We hope everybody is having a peaceful, quiet week full of Hannukah miracles, Christmas angels, and peace on earth.
Dora will be spending this week inventing new ways to eat her santa hat, and wishes you days full of joy, too.
We’ll be taking it slow this week — giving our shutter finger and our typing fingers a little rest. See you in the new year!
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
Mama did a little Christmas Jingle when Our Waldo Bungie invited us to participate in a bit of secret santa fun with some of our other cool dog friends and their blogger people — Twenty-Six To Life, Two Pitties in the City, Pittieful Love, That Touch of Pit, and Two Grad Students and a Pittie.
So we thought and thought and thought, and mama designed and designed, and then send off our special little gift to Nemo, Melanie, and Heidi at Twenty-Six To Life. We hope they like our creation! Pee-S, Dora the Explorer insisted that we use her colors, Raspberry Pink and Dora Gray, on your present.
And then like magic, we got the most delicious smelling package on the front step after we got back from our evening walk yesterday. It smelled like pure, pumpkiny heaven!
Well wouldn’t you know, it was an adorable, thoughtful, wonderful, delicious secret santa gift in the mail last night — a package from our mama’s home state of Maryland, from my good guy pal handsome Knox at Pittieful Love!
The humans got a tin of sweet, savory, spicy candied pecans (they say it taste great with that fizzy stuff that comes out of a bottle), and me and my Dora got a great big tin full of pumpkin spice dog treats, made by handsome Mister Knox himself. Knox was even nice enough to throw in some dog bone cookie cutters and his very own recipe for the pumpkin treats, so we can make them ourselves. Between you and me I’m not sure how Knox can bake without any supposable thumbs. And mama put the recipes and cookie cutters away in a high cabinet right away so that I didn’t get any baking ideas. But still — that was pretty thoughtful of Knox, huh?
Mama’s favorite part was the sweet card with a photo of Knox and his people, and my favorite part was the doggie santa hat! Obviously Knox remembered how much Dora and I love getting dressed up and having our photo taken. We are the hammiest of hams, after all!
Jess and Knox, we want you to know that the pumpkin treats are to die for — we slobbered all over in anticipation, and then loved them ever-so-much. But next time you send treats, please include specific instructions to mama that they are for snacking ONLY, and not for practicing our “leave it” command. Sheesh!
Thanks for the fun gift exchange, everybuddy!
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
While we’ve been busy wrapping ourselves in holiday cheer, Dora has been busy too — collecting admirers. Her toothy grin and her wiggly butt have made many an Austinite’s day, but when we got an email from a (then) complete stranger in Canada, asking for permission to send Dora a gift, our jaws hit the ground. A gift for our little foster dog from clear across the continent? You don’t say!
A week later, we felt like old friends with Dora’s Canadian angel Karen, and Dora was looking fly in two beautiful new outfits — both hooded and in raspberry pink, of course. We love the idea of somebody who truly understands what a chilling winter feels like sending posh winter gear to a foster dog who has just come in from the cold.
Last winter, Dora the Explorer was huddled up with her doggie brothers and sisters outside in a yard. This year, her winter is soft, warm, and raspberry pink. Thanks to Love-A-Bull, Dora’s winters will never be cold again. And thanks to Karen, Dora’s winters will look fabulous from here on out.
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
Ever wondered what 200 dehydrated cow penises looks like? Wonder no further.
Ever wondered how much joy they can bring to a shelter full of dogs, on a dark December night? Here’s a picture worth a thousand words:
When three boxes of bully sticks arrived in the mail from our friend Handsome Dan‘s holiday bully stick drive, adoptable Dora the Explorer and I couldn’t wait to get our hands on them. We opened the packages, counted the sticks, and sniffed them with enthusiasm. Well, Dora sniffed them while I wrinkled my nose.
215 bully sticks! We couldn’t believe it. Handsome Dan and his mama, being the generous beauties that they are, organized a bully stick drive for the Providence, RI shelter where they do most of their work, on Handsome Dan’s facebook page. They had hoped to receive enough to offer one to each dog at two Providence shelters — about 100 sticks. Instead, they received about 600 — a Christmas miracle! In the end, they were able to supply bully sticks to the homeless dogs of Rhode Island, but also the dogs of Animal Farm Foundation in New York, the shelter dogs of Portland, Maine, all the dogs at the Philly SPCA, and the 200+ dogs at Austin’s new state-of-the-art facility, the Austin Animal Center.
So on my birthday, I set off with a pal from Love-a-Bull to deliver yummy snacks to Austin’s homeless dogs. After all, nothing says “happy birthday” to a vegetarian like handling 200 dehydrated cow parts, right?
The new facility is beautiful, sparkling, and meticulously planned. Although it houses more than 200 dogs — the largest shelter I’ve been to — there is no chaos, no excessive noise, and no mess. Dogs all have climate-controlled indoor-outdoor runs, and cats have cozy, private indoor nests. When we were there last night — a random Tuesday just before Christmas — there were dozens of volunteers walking around, socializing the dogs.
Still, the dogs were thrilled to receive a special holiday treat from Handsome Dan, and most of them took to their chewy task with great seriousness and enthusiasm. Here are a few photos of the delivery.
If you have the pre-holiday blues and are looking for a little pick-me-up, consider bringing some treats to the homeless dogs at your own municipal shelter. Be brave — handing out a yummy snack to dogs waiting for homes will be so much more fun than you think.
Happy holidays, little ones of the Austin Animal Center!
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
We’ve been spoiled with our last few foster dogs, who were very mellow in temperament and had no trouble at all focusing. Dora the Explorer also has a great temperament, but she has a bit more confidence and determined curiosity about the world. This makes her an absolute joy to be around, but also makes her rather excitable in the fascinating great outdoors.
We normally work on loose leash walking as one of our first tasks as foster dog parents. Dora isn’t a terrible leash walker, but when she sees something exciting — be it a cat, a squirrel, or a leaf, rock, stump, or paper bag that looks like a cat or a squirrel, she’s at the end of her leash. Getting her attention back sometimes takes a minute.
Anybody who has worked with a distractable dog knows that if you don’t have a dog’s attention, you’re not going to have much luck teaching it a new skill. So after a few futile attempts at leash walking lessons, we realized we had to bring it all the way back to basics: eye contact, basic attention, and impulse control.
Before we had any hope of getting Dora to pay attention to us outside, we had to teach her how to pay attention inside. Making eye contact when your name is called may seem intuitive to humans, but it is not at all intuitive to dogs. They have to learn it. Once they have mastered eye contact in a distraction-free setting, distractions can be introduced, one after another. These distractions can be as simple as background noise from an open window, another family member walking around, or a ball rolling across the room. As the dog learns to focus among these, the distractions can get more challenging: treats thrown on the floor, a bird walking around in the yard outside, etc. Gradually the lessons can move onto the driveway, then onto the sidewalk, and finally, you may find yourself with a dog who will make eye contact when called even amidst the holy grail of all distractions: a chicken bone in the street or a cat darting under a car.
Here’s a very basic video of the most primary of these steps. We are feeling pretty good about moving our own dog and hotdog show out into the front yard in another few days. Check out this girl’s eye contact. Pretty rockin’, right?
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
Anybody wondering if adoptable Dora the Explorer is a “take me anywhere” kind of gal can now sleep well at night: she sure is. When an opportunity for a quick weekend visit to Galveston arose, everybody piled in the Explorer and headed off on a 3 1/2 hour drive.
Dora is a fantastic car dog. She hopped eagerly into her bed as soon as we opened the hatchback, and didn’t move or make a peep until we arrived in Galveston. The only way we knew for sure she was still back there was by climbing over the back seat and peering among the suitcases — or listening for soft snores now and again, rising from our sweet foster girl’s little nest.
Galveston weekends are always full of adventures. Upon rising to greet a beautiful sunny coastal day, the whole family went out for a nice long walk around town, and took the dogs along.
Chick already considers his grandparents’ home in Galveston to be his own vacation home, but Dora had never been to Galveston before. She loved soaking up the sun, sniffing the interesting marine air, digging enthusiastically in the sand, and generally checking everything out.
On one of our long neighborhood walks, Dora and Chick made a friend — a sweet little six-year-old boy who took a serious interest in petting and hugging both dogs. Since Dora is totally awesome with kids whereas Sir Chick does not like hugs from strangers, we encouraged their new friend to focus most of his attention and affection on Dora.
He took us on a guided tour of the park across from his house, carefully pointing out all of the botanical hazards such as thorny bushes and poisonous berries. Then he proudly posed for some photos with the dogs, insisting on holding the leashes himself. However, Dora and Chick were less interested in the photos than they were in the curious-smelling bush just off to their right.
The weekendful of long walks in an exciting new place left Dora very happy:
And very snoozy:
She napped like a champ with the rest of the family in the afternoons between activities.
Dora and Chick even conspired to audition as seeing-eye dogs during their Galveston escapades, and insisted that foster dad wear some giant sunglasses to help with the seeing-eye dog simulation. They enjoyed the exercise, but later agreed that they were not destined to be working dogs.
After all, don’t they look so much better as dogs of leisure, drinking pina coladas and sunning themselves on the porch all afternoon with their grand fosterparents?
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
I’ve gotta tell you guys. I really want to like Dora the Explorer. I really do. She’s so pretty, and mama and dad seem to like her ok. But honestly? She scares me a little.
Mama says that’s because I’m such a sensitive boy, and she’s such a confident girl. She loves dogs and loves to play, mama says. But me? I don’t really like to play. At least, not with new dogs. It takes me forever and a day to warm up to a dog before I’m ready to play, but Dora wants to play right away. I’ve never really been into loose women.
I really like my Dora when we go for walks together and when we’re hanging in the yard. When we’re outside, she ignores me and I ignore her, and that’s perfect for me.
We walk side by side, sometimes pretending we’re sled dogs. When it’s extra chilly, we put on our matching red hoodies and walk with our bodies and heads touching so that the touching sides stay a little warmer. In moments like those, I think I love her.
But when we’re inside, it’s a whole other story. Dora gets so excited when she sees me that she jumps, and barks, and basically throws a happy, excited little fit. And I know it’s so silly because she just wants to be my girlfriend, but it scares me. Sometimes I run away, sometimes I tremble a little, and sometimes I just close my eyes and pretend she’s not there.
Mama says that if we keep going nice and slow, maybe Dora will learn to chill out when I’m around inside, and I’ll learn how to not be so sensitive. I’m not really counting on it, but I guess we’ll see. I’m kinda hoping she gets adopted before we even get there. Won’t YOU please take her home with you?
XOXO, Sir Chick
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
In his novel, the Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde tells a tale of vanity and duplicity. The tragic hero, Dorian, becomes obsessed with his own beauty and sells his soul for the promise that his physical beauty will remain ageless, pure, and true. At the same time, any sin or ugliness he commits will be reflected in a prominent painting depicting his likeness. As his vanity grows, his sins grow in proportion. Eventually, the painting of Dorian Gray is disfigured and ugly, while the person Dorian Gray is young and beautiful as before.
Our picture of Dora on Gray is quite different.
Risking her vanity, foster dad and I bought a new pull-out sofa for our guest room last weekend. Either because of or despite her beauty, we opted for a sofa model called The Dora, in the color, Dora Gray.
Neither of us are painters like Basil Hallward in the novel, but I am a photographer. I took some photos of Dora on Gray, all the while hoping that she would not become infatuated with her own beauty and make a deal with the devil.
Luckily, our adoptable Dora the Explorer is a humble girl. If she is aware of her own good looks or kindness, she doesn’t show it. As far as she knows, she’s just a regular dog, through and through.
She loves to take epic naps, make sweet little piggy noises while she dreams, lick the insides of our ears clean, dance a jig by way of saying ‘hello,’ and make everybody who crosses her path fall deeply, madly in love.
While the real Dorian Gray might have made a bargain with the devil, our little Dora on Gray is just a sweet, good-hearted dog who wants nothing more than a loving family and a warm, comfy bed (in a color that complements her beautiful complexion)– she’ll do what she can to get it, but she’ll make no nefarious deals. To heck with the devil, she’s a good girl!
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
So I was playing with my bob-a-lot, eating my breakfast . . .
. . . and I realized: Mom, this isn’t enough of a challenge. I’m bored!
But instead of whining — because I am NEVER a crybaby — I decided to make it more of a challenge for myself — to bob it up a notch!
Sure, bob-a-lot-ing on the floor is pretty fun already, but I am an excellent self-entertainer and I love making up games for myself. And bob-a-lot-ing on the chair is even more fun!
And then I realized that if bob-a-lot-ing on the chair is fun, bob-a-lot-ing in the crack between the chair and the ottoman must be really fantastic.
But oops, when I bob-a-lotted into the crack, my bob-a-lot wouldn’t bob anymore.
So I bobbed it deeper into the crack, but it still wouldn’t bob.
Dora to the rescue!
But then I was back to square one, with a bob-a-lot that bobbed but was boring. Oh brother!
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
There are two things I say to adoptable Dora the Explorer every day when I come into her room and she gets up woozily from her snuggly little nest in her crate and does a nice downward dog to salute the morning. The first is “Good morning, cutest girl in the world!” and the second is “Baby, you can stay as long as you want.” And as I open the latch and give her the “OK” that releases her from her patient, perfect sit into a happy, bouncy, wiggly storm in my arms, I believe that both are true. Dora the Explorer’s gentle sweetness, her silly, easygoing happiness, her soft, thick fur, and her precious little underbite really make her a keeper.
But not a keeper for us. As soon as we find Dora her perfect forever-home, we can’t wait to welcome another homeless, needy pit bull into our lives and our hearts, just as we have done eight times before. That’s the promise we made ourselves when we opened our home to our very first foster dog.
This morning when Dora greeted me with her wiggling bottom and her sniffing face, I thought I heard her whisper a question: “Mama, can I have my own home for the holidays?”
“I don’t know, sweet girl. The holidays are awfully soon, but with the help of our blog friends, we sure can try.”
For more info on adopting Dora the Explorer, click here or contact us at info [at] loveandaleash [dot] com.
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 