Of course, there is always the musical pet beds game…

But Quincy needed more excitement. Taking beds away from the dogs is too easy, really.

Quincy loooves his mousie. Without a human though, the mousie just isn’t as lively.

Since the dogs give comfy beds up without a fight, maybe the human’s chair would be more of a challenge? Nope.

Bored, Quincy looks for something else to do.

Unless it is my dinner chair. That did get my attention, and Quincy had to move on.

This is when I knew he was bored. He hardly ever takes time for a bath.

Ooohhh maybe Invisi-cat shield potential here?

Tired of trying, Quincy heads off to his old familiar haunt, the Invisi-cat shield — A place where he can hang out and do and say what he feels like.

Related:

• All in a Day’s Work
• Invisi-Bored Quincy

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Bored, Bored, Bored

This craziness is part of the FURminator Fur Creature contest which continues until April 27, National Hairball Awareness day.

Great news and thanks for your support: We (my daughter and I) are now in 4th place! Wooot. More great news – you may vote once a day!

Oh so Glam!

As part of the fun, Our entry was featured with other fun and hairy creations on Glamour and People Pets.

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Glamour People

I was offline for most of last week and because of that, I am a week late with this, but here goes. I need you! Or rather… animals need you!

I participated in the second annual FURminator Fur Creature contest. (Here is my entry from last year.) This year’s theme was “celebrities” and below you will find “my” entry. Actually, my 12-year-old daughter is the creator of Ellen FurGeneres and last year’s entry too. I left it all up to her – she picked the celeb, did all of the brushing*, and created this hairy likeness. Her creation is in the top 5 out of 35 entries this year, and I think that is pretty great.

Now here’s where you come in. This year, the organizers did something new – they opened up voting for the top 5 entries and the winner will receive $1000 for their chosen 501-C3 charity. The other 4 will receive $250 worth of FURminator products for the charity. How cool is that? Our charity is SCRAPS – The shelter that we adopted Sophie from in June of 2002.

*Contributing pets: Sophie, Barnie and Quincy.

OK I’ll Beg…

I don’t do a lot of contests or ‘vote for me’ things, but this one is for the animals. They need you. $1000 would do lots of great things!

You can view all of the super fabulous entries here, see the 5 finalists, or go directly to Ellen FurGeneres’ voting page. Clicking on the photo will take you there, too. Here we are on People.com!

Huge congrats to all entrants – so much fun and creativity!

And, you can vote once every 24 hours!

At this writing, we are firmly in 5th place. wooot. Can you give us a boost?

Sorry about needing to be on Facebook, liking the FURminator page and app to vote. (My husband was the first, and so far only, to complain.) You can undo it all later. heehee

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Ellen FurGeneres

Let’s back up for a closer look

I was not sure who was on the bed first. Sweet Purl wasn’t quite sure what to make of this coziness either.

And so she waited. Finally Quincy woke up, stretched, and demanded some dinner. Purl was then excused from her uncomfortable comfy spot.

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Entanglement

Here’s how it all went down (literally)

We have a two story house. The stairs have a banister around them, like most staircases. It is a regular half wall, with wide top rails. The cats like to sit on the banister and watch us humans; it is one of their favorite cat perches.

So I didn’t think much of it as I stood by the banister, sharpening a bunch of pencils. (Inexplicably, my husband permanently attached a pencil sharpener on the corner of the banister.) Quincy, unable to resist this oh-so-interesting activity I was doing, had to come over and check it out. Almost immediately he was bored with the situation, and decided that he would leap across my corner of the banister to more interesting pursuits on the other side.

w-h-o-o-p-s! In a flash it happened. I don’t even think he made contact with the other part of the rail. Just PLOP! and there he sat at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me, stunned. An empty plastic recipe box clattered down with him and broke in two. I raced down to him, with Barnie on my heels. The dogs were napping, and didn’t immediately think this was anything other than the usual Quincy antics.

I scooped him up, and for once he let me cuddle him. No blood. That’s good. I set him down, and he just stood there. Too scared to move? But then he did. He was fine, other than the bruised ego.

I brought him up to the other pets, the dogs now awake and curious about all of the commotion. I turned my back for a second, and saw this. Sweet Barnie, who is sometimes tormented by Quincy, was comforting his little buddy.

Quincy, true to form, lapped it up.

Quincy finally notices that I am taking photos.

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Sometimes All You Need is a Friend

Then along comes the sun to melt it away. The robins cheered and the pets gathered ’round.

Quincy’s moment in the sun

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Hello there, old friend

Turns out, the Invisi-Cat Shield is kind of irresistible, even to the dogs. This was the scene the other night.

It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt

The Next Day

Some Barnie fluff is left on the outside of the Invisi-Cat Shield, with Quincy sitting innocently on the inside.

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Cruel Victory

Then, as if on cue, Quincy races in to get control of the situation…

Here’s how it happened

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Argos tries out the Invisi-Cat Shield

[This is Quincy's favorite toy - a mouse finger puppet he stole from my daughter's room. He carries it everywhere, stopping only to 'drown' the mouse in his water bowl.]

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Kind of Wordless Wednesday

Dr. DePorter and I met online a few years ago, but hadn’t met in real life. Since I was going to be in NYC, Dr. DePorter thought it would be a great place to finally meet and a great place to socialize 4-month old Ceva to the sights, sounds, smells and general busy-ness of a big city. And what better a city than New York?

Here is a recap of our day

Ready for anything

Upon graduation, a Leader Dog may be placed with anyone from an 18-year-old college student in a large city to an elderly person in the suburbs. They must be ready for anything.

We went to Times Square. No shortage of noise, lights, people, cars and distractions here.

A trip to a coffee shop was in order for Dr. DePorter and I. Ceva immediately noticed some spilled goodies on the floor, but directed her attention on Dr. DePorter. (She was rewarded for her good attention!)

Next up, something else new – people gliding by really fast! A skating rink. That was tough, but Ceva stayed on task. Things are going well.

Until…

Natural instincts came into play. Labradors are ‘bird dogs,’ and pigeons were a first for Ceva. Oh, the attractiveness! She could barely contain herself.

Smart dog that she is though, she stayed on task.

To re-enforce how important it will be to stay ‘on the job,’ as a Leader Dog, Dr. DePorter finds a bird-heavy area to do practice with Ceva.

This was followed by some celebration time and treats.

We practiced navigating busy streets (Dr. DePorter with Ceva and me with a camera) filled with people and cars.

When Ceva is working-training, she wears a blue bandana or vest. This is just like the grown-up Leader Dogs who know they are “on duty” when their guide harness is on. When the clothes come off, Ceva is not training. This also signals potty break time.

She took her own sweet time. Even in big Central Park, there were distractions. Here they were filming a movie.

And people couldn’t resist some Ceva Time either. She drew a crowd every time we slowed down.

Last stop: FAO Schwarz, a landmark NYC toy store. We weren’t sure if she would be allowed in, but this sentry ushered us in from the sidewalk – “bring the dog! bring the dog!” So in we went.

Toys of every shape and size in this 2-story store.

Upstairs, they have a giant piano keyboard just like the movie Big. You might remember this scene with Tom Hanks.

To our surprise, the kind people at FAO invited Ceva to be part of the show!

She did a great job.

But in this case, pictures just don’t do it justice. Here you can see and hear the talented Ceva’s big debut.

Need to see more Ceva? (Of course you do)

• Ceva Visits New York City on Veterinary Medicine at About.com
• Ceva’s Facebook Page

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Ceva in the City