July 13: ***NO DOGSITTING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE***. Lil Girl has been accepted into a program to help her gain confidence. To prepare her for the transition, I need to work with her one on one and dogsitting won't allow this. Training will be difficult to do w/ my other 4 doggies wanting the attn. My doggies have been battling diarrhea since Memorial Day also. All have been to the vet and we're puzzled as to what's going on. Giz (13 years) has gotten weaker so this will allow me to spend more time w/ him.

June 19: Welcome Poncho!! Poncho is my newest Cocker foster. He was an owner surrender due to an injury. Poncho looked like he was "scalped" on the back of his neck. It was infected so he went to the emergency vet. They suspected he had ringworm also so he's been in quarantine. 4 weeks of quarantine!! Yikes. He'll be adopted quickly so I suspect he'll never make it to my household. He's 15 months old, very friendly and playful. Black and white. His vet bill and boarding was around $1200 so if you want to donate, visit www.hotdiggitypaws.com

June 18: It's vacation time again!! Hope all of you are enjoying watching the doggies. Doggies are coming and going while their humans head off for well deserved vacations. The webcam is a great way for the humans to see what their babies are doing while they are away.

April 17: Who is peeing on my fridge? If you catch the culprit, click the scissors icon to snap a picture for me. No one will fess up and no one looks guilty when I get home....

March 31: Higgins- hopefully you're reading this b/c SOL broke the record like you wanted!! Blizzard and Java went home after their weekend stay. Sophie the Portugese Water Dog joined us Sunday. She looks like sheep dog w/ short curly hair. She's very sweet. She stares at me all the time. She can't possibly want treats 24/7. Nina and Misty are still here. Misty is so darn cute. She's bonding w/ me and playing little games like "chase me under the bed if you want me to go potty". She went to work w/ me today and was excellent. No shaking on the way to work and no shaking at work. She sat on my desk all day. A guy working on my door around lunchtime scared her so she moved to behind my monitor. She was so quiet and tiny, I had to keep reminding myself I brought her - I was afraid I'd forget to take her home!! I also took Lil Girl and DeeDee to work. My 3 skiddish girls. They do well together and seem less afraid w/ each other around. When I first got to work, all 3 huddled under my desk. They were spilling out of the doggie bed. It rained all day and it was COLD. Misty and DeeDee didn't go potty at all b/c of the rain. Or was it they can't go potty in a strange place?

March 29: The new black and tan Cocker is DeeDee. I had her pulled the day before she was to be euthanized. She was turned in by a breeder so she is a bit scared and not sure what to do w/ her freedom. We're working on house training so you'll see her in the 2nd crate. Her entire back end wags in typical Cocker fashion. I thought about naming her Ticket b/c that's what I got on the way home from picking her up. Got the speeding ticket on Hwy 74 in Whiteville, NC while doing volunteer work ON Good Friday. Seesh, my luck was bad that day. DeeDee is up for adoption. It's Spring Break and we're booked w/ familiar doggies. Look for Java and Blizzard over the weekend. Nina and Misty are here but are camera shy. This week look for Sophie the Portugese Water Dog and Chloe the Schnoodle. Hopefully Nina and Misty will give us some camera time too. Nina is a small black and tan mix doggie. Her housemate, Misty, is a black and tan Dachshund. Hmmmmm....I'm seeing a black and tan color scheme this week. AND they all have purple collars.

Feb 23: I've been asked why Oreo is crated. He usually goes to work w/ me b/c he pees all over the house. Marking. I crate him so he won't pee in the house. Dogs won't soil where they sleep. As far as the crate- wolves/dogs are den animals. Sleeping in a confined area is their instinct. Crating is fine as long as the dog is not crated all the time - exercise and socialization are important too. Lady won't be w/ us this week. She's staying w/ Jay where she'll be spoiled and her belly will be rubbed on demand. We pulled another Cocker from Wake County Animal Control. He's a nice, gentle, happy old man who's been neglected. He has a hernia and was severly matted. He has ear infections and a skin problem which may be due to fleas. I'm glad we found him b/c he deserves more in his golden years. I've named him Zeb b/c he was a stray found in the city of Zebulon. There's another Cocker in the mountains and one in Wilmington. Why people keep these dogs and then toss them when they get older - I will never understand. I have a weak spot for the older ones tossed out like trash. I've fostered a few and kept a few. They're easy going, housetrained, eager to please, and fit in w/ my couch lifestyle. Please consider adopting from a shelter. We can't pull them all.

Feb 14: Valentine's Day. Doggies didn't get me any roses or fix me dinner. When I got home, they were anxiously waiting for their dinner. Sheba, the smaller tan Cocker, was pulled from Wake County animal control a few weeks ago. A gal in our rescue group is fostering her and I'm dogsitting while she's in PA. Sheba is a little sweetie that loves humans. Any person would be lucky to adopt her. My coworkers love her. Lady, the shepard mix, is staying w/ us while her daddy's house is on the market. Lady thinks potential home buyers are coming to her house to pet her. Real estate agents are good petters too. Good news is her next home will be larger!!

Jan 8: No visiting doggies. It's been quiet and my doggies have been getting much wanted attention from me. They all went to the groomers today. I went for the short cut. Lady Blue looks funny without her Cocker skirt. Her skirt covered some extra pounds I didn't know about.

Jan 1: Happy New Year!!! We're down to Java, Bryson, Chevy, Nina and Misty. Nina likes to sleep in my laundry basket in my closet. When she is awake, she barks so you might catch that on camera. She's either hungry or needs to go out. She and Misty usually sleep in the doggie beds in the kitchen during the day. They like the quiet. Sometimes Misty will ask for a boost on the couch so she can snuggle w/ me. Misty is a sweetie. She'll roll over when you approach her and you can see her tail beating back and forth. If I pick her up, she still wags and she gives me kisses. What a wonderful doggie. I have doggie beds of all sizes and she sleeps in the biggest one. It's like a baby sleeping in a kingsize bed. It's Bryson's bed but he's polite and squeezes into a smaller bed. Bryson did finally get up on my bed this morning. Java and Bryson are good buddies. Bryson is an excellent dog - gets along w/ others, very friendly w me, doesn't bark. Bryson and the other bigger dogs went to the dogpark. Bryson had a ball - instead of wrestling like most labs do, he ran like a greyhound. He would entice others to chase him. He's fast and very graceful so I'm wondering what he's mixed w/ - Greyhound? He cries every now and then - I think he misses his humans. This is my first time meeting Bryson and I would love to have him visit again. Too bad he lives in Boston. His humans are vacationing w/ family from my area and that's how he found us. Chevy is being typical Chevy. He fits in so well w/ my dogs, I forget he's a visitor and not one of mine. His mom extended his stay to Jan 3. He's mostly on the couch w/ my Cockers and me.

Dec 23: We have a full house for Christmas. Blizzard the puppy is here but she doesn't have a playmate. She tries to play w/ the older ones but they run away or give her an ear full. A younger lab mix will be here later this week. Blizz and I have been playing fetch and doing lots o' sleeping. I have the camera at a different angle so you can see how much sleeping is going on....

Dec 7: On camera today are Maggie, Peanut, Jack, Gizmo, Houston, Oreo and Java. Our dogwalker comes in around noon. Doubt she'll be able to get them all back in the kitchen. Hope she doesn't quit on me. Rosie, there's extra $$ on the check today!!

Dec 6: It's a busy week!! Java and Lucky are visiting. They're big and full of energy. Also visiting are Maggie May and Peanut. They're a bit shy and tiny little things so I brought them to work w/ me Wed and Thur. I wanted to hook my webcam up at work but the IT guy said there's not an available network port in here. They've been excellent. I have two doggie beds and they stay in them all day. They even get along w/ my coworker's dog. All 3 dogs kinda look alike.

Helpful hint: If you paint your concrete floors and seal them, don't touch up spots w/ sealer. It looks like pee on the webcam!!!!!