Does this sweater make me look phat?

Tracy and I stumbed across a doggy-boutique in downtown Santa Cruz -- They had a little bit of everything, including this little number. The store's name is "Think Pawsitive", and their website is http://www.thinkpaws.com

The coolest thing about it is that it makes her look like a Denver Broncos fan!

Identify this bird...

What kind of bird is this? I think it might be a wood-pecker of some sort... it likes to sit in my gutters and make a terrible racket... perhaps a gutter-pecker?

After taking this picture, the bird flew off to another house... a bit later, I could hear the same loud racket of the bird 'drilling' in someone else's gutter.

A full-sized image can be found here. Warning though, the file is huge ... about 3.9 megs, 3872 x 2592.

Katie's Growing Up!

Katie just celebrated her first birthday (Feb 2nd)! To celebrate, Tracy and I took her to Wendy's for a hamburger and french-fries -- needless to say, she was thrilled! She gobbled that burger down like she hadn't eaten in days :D

When I first got her, she weighed about 25.5 pounds... and she was looking pretty thin. Over time, Tracy and I fattened her up to a trim 26.5 pounds... but she dropped a pound around the time she was spayed. Since then, we've been a bit more generous with her food (she doesn't seem to mind!), and she's filling out nicely again.

She's still a puppy at heart... she loves to play, wrestle, and cuddle. When she's at play, she plays hard... when she's at rest, she rests hard!

Katie gets 'tutored'...

Friday was a big day for Katie! She took a little trip to the vet for her spaying. I dropped her off in the morning, and they said that I could call in the afternoon to check on her, but pickup time was usually between 4pm and 6pm. I called around 3, and they said she was doing fine... she was a bit vocal in post-op, so they gave her some pain-meds to help comfort her.

When I picked her up, she was still quite groggy from the anesthesia, but she recognized me, mustered up some enthusiasm and gave her tail a little wag. One of the VAs said that Katie had been very lonely, so she climbed into the crate with her to help comfort her -- great folks there!

Her first night was a bit difficult -- she could't get on the bed, and she'd whimper and cry very softly when she was alone in her crate (even with the crate-door open). I ended up sleeping on a futon on the floor with her cuddled up under the covers with me to stay warm.

Throughout the weekend, Katie has been returning to normal. She's a lot less active than normal, but she's bright-eyed and waggy-tailed for the most part.



The pictures were taken today... she's styling in a cute little outfit from 'Fido Fleece'. Too bad it's not well tailored to her physique. Regardless, she seems to like it and it really does help keep her warm.