vermont dogs

What All The Best-Dressed Dogs Are Wearing, Spring 2019 Edition

dogs, humor, pets, vermont

Linus, Charlie Brown, and Lucy sit for a photo during a recent walk in our woods.

What’s your go-to look for spring? As I sift through my closet for a cheerful floral something, I realize that my dogs have it all figured out: Perennial polka dots are Linus’ favorite, while Lucy likes fresh thigh-high stockings and the effortless straight-from-the-shower look. Charlie has mastered bed-head with a crust of something striping his coat.

It is mud season in Vermont. That glorious time when the world is one big puddle over a layer of decaying leaves and other unidentifiable matter. The mud is slick, thick, and smelly. My dogs are stoked.

The daily fashion show runway formerly my driveway features Linus wearing mud polka dots and dark socks. Lucy probably showered him with spots as she shook, making sure black dots were dispersed all over Linus’ light yellow hair. Lucy struts about sporting a more abstract print paired with her pond soaked golden locks. She leaves a gleeful trail of wet, muddy paw prints everywhere, like a flower girl tossing petals. Sweet Charlie resembles a tousled hair muppet exuberantly infusing the air around him with his latest eau de toilette creation.

Their enthusiasm for these spring looks remind me that it is too soon for white shoes. As for the leopard print trend, with enough paw prints, my once plain jeans have become fashionable. Sometimes, I miss the snow.

Charlie does a sit-stay

Linus with his longing gaze

Lucy in her Happy Place

An eft says “Hello”

Clouds blow in over the hayfield

Mudpuppy Lucy

Charlie steals my seat on our first “deck day” of the year

And away we go

dogs, travel, Uncategorized
LUCY with triptik_IMG_5674

Lucy studies the map.

Fayston, Vermont. For the first time in many years, my summer calendar is OPEN. Blank spaces for days and days. No work, at least not much. No events. At least none that I HAD to attend. No obligations. At least none that I’m aware. So when my mom asked me to visit her back home in Minnesota instead of her flying East, I said o.k.

What if I drove? I posed this question out loud one evening last March when my son was home from college. He said if I drove, he’d go, too. What? Really?! He said we could take our cameras and make a road trip out of it. Over the next several weeks, I kept asking him if he still wanted to go. I expected he’d think about all those hours in the car with mom and change his mind. He didn’t.

Well, you can’t leave me with three dogs all that time, said my husband. I can’t take them all to work with me.

Which one don’t you want to take to work? I asked. Lucy was his answer.

So now my trip home is a two-week road trip with my son Erik and dog Lucy on a route that will take us through Niagra Falls and a bit of Ontario. After several days with mom in Minnesota, Lucy, Erik and I will meet up with my dad and stepmom in Door County, Wisconsin before looping back through Ontario then Montreal, Quebec, then home to Vermont. I used the on-line AAA TripTik route planner, which made the task very simple.

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Sorry, Charlie. I will miss you terribly – we’ll Facetime! And you’ll have lots of fun with Linus. I’ll miss Linus, too.  Lucy’s not nearly as good of a lap dog.

Preparations have preoccupied me for weeks. I researched and read Canadian and U.S. information about crossing the border with a dog: Dogs must be in good health and a rabies certificate from the vet must be presented to the border agent along with payment of a $30 fee. I coordinated our plans with my parents, finalized our route, and then made hotel reservations at pet-friendly places that welcome bigger dogs. I also needed to attend to other travel details: obtaining a copy Lucy’s vet records (that was easy – thank you Dr. Roy’s office); arranging an oil change for my car; emptying a ridiculous amount of old photo files from my computer to make room for new photo files; changing some money so I have Canadian funds to pay the pet fee at the border; and shopping for a new pair of sneakers.

The car is packed. My camera battery is fully charged. And away we go!

I will post a photo gallery from our trip in next month’s article here on wagmorevt.com. For daily road trip photos, please follow me, @skimor, on Instagram!

Love Notes

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Lucy brings a big gift. Size matters...

Lucy brings a big gift. Size matters…

Fayston, Vermont.  Pretty much every day is Valentine’s Day when you have a dog. Here are seven ways they celebrate their love for you all year long:

  1.  They are always happy to see you. Even if you’ve only been gone two minutes, they are there, wagging. They greet you with a kiss. Many wet, sloppy kisses.

2. They want to be with you. Even if the bank didn’t give out treats, they want to go for a ride with you. Also, they want to make sure you are o.k. when you go to the bathroom.

3. They protect you by sounding the bark alarm. Squirrels and other rodents who wander too close receive a thorough scolding. Sometimes they even alert you when it’s windy outside.

Charlie Brown is a happy runner.

Charlie Brown runs happy.

4. They make sure you get some exercise. Every day. They remind you when it’s time to take a walk, and become really, really excited when you put on your BIG boots.

5. They make sure you take time for play. They interrupt computer time by bringing a ball. They grab a stick from the woodpile and make you chase them to take it away.

6. They bring you gifts. Sometimes it’s a stick (or several) for the wood stove, other times it’s something they’ve fetched from the trash. (They don’t have a problem with regifting.) Some dogs even bring you socks to make sure you go outside. (See number 4.)

7. They keep you close. They use you for a pillow. The larger the dog, the more lap they need. Even if you’re not all that big. If you leave the house, they hop the doggy gate to sleep on your bed. On your pillow, so you can share dreams. They leave traces of their love on all your clothing, especially your favorite black sweater – it’s their favorite, too!

I hope you celebrate your dog’s love by making sure you take a nice, long walk and spend time with them. Every day. That’s all they want. Well, some cookies would be nice, too.

Linus

Linus

 

P.s. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @skimor for daily photo posts!

I’d love to hear from you! If you want to leave me a love note;), or have any comments or questions, please use the form, below.

Special Edition(s)

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RS_puppies_IMG_2485-1 copy
Note: When a litter of adoptable, adorable, healthy puppies is maybe 50 yards away from my office desk, I am compelled to break my own rule of not featuring dogs up for adoption. I was armed only with my cell phone for photos, and these puppies are wiggly and snuggly – you’ll just have to see them for yourself. Oh, that new puppy smell!

With Cheri Bovee at Dirty Paws Pet Spa.

Waitsfield, Vermont. I drove to upstate New York, about 2 1/2 hours. It was very, very rural. They had kept her [the puppies’ mother] chained to the axle of a pickup truck, but it was supposed to rain so they put her in the pickup truck. When we arrived it was 92 degrees, and she was in that truck. No windows open.

The litter has four females and one male. They are nine weeks, they’ve had their first set of shots, they’ve been wormed three times. They’ve seen Dr. Hadden from the day after they were born.

Re-homing fee to adopt a puppy is $250 each. The mother has been adopted out already. My goal is to give every dog a home of their own, with their own boy or girl – a place of their own.

Visit the lab-mix puppies at Dirty Paws Pet Spa, 5081 Main Street, Waitsfield, Vermont. Telephone: 802-496-7297.