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This was posted in my neighborhood FB group

...takes on new meaning when where you work is the largest cruise ship in the world: ...and when your pup outranks you as the CDO (Chief Dog Officer): ...but he is a "water" dog! The new Icon of the Seas will feature a Chief Dog Officer when it enters service later this month. According to Royal Caribbean International’s social media profiles, the golden retriever will live onboard while serving as “family dog” of Icon’s crew. The new crew member, Rover, boarded the ship in Puerto Rico, along with its Chief of Staff Alison Hubble. “As a crew member on the Icon, Rover’s job is to bring joy and happiness to her fellow crew and guests onboard,” Royal Caribbean said in a social media video. Among its activities onboard, the Chief Dog Officer is poised to hang out on the bridge with the captain, and also perform daily walks across the ship, the company added. The five-month-old golden retriever will also be able to “explore the Caribbean shores and beautiful ports,” Royal Caribbean said. The Icon of the Seas is currently undergoing final preparations ahead of its maiden voyage. Starting on Jan. 27, the vessel is set to offer a series of week-long cruises to the Caribbean and the Bahamas. During its inaugural season, the Icon of the Seas will visit several destinations in the region, including Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Basseterre, St. Kitts, and Roatan, Honduras. Delivered to Royal Caribbean International in late November, the LNG-powered cruise ship recently arrived at its homeport in Miami for the first time. Taking over the title from its fleet mate Wonder of the Seas, the Icon will serve as the world’s largest cruise ship. At 250,800 tons, the 365-meter-long ship was built by the Meyer Turku in Finland, and can accommodate over 5,610 guests at double occupancy, in addition to 2,350 crew members.

We have been working to help Otto tolerate grooming for months and months. Today with two of his favorite people, a muzzle, and some vey high power treats, we had some success. Beard, face, and feet will happen later. He had a non- traumatic experience. He had fewer instances of snarling and trying to bite. He is now hanging out with Paulie with a toy. He is a testament to the power of patience, praise, and repeated exposure. Well worth the work. I was wearing heavy gloves smeared with peanut butter. Also feeding him mashed frozen strawberries.

My pup is a "perfect" angel. Kind, obedient, and generally a joy to be around. Like ChrisL's pup, she older - probably 14 - so we know her habits - good and bad. Anyway, I'm sitting on the couch having my lunch - a pb&j sandwich - and she knows I'll give her some pb or maybe crust from it. She generally hops up on the couch and gives me the stare until I give her some. Sometimes, a bit of drool enters the equation, and maybe a slight whine if I keep her waiting for too long. TODAY, though, my wife started chatting with me about something or other, so I stopped eating my sandwich (still in my hand though), and turned toward my wife to say some stuff. BOOM!!! My pup decided to take a bite of the sandwich!!!! WTF???? She was unable to actually snatch it from my hand or get a bite off of it, but she definitely TRIED! First time ever. I think she might be planning a take over tonight while we sleep.

A rat terrier! He likes smart, inexpensive, and good for city-living! We've got one, and she's da BOMB! Who’s a good boy girl? We ranked which dog breeds are a wallet’s best friend. The wagging tail, the companionship, the unconditional love. It’s not easy to put a price on man’s best friend, so we looked at data on the cost of ownership and a range of objectively desirable traits across dozens of dog breeds to determine which pup gives the best bark for your buck. Our cost-effective champion: the rat terrier. Bred to keep rodent infestations in check, the rat terrier comes out on top due to its 15-year average life expectancy, low maintenance and insurance costs, as well as high marks from the American Kennel Club for traits like affection and trainability. Breeders interviewed by The Wall Street Journal praised the rat terrier as a highly adaptable, do-anything type of dog with few health problems—a more mellow version of its popular cousin, the Jack Russell terrier. “It’s an easy dog to live with,” says Emily Hall, a rat terrier breeder in New York. “I can give a ratty a bath in five minutes—a pom, it’s going to be an hour.”

I was petting my pup up on the couch last night (note the never-ending battle against shedding that petting her creates) and she eventually relaxed and started snoring. I stopped petting her, and after a while glanced over at her and she was curled up against the back cushion. Several minutes later, she was sprawled with a kick leg out the back. And then, a little while later, she moved her front paws into a dainty cross-paw position. All while snoring contentedly.

I ordered a 2024 Netherlands calendar and got a Cats calendar. Hoping they just send me the one I ordered and let me keep the cat one as it is a perfect gift.

...might consider this (saw on Shark Tank):

I'm just a dog owner. We wish we could have a cat, but my wife isn't willing to go on allergy meds. We almost had @Dirtyhip in the pet-owning family. So, what you got? Dog? Cat? Both? Iguana? Ferret? Gerbil ( @Randomguy?). Fish tank?

Took my pup out for a break at lunch. She started wandering a little down the sidewalk, sniffed a bit, and quickly peed. But instead of turning around to head back home to get a treat, she kept walking and then broke into a short run. I looked up and spotted a female fox running away and around the side of the townhomes. My pup slowed her pace, but we ended up down where the fox ran off. She sniffed a bit, and turned to head home. In the distance, I saw the fox pop out on the other side of the townhomes (down where my pup peed). It looked at us (my pup didn't spot her) and headed back where she came from. We eventually get back to that area, and I look back behind me, and there's the fox - back where she was when we started and staring at us. I snapped a photos and we headed inside I think it was wise to leave that fox alone. My pup was the same size, but a fox has to have some street smarts that my pup lacks.

Romeo became a part of the sharr clan. We adopted Romeo from a local shelter on sort of a whim. Sparky, our border collie had recently passed away and Ryan and I had gone to the pet store to get crickets for the bearded dragon and stuff for Ryan's guinea pig and there was a dog rescue holding an adoption event. I fell in love with Romeo and the rest is sort of history. Rascal the dachshund has since crossed the rainbow bridge and Romeo now has lots of grey and white hair on his muzzle.

My pup was pestering me on my way to the bathroom. I figured she might be out of food in her bowl. I wandered over to her food bowl and it was empty. I spotted her food holder (a 1 cup measuring cup) with some food in it, so added that to her bowl and walked off. She ran to the bowl, looked in, and then can running back after me. She gave a bit of a whine, so I went back and looked to see what was up. Her bowl was filled only with the "basic" kibble. She was PISSED I hadn't included the chunks of dehydrated meat that usually peppers the kibble. Since her tactic is normally to eat all the "good stuff" out first, and then graze on the kibbles over the next few hours, she seemed genuinely irritated that she was denied the good stuff. It's all about fairness! Well, and manipulation. But mostly fairness.

I ask because as I sit here sipping my Pedialyte and eating some saltines both dogs want some. Remi you see is 70 pounds and he gets a full saltine. Romeo, my nap buddy is about 15 pounds and I give him a portion of a saltine that I’ve eaten most of. discuss

My niece recently sent me a pic of my kitty when she was still a stray in a parking lot in NYC, getting some food handouts from my sister. She seems to have adjusted to indoor life pretty well.

Ran another 5K. First one for this year. I think Beretta likes them better than I do. Thanks to those of you who made a donation to the Middlebury Food Pantry.

Total Brag but I am so happy. Little Paulie has really struggled with stress in competition. He excels in class and in our barn, but has been shutting down for months in stressful situations. Yesterday, he had a very good run but I did not think he had qualified. Large error on my part. I should have checked the scorebook. He Q’ed'!!!!! He also got second place. Lesson learned. Agility is a team sport. Trust your partner. I am so proud of my young boy. PS. LINDY was 3 for 4 with three first places finishes.

...is when my pup decided she wanted to join us on the bed. My pup has several spots she likes to sleep, but her main spot is in a cushioned basket in our bedroom. She can make a "nest" of the various fleece blankets, and have her own "space" to relax. But, she also likes to sleep on our bed for some or all of the night - with no rhyme or reason to why she chooses to do any of it. Last night was chilly - both outside and in the house - but she was quite content to sleep in her basket. But, at 3:50, I felt her hop on the bed and work her way up between my wife and me. She plopped down heavily - like a bowling ball dropped onto the bed - and snuggled back against my side. However, a few minutes in, she got up and came to the top where sometimes she just wants to share the pillows, but in this case, she started to nose the sheet to get - seemingly - underneath it for full warmth. Being underneath worked for a little while - maybe five minutes - and she was back out from under the sheet. She temporarily moved back to the middle of the bed before hopping off the bed around 4:10. I got up, peed, and eventually got back to sleep, but damn, that was a bit of a interruption.

The zoomies are about to commence.

The new beasties are settling in nicely. Miss Lily pretty much owns the house (and the RV) already and Jessie is picking up the potty training fast. Both are very smart. I've figured out that they are solar powered. Here they are recharging after morning zoomies. Lily claiming her territory.

Was out on my evening ramble yesterday, and as I was walking along a stretch of sidewalk, I spotted a cat ahead of me - may 50'-75'. Usually, those cats run when they see you nearing them, and so I will make a little noise to get their attention. This one turn and started walking directly towards me. I spotted a collar on its neck, so figured it wasn't feral. As it got to me, I bent down to give it a pet. OMG, this kitty was all over me - trying to get more and more pets and scratches of its ears, etc. I must have squatted there for 10 minutes giving it some attention. It slowly started to climb on me. Eventually, its back legs were on my right thigh, and its front legs on my left one. It was purring and just completely copacetic with a random person petting it. Anyway, that was a fun little break in the walk. I was lightly covered in cat hair, though, and needed to remember not to touch my face until I washed my hands. Crazy (and tiny) little kitty.

...in general, but also, more specifically, not ones that required thousands of beagles to test on. I'm a beagle lover. Hard not to love them (for me) but probably not a common thing. What's crazy is how long this process takes. ...and, I've not seen where anyone really get's in "trouble" for this stuff. I this something we just have to remain "okay" with?

On my walk last night - when, like @MickinMD said - the skies were blue (but puffy clouds) with thunder rumbling in the distance. A little while earlier, my wife looked down at the trail and was like "that runner left weird footprints". I was like, "I think those are from a horse", but it turned out it was two horses.