Sitting in the driver's seat

Louise normally does not get into the driver's seat, unless the car is stopped. Here, we were waiting for my wife as she ran into a store for more errands.

I figured I would throw this picture up here since the next few days are going to be fairly hectic what with the move and all.

Wish us luck!

More pics from the car

Sometimes when out doing errands, Louise and I wait in the car while my wife runs in to get the things we need. This usually happens at places like grocery stores, where dogs are still discriminated against - I mean, not allowed in. During this time, Louise likes to just look out the window to see the passing cars.

It can be tiring though, and she sometimes needs to rest her chin on the door. Especially on a slow day.

Sometimes we get out and go for a quick walk while the shopping is being done but on this day, just sitting in the car was what she wanted.

I won't be in Vernon this weekend as there are some things I need to get done around here, so hopefully this will suffice until next weekend.

Drive thru junkie

We had a lot of running around to do this Saturday, so we decided to grab some breakfast at Burger King. This is becoming one of Louise's favorite rituals. She likes to stand on the driver so that she can peer as far into the restaurant as possible. There are two reasons for this, I think: one, Louise is going for maximum exposure - the more employees who see her, the more likely one of them will ask if she can have a treat, or at least give her some attention. Secondly, she simply wants to breathe in the fantastic smells of cooked beef.

Oh who am I kidding? Cooked ANYTHING. The fact of the matter is, Louise knows which spots reward her with treats - this particular store likes to give her french fries. We try to limit this as best we can, but we have concluded that the occasional stray fry won't hurt.
All in all, I had a great visit with Louise and my wife (and the cats too - thanks for reminding me, Sophie). In a few short weeks I will be back to help pack up our stuff to move everybody to Vancouver. Given Louise's fondness of barking at cars, I have more than a little hesitation. At least our new place does not have a street view.

Sophie steals the spotlight

Sometimes it just has to be done. Sophie couldn't let Louise get ALL the attention. So here is a little information about our first cat.

Sophie was named after Sophia Loren, but she has to be a bad kitty for us to resort to calling her that. [editor note: Louise felt it was important to inform the readers that this happens quite often, and is usually deserved.]

We adopted Sophie from the SPCA and only had her for a few months when tragedy struck - Sophie was snooping in a closet and well, we aren't really sure what happened next, but by the time my wife discovered her, she was clearly in a lot of pain. After a Sunday trip to the vet, it was explained to us that Sophie had a broken leg.

Recovery was slow, expensive and tiring. Sophie had to have several operations to repair her leg and get things set straight. Night after night, my wife slept next to Sophie in front of the fireplace until she was better. This cat earned the nickname 'Nurse Sophie' when she managed to untie and pull out her own stitches, despite wearing one of those head cones designed to prevent that very thing.

Okay, okay - I really just wanted to post this picture of Sophie, and didn't feel like creating YAPB (yet another pet blog.)

Brief Reunion

I'm headed to Vernon this weekend, and despite the significantly colder weather, I can't wait. I haven't been back in about a month. I hear that there is still a LOT of snow on the ground in Vernon. So much snow that 'trails' had to be shovelled into the courtyard to provide paths for Louise to run in. It didn't take her long to figure them out, and now when she is going from one end to the other, she makes sure she takes the trail carved in the snow. Of course, if she is playing with my wife and is trying to chase her, she might actually venture into the snow, which is still so deep that she has to hop like a drunken bunny.

Here we have a picture that my wife took of Louise while she was lounging in her day bed. I haven't seen this particular toy since last Christmas but she seems to found a way to make it comfortable. She actually took a series of photos, since this was a somewhat unusual position for our favorite little pug.

Now if only we can get her to remember her leash training.... but more on that next time.