Pet Lovin' Messes - An Update on Annabel #SwifferEffect #ASPCA #Sponsored

Oh, Annabel. Our busy, monochromatic (i.e. hard to photograph!) puppy is the focus of our life right now. Weekly puppy classes, daily training and treats sessions, cuddles, walks, and messes. Messes, everywhere messes.

Our homestead normally cleans with rags, reusable towels, and washable mop heads. In fact, it's a regular goal to eliminate disposable products. But there are exceptions to our earth-friendly, budget-lowering habits. Puppy training is one of them.

At first, Annabel needed to be taken out to potty every hour or so - and sometimes pup and trainer didn't make it to the door in time. Then she spent a week recovering from an intestinal bug. And now we're in cold, muddy footprint season. Messes, everywhere messes.

So when the folks at Swiffer offered to send me a Big Green Box of cleaning supplies and mentioned they were partnering to provide supplies to ASPCA shelters too, I couldn't pass it up.

I decided to surprise my favorite four-year-old with a second Big Green Box that Swiffer sent me to share. G is at that perfect age where he can be excited about anything and still helps clean without complaint occasionally. G and his family share our love of cats and dogs too. G says his pets are "cute and fluffy." When I asked what kind of messes their pets make, G's sister K said "they shed on the rug."

Swiffer surveys say 38% of pet owners feel that shedding hair is the the leading source of pet-related cleaning challenges. The Swiffer sweeper picks up 3 times more hair and dander than a broom and dustpan. Annabel is a poodle mix and doesn't shed, but she does track in lots of debris from the yard and has managed to unearth some embarrassingly large dust bunnies by romping around inside. It's nice to have disposables at hand to quickly clean up so we can get back to playing and training our puppy.

G was eager to take his Swiffer stack of products home after he destroyed his Big Green Box during play. Whether he (or his parents) use the Swiffer sweeper and dusters for pet-related or other household messes, they'll enjoy a simpler, quicker chore. And so will the ASPCA shelters and adopters who received cleaning products - thanks Swiffer!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Bonus! I took a short video when the friends opened their boxes. It's totally goofy, from the orientation to the editing to the content. But some of you will love that goofiness, so here you go:

Pet Lovin' Messes - An Update on Annabel #SwifferEffect #ASPCA #Sponsored

Oh, Annabel. Our busy, monochromatic (i.e. hard to photograph!) puppy is the focus of our life right now. Weekly puppy classes, daily training and treats sessions, cuddles, walks, and messes. Messes, everywhere messes.

Our homestead normally cleans with rags, reusable towels, and washable mop heads. In fact, it's a regular goal to eliminate disposable products. But there are exceptions to our earth-friendly, budget-lowering habits. Puppy training is one of them.

At first, Annabel needed to be taken out to potty every hour or so - and sometimes pup and trainer didn't make it to the door in time. Then she spent a week recovering from an intestinal bug. And now we're in cold, muddy footprint season. Messes, everywhere messes.

So when the folks at Swiffer offered to send me a Big Green Box of cleaning supplies and mentioned they were partnering to provide supplies to ASPCA shelters too, I couldn't pass it up.

I decided to surprise my favorite four-year-old with a second Big Green Box that Swiffer sent me to share. G is at that perfect age where he can be excited about anything and still helps clean without complaint occasionally. G and his family share our love of cats and dogs too. G says his pets are "cute and fluffy." When I asked what kind of messes their pets make, G's sister K said "they shed on the rug."

Swiffer surveys say 38% of pet owners feel that shedding hair is the the leading source of pet-related cleaning challenges. The Swiffer sweeper picks up 3 times more hair and dander than a broom and dustpan. Annabel is a poodle mix and doesn't shed, but she does track in lots of debris from the yard and has managed to unearth some embarrassingly large dust bunnies by romping around inside. It's nice to have disposables at hand to quickly clean up so we can get back to playing and training our puppy.

G was eager to take his Swiffer stack of products home after he destroyed his Big Green Box during play. Whether he (or his parents) use the Swiffer sweeper and dusters for pet-related or other household messes, they'll enjoy a simpler, quicker chore. And so will the ASPCA shelters and adopters who received cleaning products - thanks Swiffer!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Bonus! I took a short video when the friends opened their boxes. It's totally goofy, from the orientation to the editing to the content. But some of you will love that goofiness, so here you go:

Devorguilla, The Original Baying Hound {Obituary}

Devorguilla, a.k.a. Devie, our blue tick coon hound mix, died today, December 29, 2013. She was approximately thirteen years old, having been adopted as a young adult at the Capital Area Humane Society in January 2002. She is survived by little hound Hawise, cats Moonshine and Nightshade and people Alex, Lillian, and Rachel.

Despite our attempts at training, Devie was a headstrong troublemaker. She bayed at everyone who entered, stopping only when she was ready. Barking was how she related to other dogs and while we understood her noise to be playful, most other hounds cowered away from her. She surfed counters, scavenged floors, and ate anything possibly food-like. In her twelve years with the Tayse Baillieuls, she consumed the following in addition to regular meals: human birthday cakes, six packages of raisins to include packaging in one sitting, several bronze ring nails and the plywood they were attached to, boozy fruitcakes, chocolate truffles, a sheet pan of cookies, compost, a bag of flour, trash, and countless breakfasts, lunches, and dinners left unattended for a few seconds. Devie's stomach of steel allowed that these indiscretions were uncomfortable for her but didn't results in messes for her family beyond the missing food.

While she was difficult to live with, Devie was easy to love. Friends and neighbors who understand hounds carried on howling conversations with her. Many admired Dev's unflagging devotion to food, annoying as it was.

She was extremely gentle, especially around Lillian. Devie not only tolerated but seemed to enjoy being dressed up and always won 'cuteness contests', Lil's habit of dressing up pets and stuffed animals for fashion shows. Devie's coloring was beautiful and inspired our first business name, the Baying Hound. After losing an eye to persistent infection in 2010 she became even more striking.

We noticed Devie slowing down this autumn. When she stopped enjoying food, her one true love, this week, it was our signal that organ degeneration or cancer had progressed enough to severely affect her quality of life. We made the difficult choice of euthanasia. She was buried at home.

Rest in peace, Devorguilla. You will be missed.

Moonshine With Mitten Paws

Meet Moonshine, our new kitten!

Moonshine's mama was dumped, pregnant, on a friend's farm. On August 6, our kitten was born with white mitten paws.

Lil suggested the name after reading the book Pumpkin Moonshine, an old story about Jack-o-lanterns. Who were we to refuse a name that references the ultimate DIY activity?

The hounds are confused by this furry creature who has captured our attention. They spent all day yesterday staring at her. Moonshine is very tolerant of their snarfling though she hisses and runs when the dogs get too close.

'Kitten' has topped Lil's gift wish lists for years. Moonshine is a promise fulfilled, a new addition as thrilling as a sip of illicit booze.

Rest In Peace Chester

Chester, our beta fish of two years, died today.

Lil was extraordinarily sad, as young children are when a pet dies.  We helped her sit with her grief and choose what to do with the fish body.  We never thought to ask him his final wishes.

Lil chose to make a bed of flower petals in a small box for his coffin.  I helped her write a note on the top that says 'This fish died just when he got his new home.  I really miss him.'  The 'new' home is a tank we got three months ago...

We buried the box in Lil's garden and talked about how Chester's flesh and bones will decompose and fertilize the soil.  I took pictures and later Lil and I put together the collage pictured above.

Lil called all her aunties to tell them that Chester died.  On her second birthday, my sisters, the aunties, bought her the fish tank and I think that's where Lil had the idea that they would want to know about the death in the fish family.

Now Frog is living alone in the fish tank.  We talked about getting a new beta or perhaps other fish when we return from Canada.  In the meantime I'm sure we will keep talking about Chester.  The circle goes round again.