My Pup is a Movie Star

My little girl is a starlet! Okay, maybe I should rephrase that by saying a movie has been made about my pup - meaning a collage of photos on a DVD to music. But all the same, more than 10 people have watched my little girl.

Last night J, Silvie and I sat down and watched the DVD her foster mom made for all the adopters and adoptees. It documented the first 10 weeks of Silvie's life with her sisters, brother and mom.

It was adorable, and I was very impressed with the ladies from Hope for Paws for putting together something so thoughtful for the new moms & dads.

Our little girl was the first born of the litter on April 28, 2009. Gigi, Silvie's mom, was actually let out in the morning to use the restroom because originally the vet said the pups were due on May 31. Gigi came back in carrying little Silvie, and then went into 5 hours of labor with the rest of the pups.

The DVD had adorable pictures of each of the little pups from the day they were born to the day they were adopted (including a picture of J covered in pups). It also included captions about vet visits, weigh ins and their personalities. Silvie is known as the quite cuddler, but I would say she has since learned to howl.

I am very happy we choose to adopt from Hope for Paws. Silvie was from the very first litter born into M's foster home, but she has since had at least two other litters of seven each. In fact, the third litter was born this past week. So if you are looking for a puppy and want to help out a good cause - check Hope 4 Paws out.

Adoptable Dogs & Adopted Dogs at the Hope 4 Paws Shelter.

Good Laugh for Coming Back to Work

Love this Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwMdE5z5KGw

Although watching the puppy is entertaining enough, check out the mom. It makes the video that much cuter/funny.

Jail Break

Just received this e-mail from our dog walker:

Sylvie appeared to have busted out of her crate, and she was tearing around your apartment like a pup on steroids when I got there:o She scared the bejezzuz out of me, because when I came in the door...she came flying at me. She was flying on and off of all of the couches- she caught some serious air:o Naturally, I was prepared to call out to her like I usually do and let her out of the crate;) She seemed really stressed out about the freedom to roam all over and took awhile to calm down. She did her number one biz but was too wound up to do the #2 biz:o She calmed down for our last ten mins together or so and just fell asleep on the couch before I left. She was really tired when I left.

She's either a crazy or smart little pup!

Another recent crate experience:

Before heading out to dinner with my brother, who had just arrived to spend the night, I put on Silvie's new Cardinals T-shirt. Her Aunt Missy got it for her for J's birthday. Well, she bites at the neck a little bit because she is ornery, but after a few seconds she leaves the shirt alone.

When I locked her up she had the shirt on. After we got home from dinner, I let her out. She was excited to see us and wiggled all about. At first, I saw nothing different with her - minus that her sad puppy eyes were now wild with excitement.

But after a few minutes I realized she no longer had her shirt on. I found it laying in her crate.

It's still a mystery to this date, but I think our little pup can undress herself. And now she can bail herself out of jail!

Blow Up Dog

A coworker sent me this today - thought it was funny:

Dog Friendly Parks

We took Silvie to a dog park this past weekend, which the experience itself is worthy of it's own blog post. While we were there another owner showed us a great list of Dog Friendly Parks in Chicago.

I spent some time looking for the list and finally found it, so I thought I would share it, in case any readers out there are dog owners in Chicago:

1. Belmont Harbor - Belmont & Lake Shore Drive
2. Challenger Park - 1101 W. Irving Park Rd.
3. Churchill Park - 1825 N. Damen
4. Coliseum Park - 14th & Wabash
5. Grant Park - Columbus Drive & 9th
6. Hamlin Park - 3035 N. Hoyne
7. Margate Park - 4921 N. Marine Dr.
8. Montrose Beach - Wilson St. & the Lake
   
9. Park No. 511 - 630 N. Kingsbury
   
10. Park No. 546 - 450 E. Benton Place
    
11. Park No. 551 - 353 N. DesPlaines
    
12. River Park - 5100 N. Francisco Ave.
    
13. Walsh Park - 1722 N. Ashland
    
14. Wicker Park - 1425 N. Damen
    
15. Wiggly Field - 2645 N. Sheffield

So far, we've been to Montrose Beach and River Park. J doesn't know it yet - probably will find out when he reads this post - but I'm planning a dog park tour so Silvie can try them all out!

Tryin' to Quit the Yip Yip

Alright, so really Silvie's bark is more of a cross between a high-pitched howl and a dying cat, and I secretly think it's cute and hilarious. However, J seems to think she probably shouldn't do it as much as she does and we probably shouldn't encourage it - which is probably true.

So I started doing some reading about barking (well, actually I found this blog when I was doing research on divorce blogs for work) and I found "Stop Your Dog From Barking" at the Dog Training Corner. I found the following part of the post particularly interesting:

So why do dogs bark? It's not easy to say (it's like trying to answer the question, "Why do humans talk?" in so many words). Let's start off by saying that dogs bark for many different reasons.
A lot of it depends on the breed: some dogs were bred to bark only when a threat is perceived (this is true of guarding breeds in particular, like Rottweilers, Dobermans, and German Shepherds); some were bred to use their voices as a tool of sorts, to assist their owners in pursuit of a common goal (sporting breeds such as Beagles and Bloodhounds, trained to "bay" when they scent the quarry), and some dogs just like to hear themselves talk (take just about any of the toy breeds as an example of a readily-articulate dog!).

However, all breed specificity cast aside, there are some circumstances where just about any dog will give voice:

• She's bored
• She's lonely
• She's hungry, or knows it's time for a meal
• Something is wrong/someone is near the house
• She's inviting you to play
• She sees another animal
• She needs the toilet

At this point, I am not sure what common goal Silvie, J and I share that she is assisting us with, unless she is letting us know that, quite frankly, she thinks we have the WRONG goal, and we should change it to something more agreeable to her liking.

I am also convinced Silvie just likes to hear herself talk. She's a mix breed, so maybe she just decided she'll pick up whatever characteristics she wants and go with 'em. Who knows - maybe she thinks we are just boring all the time.

I promise to get video up of her "adorable bark" soon!

My Top 10 Romantic Movies

My list of the Top 10 Love Stories on the big screen - straying away a little from the traditional favorites:

1. P.S. I Love You (It's in Ireland and it's an amazing story - enough said)
   
2. 27 Dresses (Many don't like Katherine Heigl, but I like her)
3. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Matthew and Kate have a quirky but cute chemistry)
4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (A perfect fairy tale for those of us not living in a fantasy world)
5. Pretty Woman (First R-rated movie when I was 5 - mom wasn't happy with the sitter!)
6. The Princess Bride (A classic from my childhood)
7. Disney's Lady and Tramp (a love story for dog lovers)
8. Ocean's 11 (Although it mostly about the heist - it is about Danny winning back Tess' love)
9. Breakfast at Tiffany's (The classic)
10. Blue Hawaii (Grew up watching Elvis with my Grandma)
11. Ghost (Pottery scene is the best and features my favorite song)*

*Ghost and Blue Hawaii are tied for 10th but the number system wouldn't let me do that.