my dogs | Keeping up with the Walkers…

When my dog Annie was diagnosed with an adrenal gland tumor, I realized that she needed the best care and treatment pre as well as post operation. As much as I love the luxury dog boarding kennels we’ve always booked the dogs into, I thought that maybe, just maybe, my girls would enjoy some time at my parents. Besides, there’s no place like ‘home’ when you’re not feeling well, right?

So this past weekend, I packed the girls into the car and off we went road tripping to Pretoria. My parents stay in a retirement village. They have a free standing house but it has no walls. The challenge would be to see how both Annie and Emma reacted to being in a different environment and if my parents were indeed able to look after them.

My mom was so excited! (Read: So was I!)

We arrived on Friday night and they nervously walked around the garden on their leads. Emma did get a fright when she bumped into the ‘varkies’ in the garden. Little did she know that the big owl was watching us all!

How cool is this owl? It’s head moves when the wind blows! Ooooh!

Annie and Emma settled in quite quickly and it didn’t take long for them to get comfy on the couch. My Dogs They must have been exhausted (as was I) from sitting in that ghastly Friday evening traffic to Pretoria and we all slept like babies. One of the highlights of the weekend was waking up to go run with my Dad on Saturday morning! Running with my dad

My Mom taking the girls on walks while I snoozed

Meeting the friendly neighbor

Enjoying some tickles and love from my Dad in front of TV

The rest of the weekend was spent lying on the couch, going for many more walks and feeding the birds, even this little guy who practically eats out of my Dad’s hands! We truly had a ball this weekend! The best part is that it looks like Annie and Emma settled in quite quickly and my parents have no issue looking after them. *phew*

Okay Mom, so when can we come again?

My dog Emma is a beautiful and gentle animal. The only thing she stresses about are bees and if her supper is late. I’m a stressor. I pretty much stress about everything. But here’s what Emma has taught me about life:

1. There will be times in your life when you let yourself go and put on weight. It’s okay because you can always lose the weight. It’s about making that change and doing something different. Emma put on so much weight that she could hardly run up the stairs. But she’s managed to lose the weight and has dropped from 7.9kgs in 2012, to 5.1kgs!

2. Always make time to sleep! Always! Emma loves to sleep. In fact she gets edgy at night if we stay up too late and slowly makes her way to her bed without even being asked. Getting a good night’s rest is priority for Emma and should be for me!

3. Everyone has a bad hair day sometimes. Don’t stress – it’s what makes you unique! Emma has a lot of hair! It’s in her food, in her eyes, in her mouth. We try trim it as much as we can but it grows so quickly. We’ve decided to leave it because, well, that’s who she is. Love the way you look. Don’t always try and change who you are!

4. In life, we can’t choose our family. No matter what, have their backs. If you don’t, nobody else will. Even though she is the baby, Emma looks after her bigger sister Annie.

5. Be fabulous! Even if it means adding some colour, a bit of lighting and special effects to your life! Emma was so patient when I took this photo. I was playing around with apps to post to Instagram. The photo came out beautifully! It’s one of my favs!I love you Emma! XXX