Roxy

My husband bought this book for me a few months ago knowing that I would like it. Unfortunately as a high school English teacher the only thing I get to read during the school year are student papers, short stories from our school textbooks, and novels for school. So I'm a little embarrassed to admit that after a month of having the book I believe I'm on page 19! So I did what most self respecting English teachers would NEVER do; I watched the movie first (the book will have to wait till summer break). Here is my brief review on this heartwarming little film.  ****Spoiler Alert***** A Dog's Purpose came out at the beginning of 2017 and although not a box office hit nor critically acclaimed, I thoroughly enjoyed this family flick. Based on the best selling novel by W. Bruce Cameron the movie is written from the point of view of the main character, Bailey (the dog). This is where a lot of the comedy of the film from comes. The perspective of the dog not only gives us a ...

DOG BLOG REVIEW: So many dog blogs, not enough years (dog or human) to read them all. While perusing through the most popular dog blogs out there I came across a blog called: http://www.dogshaming.com/   I had to laugh. Dogshaming?  The term "shaming" has become one of those over-used buzzwords in  the last few years. Shaming is usually a term of abuse. According to Dictionary.com shaming is defined as: the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of  something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc...done by oneself or another.  Well dogshaming is exactly what you might think it is, dogs that are shamed online because they have done something that their owner has deemed "bad" or "wrong". The owner then chooses to "punish" their dog by taking a picture of their pooch complete with a  sign of their "crime," and then submitting it to this blog site for comedic relief.    So when I came across this dogshaming site I had to...

Last weekend I participated in the CARE annual dog 5 k walk/run to support their fight against the ill-treatment , cruelty, and suffering to all domestic animals here in the Cayman Islands. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive at first when my friend Jenn asked me and Roxy to come. My dog just gets so excited around crowds of people and other dogs that I wasn't sure if I would spend the entire time being dragged around by her. I contacted my "go to" dog expert friend, Julie Leslie who assured me if I put Roxy in a harness instead of her regular collar, that she would do just fine. So I bought Roxy a harness and it was a GAME CHANGER. Now when Roxy tried to pull and drag me the harness (which clips onto the leash right under her chest) causes her to turn towards me and she can't drag or pull me. So, armed with my new walking harness I agreed to do the walk/run (which at 7 am on  a Sunday morning ended up being mostly a walk with a few slight jogging intervals). ...

I'll be the first to admit that my dog Roxy is not really a "show pony". She knows a few basic tricks, but to be honest I haven't spent a lot of time trying to teach her any. Her small repertoire of tricks includes: sit, lay down, shake both paws, kisses, and take a bow. Recently though I've been thinking that I should probably add to her trick list with a few others. The trick I'd like to teach her next is roll over.  I've been doing some research on how to teach both of these tricks, if you have any suggestions as well please feel free to share. Here are some basic tips for teaching this trick.  Roll Over: Always use a tasty dog treat when teaching your pet a new trick.  If your dog can already lay down on command then you're half-way there! Once your dog has laid down, take the treat and cross it over your dogs body so that  the treat goes from the head to the dogs bottom. The dog will naturally follow the treat, and the dog's weight should sh...

I didn't raise my dog to be a hunter, trust me. I think it's just in her breed. She will chase anything that moves: lizards, iguanas, snakes, chickens, and cats (cats being her animal of choice). Has she caught every animal off that list, most of these catches have ended in tragedy or comedy (sometimes both). I'll share a tale with you now in the form of a fable - can you spot the moral? Fables: Short stories that usually involve animals that teach a moral lesson.                                                           Roxy and the Iguana Once there was a territorial brown and white spotted dog named Roxy. Roxy loved playing in her backyard. Roxy felt like she was the queen of her territory, and she didn't like anyone coming in to her yard without her permission. Every animal in the neighborhood was afraid of Roxy because she woul...

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Kelly who lost her angel Leeto last week.  It's never easy to say goodbye to a pet. Whether they've been with us for a few months, years, or a decade or more. Last week  my friend Kelly said goodbye to her beloved shitzu, Leeto. She had Leeto for twelve years and that little dog had been through a lot. She had lost her eyesight when she was just a puppy (due to a tragic fall). Leeto learnt to adapt to blindness, and relied on her other senses to guide her. She moved from Canada to Cayman, not once but twice in her twelve years. Enduring drastic weather changes, (which can be very hard on a dog) and the stress of air plane travel (also very trying for a dog). Leeto endured through all of this, and much more, but last week she suddenly started showing some troubling signs. She started panting profusely and  having seizures. When Kelly rushed her dog to the vet they suspected a brain tumor. All of Kelly's research on Leeto's symp...