Sugar comes to Phoenix

One of the things I love best about being a dog blogger is getting a chance to meet other dog bloggers.  On Friday, we arranged to meet the beautiful Sugar, who would be passing through Phoenix with her family.   We had tried a couple of times in the past, but something always seemed to come up.

Harlow is our dog-friendly dog so she was the one who came along.  Well, that and the fact that she decided her bandage needed to come off and I needed to keep a closer eye on her.  I boosted her up in the work truck and we headed out.

Lately, Harlow thinks that folks are following us when we drive.  She keeps a close eye on them to make sure they don't do anything sneaky...

Dere dey are again, Momma.  Always in different cars, but dey are dere....

After I proved I am a country girl and can't figure out how to get into a hotel, Sugar's folks came out and rescued me and we settled down in the hotel courtyard for a nice chat.

Beautiful Sugar!

We had the nicest visit!  Harlow was a perfect lady and only manged to bonk everyone with her giant padded paw a few times.  She loved Sugar and her folks!

Hey dere, Sugar's Momma.  I iz watching you...

Much to our surprise, Harlow actually ate part of a banana.  Yes, you read that right.  I think she saw Sugar enjoying hers and decided to give it another try...

Watcha got dere, Sugar's Momma?

Look at Sugar's sweet face!  :)

...and yes, I have pictures of Harlow eating the banana...

Sugar is definitely the sweetest dog you could ever meet.  ...and such a lady!  She talks to her people to let them know she wants something.  I think Harlow was studying her and trying to figure out how she could talk to us.

The signature purple Pawz.

Of course, we needed to get a few photos with the Golden Girls together...

Watcha got dere?  Is that a treat?

Dat looks like a vegetable to me...

I love Sugar's smile!  Harlow was a little skeptical...

BOL - Sugar's Mom was offering them cauliflower as a treat for posing.  Sugar loved it, Harlow did try a piece and actually ate it.  I think she was trying to impress Sugar.

I didn't want to keep Sugar's folks as they were planning an early start the next day, so after a while we said our good byes and Harlow and I headed home...

Zzzzzz.....

We are hoping to catch up again with everyone on their return trip through Phoenix, plus maybe take a slight detour to introduce them to Baron and the rest of the ponies, Aaron and of course, our Mr Monty.  We really enjoyed being able to meet Sugar and her family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dis Thanksgiving we is happy that Momma haz finally accepted we will sit no closer den 15 inches...

...and dat sometimes, we won't even look at each other...

...and dat da Momma haz finally accepted that she is just going to have to get creative in order to get nice photo of us...

She's kinda stubborn, but we still love her...

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at How Sam Sees It!

Wordless Wednesday - Bitey Face Edition

Wordless Wednesday - Green Grass

Broken Toe Update

We've been busy this week keeping an eye on Harlow and trying to make sure she rests her paw.  We had an appointment on Tuesday with our regular vet.  We knew Harlow was uncomfortable with her paw.  Her uncharacteristic sad face was telling us everything we needed to know.

Dis my rarely seen "Sad Face"...

Our vet took an x-ray and confirmed that her toe was broken.

They kept her for the day, and when I picked her up in the evening, Harlow was sporting a rather large bandage.  Since she is leaving it alone for the most part, I've put a sock over it to keep her from nibbling on the ends of the tape.  This is also keeping her out of a cone collar.

The smile returns!

The vet estimates possibly 4-6 weeks of healing time, as long as nothing causes further issues.  Please keep paws crossed that she recovers quickly - she's a hard pup to keep still!

I iz bored, Momma,bored!

We've been trying to keep her occupied with toys and attention.  Her beloved toe massages have been reduced to a three paw toe massage and a chest rub...

Dis iz good stuff.

Endless supplies of tennis balls...

Puppacino's....

Harlow's Starbuck's addiction may be getting out of hand.

She's been a real champ about taking her medicine.  We don't want Monty feeling left out, so he has been getting treats from this month's chewy.com review of Blue Wilderness Salmon Biscuits while Harlow gets her medicine.

They are very stinky and Monty absolutely adores them. Per chewy.com:

If you're looking for the perfect reward for your furry friend, BLUE has the healthy treats guaranteed to have them howling for more. They use only the tastiest natural ingredients in their truly drool-worthy crunchy baked biscuits, meaty morsels, dental chews and more. They're the treats they love in healthy formulas you'll feel great about feeding.

Most Blue Buffalo Wilderness treats:

·         Contain no Chicken or poultry by-product meal

·         Made with no artificial flavors or colors

·         And most are grain-free

Available in Crunchy Trail treats, Chewy Jerky and more! 

One of the big bonuses to this treat is that they are made in the USA!

Wordless Wednesday - Sad Pup

Veterans Day

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."  U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, November 11, 1919

“I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance.” – James A. Autry

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." --Cynthia Ozic

All images via social media.

 Thank you to all who have served.  We will always remember.

Bump and Toes, Vets and Woes

Yesterday morning we had a vet appointment for our Monty.  We discovered a bump on Monty's ribs and wanted to have it checked out.

Name, rank and serial number...  Dat's all dey'll get from me

After much examination, some nail trimming and a very wild getaway attempt, it was determined that Monty's bump would have to be removed.

Dey tried to bribe me with cookies...

Monty is scheduled for December 2nd to go under the knife.  Keep paws crossed that his bump is nothing to worry about!

Now, I wish I could say that was the end of our day and we were able to tell you about some exciting adventure we were able to take the pups on, but that isn't how the day turned out.

Aaron and I had just returned from grocery shopping when Harlow, in a bout of pure happiness, caught her toe in the edge of her crate and twisted it.  She yelped and immediately started limping. I inspected her paw and felt something that wasn't right - her toe felt loose.  After a frenzied phone call we put her in the car and rushed her to the vet.

Hurry, Momma.  Da paw is not well!

The vet confirmed what we were thinking - her toe was broken.  There wasn't a lot they could do and sent her home with pain medicine and instructions to keep quiet.

Momma gave me dis pink bandage.

Trying to keep Harlow quiet is sort of like trying to cage smoke - it isn't possible.  We are keeping her on a leash and keeping a close eye on her, but she's still managing to use her paw more than we would like.  I went ahead and wrapped her paw very loosely this morning to remind her not to jump on it.

Da paw isn't working right.

Since we didn't see our normal vet yesterday, I fully plan to bring her to our normal vet this week just to make sure there isn't anything we can do to help make her feel more comfortable.   

The problem with fleas...

It's finally happened.  Our pups have fleas.  We discovered them a couple of days ago, but after proper introductions we decided they weren't too bad.
.
.
.
.
Wait, what?

Watcha talkin' about, Momma?

Well, let me introduce you to our Fleas.  They really are quite nice, once you get to know them.  We'll start with Harlow...

Feel free to inspect my fuzzy being...

This is Mr. and Mrs. Flea.  They are a really nice couple - they've invited me to their place for tea.

This is little Bobby Flea.  It looks like he decided to explore Harlow's paw today.

Hi there, little Bobby Flea!

Wait, wait.  We are missing little Suzy Flea?  Where did she go?  Monty!

I'm being paid for dis appearance...

Oh there they are, little Suzy is visiting Grandma Flea!

Isn't little Suzy a cutie?

These little Fleas are welcome in our house anytime!

BOL!

Wordless Wednesday - Snuggly Pup

AZGRC's Gotcha Day 2014

Those of you who have followed the blog for sometime will know that one of our favorite events to go to each year is AZGRC's Annual Gotcha Day.  We were well pleased to see that today would be cool and breezy - the perfect weather to spend outside playing games with the pups and visiting with friends.

Mr Monty happy to be out and about!

Harlow, of course, was excited to go out and greet her adoring public friends.

I iz ready to meet da people, Momma!

It didn't take long for her to get the attention she so loves!

Holding court with her fellow people...

...and a meet and greet with Leilani...

Harlow gets to be our social butterfly since Monty is reactive around dogs.  We had to keep him a little separate from the others, but I think he enjoyed himself hanging out with Dad and keeping an eye out for any birds that may want to make it ashore.

Harlow, Dad and Monty

We also played a few games with the pups.  No photos, unfortunately, but the pups both had a lot of fun!  Harlow played musical chairs/paws and Monty played the ball toss.  Unfortunately, Momma wasn't quick enough to help Harlow place in her game, but Monty did very well in the ball toss - well enough to earn 2nd place with a grand total of 9 balls tossed and caught!

Monty is a champion!

Harlow also got to visit with her friends Higgins, Emma and Sadie (no pictures!) and CJ and Simon.  Harlow always gets a little nutty around Simon and Higgins for some reason. We were also very surprised to meet some wonderful folks who read our blog. 

We were trying to get them to all face the same way for a photo...

We waited until we got home to take photos of Monty with his 2nd place ribbon.

I iz proud of my ribbon.

He also got a gift bag full of toys.

Thank you, AZGRC!

On a side note, I won a raffle prize!  Woot!

Chock full of relaxing spa items!

Of course, in true Princess form...

Dis for me, right Momma?

We all had so much fun today, and both pups are very happy with all the goodies they get to share.  Thank you, AZGRC!

Thank you!