Tag Archives: Moose

Moose’s Love Affair with the UPS Man

This love story probably won’t hit the big screen any time soon: dog meets delivery driver. But it’s a love affair I get to watch on a regular basis. My dog Moose loves everyone. He’d happily get into an open car door, wander off with strangers… it doesn’t matter who. He loves everyone. It’s really very sweet. (My other dog, Lally, is much more timid around strangers.) But Moose has a few special people in his life, people he just goes NUTS for. My dad is one of them. The UPS man is another. Our local UPS driver seems to … Continue reading →

Halloween and the Escape Artist

Halloween can be a day with more tricks than treats if you share your home with a four-legged escape artist. Picture it: Halloween 2004. Moose, Lally, and I were living in New Jersey with my grandmother. My grandmother turned out the lights before I even got home from work, signaling trick-or-treaters that we were out of candy. Because we still had candy and I was bursting with Halloween cheer, I turned the lights back on. As soon as I opened the door for the very first trick-or-treater, Moose snuck out and took off. I dropped my candy bowl by the … Continue reading →

Moose vs. the Patio Door

My dog Moose learned a new trick this week… one nobody taught him. I’ll start by saying that Moose doesn’t seem to be the smartest dog out there. When I first adopted him in January 2004, he was a handful. He didn’t answer to his name, he didn’t really know any commands, and he had very few boundaries. But over the years together, I’ve learned that Moose can be very clever when he wants to be. I already knew he could open doors — on more than one occasion, he’s managed to push the handle down on the bathroom door … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: Six Month Update

Wow, has it been six months already? By my calendar, it has. Back in January, the dogs and I moved in with roommates who have two cats. Want to catch up on the story? Introducing the roommates’ kitties, Shiro and Kachiko The first meeting (before we actually moved in) Dogs in residence! Animal body language translates between cats and dogs How each of the animals reacted to the stress of living together Animal behavior isn’t what we expected. I don’t know if the dogs and cats are ever going to be friends — as we’d hoped. Moose and Lally still … Continue reading →

What is it about Moose and Summer?

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Oh yes, it’s time for another thrilling installment of How My Dog Moose Tried to Scare Me to Death. A quick recap: in June of 2007, Moose slipped his collar and got hit by a car. He broke his tail very close to the base of his spine, and had to have the whole thing removed. In July of last year, he started throwing up blood clots thanks to a giardia infestation. Once again, the warm weather brings out the worst in Moose. My poor boy has always had a sensitive stomach, so I’m pretty familiar with how to handle … Continue reading →

Spring Fever: Moose’s Version

My shepherd mix Moose is handling the change of seasons very differently from my boxer mix Lally. Lally welcomed spring with an allergy attack of massive proportions. She’s been to the vet three times, taken steroids, antihistamines, and antibiotics (plus three different kinds of skin cream) to clear things up and is FINALLY getting back to normal. For Moose, spring has been more of an emotional change. Moose isn’t the most active dog out there. My roommates and I sometimes call him “Speed Bumpy” because he’s often found sprawled and snoring. He is a dog of comfort. But the warmer … Continue reading →

Moose is Full of Mischief!

I guess even dogs can get a wild hair now and then. My dog Moose (a German shepherd mix) has been full of mischief lately! It started a few nights ago. The dogs and I went to bed around ten (our usual bedtime, give or take an hour or so) after one last quick trip outside for piddles. Around 1:30 in the morning, something drags me out of slumber. Fwee! Fwee! This is the noise Moose makes when he wants attention; it’s a pathetic cross between a whine and a whistle. Moose only has the one “distress” noise, so I … Continue reading →

The Dogs vs. the Laser Pointer

My new roommates just picked up a new laser pointer for playing with their cats. Let the hilarity ensue! The two cats are pretty entertaining when the laser pointer is out. They chase the spot around the room, stare at it in horror when the red dot is on a paw, and go skittering into the bathroom (and onto the tile) at full speed in pursuit. Since it was such fun and great exercise for the kitties, we decided to try it on my dogs Moose and Lally. My roommate M. was in control of the laser pointer; I sat … Continue reading →

Five Years of Moose!

I’m not always good at remembering birthdays and anniversaries, so I have a few online calendars to give me hints about the date. Today in my email was a happy birthday wish for my dog Moose from Dogster.com. I don’t know what his actual birthday is — I don’t know Lally’s birthday either — so we celebrate anniversaries. Some people call them Gotcha Days, as in “this is the day I gotcha.” Five years ago today, I drove to Ticonderoga, NY to pick up a foster dog named Coyote. I had picked him out from a series of shelter dog … Continue reading →

Dogs and Cats Living Together: Not What We Expected

Before my dogs met my roommates’ cats, we had lots of talks about how we thought it would go. We discussed the best ways to introduce them, what to do if things went wrong, and our dreams of animal harmony. I thought Lally, my boxer/shar-pei mix, would be the problem child. When we’re out walking, she can be quite a cat chaser. If she saw cats inside the apartment, I figured she’d be trying to run them down. (I’m not sure what she’d do with a cat if she ever caught one, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.) My … Continue reading →