This is my gift to you…FREE FUN with your pictures. Here is a “short” from animoto. If I can do this….just upload your pictures and voila! I’ve only done the free short one to test this out. You can do this easy show in minutes. The music selection is great. I hope people send me their productions. Love this! Something to do with those holiday, pet, and winter disaster photos. If you dig this and want to do longer shows, sign up with my code and get $5 off, copy and paste this code: dhvjfepx If you just want to play for free then…party on!

Due to a treacherous blizzard, we had to take our dog Cocoa, with us, to the Holiday Inn in Midland, Michigan for a hockey tournament. We knew in advance that this hotel was ok with pets, but how was this going to work, a room packed with kids, hockey equipment and now dog and dog equipment? Well it did! Cocoa is a small, submissive d 11 pound dog that is very quiet. Some dogs that I’ve had in the past, would not have worked out at all. It was hard to shake the feeling that I was going to get “busted” for having a dog in the room. So I thought I would challenge this feeling by leashing up Cocoa and walking him around. Would the staff jump on me? Would other guests give me dirty looks and report me? No. Everyone was friendly. Little ones wanted to pet Cocoa and the staff just smiled. I wanted to be a good guest so I would take a doggie pick up baggie, even outside in the snow! The only other dog I saw was a seeing-eye dog that was better mannered than me.

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Look out for Cocoa

This is the first time I’ve had a “small dog” and it is also the first time I’ve purchased a dog coat. Small dogs, like miniature poodles, are different creatures than the big hearty breeds. My daughter, Izzy, purchased this coat for Cocoa’s birthday at Chow Hound, a local pet chain, http://www.chowhoundpet.com/. The maker of the coat is Tops Pet Products in Topsfield, MA. and Casual Canine is the brand. This coat is a fleeced lined velvet-type coat that Velcros around the dog. It features reflective strips and has a small Velcro pocket on top, which is quite a bit of detail for about $16. I was leery of the Velcro, but thought we should try it. We love it! Easy on and off and the reflective strips really show up at night especially when there is a flash of light (from a camera or possibly head lights). The Velcro straps are easy to work with and do adjust nicely to the girth of the dog. For more information about this product, including sizes and colors check out this link.

http://www.kooldawgtees.com/K9_Dog_Jacket_Reflective_Stripes.html