1) Today is the first day of Elisabeth's Cool Bloggers Walking Club. Go for a walk ten minutes each day in October and report back on your success. Who's in? (You don't have to be cool or a blogger to participate. We're an inclusive group and welcome all. But if you do it, you're cool.)
2) Speaking of Cool Bloggers, my friends Kyria and Birchie sent me a postcard from Buffalo, New York as a part of Cool Bloggers Postcard Club. I was very touched that they saw hat rack chairs (?) and thought of me.
3) Let's talk about my dear dog. You all know Hannah. She's very, very cute. And lately, she's been sort of problematic.
Thing one: She started disregarding the invisible line to the bathroom and Dr. BB was frequently finding her sleeping in there. We don't want her in there because the cat's box is in there and we want the cat to have it as a safe spot from the dog. I suspect she was sleeping in there because the tile is cool. Our solution: put the baby gate up that we had removed. It has a hole at the bottom that the cat can get through, but Hannah cannot.
Thing two: She had some GI issues a couple of weeks back and destroyed the mudroom where she is kept overnight. That's fine. We got her some anti-diarrhea medicine and cleaned up the mudroom. We keep her in the mudroom with a baby gate. Well, cut to last week when Zelda the Cat was being a terrific little shit and pulling things down off the dining room table in the early hours of the morning because she wanted to play.
Hannah JUMPED THE BABY GATE and got out of the mudroom (we assume she did this to join in on the cat's fun times) and when we came down in the morning, she was just hanging out in the dining room wagging her tail. And then SHE DID IT THREE MORE NIGHTS IN A ROW. The little brat has decided that testing boundaries is what she's going to do. And she's having more GI distress and I do not want to clean up her sick all over the house.
And this is harder to fix than the bathroom thing because the doorway to the mudroom is wider than an average doorway and so we had to find one of those accordion gates and honestly I don't know if we can find one that is taller that would work in the door.
On one hand, this is GREAT. Remember Hannah's issues with her back? Those issues have been resolved and the infection and treatment have obviously not left any damage that is preventing her from jumping. But on the other hand, I don't want another night of GI distress to destroy the entire floor of our house.
4) Forget these issues. We decorated the house for Halloween last weekend. Yes, our house looks awesome between the hours of 7 and 10pm.
Happy October! What fun plans do you have for the spooky season? Are you joining CBWC?
CUTE lights!! Yay to CBWC and sorry about the dog poop issues-- so gross.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty gross, but I guess that's what we do as dog friends.
DeleteHooray! I love your Halloween lights, Not hooray about the Hannah situation though. It would all be okay if she weren't having GI issues. I like how the two things coincided- her learning how to jump the gate of the mudroom, and having diarrhea. Ugh! I hope you can resolve this issue (but Hannah is still a very, very good girl!!!)
ReplyDeleteHannah is a good girl, of course. Just too smart for her own good in this instance!
DeleteI walk every day anyway, unless I have a headache or it is storming.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds to me as if Hannah has been taunted and tempted by Zelda into misbehaviours. This is the same dynamic that is happening over at Zydrunas's house with his cat brother, Baker. Every now and then, Territory Assertions become necessary, mostly instigated by Baker, who is, to be honest, an asshole.
Zydrunas is a very good boy, but is bigger and more lethal. He gets the discipline. Baker knows that and takes advantage of it. I wonder if that isn't happening in your house, too.
Hannah is definitely being led to the dark side by Zelda's bad behavior. LOL. Cats are little jerks we love. I think Hannah just wants to know what Z is doing and that's what led to the breakout of the mudroom. I am pseudo-proud of her for figuring out an escape plan...
DeleteI've joined the CBWC but am thinking my first day will be on a treadmill in the basement. It's still raining here courtesy of Hurricane Helene and everywhere is soggy and slippery.
ReplyDeleteHelene certainly is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it? I do hope you are able to get outside soon.
DeleteHannah!!! These are not good tricks to teach yourself, puppers! Love your Halloween vibe. Super cool. My kid and I have plans to decorate for Halloween after school. I'm excited, she's excited, and there WILL be candy corn.
ReplyDeleteYAAAASS!! Do the decorating, Suzanne and fall into SPOOKY SEASON.
DeleteI hope Hannah's GI issues resolve and that she stops jumping the gate! That is a tricky problem to solve for! Zelda is not helping matters by making noise that draws Hannah's attention!
ReplyDeleteYour Halloween decorations are great!! I will be joining the CBWC and really hope I can come close to doing it daily! 10 min/day should not be hard and yet it can be, especially when I am traveling.
It can be really hard to fit ten minutes in sometimes. I feel lucky that I have allowed myself some time most mornings to do a pretty leisurely walk with the dog. That's precious time for both of us!
DeleteCould you maybe get another one of the same size baby gates and just stack it on top of the one you currently have? It probably wouldn't hold if Hannah decided to jump *into* it, but would hopefully be enough of a deterrent to keep her from going over in the first place...
ReplyDeleteI mean, I guess we could, but it would be annoying for us to have to latch/unlatch them both regularly, especially if it's higher than arm level. *sigh* I think we should trade Hannah in for a less intelligent model. (JK OF COURSE!)
DeleteYour house DOES look awesome. We don't decorate for Hallowe'en because we don't get any trick or treaters.
ReplyDeleteI am greatly amused by the things Zelda and Hannah get up to while you are sleeping. I supposed the potential for icky clean up is not amusing for you, though.
I want to be a cool walking blogger, but it is really grey and gross these days. But maybe that's even more of a reason to get up and out of the house and take a walk? I shouldn't let the weather get to me!
Weather does not deter me and Hannah. We walk in rain and snow. If it's suuuuper cold (like -20 or something) we stay inside, but otherwise we get out there. But we're maybe lunatics.
DeleteGold stars on the decor (you know I'm not into Halloween so I do the very basic of bare basics).
ReplyDeleteI AM walking every day - it would look pretty pathetic if I didn't, right? - and I did my first walk with a friend. It was lovely. Cool and overcast, but great conversation and the temperature just made us walk a bit faster.
Poor Hannah. Poor you. I hope things settle down for her tummy soon and that you figure out some way to prevent her from escaping at night. She is cunning! But I also admit to feeling so, so happy that she's able to do this now. I started reading your blog when she was feeling just awful and her health was so consuming for all of you. What progress she has made with your tender love, concern, and the wonders of modern medicine. So yay for that, and boo to poop everywhere...
YES! I am so happy she's feeling well enough to get into shenanigans, but...the consequences of these shenanigans are not making me happy. She's definitely feeling very confident in her climbing and jumping abilities these days.
DeleteI walked! I'm sorry for Hannah's tummy troubles and hopping habits. Even if it's a good sign she can do it, of all times to figure that out.
ReplyDeleteHer timing is impeccable! She should be working the stage, that dog.
DeleteOhhh, Hannah. So cute. So crafty. I'm so happy she's well enough to misbehave, but I hope you find a solution that doesn't involve having to burn your house down.
ReplyDeleteI am about to walk. Tomorrow is supposed to be raining but I just saw somebody mention the treadmill and I HAVE A TREADMILL.
YES!! It just has to be 10 minutes of intentional walking and treadmill walks count, as do loops around your basement!
DeleteYou don't understand what it was like when we went on the tour of city hall and they said to look under the seats and tell us what we thought the weird metal things underneath were, and the first thing that Kyria and I said to each other was "Engie". Can you imagine what life would be like for the rest of us if you didn't think out loud on the internets?
ReplyDeleteDoggo and I are rooting for Hannah to keep breaking her boundaries. I mean I know it's not fun for you and Doc BB and Zelda but we're Team Hannah. And yay that her back problems are a now-long-ago memory. Also we're Team CBWC - and like you and Hannah we're so cool that we walk everyday.
What is so weird is the disconnect between my IRL life and my internets life. Hats are not a big part of my IRL life, but somehow have come to center my bloggy life in the last year. I'm not mad about it, but it's weird!
DeleteYeah, I'm sort of Team Hannah Getting Into Mischief myself. I mean, that's what a dog's life should be!
I'm enjoying Hannah standing there wagging her little tail. What a scamp. I know you don't want to have to take those magic erasers to your entire downstairs, and your house works best with her in confinement overnight, but I do like thinking of her jumping that gate. Sorry. And I'm really glad that her back is feeling better!
ReplyDeleteI think Hannah doesn't know she shouldn't be going over the gate. We can't really be upset with her HOURS after the action has occurred, so we just ignore her wagging her tail and go about our normal morning business. I'm actually a tiny bit pleased she's showing so much gumption. She's a real dog now!
DeleteYay for postcards and Halloween decorations. Not so much yay for the Hannah-situation. I mean, I am glad her back issues are resolved and she move normally, but not so cool if she's jumping the baby gate. Ugh. I hope you find a solution. Is there door you can close?
ReplyDeleteThere's no door between the kitchen and mudroom, so that would be an easy solution if only it were possible! She hasn't jumped now for three days in a row, so I'm hopeful it was just a passing thing.
DeleteEngie! Your house looks awesome in its halloween mode... I really like the two "eyes" up top!
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased for Hannah's mobility and tickled by her flouting of your silly human rules (but concerned by her continuing GI issues and unhappy you have to clean up after).
I'd love to join an online walking club, but I'm disinclined to join anything that advertises itself as "cool," so I guess not. Sorry!
Hey, you can't be cool unless you join! DO IT, Maya. How's that for some peer pressure.
DeleteEngie!
DeleteThe house looks great on the outside, but if the pets have their way ...
ReplyDeleteIt's only a matter of time until the four-legged creatures have complete control of the house!
DeleteThe critters are in cahoots and I'm sorry, but it's a bit funny! I think Chewy.com has some extra tall gates---maybe they have one that is wide enough to keep the shenanigans at bay?
ReplyDeleteThe house looks super cute and a little spooky! Happy October.
Could you possibly stack one accordion gate on top of the other to create a taller barrier?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to decorating our house this weekend!
Yeah for the CBWC. I am in.
ReplyDeleteBoooo on the dog issues. Sounds like Hannah is in her teenage phase...
Enjoy your halloween lights. I am already thinking about how not have people ring my doorbell.