Monday Mischief-Weasley Explores Madison Square Park and the Flat Iron District

On Sunday we took Weasley on a  train ride into Manhattan to check out the Flat Iron District.  Weasley is a real New Yorker comfortable on the train and unfazed by crowds and traffic.  We stopped by the Chelsea Hotel

once the provence of rebellious 60s Icons like Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski, and Eddie Sedgewick and now newly renovated and with a Doughnut Plant outpost on the premises.  Doughnut plant has some of the best doughnuts in NYC, and we love doughnuts.

We brought our doughnuts to the tables on 23rd street by Madison Square park.  You can sit there and watch the hub bub:

The building behind Weasley and his Dad is called the Flat Iron, because well it looks like an Iron.

There are always art displays in this area.   Today there was a large bird made out of iron nails:

Madison Square Park has a nice big dog run, and its very popular.  

Weasley was running around so much we only got two pictures.    Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Don't forget to enter our giveaway to win a Day Dog Designs Collar.


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Black and White Sunday-Early Spring Walk

Don't forget to enter our give away to win a  Day Dog Designs collar of your choice.

 

Birthday Give Away-Win a Day Dog Designs Collar

On April 15 Bob will be 6 years old.  A big and important birthday, after all Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne used it as the title of a book:

and a charming poem:

Now We Are Six - A.A. Milne

When I was one I had just begun

When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me

When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

I personally can not quite believe Bob is 6, it seems just yesterday that he was the cutest little Bulldog baby:

Now of course he is all grown up

 and ready to be showered with presents and adoration at this years party. One of  Bob's gifts is going to be a new collar from Day Dog Designs.  We love these pretty and affordable collars and leashes. They are made out of beautiful European ribbons that the shop owner Terri has spent a lot of time carefully selecting.  The ribbons are unique and beautiful and of excellent quality.  Terri is a Cavalier owner and  donates to Lucky Star Cavalier rescue.   As the owner of four male dogs (and one female) I also really appreciate that Terri has great options for boys and girls, so many shops seem to cater primarily to the ladies.  Furthermore, if size is a concern then don't worry.  The collar's range from very small to XXL for big necked guys like Bob.   

Bob's birthday collar will be the fifth  Day Dog Designs collar I've purchased, there are so many cute designs that they are addictive!  The collars are comfortable and hardy, all of ours are in great shape even with dogs wear them nearly 24/7.   Ping has a charming Vienna inspired collar in black and white:

 

Last year Bob got one with a Viking pattern (went great with his dragon tag)

 

Just a few weeks ago Tubby got a Knights and Dragons print collar for his 12th birthday (here is a bit of an extreme close up of the collar in his puggie neck ruff).

However, my all time favorite Day Dog Designs purchase was the Outer Space collar and Leash I got Norbert for his 10th birthday

a perfect match for his Star Trek inspired ID tag from Fetching Pet Tags

 So you can see we have some beautiful collars from Day Dog Designs and the great news is now you can enter below to win your very own collar.  Since they have so many beautiful options you are sure to find something that matches you and your pup's interests and their personality.   Just complete the Rafflecopter entry below and you have a chance to win.  We will announce the lucky winner on April 15, Bob's 6th birthday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Thoughtful Thursday-Should You Have Pet Insurance?

I've written before about how strongly pro-pet insurance I am and how much I love my Embrace Insurance policy.  If it were not for Embrace I would still be paying off the 6000 dollars (never mind that the initial estimate was 8000 dollars) for Norbert's emergency bloat surgery in 2011.   With Embrace I only had to pay 80% of the cost and Norbert, his dad, and I were all smiling.  



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When I brought Weasley home last May I had him insured before he even entered our house.

Still in the crate from the air plane ride but already insured.

To insure  four pets (Norbert, Bob, Weasley, and Scooter) I pay 150 dollars a month.   This covers them for emergency, illness, and medication.  Not covered is routine care (like annual exams and blood work), elective procedures like neutering, and there is a 200 dollar deductible.  Tubby, Ping, Baby, and Ernie are not insured the first three were too old for insurance by the time I got around to it and Ernie has a pre-existing heart condition that makes coverage impossible (however had I insured him as a kitten he would be covered as he wasn't diagnosed until age 1). There is no doubt that the insurance is expensive, but is it worth it?

In this older article from the NY times   Jennifer Schultz makes the argument that insurance is a waste of money as you can put the monthly  amount of the insurance bill into an account for pet emergencies.  She also argues that she pays only about $300 a year in medical care for her cat and has had only one pet health emergency which cost her $1000, making her vet expenses significantly less then the insurance pay out.   I find those numbers pretty low, every surgery my pets have had has cost $700 and up.  My experiences have been more like those of this family   from a Times article on the rising costs of pet care.  

At the time of Norbert's surgery my sister in law told me about an acquaintance of hers whose dog had the exact same emergency as Norbert, bloat and gastric torsion, they could not afford the surgery and had to have their dog put to sleep.  I cant imagine being in that position and having to deny my beloved dog life saving care.  It is in fact perhaps my greatest pet ownership regret that I did not insure Tubby, Ping, Baby, and Ernie when they were younger.  In the past five years I've paid $2000 dollars for Baby's treatment for fatty liver,    $3000 dollars for Tubby's mast cell tumor, and $2000 dollars for three surgeries in which Ping had suspicious lumps removed.  This is not including Norbert's bills which were covered. Insurance would definitely make me feel that I could handle all these bills with less worries.   Still I can see why some pet parents may not need insurance.   I think the  key questions to answer are:

1. Are you a pro at saving money?  Can you set aside a good amount every single month and not touch it? This is really not me and I'm honest about it.  I am not a total of failure at saving but I'm not a pro either.
2. Are you what my vet calls "a do everything owner" meaning will you want to pursue advanced specialist treatment for your pet.   I am and I choose Embrace because they cover cancer treatment, alternative therapies like chiropractic treatment, emergency and specialist care, and with the drug benefit  prescription medication.
3. Do you live close enough to major veterinary hospitals and specialists so that using them in an emergency would be feasible.  I know that plenty of people live miles from a major veterinary hospital and thus might never use the specialists that are easily accessible to a city dweller like myself.
4. Do you have multiple pets.   As a multiple pet owner I feel that insurance is even more important, if I have a major bill for one pet I don't want have to worry that I will have to neglect another or face financial ruin.

If you do choose to get insurance it is extremely important to do your homework.   A co-worker just told me that she had ASPCA insurance for her Yorkie and when the Yorkie developed congestive heart failure he was covered for the first year of treatment, but not for the second.  The company apparently considers any condition that lasts beyond one year pre-existing, even if it develops after you enroll your pet in the insurance plan.  As many pets live for years with chronic conditions this almost guarantees that your insurance payment will be wasted.

   In my opinion the best pet insurance companies are Embrace and Pet Plan, but of course needs are different for different people in different situations.  I would note that Pet Plan's emergency coverage is a bit iffy, they require your primary vet  to certify the reason for the visit, that means you don't know for sure if an emergency will be covered.   This  makes me uncomfortable since emergency hospital visits tends to be the most expensive of all.

The question I have for my fellow pet bloggers is  do you have insurance for your pets, do you think its  an essential part of pet ownership or a bad investment?

Wordless Wednesday Weasley's Special Spot

My 12th Birthday

Tubby here: I had a great 12 birthday.  After the indignity of being forced to wear this hat:

at lest Weasley had to wear one too.

I got my presents.   A t shirt that says Knight in Shining Armor:

A Knights and Dragons Collar from DayDogDesigns on Etsy.   (Notice a theme mom was feeling kind of Game of Thrones when she shopped for my pressies)

And a Himalayan Chew bone (everyone wanted that but it was all mine!):

I wouldn't even put it down for my birthday photo with Daddy.

Then we went on a nice walk in Liberty State Park, its my favorite park and it was closed for months after Sandy.

The best part of the day though was my cake!  Mom put all of my favorite flavors Banana, Peanut Butter, Carrots, and Carob together.

Tubby's Grain Free Peanut Butter Banana Carrot and Carob Chip Cake

1 3/4 cups coconut flour (this is a great grain free flour with lots of protein an fiber but you can sub whole wheat flour if you want)
1 cup peanut butter
1 mashed banana 
1 cup chopped baby carrots
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp honey
1 egg, beaten
1 cup carob chips
1 extra banana, sliced, for the top

Preheat the oven to the 350.  Spray a small cake pan with non stick spray.  Stir the peanut butter, banana, oil, honey, egg, and carrots together.  Add the coconut flour and mix well.   Then mix in the carob chips.  Spread into the cake pan.  Bake 30 minutes until cooked through.

It sure was tasty (prepare for picture overload...because mom says there is nothing cuter then a dog eating a cake)!

Monday Mischief Easter ReCap

Easter Sunday was fun!  After we got on our Easter outfits mom and dad gave us our basket.  It was loaded with our March Bark Box goodies and a few other treats:

After we looked through our basket mom and dad had an indoor egg hunt for us.  They put little pieces of freeze dried liver in those plastic eggs and hid them around the living room and dining room.

We had a great time finding the eggs, and eating the treats inside!  We felt like we were doing nose work just like our friends at A Wonderful Dogs Life.

Hope you all had an amazing Easter. (If you are wondering where Weasley got his beyond cute rabbit hat its from All You Need is Pug.