#laurenplusazoo

[motherofmabari]

Took Angie to work the other day and I think she enjoyed herself lol look at this ridiculous adorable face

[motherofmabari]

This is Rubeus!

He's my dog. We got him from Ruff Love Rescue in North Carolina January 22nd of 2018, when he was two and a half years old.

We're not sure what breed/s he is, though we think there's either Doberman or German pinscher in there somewhere, and I'd like to do an embark on him at some point.

Ruby's my first dog as an adult. His favorite things include chewing on his blanket, chasing our younger cat Boris (no worries, Boris enjoys this game too!), and being chased by me and my partner. He also enjoys sleeping in our bed and and pretending to be a lap dog.

He's very much a homebody, and prefers to hang out with a few well known doggy friends rather than visit public parks where he has to interact with lots of strangers. He and I are very similar in that regard lol.

Currently he and I are working on his leash manners and building up his confidence. He came to us with separation anxiety and a combination of training and medication have really helped him feel more comfortable on his own. It's still a work in progress, but I feel good about that progress. :)

I love this boy. He's a sweet, loveable goof of a dog. I wouldn't have it any other way. <3

[motherofmabari]

This is Natasha!

She is my first cat. I got her from a local rescue, Juliet's House, on July 9, 2017 when she was about 3 years old. It was literally the day after we moved to our condo, and her arrival was much anticipated!

I originally planned to adopt Natasha over a year prior. Unfortunately, my partner lost his job and I had to tell the rescue that I wouldn't be able to take her until we were back on our feet. It broke my heart, but we were moving back in with my parents and my dad is allergic to cats. We lived with them for over a year before we were able to get a place of our own.

When things finally got better, Natasha was still with the rescue. She had done a short stint in another home, but they had returned her to the rescue after discovering that they couldn't handle her IBS. They were told that she would vomit and have diarrhea if not fed a strict diet (and sometimes even when you do everything right), but I guess they just didn't realize exactly how difficult it would be to manage. Either way I was grateful, because it meant I finally got to bring her home! We put her on a raw diet and it made a huge difference with her IBS. She was on raw until Stella and Chewy's came out with their wet cartons in March of 2019, which is the only non-raw diet she's ever done well on. She'll always be small and prone to stomach issues, but her quality of life is much better now that we've worked out a strict diet with her vet.

Personality wise, Natasha is a diva. She likes her litterbox scooped three times a day and if you're late she'll poop directly in front of the box, no exceptions. Her favorite spot is a chair on the porch, closely followed by the armrest next to my usual seat on the couch. She also enjoys sleeping in the middle of Rubeus's giant dog bed, always ignoring the smaller cat beds I foolishly bought before I knew her better. Now I know that she likes to live in the lap of luxury, and plan accordingly lol.

Natasha loves people, and insists they greet her at the door before she'll let them walk unaccosted. She gets along well with the other animals in the house, but I always make sure to spend some quiet time with her one on one. She spends her time birdwatching on the porch, sleeping in various prime sun spots throughout our home, and chasing any bugs that happen to make it inside.

This girl will always hold a special place in my heart. It may have taken over a year from live at first sight to bringing her home, but the wait was absolutely worth it!

[motherofmabari]

Got my little dude out for a quick checkup today. Heihei's such a handsome little guy!

[motherofmabari]

This is Angel!

She's my new dog. My best friend's grandfather is going into assisted living, which means he needed to rehome his two miniature pinschers. They're littermates, but they have littermate syndrome and don't get along well so Angie here came to me and her sister will be going to another family. She and Ruby are still figuring each other out, but they're getting along well!

Angel is my first purebred dog and I'm actually pretty excited about that. She's incredibly sweet and has settled in really nicely.

She's very overweight at 20lbs, so we're going to be working on losing about 5lbs. I'm not too worried though, she's healthy and won't be free feeding anymore which should help a lot.

Welcome to the family Angel! Looking forward to many more years with you. ❤️

[motherofmabari]

Felt cute 😊 my hair can be such a pain but I love it when it curls just right

[motherofmabari]

Boris is the cutest cat in the world and no one can convince me otherwise.

[motherofmabari]

I had fun taking pictures during playtime this week! Best part of my job is hanging out with these awesome dogs. One good playtime makes all the shit cleaning and aching feet worth it.