Category Archives: Euka II

Have a nice day, honey. Make good choices!

I allow a moment of silence for deep thought. Naw, he says. Whatever you feel like.

Yes, the freedom of choice!  He has loosed the reins and  I can select whatever tickles my fancy, cuisine-wise. Not that I’m reined in or even need to be loosened, of course. It’s a figure of speech, you know. Or sarcasm. Or something like that.


No, that’s not my meatloaf, hahahaha. Um, wait a sec . . .

It’s also the courtesy dance that we do. I already know what tonight’s chow is gonna be. It’s Cook’s Choice, that’s what. But I’m willing to be flexible enough if the man has a hankering for something in particular. We’re still talking about dinner, by the way. Really, people.

Some life decisions come easy, right? Like evening meal plans. Meatloaf, the Sequel -or- Let’s Go Out?  And yet others take some quiet time to ponder. Accept that job offer in another state -or- Stay safe with what you know? Then we have the choices that fall somewhere in the middle. Do I really need to stop at this next exit -or- can I count on my bladder to not burst like a water balloon before I make it home?  Risky stuff, this decision making.  Aw c’mon, you say, sometimes it’s just meatloaf. Not everything is a life changing event. Oh sure, I pretty much agree. Except you’ve never had my meatloaf, have you?

What’s in this anyway? asks The Husband, poking at the quivering gray matter with his fork. Was it anyone we knew?

It’s half Meat. I say. And half loaf. Half ketchup, too.  A little mystery is good for keeping that spark in a relationship, they say.

Oh, but we know about the basics of good decision making, don’t we? Like how it’s a stellar idea to write a grocery list to help stick to a budget and to never go food shopping on an empty stomach, lest you end up with frozen yogurt and corn chips to balance out the week’s nutrition. Or the importance of refraining from posting an emotional monologue on Facebook while sipping upon a generous amount of adult beverage. Or writing blog posts, for that matter. Just sayin’.

So just like Cook’s Choice nights, I’m not the kind of girl that holds back in making undebated decisions. And I do tend to rely heavily on intuition, which includes a gut feeling of confidence that this is absolutely the right thing to be done. Yeah sure, some people would call that being impulsive. Foolish, even. And [sigh] they’d be right. Because it’s true that my intuition spends too much time painting her nails instead of honing street smarts. And by painting her nails, I mean surfing for funny dog videos on the web. Oh, and we know that the otherwise trustworthy gut feel is sometimes merely a dire rumbly in the tummy resulting from Cook’s Choice nights.

Here’s where you come in

There are some decisions better left to a community of minds, I think. Like this one, for instance. Miss Euka and I could use some style advice from y’all.

WooferWear Woven Gerber Daisies collar

Our Euka finds herself in need of some girly bling in the way of a new collar. The pet store brand collar I bought early on was indeed totally kick-butt with the pink skull & crossbones on a black background. Rather befitting of her Bring it On personality. But sadly, the design has worn off in a very short time.  A disappointing display of shoddy workmanship by this particular outsourced manufacturer, it seems.

I’ve decided to go all out on quality this time around. And still keeping with a kicky style too. Sure it can be done. And here’s how. Fellow CCI puppy raiser, Nancee Wright, sells her handmade dog collars on her Etsy site at WooferWear.  I know this is a good decision this time as purchasing from Etsy vendors supports artisans, small businesses, and as a bonus here at WooferWear, Canine Companions for Independence benefits as well.  Nancee donates a percentage of her sales to CCI.  Ok, it’s time to trust that gut feeling.



WooferWear Colorful Blooms collar

The mighty Micron already sports a WooferWear collar in the Celtic Knot design. A couple of photos of the blindingly handsome male model Micron are out on the Dog Bling post from last year.

So help us out, will you?

Take a peek out at the hundred plus designs available at WooferWear and let us know what you think fits Euka’s style.

Is it daisies or a woodland animals?  Folk artsy or a southwestern flair?  Ooh, maybe the aptly named Houndstooth pattern?

I pulled a couple of examples from WooferWear’s Etsy site here for you, but these are pretty much random screen shots. Don’t let these sway you. Go with your gut feel, y’all.


WooferWear Spirograph in Turquoise collar


Drop us a comment with your fashion choice for our diva, Miss Euka.  And hey, if you’re a fellow dog blogger, be sure to put a link to your website as well so other folk can see where you’re from.

I’ll announce the popular choice taken from the comments left on this blog page, as well as the Raising a Super Dog Facebook page, on April 21.

And you know, if anything catches your eye leaving you pondering just how you made it this far in life without this exact collar for your dog, well, tell Nancee that Euka sent ya.

Euka II meets The Bloggess

“Look! I’m standing in front of a fire. And I didn’t start it this time!”  –The Bloggess (with a cozy fireplace at her back.)

As I scan the attendees of this standing-room-only book signing event, I take in that we’re a bit of an eccentric group. I was going to say eclectic, but I don’t think that e-tic word is as good a fit. This isn’t my first book signing event, of course. I’m a bibliophile, people. I spend a lot of time with books so I can be all smart and stuff. And also being a people watcher (not a stalkerphile) it’s interesting to me what brings a culture of folk together.

So nice I can see her twice. Because I’d rather see this chick’s iPad than the speaker.

Off to our right Euka is taking in the sight of a rather outgoing lady with a kicky purple and red spiked do (checking that one off the Euka’s Seen That list). We meet two friends sitting together who were generous to offer me a section of their bench so I wouldn’t have to stand. They talk on an on about their websites and stats. About ten o’clock to my left there’s a woman holding a . . . wait, what is that? Huh. She’s clutching a stuffed unicorn head in her lap. And there’s that one hapless fellow in this otherwise progesterone laden audience. And yeah, me. The chick with the dog.

Jenny Lawson reads the PG version of Stanley, the Magical  Talking Squirrel.

If I would have remembered to bring the Kindle, both questions could be easily tackled with a quickie search. But I left the thing plugged in on the kitchen counter. No matter, I have plenty of time to roll through some of the chapters in the paperback I brought.

And yep here’s a chapter with dogs in the title: You can’t go home again (unless you want to get mauled by wild dogs). Well, that doesn’t sound good. No spoilers here, but I will tell you it involves photos of stitches.  Ugh, so now I’m feeling unsettled, which is always a bad thing. Because that’s when the paranoia starts.

How will she react to the pup when I walk up? Will we be rushed through the line? And what is that cop standing there for? We need a cop at a book store? Is this some kind of a high risk book signing? Dang it, what is my favorite story in the book?

Settle down, you weirdo, I tell myself. Grow a pair, girl, and act like you know what you’re doing. A deep breath to chill myself out and holy cow . . . here she comes!
 
The Bloggess puts us all at ease with her open, friendly personality. So approachable and so very clever and funny. But, she tells us, she’s been asked to not say any bad words during her book reading. Not an easy task, we fans of The Bloggess know all too well. We’re not-so-strategically positioned right next to the children’s section of the book store, so this censorship request is indeed easy to support. Yet, still a bit disappointing to think of her colorful words diluted to a watery gray version.

But Jenny Lawson is funny and clever, right? She’s got this. For every R-rated word, she says, she’ll replace with the word hippopotamus.  So she went off the usual plan and chose the chapter of Stanley, the Magical Talking Squirrel because it has the fewest f-bombs. The title suggests it could be a children’s tale, doesn’t it? It’s not.

“Holy hippopotamus, you psychopath!” is what I would have said if I hadn’t been eight years old. -excerpt from Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.

I think it works. Even the cop cracked a smile.
 
So clutching my #58 line ticket, I await my turn to meet The Bloggess. The line is moving slowly because Jenny is allowing photo ops with all who ask. I take this as a good sign. As we reach the table I ask her publisher escort (who is not a prostitute, Jenny Lawson told us right up front) if she thinks Jenny would be agreeable to a photo with the dog. The woman looks at me like I just pulled a second head from my pocket and says something rather curt to me. She must be good with dogs, I think, because the chick sure is lacking in people skills. I shrug it off and decide to take my chances.

We made it, it’s finally our turn with The Bloggess. An hour’s drive and nearly another two hours waiting for this moment. Euka, our little confident pup, has been a rock the whole time – solid and steady.  We spent much of the time waiting by working on calm greetings and reinforcing her Sit/Stays and Down/Stays. Good grief, I couldn’t be prouder of this six month old puppy that is Euka II.


nom-nom-nom, says Euka II.

Thank you, I say as The Bloggess hands my autographed book back to me. Then, could I take a photo of you with the puppy?
 
Of course! she says. While Jenny Lawson beams a smile, I ask Euka to Sit. And . . . it’s this moment in time that our clever pup loses her ability to understand English. Que pasa, senorá?asks Euka. Pardoné, femme de nourriture? 

Sit, I say again. Like I mean it. Euka looks at me, looks around. Sniffs the floor. And continues to stand there. Even the cop is laughing now.  Now, Euka? I lament. This is our moment, babe. You do this now?

Fine. I dig out a dog cookie. Oh, Sit! says Euka. You slurred or something. I had no idea.

I don’t want to hold up the line any more for the folk behind us. I snap a quick photo and check the digital image. Jenny looks great.  Euka looks like she’s chewing a dog cookie with her mouth open.

Aargh, hippopotamus. Let’s get just one more, I say. What a good sport, that Jenny Lawson.

I thank her again, saying it like I mean it, and step aside for her next avid fan. Hi! how are you?, the fan asks Jenny.

I’m doing great, says The Bloggess. Now that I got to pet a dog.

I love her.

Euka II on an earlier visit to Books & Co. posing in front of a book written by my favorite  local author, Katrina Kittle.