Welcome Baby Claire!

She's here!  Winnie welcomed her new baby, Claire, last week! 

Claire 1 Day Old

Here are the stats:

• 7lbs. 11oz.
• 20 inches
• September 1, 2011 @ 1:47am

Since we've come home from the hospital Winnie has been a champ!  She's been cool, collected, and very attentive.  Winnie has a very concerned look whenever Claire cries (which luckily is not over the top) as if to say "Hey!  Our baby needs something!"  And she sits up with me at all of our midnight feedings. 

Claire is a VERY good baby... the only trouble she's given us is that she's sort of a reluctant eater.  This cute little girl just gets too cozy whenever we settle in for a feeding and falls asleep!  Winnie, being the helpful corgi that she is, will sit next to us on the couch (when invited) and give Claire's feet a few good licks... this wakes Claire right up and we're good to go!  Thanks Win!

I'll try and get some pictures of the two of these guys over the next week or so.  I haven't quite figured out how to juggle a camera and a baby yet but we're learning as we go.  Thanks for all the well wishes!

Dogs and Moving the Furniture

In an effort to get ready for Baby we're moving some office furniture to the basement and turning the office into the nursery.  This sounds easy enough.  Although while my husband and I pack boxes and/or haul heavy things up and down stairs in a somewhat cheerful way... Winnie seems to be very worried about the changes.  I wish I had had my Flip handy because the poor creature just sat in the doorway of the office and whimpered.  She is seriously concerned about these changes.  Which leads me to ponder the following thought...

Don't mind me.  I'm just going to sit in my corner and pout.

When Baby actually gets here how will Winnie adjust to a new routine?  Maybe we should start making more of the changes now that way it's not such a big deal.  Hum... up every 2 hours for a bottle... maybe not THAT part of the routine.  :-) 

Just Another Manic Monday... or is it Friday?

Hey Guys.  I've been a SUPER bad blogger lately with no good excuse.  I've been putting in a lot of hours at work and with some of my other civic groups trying to get projects and schedules up-to-snuff before I go off the map into Baby Land late this summer.  That doesn't mean however that you haven't been on my mind.  :-)

As a matter of fact, Winnie came into the office with me this afternoon and INSISTED that I not put posting off another moment.

Do I need to come up there and type it for you?

It's the look that knows...

I've also started reading Living with Kids and Dogs...Without Losing Your Mind by Colleen Pelar.  The official review will be coming shortly but I will say that so far the book has offered a lot of insight.  One funny little tip goes like this:

Dogs can get jealous now that your spending so much time with baby.   Try working dog and baby time in together so that EVERYONE is having fun at the same time.  For instance, instead of cleaning up the bits of cereal that junior left on the kitchen table after snack time, just wipe them onto the floor!  Fido will clean the mess and REALLY start to look forward to junior getting his snack.

How this works in real life is TBD.  But it's a fun thought! 

BABY UPDATE:
June is the last of my once-a-month appointments.  Then we start every two weeks.  Crazy, right?

How Much is Too Much? Kids and Dogs.

Blogs are fun.  They are timely, relevant, and help build a since of community.  What's not to love, right?  Well, they are also very public and most of the time that's what we want!  More readers!  :-)  However, I think it's also safe to say that there are certain things we don't want published for the world to see. 

So here's my issue... family.  How many pictures of people do you post?  Do you use their names?  Will they like what they read?  Naturally, Herding the Corgi is not a controversial blog but nevertheless I think these questions are worth asking. 

Why the sudden boundary of personal space you ask?  Well, much like Corgi Butts, Herding the Corgi will be getting a new addition!  My husband and I are expecting our first child in September.  We're pretty excited and we know that Winnie will love having something wiggly down at her level. (I think a "Get Low" onesy from the Corgi Butts store is definitely in order.)  And you KNOW that babies and dogs make for great entertainment. 

So here's what I need from you guys:

1. Your thoughts on blog privacy
2. Your thoughts on living with kids and dogs

Fire away!

As a side note, we've already instituted a "baby gate" to keep Winnie away from construction we're doing to get ready for Baby.  She doesn't love it.  Poor pup.  :-)

Seriously?  But how will I be sure you're doing it right?

Dog Friends

Does your pup have a best-dog-friend?  Winnie did.  A Golden Retriever named Miguel.  Last Fall he moved to Texas and boy are we missing him.  (And his family, of course.  :-)  Field trips to the dog park and hikes just aren't as fun without this boy.  But here's the thing... I found that not only did having a steady dog-date for outings make me more consistent with taking Winnie out and about but Winnie picked up a lot of good behaviour from Miguel.  For instance, Winnie can be shy about getting in and out of cars... if Miguel were still here I'm sure she would just follow him right into the back seat without a problem. 

Have your dogs picked up anything from their dog friends?  Good, Bad, Ugly?  :-)  Anyway, here are some Winter Romp shots of Winnie and Miguel before he left... Don't these two look like their having a blast?

We're coming!  We're coming!

Wait!  What was THAT?  Shhhh... Oh, it's just a cross-country skier. 

There's nothing like a good run with your pal. 

The Corgi Didn't See It's Shadow

... so this must mean Spring will come faster, right?  Well, you couldn't tell it today! 

Michigan, like MOST of the mid-west is getting bombarded by snow.  Personally, we've gotten 10 inches overnight and its still coming down.  I wanted to take some photos of my shadow-less corgi (corgis are about the size of groundhogs, right?) but there was no way I was heading out there in that blizzard just yet.  So, I body slammed our back door to get it open against the drift that had accumulated and let the pooch out to fend for herself.  Here is a clip I took from the window.  :-) 

After she got back inside (which didn't take very long) this is what I saw...

This is bad news for a shorty. 

Poor kid.  More updates to come.  :-)

Winnie's Birthday!

It's Winnie's second birthday today!  I've been feeling a little under the weather so we didn't celebrate as much as we may have liked to BUT we managed a fun trip to the pet store and gifts! 

First we decided to go to Pet Supplies Plus because they sent us a birthday present.

Thank you Pet Supplies Plus.

Winnie picked out some fantastic things...

We got some Zuke's, All Natural moist training treats (great for stuffing in treat toys and something she's never had before), a can of Venison Natural Balance Dog Food (for a special dinner tonight, who wants dry kibble on your birthday?), and a Extra-large Jolly Ball!

The Jolly ball was actually a recommendation from Taryn (A Tale of Two Cardis) in a comment she left in a September post titled Unlikely Toys.  In Unlikely Toys, Winnie loved herding a big kickball around our back yard but popped it in a few days and the fun was over.  THIS one looks extra sturdy.  They have Jolly Balls with a handle for easy carrying but I thought that handle-less might be easier to "herd."

Here's a pic of Winnie rounding the bend with her new present...

I'm going to get you!

And apparently trying to ride it like a circus elephant...

If this were just a little BIGGER!

I think this will be a winner.  :-)  Happy Birthday, Puppers!  I think 2 is going to be a good year!

Sleeping it Off

Winnie is back from her whirl-wind Christmas tour.  We hit three cities in 5 days and everyone in our house is ready for a vacation from the vacation.  The last stop on our tour was at my in-laws who have a fantastic fenced in back yard...

In addition to lots of room to run there were 3 other dogs in tow to horse around with...

The crew consisted of:

• Juno -  1 year old, 55lb, hound/lab/other mix
• Sassy - 6 year old, 25lb, Yorkshire terrier
• Izzy - 2 year old, 7lb, pom mix
• Winnie - 2 year old, 25lb, corgi

These guys didn't slow down for a second so they spent a lot of time outside and that in combination with nearly 20 people to keep track of really took it out of Winnie.  The morning after we got home THIS is that I saw...

...up in our bed, under the covers and everything.  What a pampered pooch.  :-)

Anyway, Winnie and I wish everyone a restful conclusion to the holiday sprint and a very happy New Year!

Throwing Balls in the House

There has been lots of talk lately on the dog-blog circuit about how to burn energy in the Winter when it's too cold to play outside.  Winnie and I make our contribution to the conversation with this wonderfully armature (a.k.a. of poor quality and somewhat goofy) video of us playing with one of our favorite toys... The Hole-ee Roller!  Enjoy!

PS I just got the Flip video recorder and it's awesome!  You'll love it.

Kibble? No, Treats.

Every morning it's the same routine:

1. Alarm Sounds
2. Husband gets in shower
3. Dog takes husbands spot for a short snuggle
4. Walk down stairs
5. Dump a scoop of kibble in the bowl. 

Today instead of eating her breakfast I saw this: 

Winnie:  I need your attention.



Amy: What's wrong with you?  You have a bowl full of kibble.  Go to it. 



Winnie:  I do not want kibble.  I'd rather have treats, please. 



(If I look at things Winnie will often follow my eyes so to make the point I look at her dish.)
Amy:  Hey, eat your breakfast so we can get on with things.



(To make her point she used my own tools against me and looked up at the cupboard where I keep her treats.)
No, treats. 

 We repeated this exchange - looking at each other and looking at the things we wanted to the other one to do and it cracked me up.  I sometimes wonder how much time I spend telling Winnie things but not listening (or misinterpreting) to her but for all the exasperating moments we've had, this conversation was pretty clear.

Do you give your dog a multivitamin?

I  have an on-again-off-again relationship with multivitamins.  I like the concept.  You know... help regulate digestion, provide you with the basics despite your crappy diet, build your immune system, so on and so forth.  But then there is all the controversy like... Can the supplements even be absorbed by your body?  How much is too much?  Do they contain any toxins?  Geesh... I could be taking these things for years!  What will THAT build up look like?  Anyway, I assume all the same questions can be said for supplementing our dogs. 

I did my own personal research on the human side of the issue about two years ago and concluded that the GNC brand was the best bang for the buck and was likely to help me rather than kill me so this is what I take.  Where does Winnie come in to all of this?  Right here.

GNC Multivitamin for Dogs

My darling pooch is an on-again-off-again eater.  She doesn't have an allergy and is medically fine.  But every few days she skips a meal.  (Keeping her girlish figure?) And I'm sure as heck not going to supplement her with TREATS at this rate.  So I give her a doggie multivitamin each morning.  This prompted me to ask all my original human-vitamin questions again... doggie style.  :-)  However, as luck would have it, GNC just came out with a pet line of supplements.  So, I got them. 

I feel good about giving them to Winnie.  I'd like to think that because she's a young adult this will help ward off future illnesses and so on.  But what do you think?  Have anyone else done their homework on this?  I guess I could ask my vet but what the heck... why don't you weigh in?  :-)

Here's a smiley corgi picture of Winnie just for kicks.

It's always something new...

Today, I poked my head out the back door to call Winnie inside and saw this...

What?  Doesn't everyone sit on the bench?

Apparently, sitting on the ground just isn't going to cut it anymore.

Dogs & PTSD

I know, I know... it's been a while since I've gotten my act together and made a quality post.  My apologizes.  It seems that as soon as November strikes I hit the ground running and don't stop until January each year.  I've had good blogging intentions mind you... I've taken HOURS of Winnie video trying to capture the moment that she unscrews the mighty Kong Wobbler but it always seems to happen when the camera isn't rolling. 



I'm so ticked I about this thing I wont even look at the camera.

Even my poor pup has suffered from my lack of free time.  We have gone on walks every day without fail until these past few weeks.  I know this girl has energy to burn so I load her down with a backpack and a few cups of kibble so she can get the most out of the exercise we do get. 

However, my real reason for posting today is because it's Veterans Day... Many of us don't even recognize the holiday but I think it's even more important to acknowledge where we've come from and where we're going since we are in fact still at war today. In honor of the day, TIME magazine ran an interesting article about Dogs and how they are helping soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Have a look. And when you're done thanking a Vet for their service, thank a dog for theirs! :-)

Party Review

That's right, take a photo of the cute doggie. 

This past weekend Winnie went to her first party!  My nephew turned one so we loaded the car and when to go celebrate.  The house was F-U-L-L of people, pets, and children... actually, let me give you the exact stats:

12 adults
8 children
2 cats
1 other puppy

Winnie, mind you, has run of our quiet house with just my husband and me to bother her so I was watchful to see how she would handle all the commotion. 

Gozzo, the King.

Winnie did really well.  She was sweet to pets and people and didn't pull any of her usual household stunts.  The only two very minor hiccups were Gozzo the cat and one other child.  Gozzo is a 20lb Russian Blue that rules the house.  Poor Winnie just wanted to play with him but he'd swat her on the nose and tell her to buzz off.  Which she did.  (Don't worry, he doesn't have any claws)  And this other child was just scared of dogs.  He would see Winnie and scream.  Then Winnie would look around her as if to say "What!?!  What are you scared of???  Should I be scared, too?!?"  Pretty cute. 

What a lovely book.  I'll read it to you.  Oh wait, I can't read English... just Welsh.

Winnie, DID help my nephew open some presents just to get a better look but I think he liked it.  He and Winnie are buds.  His grandma also has a corgi that he gets to hang out with so this house is a fan of the long and low.  I'm proud of my little fur-girl.

Feast of St. Francis

The feast of St. Francis, for some of the Christian persuasion, is celebrated on October 4th this year.  The nutshell bio of St. Francis is that he's the patron saint of animals.  If you think about it, you've likely seen statues of him in gardens around your neighborhood before.  Anyhow, being raised  protestant I'm not the type that gets overly excited about celebrating saints but this particular observation is pretty fun for us pet owners. 


Blessing of the Animals

Many churches will hold a special service that celebrates St. Francis and also has a Blessing of the Animals.  Some are huge and some are modest.  (I heard the Catholic church in Minneapolis had an elephant from the zoo show up last year!)  But it's pretty common to have several services like this in a city.  Let's be honest here... regardless of your background in religion I think it's safe to say that we've all at one point felt a little disconnected from it.  Like the ritual and our lives sometimes don't line up.  For me, at least, this is one time when my life and my church line up.  I plan on taking Winnie to the Blessing of the Animals where I live and I thought if this was something you might like to do with your pup, I'd give you enough heads up to find a service wherever you are. 


A priceless picture of a cat hissing while being blessed.



I guess he needed the holy water, too.  The rest of us didn't get that.  :-)

Here are some more photos from 2009.  Winnie was barking so much that the priest actually ad libbed her into his sermon!  What a good sport.  I'll be sure to blog an update for 2010.  :-)

The little stinker wouldn't hold still either. 

She looked great in her Episcopal Shield leash though!

Smells Like a Bath. Yuck!

For all that dogs and humans have in common, an opinion about what smells good is not one of them.

There is something about trash, poop, and rotten vegetation that dogs (and Winnie in particular) just love.  Well to make a long story not as long, my darling little bundle of fur took a nose dive into a big pile of stinky you-know-what on our walk today.  By the time it occurred to me what she was doing I was far too late to stop her.  She had started at her nose and worked her way down her entire long, low, body rolling joyfully in poo.  Gross.

Of course, I crashed her party of one and killed her joy with a single word.  "Bath."  After the chills made their way down Winnie's spine she reluctantly made her way downstairs to the laundry tub and let me go to work.


But what did I do to deserve this!?

I wet her down and lathered her up with a "powder fresh" scented puppy shampoo and wondered... Dogs likely roll in this stuff because it smells great to them.  And if poo smells great does "powder fresh" sell gross?  Maybe a dogs reluctance to get a bath has less to do with the bath and more to do with the smell?  Who knows?  It's just a thought. 

Powder Fresh... more like Powder Nasty!

About time!  Towel me off and get me out of here!

A side note... if you don't have one of these rinse aids (the white hose attached to my laundry tub) to help squirt down your pup you are working WAY to hard. 

Partly Dog

I read this quote the other day and it really stayed with me.

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog. ~Edward Hoagland

I find getting on the floor helps. 

Sharing Toys

Guilty.  I didn't find some golden nugget of information about how to teach our dogs to share their toys with other dogs.  But I did just add a gadget that will help Winnie and I share our favorite toys with you!  I've finally collected some of the books and dog stuff I've talked about for months in one place... Sharing Toys.  Just under the blog archive to your right.  

It has my name on it!  How great is THAT?

Speaking of new toys... here is a photo of a new dog bed my mom made for Winnie.  She was so happy to get it but thought it was a huge chew toy instead of a bed.  Needless to say it didn't last long and has thus become a big push for the famous stuffing less Skinneeez!

Bed?  What do you mean bed?  I sleep on the couch.  This must be a chew toy/canopy. 

Smart Dogs Need Smart Toys

So one of the down sides to having a smart pup is convincing them to use their smarts for good rather than evil all day.  Chewing bones is good.  Chewing trash is evil.  Chasing balls is good.  Chasing cats is evil... and so on.  Needless to say I'm always looking for new ways to help Winnie use her brain for good.  We get lots of exercise, go new places, see new people, learn new tricks, and best of all play with new (or rotated) toys! 

About a month ago our fellow corgi blogger Kelly from Corgi Butts reviewed a new toy called the Kong Wobbler.  I liked the look of it because it's bigger than most toys we have for the win-monster and dispenses food in a completely different way than her other toys.  (I like to be tricky and put a little less food in her dish so she can work at getting the rest of it out of a toy... it keeps her problem solving for good, not evil.) 

I decided to try it and here are the results:

Like, Gibson, Winnie at first was a little scared of the wobbler.  She guessed it was going to be fun but wasn't sure how it worked.  After I swatted at it myself for a minute she got the idea.

(Sorry for the shaky camera and kinda long video... this was my first time doing all of this.  I'll get better, promise.)

It's easy to use (the top and the bottom unscrew so it's easy to fill and clean) and both Winnie and I like it.  We've been playing with it for a few days now and I'll likely put it away for a week so she doesn't get bored but at the end of the day it gets two paws up.  :-)

And as far a "food" toys go we also like the Premier Pet Busy Buddy Twist-N-Trea and the Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball.  For a plain-jane puzzle toy the Kyjen I-Qube Puzzle Plush Interactive Dog Toy was a big hit!

Pet Rescuers

First, let me say that Winnie does not need rescuers.  But if she did, I would seriously rally the troops.

I'm talking about the "Pet Rescuers" from Home Again Recovery, the company that microchips your pet. 

We got Winnie micro chipped the same time we got her spayed.  What really convinced me it was a good idea was that the service isn't just reactive - it's proactive.  Sure, I would seriously hope that if anyone found a lost cat or dog that they would take them to the vet, humane society, or at the very least keep them around for a few weeks and put up FOUND PET posters.  But let's be honest, not everyone even has a eye out for that sort of thing. 

What this micro chipping company does in addition to making your pet identifiable (even if she loses her collar) is that it alerts the "Pet Rescuers" in the area you are from and the area that your pet went missing.  It's great! 

Every so often (thankfully, not more often) I receive an email with a PDF attachment.  The PDF is a ready made LOST DOG (or cat) poster complete with all the necessary information:  pet photo, pet name, medical information, distinguishing marks, size, etc.  If a dog is lost in my zip code I know to keep my eye out and I print the posters and put them up in my local pet stores and dog parks.  I don't know these dogs but if Winnie ever did run off I would really want someone to do it for me. 

Why write a blog post about it?  Because you don't have to subscribe to this service to be a Pet Rescuer.  You can sign up to read the pet rescue tips and receive the emails for free.  Why not?  You'd be doing a good thing.