Hiya! This past weekend, I packed up myself and all three noodles to go meet our friend Regina and her three noodles up north! We’ve done this trip a few times, and it’s always something I personally look forward to. We are so extremely lucky that sighthounds are such chill dogs in general; having six dogs in a cabin together sounds like absolute chaos, but they have all proven time and time again how chill and adaptable noodles can be.
Last trip, Regina brought her new silken puppy Mesa into the mix, which was so fun to watch. Mesa was obsessed with following Abby everywhere (which Abby was not impressed by in the least). This time, I introduced Marcy to the mix, and they all welcomed her into the noodle fold. I will say Marcy is not super great about other dogs’ personal space—she loves to give as many kisses as possible—so it has been a learning curve for her to understand that other dogs might not want to just make out with her for 15 minutes straight.
The best part about this trip is that the property the cabin is on has a lot of trails where the dogs can zoom without us having to worry about encountering other dogs or people. The peace of mind was SO refreshing. However, it was the type of weather where the dogs’ paws collected icy snowballs, so we couldn’t be out for too long. I (like so many sighthound owners I’ve talked to) still struggle to find a solution for booties for sighthounds. I have tried so many different ones, but ultimately, they all fly off once the dogs start running. The only booties that have stayed on for us are the PawZ booties, which are basically just balloons. But even though they stay on, they eventually get popped by a nail or two and are useless after that. We’ve been opting to use Musher’s Secret wax, but sometimes that doesn’t even help that much. I’ve tried shaving their feet and also letting them grow out, and neither of those have helped either. If you have any recommendations, PLEASE let me know!
The cabin stay was Marcy’s first time away from home, and she definitely took it hard at nighttime. I feel like a big portion of her struggle was that she knew her new friends were in the room next to her and she wasn’t able to be with them, but I’m sure she was also missing her bed. She has always been really attached to her crate and now her adult bed, so she spent most of the first night crying (very loudly). I had to hold her in my arms to calm her down enough to sleep. So, imagine me and two horses in a double bed—I had a sliver of space, but at least they slept well haha. Cleo, the unbothered queen, had no issue sleeping through Marcy’s cries. She claimed our donut bed and had an excellent snooze while the rest of us were fighting for our sleep. Marcy did sleep through the following night, which was a saving grace. It helped that they spent all day playing in the snow and zooming.
I recently bought a little vlogging camera to start making more regular behind-the-scenes videos. I vlogged most of our cabin weekend and posted it to YouTube! It was definitely new for me to be in front of the camera (I know most people aren’t here to see me), but it was a lot of fun to make, so I’m going to try to do more of them.
Here are some videos of the noodles zooming together from our weekend away:
This week, we don’t have anything too exciting planned, but the weather is finally above single digits/negative, so I’m hoping to get back on a regular adventure schedule. Abby’s underwater treadmill therapy has been going really well! She goes once a week, and she gets excited every time we get there—before she remembers she’s about to be submerged (lol). She was really nervous the first time, but I am so proud of how resilient she is. The staff there is also so sweet and encouraging; they even brought out some string cheese for her, and that is always a win for Abby.
Since Abby has been enjoying some water therapy, I decided to take Cleo for a fun swim last week since it has been so cold, and I felt bad she wasn’t getting her usual levels of exercise. We’ve done indoor swims with her before, but we tried a new place, and honestly, it was the best experience we’ve had. The instructor was in the pool with Cleo the entire time, encouraging her, and Cleo seemed really comfortable. I’ve always put a life jacket on Cleo because she’s never been a huge fan of swimming on her own in the wild (she’s more of a wader), but the instructor said Cleo didn’t need it, and sure enough, she took the life jacket off, and Cleo was like a little otter swimming around. It was SO CUTE. We want to take Marcy soon, but Dom wants to be there, so we’ll have to book a weekend for that. We’ve just been a little too busy lately to do it.
And finally, this past week, we booked a collab with Earth Rated where we get to feature their grooming line. I shot the ad last Friday, and I was very pleasantly surprised with their products. I’ve been on the search for a good dog shampoo since both my favorite shampoos from Rowan For Dogs and Wild One got discontinued. Earth Rated shampoo is now going to be our primary one—it smells so good, lathers really nicely, and didn’t leave a weird residue on their coats (like so many other shampoos I’ve tried). VERY excited to finally have found a replacement since spring is around the corner, and that just means lots of baths due to mud and dead things. The ad we made was extremely silly—excited to share it with you all this week on our Instagram.
HAVE A LOVELY SNOOTFUL WEEK, praise be :)
We use Bark Brite boots ($30/set) which you can get on Amazon. Our greyhound has corns, so he wears them for every walk year round. The thicker neoprene boots are great for keeping the salt out of his feet as we're in Chicago, and salt is everywhere. BUT, they def will fly off if he's zooming around offleash. I think you're doing the best a snootmama can do for their paws! I am certain I could not handle booting, harnessing, coating and leashing x3! Ayyyyyyyyy
Love the photo of them watching TV with a Silken under Marcy's tummy...she's oblivious. Looks like a wonderful cabin trip :)