Good Bye

Sweet Lily's ashes

Hi all, Lily the Corgi's mama here.  It's been a while since Lily's last blog post and I know some of you were wondering what was going on.  It is with a broken heart that I must tell you that our dear, sweet, sassy, bossy, beautiful Lily has died.  In her earlier posts, Lily told you how she had suddenly been struck with seizures; despite the care of her vet Lily's seizures returned and were simply so severe that that they killed her.  When she was taken with the last seizure, I scooped her up to take her to the emergency vet, but realized Lily was gone before I even got her to our truck.  She died here at home, with me and her fur-siblings at her side.

Lily was a special corgi who had lived a short but full life.  Her daddy and I will miss her every day.  And someday, when the time is right, I'm sure we will welcome another dog into our home because Lily wouldn't want us to waste our love and our time in grief but would rather we give those things to save another dog.

If you have a dog of your own, please give him/her an extra belly scratch in memory of Lily the Corgi.  Even if you don't have a dog, you can remember Lily by donating a few dollars or a few hours or a few prayers to an organization that rescues dogs, as Lily was rescued.

Lily's sister Lucy the beagle mix has taken over Lily's Facebook page, but I think we'll just close the blog with this post.  Lucy may choose to start a blog page of her own later but for now, this will be goodbye.  I leave you with some pictures of our Lily the Corgi and say as she would have...

Til next time, take care of one another,

Love,

Lily the Corgi's mama

Thoughts from a Rough Weekend

That's me, sitting beside my Uncle Roger, getting some petting from cousin Ryan

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  Mama says she won't take much time to type for me today because things are too hectic and have made her too nervous and crazy.  Usually this kind of talk makes me just want to bark at her to sit herself down and get to work, but this time I understand.

Yesterday, my Unce Roger (who is married to my mama's sister) was in a terrible motorcycle crash.  He left home before noon to ride to Missouri to referee a bicycle race.  Since it was Aunt Cathy's birthday, mama and daddy were putting us dogs in our room hours later so they could take Aunt Cathy out for birthday dinner when the phone rang.  It was Aunt Cathy saying that a policeman had showed up on her doorstep to tell her Uncle Roger was in the hospital in intensive care.  Mama and daddy rushed over to pick up Aunt Cathy and they all went to the hospital.  They don't let doggies in to intensive care so I haven't seen Uncle Roger myself, but mama and daddy say he is a mess.  Until this afternoon he even had a big machine breathing for him.  He had to have surgery to have part of his guts removed, his arm was snapped in two and he has lots of broken ribs and bruises and all sorts of nasty sounding injuries.

Our new brother Darby had surgery last week; they call it neutering.  Mama says Uncle Roger's surgery was much more serious than neutering.  Daddy says Uncle Roger would probably disagree with that.  I'm a corgi, not a doctor, so I just don't know.  I'm just glad they say Uncle Roger will be okay, even though it will take him a long time to get all better.

Uncle Roger is the daddy of my cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog.  

Quincy is pretty frightened and confused right now about all the chaos going on.

Mama doesn't like motorcycles.  When she used to work in a hospital, she says she saw too many people who were smashed up while riding them, but Uncle Roger is a very careful rider--everyone says his being so careful to always wear his helmet probably saved his life yesterday.  One thing that caused a lot of trouble yesterday with Uncle Roger's accident was his ID.  When Uncle Roger rides his motorcycle, he doesn't carry his wallet in his pocket but puts his ID in a pack.  Apparently, the crash threw the pack or something and the police officers couldn't find the ID, so for the longest time, no one knew who Uncle Roger was!  That's why it took so long for them to come and find Aunt Cathy.

Mama says this is a good reminder to everyone to have their ID on them at all times.  Of course, Uncle Roger didn't do anything wrong by having his ID in his pack and he couldn't have known it would get lost, but sometimes people forget about their ID...and about ID for doggies.  My sisters and I all have cute little ID charms to wear on our collars.  The rescue is going to give Darby a more special type of ID called a microchip.  It is a little magic button thing that will go right under his skin and somehow when a vet puts a scanner over it, mama and daddy's name and phone number will show up.  That way, even if Darby is lost, someone can always find out where he belongs.  I don't think Uncle Roger will get a microchip, but it is a really good idea for pets!

Mama says she may be gone tomorrow night to sleep at the hospital with Aunt Cathy and watch over Uncle Roger.  I won't like that much, but maybe it will give daddy and Darby some well-needed bonding time.

This is my Uncle Roger on his motorcycle, at a bike race.  Sometimes, Uncle Roger rides the bicycles in the races, but as he's gotten older, more often than not he rides the motorcycle to referee the races.

Well, there were other happenings since I last wrote.  On Monday morning, some men came and cut down some of our trees.  Mama said the trees in the front yard were dead because sometimes when the wind woud blow, limbs would fall.  Daddy said one day a limb was going to blown down on our house and break the roof and then we'd be in a world of hurt.  So,the trees came down.  It was very interesting with bucket trucks and saws, and chippers making all kinds of noise.  We weren't allowed out in the yard but mama left the wooden door open so we could watch out the glass door.  Sadie and Lucy barked--A LOT.  The yard looks nicer without the dead trees, I think.

One day last week,it was 1/2 price ice cream day at Sonic, so after the sun went down and the weather cooled off just a little, mama and daddy took us down there to have ice cream cones.  Wow! We don't get ice cream very often so that was a real treat!  So refreshing on a hot evening.

Sadie and Lucy had cones too; they just weren't as cute and photogenic as Darby and I were.

Okay, mama says that's all she's typing for tonight, so I guess I'm done.  Mama is tired and could benefit greatly from a good sleep with a few cozy dogs snuggled next to her so I'm going to take her to bed.  Please keep a good thought for my Uncle Roger as he heals from this bad accident and for Aunt Cathy while she puts up with him (I love Uncle Roger but he will surely be a pain as a patient!)

Til next time, folks, hug each other and appreciate each other; it can all change in the blink of an eye.

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Stay cool, everyone!

Dog Bless America

I really am a richly blessed corgi.

Hi all, Lily the corgi here, hoping your Independence Day celebrations were awesome!  I know some of my fellow doggers get all freaked out with all the fireworks going off, so I hope everyone made it through all that with as little stress as possible.

Around here lately, stress has been my middle name.  Lily Roisin Stress Salamon. I must first apologize that all the wildness going on completely caused me to miss writing my blog last week.  I told you last time that I'd had a little seizure event; turns out that was not a single isolated seizure.  Last week I had a couple more of these episodes and my mama was SUPER upset.  You see, mama and daddy's first corgi girl, Audrey the Fluffy, had a single seizure that no one could control and after several days of solid seizing, she died.  So the other day when I started having the second seizure, mama got really worried; then I turned around and had another the very next day and my mama became ninja mama.  Long story short, she switched us to a new vet and now I am taking the same kind of pills that Lucy takes...even though mama says my seizures are much more dramatic and impressive than Lucy's (of course.)

Still on the subject of doggies, last week, the dog rescue texted mama and asked her to take pictures of our foster dog so they could get him transported to a rescue in Colorado.  Oh man, I knew we were in trouble when I saw mama type her reply.  "No."

Welcome to the family Darby Guinness Salamon

Yep, my worst fears have come true.  I always knew mama would end up adopting one of these little sad sack fosters and this is the one.  So, the rescue went ahead and got him snipped and heartworm tested--and, of course, he is infected with heartworms.  Officially, mama can't adopt him just yet because the rescue doesn't adopt out doggies with heartworms; they'll work with mama to get him treated and then the adoption will become final.  I guess he isn't too bad, as far as brothers go.  And daddy says this means we won't be getting anymore fosters; because Darby is so scared and nervous, daddy says he won't have other dogs here to upset Darby.  I must say, that all sounds like a big plus to me!

While all these health and family issues were getting ironed out, mama kept letting strangers in our house to tear up things and make things and change things inside and outside our house.  We've had a TON of things to bark at around here!  Mama and daddy started the craziness by ripping all the carpet out of our living room and bedroom...just cut holes in it, ripped it up, rolled it up and threw it outside.  Highly unusual behavior for humans who seemed to baby this carpet stuff by sweeping and washing it all the time.  Well, in a few days two men came to the house and started opening boxes in the hallway and used the boards inside to make a new floor. They call the new floor "hardwood" and I like it, mostly.  I can run and slide on it which is lots of fun.  The only bad part is that when I try to jump on the bed or the furniture, my feet get all slidy and sometimes I don't get enough traction to jump up that high.  I still like them; they are nice and cool on my tummy.

Lucy and Darby snoopervising the carpet tear-out.

The guys who came to put in the new floors were nice guys but I was a little scared of them.  I'd just had one of those seizure things when they came and I wasn't at my best, so the least little things scared me and their loud tools made me very nervous.  They were still patient, though, and they petted me a little when I allowed them to do so.  I liked that they both spoke that pretty language I used to hear when we lived in west Texas.  I always found their language very soothing; mama calls it Spanish and I think it is very pretty.

Tomorrow another man is coming to cut down trees.  Now to me, this just sounds shameful.  Trees are meant to be used as a shade, bathroom facilities, and squirrel holders; I see no reason why trees should be chopped up and removed from their original places.  Mama and daddy say these trees are dead, however, and need to be cut or they will fall in our beds as we sleep.  A man already came the other evening and pulled a lot of unruly plants in our front flower beds.  Our flower beds look so much nicer, but the neighborhood feral cats are upset--some of them had been using the bushes as a hideout.

Finally, this past holiday weekend, my Aunt Christy and her 3 kids came to spend a couple of days and nights with us.  We had tons of petting and holding and holding and petting.  Yesterday, the whole family came over and we all played and visited and romped around and then the humans cooked on the grill thingy on the back porch.  We doggy family members got to eat wieners cooked on the grill and whatever we could scavenge from the babies.  When it was time for the fireworks, mama and daddy put us in our newly floored "dog room" and shut the door so we couldn't hear much of what was going on outside; we felt safe and secure and Darby didn't even get upset enough to poop in his crate--that's progress in my book!

Cousins Kyle and Alicia slept on the couch, and I happily took my place right between them!

As you can tell, it has been lively here...lots of construction and gardening, food and family, health and crazy happening all at once.  It's been loud and confusing and hectic and now it is all settled down and I realize what a lucky, lucky girl I really am.  Not only do I have shelter, but I had a very nice and beautiful home.  Not only do I have a dog pack to run with, I have a family who loves and cherishes me as I am.  I am one contented and thankful girl. I guess that's what it means to have independence...I'm free to come and go and do what I please, but I prefer to stay right where I am and where I'm loved very much.

Take care of each other, everyone, and remember to do all you can to make sure all doggies have the freedom to live their lives in safety and good health and happiness like I do.  Til next time...

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

That's My Daddy

Nothing feels better than an ear scratch from daddy

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here, wishing Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  I am not ashamed to admit that I am a complete daddy's girl.  Don't get me wrong, I love my mama, but there's nothing like the relationship between a girl and her daddy.

My daddy does lots of things for me.  He takes me to the dog park and takes me on adventures.  He gets me food and buys me toys.  He gives me ear scratches and brushes my hair.  Daddy says he spends half his time filling our water bowl. 

Daddy always brings fresh water for us when we go for drives.

A great daddy will drop everything to take care of his babies. Yesterday, mama let us stay out in the yard while she ran to pick up some take-out food.  Daddy was gone for the weekend; he'd gone to Tulsa to help grandpa with a model train openhouse so mama was going to eat Indian food since daddy hates it.  Unfortunately, the food took longer than expected and we had to stay outside longer than we should have.  When mama got home and put us back in the cool house, I had some sort of seizure.  It was totally scary!  My sister Lucy has seizures but hers are different.  The seizure stopped and mama got me cooled off quickly. As soon as mama called daddy and told him about my problem, daddy hopped in the truck and drove straight home.  Mama had told him that I had recovered nicely and was doing okay, but daddy didn't care--he wanted to get home to see me for himself. 

Daddy came home to be sure I was okay; he's a good daddy.

Daddy takes us on hikes.  We go to different state parks and check out all the sights and sniffs we find along the way.  Sometimes I feel sorry for daddy (and mama) when we go on these hikes because all of us are rather wild walkers. We know how to behave on a leash, but when we see and smell all those enticing things, we forget our walking manners and start pulling and twirling around each other and causing all kinds of trouble.  If there is a body of water, whether a raging flood, a quiet lake, or a stagnant puddle, we are going to wade and/or swim in it.  Then when daddy helps me up in the back of the truck, he gets all muddy and stinky.  Taking me on a hike is an adventure in itself.

Daddy wrangling my sisters on a hike

Daddy goes away every day and I wish he'd stay home and play with us, but mama says he has to go to work so he can make money to buy us food and toys and such.  I don't understand the whole commerce idea, but I guess if daddy is going away to benefit us, that's okay with me.  But sometimes daddy goes away and it's not for work and I feel he should take me along--he goes to bowl and he goes to play disc golf.  I'm very sure I could sit nicely in a chair at the lanes and cheer him on, and get lots of attention from the other bowlers.  And I'm very sure I'd enjoy a day at the park barking at the guys throwing those discs (don't expect me to go chasing those things; that kind of behavior is not for a lady as refined as I am.)  

Despite the fact that daddy leaves me home more than he should, he really is a super good daddy and I love him very much.  Even when he pays attention to my sisters instead of me.  Even when he pets the foster dogs instead of me.  As long as he doesn't do it too much.  After all, he must remember, I'm his #1 Corgi Girl!

Happy Father's Day to my daddy, and to all the great dads out there!

Til next time,

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Me and my daddy...and an intruding foster dog

Lily the Corgi Presents Fun With Flags

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here!  Sorry this blog post is a day late.  My secretary (mama) was out of town on Saturday doing a job and then yesterday she seemed to think she didn't have to do any typing for me because it was her birthday. Pfft!  You just can't get good help anymore.

Mama's birthday falls on a day called Flag Day here in the US, which is a day to recognize and celebrate the good old red, white, and blue--or for me, the sort of grayish stipey thing.  I'm not sure what all the rage is about flags, but I understand that flags are meant to sometimes show that a person or country or perhaps a doggy has possession of an area...and I am ALL about showing possession, so my interest was caught.

As it turns out, dogs and flags have a pretty solid connection.  As we all know, dogs have long served under their countries' flags in time of war and have conducted themselves proudly and honorably in that service.  Likewise, dogs regularly serve as police officers to help human cops keep us safe. If something bad happens and one of these hero dogs, military or police, dies in the line of duty, they are entitled to a funeral with a flag draped coffin just like their human counterparts.  This shows the peoples' respect for the service these K9 heroes perform each and every day.

Left:  The flag draped coffin of a K9 soldier killed in the Middle East comes home.
Right:  The funeral service for Oklahoma City police K9 Kye, killed in the line of duty.

Across the pond, as they say, there is a long association between the corgi and the British flag.  Since the corgi has been the preferred breed of the British monarchy for the past 75 years or so, you can well imagine that there are a plethora of depictions of our wonderful breed alongside their flag.

Quite the regal looking pair, sitting before their flag!

There are some places which seek to celebrate critters on their flags--the state of California has a bear on their flag while Wyoming's flag sports a bison.  Several of our great states put a big old eagle on their state flag.  Alas, no state has a corgi.  But...up to our neighboring north, the Yukon Territory in Canada has a flag which contains the image of a DOG, namely, a malamute like our late brother Claude the husky/malamute mix.

I think their territorial song should be howling.

I was not familiar with the flag of Wales, the country from which corgis originated, but I figured there should be corgis on it, right?  Wrong.  The Welch flag is green and white with some large mythical dragon creature on it.  Now doesn't that seem silly to anyone but me?  We corgis are the most important thing ever to come out of Wales and still they use an imaginary animal for their flag? What's up with that people?  Seriously.

You know what I'd like to see?  A bacon flag.  Now that would be a flag.  Rich, aromatic, popular, and always in good taste (hehe).  

I could get behind this flag...behind it, all up in it, whatever 

way you want to look at it, just so I get a bite!

Just a few more thoughts about flags before I move on to the couch.  I read a story last night about a guy who got sick and tired of irresponsible dog owners in his nieghborhood.who would walk their doggies and let the doggies do their stinky business all around but never clean it up.  The guy contacted the police, the home owner's association all to no avail.  Finally the guy decided the only way he might have any influence on his rude nieghbor was to make the transgression so public that an outcry was raised.  So the guy got a bunch of little bright pink flags and began going around the neighborhood placing flags in the dog, um, piles that had been left behind.  I just pictured a whole neighborhood with pretty pink flags waving in the breeze!  The story didn't have any word on whether this helped the situation for this guy or just made him feel better.  But I DARE you to try not to think of doggy poop next time you see a little pink flag somewhere!

Okay, folks, I realize this post today has been light on corgi content, but I just couldn't get my mind off all the Flag Day stuff.  Now that I've written all about it, maybe I can move on with my life--at least until July 4th when all the flags will be waving and the fireworks will be flying.  Til next time, take care of each other and remember to have fun with flags!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

The pictures this week came from various internet sites including:

Pinterest

KFOR.com

playbuzz.com

nydailynews.com

I have no ownership of any of the images in this blog (except the one taken by my mama) and have not knowingly reproduced copyrighted material.  If I have done so in error, please advise ASAP and I will remove the offending photo.

Lily

Yikes, It Got Hot Out There!

Where did spring go and why is it HOT?

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  Here, we're enjoying our backyard a great deal more than before.  My daddy has this very large, very old, very loud thing he calls a lawn mower that he would drive around the yard from time to time; its purpose was the cut grass and terrorize doggies.  Over the years, this thing was still quite terrifying but it did a worse and worse job at cutting the grass.  A couple of weeks ago, daddy finally admitted the old loud thing had given all it had, so he went to the store and got a new lawn mower.  This one is smalller, quieter, and bright red--I think that makes daddy feel like he's going faster.  This new lawn mower has been cutting our grass so nice and short, it is fun to go out in the yard to sniff and explore again!  I still don't like that we have to go in the house when daddy drives it, but the parentals say it can be dangerous for doggies to wander around when the lawn is being mowed and, of course, Sadie would probably be so scared she'd just fall over if it came near her.

With the nice trim lawn, we've been wanting to spend a lot more time outside because, well, we're dogs and dogs like to be outside.  Okay, not all dogs.  Our foster dog, Casper, hates to be outside. He only goes out for the absolute amount of seconds necessary to do his toilet affairs and then he wants right back inside.  He doesn't want to stop to chase squirrels, visit the neighbor dogs through the fence, or bark at the birds at their feeder; he just wants back inside. I, myself, would stay out all day if I could because there is just so much to see and do and sniff out there.  

Up until just a week or so ago, we were having serious spring weather--tornado warnings every day, flooding that reached Biblical proportions, and temperatures that still got quite chilly.  Yeah, well, spring is OVER and it is HOT out there!  Hey, I'm an Oklahoma dog; all my siblings are Oklahoma dogs, even our foster is an Oklahoma foster; we are used to hot and humid summers.  One summer, we lived in the Texas panhandle and it was wonderful; even when the temperature was very high, there was no humidity and it felt so nice outside.  Well, now we are in Arkansas, just a few miles from Oklahoma and it is humid.  And hot.  And miserable.  And did I mention hot and humid?

People do this thing called sweating.  My mama sweats right in the back of her head; in the summertime, it seems like her hair is constantly wet.  Daddy doesn't really have much hair, so he has a lot of sweat on his bare head; he looks funny!  Mama says sweat looks sort of yucky but it helps them stay cool in the hot, humid weather.  I think sweat makes them taste salty and I lick them when I have the chance.  Mama says dogs don't sweat, except for the very bottoms of our feet.  She says the foot sweat makes our feet smell like corn chips and tells me I have Frito feet.  Fritos are very good, so I think this must be a very nice scent for the summer.

Check out my Frito feet--go ahead, take a sniff!

But if we can't sweat except a tiny bit on our toesies, how in the world is a corgi girl supposed to keep cool and fresh when it feels like we've been dropped into a South American jungle?  (Mama says I need to get over myself; she's actually been in a South American jungle and this is NOT the same. Whatever, mama; talk to the Frito scented foot.)

First of all, doggies pant.  When a dog pants, the rapid exchange of air helps cool our bodies.  A panting dog may take breaths 300-400 times a minute--that's a lot!   Corgis look especially cute when we pant because our tongues are quite long and hang out extra far; a corgi can pull off an adorable look even when overheated!

That tongue should be enough to cool off anyone!

Dogs can also relieve a little heat by dilating blood vessels in the head and ears.  I suppose that means a dog with really big ears is a really cool dog!  Hehe, that's a joke--I'll be here all week; don't forget to tip your waitress.

We doggies depend alot on our humans to keep us cool in the miserable hot weather.  My mama gives me ice cubes to crunch and I love them.  Some people have the idea that ice is bad for doggies, but that really isn't true.  There are misconceptions that eating ice will give dogs stomach bloat.  According to Dr Tina Wismer, the director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center, this is an old wives' tale that simply has no basis in truth.  She does warn that if your doggy is an "aggressive chewer" he/she could accidently chip a tooth, but if your dog doesn't get crazy about it, an ice cube or two should be perfectly safe.  Dr Wismer does caution that a dog who appears to be suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke should NOT be given ice or ice water, but should be covered in cool cloths and rushed to the vet immediately.

Dogs also appreciate frozen treats.  Pupsicles, Frosty Paws, whatever you like to call them, you can't go wrong giving your dog a tasty frozen treat made especially for him/her.  You can buy these frozen treats in the store, but my mama makes us frozen goodies at home by freezing beef or chicken broth, or freezing a mixutre of plain yogurt, honey, and peanut butter.  Just pour those things in an ice cube try or a Dixie cup and pop in the freezer; a few hours later...frozen bliss!

Some doggies love to cool down with a good swim.  I personally would just swim and swim all day; some people thing corgis aren't good swimmers--and some might not be--but I am a swimming superstar!  Our dog park has a little lake and lots of doggies take a dip there on a hot day.  Last year, mama thought that since Lucy and I liked the lake, we'd enjoy a little wading pool.  Neither of us like it, however.  I don't know why; maybe we're just holding out for a trip to the dog park!

Swimming at the little lake in our dog park

The best way to keep your doggies cool is to keep them where you are comfortable.  If it is too hot for you to sit out in the middle of the yard in the blazing sun, chances are that's not good enough for your dog either.  At home, under the air conditioner or fan,  is the spot doggies crave.  If a dog must be outside, be sure it is in the shade with ready access to a lot of fresh, cool water.  And never, ever, ever, as long as you live, forever, no way, no how, should you leave a dog (or child) in a vehicle on a hot day.  

The good news about hot weather--it has to end sometime.  The bad news--where I live, that may be in November!  Treat your doggies, and yourselves, to a frozen treat, a refreshing swim, or just a day hanging out under a nice fan.  Remember to watch your dogs and your people for signs of getting too hot, keep hydrated, stay cool!  We want you around to enjoy a visit with us for a long time to come!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

This is our current foster, Casper.  He hates to be

outside and prefers this spot right under the ceiling fan

Just Resting Up

Sometimes you just have to relax...whether you want to or not.

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  The record flooding continues in our area so we've been stuck inside a lot this past week.  I've been catching up on a lot of resting.  We still have our new foster, Casper, and he is still a very disturbed little guy, but he is making progress.  He can sometimes make it in and out the door on his own.  He has made a couple of attempts to play with Lucy and Sadie and he did manage to play with a toy once this week.  On the down side, he's developed an attachment to our mama that I'm not liking so much.  When she leaves the house, he gets so upset he tries to tear up things and poops the floor.  *Sigh*  He is a work in progress.  I'll keep you posted.

The new guy learns to gnaw on a toy.

So, since there hasn't been so much going on here this week, I thought I'd give you another edition of Fun Facts about Dogs!

1.  We all know chows have those cool looking black tongues, right?  Well, did you know when chows are born, their tongues are pink just like all the rest of us doggies?  The tongues turn that black color when the dog is around 2 months old.

2.  Speaking of doing a lot of resting... a resting dog takes about 30-40 breaths per minute.  A panting dog can breathe 300-400 times per minute.  You'd think we'd hyperventilate, but we are able to breathe like that in order to help us cool off since we have limited sweat glands to help with cooling.

3.  My sister Sadie and I are both herding dogs, which means we are considered to be fairly intelligent dog breeds.  Lucy is a beagle mix, so people sometimes underestimate her devious little mind.  Thankfully, we don't have any of the world's dumbest dogs in our family--the Afghan Hound.

4.  On the subject of intelligence--The average dog is as intelligent as a 2 year old child.  Yesterday, our human cousin Cohen turned 2.  He's a pretty smart little guy but I'm pretty sure I could outscore him on most intelligence tests.

The birthday boy stood there while his grandfather sprayed him in the face!  Now, I ask you, would a corgi allow such treatment?  I don't think so!

5.  You know that Taco Bell dog?  Well, you'd expect it to be named something very ethnic and proudly Mexican, right?  Yeah, not so much.  The Taco Bell dog is named Gidget.

5.  Think only mutts and rejects end up in animal shelters?  Well,think again.  Approximately 1/3 of all dogs in shelters are purebred dogs.  

6.  Back in the day, lots of dogs were named "Fido," which came from the Latin word for fidelity, or faithfulness. I'm not fond of Fido as a name but the sentiment is quite nice.  Still, I'm glad to be Lily.

7.  In the US, about 1 million dogs are listed as the primary benefiaries of their owners estates.  Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard my parents mention any sort of trust for me.

8.  Ever seen a scared dog tuck its tail between its legs?  Not only does that look all submissive but there is a chemical reason for that!  Dogs identify each other through scent, and a lot of that scent is carried through scent glands in the rear of the dog (think butt sniffing.)  When a dog tucks tail, she is actually attempting to prevent someone or some dog from knowing who she is!

Poor fraidy Sadie!  She's a chronically scared dog without a tail to tuck!

9.  Having it all--Not only are greyhounds the Olympic runners of the dog world, it is believed they also have the sharpest eyesight of the dog world.

10. Dog whiskers are used as a sensory device.  Some dogs, as well as cats, use their whiskers to see if they'll fit in a confined space.  Picture a dashchund going to ground in a hole using those whiskers as little radars to determine whether he'll get stuck or not!

Cousin Quincy, the ancient wiener dog; he doesn't do much tunnelling anymore--

except perhaps in the couch cushions.

Well, I hope I was able to give you some info that was useful,educational, or entertaining.  They say it is supposed to be dry for a few days around here, so maybe the flooding will end sometime soon and we'll be able to resume our spring romping and exploring.  Take care of yourselves, all, til next time.

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Facts for this blog post came from the following:

VetStreet

Cesar

PetFinder

mspca

FunnyFidos.com

Bark Post

fuzfeed

Flooding and Other Disasters

A ride and a hike--what a great way to spend an afternoon!

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here. Well, since mama and daddy were away last weekend, it's been a couple weeks since we've had a blog post so we have LOTS to catch up on.   

So a week ago Wednesday, Keisha the foster dog went away to get her spay surgery.  When she came home she was pretty loopy for a day so she stayed out of our way, which was pretty nice.  By Friday, though, she was back to her puppy-acting self.  That day, mama and daddy packed up early and left us to the able care of our Aunt Vicky.  We all love our Aunt Vicky, but Lucy is especially close to her.  Lucy had been having so much trouble dealing with Keisha that it was nice for her to have Aunt Vicky here to give her some special attention. 

On Saturday morning, Aunt Vicky's niece Laura (who also fosters dogs for the same rescue as my mama) came to pick up Keisha to take her to an adoption event at Petsmart.  That's where I met mama and daddy!  Anyway, Laura took one look at Keisha and thought she was the cutest thing ever (you can't see it, but I'm rolling my eyes right here.)   Long story short...we never saw Keisha again; she'll now be living forever with Laura as her mommy.  Mama teased Laura and said it took real talent to have a foster-fail with someone else's foster!

Mama and daddy came home Sunday night, smelling like our friends Morris and Sophie (they are labs who live in Missouri where mama and daddy were visiting.)  I'd like to have gone to visit, too, but I'm glad I got to be here with Vicky.  We aren't allowed to go to visit those friends because of cats--mama is afraid I'd treat them like squirrels.  I'm not saying I would or wouldn't...I like to be mysterious like that.

On Thursday, mama got an urgent call from the rescue about a little dog that was about to be put down.  In our state, strays are required to be held for 5 days at the pound to give time for owners to call for them, but if a dog is surrendered by its owner, there is no requirement for it to be kept at all.  The shelter our rescue works with keeps dogs as long as they can, as long as there is space.  Well, it seems they had a batch of dogs coming in, no space, and a little guy who was an owner surrender who would be killed to make room for a dog they were required by law to keep--unless mama would come get it and foster it.  Of course, mama said "No Way."   Right...if you believe that, let me sell you a bridge.

So mama came home with this pitiful excuse for a dog.  He's a little black thing, smaller than all of us, and I have no idea what breed he is.   He had coarse, ugly brownish-black dull fur and was afraid of EVERYTHING.  He was afraid to come in the house and afraid to go out of the house; he is afraid for anyone to walk by him; he's afraid to be walked on a leash; he's afraid to be picked up; he's afraid of the food bowl and the water dish.  It is truly pitiful.  I have never met such a scared dog before--and I live with Fraidy Sadie!

See, after a bath he doesn't look half bad.

The new guy's name is Casper, but mama says she can't bring herself to call a black dog Casper, so right now we're still looking for a good nickname.  He's terrified of all us girls, so he causes no trouble; he's certainly not going to get in the way or bother any of us.  He has no idea what toys are about and doesn't understand how to romp or wrestle with daddy. He has figured out that it is nice to snuggle up by mama and get a little scratching.  Yesterday, mama gave him a bath and it scared him so badly he pooped in the shower.  When it was all done, though, we found out he didn't have coarse, ugly hair but is soft and silky and shiny black.  I have about 98% confidence we'll be keeping this guy--mama is saying things like "no one is ever going to take him; he's too closed down" and "if he ever gets used to us it would be a shame to make him start all over again somewhere else."  Yep, whatever he ends up being called, I'm thinking we've gotten a new brother.

For the last couple of weeks, we've had rain almost every day.  Long, slow, steady rain followed by hard, pouring, drenching rain; and then light, gentle rain--and then it starts the cycle all over again.  By now, we are having huge amounts of flooding.  Our own home is in no jeopardy, except that our backyard is quite a marsh, making potty trips a trial.  But there are neighborhoods nearby that are under water.  Our Uncle David and Aunt Becky in another city were bailing water out of their house last night when their little creek overflowed its banks and started coming at them.  

Yesterday, mama and daddy loaded all us dogs up and took us to a little town near where mama grew up.  There is a dam there with a thing called a spillway that mama said would be pretty amazing to see after all this rain.  Getting started on the trip was pretty memorable as the new guy was so scared he pooped on mama, but after that was cleaned up everything went fine.  We got to walk around  at the dam and mama and daddy took lots of pictures.  The water was very high and rolling and loud; I wanted to swim in a mud hole but I did NOT want to swim in that flood water!  Wow!

Mama says back there, under where the water is calm, there is a HIGHWAY!

I've never seen water like that before.  As much as I love to swim, that's a sight to make even me stop and think about the power of nature.  Some people have been swept away around here by flood water.  Mama said even a fire fighter was drowned last night trying to evacuate some people from a flooded apartment complex.   We usually have tornadoes; this flooding business is new to me! They say 6 inches of water will knock a human off their feet--of course 6 inches of water covers half of me--and that 2 feet of water can float a car.   So please, everyone, stay out of the flood water, even if it seems pretty shallow.  

After we did the flood survey, we went to a little Sonic-type eating place and we got a nice tray of tater tots.  Even the new guy ate tater tots; he's afraid of dog food but he will eat tater tots--mama says he probably ate nothing but table scraps all his life.  Personally, that doesn't sound so awful to me, but I know it isn't healthy so, I guess it isn't the most loving thing (but I bet it tasted good.)

And last night and today, you guessed it, more rain.  I really need to get back to some intense squirrel patrol but mama and daddy get all weirded out when I get muddy in the yard, plus the squirrels aren't coming out much in the rain.  So, I'm spending some quality time stretched out on the floor or the couch, getting some beauty sleep.  

Til next time, try to keep dry!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Waiting for our 

tater tots.

                           More big water.

Random Thoughts on This Mother's Day

That is one good looking corgi right there.

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  How are you doing?  I hope you are having a wonderful Mother's Day!  I want to give my love to all the moms out there, human and canine.  They do so much for us every day and we don't give them nearly enough appreciation for a difficult and never ending job.  Not that they don't bring the work on themselves.  I mean, they're the ones who do things like giving birth, adopting, and, oh maybe, FOSTERING??  

Yeah, fostering.  So last week, the lady from the dog rescue called my mama and she was in a panic.  It seems she had a load of dogs on their way to their various foster homes, which is a very good thing.  She had taken one little dog to her foster home and the foster family dog there is apparently even MORE bat crap crazy than my sister Sadie (is that even possible????)  The crazy dog wanted to kill the foster dog.  So anyway, the rescue lady called my mama and said the foster dog had no where to go, the fosters were full, the shelter was full, please help.  So guess what?  Right.  We have a new foster.

The new foster.  Her name is Keisha.  

Well, you know the routine around here.  Sadie was less than pleased; I had to show the newbie who runs the show; Lucy has favorite toys that were in immediate jeopardy.  Actually, this time around, Sadie chose mostly to growl softly and then ignore the newcomer.  Lucy is the one who has been most vocal in her displeasure at the new arrival--yep, mild mannered Lucy has had enough of this fostering business.  I knew it was going to happen.  After the demise of her beloved gingerbread baby toy, Lucy has drawn her line in the proverbial sand.  Daddy bought her a new toy (dragon baby) and Lucy is not about to lose it.  So, second day here, Keisha grabbed dragon baby and it got ugly.  We now have several new toys and dragon baby is safely put away.  Lucy is happy again but she will not acknowledge the new girl exists.  Pretty sad since Lucy is usually the one who plays with the fosters and tries to show them the ropes.  We told mama we were tired of the fostering but she didn't listen.  Now our house smells like pee again and we are pouting.  However, Keisha is beautiful and someone will surely want to adopt her soon.

 Left:  Keisha courts danger by playing with dragon baby!

Right:  Lucy sleeps the sleep of the righteous after dragon baby is saved from the clutches of the interloper Keisha.

So anyway, Mother's Day.  Keisha is going to the vet on Wednesday to be spayed.  Of course, all of us girls have been properly spayed because we don't do puppies at our house (and if we ever thought we wanted to, this fostering would have brought us to our senses in a hurry!)  It is SO important that all girls be spayed before they start populating the world with more puppies.  Obvioiusly, my offspring would have been remarkable, but there are just so many doggies in this world who do not have good home and who suffer from neglect, abuse, starvation and just plain loneliness.  Mama says that as young as she is, she thinks Keisha may have already had a litter at some point.  Mama says she can tell because of boobies. I personally don't go around checking out boobies; proper etiquette demands that butt sniffing is the way to go for any well-bred, well-mannered pooch.

Well, I realize today's blog post is a bit light on content, but we are having yet another storm roll in here.  This is about the third or fourth day of storms here.  Mama and daddy are talking about getting a boat.  I think that's a really great idea and would be lots of fun; Sadie rolled her crazy eyes at me and said they don't literally mean it and it has something to do with the story of some guy named Noah and a flood...I have no clue.  But, til next time, all, keep your heads above water and take care of each other.  Oh, and hug your mama!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Found this on the internet and don't know to whom the credit goes for creating it.

What is Wrong With Your Face!?!

Do you see how FAT my snout is?   UGH!!  (And that's after the swelling was way down!)

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  How was your week?  Here, things were going pretty well.  Mama has been getting ready for a fundraiser for our favorite animal rescue group, so she hasn't been paying nearly enough attention to me, but I knew that was going to be temporary so I dealt with it.  Then Friday morning came along.  Daddy had gone off to work and mama's alarm clock went off so she could get ready for her computer job; everything normal.  I was lying sweetly in the bathroom floor when mama stepped out of the shower and screeched, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?"

Well, to say the least, I was offended.  As we all know, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my gorgeous corgi face; how dare mama imply I am somehow less than perfect?  Thus began a long day of mama messing with my face and head--a lot.   Every time I sat still for more than a minute, mama was in my face.  If I slept for more than a few minutes, mama was waking me up with, "Lily, are you doing okay?"  I understand mama was concerned, but, geez.  

You see, my head was swollen; it appears I had gotten hold of the wrong end of a bee.  Mama said I no longer had the cute little nose and face; my head now was a solid slope from the tip of my snout to the back of my head.  Mama said I looked like a collie.  Mama kept trying to take a picture of me, but I wouldn't allow it--I think she just wanted a picture so she could humiliate me later.  After a few hours, mama thought my swelling was going down and things settled down.  A couple hours later and mama said I was re-swelling, so she loaded me up and took me to the vet.  The vet concurred that I had probably been stung by a bee...she also suggested I might have "snorted" some stinging insect.  Ridiculous woman...I'm too smart to snort anything; I don't do drugs.

The vet said I could take some Benedryl if needed but other than that, I should be fine.  She says the swelling should go away after a few days.  Mama quit stressing and made my life a lot easier.  She's still been grabbing me to look at my face a lot, but she isn't panic-stricken anymore.  Daddy has been petting me a lot and I sure like that.

Even though I didn't feel bad to start with, daddy makes me feel better!

Having this brush with with a small facial imperfection has made me think of a few of my friends who have much larger facial problems.  Even my cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog has a face problem that altered the course of his life--he's a purebred boy who should have sold for a lot of money to someone so he could grow up to be a show dog, but since he has a huge overbite and wouldn't have been "fit" for the show ring, he ended up being my Aunt Cathy's pampered baby.

One very dear doggie with a different face is Lentil the French Bulldog.  Lentil was born with a severe cleft lip and palate that required surgeries to repair.  Lentil was luckily adopted by a kind woman who was committed to saving Lentil's life (he couldn't eat like other puppies) and giving him a great life.  Lentil is now a spokesdog who raises money and awareness for those with cranio-facial differences, both human and canine.  If you aren't familiar with Lentil, please take a look at his Facebook page "My Name Is Lentil"...he has turned his troubles into such of lot of good for so many!  

This was the tiny little face that grew up to be our buddy, Lentil

(photo from FB page My Name Is Lentil)

Another doggie who has become famous despite a face that is different from others is Tuna.  No, Tuna isn't a fish; Tuna is a dog.  In fact, lots of people believe Tuna is the world's ugliest dog, but those people aren't looking close enough at Tuna's funny, sassy, loveable personality.  Tuna raises funds for animal rescue.  Tuna has a beautiful heart and that is so much more wonderful than a perfect face.  Check out Tuna's Facebook page "Tuna Melts My Heart" and you might recognize him from books and a recent tv car commercial!

The lovely Tuna

(photo from FB page Tuna Melts My Heart)

So I realize I don't have to worry about a few facial imperfections.  I should have let mama take my picture when I was really swelled; heck, I might even have laughed at me later on!  I guess I learned a valuable lesson this week from my little insect-based edema.  

In other news, yesterday was very nice.  Grandma and grandpa came to visit so grandma could go with mama to her animal rescue fundraiser.  Grandma and grandpa always bring snacks when they visit and they were passing out dog treats like it was Christmas morning.  Aren't grandparents great?

Mama and the other ladies raised several hundred dollars for our favorite dog rescue group and that made us all very happy.  And best of all--the Royal Baby was born.  Yes, another little British royal who should grow up to love and appreciate corgis.

Today was just a nice, relaxing day.  Mama says the swelling in my face has gone down a lot.  I have had a little itching in my face, especially when it was really swelled up, but this has all bothered my parents much more than it bothered me.  Mama says I have to be more careful when I play around in the flower beds out back.  Hello!  How can I stop to be careful when there are squirrels running amok?

Til next time, folks, take care of each other and watch out for wandering insects!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Why are you petting those two?  I'm the one with the hideous head injury.