Snow Day!

It snowed this past weekend. I was actually glad to see the snow. I've been thinking lately that I either want snow or I am just ready for Spring to be here. It was the first time Don and I had to shovel the sidewalk in front our new house. We were actually kind of excited. I realize that it is not exciting, or even fun... but something about it being our walkway, our driveway, and the sidewalk in front of OUR house, made us smile.

The dogs on the other hand.... well they weren't too thrilled with the snow.

 Tater-Tot (above) didn't mind it so much... but Leo (below)... well, Leo tried to hide from the snow as best he could..

He was either hiding in the bushes or begging me to let him back inside. 

We decided to tackle a project we've been discussing for awhile. I love my little dogs. I've had them for quite some time. I always tell people that they are old men in puppy disguise. Believe it or not, Tater-Tot and Leo are 14 years old. They've been with me a long time, through my teen angst, college, when I moved out on my own for the first time, and now as Don and start our new family. But because they are getting older, they are slowing down and having trouble hearing. I have also noticed that neither of them can jump on the bed anymore. (I'm pretty sure Leo can still do it, but when he sees Tater-Tot get picked up all the time, he thinks he should be too.) 

Tater-Tot was also recently diagnosed with Cushing's Disease. We have him on medicines and he's been doing really well. But it causes him to drink, eat, and pee a lot. He also likes to jump off the bed in the middle of the night at least 100 times to do those things. He makes sure to wake us up to pick him up and put him back on the bed. Leo, has followed suit. We also noticed that when Tater-Tot jumped off the bed, he would limp. We were concerned for his safety (and to be honest, we were getting tired of the countless times we had to wake up to lift both dogs back into bed). We tried two different kind of pet stairs, and they just wouldn't use them. So I decided it was time to build a ramp.

I told Don what I wanted, he designed it, and we built it together.

First we built the base/landing that would connect with the bed. Don designed it with so much support that even he could stand on it. I think it is safe to say that it will support both of our 10 pound dogs.

We wanted the base/landing a little longer than the actual ramp so that it would be easy for them to reach it from the bed, while allowing our comforter to still fall next to the ramp.

 We didn't have exact measurements, but since its a dog ramp, I was mildly okay with it being imperfect. We also knew we'd cover it with carpet for traction.

 And Voila! Our dog ramp! I want to paint it, or stain it... I can't decide. Something to make it a little prettier. I also want to add some drawers under it for storage eventually. But this is what we currently have: 

 Don put both of them, one at a time, near the bottom of the ramp and I called to them to come up. They weren't 100% sold.

 Especially when we called them over to go back down it. They are thinking, "You want us to do WHAT?!"

 But after a few days of training, Tater-Tot has really gotten the hang of it. I've even caught him in our bed earlier in the evenings, now that he can get on it himself. (Note that he has 1 dog bed in our bedroom, 2 dog beds in the living room, and 1 dog bed in the basement... but I guess our bed is the best. Unless its summer time, then his favorite place to be is on the AC vent.)

I like to think in this picture he is saying "Thanks, Mom!"