Walking and Talking Wednesday and Blog Hopping

This was actually Sunday. It is too hot (even at 7 this morning) for a puggy to be trotting on the sidewalks and streets. But on Sunday I went on an adventure and met a new FURiend. This is Fancy. My Auntie B has been dog sitting her for a week or so. But I had never met her because . . . no real reason. I just never had. But Auntie B had picked these here apples for Mommy and when she came over on Saturday she had forgotten them. Mommy suggested perhaps the two of us could head HER way on Sunday and get the apples. So we did. And I am glad we did. I thought Fancy was a pretty good egg - we didn't really play much though. I spent a lot of time wandering all over her really nice yard checking out pee mail and smelling the myriad flowers that grow there. It was fun! Then we took a walk around her neighborhood which is a bit hillier than my neighborhood but still doable. I huffed and puffed but overall I handled it fine. It was a relatively short visit because Auntie B had somewhere else to go. But we had fun and I am glad we went.

Plus it was a good test of the Kurgo Tru Fit Smart Harness for the Auto. 

Today is Wednesday and it is BLOG HOP day.

So get ready. . .

Let's HOP

Precious Kurgo. . . #chewyinfluencer

Mommy calls me her "Most Precious" . . . dog . . . kid. . . thing. . . I don't know what follows. She just says that much; kinda like "Come here my Most Precious." She is weird like that. She says her number one job it to keep me and Mommy #1 safe, well fed, and happy. It is a BIG job.

She says SAFE is the hardest of all three. And that is where this story begins.

Molly and I both have JULY
birthdays so we celebrate
LARGE

Since July was my BIRTHDAY month, Mommy let me choose what I wanted from the Chewy.com newsletter. As I have previously stated, I chose TREATS. Mommy reserved VETO rights, though and said she wanted me to put a little more thought into my choice and she ELIMINATED treats from the list. Well, that didn't leave a lot to choose from but a couple kinds of FOOD and a harness. Well, my harness is as OLD as I am AND SO THIS is how I came to try and review the Kurgo Tru Fit Smart Harness for walking and auto.

At first Mommy ordered the wrong size. She thought the SMALL was up-to 16 pounds and I am somewhere between 15-17 pounds, depending on how many peaches I have eaten (Hint: a lot lately). So she ordered the medium because she KNEW at my last vet visit I was 17 pounds. In two days time,  the harness arrived. It was BIG and heavy and Mommy was so unsure about it. But there are 5 points of adjustment on this harness so she figured once it was adjusted all would be well. So she set about tightening everything possible.

Padded chest plate adds to the comfort. It also
has a D-ring in front to attach the leash and
provide no-pull walkability

Still the MEDIUM but you can tell how
nice looking the harness is

See the various buckles? That is how you
customize the fit

Once she put the harness on me GUESS WHAT? It was still too big! You may not be able to tell here, but Mommy can put her whole hand under the straps and that means Noodles "Houdini" the Pug could easily escape this harness. At this point, Mommy did the UNTHINKABLE . . . she read the box and found this -

If you BIGIFY the chart you will see the MEDIUM size is for dogs OVER 25 pounds. No wonder the Kurgo Tru Fit Smart Harness did not fit! It was WAY WAY WAY too big. So Mommy contacted Ms Natalie at Chewy.com and told her the tale of woe. . . or WHOA as I like to call it. Ms. Natalie immediately sent out the new SMALL harness and it arrived 2 days later.

It was much much smaller than the first so THIS time Mommy loosened all of the adjustment points as the box suggested. She then slipped it over my head and set about making the harness fit perfectly. As you can see, it really is a good fit. Mommy can only slide her fingers under the straps and best of all - I cannot slip out of the harness. Unlike all of the other car harnesses Mommy has tried and TAKEN BACK, this one can be adjusted at the neck. And as we all know, pugs have mediumISH size necks and chests on otherwise small bodies. It is not at all TIGHT. It fits snugly enough to prevent me from sliding my head out. Once I can do this, it is ALL OVER. I can wiggle out of anything once my head (Big head as Mommy says) is free. 

There is no point where this harness is unwieldy or uncomfortable and I honestly like to wear it.

This is the harness in action. It is slid onto the seat belt which
is then closed. The carabiner clips onto the ring at the top of
the harness

The question is - does it work? Short of getting in a crash to check out the "Crash Tested" part of the marketing claims, I would say yes, it does. I am safely buckled on the seat and I have enough mobility to lay down or look out of the window. I cannot jump down to the car floor which I have done before - almost hanging myself in the process. That was NOT a fun time.  If Mommy has to stop quickly, I also don't fly off the seat to the floor. I am so comfortable that I have stopped fussing at Mommy whenever we get in the car and go bye-bye. I used to. I used to whine my displeasure at not seeing out. . . at the movement. . . at pretty much the whole adventure until I got used to it (generally 10-15 minutes in). Now I DO NOT FUSS at all and Mommy says it MUST be the harness.

And walking while wearing the harness is a dream. I don't pull like some dogs (Molly) so I have no need for the front leash attachment. Mommy tried it and I was very confused. So she switched it back to the top ring and I was fine. I do my happy trot when I am wearing it because I love it so much.

While the harness is a little higher priced than many other harnesses out there, it is by far one of the best and most versatile harnesses as well. It has TWO functions - Auto Harness and Walking Harness - and it does both jobs equally well. So I am thinking it is CHEAPER than buying two harnesses to do the same job.

I have to say - I give the Kurgo Tru Fit Smart harness INFINITY PAWS UP because it is the best harness I have ever had. It is SMART looking, SMART fitting, and SMART safety-ing. I cannot think of a downside at all and I have tried. And tried. AND TRIED.

**I was given the above product by Chewy.com for the sole purpose of testing it out and offering an honest opinion of it. I have never been paid by Chewy.com nor the product-company and all opinions expressed in my blog belong to me.

The Monday Morning Blues

It's Monday Morning

And I got the Blues

It's Monday Morning 

And I got the Blues

Jus' gonna lie here with BLUE

Cuz he's got the Blues TOO

It's Monday Morning

And I got the Blues

It's Monday Morning

And I got the Blues

Lulu left me and Molly

For Her Mommy's new Shoes

She smiled BIG. . . . .

Gave her Mama a GRIN. . . . .

She skedaddled as quick as can BE. . . . . 

I got the Monday Morning Blues

And you'd have 'em too

If Lulu left you this way

It's Monday Morning

And I got the Blues

It's Monday Morning

And I got the Blues

Gonna pick up my HEELS and head to the Hills

And find my Lu-lu-lu

I got the BLUES. . .

Can you see she is grinning from one silly ear to the other?

And The FUN Continues . . .

Lulu Rockin' The Hat

Do you remember our house guest from April - LULU? Well, she is back. I was just complaining to Mommy that I never see Lulu and, truth be told, I kind of missed her. She is funny because she is so young and full of energy. And she is CUTE as anything with her red "beard" and her "Flying Nun" ears. Really, what's not to like? Well, as luck would have it her Mommy and Aunt are both on vacation RIGHT now and couldn't take her with them. So we stood up high on our haunches and said SEND HER TO US!!!!

So Lulu arrived on last Friday night and I am telling you it has been non-stop fun since the minute she arrived. We have been playing chase the pup and wrestling and playing bitey-mouth almost non-stop! I am feeling like a PUPPY again. I think at this point you could say we are a bit like sisters more than FURiends. Yes, we are that close.

Mommy tried to get a VIDEO of Molly and Lulu playing; but true-to-form they stopped playing just as she started recording.

But I think you get the idea. Usually they are much more energetic.

Note the 3 beds lined up. That is because Molly and I were fighting over LULU'S bed and ignoring our own bed. So Mommy added the bed from Molly's crate (that Sunshine the Cat and I use but Molly never uses) so we could all have a bed while she is working. It worked. We happily all nap close to Mommy on our own beds.

All too soon it is time for Lulu to go home. Her Mommy and Aunt return this weekend and will be anxious to have her home. I, PUGsonally, cannot wait for the next time Lulu comes to stay.

How to Make a Baseball Hat

This is the baseball hat my Mommy made for Bark at the Park. It's pretty cool, I have to admit and I didn't mind wearing it while sitting in my seat (the sun was in my eyes and the hat helped). Walking around was another story as I kept shaking my head which would dislodge the hat and position it on my CHIN. But most of the time I wore it.

The nice thing about this hat is it was cheap and mostly used stuff Mommy had around the house. It is made from a FOAM sheet like the kind you get for kids' crafts. She and Cousin C found a pack of 5 6x8 sheets at Dollar Tree. Then Mommy went online and found a pattern for kids' visors. These she printed at 50% and it was perfect for a pug head.

This is where she got the template for the visor - http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/visor.html

But she didn't want a visor so she put her thinking CAP on and figured out a way to make the head piece. She GOOGLED sun visor hat pattern for dogs and stared at them until she came up with a plan. She cut a rectangle of FOAM  the width of the visor inside - about 3" - and the length of the foam -7 3/4" . This she glued to the visor and on the other end she folded to make a canal to pass elastic through.

On the visor, she used a ballpoint pen and made two holes (one on each side). She attached the skinny elastic to one side and threaded it through the backside of the rectangle where she made the canal. . . then OUT the other side and over to the hole on THAT side of the visor and VOILA! It now had some shape. But she needed to add a chin strap to hold the hat on and create ear holes. So she took thicker elastic and sewed it onto the elastic between the visor and the canal. It made a kind of "V" shape. That's where the ears go.

Molly's hat - see how her ears feed through the "V"

I kinda like this Mommy

This picture was before she sewed the other side and the elastic was too small. But see how it fit?

That's it! I now have an Oakland A's baseball cap that I can wear to ALL BALL GAMES. I think it is cool. You can decorate it any way you choose. We made one for our FURiend Fezzik as well. His was a manly BLUE with a baseball drawn on it.

Wordy Wednesday, Blog Hop with Blogpaws, and Wednesday Affirmation - So Much To Do!

 If you recall, a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was testing out a new harness from Kurgo for Chewy.com.
I plan to write a total review next week for Chewy.com where I will let you know all the plusses and minuses of my experiences with the harness. I want you to see the restraint in action, though. Do I look cute or WHAT?

It's time for another Blog Hop with Blogpaws. If you don't know about Blogpaws then check them out and join the fun. It is a great way to make new FURiends.

Hop Here

Finally, what's a day without a little Affirmations? I have done 41 so far. Do you have a favorite?

If It Tastes Good You Gotta . . .

If it is food you oughta

If it tastes good you gotta

If you smack your lips you wanna

If you like it you're gonna