We adopted Greta in October 2006, and we had about two months of good weather before the rain started, so I had time to buy some winter togs for my girl.

I got her these jammies (they call them “snugglies”), in Jaguar, which Greta likes (but always manages to pull her back legs out of come morning).

As for coats, I started with this, a very cute one that’s perfect for fall, spring and mild winter days. I bought it in pink, because I’m a breast cancer survivor, but it’s also available in the more “manly” ocean blue and ice blue.

We used that coat the first year, and before last winter, I decided to get Greta one of these coats for rainy, cold winter days. In hot pink, of course.

I’m thinking before next winter, I will be purchasing one of these or these, just to have another rainy-day option.

But first, I will be buying one of these to get us through the summer.

I also recently bought this after seeing the cover of AKC Family Dog magazine (and, yes, obsessively calling them to find out where they got the shirt the greyhound on the cover is wearing). Unfortunately, even the 2XL was a bit too snug for my girl, who weighs about 60 lbs.

I’m pretty sure my neighbors refer to me as “that weird lady who dresses up her dog”, but I don’t care.

The fact is, Greta has zero body fat, and on the days when I’m cold (and I have some extra padding), I’m sure she’s freezing.

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First, let me explain that I am not one of those people. You know, the ones who can nonchalantly walk/drive by a loose dog in the street or on the side of the road and carry on as if nothing was the matter.

I have to stop. I am compelled to stop. And while I like to joke that I am always doing this to try to up my “canine Karma” in the event that Greta ever slips away from me, that’s really not true, because I was doing this long before I ever considered having a dog.

Back to the finding of dogs, which usually happens a couple of times a year (I lost count at 10 dogs since we’ve lived here). This past weekend, it happened again.

On Saturday, we decided to go on a family walk, which we hardly ever do. Greta was leashed up and very excited to be with both “mommy” and “daddy”, and off we went.

About two blocks away, we saw a rottweiler running in the street. It saw us and turned and ran the other way, so we followed it. It ran up to a house, and Mike was 99 percent sure it lived there.

The dog was very sweet and submissive, so I was able to see that it had a license but no address/phone number tag, so we had no way of contacting the owner.

Of course, no one was home, and neither were the neighbors on either side. For some reason, the house also had no backyard access from the front, so we could neither get the dog back in the yard, nor figure out how it got out to begin with. (It was grossly overweight, so there was no under/over the fence action, to be sure.)

The people who lived there often had the rottweiler tethered to a tree in front of the house, so we took that tether and tied the dog to the front door, hoping that the owners would be back momentarily and all would be fine. I filled the dog’s water dish, and we set off.

On our way home about an hour later, we went back by the house, and the dog was still there. We made sure it had enough water and was as comfortable as possible, and we came home and called Sacramento Animal Control to report the incident.

Because the dog had a license, they were able to contact the owner and resolve the problem. Thankfully, the dog was o.k. and didn’t get hurt or hit by a car in the meantime.

Then, on Sunday morning on our way out on some errands, we saw a dachshund running in the street (a very busy street by our house) and no one was around. We stopped, and the little thing had a collar on, but no tags of any kind (not very helpful when trying to reunite dog and owner).

We brought it home and got a leash and I walked it all around the area where we found it, in the hopes that it would either know its way home or its owner would come out looking for it.

Neither happened, so again I called Animal Control.

An Animal Control Officer came out to get the dog, and it just so happened to be the same guy I talked to the day before about the rottweiler.

He thanked me for helping them out (both the dogs and Animal Control), and then he said:

“You know, you’re doing the right thing. Most people think it’s better to leave the dog and let it find its way home, but they almost never do and they just end up hurt or dead. It’s much better to give them a chance to be reunited or adopted by someone else, or at least put down humanely instead of being hit by a car.”

I hugged the man. And then I went inside and showered Greta with kisses.

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Here’s a list of the best “dog” books I’ve read recently, in no particular order (other than first, because that’s my all-time favorite).

1. Sight Hound, by Pam Houston
It’s fiction, which I don’t generally care for. But with Houston, it’s always got a real-life base, and this book is a beautiful story about love between (wo)man and “beast”.

2. Marley & Me, by John Grogan
I’m so glad I made my husband read this before we got Greta, because it makes her look so good by comparison! Anyone considering getting a dog should read this worst-case-scenario story.

3. Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, by Ted Kerasote
Read my review here.

4. Woman’s Best Friend: Women Writers on the Dogs in Their Lives, edited by Megan McMorris
Short stories from my peeps.

5. Bark If You Love Me: What If Mr. Right Turns Out to Have Four Legs and a Tail?, by Louise Bernikow
Bernikow writes with wit, scarasm and passion about the boxer she found and saved.

6. Dreaming in Libro: How a Good Dog Tamed a Bad Woman, by Louise Bernikow
The sequel to Bark If You Love Me, but you don’t have to read both to get the big picture.

7. What the Dogs Have Taught Me: And Other Amazing Things I’ve Learned, by Merrill Markoe
Not all dog-related stories here, but all with one theme: FUNNY.

8. Dog is My Co-Pilot: Great Writers on the World’s Oldest Friendship, from the editors of The Bark
Writers, including a Ph.D. and a D.V.M., as well as Pulitzer Prize winner and a comedienne, wax poetic about canines.

9. Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit, from the editors of The Bark
More stories, most good, some great, some terrible. Read my review here.

10. Why Do Dogs Drink Out of the Toilet?, by Marty Becker, D.V.M., and Gina Spadafori
Answering many of the canine mysteries of the world.

Want any/all of these? I get all my reads here and here.

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Nikki Cuthbertson, www.onewithnature.info, is coming to Sacramento to do animal communication sessions April 5 and 6. She will start doing readings at around 10:30 a.m., take an hour lunch break, and then continue until 5 or 5:30 p.m. Although the location is to be determined, it will most likely be Curtis Park or McKinley Park. 

Cuthbertson is a Registered Nurse, Yoga Instructor, Animal Communicator and Reiki Master who has worked in the health care system for 20 years, primarily in critical care.

Upon deciding to leave the health care system to pursue teaching yoga and offering energy healing, she says that many people have also been coming to her for animal communication. She has worked will various animals, including dogs, cats and horses. In 1999, Cuthbertson became a Reiki Master, and in her client practice, she focuses on exploring the thought patterns that create ill health, as well as exploring health/life habits and balancing of the chakras, or energy centers. For this special event, Cuthbertson is available for animal communication, Reiki or a combo, and she is also offering Reiki on humans (same pricing). She can work in person with the animals, or work off a picture (she also does phone readings as well). The cost is $45 for half hour, $70 for 45 minutes, $85 for 1 hour, and $130 for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Deanne Rotta is the contact person for this event. Anyone interested should call Rotta at (916) 427-4342 or e-mail her at drotta@sbcglobal.net to schedule an appointment in advance. If you want more information about Cuthbertson, call (707) 780-9514 or click here. (For the record, I have never experienced animal communication first hand, but I did sign Greta up for an hour of Reiki/communication, and among other things, I hope to learn how she lost the tip of one ear, why she has sleep aggression, and if she’s happy with the life I am providing her. I will be sure to blog about my experience!)

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Back when we knew Greta was going to be a part of our household, but she had yet to join our lives, I was reading a lot of “dog training” books.

A lot.

One of them (who can remember which one?) mentioned that when training your dog to “go” on command, you need to choose your wording wisely, because these will be the very same commands you will be using years later…in front of your friends, neighbors and strangers.

Of course, I chose two baby-like commands (“potty” and “poo poo”).

While I don’t regret my word choices, I have found myself, on occassion, embarassed as I’ve had to let Greta out to go “potty” and followed her around the back yard in the wee hours (no pun intended) of the morning, whispering ”go potty” a million times.

These days, Greta is fully “potty” trained.

She does still occassionally get me up in the middle of the night. And when she does, I have to remember that, given the alternative, it’s not a bad thing to be whispering “go potty” in my backyard in those wee hours of the morning.

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You know what I’m talking about…the collar that’s more of a cone, and makes your dog look like a crazy drunk party-goer who took a lampshade and decided it would make a nice upside down hat.

Fortunately, Greta has only had to wear her “Elizabethan collar”, as the vets so kindly describe it, once. Oh, it’s not a pretty story, and I will share it in a day or two, but the gist is she was bit by another dog at the dog park, and she wound up with a drain and several stitches, and the lovely collar.

And, of course, it happened the day before we were heading to Lake Tahoe for vacation, so here is a pic of Greta’s first experience with Lake Tahoe.

(That’s Greta on the left, fyi.)

All in all, she was a good sport about the whole thing, up until the day before she was supposed to get her sticthes out, when she got all excited and decided to do it herself. That got her a few more days with the E-collar.

Since then, I’ve done some research, and think I may get one of these or these to have on hand just in case.

Hopefully I’ll never need it!

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In fact, the month before Greta came into my life, my husband and I went on a cross-country trip and I bought several collars for a dog I hadn’t even set eyes on yet.

Of course, once Greta was here, we quickly realized that such a long neck really requires a substantial collar. And, lest we not forget, a Martingale collar.

(Martingale collars are great for dogs with necks wider than their heads, such as greyhounds/sighthounds. When they pull, the collar tightens. Martingale collars are also considered “humane” choke collars.)

I’ve purchased collars here and here, and just recently found some really cute ones here, here and here.

Just bought these…

In my circle of dog friends, I’ve even earned the rep as a collar w—- (rhymes with “more”).

But I don’t care.

To me, really any occasion is a new collar occasion. I figure I’m all set for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Greta’s birthday.

Now what to buy for the first day of summer?

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But we’re not here to talk about felines, are we?

My dog, Greta, turns three in April, and I (we, really, because I’m married) have had her since October 2006.

Although she’s considered a retired Greyhound, technically she never raced. Which also means she’s more like a regular dog and less like a couch potato.

Good for her. More work for us. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now it’s your turn–who’s your doggy?

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