My Two Pitties

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: FISHEYE

My brother got me a fish-eye attachment for my iPhone! Here are some results...

Sun Puppies

Cat-Face Close-Up

Classic Kaya

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

I can't believe my little guy is turning 2 already! He may look like a strapping young dog, some people even think he looks intimidating(!), but to me he still looks like a squishy, wiggly little puppy.

Norman - 6 months old

He may have changed physically but otherwise, Norman hasn't changed a bit since his puppy days. He's still just as innocent, just as worried, just as cuddly, just as confused, just as sweet, just as awkward, just as curious and just as easy.

Torturous pictures from Motlie's Birthday :P

His birthday was on Saturday and I would say he had a pretty awesome day. My cousins came into town the night before so as much as he loves migrating to the sun-soaked couch in the morning, it was even better with new people on it!

Then we went for coffee and so he got tons of pets from people and got to meet some other pups too. After that we went to the park, he got to run around, meet and kiss a bunch more strangers, play with a cute puppy and exchange sniffs with a bunch of other dogs.

Once we got home it was time for cuddles on the couch and a hug from his cat.

I normally get them raw meat for birthday meals but I did not feel like stopping at the supermarket so I bought some raw dog food while I was at the pet store. It was a huge hit.

Well...except for one. Gina was not impressed. So I let Norman break the rules and clean out her dish.

Of course everyone wanted seconds. Even Gina, who did not appreciate the first round.

I tried breaking her portion into tinier pieces this time but she was convinced Norman was getting something better.

And again, I let him finish her untouched meal.

Then he got a tasty cheese chew. Two years old and he still doesn't hold a bone like a grown up. I love him so much!

Monday, October 21, 2013

SEASONS IN THE SUN

In the SF Bay Area it does not rain in the summer. June through September are guaranteed non-stop sunny days. And October is often our warmest month(by warm I mean 75)! This can be pretty awesome but it also means that the hills and parks go through a bit of a transformation.

Here is our favorite park in January...

March...

April...

June...

August...

And here it is in October...

Though the dogs don't care either way!

And pretty soon it'll look like this again...

What do you think of our weather patterns? Would you rather have year round rain to keep things green or summer sun for months on end?

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Thursday, October 17, 2013

THE GOVERNMENT CAN'T SHUT DOWN OUR FUN

Last weekend my dad came for a visit which meant 2 trips to the San Francisco airport. He flew in on a morning flight so I loaded all the dogs in the car, excited about going to the beach after picking up my dad. Once I got past the hurdle of Mr. I have been on a 14 hour overnight flight from Asia and I need a shower and I cannot go barefoot in the sand, we were on our way and I dare say my dad was pretty excited too once I told him he had no choice. So I pulled up to the entrance and to my dismay, the parking lot was gated off and there was a sign saying the beach was closed due to the federal government shutdown.

I was so disappointed but a second later it dawned on me that only the parking lot and the bathrooms were shut but we could still park around the corner and walk over to the beach. So after we sauntered our way into the yacht club to use the bathroom, we headed to the beach to enjoy lots of fetch, swimming and sun. There were plenty of other people there also so it turns out, I wasn't the only genius who figured out that we could still use the beach

Even Zoey got to come since my dad was around to help navigate her away from other dogs. She had so much fun! The funny thing is, the best way to control her is to throw the ball for Kaya because then she becomes hyper-focused on herding Kaya and doesn't notice any other dogs. At one point she navigated an obstacle course of about 20 dogs in a dog-walking group, zig-zagging around them as if they were traffic cones. Silly dog!

A few days later, I had to drop my dad off at the airport in the morning and I brought Kaya and Norman with me so we could return to the beach. It ended up being an amazingly hot day in SF, so much that I decided to check out an ocean-side beach that I usually avoid because it is almost always cold and windy on the coast.

The last time we visited Fort Funston, we could not even make it down to the beach it was so windy!

Once again the gate was locked with a polite sign on it, warning visitors that the park is closed. Naturally, about a hundred cars were lined up on the narrow street and people were navigating between zooming traffic and spiky bushes to get to the entry road.

The dogs made the most of the empty parking lot and turned it into a bit of an impromptu dog park. I wish I had a better picture of this cute pittie they were playing with!

As for the beach...wow, it felt like paradise. I will definitely try to come here more often! I got so many amazing photos, I'll have to save most of them for another post.

Sadly, as we were leaving, I realized that all the cars parked just in front of the gate got tickets for parking in a red zone. Go figure.

Has the government shutdown affected any of your dog-related activities?

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: TAKING A REST

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

TWO YEARS WITH KAYA

Once again, I have forgotten to post on Kaya's gotcha day which was August 28th.

I can't believe it's been 2 years already. Some things have changed so much. My once defiant little runaway now makes a speedy gonzales beeline for me at the slightest request. My little jumping bean will fly into a down faster than any dog I have ever seen. Once a major toy thief at the dog park is now solely interested in her own ball and she'll drop it at my feet for as many times as I will throw it. And for dog who used drag me down the street, I now walk almost everywhere without even using a leash, while she sticks by my side.

Of course a lot of things have stayed just the same. I wake up most mornings with her face smooshed next to mine. She is ever adoring of her bff, Norman, and her kitty too.

She still loves a good frog dog pose and every day she makes me laugh.

My little cutie is all grown up but she's still a goof and she's still all sweet and sappy. She still loves a good day in the sun and night under the covers and giving too many kisses.

Monday, October 14, 2013

THE WALKING DOG

Our new tags arrived in the mail just in time for The Walking Dead season premiere! Even though we already got a new set of tags a few months ago, these were too good to pass up.

I ordered the tags from Mad Dog Metalworks, another awesome Etsy shop. I love that they are made of thick metal and a bit bigger than their other tags so you can really see what's on them. To go for some variety I got one in aluminum and the other in solid brass. Their other tags have tarnished quite a bit but they are made of nickle silver and nu-gold so these should fare better.

Today their tags would have been more appropriately labeled The Rolling Dog as there was a lot of that going on between takes.

I did not get their names on the back, only my phone number so I can switch them between the dogs.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

6 DOG HIKE

My brother's girlfriend's sister was in town this weekend along with her long-haired Doxie pup, Jacks. So us 3 girls went on a hike with Motlie, Kaylie, Jacks, Kaya, Norman and Sophie! We all had a blast!

Either she's the informant or she's been kicked out of the secret club...

It was so funny to watch each of the dogs with their own agenda. The 2 doxies mostly stayed by their person's feet but neither minded all the big dog action that flew past.

Jacks & Kaylie :)

Sophie mostly just runs all over, following her nose and ignoring everyone else.

Sophie's agenda...

Kaya runs in and around the trees, down into the streams and up the sides of the trail as Norman follows close behind her.

Got to keep cool!

We have pinpointed that Motlie is really a follower who sometimes tries to act like a tough girl. She loves to throw herself on Norman and then she gets all crazy growly. She is never aggressive and Norman actually seems to love it, but it sounds horrible and we always tell her to stop. Then she falls in line behind Kaya and Norman, seemingly saying, "wait for me guys!" Eventually Norman stops and she stalks him again and so the cycle continues. It's pretty funny to watch. Motlie is pure comedy.

My mom was baffled at how the little dogs can keep up with the big ones but when you think about it, the little ones were just trotting along with us humans(we're not that fast) and the big dogs were making giant awkward loops around us so they were really covering a lot more ground!

Our 6 dog hike was a big success and a lot of people got a kick out of us. A bonus of walking pit bulls with small dogs...people don't think they're so scary!

Good times...

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: I SPY...A GERMAN SHEPHERD!

Do you?

No photoshopping here...Zoey is in prime herding position!

MY COMRADES & PROTECTORS

I've been meaning to write this funny post for so long and being as how we're almost out of this apartment forever, it's a good a time as any!

So long apartment...

My apartment building consists of 7 units built by dividing up an old mansion. So naturally, it has a big basement, and this is where the laundry and storage is. But it's scary. And it's even scarier when I've been watching The Walking Dead or Paranormal Activity. In addition to that, I almost always end up doing my laundry at night.

Kaya likes The Walking Dead too!

Gina is apparently not scared by Paranormal Activity like I am...

Luckily, I always have company whenever I go down there. Even if they're dead asleep and it's 3 in the morning, everyone leaps to attention when they hear me open the back door. That includes the curious cat.

And boy is there a lot to investigate down there. They would probably love to spend hours sniffing around, but personally I like to keep my time down there as brief as possible.

If the dog next door is outside, he is a serious fence barker, but no one minds...the basement investigation awaits!

A few times, I've run into my neighbors down there and they always think it's hilarious that the whole crew has to join me.

Gina is always the last one out. One time I put a load in the washer and came back an hour later to move it to the dryer and as I opened the basement door, Gina was still inside! She wasn't even in a hurry to get out, but from then on I always made sure she was not stuck down there!

Does anyone else have a freaky basement and do your critters join you when you go in it?

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