from my tiny studio to a beautiful house with a yard.

Kaya is my right hand girl. She leaps at the opportunity to join me no matter what we're doing...taking out the trash, moving from the couch to bed late at night, climbing a huge mountain, going for a swim or even if I want her to move from the foot of the bed to cozied up tight by my face. Since her very first night with me, she has spent every one burrowed deep under the covers, cuddled up against me. In fact, her warm head is resting on my lap as I type this.

Something very important to me is promoting Pit Bull type dogs in a positive light. Kaya's made that easy on me. She loves everyone she meets from little kids to old people, along with dogs of all shapes and sizes. She was a rambunctious and ambitious pup so I put countless hours into her training. I wanted us to be a team, not just a dog obeying her owner. And it worked! She knows what I'm saying from the most subtle motions and has a barrel of tricks that she loves running through. I can't express how much I love taking her places and seeing her run free. She always keeps me in check and makes sure we're along for the ride together.

If you are interested in seeing more of our adventures, I love documenting our daily activities on Instagram @ mytwopitties. We're also on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & Blogger under the same name. Thank you so much to those at SFACC who helped rescue and care for my girl!

I had a really really hard time narrowing down the pictures too. Everyone else just posted one sweet picture so I felt like kind of an a-hole submitting a whole collection. But...I just couldn't decide. Oh well! You can click on the above image to view it larger.

Have you ever connected with some who knew your dog in the past or helped rescue them?

Related Posts:
Three Years with Kaya
Two Years with Kaya
A Year with Kaya

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: DISAPPEARING DOGS

Thursday, January 1, 2015

THROWBACK THURSDAY: KAYA & NORMAN'S RESOLUTIONS 2013

Here are the resolutions I wrote for the dogs back in 2013. Drum roll please...nothing has changed!

KAYA:

- chase more tennis balls

- find more swimming places

- finally find those missing snacks in Norman's mouth

- chase more tennis balls

- keep good stuff away from Norman

- steal good stuff from Norman

- chase more tennis balls

- find more stinky stuff to roll in

- get more of those smelly sticks to chew on from the snack lady

- chase more tennis balls

- refine my blanket burrowing techniques

- sleep upside-down more

- oh...and chase more tennis balls

NORMAN:

- kiss more faces

- make more friends

- get more snacks from the snack lady

- prove to Kaya that i can be cool too

- find more stinky stuff to eat off the ground

- did I say kiss more faces?

- remind my cat how much i luv her fish breath

- kiss the snack lady more

- finally break through to China while digging at the beach

- NEVER get in the bathtub

- try not to look at the camera when snack lady tries to get my attention

- finally catch Kaya

- kiss more faces

Wish us luck!

I hope you all had a safe and happy new year!!

Related Posts:
Wordless Wednesday: Happy New Year!
Three Years with Kaya
Norman's 3rd Birthday!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY (VIDEO EDITION): SHARING A CHRISTMAS TOY...SORT OF.

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A Very Merry Christmas
Christmas Photo Shoot
'Tis the Season

Thursday, November 27, 2014

THROWBACK THURSDAY: I AM THANKFUL FOR YOU

I came across this post from last year and still really love it so I'm going to go ahead a recycle it. I'm always thankful for the time we spend together, the morning kisses, the company while I work, taking a break for our favorite hikes & outings and of course all the cuddles.

I'm thankful that I get to wake up to this...

I'm thankful that we can open our home to others...

I'm thankful for my little squeaker...

I'm thankful when we try new things...

I'm thankful when we meet new people...

I'm thankful for cousin pups...

And this elder-pup...

I'm thankful for our health...

I'm thankful when you make me laugh...

I'm thankful for our family...

I'm thankful for the amazing places we get to visit...

I'm thankful for the little things...

I'm thankful for the quiet times...

I'm thankful for the crazy times...

I'm thankful for these faces...

I'm so thankful that I get to spend every day with you...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Related Posts:
Thanksgiving: Kaya & Norman Style
Holiday Craze
Throwback Thursday: How We Do Labor Day

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: JUST NORMAN

Thursday, November 6, 2014

THROWBACK THURSDAY: AMERICAN GLADIATOR KITTEN WITH HER PITTIE SHIELDS

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: DOG DOG CAT

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: BIG SPOON, LITTLE SPOON

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: LIP

Thursday, July 3, 2014

TWITTER & INSTAGRAM

Unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I would like to blog but I always have tons of photos I'd like to share so I decided to join Twitter and Instagram! If you'd like to follow us there, we're at twitter.com/mytwopitties and instagram.com/mytwopitties.

So if you'd like a daily dose of cuddles and adventures, check us out there! I'm excited because it will definitely force me to be much less fidgety and selective with my photos. I've got so many that I've never even looked at or gone through!

We're also on Facebook at facebook.com/mytwopitties and YouTube at youtube.com/mytwopitties. Let us know if you are on any of those sites so we can connect(if we haven't already)! I'm always up for seeing more of your pooches too:)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: GOOD MORNING ♥

Monday, June 23, 2014

NORMAN'S THERAPY MISSION

I am the queen of procrastination and for that reason, it has taken me way too long to get Norman certified as a Therapy Dog which is something I've always wanted to do with a dog. I've known he would be good at it since day one. He didn't need any time to mature or learn the basics. He may not be book smart but he has a truly special way with people and has great intuition when it comes to people's needs. I wrote this post over 2 years ago, just a couple months after I got Norman and he's still every bit as lovable and easy going. So I am incredibly excited that Norman is getting tested this week!

A few months ago, just a couple days after I brought Norman home, I was walking him and Kaya to the park when we came across a woman and her baby. The baby looked as if he had just begun learning to walk. She asked if the baby could pet the dogs. I knew Kaya was too excitable and was likely to knock the little one over so I said the baby could pet Norman. I held Kaya on my other side and allowed Norman to go closer to the baby. He walked a few steps towards the baby and then, without being asked or even any tension on the leash, Norman sat down as the baby made his wobbly steps towards him. As the baby reached out to pet his nose, he lost his balance and more or less smacked Norman on top of the nose. Norman sat there…like a statue. Not a single muscle moved, apart from his tongue, which he reached out of his mouth and licked the baby's little hand. I almost died...I'm not a huge fan of babies, but I thought it was one of the sweetest things I had ever seen. This is when it first dawned on me that Norman would make a great Therapy Dog!

I used to have to walk him with a harness because he was so slow, I did not want to pull on his neck to keep him moving.

Then when I only had him for 2 weeks, I took Norman to the Bay Area Pet Expo. You couldn't ask for more distractions for a young pup. There were thousands of people there, half of them with dogs of all shapes and sizes. There were kids, strollers and wheelchairs. People and dogs were dressed up in crazy costumes. There were loudspeakers and music and activities. There was cheering, clapping and yelling with wall to wall people inside. And Norman loved every minute of it. People would run across the room to kneel down and cuddle him. There were little kids to kiss and other dogs to sniff. But there was nothing frantic or excitable about Norman's demeanor, he just moseyed along, happily wagging his tail.

After a while inside we went to see what was happening outside. We followed the sounds of many ferociously barking dogs to find a Schutzhund(protection dog) demonstration. We walked right up to the front and watched as the dogs threatened, ran and attacked the "predator." The area was surrounded by spectator and participating dogs, lunging at the ends of their leashes with excitement and angst. We were surrounded by dogs of all shapes and sizes barking as loud as their vocal cords would allow. And then I looked down to find my puppy passed out on his side, basking in the sunlight with his head resting awkwardly on a stranger's foot…he had not a care in the world.

One of my favorite things about Norman is that he is not a jumpy dog. His biggest show of excitement is swaying his whole hind end from side to side in a true pit bull wiggle dance. He has yet to even look like he might try to jump on me or anyone else. Even when I try to get him to reach for a toy, his jumping efforts turn into awkward flailing limbs and him falling to the floor in a heap where he remains for a while.

Anyways, back at the Pet Expo…the first person we came across had a booth and offered Norman a treat. She assured him it was okay to jump up on the table because she couldn't reach him. She showed him the treat and encouraged him to try for it but he sat there with 4 paws firmly planted on the floor. I said, "Sorry, but he won't even try." Later on we met a group of people selling a product to train dogs not to jump up on people. It was basically a short leash with a flat bit of plastic attached to the end which you are meant to stand on to keep your dog grounded. I was humoring the saleswoman's explanation but was trying to explain that my puppy doesn't jump. She declared that he would need it when he got older. Her co-worker greeted Norman and said, "I don't think this dog's ever going to need it." She seemed surprised and deflated at his honest comment and then asked me to think of it when I get my next dog…I did not even mention Kaya.

The professional photographer for the event took his photo.

She made a bunch of barking and meowing noises to get his attention, it was only slightly interested.

When we're at the park Kaya and Norman have very different agendas. Kaya is usually running around as fast as she can, running up to every person and dog and leaving just as fast or she is trying to figure out how to get all of the tennis balls in her possession at once. Norman, on the other hand, can almost without a doubt be found sitting at someone's feet, staring lovingly into their eyes, enjoying pets and giving his world class slow-motion kisses. Which leads to him rolling(falling) onto his back for belly rubs and going full stretch in the middle of a busy park. I sometimes have to go over and pick him up and place him back on his feet to re-motivate him.

Norman's favorite cuddle move is to come over to you and collapse his front end so that he basically falls onto you and then his hind end goes too:) He has helped some people on a small scale. Like once he was allowed into a fancy clothing store with my mom and I. He did his belly rub move for the saleswomen and one of them said it was her birthday and he made her day! Several other times he has been greeted by people out on walks and they have said that they really needed a good cuddle like that.

And I do believe that I am not just thinking of him being suited for therapy work because I love him and he's my puppy, I would never dream of it for Kaya. Even though she is so sweet and loving, she would never have the patience or attention span for it. I have had several people suggest to me that I should get Norman certified, but others have assumed reasons for his calm demeanor, saying he must be tired or he is just a puppy and will grow up to be different. Nope...that's just him.

Yes, Norman has bagged a few training commands since I wrote this post but the rest remains the same. He's also accumulated many more heartwarming stories. He still has yet to even try and jump on someone. He was even an accidental CGC demo dog at the following year's Pet Expo. He's been to parades, festivals, fireworks and Hollywood Boulevard and still, nothing bothers him. Oh...and he still makes a beeline past all the dogs at the park to greet their owners first:)

Related Posts:
Norman is Now a Certified Therapy Dog!

Norman: The Perfect Advocate
Norman: The Heart Stealer
Norman's Adoption Story
Batman Rescues Norman!