Sunday, February 6, 2011

It's a dog's life

Ah Monday already, damn you Father Time! Five more loooong days of work till it's weekend again. Being a working girl is hard! You really take how easy school-life is for granted until you realise how hard it is to have to work five days a week every week. Goodbye long holidays, goodbye skipping boring lectures and going to the pub in the afternoon, goodbye for good! Sure the money is a big plus, but well I do miss having so many holidays and being around friend all the time. College and school really are the best periods in your life probably, there's just so little to worry about. And you're young, and can dream big and you still feel like it can all come true. Not that I'm old or something, 23 is still pretty good, but a lot of people are starting to settle down, in a relationship, moving in together..that sort of thing. Some friends are even married already! Now marriage, although part of my plan for the future, is still a bit too soon for me. I'd like to be in a relationship for a year or two before getting hitched :) with the current divorce rate, I'd like some foundation before taking the plunge. What would be nice is the first step, real relationship and the possibility of living together in the not so distant future. Love is pretty nice to have in your life, makes it more complete. And well I'd like to get out of my parents' house at some point! and less commuting! now that would be a blessing, not to mention the shared rent and other living costs and having someone to come home to and be there for you. Yup that would be a nice first step. But I guess I'll have to wait and see if it happens for me.

If not I guess I could always become the crazy dog-lady. Yup I'm a dogperson. I do like cats too, they're all graceful and adorable, and I love to watch them get themselves into trouble. But I've had dogs all my life and well I feel dogs give you more love, like they'd do anything to get some attention from you. Cats are more the other way around. "Here I am, aren't you glad, now feed me!"
The dogs of the house are currently Annabelle (nicknamed Belly) and Fiona.

This is Belly. She's 12 years old and a scruffy mix of a Fox and a Shnauzer (supposedly, her parents may have been mixed too, as she turned out a bit funny looking :p) She isn't the prettiest dog ever, but she's a real funny and loving dog. We got her when I was 11 years old, so I have a lot of great growing up memories with her. I have lots of funny memories about Belly, and I will never forget. She's a great dog, and I hope she will be around a few more years, mixed breeds are strong and she's healthy except for some artritis. I'd be devastated to lose her, cause she really is one of a kind. Belly is very fond of my dad especially, mostly because he walks her the most :D, she's always extatic when my dad comes home, it's like she hasn't seen him in weeks, whining and crying and jumping.
Some great memories of Belly growing up are:

- One her first day home she slept in my room. She decided to poo right in front of the door. And yes, horror of horrors, the door turns inwards -_-#. Very very gross. I also threw the poo in the bin in the bathroom instead of the toilet, but it was the middle of the night and I was 11, so shh!

- She chewed and destroyed my Leonardi Dicaprio standing poster also in those first nights, sniff, poor Leo

- She ate a whole bowl of olives that was on the coffee table for guests coming

- She had a poo in the couch, and the carpet, when not toilet trained yet.. I must say it was funny to watch mom cleaning it whilst mumbling swear words :D

- she ate a pie that was cooling down in the garage on a closet. She ate half of it, standing on her hind legs against the closet, probably poking her tongue out as far as she could to eat as much as possible from it. When mom went into the garage, she was hiding under the car, tail between legs, looking all guilty, face full of pie. I was so angry to not get to eat pie :p

- We were walking her in a field, off the leash, when she stumbled into a ditch :D Was so funny to see her hopping in the long grass like a kangaroo, and then suddenly freaking out near the sudden edge of the ditch and falling in, poor puppy hihi. Luckily we got her out ok.

- She opened a low cupboard with her nose, found the half kilo of chocolate we got for eater and proceeded to eat all of it. Needless to say she barfed all over the place and didn't eat a thing the next day. Good thing she was ok, chocolate is really bad for dogs, they aren't supposed to eat it.

- She hates baths. When you get out the tub she runs under the table and hides, you should see her sad sad look when all wet in the tub, so funny.

That's just some of the fond memories. Love you little messy Belly!





This is Fiona, our greyhound. She's 8 years old. We got her when she was three from a greyhound rescue foundation. She is originally from Ireland, but in Ireland when the dogs aren't great runners, they are shipped off to some foreign country where the dogs are usually treated with nothing but cruelty. Fiona was sent to Spain. Back then her racing name was 'A day out'. Luckily the racing tracks in Spain are now closed, but the spanish greyhounds, called galgos, are still treated appalingly. I read all about the conditions dogs like Fiona were and still are living in in Spain, and me and mom just had to adopt one as well and help out. The greyhounds are given nothing but mushy bread to eat, totally ruining their teeth, are kept in steel cages on top of each other, living in their own filth. The dogs are often trained by tying them to a car and driving. My own dog experienced this, and now she has a heart doubled in size because of this insane training. The dogs are also abused by the owners. Animal rescue is hardly present in Spain, and many people have little respect for them. Just take the horrible bull fights as another example, just plain torture to me. Even more horrible is when they notice the dogs aren't good enough runners, or hunters (galgos are usually used for those kind of things) they kill them in the most horrible ways. Shooting, burning, staking, hanging them so their paws can just reach the ground, making them suffer for hours. For shame, how can the government not intervene in this. I'm so happy I rescued sweet Fiona. Greyhounds are lovely dogs, the laziest ever, they love to sleep all day long, preferable with paws high up in the air. Never I've seen a dog enjoying naptime so much. They do like a good run, but only once or twice a day, for the rest sleeping is their favourite past-time. They almost never bark and are the dogs least likely to ever bite. They are very sensitive though, harsh training isn't for them, they like doing their own thing, bit like a cat really :) Poor Fiona is terrified of loud noises and goes all shakey when she hears it. Now that a few years have passed she's doing great, not skinny like crazy anymore and less zombie-like. And they're so very soft dogs, fun to pet! Another advantage of greyhounds is that they smell nice, they don't have the dog odour, very handy that. They are very calm too, which might make them seem less attached, but they do like getting cuddles and being pampered. Fiona loves to be covered by blankie, she gives a great big sigh then :) cutie. It's definately a unique dog breed, great for people who want a less overactive jumpy around dog who is happy with one or two walks a day and doesn't bark or smell. Well that's the story of my pets :) Here's some more cute pics for you to aww over, just click for a larger view. Aren't they the cutest!








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