A couple weeks ago, I decided to have some fun when I was outside and Finley was inside. We have this window at the side of the house that we never really use. When we first got Finley, she tried to look out of it, which requires getting on an end table. We closed the blinds to that window and it's like she forgot the window was there.  Until I reminded her. 

We don't really want her getting on the table so we're going to have to find a new solution to keep her from looking out that window. I got her attention by knocking on the window and having her find me . Since then she loves that end table and the window. *sigh*

She's figured out that once she can no longer the people walking by well enough from the front window, she can now use the side window. Yay more barking. Okay maybe not yay. Now there's three places to run between. 

This end table has a piece of glass on it so thankfully she's not scratching it. Poor, poor windowsills aren't as lucky. She's done more damage on those sills in the four months that we had her than my other dog did in his lifetime. Good thing those windows need replacing soon. Anyways, back to the glass-topped table. Turns out it's a good sleeping surface. She's taken up to lying down on the table when she's too hot. I wonder what I'm going to make her discover next. 

Heyo bloggers, yay it's finally keyboard time for me again *wiggles butt while doing happy dance* I heart my momma so much because she lets me snuggle in bed with her. Yups, lots of snuggle time for me and her. I loves it lots. I remember the first two nights, momma only let me snuggle on top of her while she was reading and then I had to go in the crate. BOoOoOoO. Then I keep whining instead of sleeping so momma put my bankie on the bed and I snuggle up to her and didn't move for hours. Had to show her it was better to have me in bed. Momma said she slept so much better with a real doggie snuggling up to her. 

Now I get to sleep there all the time. I even gets to snuggle under the covers and sometimes use one of Momma's pillows. She even lets me bring hippo to bed or that sock I *stole* from the clothes pile. So nice of her. I even get to take up most of the bed, guess my cute mug is irresistible. Hmmm, must explode that super power further. 

Momma sleeps weird hours. She goes to bed super late and I have to sleep on the sofa or chair in the office until she is ready to go, but then she sleeps in a little during the day so I gets enough rest and snuggle time in. Sometimes...okay most of the time, Momma is like me. We no wanna wake up and just want to sleep more. When that happens I takes momma's arm hostage and instead of getting up she goes back to sleep. Hehe. But then I want up cause there's stuff to see out the window. I might be missing something very important by sitting at the computer so toddles.

I’m starting a new series of posts called Thankful Thursdays. There are many things that Finley makes me thankful for and thought it would be a good idea to share with everyone.

When I was kid one of my favourite games to play was hide and seek. After a certain age, it no longer seems appropriate to play that game, unless you’re doing it with your kids or babysitting. And now it’s alright if you have a dog.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

I’m thankful that Finley let’s me be a kid again by playing hide and seek with me.  She’s pretty good at it, maybe not the hiding part since she doesn’t do that but the finding part. I started using it as a training trick to get her to come but I like how it provides some physical and mental stimulation for her. She gets to run around the house trying to find me or my dad so even if it’s a raining or freezing cold day, she can exercise a little bit and she a fairly smart dog so I like that she can use her mind. 

Oh and the look on her face when she finds us, priceless. 

wanted to spend with momma while I was on the computer

Recently, Finley started scratching herself, a lot to the point where her normally pale pink skin is quite pink and noticeable through the fur. No, she doesn’t have fleas. It was the first thing I checked for…obsessively. When it wasn’t getting better, the next conclusion I reached was that she was allergic to something she was eating. We had changed her food not that long ago and the scratching started soon after the change, but I had gotten a kind that was grain-free and somewhat hypoallergenic, so I couldn’t be sure. The only real difference between the two foods, other than the grains, was turkey and potatoes, instead of chicken and small amounts of corn. I had been giving her some yogurt and new peanut butter treats. So maybe she’s allergic to one of those.

We finished up that food and went back to the one she was eating at the shelter. We got a free big bag of it from the neighbour since her dog can’t eat it (allergies), so she was getting a slightly different version. They had schnauzer so it was for that breed but the ingredients varied little from the poodle version we had been giving her and I wasn’t about to pass up a $50 bag of food.

All that aside, her skin was getting a little raw from the scratching and nibbling so I wanted to get shampoo or something that would help to ease the itch. She also has a couple of spots on her back where her fur feels very dry and coarse. This happens to me in the winter, to my hair and skin that is, but I couldn’t very well slather her up with moisturizer. Or I could but that would be awfully messy.  Shampoo that moisturizers or helps with the itching is probably the best bet.

I ended up getting two kinds, something expensive and hypoallergenic – didn’t help in the least. I ended up using an oatmeal shampoo that I bought at Wal-Mart. This seemed to work rather well. Although by then I wasn’t sure if it was the food, the lack of giving her yogurt and peanut butter treats or the shampoo itself.  For a couple days, she scratched herself less and then a little bit more over the next three days. Then I gave her another bath with the shampoo.

Which had me wondering, am I bathing her too often? I had read online that bathing your dog frequently was no longer the big no-no it used to be and you can do it as often as necessary. I used a mild shampoo so I figured it was alright and it doesn’t seem to be making the situation worse. But then there are those people who think it’s a sin to do it that often. Some “helpful” store employee at the pet store thinks it’s wrong to do it more than once every three months.

Wait, I can only give them a bath every three months? I felt like asking her how insane she was.  Then I just figured if she wants to give her dog (assuming she has one) a bath only 4 times a year, it’s her choice if she wants a dirty dog.

My question is, how often to do you bathe your dog? Is it better to rarely do it or is it safe to shampoo and clean away?

Hi, Chrissy here, on Friday's I'm starting a new series where I let Finley take over the blog and say what she wants. Enjoy!

awko  nbb    ujerdmkom my jkdkjjhsewhjhkj....hmmm momma sure makes this typing thing look easy so i getting her help. No worries I got my paws on her hands to make sure she writes properly. Oooh people outside, no no must concentrate on this blog thing, must...resist...urge...to...bark. So hard for a little dog like me. 

I looooove going outside and sometimes momma takes me to the doggie park but I like playing out in the yard too. She and daddy even made me a pen. Momma said it's so I don't pee and poop all over the yard, that's no fun. I like to sit in the corner and watch for neighbours. I must never, ever pass up a chance to bark at them.

Recently, Momma started letting me go out there alone. I likes that lots cause I'm a big girl. I can still Momma peeking out from behind the curtain to make sure I'm alright. She obsesses about it. Silly Momma, there's fence everywhere so I ain't going anywhere. Today I had to go outside so I wouldn't make a mess inside the house and it was soooo cold that Momma didn't even come out and pick up my mess.I thinks Momma needs a nice fur coat like me.  

Finley helping bring her bag to the door

Little white dog displays some odd behaviour at times, this one I like to call the window cleaner. She loves looking out the windows in the house, even when it's dark and there's seemingly nothing to see. She barks at the shadows the trees make or the branches moving in the wind. Either that or she's got some kind of night vision that makes her see people when I definitely can't. The window in my living room is covered in nose prints. The only time it isn't is in the first few minutes after I wipe them off using a vinegar & water mixture, but even that isn't much of a deterrent. One time she followed behind me and after a quick sniff, followed by the dog version of that face we make when eat something vinegary or sour, she proceeded with a taste test and then covered up my hard work with saliva and more nose prints. 

But that's not the window cleaner I'm referring to, she only did that once. I haven't washed that window since because holiday decorations have prevented most of the nose prints from reappearing. I'm referring to her obsessive need to lick this one window in the car. Not a car trip has gone by without her licking it. Maybe there's some kind of invisible food fairy that comes along and sprinkles invisible food dust on my window when I'm not looking. I can't find any other explanation for this behaviour. Or maybe she has some odd form of OCD that only manifests itself during car rides. It's always the same window though she can reach two windows only one is covered in tongue prints. The other has nose prints. Either way, I've started to find it endearing. 

At first I thought that maybe she was thirsty and was trying to extract that foggy stuff that shows up on windows, but it wasn't. I offered her water a couple times and she didn't want any. So if you're rolling down the highway and see a little white dog licking the back window on the passenger side, it could be us so wave hello. 

I just spent the better part of the day cleaning out my office and organizing. Spring cleaning starts early this year, for once. Since my little white furball was barking at everything in sight today *sigh*, she spent a lot of time in the office with me, in time out under the desk. I finally managed to get to the bottoms of the numerous paper and misc junk piles that have accumulated and was sitting at my computer chilling out for the first time in hours.

Finley was still in the room but she was sitting/standing at the window looking out. Apparently the view from the corner chair isn’t good enough. You can’t see out the whole window that way. So she climbs up window sill, much like she does on a regular basis in the living room. This, however, was not a good vantage point – probably due to lack of comfort. She’s wider than the window sill. I recently added a table to my office so I can do some crafts and art. It’s right by the window and the big surface must have looked like the perfect perch and she climbed up onto it and it now sitting by the window looking out.

I felt sorry she had to sit (or lie down) on the hard surface so I put the blanket from the chair on the table for her. Yes I’m aware I’m spoiling her but I don’t care. The only problem with her being on the table, is I don’t think she can get down on her own. There’s not enough room for her to jump down, not to mention the table is too high for her to do that safely. I know it wouldn’t stop her.

And now the piano behind has got her interest. Hmm, I wonder if she’s going to climb that too. We shall see.

" Momma, I swear it wasn't me" - Finley

but I've seen you turn this:

into this: (there's pictures to prove it)