Tag: Animals

The Lillie Diaries~Her First Vlog

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz18 Comments

In case you were wondering, Lillie has settled in nicely. I can say with 100% honesty that she is not the same dog I adopted almost 3 weeks ago. Gone is the scared, timid, angry little dog. She’s so happy, so content. She loves breakfast and dinner and has told everyone who will listen that I serve the best meals. She’s getting better at NOT peeing in the house, although she’s not perfect. I too have trouble at times, so I can’t fault her too much.

News Alert: I’m not a morning person and if you want to have a nice life day, you’d do best not wake me up before I’m ready. Lillie likes to sleep in. Thank you Baby Jesus. I have to wake her up (Callie too) in the morning and this is awesome. No annoying dogs patting my head ready for food and fun before I’ve had coffee means everyone lives.

She has a few favorite spots to rest her head and is getting along well with Callie for the most part; she does have a jealous side as some bitches do.

She’s a very good listener and I love that. We spend a lot of time outside and she loves getting into the hedges and searches for bunnies, squirrels, cats, opossum, etc….you know she does what a Rat Terrier is supposed to do. But when I tell her it’s time to come in, she obediently follows me inside.

She enjoys laying by the lanai windows and will occasionally let me know that security has been breached by a lizard. We are inundated by lizards on the pool lanai and occasionally inside the house. Finally, someone to help me rid the house of lizards.

Just in case you were worried that Lillie is working 24/7, she does get some downtime each evening.

One morning I was in the Coach’s office, he had the TV on and Lillie was sitting in my lap. We noticed she was paying attention to the TV, it was the horrid news, so perhaps she was wondering what shit show was happening today…and then the Coach said, “Hey, lets put on the nature channel for her.”

He flipped to a nature channel and it was on a show about marine life. Fish, swimming underwater, as they do. A flounder to be exact and the Lillie lost her freaking marbles. At a flounder. It made me wonder if in her last life she was a fisherman/woman.

She has the cutest overbite. Dang. I just mentioned TEETH. again.

So, now whenever we’re settled in at night on the couch, watching the boob tube and a dog, cat, bird, etc comes on the screen, you get the picture, she jumps off the couch and tries to reach the TV. Bless her heart, she’s so short and in this aspect too, I can relate.

I shared a few months ago that Lolo’s dog Max occasionally watches TV. He’s part Rat Terrier, so he only watches the TV part-time. I did the math.

On super Bowl Sunday, I wasn’t going to watch that horseshit, so I went in our room to watch something more important; the Puppy Bowl. Lillie approved of this programming; who needs the effing NFL? NO ONE. But we all need a bowl of puppies.

On Sunday night she loves to watch America’s Funniest Home Videos; she and I both enjoy a good chuckle, but for the life of us we DO wonder who chooses the winners? No one that ever wins is the ones that we laugh at. It’s a head-scratcher. What gives, America?

We both agreed that the Dad up there in that video is an asshat for almost killing his children and laughing about it. I’m shocked a truckload of cash wasn’t handed to him afterward.

You hear a lot about this younger generation and all their phone/tablet/laptop/TV time destroys their social and mental health, so I’m going to limit Lillies screen time to just the evenings….I don’t want her turning into a damn snowflake who can’t handle being outside in the sun chasing critters or conversing with humans.

Linds came by for a little while yesterday to retrieve something, so Lillie met one of her human sisters. She brought me flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries, which was so very sweet. Sorry Lolo, I can be bought, so she’s my favorite child this week.

Anyhoo…Linds could not get over how cute Lillie is and how much she reminds her of Max. I can’t wait to see how the two of them are together one day because they both like to be as CLOSE as possible to me and we now know one of them is a jealous bitch.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and were touched in the head by cupid.

XOXO

Libby~Lillie~Libby And Another Genius Idea I Didn’t Come Up With

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz18 Comments

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement regarding our adoption of Lillie. I’ve aptly nicknamed her Little Bit or Lillie Bell, and sometimes I sing that darn Libbys song, but change Libby to Lillie and she looks at me like I’m insane because I might be.

Are you old enough to remember the annoying as hell jingle?

When it says Libby’s Libbys Libby’s on the label label label

You will like it like like it on your table table table.

How come I can remember nonsense like that but can go blank trying to remember what 8 x 9 is?

Anyhoo, the point of this post is that if I could, I would deliver to each of you a beautiful bouquet of flowers. But when I say bouquet, I’d like for you to actually hear me as I pronounce it boo-ket. I’m all sorts of classy.

File this under WHY CAN’T I COME UP WITH CLEVER THINGS? Have you seen these? {Freshcut Paper, Pop-Up Flowers}

I found them in a gift shop and purchased one to send to my Uncles widow. She is stuck in her house and lonely. I just know they will cheer her up. It was 10$ and only takes only 3 stamps and you can drop it in with regular mail.

Paper flowers. *sigh* I thought it was the cutest and most clever thing I’ve seen in a while. And they’re made with recycled paper which is my favorite paper.

No water required and the flowers will never die; like my love for you and wine. I love you both. Mostly wine, but it would nice to share it with you. The wine. And a boo-ket of paper flowers.

Am I rambling? It’s hard to tell anymore.

You can order them online directly but I can only assume that Amazon has them too. Is there anything Amazon doesn’t sell? Bueller. Bueller? I thought it was super cute, but maybe I was just feeling hormonal or joyful. Again, who knows anymore.

Happy Humpday. I’m told that’s a thing.

XOXO

What Has Four Paws, A Tail, One Ear And Is Still Adorable? Oops, I Did It Again.

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz22 Comments

It might not be visible to the naked eye, but the word SUCKER is written across my forehead.

In actuality, this OOPS IS all the Coach’s fault. Let me explain. A few weeks ago he arrived home in the morning, coming back from his workout. I was still in bed because I love my bed in the morning and he proceeded to bring me a cup of coffee. I sat in my comfy bed, drinking my coffee and perusing the FB on my phone. Our community in GA shared a post from a local animal rescue and there was this little girl who caught my eye; Lillie. Had I not been lounging in bed, drinking coffee, I might not have seen her.

I saw her sweet face and immediately thought of Lolo’s dog Max, a rat terrier mix, who I adore even though he’s outrageously weird.

Max working on his taxes last year.

Ok, before I get too far ahead, I know I’ve said 499 times over the past two years that Callie would be our last dog…no more dogs for us because we love to travel SO much and it’s a pain finding someone to stay with our dogs. But you know what? We ain’t going anywhere aside from GA now. And having a small dog that I can toss in the car seemed easy.

You know, I don’t really TOSS my dogs, right?

FYI, she has zero interest in toys. LIARS.

I inquired about her via email and asked if she was good with other dogs. This started a very long string of emails back and forth and obviously it was hook.line.sinker.sucker.

So a few weeks ago Callie and I made the long drive to our GA house to meet Lillie. Who drives almost 10 hours to fetch a dog with one ear? I do, that’s who. BTW: The Coach was on board; he’s almost always on board with my ideas and that’s why I keep him around. Plus, he brings me all the coffee in bed.

Callie and I met Lillie at the rescue office. Lillie seemed apprehensive and not super thrilled about big ole’ Callie. But we forged on. I DID ask if there was a return policy, just in case Lillie hated Callie. The goal was really for Callie to have a friend as she seems lonely at times. I brought Lillie to the GA house on a Thursday. My plan was to stay there with both dogs until Saturday or Sunday, then drive back to Florida. Y’all, it was a precarious few days getting acclimated. I ended up staying until the following Wednesday knowing that if I brought her all the way back to FL there was no going back. Plus, I really wanted her to get comfortable with Callie and I before we moved her to another location.

{Lillie’s back story: Her person, an older gentleman passed away in his sleep Jan 3rd. His stepdaughter found him at his apartment. Lillie had been living with him, for how long I don’t know. She (the daughter) then surrendered Lillie to the local animal shelter. The shelter then reached out to the rescue (a non- kill) group to see if they could place her in a home. And then Suzanne the Sucker enters the picture.}

She was so nervous for the first few days. I’m talking shaking so much that she could hardly walk; she was stiff and kept her head down. Peeing.all.the.time inside and out. She would sit on my lap and when Callie approached, Lillie would stiffen up, growl and snap at Callie. Like the kind of dog snapping that scares the beJesus out of you. The shaking thing really got me though; I honestly thought she was ill; possibly sepsis because she’d just recovered from spaying and having a hernia removed. I just knew she was dying…I was going back and forth with the rescue group via phone and the vet who did her surgery. They reassured me that she wasn’t ill, but she’s been through hell.

  • She was a wreck because she’d been moved from her home and away from her ‘person’.
  • She spent a few days at the pound.
  • She was then sent to a vet for spaying and hernia removal.
  • She stayed at a foster home while recovering from surgery.
  • She was then moved to the rescue group.
  • She then found the best thing ever: Me.

All of that happened in just over three weeks.

FYI, she was in the pic of our GA bedroom last week when I alluded that I was there for a pet project, but no one noticed it. I thought y’all were better than that.

After three days she seemed to warm up a bit to Callie, but not while she was on my lap. If Callie was laying down on a bed, Lillie would walk over, sniff her and lay with her. IT made me so happy. Then, she started shaking less. I put her in a bed at bedtime, but she would wake up and whine next to the bed asking to get in with me…and of course I obliged. She’s been sleeping in the bed with me/us every night now.

She’s stopped growling at Callie when she sits on my/our lap now. She’s great on a leash and listens pretty darn good. Today (Sunday) marks 10 days that I’ve had her.

On the trip home, I put her small bed in the backseat of my car. She hopped out in a hot minute and before I was out of the driveway, Callie stuffed her 70lb self in it. Before long, they were both in/on the bed and slept together for 99% of the long car trip home.

Tell me that’s not sweet. TELL ME.

Once back in Florida, she settled in nicely; she burrows in the bed in between us at night and hardly takes any space. She loves the Coach, which isn’t surprising at all. We’ve never had a dog this small before, so I’m constantly looking down and behind me as she follows me everywhere I go. Can you blame her?

They love laying in the sun together; probably talking shit about how I wear yoga pants all day but never do yoga.

OMG. It was SO cold while we were in GA. I hated, hated taking the dogs out for potty breaks and with a new dog that has bladder control issues, we were outside for walks A LOT. It was 25* when we left for Florida. She’s probably really digging the warmer weather.

I was told that she despite her loving being outside, her person, the older gentlemen wasn’t able to take her out much and she spent a lot of time in their apartment. She used a pee pad for potty time.

Oh, the Elephant in the room: Lillie’s ear. I was told (I called the step-daughter who surrendered her) that when she was a puppy, she walked into an electric fence and it singed her ear off. Not 100% sure it’s accurate because Lillie was passed off to her from someone else; so I’m getting the story third person. But, if you look at the scarring on her head, it mades sense. Funny though, Callie has part of one ear chopped from her ranch/cow herding days and our rescue boxer Ozzie had both ears botched from a home breeder; we have a thing for dogs and weird ears. She also has this ‘collapsing trachea’ that I read about in her vet paperwork; apparently that is a thing with certain breeds. She makes this little sound on her exhales, but its not like a snoring sound. I’ll refrain from dressing her in turtleneck sweaters.

Does this small dog make me look big?

This was a very long post, but I needed to document as much as I could here because I might forget it all next week. Wish us luck that Lillie continues to jive well here with us.

Did anyone else have an exciting week that included growling, shaking and lots of pee?

XOXO