Introducing .... Gabe 'n' Arch!

Okay, so Gabe and Archie are my beagles. It's always "Gabe 'n' Arch" - never "Arch 'n' Gabe" - 'cause Gabe came first, two years before Archie. But, in this picture, Arch is the little red guy on the left, and Gabe is the bigger dark guy on the right.

I am one of those "crazy" pet parents you hear about. My boys have their own dresser and each have a drawer with sweaters, t-shirts, rain jackets, and winter boots. They have a dog "castle" outside to use as a look-out point (it's designed specifically for them to hop on the roof). I cook them homemade dog food from fresh beef and vegetables every weekend. I bake them cookies. I take Gabe to a "swim and trim" program at the local canine pool; and Archie goes for physio and acupuncture treatments. I gave out 22 calendars at Christmas last year; it's a charity calendar for Beagle Paws rescue and Archie is Mr. May.

My name is Jacki and I am a crazy pet parent.

But, you know what? I don't think I'm that crazy. Archie freezes up when it's terribly cold, thus the sweaters and boots. Gabe was overweight and developing arthritis, thus the swimming. Archie has allergies, thus the homemade food. Arch also has cauda equina syndrome, thus the physio and the acupuncture. Every bit of my craziness has a reason, and I'm betting there are plenty of other so-called "crazy" pet parents out there who aren't so crazy after all. You're just doing the best you can for your four-legged family members.

That's what this blog is about - my search for solutions, my trials and errors, my pet-parent goofiness, as I try to keep Gabe 'n' Arch happy and safe.