nothing draws a crowd like a crowd

i love this time of the year – the weather is perfect and we can all be outside together working on projects with the added benefit of worn out dogs when all is said and done.  there are some disadvantages to trying to get work done with 16 dogs, the main one being the energy expended trying to keep said dogs that i love to have around from destroying whatever it is we’re trying to accomplish.  they all have very specific behaviors when work is being done: reilley, dooley, carly and zander generally frown upon work and can be found in the most comfortable spot closest to where we are; fletcher, watson, slater, phineus and simon are generally off doing their own thing and check in here and there; and the remaining seven are all up in our business.   it sounds like a pain in the ass and while it can sometimes lead to more work they really do make things very entertaining.

there is one thing we’ve found that changes the above specific behaviors to “all bets are off” and that is a pile of dirt.  it’s crazy but holy shitake mushrooms if a mass of dirt isn’t some kind of dog slang for “oh, it’s on.”  this weekend dave & i were working on a raised bed that has been filled with weeds and falling apart for a few years , a bed which nobody has bothered with in that state.  everyone was pretty much on task for their specific behaviors until the dirt was revealed and then chaos ensued…

mr. chewy (sponsored review)

(this is a sponsored review for mr. chewy)

the good folks at mr. chewy were kind enough to send me a gift certificate to partake of their services.  if you’re not familiar mr. chewy is a great convenience website – they deliver pet food and treats right to your door.  they carry many great quality brands, from taste of the wild to natural balance to orijen.  my review is of the website itself, not of the products they carry. 

the website is well organized, easy to use and it’s a piece of cake to order.  they have a pretty comprehensive product selection so choosing what to order was the hardest part.  they offer free 1-2 day shipping on all orders over $49 and i received my order the day after i placed it.  depending on your area you might find the prices a tad bit more expensive than your local store (and i do believe in supporting our local small businesses) but you’re basically paying for the convenience of fast home delivery.  if you’re in a pinch or can’t find your brand of food or treats locally then i definitely recommend checking out mr. chewy.

(disclosure: mr. chewy sent me a gift certificate to review their services for this blog. the opinions formed are my own…i can’t be bought.)

monkey business

zig’s been with us about a month now and i can’t believe how much i adore the little monkey.  he is quickly becoming universally adored by everyone in the family, barring a few hanger-oners to aloofness.  he even turned benny, who seemingly thought he should remain the baby of the family and no one should come in after him but he’s begrudgingly accepted zig.  he’s still doing horribly with housetraining (he’ll get there) and is very timid with new people and things but he’s coming along by leaps and bounds.  this little video montage includes some horrible sounds made by both him and speck and his first howl session with the pack...

he has and i'm sure will continue to have a ball with carly...

p.s. i've been posting quite a few pictures on instagram - if you'd like to follow me i'm at @kymcolella

and we're walking

reilley was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and arthritis several months ago.  it’s pretty severe so, along with regular acupuncture and chiropractic treatments, a few weeks ago we instituted daily “family” walks to try to aid him in building some muscle.  i should have put quotes around walks as well since reilley and i are the only ones actually walking – the rest of the hooligans spend their time running amok.  because of the mixture of rogue, fast-moving and very slow-moving, path bombing dogs reilley and i need to stay alert and keep our senses sharp or we're going down.

i’m not sure who hates the walks more, reilley or me, and yet every morning he stands there waiting for me to clip his leash on…because he’s about the truest friend a person could ask for.  here’s a picture of him on the way home from one of his vet appointments:

and here' some short video of a "calmer" part of a walk...

breaking 'em in

i'm contractually obligated by carly to let you know when she does something good - today she once again proved herself to be the most welcoming colella...

360°

it’s taken almost a full year but we’ve finally come full circle.  last year when we announced that we needed to find a home for violet we promised we would give another dog a home so we didn’t leave any footprint.  we remained in limbo until violet found a home and now that she has we’re no longer in limbo.  meet zig:

he’s the newest colella and he’s a pretty superb addition.  he’s a puppy mill reject who was dumped in a kill shelter and taken in by a local rescue.  he’s missing most of his front right arm which apparently in “mill” language means he’s of no use.  it seems like the arm (or lack thereof) turned out fortuitous for zig as it provided a ticket out of the damn mill. 

he’s probably about 9 months old and other than needing to gain some weight he’s in good health.  we’ve got some unique challenges with him that we’re learning about since he’s our first puppy mill dog.  right now if we can get him to sleep during the night we’ll be happy – but he remains fantastic whether he allows us to sleep or not.

as always dave & i were both so impressed with how the rest of the dogs reacted.  they really are an amazing pack and haven’t given him a bit of trouble.  no one’s really befriended him yet but each day they’ve warmed up a little more. 

when dave & i met i had two three-legged dogs so it seems we’ve come full circle in more ways than one.  we’ve had missing legs, seizure disorders, deafness and blindness and now we’re kicking it old school. 

hallelujah!

can you hear the choirs singing?  i can!  dave & i actually went away over the weekend...together – at the same time!  how did this shocking, long-awaited dream come to pass you ask?  well, ladies and gentleman, we got us a living, breathing pet sitter.  i can’t even explain to you what a big deal this is for us.  since our last real pet sitter, amanda, moved out of state a few years ago we’ve been floundering.  amanda has been amazing and driven 8 hours on a few occasions over the years so dave & i could get away together but obviously that’s not an ideal situation.  we’ve looked here and there and had a few people do it over the years but we haven’t had anything solid.  enter courtney and her pet concierge business, barkstrom, and our life just got an upgrade.  she has fantastic qualifications, is responsible, offers great services, uses our vet, and was absolutely unphased by staying with our pack.  we did an overnight to chattanooga to give her a trial run and the whole thing went off without a hitch (and she was willing to come back).  if you’re in the nashville area and in need of a pet sitter please check her out – we can’t recommend her highly enough (the one caveat is we can’t have her get so busy she’s not available…fisticuffs will ensue if that happens).

it’s not like we plan to travel that much but to have the peace of mind that if we need or want to go somewhere it’s actually possible is such an amazing treat.  the fact that we can leave and feel like everyone’s in good hands and feel no stress is icing on the cake…very necessary icing (which, truth be told, all icing is).  here’s a shot of dave enjoying a huge vegan meal on our “vacation”…

cereal killer

slater is officially totally unpacked and has settled in well.  after a few days of pack unrest things just fell into place and now it seems like he's been here forever.  i was a bit of a wreck in the beginning - having had to rehome violet scarred me and left me questioning whether we could ever successfully add another dog.  my inclination would have been for our next addition to be a puppy to ease slowly into the transition but life doesn't always allow for those choices...and there slater was.  we didn't make it any easier on ourselves with him since his second return to the shelter was due to "aggression" but, come on, nobody should have to be adopted out of a shelter more than once so home he went with us.  i won't lie, in the beginning i saw the reason for his aggressive labelling - he's got poor impulse control and would growl and lunge at the drop of a hat but that's where it stops...he's got nothing to back it up.  as he got more comfortable here those episodes got fewer and fewer and now he's a peaceful member of the family.  more than likely if his first adopters had given him a little time and patience they would have gotten to spend their life with this fantastic guy...their loss.

he's really a sweet, easy-going, loving guy and he loves to play so he's a fantastic fit for carly and gang.  he's just got this one, um, thing...his expression never changes.  i mean never.changes.  is he happy, is he sad, is he excited...um, not sure.  he just keeps looking at you with the same flat expression.  fortunately in a dog it's just a little off-putting but to be honest in a person the same constant expression would leave you thinking "serial killer."  for slater i like to soften the term a little...

update

on sunday we got to go see violet and meet her new family.  she’s got a beautiful little shy pitbull sister and an amazing person in her life.  we were so thrilled to see how great she’s doing and see her amazing new life…she’s living large.  i’m so happy to have a happy ending stamped on this story!

where's the mute button?

plug your ears people cause you about to get "specked"