Dogs on Thursday, Extreme Bravery edition!

Remember this Dogs on Thursday post from a couple of weeks ago? It was Cooper and his, shall we say..."issues" with thunderstorms? I have never had a dog who was so terrified of thunder. This poor boy goes berserk and just paces back and forth and digs, digs, digs, trying to get away from the thunder. I've tried"babying" him, ignoring him (THAT was hard!) and finally meds from my WonderVet. Nothing helped. Not even a little bit. So, several weeks ago when I read about the Thundershirt on facebook, I decided to give it a try. They offer a money-back guarantee, so all I had to lose was the cost of shipping.


It arrived, and I have to day I wasn't very hopeful. It just looked like a light-weight doggie coat with velcro flaps. Big deal. How can that help? Bring on the thunder and lets test this baby out... We waited, and waited, and waited, and no thunder! Weeks went by, and still no storms! I was starting to think this shirt had some kind of special magic -- just buying it can keep storms out of the area! Best purchase I ever made!

And then came this past Tuesday... The sky was dark and menacing when I got home from work. I logged on to the weather.com and this warning was flashing:

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT TUESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE AND NORTHEAST MARYLAND AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

Here comes the test for the Thundershirt! I put it on Cooper, and snugged it up really tight (thanks to Chan for that tip) being careful not to catch his little "winkie" under the shirt. (Cooper says "Please don't refer to my winkie as 'little', OK?") I turned on two television sets, set them to different channels and turned the volume up on both. I debated on giving him one of his doggie tranquilizers, too, but they really don't work for him, so why bother, right?

Before long, the thunder moved into the area, and I knew this would be a good test. I have to say, I am impressed with the shirt. Cooper was surprisingly calm. It's like he was a totally different dog. He was a little uneasy a couple of times, but as soon as I told him everything was fine, he just went back to sleep. That's right...SLEEP! He took a nap during a thunderstorm!!! If I had any money at all, I would invest it in the Thundershirt company. After paying off my credit cards...and buying that little house I am dying for...and donating a large chunk of money to several animal causes...and then I would invest in the company.

I don't know how this shirt works, or why it works, but it sure does work for Cooper! All in all, Cooper gives his new thundershirt two thumbs up. Or at least he would if he had any thumbs. Cooper says, "When I am wearing my new shirt, I am no longer a cowardly lion...I am the king of the beasts!"

Happy Father's Day

Today is a very special day - Father's Day! I consider myself the luckiest daughter in the world, because I have the world's best father! He has always been there for me...always. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from over the years.

Here he is when I was just a year old. Doesn't he look like a baby himself? Way too young to carry the responsibility of a family on his shoulders.
He gave the best piggy back rides...
..and still does!
He has always been an animal lover---or loves to torture animals, I'm not sure which. Here is he making Sammy "smile for the camera"!

Here he is giving Cleo (the first dog I remember) a bath in the sink.
...and again giving Abby a bath in the sink. Yes, he is a clean freak. If there was an animal in the house, it had to be clean!

Here I am sharing some important tidbit of information with him when I was 6 years old. He was my go-to-guy then...
...and has been throughout the years.
Finally, here is a picture from last night. He is enjoying his favorite meal, which we make for him every Father's Day...hamburgers. He's not hard to please...he would rather have a burger than just about anything in the world.

Happy Father's Day, dad! I love you more than words can say!

Dogs on Thursday, Red Bandanna Edition

Sue from the Portuguese Water Blog declared today, June 10, 1020 as Red Bandanna Day! The dogs were so excited when they heard the news, they went right out and bought new red bandannas and graciously offered to pose for photos. Well, perhaps "excited" and "graciously" don't describe exactly how they feel, but at least I didn't have to hog-tie them or shoot them with tranquilizer darts for them to cooperate. All it took was copious amounts of cookies and lemon cake. Look at the resulting group shot, though! Tell me it wasn't worth all the trouble to get these three beauties in one photo!
Head on over to Sue's Blog and check out all of the other participants in Red Bandanna Day!

In the meantime, I'm including some of the blooper shots for your enjoyment. Here is Cooper doing his best pirate impersonation. Personally I think he looks more like a biker. A biker from the movie Wild Hogs, at that!
If you have never seen that movie, do yourself a favor and rent it. I think it's the funniest movie I have ever seen. No matter how many times I see it, it still had be falling-down laughing at so many of the scenes. Every time I see a motorcyclist "of a certain age" on the road, I giggle a little bit.

Here is Tara saying, "You're not going to pull this thing over my ears and make me look like a granny again, are you?"
Yes, Tara, I am!
Here is Emma saying, "Don't you dare do that to me. It's bad enough I have to wear this silly thing, but if you pull it over my ears and make it into a granny scarf you'll be sorry..."
Here is Emma refusing to acknowledge my existence.
She is currently plotting her revenge.

Dogs on Thursday, Thunder Edition

Cooper got a package in the mail today, just in time for Dogs on Thursday! What is it? A Thundershirt. It's a doggie coat-type shirt that is supposed to help relieve anxiety for dogs afraid on thunderstorms, fireworks, etc. That's Cooper, alright. I've never had a dog who is so very afraid of thunder. I read about the Thundershirt on Facebook last week, and since they offer money-back guarantee, I figured what have we got to lose, right?

As soon as I got home from work, I put Cooper in his new Thundershirt, and then had him read the instructions.
Lookie here, Cooper--it says that "...Thundershirt’s gentle, constant pressure has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited."

Cooper says, "If you say so, but I'm not convinced."

Well, I'm not convinced either, but I'm willing to give it a try. Only time will tell. Time, and a thunderstorm, that is! This is a perfect time to sing along with one of my favorite Jo Dee Messina songs. Happy Dogs on Thursday!