Athena and Bingley: Holiday Shoppers

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  We sure did!  Athena has been pretty spoiled with the turkey leftovers.  She also got to meet a new friend this weekend whom she LOVED!  Our friend from college was visiting Portland for the holiday, so we decided to meet up for a doggie date with her and her dog Bingley (a seven month old Corgi).

Athena & Bingley- besties in a heartbeat!

We started our date at Furever Pets in NE Portland to do a little bit of Christmas shopping for the pups. Athena and Bingley acted like they had been pals forever as they paroozed the store together.

Shopping at Furever Pets (notice Athena's fancy reindeer antlers that she tried on)

Next we took a break for coffee and as we sipped our drinks, Athena and Bingley became the stars of the day's news.  We were approached by a local news station to be interviewed for a segment about Cyber Monday.  Below you can see the segment where we talked about our holiday shopping for the dogs (start at 30 seconds):

If you viewed the video above, you may have noticed that Athena and Bingley were getting a bit restless sitting and waiting for us to finish our coffee and interview.  We rewarded them by taking them to a local park where they chased each other all around, played ball, and tumbled in the mud.

Bingley gave Athena a run for her money!

Hanging out at the park

Sir Bingley was in his glory as he splashed in every mud puddle that he could find.  Much to our dismay, Athena chased him in the puddles (she usually avoids getting dirty at all costs) which meant that our afternoon ended with a trip to the self-serve dog wash.

Bingley says, "C'mon Athena!  Let's roll in the mud!"

I couldn't help myself, mom!

How did you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with your pups?  Have you started your holiday shopping for the dogs yet?

A Walk To The Park & Doggie Play Date

Tonight B's brother came over with his two daughters and his dog Howie for a BBQ.  Before eating

dinner, we took Athena and the two girls on a walk around the neighborhood and to the park.

Athena heeling at the cross walk with B and the girls

B's brother's daughters are in third and sixth grade and have grown up with dogs their whole lives.  Their mom also works at Athena's vet's office, so they are just a big family of dog lovers!  The girls play really well with Athena and we like when they come over so that Athena can have more socialization with children.  Since we are unsure of Athena's past, we don't really know what she has had experiences with such as children and other dogs.

Resting at the park

The girls love Athena and Athena loves the girls!

After the walk, the humans ate while Athena and Howie each spent some time in their separate crates.  Today was the second time that Athena and Howie played together.  Athena is an extremely high energy player and doesn't exactly match Howie's level of energy.  But, Howie was a good sport and let Athena know when she was annoying him with her persistence.  We can tell that Athena hasn't had much experience playing with other dogs because she doesn't yet know when to stop without us giving her some signals.  We appreciate B's brother bringing Howie over so that Athena can have some dog socialization with an owner and dog that we know and trust.  I didn't get any pictures of Athena and Howie playing because they were moving at the speed of light!  Next time I'll try to get pictures of them in action!

How do you help your dog to socialize with other dogs?

P.S.- I realize that I have yet to make an appearance in any of our photos.  I just happen to always be the one behind the camera!  Maybe I will make an appearance in tomorrow's post =)

-A