Arwednesdays with Arwen: Loving Animals

Hello, it's me again, Arwen the Wonder dog. I wanted to get serious for a moment, if I may today...
I am loved.
I am very loved.
How do I know? Well, my mommy tells me at least 10 times every day.
I get my beautiful fur brushed every day, with lots of petting and mommy telling me how pretty I am. When that is done, I get my pearly white teeth brushed.
I have lots of toys, from tennis balls to squeaky stuffies, Nylabones and Kongs to keep me occupied, stimulated and happy.
I get to go for walks almost every day (unless it is very cold, icy or very wet), and I get to play in my yard every day, chasing birdies and squirrels and barking at imaginary beasts. When I come back inside, there is always fresh water, healthy food, and sometimes even treats if I've been good (or just looked really cute).
But, mommy tells me not all animals are loved.
Mommy tells me that there are many animals all over the world that are not fed properly, are not cared for, brushed, walked or even talked to nicely. Many animals are beaten, starved, left alone tied outside, or even forced to fight other dogs until one of them dies.

But, mommy tells me that there are great people who rescue these sad animals so that they have a chance at a happy life. One place is called Harmony Fund (animalrescuechase.com), and they are having what is called the World's Biggest Baby Shower for Animals (http://animalrescuechase.com/baby-shower/), where people can donate money online to help them rescue lots of animals and make them happy like me. Take the little guy in the photo above. He lives in Puerto Rico. One day, his owners got in a fight in their apartment. To get him out of the way, one of the owners shoved him in a hole in the wall in the back of a closet, where he fell to the bottom of the building and was left for two weeks in a wall, and was ignored by the residents who heard his cries for help. Finally a nice lady heard what was happening and rescued him, moments from dying and covered in sores. Now he is healthy and living the good life, thanks to these amazing people working with Harmony Fund.
Mommy thinks this is very good, and I do too. If you are able, please try to donate to them to give all sorts of animals (doggies, horses, cats, monkeys and more) the chance to have a happy life. At the very least, please try to spread the word about all the great things that they do so that others can help them too.
Please help these animals have a chance to have a happy home.
A chance to be loved.

and Arwen the Wonder Dog

Arwednesdays with Arwen: My Napping Spots

Hello and welcome to your favorite part of the week, Wednesdays, with me! Arwen the Wonder Dog :)
Today is all about how to nap. I am an expert in these matters, so I will show you how I do it and where.
First, the most important thing is to make your humans spoil you - it is nothing more than you deserve! If you make sad eyes at them while curling up on the hard floor, eventually they will give in and give you more cushy surroundings.
The first photo shows my new bed, from my grand-monna and grand daddoo. They got me a comforter for Christmas so that I can lie down anywhere I want and be comfortable. Mommy folds it up and keeps it in her office so that I can spend time with her. Here it is under one of her worktables. It is right by the heating vent, so on cold nights, it is sooo luxurious to stretch out, groan and sigh. And of course, it is great to nap here too!

 Here I am curled up on my couch. Even my humans call it my couch now. I lie here every chance I get, it is so long, I can stretch out my legs (and often do!) while I sleep and still have enough room for pillows. Sometimes I use the pillows - that is a great way to get the humans to see how cute you are, and give you your way more often when it comes to sleeping on furniture.

 Here I am at the other end of my couch, napping on the top part of the couch. This is a necessity as I am also a fierce guard dog and have to be able to look out the windows at all time to watch my territory. Though the curtains are closed, I know where the openings are and will often sneak my head through them as I nap to make sure nothing is going on out there that I don't want to happen.

Finally, here I am on the bed. I like sleeping on daddy's side, as mommy sometimes takes a nap on her side. I like to rest my head on daddy's pillow and snore. It makes them laugh. At night I snuggle with mommy on her side, and she often complains that I take up more room than she does...well, it is only my right after all! But she does happily acknowledge that I keep her feet toasty warm, so she thinks it is a good trade-off :)

That's all for now, I'll see you next week for some more fun with me!

Arwednesdays with Arwen - Ice Storm Galore!

Though you can't really see it, there is about an inch of ice on this bush, making it collapse in the sunset.

We've been having ice storms galore this winter, which makes walking outside impossible (so mommy says). She says the ice on the roads makes it dangerous for cars to drive, let alone for people to walk.
She blames someone named "El Nino".
I'd like to have a talk with them.
Although the ice makes for pretty pictures (again, so mommy says), I'm not getting in my mandatory walks and I'm very annoyed with this El Nino dude.
If you see him, tell him to get in touch with me, I might have to show him my mean face!

Arwednesdays with Arwen - A Winter Walk

Hey it's me again! Arwen the Wonder dog to show you a neat little thing that happens to our roads in the winter.
Notice the grooves? The pretty little lines that make you want to follow them and sniff all the way to the end, wherever that may be?
They are there, according to mommy, for traction. See, I have nails and paws that spread out like snowshoes in snow and ice, and they keep me pretty stable, but cars need extra help on these dirt roads. In winter they get very, very icy, which is good for me, 'cause it keeps mommy walking fast so she can't stop or turn around and make me go back inside, but bad for the cars since they don't have nails to dig in, just big tires.
The town brings out these big machines that I like to bark at, that mommy calls graders, and they scrape the road and put grooves in them to provide traction for the cars.
Pretty nifty, eh?

Here's another shot - mommy thought it was very pretty to see the roads and snow and grooves, but I just want to get back to walking, so I'll see you next week!
and Arwen the Wonder Dog