Search Results for: blog do your pets help with chores

Balancing Your Time

Childless couples face some different problems than couples with kids, but some of our issues are the same. One problem that I think any married couple has is spending time with one another. The specifics of the problem, however, vary whether or not children are in the equation. It’s well-known that finding time, period, when you have kids is a common conundrum. Finding time to do household chores, take a shower, spend time with your spouse, and still have some alone time can all be troublesome depending how many and what age children you have. Obviously Jon and I don’t … Continue reading →

Three Fun Ways to Prepare Your Marriage to Survive an Economic Depression

Last night while I was watching Mad Money, Jim Cramer said something which helped to slightly ease my worries about another Great Depression. He said we’re likely not heading into one. However, the key word was “likely.” Even he’s not 100 percent sure where we’re headed yet. That’s why my mind was only slightly eased. But as Cramer offered money and investing advice, I got to thinking about a couple of things. One was the movie Life is Beautiful. I loved how the main character found a way to make a game out of living in a concentration camp. The … Continue reading →

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month: Getting Ready

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month! If you’ve decided that this is the right time to add a four-legged family member, congratulations. Shelter pets are awesome… and yes, I’m biased because all of my pets have been rescues. Pet adoption isn’t an easy thing these days. A lot of shelters and rescues want to check vet references, meet the entire family, and may even want to visit your home! Dogster.com (one of my favorite pet sites) polled nearly 200 shelters and came up with a great list of things to think about before you adopt a dog or cat. … Continue reading →

Do Working Dogs Get Bored When They Retire?

I wish I could remember which book it was I read where a lady adopts a retired police dog (I think a German Shepherd), but then worries thinking it might be sick because it grows listless and seems so unhappy. Eventually she figures out that the dog misses working and sets about creating jobs to keep it busy. I want to say it was a book I read by Elizabeth Dearl, Twice Dead, but I’m not positive. (I know that book had a ferret. I just can’t remember if it was her book or someone else’s that had the retired … Continue reading →

Do You Ever Feel Your Dog’s Not Living Up to His Full Potential?

I get both really inspired and really down on myself after I interview people like Beth Terrell or Joani Ascher. Inspired because they’re doing neat things with their dogs, like teaching them how to dance or grooming puppies to be Seeing Eye dogs. Down because Murph’s one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever had. I often wonder if I’m holding him back from living up to his full potential. At the beginning of this year I resolved to change that. I was determined to look into enrolling Murph and myself in a pet therapy program. Then my mom got sick … Continue reading →

Types of Jobs for Dogs

I’m forever praising Murph for all the help he gives me with chores, but some dogs truly do work for a living. I got to pondering all the many types of jobs for dogs there are when I was coming up with ideas for animal holidays and observances there should be if there aren’t already. For that article I stumbled across Aimee’s article about working group dogs as part of my research and it dawned on me: “Wow. I never realized just how many dogs work.” Yes, times are getting tough, but, no, this won’t be an article of ways … Continue reading →

The Search for the Greatest American Dog

The other night I saw a preview for a new show that’ll premier on CBS this summer called “The Greatest American Dog.” From what I can tell it’s an American Idol-like contest for dogs. Except not geared so much to their singing talent as their brain ability. The Premise It looks like producers scoured the dog-loving free world for any and all kinds of talented dogs. They picked 12 to live together in a house and compete for “Greatest American Dog” honors. I’m still not sure if they’re going to do an American Idol like start to the series where … Continue reading →

The Personal Pet Therapy Project: The Pets Pick Their Parts

As it’s become clear that Grandma Dorothy is here for an extended visit, the only ones not fretting about how it affects their lives are Murphy, Mr. Meow, and Tabby. They have enthusiastically embraced the mission of the personal pet therapy project and have eagerly selected their own assignments for my mom’s rehabilitation. Murphy As he does with all the other chores he helps me with, Murph is glad to lend a hand with my new added chores. Like yesterday. I hadn’t realized I needed to call Apria to have the oxygen tanks delivered each week. I thought they’d bring … Continue reading →

Do You Ever Dream About Your Spouse’s Family?

The other night I had a really tender dream about Wayne’s dad. He passed away several years ago rather unexpectedly. He was still young too. Only 60 and as feisty as ever. As you might expect, it was a huge blow to Wayne. He was really close to his dad and was shocked by the sudden loss. However, only six days prior we had spent a wonderful week with him. Tom (Wayne’s dad), Grandma Pryor (Tom’s mom), Keith (Wayne’s brother), Peach (Wayne’s aunt), and Kevin and Jerry Jr. (Wayne’s cousins) had all flown out to Florida so we could go … Continue reading →

How Do You Earn a Roaming Stray Dog’s Trust?

Friday I wrote about the elusive stray dog roaming our neighborhood that I’ve seen every now and then for the past few weeks. I told Wayne about how she had ventured up to our front porch on Friday, but how she took off the second I tried to open the door. He’d never seen her –until Saturday morning. He offered to take me out for breakfast and that’s an offer I never refuse. As we headed out of our subdivision, Wayne asked, “Is that your dog?” I looked and saw Ms. Thing (other than being skittish, I haven’t spent enough … Continue reading →