By Nicole Hoffer, PetSafe Toys & Behavior Consumer Experience Advocate
Nicole and Ri Ri together on Christmas morning.
My name is Riesling; pronounced “re-sling”, named after the sweet white wine, and lovingly referred to by my family as “Ri Ri." I’m a four-year-old female Collie-Shepherd mix who loves socks, tennis balls and long walks in the park. I have a great family that really spoils me. In fact, they created a whole month to celebrate ME! My humans decorate the house and sing funny songs just to entertain me during this special time I call “Ri Ri Holiday." Here are some excerpts from my upcoming Auto-doggraphy.
Doggy Diary Entry: November 2012 The holiday starts after a huge feast. My people call this “Thanks-Giving." I’m not sure why it’s called this because they never give me anything during this feast. Anyway, it all starts when my family brings in a live tree for me to lay under and they hang decorative balls on the tree!!! They even put lights on the tree to be sure I see all the beautiful, shiny and perfectly round balls! The tree is a part of a fun game; I knock them off, I roll them around the room and then when I’m done, Mom puts them back on the tree for me play with again the next day. Brilliant!
Then they hang these HUGE socks above the fireplace. Three giant socks for me to carry around in my mouth and bring to Dad while he puts his shoes on in the morning. Gosh do I LOVE socks; and they found really big ones just for Ri Ri Holiday! The best part about my “Ri Ri Holiday” is the snacks they leave out for me on the counter when people come to visit.
There are cookies and candies (which I’m not allowed to have because Mom is helping me watch my girl-ish figure”), but sometimes I just can’t help myself and have to have some. So I sneak up on the counter and help myself to a people treat, or two….ok who am I kidding, I eat them all! They’re just so good! Who can resist the little snowmen and reindeer cookies that the smallest human hand made for me? Life is good for me. I hope all four-legged furry family members have amazing humans like I do.
Riesling showing off for the camera.
Doggy Diary Entry: November 2013 It’s horrible! Ri Ri Holiday has been CANCELED this year! Everything started off the same way it has for the past four years. The humans made a huge feast and invited over the family members who let me sleep on their couch when I spend the night at their house.
There is a tiny, tiny human here now that drops food for me which is a nice bonus. So I sit under her and pretend that I’m just staying out of the way and not begging. I noticed Grandma brought over a bag of presents for Mom. PetSafe was on all the boxes. How sweet, I thought, Grandma got me presents EARLY! But then something unexpected happened. The tree came in, the lights went up, the balls were hung, and this WEIRD PetSafe mat was put under MY tree! So now I cannot even get close to the tree. If I try to go near the tree the PetSafe® ScatMat®Curved Mat tells my paws that I can’t go there and then the mat beeps at me! WHAT is that all about??
I was pretty upset about this until DAD put a new collar on me. Nothing fancy, just a little black collar like every girl should have in her wardrobe. However, I noticed that as soon as I went to get the now FOUR giant socks for Dad my new collar starts beeping and then it tells me that I can’t get my socks! The PetSafe® Pawz Away® Mini Pet Barrier system keeps me away from the giant socks AND the fireplace. Why is this collar keeping me away from my favorite things? How am I supposed to take my socks down if the collar keeps training me to stay away?
After a disappointing sock and ball game, I decided to comfort myself and eat my feelings so I headed to the buffet, AKA the counter. As SOON as I started my annual Ri Ri Holiday cookie counter surfing this THING shot air at me! The nerve! The PetSafe® Ssscat® Spray Deterrent immediately sensed my motion and sent a burst of air at me! Every time I tried to put even ONE paw up on the counter and peek over the counter that THING lets me know it's there, and then I totally forget about the cookies.
So, now it’s official. Ri Ri Holiday is now a window shoppers holiday for me. I can look at all the fun games and treats that my humans prepare, but PetSafe has helped me grow up and become a well behaved young lady during the holiday season. I suppose I should thank them for keeping me out of any trouble, though. Mom says she'd like me to be around for many, many holidays, and keeping me out of her stuff made just for humans is just part of the deal.
