Svana Yoga*

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about how my pets affect my yoga practice. I have learned to be very patient, flexible, and unattached when practicing with a flopped cat or a 75 lb pit bull mix flopped on my mat. Check out what my yoga practice looks like with my best friend, Maizy.




*"Svana" is the sanskrit word for dog.

Pups in the Backyard

Since Wrigley and Probert don't especially love to leave the house, I'm sorry that I don't often have much new scenery to plop them into for pictures. Hopefully their cuteness makes up for the lack of creative staging! Here are some pictures taken when Maizy and I got home yesterday.

The end of Wrigley's tongue appears to be stuck underneath the rest of his tongue. Perplexing!

Miss Tired Maizy.

Mr Fast Probert.

Run for Their Lives 2008!

Today was a big day! Maizy and I (along with my mother in law and cousin in law) headed out to participate in the PAWS 8th Annual Run for Their Lives and it was the most fun we've had in a while!

Repping for our friends at To Hell and Back Pit Bull Rescue.

We headed out early, but ended up stuck in some traffic along Lakeshore Drive with the huge amount of people who were also coming out for the event. When we arrived, I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of people and dogs that were there. Thousands of dogs of every size and breed! It was amazing. We signed in and grabbed some free breakfast and started on the walk. We started walking a bit after the "official" start, and were there in time to see the 8K runners coming back to the finish line. We cheered them on as we walked. They looked experienced! We were only walking 4K.

Along the way, we decided to take a detour at the Montrose Dog Beach. Maizy was SO EXCITED that she about pulled me into the lake, so I decided to let her off her leash to run with the other dogs. She went nuts, she was so so so excited. Chasing other dogs, racing into the lake... Unfortunately, she caught site of a parasailer out in the water and was running along the shore line chasing his path. She was so caught up, that she ran right along the end of the fence (the fence only goes so far out into the water) and I had to jump the fence to chase her and releash her escaping butt. Thus ended the dog beach adventure.

Maizy running with her new pack!

We finished the rest of the walk relatively uneventfully. We saw so many other dogs and people, it was so much fun. Normally in any given situation I am the "crazy dog person", but I felt a kinship with all of these other crazy dog people who cared about rescue. It was a great environment.

Dead from walking. Poor Miss M.

"Mom, I am tired."

At the end of the walk, there was more free food and Maizy took a nice long rest. We were going to leave when I finally caught sight of the dog massage tent. I took Maizy for a nice long dog massage from a local spa. She could not get enough. The spa doing the massages claims to be dog-friendly, so maybe one of these days Maizy and I will do a spa day! That's my idea of fun!

Maizy appreciating the finer things in life.

After the massage, we saw that there was a Pet Intuitive there and I HAD to see what she had to say. We waited in line for a long time until we could see her. She told me that Maizy came from a farm or a place with a lot of grass. She was born there and stayed there for a long time until she found me. She said that Maizy is happy and that she and I are on a life's adventure and spend all of our time together (she is right about that). I asked if Maizy remembered "our little boston terrier." The lady asked for his name and I said, "Cornholio". She laughed and looked at Maizy and said, "No wonder you couldn't give me that... you can barely say it." So, Maizy can't say Cornholio, but she said that Corny is still with her... teaching her things. If you knew Corny, you know that he is notoriously stubborn and difficult, so I'm going to have to ask him to please STOP teaching her things! :D

Anyway, I didn't really know what to ask the Pet Intuitive, but she (or maybe another one) is going to be at another event in Chicago in October, so I will have to think of more questions. I am not sure if I believed what she was saying or not, but it was sure interesting!

Maizy makes a new friend.

We came home and played with the boys in the backyard before coming in, eating, and crashing for a couple hour nap. What a long morning we had, but so much fun!!! Thanks, PAWS!

An adventure...

Today Probert and I headed out with the intention of stopping by our local Walgreens, which was scheduled to participate in the Photo shoot fundraiser for Best Friends. Unfortunately for us, we got there and nothing was going on!

So, on to plan B, we stopped at the pet store where we met some friendly strangers, took a short walk around the park, and then headed over to our favorite dog bakery, the K9 Cookie Company! Probert remains unsure about the baker there, but is mighty interested in watching him. I am sure if we keep going back, he will warm up. Also, Probert is a big fan of the cookies and muffins that we get there.

We still managed to have a fun couple of hours together even if things didn't go as planned. I will have to take a picture of Probert myself since we couldn't get it done today. It will be coming soon.

Tomorrow Maizy and I get up bright and early for the Run for Their Lives walk to raise money for PAWS Chicago! I am really looking forward to it (Maizy, too). We'll share pictures when it's all over!

Sunday Afternoon Crate Portraits

Maizy trying to ignore me.


Wrigley licking his crate.


Probert showing off his mangled crate bars (time for a new one).

Measle's Animal Haven on TV!

Please check out the segment that ran today on the Mike and Juliet show about BSL in the US. Robin Laux, who is the founder of Measle's Animal Haven and was Probert's foster mom is a featured guest!

In my opinion, this is a subject that is much too complicated and has too many myths and subtleties to be discussed fully in such a short segment, but let us know what you think!

"VICKtory to the Underdog"