Sleepovers are Exhausting

Recently, Rita went for a trial sleepover at my sister's house (aka The Gulag - where they have actual rules that dogs must abide by!).

It's a dilemma, isn't it? Wondering and worrying about what you're going to do with your pup if you go away on vacation or for work.

My sis and I have been trading dog-sitting duties for a long time now, which used to be no big deal back when we had Bailey, who was close in age and temperament to their corgi, Lou. But now that we keep insisting on getting these darn puppies, and since Lou has become a distinguished older gentleman, well, it's a little more complicated.

Abby used to pester Lou relentlessly trying to get him to play with her - and driving him into a state of...let's call it extreme dismay. So we decided on a trial run with Rita, so see if she'd be an improvement in Lou's books over Abby.

This was the first time since we got Rita back in January that we'd be away from her for a night. And she looked a little concerned when Momma left.

"Wh-where are you going, Momma?"

Wordless Wednesday: Treats?

Rita got a new name tag:

In case you can't see it that well, it says "Insert Treat" with an arrow pointing up at her adorable little hungry face. (We got it from Dog Tag Art; they have a lot of fun options!)

Cute, eh? Of course, we ordered it before we found out that she has panosteitis and needs to lose a few pounds, so we might have to ease up on inserting the treats. I'm pretty sure no matter what, she'll still manage to wheedle some treats out of us! Rita says, "Dieting bites!"

Monday Mischief: Being Nosy

Is this mischief (being NOSY), or is she just trying to be helpful? 

The other day I potted some plants and, of course, Rita had to come stick her nose into what I was doing. She's always got to be RIGHT THERE next to me, checking out whatever I'm doing.

"What are you doing, Momma?"

Update on a Limping Puppy

I don't normally blog on the weekends, but we just got back from the vet, and I figured this was the easiest way to update everyone at once who loves little Senorita Rita. Don't worry - it's not scary news. But it does involve the words "bone disease."

As many of you know, Rita has been limping on off for about a month now. We'd been taking it easy on and off - skipping trips to the beach and foregoing our usual long walks - and then the limp would go away so we'd go back to normal.

This past Monday after a particularly crazed wrestling match at Fiesta Island, she started limping really badly. We took it easy all week (no walks on Tues or Wed, and only short trips around the block on Thur and Fri), and she seemed fine again. But then last night she was definitely limping again, seemingly for no reason. So, this morning we were off to the vet.

What's In a Name?

Today's post was inspired by Dakota's Den's post on How Did You Name Your Dog.

Dakota's Mom shared this very fun graphic produced by Matt Beswick for Pet365. {Click here to view Matt's full post.}



Who knew that George Washington had so many dogs? (I assume not all at one time...) And both G.W. and Queen Elizabeth had dogs named Vulcan?? What's up with that? (And doesn't that seem like sort of an imposing name for a cute little corgi?)

Anyway, I thought I'd share the story of how our pups got their names:

Bailey was named after Bailey's Bay, which was near where we lived in Bermuda. We thought we were being so unique and original! But suddenly there were Baileys everywhere, because there was a popular character on... I forget... a show we didn't watch so we had no idea. Maybe 90210? Something like that...

Abby's full name was Abby Louise, because that used all the letters in Bailey's name. Awww. Miss that girl!

Rita was named after Rosarita Beach, the beach in Baja Mexico where the rescue group found her. When she came to us, her name was Peaches. (Which was a funny coincidence, because there is a minor dog character in What the Dog Ate named Peaches.) Anyway, Mike makes a mean peach margarita, so in addition to being named after the beach, she’s also named after peach margaritas.

A pearl in the poppies

After reading Dakota's mom's post about how she found that Dakota means “trusted friend,” I decided to look up what Rita means: “Pearl.” This is another funny coincidence, because I joked with Mike when we were trying to come up with Abby's name that I wanted to name her Pearl so that I could be “Mother of Pearl.” (I know - I'm a dork.)

I guess we picked the right name for Rita, as she is definitely our special gem!

How did your pup get his/her name?


Very Brief Book/Writing News
In book news, I got another nice review on Chick Lit Central. Also, I had another idea for a book that I like and think could be a lot of fun to write - so I'm now working on three, yes three, different books at one time. And making myself crazy(er). Going to try to focus and finish one!!

Wordless Wednesday: I Gotta Wear Shades

That's right - Rita's future is so bright, she's gotta wear shades. (Okay, really it's just cuz she likes to hang her head out the window...)

Remember last Wednesday when I posted pics of Rita sporting her Doggles? Well, Sunday was the first time we actually remembered to try them in the car:

"I know it's cute, but must I wear them?"

Monday Mischief: Scavenging!

This Monday Mischief is actually mostly about me and some mischief Mike's admin asked me to join in - but Rita benefited from the mischief as well!

Last week I participated in a scavenger hunt that was a team-building event for my hub's Finance department at work. The hub's admin was the one who invited me to be one of the "things" they scavenged for, so he didn't know I'd be there.

The hunt took place in downtown La Jolla, full of nice restaurants and shops and always bustling on a Friday afternoon - especially in the summer. I was told to hang out reading What the Dog Ate on the bench outside Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. There were 6 teams, and even though the hunt was to last all afternoon, they were told that my particular clue was only good from 2 to 3 (so I didn't have to sit there forever).

The clue was something like: "The dog ate my homework" is one of the most common excuses in America. Stop by this 3000 mile mountain range for a sweet treat, where you'll find a La Jolla author who can tell you what else the dog ate.

When I got there, the bench I was supposed to sit on was otherwise ocupied by a homeless guy. Luckily there was a tiny little wall about 6 inches off the ground in front of the shop, so I sat on that and pulled out my book and tried to make the cover obvious.