‘Cause Dogs Gotta Breathe Too

Posted on June 29, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Ok, so this isn’t California or China, where I’ve heard it can be nearly impossible to breathe outside at times.

But even here in Buffalo, NY. USA, the air quality has been bad recently due to smoke coming down from the Canadian wildfires.  There have been many days when air quality advisories were issued and people were told to stay inside with AC and air purifiers running and to wear face masks when outside, especially those people who are elderly or who suffer from a medical condition which could affect their breathing.

On the worst recent day, hubby commented that it was too bad no one made face masks for dogs.

Say what?  I knew that wasn’t true because I’ve seen pictures of military and police dogs wearing gas masks.  Surely, there was something similar for ordinary dogs.

Like many people, my favorite website since the beginning of the pandemic is Amazon.com.  Searching there for “face masks for dogs” not only came up with the full-face military doggie gas masks (probably very effective but a little pricey), but they also had masks similar to those worn by humans – a simple design with a strap going behind the ears.  I ordered one (only $7.99) just to try it out.

Puppy Cody wasn’t thrilled.  Immediately, she pawed the darn thing off, and in the  process she managed to get her front dew claw caught in the strap and nearly broke her leg before I could get to her.  That was a little scary, needless to say.

However, I think the mask will work just fine when she’s on leash, walking and distracted by other things (like other dogs! squirrels! bunnies! or who’s been peeing on that hydrant/tree/planter?).  She’ll need a smaller size, though.  I purchased a medium, but it’s a bit loose on her face – probably a small size will work better for her.  We’ll see.

To anyone who’s now frantically searching Amazon for the same mask for their dog, bear in mind that the mask was shipped directly from it’s manufacturer in China and took a few weeks to get through customs before arriving at my home.  This seems to be a relatively new product so I would imagine that if the doggie masks become popular enough, someone in the U.S. will either start importing them or making them here, but in the meantime allow time for shipping.

And to those of my readers who live in the U.S. – have a happy upcoming Fourth of July.  I searched “noise canceling headphones for dogs” on Amazon, and yes they do exist but the good ones are fairly costly.  We’ll just keep Cody inside with us, with ACs and air purifiers running, the TVs on loud, and allow her to hide in whatever corner she chooses.  That worked well last year so long as we managed to get her out early enough before the fireworks started so she could do her business.  Within a day or two afterwards, she was back to her normal loveable but annoying self.

Hugs, all!

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Health, Pets, That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Eternal Optimism

Posted on June 22, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Ah, to have the simple life of a pampered pooch.

Puppy Cody so loves treats of any kind.  She’ll lie under the dining room table for hours in hopes that a tiny crumb might fall down for her to savor – even if it’s the middle of the  day and no human has been sitting at that table since breakfast.

Unfortunately, poor Cody is getting older and her already delicate digestive system can no longer handle any treats containing meat, chicken, bacon or peanut butter, nor cinnamon, molasses or pretty much any kind of spice.  Well, maybe she’d enjoy that, but we don’t enjoy it when those treats make her gassy.  Even allowing her to lick egg yolk off a plate makes her smelly.  If you’ve ever been in a house with a farting dog, you know what I mean.

So Cody’s now pretty much limited to her prescription dog kibble, Milkbone biscuits, and occasionally a No Hide chew treat (yes, that can make her a wee bit gassy even though it’s vegetable based, but it’s good for her teeth and she only gets one every couple of weeks – I can tolerate that).  We did manage to find an organic treat containing only blueberries, flour, oil, sugar, and vanilla (plus a couple of minor non-spice ingredients), which she seemed to tolerate just fine the one time we gave them to her.  Heck, they looked and smelled just like human cookies – I was sorely tempted to eat one myself!

All of the non-Cody-digestable treats were given to the other dogs in the family: Maya, the traditional German Shepherd; Gunnar, the black German Shepherd; Rocket, the fluffly little white terrier mix; and Astro, the tiny guy who looks like a miniature pinscher/chihuahua mix.

Cody’s “cousins” were thrilled to get all those treats.  Cody was not so happy to see Dad put those treats in a bag and take them out of the house.

Possibly Cody’s little doggy brain has decided the only way she’ll get anything special is if she’s lucky enough to catch something falling off the dining room table.  She can lie under there all day for all I care – at least she’s not pestering me to go out to play with the bunnies and squirrels.  Right now anyway.  Later, I’m sure that will change – I swear those little critters wait for her to come out so they can tease her into a good chase.  They know there’s no way she can catch them.

For now I intend to take advantage of the quiet and work on my latest crochet project. With my feet up and binge-watching one of my favorite shows on  DVD.

Hope your day is as uneventful.

Hugs, all!

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Pets, That's Life | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Jessica’s Oopsie (an Open-Ended Very Short Story)

Posted on June 15, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

It was an accident.  Sort of.

Jessica was a huge fan of detective novels and had just finished one in which the victim was found hanging with his hands tied behind his back.  There was some speculation as to whether it was suicide or murder.

But how could someone tie his or her own hands behind his or her back?

In the novel, the medical examiner explained that it could be done using a form of double knot or slip knot. When properly tied, the knot would tighten once the hands were placed behind the back and then stretched by extending the arms.  Much like those Chinese finger-thingies Jessica played with as a kid, except that presumably the rope could not then be loosened by bringing the arms back together.

Jessica still wondered if it was possible.  She didn’t have rope in the house but she did have clothesline.  She decided to do an experiment.

Having never been a  sailor nor ever in any circumstance where she would have gained experience with knots, Jessica tried various configurations with the rope.  She finally discovered that she could loosely tie the rope around one wrist and then form a slip knot into which she could wriggle her other wrist after putting both arms behind her back.  Then she pulled her arms apart.

It worked!  She was now tightly shackled.  She pushed her arms together and the knots did not loosen.  Excellent!

( ….. )

Well, crap.  Now she had to figure out a way to get herself out of this predicament without having to call 911.  How embarrassing would that be?  And even if she opted to go that route, how would she make that call with her hands tied behind her back?

***

The ball is now in your court, folks.  How did Jessica extricate herself?  Write your solutions in the comments section below – the more outlandish, the better.  This will be fun for all of us – but please, don’t anyone be as silly as Jessica and decide to recreate her experiment.  I surely don’t wish to be responsible for starting some new stunt trend.

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

 

Posted in That's Life | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Spring Cometh Slowly

Posted on May 4, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Welcome to Buffalo, NY, where it can be 86 degrees Fahrenheit one day and 36 degrees Fahrenheit the next.

But I know spring is coming.  The dandelions have popped up everywhere and the robins have returned.  The bush behind the house is still bare of leaves, but I discovered a newly built robin’s nest:

How can birds created something in such a perfect circle?  I can’t even crochet perfectly, and I have hands and fingers!  Nature is awesome, isn’t it?  Hopefully, there will soon be eggs in that nest and I’ll be able to get some new photos.  I can hardly wait.

While I wait for spring, I’ve been working on my finances in anticipation of the termination of my job at the end of the year.  I’ve paid off my last two home improvement loans and am stocking up on non-perishable essential items like shampoo and soap – and yarn for crocheting.  I know that once my income drops, I will have to stop buying books and start going to the library again, but now that the COVID pandemic is over, I can deal with that.

Fortunatley, I refinanced the house a couple of years ago, thus reducing my monthly mortgage payment at that time by $120.  Unfortunately, the town then reassessed all properties and raised my  taxes by 55%, thus increasing my monthly payment by $100.  But the good thing is that when the house was purchased 5 years ago, I made sure the mortgage payment would still be affordable once I was fully retired and relying solely on Social Security – and I’m not dead in the water yet, even though I know those taxes will go up again this year and probably every year for as long as I own this house.

Today’s thorough review indicates that I could, in fact, manage without working when my job ends.  Social Security will cover all except about $40 a month of my expenses, and if I diligently save all my pennies for the next 7 months and add that to what I currently have in savings, I should be able to slide by for quite awhile.  So long as hubby is able to continue to work at least part-time – he’s carrying  the health insurance and paying for most of the groceries and Puppy Cody’s veterinary bills.

One can only hope and plan.  It’s going to be interesting to see what happens, financially speaking – but hey, if there’s suddenly no money for food, at least I have plenty of fat I can live off of.  It’s not they way I’d like to diet, but it wouldn’t be the first  time I had to decide between feeding myself or feeding the dog (the dog won).

Welcome to the world of old people struggling to survive on Social Security in the United States.  To all you younger readers – if you can invest in a 401-K, IRA, or retirement plan, do so.  Those options were never available to me.

Wish me luck, folks.  It’s going to be a wild ride.

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Photography, That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments