Mama's Boy!!

Today was one of the longest work days I've had in awhile [8am - 8pm]... Every break that I get is generally spent at home hugging, kissing & walking pups - every now and then i get the "pleeeeease take me with you" face from one of my own dogs - today it was Tilden. This dog will make you melt.

First stop was Loki... a 7 month old brick house of a pit bull puppy who lives with two chihuahuas and was THRILLED to have big dog company! Lots of jumps, licks, snaps & side swipes... which my boy handled like a pro, and I finally got an excellent walk with the both of them.

Next was Madison & Sadie aka The Golden Girls... Tilden loves them. All three walked together great [i'm going to pat myself on the back here for controlling 3 retractable leashes], sat patiently when i was on clean up duty, passed several other dogs just fine, and gently greeted a couple of toddlers who were out walking with their grandparents. People watched and were impressed... as was I. The girls are always well behaved, but I was very proud of Tilden.

I was nervous about our next stop, as Tilden has never met this group of dogs before... and when I say group I mean: 3 Jack Russells, 2 Boston Terriers, and an Italian Greyhound. The energy was high, to say the least... but Tilden, was a star!!



Found myself needing a pick me up - hellooooo Peet's. While ordering I noticed a woman and her small dog standing aside my car. I was afraid that Tilden would start barking if he hadnt already but when I went out and asked I was told "No, not a peep, I didn't even know he was back there". Wow Tilden! I had to pinch myself.

Final stop was with Edgar and Zowie, my seniors. Tilden is so respectful of them... I'm always amazed at how well he's able to read other dogs and adjust himself accordingly. He knows that Zowie doesnt want to be bothered with him, and he knows that Edgar is fragile [Edgar doesnt even know he's fragile, ha!]

So all in all... Long day... but well worth it! I love when I'm able to incorporate Tildens socialization and training with work.

Happy Halloween, Happy Fall... Happy Autumn!

If you can believe it...

*drumroll*

for those of you who were brave enough to participate in my previous blog contest, here are the results:

the puppies in photo #1 are half GERMAN SHEPHERD (sally is the winner, her guess was a belgian shepherd) photo taken by a westside shepherd rescue volunteer... all of the puppies and mom have been adopted earlier this year.

the puppy in photo #2 (Rebel) is half KING CHARLES SPANIEL (heather is the winner, her guess was springer spaniel... but only because that was her childhood dog. pure luck!)

Rebel is a puppy that boarded with me a few weeks back and after seeing a photo and communicating thru e mail with his owner, i was dying to SEE him and hear how she'd come up with his breed mixture - that is when she confirmed that he was born at a rescue, to a king charles mama. my best guess is that dad was a piebald daschund / rat terrier / chihuahua... those ears, WOW!!

He's a fun and well behaved little guy, only living up to his name every now and then. Despite his pint size, he had a great time here with Gia, Tilden, Buzz and Gracey...

so much for my nap on the sofa:



Gia referees. Rebel commentates:

She's a WHAT??? (guess the breed game)

Its not uncommon to walk into an animal shelter and see every black dog listed as a Lab X, every dog with erect ears as a Shepherd X, and almost every small dog is a Terrier X of some sort. Before you take these descriptions and run with them, remember how tricky genetics can be in the first place, along with the fact that a dog can be mixed with not only 2, but 3, 4, 5, or 6 different breeds (and beyond).

Occasionally (and sadly) a mama dog will give birth in the shelter, or under a rescues care, (or at home, eek) and the game of "who's your daddy" begins...

Well my version is a little different.

In both photos, the pup or pups were born @ the rescue, the mama dogs breed is KNOWN and PUREBRED... although you'd probably never guess it in a million years. as far as who hopped the fence and got mama pregnant... well, the dads breed in both cases are pretty obvious (at least i think so).

OK...start guessing, and make sure to read game details at the bottom of this post. Good luck!!

Photo#1 (taken from a rescues organizations website which i will mention after the breed reveal) Hint: Mama is not an Australian Cattle Dog!



Photo#2 (taken by me of a clients dog) Hint: Mama is not a Rat Terrier!



...Winner, winners or whoever comes the closest will get a prize! Leave a comment on facebook, or e mail me at ipetsit.la@gmail.com Please specify if your guess is for photo 1 or photo 2. I'll reveal the breeds in Sundays 10/24 blog post. Again, good luck...you'll need it! Ha!