Therapy Dog

Yesterday I went to volunteer orientation at Narasimha's hospital. There are lots of things that look like fun, and I will probably sign up for shifts in a few of them. One of the things that caught my eye as the most unique/fun is the Pet Therapy. I didn't grow up with dogs inside, but now Narasimha and I have 3 inside dogs, and I wouldn't give them up for the world. I just love having them around. And, I have to say, I think that my dogs are some of the sweetest dogs a person could ask for. Especially the two big dogs. They are litter-mates, so they have never really been apart. But their temperament is just the greatest - they are so friendly, and they really honestly want nothing more than to please us. Their breed (Hungarian Pointer, or Vizsla) is by nature very very hyper, but they are great with kids, and are so friendly and gentle, and I just couldn't say enough good things about them. So when I saw that the hospital has a Pet Therapy program, I can't help but think that my dogs would be perfect for it. They will need a fair amount of training, and they have to pass a few tests (on training) and then obviously be well-groomed and current on shots and stuff (which they are anyways). After all that they can go to the hospital and share their love with sick people there. I think the next testing is offered in November in Des Moines, so I am going to start working with them. I will work harder with one of them (Taj) for now, because at this point he is slightly more calm and predictable than his brother (Topper). I also want to work with the little dog (Bella, who is a "Morkie" - half Yorkie, half Maltese), but she is younger so I don't know that she's ready for this kind of a thing yet. I am really excited, and think that this could be a great experience and a lot of fun!

The First Snow

Today was the first snow of the season - it is so beautiful! I was talking to my mom on the phone this morning and she said that it was snowing where she was, and I looked out the window and saw that it was snowing here too. I hadn't noticed until then. It is fun to have it snow this early in the year - last year I don't think it snowed until after Christmas. So I was in the holiday mood today - I even started thinking about writing a Christmas letter which I am going to try really hard to do this year. We live out in the country, so once when I looked up there were a few deer just a few feet away from our fence in the back yard. And actually, from looking at our backyard it seems like we got several inches and like it may be sticking around for a while. This was Bella's first experience with snow, and she is so short that it rubs her belly when she walks - I don't think she likes it. She was woofing at it and trying to "eat" the problem - as soon as she stepped out the door she was trying to lick up all the snow. One of our other dogs, Topper, also likes to eat snow. I am really thankful for the aesthetics of the snow today, although I am not sure what it will mean for those who are traveling tomorrow....

Poor Bella is a little too close to the ground :)

Taj and Topper enjoying a run (our back yard).

Standing at the end of our driveway looking down the road to get to our house.

Cat and Mouse

I am normally not really a "cat" person, and Narasimha is actually allergic to them, but I will take the first to avoid the other (see title). It is getting cold outside, and we have already had one mouse inside that went through the whole kitchen making a mess and eating things, including my (Pampered Chef) spatulas. I actually don't know the extent of the damage because I haven't unpacked nearly everything since the move. A few weeks ago I also found a dead mouse in the back yard, about 10 feet from the deck that's attached to the house. So today we went to a friend of a friend of a friend and got some 9 week old kittens that look like potentially good "mousers." They will live in the garage, and hopefully all the dogs and both the cats can learn to live in harmony, although in reality they probably won't see much of each other. I asked one of our neighbors if she had mice in her house, and she said that she did every year until they got their cat. Sounds like a good investment to me! We are going to call the black one "Rocky" and the grey one "Smoky" - like the mountains.