Interview with Mr. Bits

I have decided to interview each of my dogs by asking them each the same five questions.
I know I am the crazy dog lady (ahem, the Dog Dame), but I'm not crazy, I swear.  Read on to learn about the mutts that inspire me to blog!

1. For the record, please provide your full name:
They call me Mr. Bits! My registered name is Lil Bit, but my family mostly calls me Bits or Mr. Bits.

2. Tell me about when you joined the family.  How long has it been?
Wow!  I joined the family in July 2016 and am their newest addition.  I'm eight years old, and have the body of a chihuahua and the colors and markings of a beagle.  I'm the smallest of the mutts, and the craziest!  Despite having two slipped discs in my back, I like to race around the house and yard like a wild puppy.  I'm about 13 pounds but have no problem jumping on my new siblings - even Remy who is a lot bigger than me! I LOVE the love, and have no idea what the words "personal space" mean!  I was adopted from Love Mutts Rescue, just like my brother, Otis!

3.  What is your favorite toy?
I like to wrestle with my stuffed toys!  I roll around on the floor and wrestle with them - I win about half of the time.  My favorite to play with is Otis, though.  I love to run and jump on him.  It sometimes takes a long time to convince him to chase me, though!  I'm also a big fan of the kong, which is usually filled with peanut butter and kibble, or steamed veggies!

4. What is your least favorite thing to do?
I hate going outside.  I'd much rather be in someone's lap or cuddling with Otis on the couch! My people make me go outside and play with the others, though, and I do sometimes have fun.  I hate when my feet get wet, or when I have to get my nails trimmed, and I don't like it when it's cold, or hot.

5. What's your favorite treat?
I really love green beans, the 3 ingredient cookies, and the dental treats.  I also like peanut butter/greek yogurt ice cream in the summer.  I used to enjoy chicken broth popsicles until my people figured out I'm allergic to chicken!

Interview with Mr. Otis

I have decided to interview each of my dogs by asking them each the same five questions.
I know I am the crazy dog lady (ahem, the Dog Dame), but I'm not crazy, I swear.  Read on to learn about the mutts that inspire me to blog!

1. For the record, please provide your full name:
I am Mr. Otis Ulysses.  You may call me Mr. Otis.  My family calls me Mr. Odit or Mr. Otis.

2. Tell me about when you joined the family.  How long has it been?
It's been almost 15 months since I joined the family.  I was five years old I was adopted from Love Mutts Rescue, and my family brought me home to live with Remy.  She just wanted to play, but I was too dignified for that, and a little portly, too.  It was love at first sight though... as soon as I met my new sister, I just wanted to cuddle with her... ALL THE TIME. I was really scared of the people in my family and hid from them, especially from the males.  I loved Remy, though.  The humans kept giving me love and cuddles and treats, though, and after awhile I wanted to be around them, too.  They had no idea for the first several weeks that every day, I like to greet the morning by loudly singing the song of my people (beagles) to the entire neighborhood.   They know and love (or at least begrudgingly accept) that about me, now.

3.  What is your favorite toy?
I haven't played with many toys, though I do have a red squeaky ball that I like to carry around, and sometimes roll around with.  Remy steals and and hides it because it squeaks.  I also enjoy playing with ropes and other toys that I can play tug of war with Remy.  I love to hide a cow femur in the leaves and chew it when I think nobody is looking.  I do run and play now, but mostly I just like to chase Remy (or run from her) and sniff things.  I like to cuddle with soft toys, but she Remy steals them to rip them apart and Bits steals them to cuddle with, too.

4. What is your least favorite thing to do?
I love to be outside, so I hate when it's really cold or rainy and I can't be outside much.  I just sleep  on the couch those days.  I'm not a huge of fan of getting my nails clipped but mom says I am the best out of the three about it.

5. What's your favorite treat?
ALL OF THEM!  I love to eat, and I love all of the different kinds of treats!  I love green beans, raw carrots, 3 ingredient cookies, ice cream, and I really love the dental treats.

National CHECK THE CHIP Day is August 15!

 WHAT?  You've never heard of this fabulous day?!?!

Here's the deal: August 15th is National Check The Chip day, as in MICROCHIP.  It's a good idea to annually review the information you have on file with the microchip company, and to make an appointment to get your pet micro-chipped if he or she isn't already.

My two boys were adopted from Love Mutts Rescue and were micro-chipped before I adopted them, but Remy was adopted from the SPCA and was not.  I meant to get her chipped at her last annual exam, but I had Remy and Otis at the vet together by myself and forgot to ask for it!  I'm using Check The Chip Day as my own personal reminder to get Remy chipped, too!


You can use the Universal Microchip Lookup Tool to check your pet's registration info.  The following microchip companies participate:

• 24PetWatch​
• AKC Companion Animal Recovery (AKC-CAR)    
• EIDAP  
• Found Animals 
• HomeAgain (includes Banfield chips)  
• InfoPet 
• Microchip I.D. Systems
• PetKey 
• PetLink    
• Save This Life   
• SmartTag Microchip

DID YOU KNOW?

• a micro-chip is about the size of a grain of rice
• the microchip only contains your dogs registration or microchip number, which can then be looked up on the Universal database.  This is why it's so important to make sure your info is up to date with your microchip company.
• a lost dog without a microchip only finds it's owners around 21% of the time.  Dogs with microchips are re-united more than twice that, around 52% of the time.
• getting your dog microchipped is easy, and can be done at a regular office visit.  It's inserted with a hypodermic needle, and is no more painful than a normal injection.
• you should have your vet scan your dog at his annual exam to make sure the microchip is still functioning and can be detected.
• Many shelters and most rescues microchip adoptable dogs, but if yours isn't micro-chipped, it usually costs no more than $25-35 for your dog to be micro-chipped.

Sources:
AMVA

ResQWalk

Do you take your dog(s) for a daily walk? Or maybe you like to go running, bike riding, rollerblading/skating, etc?  My dogs have a fenced yard but we do go for walks at the park on weekends and around the neighborhood on cooler evenings.

Did you know that you can download a free app called ResQWalk (available on Android or iPhone), and log your walks/rides to donate money to the rescue of your choice, free of charge?

It works by using your GPS to track the distance you have walked, then the money is donated via PayPal to the rescue you choose.  The money comes from corporate sponsors, so it's free for you to help your favorite rescue.  All activity less than 14 mph is logged.  

You can help save dogs just by doing what you normally do, but with this app enabled.  

Do you play Pokemon Go? You can run both apps at the same time and accrue miles while catching your pokemon.

I recently logged 0.51 miles just wandering around my local Target store!  I'm going to enable it when I walk around at work, to and from my car in parking lots, plus on our longer walks at the park. 

if you don't have a rescue, you can always choose your local SPCA or Love Mutts Rescue (serving NC and VA).

You can get more information about how it works at www.resqwalk.com.

DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID FROM GOOGLE PLAY!

DOWNLOAD FOR APPLE FROM ITUNES APP STORE!

Smile! You can donate to animal organizations through Amazon!

Did you know that if you shop at Amazon, you can donate to the worthy cause of your choice?

To signup to donate, visit www.smile.amazon.com

I am currently donating to Love Mutts Rescue, the organization that I adopted Otis from.  There are tons of rescues and animal advocacy groups.  You don't get the tax write off, but you do get to help everytime you shop for things you'd be shopping for on Amazon anyway.

be sure to start every shopping trip at SMILE.amazon.com!

Introduction

Several nights ago, my husband and I were having a conversation about our dogs when he quipped, "I married the dog lady!".  The idea for this blog was borne from that conversation, but my love for alliteration (the same beginning sound in adjacent words) led me to name my blog The Dog Dame.

I am not in a professional field related to animals, but I do love animals and spend a lot of free time reading about them (particularly dogs) and researching related topics.  I plan to share some of my findings here.  Please note that I am not a veterinarian, and you should always consult with your vet regarding medical issues.

I grew up pretty much always having a pet in the family. Usually we had a dog (or two, or three, or more!), but we also had a cat.  As an adult, I have adopted cats and dogs.  I promote adopting instead of shopping for an animal, and believe all dogs and cats should be inside pets, as members of the family.  I have loved and lost several beloved pets, and care about things like nutrition and exercise for my pets.

In 2012, my eldest stepdaughter's mother adopted a puppy from the local SPCA for my stepdaughter.  After a couple of months, her mother decided she was done dealing with a puppy and said she was going to return it to the shelter.  At that point, we intervened (as the dog was physically in our home) and made the decision to keep the puppy as a family dog, belonging to the entire family and no one particular person. Benelli was a basset/lab on paper, but anyone who saw her knew she had some pit bull or american staffordshire in her.  The entire family fell in love with her.

Several months later, we decided that Benelli needed a canine playmate, and we adopted Remy, a basset/beagle from an SPCA a couple of hours away.  For nearly a year, Benelli and Remy were the best of friends and life was good.  In April 2015, Benelli was a bit picky about her food, eating some of it but leaving much of it in the bowl.  I wasn't particularly concerned as we were getting to the end of the bag of food and this was typical behavior for the end of the bag.  We went out of town for a couple of days and while we were gone, her condition worsened and she laid on her dog bed, refusing to eat, drink, or get up.  We rushed home several days early and took her that afternoon to our vet, who directed us to take her to a nearby specialty hospital.  That night, the emergency vet gave her two blood transfusions and pumped her full of medication to help stabilize her and help her body fight what it was dealing with.  By the next morning, things were worse and due to her organs failing and Benelli being in a lot of pain, we made the decision to have her put to sleep and end her suffering from Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA).  She was two and a half months shy of her third birthday, and losing her devastated my entire family.  We had Remy to love and take care of, but the loss of Benelli left a gaping wound in our lives.

Five months later, we knew Remy (who celebrated a year with us the day after Benelli's death and also her second birthday two months later) needed a buddy to pal around with, and we humans were just not enough.  I was looking for another basset around her age as we prefer short dogs who are unlikely to jump our fence. Instead, on Halloween 2015, we adopted a five-ish year old overweight beagle who had been abused, and we named him Otis.  We adopted from Love Mutts Rescue.  Remy and Otis made fast friends, and she plays very well with him (she sometimes forgets she's much bigger though!).  I can't imagine my life without a couple of dogs to love.

Benelli Grace (07.01.2012-04.18.2015)

Gone But Always Remembered

Left: Remington Ophelia (b. 07/04/2013)

Right: Otis Ulysses (b. ?10/31/2010)