Search results for 'hound about'

Mar 7

Honoring Biscuit: Remembering His Love for His Hound About

“I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source.” ~Doris Day

Today marks eight months since our precious Biscuit passed away. One thing that Biscuit loved to do was take a spin in his Hound About! Soon after we rescued Biscuit, we knew that he had issues with his legs — they were extremely fragile and he suffered from arthritis. It was suspected per the Sheltie Haven Sheltie Rescue, Inc., the dog rescue organization where we adopted Biscuit, that he suffered from living in a puppy mill, as his rear legs were slightly deformed. We made sure Biscuit took his daily arthritis supplements to help his condition. As a result, Biscuit could not walk too far of a distance at a time, although he did enjoy his daily walks around the neighborhood!

I did not want Biscuit’s arthritis to stop him from going on longer walks, traveling, and sight-seeing. As such, I looked into finding something that we could use to push Biscuit around in! I came across the Hound About via Google searches. When I showed Doug the Hound About, Doug, at first, told me that it was “over the top,” but he indulged me in my quest. Since we ordered his Hound About from California (not local), Doug and I cut out newspapers to the appropriate dimensions to discern which size to get Biscuit. So, we settled on the larger size, the blue Hound About.

Biscuit immediately fell in love with his Hound About! Doug and I have so many wonderful memories of Biscuit in his Hound About. Since our old house, unlike our new house, did not have a garage as it was located in the city, we kept Biscuit’s Hound About in our guest room! We are so thankful to now have a garage for the cars and storage! Some evenings, during the warmer months, we skipped the gym and took Biscuit for a ride around the Harbor, which he loved! Biscuit was very smart. Since the Hound About was too wide to fit through the front door, Doug had to take the three wheels off the carriage portion of the Hound About to enable us to get the Hound About in and out of the house! As soon as Biscuit saw us taking out his wheels to his Hound About, he got so excited! He barked and smiled, ear to ear, and ran out the front door, just waiting for Doug and I to quickly assemble his Hound About so he could get going on his ride!

The Hound About went everywhere with us when we traveled, and we have many wonderful memories from our two trips to Nova Scotia with Biscuit! Biscuit proudly went all around Halifax in his Hound About and loved every minute! Biscuit loved all of his local Hound About rides as well! We have many memories of taking our beloved Biscuit to dinner in his Hound About as well as stores where furry friends were permitted! He was such a hit with the ladies strutting around in his Hound About! We are so glad that the Hound About brought Biscuit so much joy, and most of all, the Hound About allowed us to do so much more together!

Now, the Hound About has been passed down to little Victory, who seems to love the Hound About as much as Biscuit did! We are sure that Biscuit is smiling down and is happy that another sheltie friend in need, his sissy, is enjoying it as much as he did! We are so thankful that Biscuit entered our lives and brought us so much joy.

Biscuit is pictured below in his Hound About in downtown Halifax after he went shopping with us at Lululemon and Roots among other stores (Biscuit went inside the stores with us)!

Aug 16

Biscuit Hound About Downtown Halifax!

Biscuit had a big day in downtown Halifax this week! He strolled all over the city, and loved every minute. He hopped in his Hound About even before the wheels were assembled onto his Hound About! Below are some photographs of Biscuit’s adventures!

Biscuit at Dalhousie University in downtown Halifax! Maybe Biscuit is going to be an engineer like his Daddy!

Biscuit next to the Winston Churchill statue at the library downtown.

Biscuit at the Harbor in downtown Halifax! Many people came up to Biscuit and wanted to pet Biscuit and they all commented on his Hound About!

Biscuit at Cows Ice Cream in downtown Halifax! (This year, Biscuit did not have any Cows Ice Cream as he is not permitted to have it per the vet! Plus, last year, Biscuit got sick after eating the rich Cows Ice Cream). While we were eating our ice cream, Biscuit attempted to jump out of his Hound About as he wanted to be included!

Biscuit at Cows Ice Cream by the infamous Cow!

Mar 12

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Hound About the Harbor

Yesterday the weather was really nice here in Baltimore, and, therefore, Doug assembled Biscuit’s Hound About! Biscuit had a really nice time strolling around the Harbor. Doug and I went to dinner in Harbor East and took Biscuit with us, along with this kibble for treats! Biscuit put many smiles on people’s faces at the Harbor. Many people were surprised to see a doggie in this capacity! When we returned to our neighborhood after dinner, Biscuit took his early evening walk before taking a snooze when he got home!

Feb 21

Why You Should Not Skip Your Dog’s Daily Walk

I recently read an article that provided some interesting insights about the importance of walking your dog daily. A 2011 study from Michigan State University found that only two-thirds of its subjects routinely walked their dogs. Consequently, this can significantly negatively impact dogs’ emotional and physical well-being.

Overall, most dogs do not exercise by themselves. And, according to Stephanie Borns-Weil, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, indicated that a typical yard does not offer enough stimulation to prompt an adequate amount of movement. Walking your dogs provides mental stimulation that comes from companionship, seeing new things and sniffing new things, according to Borns-Weil. Dogs who do not have their needs met can be subject to long-term chronic stress ranging from depression and anxiety, to immune system problems. Studies have found that dogs in shelters also benefit from direct human interaction, which helps to reduce stress.

As a result, you should help your dog get the most out of his/her walk, by letting your dog explore. Sniffing is the way that dogs experience and understand their world. Comparatively speaking, dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors compared to us humans who only have 6 million olfactory receptors. Often times, we want to hurry our dog along, and we miss following their lead to sniff around and explore. Even on the coldest of days, I remind myself that letting our beloved Victory explore and sniff is very important for her. And, Victory loves to sniff around outside during early the mornings and late in the evenings, when there are not many people outside! So, I remind myself that enrichment activities and exercise is important not only for my human child, but also for our fur girl, Victory, as well! Victory always gives us clear signs when she has “cabin fever” during the winter months, signaling to us that she needs to get out and about, and when she does, her morale instantly increases and a smile appears! Her walks and her Hound About rides always seem to do the trick, along with a ride in the car to a fun destination or a ride to get BBQ, during the warmer months! Thus, fully integrating your furry family member into your daily life has wonderful benefits for all!

Feb 14

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Happy Heart Day!

Happy Heart Day! We celebrated Valentine’s Day a little early, this past weekend, with Alex and Victory, along with a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants! Alex and Victory are quite the pair! I am so grateful for our beautiful girls, and I am so grateful to be their Mama! Today, Doug is attending Alex’s Valentine’s Day celebration at school, and Alex is over the moon exited for Doug to come to her class! Alex loved making valentine cards and valentine gifts for her friends!

In other news, very recently, a new rescue dog joined our family. His name is Finn, and he is a puppy mill survivor, who traveled a long distance to his forever home. Finn was adopted in honor of Nick, our first beloved rescue papillon dog. Below is a short video of Finn, enjoying his first Valentine’s Day, in his new forever home! He is still acclimating to his new home, and making steady progress each day! He barked for the first time today, after seeing is reflection in a mirror, and he is learning to walk on a leash and go potty outside. He also has a Hound About, as well, and he enjoys going out for rides! We cannot wait to meet him! Alex has already made art for Finn, and she put a bag of goodies together that she picked out at the store for him! Finn is the most adorable little pup—just look at that handsome face, and those beautiful eyes! We are so grateful he joined our family! He is so loved and cherished!

Here is a video of Finn!

I hope you have a great day celebrating with the ones you love.

You can view our previous Valentine’s celebrations here.

“I know for sure that loves saves me and that it is here to save us all.” —Maya Angelou

Nov 9

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Victory: A Birthday Celebration — 12 years

October 12, marked ten years since we adopted our sweet dear little Victory! The time is going by much too quickly! We decided to make October 12 Victory’s birthday — the day we went to Michigan and adopted our sweet fur girl.

As such, we recently celebrated Victory’s birthday marking her tenth year with us since her adoption! This also marks six years celebrating as a ‘big sister’ to Alex! This year, for Victory’s birthday, we did a personalized dog and pastel themed birthday! (As shown below, last year, we did a personalized fall theme and pastel theme; two years ago personalized theme and a pastel theme; three years ago pink theme with gold accent; four years we did a pastel rainbow theme with a silver accent; five years ago we did pastel theme with a gold and silver accent; six years ago we did a gold and champagne theme; seven years ago we did a light pink and gold themed birthday; eight years ago we did a pink themed birthday; and nine years ago, we did rainbow themed birthday for Victory!) For this double-digit birthday, we had another cake made with Victory’s likeness — Victory riding in her Hound About, which was formerly Biscuit’s Hound About! It turned out beautifully! We also purchased some fun decorations and balloons, along with a pink sweater for Victory, a tradition, in honor of her birthday! Victory also enjoyed a steak prepared by Doug, along with her very own cupcake (with no icing, of course!) Victory looked absolutely adorable and beautiful on her birthday, as always, shown below! This is the sixth birthday that Victory celebrated with her sidekick, Alex! It is wonderful to witness their relationship blossom as Alex grows older. Alex loves giving Victory treats and hugs! Victory had a fun birthday and she truly enjoyed being over fed and the center of attention! I sincerely believe Victory knows her birthdays are all about her!

We are truly the lucky ones to share our lives with this wonderful, loyal, and loving being. Victory has been such a source of comfort to us all. Victory has also fully embraced her ‘big sister’ role! Victory is very attuned to her little sister and loves to greet Alex in the mornings and evenings! It melts our hearts! Victory continues to join us each morning and evening for play time and story time, in addition to all feedings! We also do our best to keep Victory fully integrated in our trips and outings as well, and we had a fun fall together with many outings together, including a trip to Lexington, Kentucky! We are so very grateful and thankful for our Victory. She means the world to us and we love her very much.

For Victory’s birthday, we gave her: a Keeneland leash; a blanket; a toy; assorted treats; and a new pink sweater! Additionally, Alex also made some art for Victory, along with a special card!

(All birthday decorations are via Sweet Lulu.)

Here is a video of Victory enjoying her steak!

A look back at Victory’s birthday celebrations over the years…

Here is a look back at Victory on her birthdays!

If you are considering getting a dog, I hope that you consider adopting a rescue dog. There are so many dogs in need of a good, loving home, especially now. As shown below, Victory, a rescue, has changed so much physically and emotionally over the years since we adopted her, pictured on the left (image from Victory’s foster mom via the Michigan Sheltie Rescue). You really can save a dog’s life, while simultaneously enriching your own life/lives. We cannot imagine not having a rescue dog in our lives!

May 19

Glimmers

How lovely is that?

So, recently, I took a walk around the neighborhood with Alex and Victory, and, let me tell you, glimmers abound. Here is a short list:

*Pushing Victory in her Hound About, while seeing her fur glistening in the sun.

*Seeing Alex balancing well on her scooter.

*Alex telling me all about the artwork she plans to make.

*Seeing beautiful flowers blooming.

*Feeling the cool, spring breeze.

*Seeing the sun start to set.

What glimmers have you seen lately?

Mar 21

A Silver Lining of the Pandemic

How are you doing these days? The news is heavy. Reports from Ukraine are horrifying, and the pandemic rages on, while so many people are suffering in this world.

The pandemic has definitely had it challenges, and it has especially had a toll and great impact on parents and children. Despite all of the challenges, I have been fortunate to be able to spend more time with our rescue sheltie, Victory! Victory and I have spent the most time together out of everyone in our little family over these past two plus years, and it has truly been a gift. I never take the time we have with Victory for granted, and it has been so wonderful to have her with me, each day, sitting under my desk while I work, a trusted companion, who is always on the look out for treats. I always look forward to our cuddles during the day! It has also been helpful to be able to walk her and take her potty as many times as she needs, without relying on a neighbor or dog walker, especially since she is prone to urinary tract infections (UTIs). And, since the weather is finally feeling spring like and it is now officially spring, thank goodness, I have been able to take her for rides in her Hound About, and it has been great, she loves it, and I love seeing her big smile!

Being home more, due to the pandemic, I have certainly had my share of cabin fever, especially during the cold winter months, so we are sure to get Victory out and about as much as we can, which she loves! I will always cherish this special time time together. And, as a byproduct of the pandemic, our fur girl, has come out of her shell even more in her senior years, which has been wonderful to witness. Victory has been more flexible, even letting Alex taker her on walks; and Victory is now jumping into Alex’s big girl bed at night for story time, while Doug reads his girls Curious George books! She literally has found her ‘inner-puppy’ later in life! I am so grateful for our beloved and precious fur girl!

Jun 18

Around Here: June

Happy June! The official start of summer is right around the corner, which is difficult to believe! Below are some items that have occurred around here in June, another month that is flying by much too quickly!

-after many months of consistent and steady work, I finally finished the final revisions for my long-term photography project, which I have been working on in total for over five years now. Going into this project I never realized how much work it really was actually going to be; however, it is immensely gratifying conceptualizing an idea and bringing it to fruition. I am now moving onto completing the next steps in this project.

-we have had a little bit of a breather this month as our calendar has not been as hectic, as in previous months, so we have had time to catch up with friends and go to our pool, which has been really nice! We are trying to get as much rest as we can during this time.

-we celebrated Doug’s first Father’s Day together!

-we saw U2 this past weekend and it was a really good concert!

-we are finishing up our parent, baby, and birth classes this weekend!

-I am now feeling quite big, as we have only approximately four weeks or so remaining until we get to meet our baby girl! It seems surreal some days!

-we are pretty much ready, as ready as one can be, for our baby to arrive! Her tiny little clothes that we will need over the next several months, blankets, and bath time related items have all been washed; her car seat and seat bases are installed, thanks to Doug; we ordered the last remaining items that we need; and we started to pack our hospital bags.

-this month I shared images from our Babymoon! We all had a great time together with many wonderful memories with our fur girl, Victory!

-began working on our Promptly Journal for our baby, which beings from pregnancy through eighteen years!

-I finished the first drafts of our two photos books via Artifact Uprising: one celebrating and memorializing our journey to parenthood and the other commemorating our Babymoon!

-we have been giving Victory lots of snuggles and love! We have been enjoying evening walks together in her Hound About! She even went into the nursery on her own last week!

-Victory is recovered from her recent UTI, thankfully, as we were at the vet recently for a recheck!

-Victory got her paws trimmed and a bath this past weekend and she looks, feels, and smells great!

-still using the 1 Second Everyday App to document a second each day — it will be interesting to see the finished video at the end of the year!

-continuing to work on getting fine art prints made, framed, and hung in our home, an ongoing endeavor!

-continuing to watch the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale, a really good series.

-started Sweetbitter, a good series.

-finished reading Sophie Tales, a good read, given to me by a fellow blog reader!

-listening to a myriad of podcasts, especially, at the gym and on walks!

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Monday!

May 29

Around Here: May

Happy May! The weather has warmed up here and it has been nice to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! Below are some items that have occurred around here in May, another month that has flown by much too quickly!

-continuing to work on the next steps concerning my long-term photography project; I am making good progress with the revisions in this home stretch, and hopefully all remaining revisions will be made by the end of next month, fingers crossed. I have been working so hard to finish these tedious revisions before our baby arrives.

-earlier this month, my good friends from law school gave Doug and I a baby shower, which was really lovely commemorating this special time in our lives! A good time was had by all!

-we took our last trip to Pups in the Park with our fur girl, Victory, as a ‘party of three!’ We had a great time together, as always!

-we were happy to go to our pool for the first time this year, which opened over Memorial Day weekend!

-we also enjoyed seeing friends over Memorial Day weekend!

-continuing this month with our parent, baby, and birth classes that go through next month — we have only a few more classes to go! And, if all goes as planned, the hospital is permitting our fur girl, Victory, to come to the hospital, post delivery, to meet her little sister! We are so happy to include our precious Victory, our fur girl, in order to have our entire family together during this time!

-I am now feeling quite big, as we have only approximately seven weeks remaining until we get to meet our baby girl!

-we have a few last items to get for our baby that we will take care of in short order; otherwise, we think that we are in pretty good shape to start!

-I am almost done editing our images from our Babymoon! We all had a great time together with many wonderful memories!

-I am now working on finishing two photos books via Artifact Uprising: one celebrating and memorializing our journey to parenthood and the other commemorating our Babymoon!

-around the house, we completed our gardening and mulching!

-we also got our decks cleaned and our deck furniture set out, which we have been using!

-we got our rugs cleaned; and our house windows get cleaned next month!

-we have been giving Victory lots of snuggles and love! We are doing our best to get her ‘ready’ for her little sister’s arrival.

-Victory, unfortunately, had a recent UTI diagnosed last week and she is now on the mend with antibiotics, thankfully. (She has a history of these pesky infections, unfortunately.)

-Victory tried out her soon-to-be little sister’s Bugaboo Fox buggy/stroller, pictured below! (Victory also tried out her little sister’s crib when we were first getting her nursery together!) Doug picked out the color scheme for our Bugaboo Fox and we got the last one in stock; and once our baby is old enough, the bassinet will be swapped out for a traditional type stroller seat in the blue mélange color that also attaches to the Bugaboo Runner!

-since the weather has been nice, we have enjoyed taking Victory for rides in her Hound About! She loves getting fresh air and going for long rides, while I walk, albeit a little slower these days! We are also keeping up with going to the gym together.

-still using the 1 Second Everyday App to document a second each day — it will be interesting to see the finished video at the end of the year!

-continuing to work on getting fine art prints made, framed, and hung in our home, an ongoing endeavor!

-continuing to watch the final season of The Americans, a really good series — the last episode of the series airs this week, which is difficult to believe.

-continuing to watch the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale, a really good series.

-started the second season of the The Path, a good series.

-listening to a myriad of podcasts, especially, at the gym and on walks!

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Tuesday!