Alarming Afternoon

Can't a guy get a decent nap around here without alarms going off?!

Yesterday was a mixed bag of weather here in Jersey. I believe at one point it was sunny and muggy then it took a nasty turn with some thunder and lightening and even hail in some areas.

This all occurred in the afternoon as Ozzie was taking one of his power naps. Thunder as it may it did not awaken the sleeping bulldog prince. Then all of the sudden the house alarm went off like it was warning us of the end of the world! Ozzie flew 3 feet off the couch and began barking furiously! I ran to the control panel and fumbled to enter our code on the keypad. What the heck? Ozzie was still barking like a crazed canine when the alarm central station called and asked if everything was OK. "We are fine but the alarm went off for no reason, it wasn't even activated!" She then told me that they had already called the police and they were on their way over. Seems the type of alarm that went off was the panic mode where you have to push a code that indicates get here on the double. I told her that I didn't set the alarm at all never mind entering the panic code.

Sure enough the police were on our porch and Ozzie started barking again. I went to door and Ozzie strutted out on the porch as if to say " Hello officers, how are you today?" I told them we were fine and the one police man said that they were responding to a panic alarm. "That means to us like someone is chasing you around with a knife!" I explained that I never even activated the alarm and that it maybe lightening from the storm set it off. They took my name and then looked at Ozzie who wasn't wearing his collar ( he likes to sleep in the buff) . I told the cops that he was okay and would not bother them. Ozzie seemed happy to see them! Maybe he can identify with law enforcement? I apologized for the inconvenience and they left. Ozzie returned to the couch probably more exhausted than ever and was back to sleep with a blink of an eye!

I guess Ozzie's call to duty mode sets in when necessary. I am still trying to figure why the alarm did what it did but I guess it was like a test of the emergency broadcast system!

Too much excitement for Ozzie so were are hoping to have a calm weekend. Here is hoping your weekend is as calm as you like it to be!

A Ten on the Cute Meter!

I couldn't resist in posting this today! Nothing like a Bulldog kiss!

Acorns are for Squirrels

Ozzie telling Harley to leave the acorns to the stupid squirrels and eat more cheese!

Now that its Fall and leaves will soon be changing color and Oak trees will drop their bounty of acorns I wanted to make everyone aware of the potential danger of acorns. You may think, "So what my dog has nibbled on them occasionally." A small amount may cause some mild stomach indigestion but eaten in greater quantities, the gallotannins they contain can cause kidney damage. Typical symptoms are stomach upset, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation, while whole acorns can also block your pup's digestive tract. Ozzie has a friend Harley who is a determined Pom-Chi and just loves his acorns. Now that Ozzie has told Harley to not eat them in a recent dog to dog conversation, Harley will hopefully have the will power to stay away from them and leave them to the squirrels.

Canine Justice?

Ozzie just sent off his Pop to work and now he is busy licking his nose feverishly. Ah a bulldog's work is never done!

The weekend was good but went by too quickly. There were a lot of great games on Sunday, the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, the Jets vs. the Raiders and the most interesting game the Eagles against the Giants. The Giants were the winners at 29 to 16. (Yea!) A even bigger yea for Michael Vick and perhaps some poetic justice. Eagles quarterback Vick ended the game with a broken right hand. Vick was quoted as saying "Every time I throw the ball, I'm on the ground," Vick said. "I get hit in the head. I don't know why I don't get the 15-yard flag like everybody else does. I'm not trying to blame the refs. I just want them to take notice." Hm, maybe all the refs are dog lovers Michael?!

Now don't get me wrong, I don't like to see anyone get hurt but in this case a broken hand is nothing in comparison to what pain Vick inflicted on his dogs. I hope he is out for the rest of the season!

With that we look forward to some warm weather this week with Fall ushering itself in by the weekend. Actually that is more acceptable bulldog weather for Ozzie. "Right Oz ole boy?" "Zzzzzzzzzzzz" Oh guess it's time for Ozzie's morning nap!

Finally Friday and Fall is Hair!

What..who me shedding? Ridiculous!

A cloudy sky has settled over the NorthEast again and we are due for yet more rain! Quite frankly I am sick of the rain but I guess if I lived in Texas right now I wouldn't think that way! It's also the first day of Fall. Time to get rid of all the spent annuals and plant some mums and put out some pumpkins on the porch.

It is also a time for more shedding by the Oz. Though his shedding habits seem to go beyond seasonal to year round as of late. I haven't been able to take him to the groomer since his skin infection so he has attained a new kind of funky dog smell! He was playing with his Pop in his office the other day and they were doing some rough housing. I walked into the room and it smelled like a barn! Now I am not sure who smelled worse but I am pretty sure it was Ozzie.

There are a few things that can improve excessive shedding in dogs :

Diet: too much grain in a dogs diet will result in poor nutrition which leads to excessive shedding. It makes sense that dogs were designed to process meat not grains. A change of dog food to a brand that lists the first ingredient as some kind of protein would be best. Some type of grain is necessary as binder but you be the judge knowing your own dog.

Vitamins-Supplements: They can improve a dogs over all health if they are not getting proper nutrition. Try mixing some Olive oil in your dogs food. Its a less expensive option that helps with shedding.

Groom and Brush: Daily brushing and regular grooming can reduce shedding eliminating loose hair that will otherwise end up on your floors and other places! Plus most dogs just love the attention and the feel of a good brushing. I know Ozzie does. I think I have collected enough fur off of him to knit an afghan or two! As far as baths go Ozzie can take them or leave them. I view them as a necessary evil because dragging a 75 pound Bulldog into the groomers is no pleasure!

If none of these things seem to help just tell your guests when they visit your home that a dog lives here and if they don't mind dog hair then have a seat. If they have a problem with that, tell them "Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!" :)

Have a super weekend folks!

Wordless Wednesday

So sleepy but time to wake up for dinner!

Fall is in the Air

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day! Okay enough of Oklahoma, but it really is a beautiful morning, for a Monday that is.

The weekend went fast and Ozzie enjoyed himself. His skin infection has almost cleared up though he is still taking medication. My husband and I took Ozzie to a local park for a little exercise on Saturday. We figured the weather was perfect. Fall like and cool with temps around 70 degrees, bulldog weather! Ozzie was curious when we arrived, taking small steps and sniffing the air. There was a walking path around the pond and we decided that would do it for Ozzie. Taking his time, he stopped to greet people sitting on the benches. I think he was more interested in sitting on the bench with them than walking. We got about two thirds around when we found a bench to sit on and watched some kids fish for sunnies in the pond. Ozzie eventually made it all the way back to the car while artfully dodging goose poop that was every where! Eww!

Now that we are entering the Fall season, I want to remind everyone to continue to apply your pets flea and tick protection. Just because the warmer weather is done that doesn't mean that these nasty critters are! Here is an interesting article that has some good information on fall flea and tick prevention and certain applications you should be aware of.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art5253.asp

Finally Friday and Bummed About Bocelli

What a week! I am definitely glad that its finally Friday and so is Ozzie! His icky infection on his neck is looking a lot better and he seems to be in brighter spirits too. I am a bit tired and disgusted from our concert experience last night.

We had free tickets to see Andrea Bocelli in Central Park, with special guests Tony Benett and Celine Dion. Unfortunately rain was predicted for yesterday and I was eagerly anticipating they would change it to their planned rain date of today Friday the 16th. Which by the way is sunny and gorgeous! So we drove in with our friends and amazingly found a parking space right off Central Park West. We waited in the car for a while since it was raining heavy. We were not to anxious to wait inside the park in the rain. There were other friends that were goiing to meet up with us and we all had brought appetizers to nosh on with each other once we got inside the Great Lawn where the concert was set up. The rain had finally stopped around 5:00 PM so we went across the street with our tickets in hand to discover the line to enter the concert area was 10 blocks long! To make a long story short it took us 2 and 1/2 hours to get inside to the concert which had already started and insult to injury the rain had resumed! By this time all of my friends had become tired wet and disgusted and not to mention you couldn't get near the stage area because there were so many people standing up with umbrellas huddled in a huge mass! We decided to leave at that point only managing to see Andrea on the big screen they had set up by the backstop in the ballpark.

Oh well ...live and learn I suppose! So anytime you see "Free Concert" in Central Park with some big name stars stay home and wait for it to shown on PBS.

Ozzie would like to wish you a wonderful weekend and enjoy the Fall like weather!

Back at Vet's Office Again, Ozzie's Favorite!

So Ozzie has been suffering with some icky skin infection that has settled onto the back of his neck. Last week it hurt him so much that I couldn't get near enough to it to give it a look see. I took him to the Rutherford Animal Hospital last week. Dr Tracey tried to shave the fur around the infected area to treat it. Ozzie was having no part of that nonsense as three of us tried to hold him still! So he went on a round of antibiotics along with prednisone to try to clear it up a bit. Not to mention his ears were still an issue with the canal still mostly swollen! Thank goodness it's so easy to give Ozzie pills. Just wrap it up in a piece of cheese or baloney and it's gone down the hatch!

Today was his recheck and he went begrudgingly. Probably thinking to himself, "Didn't we just do this the other day?!" I got him up on the scale (which he actually enjoys getting weighed) and low and behold he lost some more weight! He now weighs in at 75.4 pounds! Hey in early Spring he was at a hefty 82.6 pounds! We are doing good there Ozzie ole boy! Now onto to the skin infection. He was much more approachable this time and sat up and let them shave his neck area. It looks nasty but Dr Tracey said it's actually drying out and healing. They put some Neo-Predef powder on it which is an anti-bacterial powder to treat the sore. It looks like Ozzie has a bad case of dandruff! His ears were looking better too, so he just has to continue taking all his meds until they are done.

Geez, that was another big vet bill for the week. Looks like I won't be seeing my hairdresser for a while! Oh well, Mom still loves you Ozzie anyway, gray hair and all!

Finally Friday and Remebering September 11th

This Sunday will mark the 10 year anniversary of the attack on our country's soil by radical Muslim terrorists. We lost almost 3000 people that day and subsequently countless others who where first responders that fell ill and or passed away from being there for months on end at Ground Zero to recover and repair the damage done. All sorts of memorial ceremonies will take place across the country and reverent and sober speeches will be made.

I will never forget that day as I watched out of my office window from across the Hudson as the second plane crashed into the towers. The horror, disbelief and dread was plainly visible on my and my co-workers faces. Was this a terrible accident? Were we being attacked? Were there be more assaults on us before the day was over? The rest of the day was a nightmare but not to compare to the nightmare experience by folks on those planes and in the twin towers and the Pentagon that day! There is no way to fathom the loss by all of the families or recount the thousands of acts of heroism that occurred, but maybe this Sunday we can all take a moment to remember. A moment of silence, a prayer, attending a local memorial ceremony or simply fly an American flag in solidarity with all those that remember and will never forget.

Soggy, Groggy and a Bit Bored

With the summer at its unofficial end ( hey we still have a couple of weeks left!) and kids back to school, the traffic back to its usual gridlock, things fall into a " normal" routine for most. It also has been raining for the last few days here in the northeast. Weather the folks in Texas would gladly trade us for.

Ozzie has been making due by sticking to the couch and occasionally going back an forth in front of the sliding doors to the deck and gazing longingly. Another past time he has been engaging in is paw licking. Yes the doldrums have gotten to him I suppose.

Some dogs suffer from compulsive paw licking causing skin damage and infection. Its a cycle of licking that may be caused by stress or boredom or environmental causes. I read that the more intelligent dogs are prone to CP ( compulsive paw-licking). It seems that they were genetically developed over centuries to perform a task such as hunting, herding or protecting the homestead. Without working at those tasks they get bored and result to paw licking. Now I wonder since Oz is a bulldog and they were genetically bred for bull baiting, does he still long for the job his ancestors mastered. I can't imagine Ozzie even gives it a thought! I think the modern version of the Bulldog is bred for couch sitting and TV watching and that is exactly what Ozzie does best!

Finally Friday and Say so Long to Summer!

"Please don't make me leave the porch!"

Already you can feel the evenings cooling down some and we are more than happy to be able to open the windows at night and get a nice breeze. Labor Day weekend is upon us already and though I look forward to the Autumn months ahead, I hate to see Summer go! Last night the weather was right for a nice walk with one's dog. Ozzie wasn't of the same opinion! We dragged him off the porch to the corner and then from there it was the slow march to the next block. I have never seen a dog that detests going for walks like Ozzie. Once he gets going he does find a lot of stuff to lift his leg on so it may not be so terrible!

I wanted to share a site with you that I discovered for dogs. Its called BarkingDeals.com. It's a site that works much like Groupon if you are familiar with that. Once you register you will receive daily email alerts for food, toys and accessories at 50% to 90% discount with free shipping. It's worth a look see. There is also a site for cats at MeowingDeals.com.

We haven't any real definite plans for the weekend so we will take it as comes. For Ozzie that may mean another walk, God forbid! Whatever you do we hope you have fun and make it a safe weekend as well!