Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Norah + Ice = Happy Dog

I was making myself a Whiskey Sour (see recipe below) to celebrate the school closing down for Thanksgiving and all the students going home when I dropped some ice onto the floor.

Norah heard the ice hit the floor and came running into the kitchen with a look on her face that said "Did I hear ice?!?!? Stand back! I know how to handle this!" She grabbed the ice cube that I dropped and carried it into the living room where she spent the next 5 minutes slowly breaking it into pieces and eating them.

Weird dog... :-)

Whiskey Sour:
1oz Lemon Juice
1oz Sugar
2oz Water
1.5oz Whiskey



Combine lemon juice, sugar, and water in shaker - shake until sugar is dissolved. 


Add whiskey and ice, shake gently to mix ingredients. 


Strain into glass, garnish with maraschino cherry and a splash of grenadine for color (optional). 

Monday, November 23, 2009

Norah looks very pleased with herself

I got home today from an event with some students, and Norah looked like this:



I'm not sure what she was smiling about, but she looked awfully pleased with herself!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Maybe we will win?

So this isn' directly Norah related but a corgi owner friend of mine is doing this giveaway on her blog site. http://corgibutts.blogspot.com/2009/11/100-followers-giveaway.html. She is offering the winner something really cool and unique. The one I would really want is a cute character of Norahdog. maybe we'll win... because that would be awesome.

Nice day = Dog Park!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Norah and Rush Limbaugh...

I leave a radio on for Norah while I am gone during the day. It is tuned to whatever AM talk station decides it wants to come in clearly that day. This way, she has some human voice to listen to instead of just silence.

I stopped by to check in on her after lunch today and found she was listening to Rush Limbaugh (AKA crazy whackjob extraordinaire) babble on about how "It used to be that dreams were all you needed to be successful in this country, but if the current administration has it's way, dreams will just be dreams".

Oh man... I changed the station to something else.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Busy Weekend!

Kerby's post about the weekend pretty much sums it all up :-) Here are some photos:


Norah and Gabbi passed out on the couch at my parents' house.

In completely unrelated news, Kerby also got Norah a Kong toy to keep her busy when nobody is home and Norah absolutely loves it (it's stuffed with peanut butter or a dog treat, so it is no surprise that Norah can't let go of it).



Norah munching her Kong (even though there isn't anything in it at the moment).

Sunday, November 15, 2009

first weekend together

Chris and Norah came out to Aurora this weekend. It was short and sweet. Friday night I was on call and bound to the campus. Chris and I took Norahdog (a nickname we both used coincidentally) for a walk around campus and then let her run around the tennis courts. She really enjoyed sprinting between the two of us. Chris then took her to my dad's house and apparently Norah and Lucy hit it off right away. Chris and I tried going to bed early so we could spend the whole day with Norahdog since I had Saturday off.

Saturday was a bit more eventful, we picked up both Norahdog and Lucy to go to the dogpark, the two had been playing all morning and were already worn out. When we got to the dog park we found something quite odd in the bark park lot, a box of sex toys! I was in disbelief as that is the last thing you would expect to find laying around but there it was, just a box full next to my car. Laughing we went into the fenced in area of the park where there were 3 other dogs playing. Norah loves people so she ran to say hello to them first but got ambushed by the other dogs. There was a great dane that came bounding up whenever she tried to run and I think that freaked her out as she is usually the fastest and not used to being chased by something the size of a horse. Both her and Lucy tried to play with the little black dog fetching a ball but this retriever decided he wanted to be a little more than friends and Lucy retreated to the top of the picnic table out of humpsway (smart girl, no means no). But Norah is too young to know what that is and just got drooled on as this dog followed her around. We eventally left when both our dogs gave up. When we got back to the house we tried to see if Norah would go potty and stuck her in the backyard while we ate lunch. We were trying to give her space and maybe she wouldn't feel threatened and would just go. Well she decided that she liked the scent of a pile of poo and rubbed her face in it. Yes, poop all over the face. It was fresh and way out of the usual area that the other dogs go in so we think it was hers. I'm not sure if it was a way to be proud of herself or a way to give us the middle finger. Chris and I had to cart her upstairs and toss her in the tub. Let me just say wiping wet poo off a dog face may be one of the nastier things I've ever had to do. Chris just held her down while I did the dirty work (thanks for that boy :) Norahdog then got her post bath burst of energy and ran around with Lucy.

Norahdog is so gentle and calm. Chris and I are so lucky to have, hopefully this poop thing is just a phase. I always wanted a redhead child with freckles, I guess I finally got one! :)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Norah destroys her tent...

I would like to point out that this is not really Norah's fault. This is my fault for being a stupid human and not just buying a proper kennel in the first place (like Kerby told me to)... :-)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Norah decides she likes to eat in bed...

So, when Norah is home by herself she lives in the kitchen. There are multiple reasons for this: 1) her food and water dishes are also in the kitchen, 2) there is an exterior window that is low to the ground so she can look outside, 3) there isn't really anything that she can destroy that is within reach of her in the kitchen, and perhaps most importantly, 4) the kitchen isn't carpeted which is good since we are still working on the whole "pooping outside" thing and while there is progress there are also accidents.

Since the kitchen floor is not covered with nice soft carpet, I usually put Norah's pillow in the kitchen for her. Today, I took her whole "house" to the kitchen for her - doggie tent and all - thinking she might like that.

Well, I got back home and noticed that her food bowl was not where it usually was. Upon further inspection, I discovered it wedged in behind her pillow inside her tent! She somehow managed to pick up this food bowl and carefully move it to her "house" without spilling all the food. Crazy dog...

I applauded her amazing demonstration of doggie dexterity, and moved the food bowl back to where it belongs.

But this is not the only weird thing she does...

Norah also likes to crawl in under the couch to sleep. When I move to the bedroom to check my email and such, she crawls in under the bed (the human bed, that is) and naps until I tell her it is time for her to go to bed, then she gets in her own bed to sleep.

I wish I knew what was going on in her head because I'll bet it is interesting...


Norah under the human bed, with her "are you done yet so that we can go to sleep already?" look.




Norah in her own bed, munching away on her "chew and clean" bone (it's supposed to be good for her teeth, and tastes like chicken apparently).

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Another nice day, another trip to the dog park!

Since it was amazing outside again today, Norah and I went to the Indianola dog park again. She seems to be getting the hang of the whole dog park thing now, which is good. Norah is still a little nervous at first when we show up and the dog welcoming committee rushes the gate and all start sniffing her at the same time (I would be nervous two if a large group of people came up to me and all tried to shake my hand at the same time). But, once we are inside and she can join the welcoming committee then she has no problems.

I'll try to remember to take some video next time we go to the dog park :-)

When we got back, Norah spent some time munching on her chew toys before taking a nap - she always comes back from the dog park all worn out from running around like a psycho dog!


Working on those chew toys...





Nap time...


Monday, November 09, 2009

Norah Gets a Bath

After visiting two dog parks and walking around Lake Ahquabi, Norah was starting to get pretty dirty. So, we decided it was time for a bath.

Kerby recommended moisturizing dog shampoo with oatmeal in it, so I went and picked up some that fit those criteria. It also smells like vanilla which I thought was cool.

Surprisingly, Norah took the bath without any complaints! Her adoption listing mentioned that she likes water, so I suppose that had something to do with it... Granted, it wasn't like she was particularly enjoying it, but she didn't put up a fight either. She just stood in the tub looking at me with her "I'm humoring my crazy human" expression (which I seem to get from her a lot) until I was finished washing her.

After the bath, Norah decided that it would be fun to be Norah the Super Hyper Speed Dog so she ran back and forth all over the apartment for a good 15 minutes. After chasing her around a bit (which I'm sure contributed to her hyper-ness), I brushed her so that her coat is nice and shiny. Then she jumped up on the couch with me and we watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

She doesn't exactly smell like vanilla though (more like dog, with a hint of vanilla), but her coat is all soft and fluffy now which is nice. The soap bottle recommends weekly baths but I think that's a bit excessive - although we'll see how things go :-)

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Another nice day!

The weather this weekend has been amazing!

We went for a walk around Lake Ahquabi, which is about a 10 minute drive South of Indianola.


Squinting in the bright sun...

It is about a 2 mile walk and apparently Norah is in better shape than I am since she had energy to spare after going around the lake. :-) It was a good time though, and we have to make as much as we can out of this incredible weather because pretty soon it will be freezing outside... Although, if we have another nice weekend like this we might just have to fit in one more camping trip before winter!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Norah Meets Kerby... FINALLY!

Today was a big day for Norah. She finally got to meet Kerby! She also pooped outside while on a leash and in view of me this morning (maybe a bit too much information, but it means we are making progress in the whole "too shy to potty with humans around" issue).

We went to a different, bigger dog park since the weather was once again amazingly awesome. On the way to this park, Norah decided that it would be a good idea to chew her leash up into a bunch of pieces. She was all quiet in the back seat of the car and the next thing I know she was standing in between the front seats looking extremely pleased with herself and wearing only the clip from leash version 1.0. The rest of the leash was neatly chewed into strips on the back seat!

This resulted in an unexpected detour to PetSmart but in the end it worked out well. Kerby and I found a nice harness for Norah so that she can be walked without strain on her neck, and the harness also had a matching leash - and so starts the service of leash 2.0, I hope it lasts longer than the first one :-) We also outfitted Norah with a spiffy new tag with both of our phone numbers on it, and Kerby got her a Kong and a Squeeky bone toy (which Norah absolutely LOVES, especially since it is textured like a tennis ball).

After shopping (and sniffing all over the store), we arrived at the dog park which had more dogs in it than I have ever seen in one place all together. There must have easily been about 40 dogs running around. By this time, Norah was a pro at this dog park thing and as soon as we unclipped her leash she took off to go explore. Kerby and I found a spot to sit and we had a great time just relaxing and petting Norah every now and then when she would come by us to check in and make sure we were still there. We were at the park for about 2 hours and Norah did not stop running for almost the whole time - I have no idea where she keeps all that energy! She had a great time, but needless to say, on the ride home she practically passed out in the back seat :-)

When we got home though, she had sufficiently recharged her batteries and figured out that her squeeky toy makes noise...



I got to spend some time with Kerby, Kerby got to meet Norah (and see me), and Norah got to meet Kerby and run around with other dogs - so all in all, everybody had a great day!

Friday, November 06, 2009

Norah meets a BUNCH of new friends

My co-workers all have dogs as well, and they frequent the off-leash dog park here in town. Since today was a nice day, and it was a Friday, we all decided to duck out of work a half hour early and take the dogs to the park!

When I walked into the apartment to get Norah, she already knew something exciting was going on. Her suspicions were confirmed when I picked up her leash (this would be leash version 1.0... see Saturday's post for more info on why a leash 2.0 was required). She almost couldn't contain her excitement - and I didn't know that a dog's tail could wag so fast.

We arrived at the park to find that we were not the only people in town who had the great idea to leave work early "for the dog" :-) There were about 15 other dogs there so Norah would have plenty of friends to play with.

At first, poor Norah didn't know what to do with herself since she was immediately popular with the other dogs when we walked in. Lots of butt sniffing and walking in circles around each other ensued - and eventually Norah figured out what was going on and joined up with a pack of dogs that were chasing each other back and forth all over the fenced in area.

By the time we left, Norah was completely worn out and as soon as we got home she munched a bit of her food and curled up on the couch. I decided to skip the walk today since Norah seemed more interested in taking a nap.


When it came time to turn in for the night, things went much more smoothly than they did that first night. After the first night, I picked up a doggie bed for Norah, and a collapsible kennel that we can use when camping and such but which will also serve as her "safe place" to sleep (I got the one pictured to the right - it's meant for a much bigger dog, but this way Norah has plenty of room). Norah learns very quickly and will get into her own bed when I tell her "go to bed". This way, she can sleep with her humans, and avoid killing them with allergies at the same time! :-)

Thursday, November 05, 2009

1st Day at Home

Since I wasn't there for the intial homecoming, Chris kindly took some photos of Norah and uploaded them for me to see her. I learned that she had a tail! And was much larger than I originally thought. I also made Chris OoVoO (a webchat client) with me so I could see her in action. He even displayed her discovering her new home. It was great and made me really happy.

Photos of Norah: 

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

We add an H to Nora's name...

I went to meet Nora today, and adopted her on the spot! She was just too cute to let her go. Some paperwork was signed, and Nora hopped into my car without much fuss. On the drive home, she sniffed around and eventually found a spot that she decided was the best place for her to be and sat there the whole way home (now when we drive anywhere, this is her spot, so apparently she picked a good one).

I'm not sure if Kerby really expected to adopt Nora right away, but judging from her Twitter stream and her FaceBook updates she was as excited as I was :-)

We did a little bit of Google searching and it turns out that Nora (without an "h") is actually an acronym for all kinds of things - my favorite is "National Oil Recycler's Association". But, a Google search for Norah with an "h" returns a bunch of famous people's names. Since Norah doesn't do a lot of oil recycling herself, we decided to add an H to the end of her name. She can't spell, so it doesn't seem to be bothering her in the slightest.

I got her home and she adapted to her new surroundings very quickly. She spend the first 20 minutes or so sniffing all around the apartment until she found a spot on the couch that she liked and parked herself there to watch TV with me. We went for a walk later in the evening and I didn't hear any complaints from her about her new neighborhood either :-)

Tomorrow I will need to go out and get her some more dog food, and a dog bed for her to sleep in since she likes to sleep in the same room as her humans but can't sleep on the human bed because poor Kerby's immune system seems to think that it should attack everything ranging from pollen to pet dander. I would really like to keep both Kerby and Norah around though, so getting Norah her own bed seems to be the best plan.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Who is that Doggie in the Website?

Chris has been so anxious to get a dog lately. He lives in an apartment inside a residence hall and we need a smaller dog that doesn't bark a lot. The original plan was to bring my corgi, Lucy with me when I move-in in July  but after a trial weekend I felt so bad for her as she wasn't happy. (How would you feel if you lived in a house with a yard for 2 years and then had to move to an apartment?) So, Chris and I started to look around again. I want a dog just as badly as he does but since I will not be living with in for another 8 months it's not a huge priority of mine, but he's been extra whiney about it lately. Occasionally, on a whim I check online for available dogs and stumbled across this face:
Awwww... she is listed for a corgi mix named Nora that was being fostered in Des Moines (right near Chris).


Randomly I decided to put in a call to the rescue and just inquire about her, she was too cute to pass up and Chris is going to meet her on Wednesday! Maybe we will have a dog before we know it...