Fairmount Dog Stories

Lily's Tips for Dealing with Grumpy Dog Behavior

2009-10-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

Lily is enduring Sadie's endless grumbles in response to stimulation from the street. We live in a densely populated urban neighborhood, so there are a lot of street sounds that our dogs deal with every day. Just a few noise sources are buses, honking horns, footsteps and voices, dogs barking, loud machinery and the occasional hoots and hollers from homes and restaurants. We have the added street activity of Terror Behind the Walls and Halloween underway. All of this adds up to Sadie-the-grump: lots of vocalizing in response to the noise from outside of our walls. Here are Lily's top three coping strategies for dealing with Sadie the Grump.

1. Take a nap. Lily never seems to mind getting a little extra sleep, especially on gray and rainy days.

2. Snuggle in. Lily is a snuggler. She could even be accused of attempting to be a lap puppy, even though she three and almost 80 lbs.

3. Let Sadie win. Sadie is a tiny bit competitive. One of Lily's most endearing qualities is that she waits for Sadie the Squirt to eat, nibble cheese and even receive affection before jumping in line for hers.

MM & RY 2009

Happy Howloween

2009-10-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Lily are getting ready to Pawty for Howloween, the latest Pawpawty sponsored by Twitter Anipals. Sadie and Lily want to thank @fergusthedog for including us as DJs for this event. We groove to tunes tomorrow, Sunday October 25, at 7 am eastern time for an hour.

For more information about the event visit these links:

Paws around the world, Twitter's @frugaldougal's website:

http://frugaldougaldog.blogspot.com/

Official Pawpawty invitation:

http://twtvite.com/32sd7n

Pawpawty Home - The complete picture of all that is happening!

http://web.me.com/lynnh/PawPawty/PawPawty_Home.html

Romeothecat's Blog with Anipal Charities Info:

http://www.romeothecat.com/

Sadie's New Bling from IntheDogHouse

2009-07-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sadie began her mascot duties with ITSRG, Temple University's Information Technology and Society Research Group - ITSRG - this week. Her duties include: accompanying students in the program on field trips, visiting the Wissahickon Park, and being an excellent companion to the talented and dedicated staff of ITSRG.

We thought it would be a good idea if she started her position with a new outfit and bling. So, we headed to our neighborhood pet products establishment - In the D og House - and we worked with the owner to pick out the cutest matching harness and leash we could find for her new job.

Here she is in her new polka dots! What do you think?

Lily Monitors the Playground from Under her Favorite Bench

2009-06-23T01:56:00.000-07:00

Recently, Sadie enjoyed a day at Assateague Island. While Sadie was sniffing ponies, chasing waves and rolling in the sand at the beach, Lily monitored the playground in Fairmount. She did this from a fantastic vantage point - underneath the bench. The playground was cleaned a few weeks ago. Holes were filled with dirt and leveled. New grass was planted where the dogs had beaten down the grass into dirt paths. Branches were picked up, and trash was removed. Lily has taken a renewed interest in her old puppy hiding spot - the safe zone under the bench. When she was a few months old, it was the place to retreat when the big dogs became a bit too much for her to handle. Now it's the perfect place to relax in the sun. It's not quite as glamorous as Sadie's beach blanket, but it will do on a city summer afternoon.

MM & RY 2009

#WeekendRoadtrip Travel Logistics

2009-05-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Lily's #WeekendRoadTrip Ride

Sadie and Lily thoroughly enjoyed sharing some information about three of their favorite destinations - Graceland, Brazil and the Delmarva Peninsula - during the #WeekendRoadtrip held over the 2009 Memorial Day weekend. We explored Wikipedia articles and Flickr photo streams to showcase some of the best online materials we could find related to these settings.

The event was sponsored by two of our Twitter Anipals, @GD_Kenworth and @Flicka47. They worked to organize the event, and along with many others who served as tourguides, bartenders, DJs, competition hosts, and event MCs, Anipals partied around the world for over 24 hours to raise money for Veteran's K-9 Corps.

View #WeekendRoadtrip in a larger map

Fairmount Dog Stories Tweeples created a map of the global destinations shared by all of the #weekendroadtrip tourguides. An event Wiki was created that shows the entire electronic pawprint of the event. Folks shared photos and videos, stories and adventures throughout the weekend. Perhaps more than previous #pawpawty events, this one truly captured Anipal Twitterpower, since the entire theme was one of connecting global geographic settings for the goal of raising funds for animals in need.

As for Sadie and Lily, they are eager to pull out the Airstream trailer for another adventure in the near future. In the meantime we can be found in the throws of a Rawhide War most any evening on Twitter.

MM & RY 2009

Other Posts Related to the #WeekendRoadTrip

Even Twitter Break down can't stop the anipals

Buzz from BZTAT!: #Pawpawty: Animals Celebrate Around the World to Raise Money for Animal Charities

We are going to Delmarva for a #WeekendRoadtrip

2009-05-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Lily are going to visit the Delmarva Peninsula for the upcoming #pawpawty called #WeekendRoadtrip sponsored by Twitter Anipals. This region is located within an hour's drive of Philadelphia. It is home to lots of Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay shore lines, navigable rivers, and wildlife settings. Sadie in particular loves to visit friends and family who live in the area. Sadie loves to run across Salisbury University's campus and walk along the sandy shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Kent Island. Lily and Sadie both love the sounds and smells of migrating birds throughout the fall and spring across the region. Everyone enjoys bargain hunting at flee markets and antique shops in the small towns throughout the region. We will share with you some of our favorite places and things to do, along with stories about some of Sadie's antics on Delmarva.

Sadie is ready to run on Salisbury University's Campus

MM & RY 2009

Rawhide Wars Continued

2009-05-10T05:43:00.001-07:00

Sadie is Winning!

We post about the nightly rawhide skirmishes of Sadie and Lily on a regular basis at our Twitter feed, @dogstories.

The stories are true - Sadie and Lily are each given their own rawhide or other safe chewy nearly every night. Inevitably, Sadie ends up with both rawhides or chewies, despite the fact that Lily is ten times her size. But, Lily is a gentle giant, so her response to Sadie's hoarding ways is to whine and give in to the nightly injustice. We moderate as best we can, but Sadie is relentless in her quest for rawhide treats.

We feature Rawhide Wars competitions in honor of Sadie and Lily's ludicrous ways. You can join by following dogstories on Twitter. To play, simply DM (direct message) us whenever you see the phrase: "Sadie is Winning!" in our dogstories tweets. The first to respond will have their pet profiled on our blog, Fairmount Dog Stories.

You you are cordially invited to join in the fun of Sadie and Lily's Rawhide Wars antics!

MM & RY 2009

Sadie and Lily's Youtube Pawpawty Playlist

2009-04-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Lily enjoy the Twitter #pawpawties that have been sponsored by our Twitter Anipals in recent weeks to support Romeo the Cat's charities on behalf of animals left behind by the economic crisis. We are not DJ masters like CosmoHavanese, but we do enjoy a Latin beat now and again. Quite a few of our tunes are favorites of Sadie. She loves to play fetch when the liveliest songs are played. Here's our Youtube Pawpawty Playlist for your viewing and listening pleasure. Catch you at the next #pawpawty.

MM & RY 2009

Rules of Rawhide Wars - Part 2

2009-04-04T06:36:00.001-07:00

Sadie looks innocent, but she usually

dominates her sister Lily in Rawhide Wars.

Rawhide Wars - Part 2 will take place tomorrow, April 6, 2009 as part of a new Twitter #pawpawty to honor @brewskiebutt's 5th birthday.

See http://frugaldougaldog.blogspot.com/ for details on the event that starts at 2 pm EST and continue for 24 hours. You can respond to the invitation here or just tune in via Twitter.

Sadie and Lily will lead the Rawhide War competition from 8 - 9 PM EST and from 11:00 PM - Midnight EST from their spot in Fairmount, Philadelphia, PA - USA.

Here is how to participate in Sadie and Lily's new Rawhide War: When @dogstories uses the key words "Sadie is winning" in reference to a Rawhide War activity during the #pawpawty, send a direct message (DM) to @dogstories. The first tweeter to respond to us for each skirmish will be featured on Sadie and Lily's blog called Fairmount Dog Stories.

Join us tomorrow!

Fairmount Dog Stories
MM & RY 2009

In The Doghouse - of Fairmount

2009-03-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

In the Doghouse is Fairmount's own pet boutique. You can visit the store on Fairmount Avenue, the commercial center of our neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia. If you do, you will find friendly service, lots of great products for your pet, and an opportunity to meet and greet Anipals from the shop and neighborhood. Don't forget to bring your pup along, because your dog is always welcome at the shop!

Once a month In the Doghouse sponsors a pet adoption day. Lots of Sadie and Lily's Furry Friends have found their homes through the great work that In the Doghouse has been doing for the past three years to place dogs in loving family homes. Over 50 dogs and cats have new homes because of In the Doghouse and their partner for Pet Adoption day, Paws.

So the next time you visit our neighborhood in Philadelphia, don't forget to stop by to greet store pets Eli and Atticus, the pugs of In the Dog House, their humans, and lots of dog loving folks in Fairmount.

Sadie's Winning Rawhide War Tactics

2009-03-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Every night Sadie and Lily engage in Rawhide Wars. Rawhide Wars is a prolonged competition between the two of them over the two chewies they have been given to knaw on for the evening. We originally began giving chewies to the dogs as a means of preserving the few corners of baseboard moulding that Sadie neglected to destroy as a puppy. As the dogs have aged, it has become a nightly ritual that signifies to the dogs we are settling in for the evening.

Rawhide wars begin with each dog receiving their chewy. Sadie takes one, pushes it across the kitchen floor with her nose, and then picks it up and darts into the living room as fast as her paws will carry her. Lily looks on in disbelief (every night) as this happens. Sadie returns, at full throttle. She grabs the second chewy and returns to the living room with speed, gusto and a little bouce at the end for emphasis. Lily follows her slowly, as if to suggest she knows a struggle lies ahead. Sadie begins to chew, Lily watches and whines.

We arbitrate by giving Lily one of the two chewies that Sadie has hoarded. But, often Lily declines until Sadie has softened it up a bit. Sadie gives up her chewy without a fight. However, she plays possum by pretending to sleep. Lily chews but lets her guard down. When Lily becomes complacent in her ways, Sadie pops up, takes the chewy again, and Lily recommences her whining. This goes on until both dogs and all the people are tired, every night.

MM and RY 2009

Sadie and Lily's St. Patrick's Day Rawhide War at Twitter's PawPawty

2009-03-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, there is going to be a pawpawty - on Twitter! It was the idea of several pet bloggers using Twitter, hatched as #catparty became a trending tweme on Sunday, March 15, 2009.

See http://frugaldougaldog.blogspot.com/ for details on the event that starts Tuesday, March 17 and extends for 24 hours beginning at 3 pm EST in the U.S. on Twitter. You will be able to follow all the #pawpawty tweets here.

Sadie and Lily will be there leading the Rawhide War competition from 6:00 - 8:00 PM and 11:00 - Midnight EST from their spot in Philadelphia, PA - USA.

Here is how to participate in Sadie and Lily's St. Patrick's Day Rawhide War: When Dogstories tweets about Rawhide War activities during the party, send a direct message (DM) to Dogstories. Each first tweeter to respond to each Rawhide Tweet gets featured in our next dog story about the party event.

Join us tomorrow!

Fairmount Dog Stories
MM & RY 2009

Tips for dealing with Sadie's Ways

2009-02-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

We have commented that Sadie's Ways are highly energetic and sometimes mischievous. Here are some of our tips on how to handle your small dog with a big personality!

1. Keep Sadie guessing. We love to provoke Sadie's higher thought processes by instigating new thoughts. We hide her noisy toys under blankets and pillows, give a squeak, and enjoy watching her solve the puzzle of its location.

2. Encourage Sadie to wait. Sadie has lots of energy. She is also very attentive to the things, sounds, smells, tastes she loves. We ask her to wait a little longer than she would like for some of those favorites. She has developed good skills in being patient and calm.

3. Establish a Sadie-only routine. We live with two dogs, and their temperaments could not be more distinct. Sadie loves to participate in rituals and routines that are directed towards her. She and Lily, our boxer, are famous friends. But Sadie thrives on getting just a little special attention. She has a morning coffee and paper routine all her own. She jumps out of bed, and runs to the kitchen. While coffee is brewing, Sadie gets a tiny treat all her own. Lily hangs back and continues her nap. When Sadie is done, she runs back to Lily and grooms her for good measure.

4. At least once a day, Sadie gets a special walk around the block. It takes 5 minutes. She has the opportunity to sniff to her hearts content while Lily keeps watch on her stoop. When Sadie returns, she gets another special treat: a giant, wiggly greeting from Lily!

MM & RY 2009

Lily's Day in the Country

2009-01-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

Lily spent part of the season on Maryland's Eastern Shore. She enjoyed the country smells and sights but not the sounds. It's the migration season for Canadian Snow Geese; they are common across Delmarva throughout this time of year. Lily is familiar with Geese. They are commonly found along the walking path at Fairmount Park. She is less comfortable with the noises associated with hunting. She became fixated and spooked on the muffled sounds of hunters' guns in the distance. This meant she was on alert, watching all that happened in her vicinity for days. She was exhausted by the time we returned from our country visit. She curled up at the foot of our bed and slept for 20 hours straight. We are happy to report she is now back to her usual, wiggly self. Here are some of our tips for dealing with stressed out doggies.

Neil Sattin's tips for helping to relax your dog
Humane Society's advice on how to deal with fearful dogs
Wikihow on calming playful dogs

MM & RY 2009

Fairmount Dog Interiors

2008-12-29T03:58:00.000-08:00

The Fairmount Dogs, Sadie and Lily, have favorite furniture and household items. Sadie enjoys viewing the street from the top of our sofa, and Lily curls up in her favorite chair draped in the throw of the day. We are firm believers in the value of dog friendly interiors. For us that means that simple design works best; washable fabrics are a must; and hard surfaces are essential to cleanable, dust free living.

Lately we have been taking inspiration for organizing spaces and adding a little interest to our bare floors and walls from a few cool design sites. We follow Apartment Therapy, Design*Sponge and Ikea Hacker regularly. Here are some links to pet friendly interiors.

Best Pets as Home Decor from Apartment Therapy
Customizable Pet Furniture Ideas from Apartment Therapy
Pet Furniture ideas from Ikea Hacker Blog
Guide to Buying Furniture from the Daily Puppy

Sadie Time

2008-11-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sadie loves the kitchen. Good things happen in there. Now that we are smack dab in the middle of a recession (or is it a depression?), much more stuff that Sadie likes is going on in that extra special room. The kitchen smells good, looks good from a dog's eye view, and feels good to our little furry beast. She cools off on the tile when she is warm. She huddles in a ball on her favorite rug when she is chilly. She sits at attention in front of the stove, fridge, and micro. When it looks like we will be cooking for a while, she spreads out all her legs and paws as though she was in a yoga pose.

Lately, we have been searching for websites with recipes and other household tips. Here are a few that we like a lot:

Simple Cooking: http://www.outlawcook.com/
Quotidian Efficacy: http://quotidianefficacy.blogspot.com
Kitchenography: http://kitchenography.typepad.com/

MM & RY 2008

Resource Links for the Fairmount Dog Adjustments to the Recession

2008-09-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

We have received some inquiries about our post on the adjustments Sadie and Lily are making to cope with hard economic times. Interest has focused in particular on the need for cheap toys. One suggestion that we can share is that many toys found in retail stores can be found in the Dollar store for, well, one dollar. We have also found that Ross stores now sell dog items at discount prices as compared with department stores.

Our scan of the dog blogosphere has revealed that with a few items on hand at home, one can create toys too! Here are some of the items that these make-it-yourself posts will require: old socks, tennis balls, paper towel tubes, and duct tape (no that is not a joke). Obviously it is important to monitor your dog's toy play to ensure their safety when they experiment with new items.

See what you think of these ideas we came across!

Make and Build Stuff: features the Paddio Stick toy
Small Dog Paradise: features toys made of socks
Dog Topics: article discussing multiple uses of plastic bottles
Geomestic: article discusses how to sew toys and recycle bones

Frogs and the Fairmount Dogs

2008-09-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Lily met living frogs this weekend. We posted about that here and here. We began to wonder whether we had correctly identified that in fact they observed frogs as opposed to toads. We searched several Internet sites to see what we could find out. We think they were in fact frogs due to the bulging eyes, smooth skin, and long legs upon consulting the frog-toad comparison chart found at allaboutfrogs.org. We quickly came to the conclusion that we know very little about frogs. Given that Sadie in particular seems to be attracted to them, along with all of her other forest friends, we thought it was worth sharing some sites on frogs you might find of interest.

The Exploratorium Frog Resource Page
The Digital Frog Blog
Frog Matters
Jumping Frog Research Institute

The Backyard Lives of Urban Dogs

2008-08-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

A quick Google search on dogs and gardens will pull a lovely list of posts that give advice on how to participate in America's number one hobby - gardening while living with a dog. Here is a sample of some useful lifestyle suggestions for gardeners who love dogs:

Advice related to plantings, training dogs to urinate in a designated area, pet safety, fencing, controlling undesirable dog behaviors (such as digging holes and eating plants), and landscaping to accommodate dog houses and runs are among the many tips available to gardeners.

A similar search for dogs whose outdoor space is a deck or stoop are a little more foreboding - advise about how to keep your pet safe from second story falls, arsenic poisoning and splinters.

The reality for the nation's millions of urban dwellers is that outdoor space is at a premium and many of us must use every inch of space - indoor and outdoor for maximizing the amenities of our dog lifestyles.

Here are our tips for citified living with dogs and gardens.

1. Containers are your friend. Containergarders.net has suggestions on how to protect container plantings from pets, including: raising or hanging containers out of the reach of your pup, suggestions on the types of soil and additives that are pet friendly, and planting specific plants (such as basil) that discourage pets and other animals from disrupting the garden.

2. Squirrels and other rodents, pidgeons, and bugs are a problem in the city. Urban gardeners will quickly point out what our small town, suburban and country counterparts already know: pests are unwelcome in the garden. If your dogs are like ours, the mere presence of one nearby results in all the prey instincts coming to the surface, and in a small space or on a deck the chase can result in injury to your animals. Our solution is to avoid planting food products at all in close proximity to neighbors unless the precaution of creating a screened barrier can be taken. We learned the hardway that even the seeds in a bird feeder can attract unwanted attention, in our case from pidgeons. Removal of the bird feeder quickly solved the problem and we felt fortunate that we discovered the pidgeons before other animals discovered us.

3. Dogs love a shady area to lounge. Roof decks, stoops, and tiny spots of grass need to serve many purposes for urban dwellers with pets. All pet owners understand that dogs love to lounge but seek to avoid excessive heat. Urban areas can be particularly hot because of the lack of green space generally, and often our outdoor spaces are uncomfortable in the heat of summer. Umbrellas, pergollas, blinds, and fencing can all provide just the right amount of shade to keep your pet cool when lounging. New barkitecture designs can feature canapies too!

4. Water is the key to comfort. Hose down the deck or bricks; fill a kiddie pool with water; keep the water bowl full at all times; wet your pooch; and don't be stingy with ice cubes. Water in all of its forms helps our dogs to stay cool when they spend time on our roof deck. Sadie and Lily are quite content to lounge on the deck for hours, but they must have water, shade, and an area that has been cooled off with water.

MM & RY 2008

Dogs and the Olympics around the Web

2008-08-09T19:46:00.001-07:00

Olympic mania has arrived. We dog loving city dwellers want to join in on the fun and the hype. Sadie, our natural born acrobat, would leap for joy to have the opportunity to showcase her talents in front of a global audience. We feature her in this photo practicing her favorite balancing act - hanging out on the back of the sofa. Unfortunately, she had to confront her physical limitations today on the playground. We met a new dog named Chase. Chase is a whippet. Sadie tried mightily, but she could not catch the super speedy Chase.

While Sadie was blasting across the playground on her quest, the dog people were shooting the breeze about how great it would be to see dogs in the Olympics. We mentioned our earlier Olympic Theme posts on Fairmount Dog Stories suggesting that new event categories like (ironically) Chase and Ball should replace the ones currently in place. And, we all agreed that Sadie or a dog just like her ought to have the chance to fly through the stadium just once to participate in lighting the torch to start the games.

Here is our compilation of the best of the web stories percolating about dogs and the Olympics. We are learning more about the proud history of dogs and sporting culture every day! We skipped the horrible stories about dog slaughters that have occurred in China prior to the games and the nearly ubiquitous report that dog meat is currently off the menus of Beijing.

Poodle and Dog's post on the Weirdest Olympic Event
Petside's Olympians and their Dogs Post, courtesy The Pet Blog
Petside's Dog Sports versus Olympic Sports Post, again courtesy The Pet Blog
Nick Freidell's News Report of Denver, Colorado's Dog Olympics in Honor of Real Olympics
Urlesque's Post of Dog Videos that could be Olympic Events

MM & RY 2008

Lijitimizing Lifestyles of the Urban Dog

2008-08-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

Lijit is super cool - we have established that in a prior post.

Now Lijit rocks even more. Our prior post is a featured link on Lijit's homepage. Check it out at: http://www.lijit.com.

Here is a little snapshot preview of our 15 seconds in the Lijit limelight! Guess that makes us too Lijit to Quit blogging about our urban dog lifestyle anytime soon.

Sadie's Baths: What happens when a Mini-Poodle Rolls on the Playground

2008-08-04T05:06:00.000-07:00

Sadie is in nearly daily need of a bath. Most dog experts recommend against giving dogs baths frequently. One can find quite a bit of advice on the subject. Yahoo's Answers Board shows this range quite nicely.

The Fairmount Dogs are Urban dogs who live in a row home that does not have a back yard. We exercise Sadie and Lily at the playground in Fairmount Park nearly every day (sometimes more than once). We have described Sadie's fondness of rolling in several posts on Fairmount Dog Stories. Her mini-poodle curls attract debris, dirt, and smells that do not work for us in our home, on our bed, on the sofa, and on us. Therefore, we bathe her. A lot.

Last night, during our playground visit, all Sadie did was run and roll. First she ran, then she rolled on the grass. Then she repeated the activities in that order: run, then roll. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. After an hour of this, her coat turned green from the grass stains! The day before, she went for a hike at Valley Green with Lily. She swam. She ran through thick brush. She tried to jump over a fallen tree several times before succeeding. She came home with thistles and twigs embedded in her fur. It took a long bath and a careful grooming to remover most of the debris.

Our favorite shampoos have oatmeal because supposedly that means they are gentle to our dogs' skin. Here are some of our favorite dog shampoo advice and product pages.

Lace to Leather's Dog Bathing Advice: http://www.lacetoleather.com/bathingyourdog.html

Wikihow's How to Give a Dog a Bath: http://www.wikihow.com/Give-a-Small-Dog-a-Bath

Raising Spot's version of Giving a Dog a Bath: http://www.raisingspot.com/health_care/how_to_give_a_dog_bath.php

Kiehl's Dog Shampoo: http://www.kiehls.com/_us/_en/pets/canine.aspx

Sadie's Favorite Spots: Entrance to the Roof Deck

2008-07-19T04:41:00.000-07:00

Sadie, of Sadie and Lily, is at boarding again. This happens when our schedules do not allow one of us to get home during the day. We have explored many options for caring for Sadie in such circumstances. We experimented with doggie day care last fall. We have considered dog walkers. We have set up pet sitting services that we never actually use. We have imported our teen family members to tend to the Fairmount Dogs. We have found that every one of these solutions works great for Lily and not so great for Sadie. We are coming to terms with the fact that little Sadie is high maintenance.

We adore Sadie and all her charms despite the fact that 90% of the dog chores in this household ultimately stem from her antics. How do we know? Boarding. Lily on her own is the easiest, most laid back, gentle spirited creature. She greets us with a warm wiggle and nudge and shadows us around the house without demands. She communicates her needs by looking at what she wants. She waits patiently for someone to notice and help her out. She is instantly responsive to any out of the ordinary activity or sound, with the obvious intent to protect and defend her people. She is mellow.

When Sadie the squirt is on the scene, Lily is transformed into a more anxious version of her normally sweet self. The squirt's high energy style interrupts Lily's laid back deliberations.

Since Sadie is away at boarding we have noticed that one of her favorite Spots has gone unoccupied during the past two days: the Entrance to the Roof Deck. Sadie likes to visit the roof deck to bark at the dogs below and run puppy crazies (she still has them) back and forth with Lily chasing. Lily enjoys time on the roof too, but almost always in sleep mode.

In honor of Sadie's hiatus, we share this picture of her at the entrance. She returns home today. We are making the necessary preparations.

Sadie's Favorite Spots: Bread*

2008-07-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

The opening of Bread* was highly anticipated in the Fairmount Neighborhood of Philadelphia a few months ago. Phillyblog was filled with posts describing the benefits of a neighborhood bakery and the readiness of neighbors to receive it.

It is located on the 2300 block of Wallace Street. During its first few months of operation, a small cafe was set up in what used to be a parlor at the front of the reconditioned row home where the bakery now resides. The cafe was removed last week due to complaints from a neighbor. The owners of Bread* are appealing the decision, and hopefully the cafe can be restored.

Sadie loves Bread* for one simple reason. She gets to taste baked treats on her walks. The bakery is located on one of our walk routes. We stop and get coffee and scones to go. Our Avatar is from the grill work of a door nearby. Bread is one of those cool places that has a chalkboard menu. Sadie likes to smell everything that Bread has to offer.

We hope the cafe reopens soon!

Lily's Long Walks: Love Park

2008-06-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

Lily loves to take long walks in the City of Philadelphia. One of our favorite places to visit is Love Park. Recently we became Facebook Friends of Love Park. We think this is cool. Now we receive announcements of upcoming events and news of interest related to the park.

One of the best parts about Love Park is that it has a hip, pop culture history. It was (and still is) a haven for skate boarders. It attracts tourists, Center City lunchers, wi-fi users, homeless folks, photographers, rap artists, dogs (like Sadie and Lily), and splashing kids. Many of these groups are not supposed to use the park but still do. Therein lies what is cool about Love Park.

We are fans of Youtube videos from its glory days as an international skateboard destination. Philadelphians attribute the arrival of the X-Games to the city as a direct result of its global distinction as a skateboarders hot spot. Some call Love Part the world's greatest natural skateboard park because of its modernistic, hard edged sixties architectural style. See for yourself, here is some popular Youtube footage of the park in use by skateboarding greats.

Sadie's Favorite Spots: The Hill Tea Bar

2008-06-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today, Sadie had to visit the vet for routine vaccinations. Sadie and Lily are Fairmount Dogs, but their vet is in another neighborhood called Mt. Airy. Sadie spends extra time at the vet because she is sometimes boarded there as well. The staff seem to know her pretty well. Her behavior there improves with each visit. That is a good thing, because her first visit involved growling at the doctor. We had a similar experience the first time she was groomed. She received a report card. On it was a grade for her conduct: "D" for difficult.

After vaccines, we took a long walk in Chestnut Hill. We enjoyed tea and a cranberry scone at The Hill Tea Bar. The tea was refreshing, the scone fresh and tasty. Best of all, there was a water bowl waiting for Sadie at the side of the table. We were welcome to take our time in the outdoor cafe area. The cafe setting is across the street from a pocket park on the corner of Hartwell Lane and Germantown Avenue.

The Hill Tea Bar is now one of Sadie's favorite spots. You can follow The Hill Tea Bar schedule of events on their blog, subtitled: Tea Lovers Meeting Place to Share Tea Information and Ideas.

After our morning of good fortunes - an all's healthy report, a fun walk at the top of the Hill, and a refreshing tea and scone diversion - Sadie relaxed in the back seat of the car on the drive home.

Sadie and Lily's Web 2.0 Favorites, Part 5: Online Communities

2008-06-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

We conclude our series of favorite Web 2.0 applications with a focus on pet oriented social network applications. People connect through social network sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Friendster. Dog owners and lovers often use these same applications to share tidbits of information about their furry loved ones with their online networks of friends. However, some new applications are gaining popularity because they feature the pets as the central participant of the social network. Two worth mentioning are Muttropolis.com's Online Dog Pen and DoggySnaps.com.

The Online Dog Pen is similar in structure to Facebook and Myspace in that pets owners/pets can have their own profiles, participate in message boards, write on each other's walls, share and comment on photographs, and participate in Affinity groups. For instance, Sadie and Lily have joined both the small and large dog groups of The Online Dog Pen for obvious reasons! You can see our Online Dog Pen Profile here.

DoggySnaps is unique because the entire focus of the social network is on the dogs themselves. Dogs are members of kennels, and they can recieve comments and treats. Dogs who have departed this world can receive tributes. As with other social networking applications, DoggySnaps supports friends. DoggySnaps stands out from the crowd for its easy-to-use interface and straightforward networking approach. Visit dogs, give a bone and kind comment, and view photos of the beloved pets of your new virtual kennel friends. You can visit our kennel here.

Both of these applications are lots of fun for pet lovers and enthusiasts. The niche approach to social network applications is sure to become a hot trend in the wild world of Web 2.0 innovations.

Sadie and Lily's Web 2.0 Favorites, Part 4: Feedjit

2008-06-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

Fairmount Dog Stories: Lifestyles of the Urban Dog has had readers from Belgium, Brazil, HongKong, and the United States since it was launched two weeks ago. If you are interested in knowing more about the connections between the your blog and geography on the ground, check out Feedjit. It is a widget that shows live feeds to our blog. You can even see yourself in the profile. We are experimenting with using Feedjit and other web 2.0 tools for creating communities and networks among our readers. We will keep you posted about our fans on the ground!

Sadie and Lily's Web 2.0 Favorites, Part 3: Lijit

2008-06-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

Fairmount Dog Stories has gone Lijit. We have added a search tool to this blog that allows our readers to navigate content from all our blogs and blog rolls. This is just one of the innovative tools we find improving the ways in which dog loving communities are able to form and share fun and useful information online. Lijit is easy to use, update and install as a widget on your blog. Features we like the best include a log of searched keywords related to your blogs and tracking of the traffic related to the use of the widget.

My blog by Ouriel Review - May 2007 - Ouriel reviews utility of Lijit for bloggers.

Lijit Blog - Posts on new features, uses, and directions for Lijit.

Sadie and Lily's Web 2.0 Favorites, Part 2: Bring Fido

2008-06-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

One of the most worthwhile benefits of adding dogs to our household has been the opportunity to meet new people and share the our experiences of caring for and being cared for by our pets. There are lots of great ways to meet pet owners on the ground in our communities and online through the growing set of web communities that connect people around their interest in pets. We recently discovered Bringfido, an online interactive events calendar that you can update with your event. The best feature of this easy to use tool is that events are indexed geographically by state. You simply click on the state of interest for finding events and all the events in that state that have been posted will be listed.

Bringfido.com - An online, interactive dog event calendar that supports map searches for dog events near you. Other features include a tool for finding hotels that accommodate pets, an index of policies for traveling with pets on airlines, and top dog destinations for travelers.

If you know of other similar map search tools related to pet events, please comment or send an email to: sadieandlily@gmail.com. We plan to create an index of all map search tools related to pet events in the near future.

Sadie and Lily's Web 2.0 Favorites, Part 1: Scrapblog

2008-06-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

Fairmount Dog Stories, The Adventures of Sadie and Lily, has been created as a sandbox for exploring the interactive web, sometimes called web 2.0, and dog communities and lifestyles. Our focus is on experiences and needs of urban dog owners. There are lots of fun developments for blogging enthusiasts. We will share a few you might enjoy in this and future posts! Today we are featuring Scrapblog. It's fun, easy to use and kid friendly.

Scrapblog.com - The online tool for creating and sharing scrapbooks with family and friends. Check out Sadie and Lily's Scrapblog here.

Rainy Day Blues: Tips on Indoor Dog Activities

2008-05-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

We are following up on our post in Fairmount Dog Stories on Rainy Day Blues. It is a problem all dog owners face from time to time. We do not relish the idea of walking Sadie and Lily in the rain, and they get a tad restless as the hours pass. For those of us in large urban centers and few options but to suit up, buckle down and trek out in the elements, gear matters.

We are well equipped with a few essential water proof items: boots suitable for rain and snow, hooded outer-ware because holding umbrellas is tricky with more than one dog, and an over-the-shoulder bag to hold essentials.

We have mixed experiences with the use of dog outer-ware. Sadie doesn't mind clothing, but Lily resists. She usually finds a wall to rub against until she has shed whatever garment we have attempted to use on her. Our solution has been to stock our front entry with towels and wipes for the return to avoid tracking mud and water through the house.

Here are some suggestions you might find handy on your rainy day blues with our canine friends.

Cesar Millan recommends letting your dog test the weather first. Read more here.

Go with the flow like Coco the Blogging Dog.

Consider having fun with one of these Five Rainy Day Indoor Dog Activities.

Oh The One That We Do Not Name Resource Suggestions

2008-05-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier today we posted our story about the temperaments of our dogs Sadie and Lily. We are avid fans of the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan. Unfortunately, we do not always achieve the same results at home with our pets. For some reason, we cannot walk into the room, whisper sshh and achieve Cesar's results. We strive for that day, but we are not there yet.

Instead, we rely on lots of other resources and tools - books, websites with pet information, and participating in local and online communities to get suggestions about how to address common problems. Our vet is also a great source of information for us. Here are our links of the day for helping meet behavior and community support needs of the pups.

Dogwise - This website provides access to a comprehensive collection of books and training materials related to dog behavior.

Arkanimals - This website features articles and blog posts about both domestic pet and wild animal behavior and management issues.

Muttropolis.com - Gear for dogs with great collection of gentle leader products; also you can join the Muttropolis Communtity. It's facebook/myspace for dogs. We did, you can see our profile here. Join and sign our wall, we would love to add your pup as a friend!

Keeping a Small Ecological Pawprint

2008-05-29T13:01:00.001-07:00

We have a few strategies for preventing our young dogs from placing an undo burden on the planet's ecology. We use biodegradable products to clean up after them. We purchase leashes and collars made of renewable fibers. We feed them with high quality organic food made in the U.S. to cut down on shipping impacts. We use natural products to reduce pesticides they come in contact with. There are more steps that we can take to foster eco-friendly pet practices.

We also find that walking our dogs improves our fitness, which enables us to walk to work more frequently and leave the car parked.

A Bone to Pick's ecofriendly product page has a collection of products for your eco-friendly pet.

Here are some additional links related to eco-friendly pet practices:

Eco Friendly Furry Friends
Eco Friendly Pet Care
Raise a Green Dog Blog

Collar or Harness? Sadie's Top 3

2008-05-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Our dog Sadie is on the tiny side. We weighed her in last weekend - she's 13.8 lbs.

We received great advice from one of our friends at In the Dog House early on: harnesses work great for dogs on the tiny side.

We have our favorite Fairmount located shops and services permalinked to Fairmount Dog Stories. Here are three more of our favorite sources for harnesses.

Bella Paris - Online boutique that specializes in harness vests and dresses

Up Country Inc - Sadie has "Dottie Stripe"

WalkBuddy Gear - Specializing in gear to make walking the dog more manageable