The Prettiest Dog In The World

Cinnamon Goes to NYC! (vicariously)

Flying in a Plane! Skating at Rockafeller Center! Watching Wicked on Broadway! Hanging out in Times Square! Running under the Brooklyn Bridge! Strutting on Coney Island beach! Waiting for the Subway! Chillaxing on the Subway! Hiring out a Carriage ride! Crossing a bridge! O Hai, it's Central Park! All my favorite things!!!

Kickstands

Sometimes when Cinnamon sleeps she puts out one leg, as a makeshift kickstand.
It is a necessary precaution to prevent sudden doggie capsizing often created by strong winds or parental snuggle attacks.

-M

Handy Man - I mean Cinnamon

The Corley's got a new table for the kitchen. Being an active member of the family, Cinnamon jumped right in to offer a paw.

The table went together pretty easily - the hard part was setting it up with a Cinnamon colored lump right in the middle of the floor!

All Fun and Games

Cinnamon loves to play. Yeah...she is 14 - so she doesn't play crazy or nothin...but we have a good time. Ball is our favorite game. We played last night until she could barely stand up. But even when she laid down, out of breath, she didn't want to stop playing.

I could play ball with her forever. And ever. And ever.

Ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball......

-L

Funny Bedtime Routine

Last night Cinnamon fell asleep out in the living room, and she looked so peaceful sleeping out there that I didn’t want to wake her. I went and took a shower and when I came back out I thought she would still be sleeping on her bed...but she wasn’t there. I thought she must have moved into the bedroom while I was showering, but she was not on her bed in the bedroom either. Where was she??
I walked back out to the living room and she was trotting circles around the table, looking like a lost child at the supermarket. She was wondering where everyone had gone and had the most confused look on her face. Poor girl. I motioned with my hand for her to come with me into the bedroom (she is really good at knowing what that hand motion means - even in the dark) and she pranced past me toward the end of the bed. But she didn’t get into her bed. She stopped just before it and looked at me. Mike was sleeping, so I whispered “go get in your bed honeybun.” She did not turn to go in her bed though. Instead she scooted past me and went back into the living room. What was she doing? I walked around the corner and saw exactly what she was doing – she was going to her bed like I had asked…only she went back out to her living room bed!! She is so funny. I waived my arm again and said that she was a silly girl and she needed to come to her other bed. Geeze – We humans are totally confusing!!
Finally she made it to her bed, the one in the bedroom and plopped down hard, as if to say – HERE. I AM HERE. HAPPY?
As I nestled under the covers I heard her get up one more time. She circled 3 or 4 times, found just the right spot and with a huff found the perfect sleep spot.
What a time! I will certainly try to make tonight’s bedtime routine much easier.

-L

Snow Day!!

The snow didnt last long, but we played in what was left. Yay for SNOW

-L

Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day for the Corley family. We were supposed to set our clocks ahead an hour – Spring Forward and all – but we forgot. I felt kind of bad that we had slept through church, but I felt even worse when I changed the time on my clock from 11:00 to noon….meaning it was lunch time and I was just rolling out of bed. Oh well, everyone needs one of those lazy days every once and a while. It is good for the soul.
Of course, Cinnamon's morning started bright and early at 7am like usual. Mike was sleeping soundly, so I took her out in the morning. Apparently she had to go back out at 10:30 (or I guess it was 11:30) when Mike got up. Too much water I guess.

So we spent most of the day napping and lounging in our sweatpants. Ahh the life!

Brandon and Becs stopped by today with baby Bella. It was good to see them…but what was even better was seeing Cinnamon’s first interaction with a baby – and baby Bella’s first experience with a dog. They were both so wide eyed and curious of the other. I can only imagine the thoughts that both of them were having. In any case, you could tell that both of them were happy. Bella was bouncing and cooing with excitement, trying whenever she could to reach out for the new four legged creature. Cinnamon was reciprocating the enthusiasm with the wag of her tail. After a while though, like the old lady she is, she just laid on the flore and wait for the new creature to leave so she could nap.

And nap she did – for the rest of the day until around 6:00 or so, Cinnamon got a burst of energy. She was trotting around the living room like she does – announcing that she is ready to play. So like any good mom I got on the floor with her. Mike was up on the couch reading his book and I could see him watching us and smiling. We played ball for a long time. She doesn’t normally play that long, but she did tonight.

We could tell that she was getting tired because she started breathing really hard. It was a good pant though. I thought she was done playing so I sat back on my rear and crossed my legs. Cinnamon came over to me and did the funniest thing. She laid down right in front of me and then plopped her head in my lap. She has never done that before. It was so cute! I put my face down in her fur and blew in her ears and kissed all over her cheeks. She rolled with delight and snuggled even closer to me.

This is our dog. She does normal and extraordinary things every day. I cant wait till tomorrow.

-L

Quite Saturday

Today, It's just Cinnamon and I. Lindsey drove down to her parents last night, so we've been here alone all day and will be till tomorrow afternoon.

Cinnamon woke up around 9am and had to go to the bathroom, so I got up then and took her out, then I made breakfast for myself and her and read on the couch till about 11. Cinnamon layed on her bed next to me until she got up and started pacing and I took her out for a long walk. We came back in and I layed down on the couch long ways in the sun, and Cinnamon layed down right next to me, and I let my arm dangle over the side and petted her until we both fell asleep. A few hours later I worked on the computer and eventually I went for a run and came back and ate dinner/lunch, and then Cinnamon I noticed was limping around. It was her front right paw that seemed to be hurting her, so I layed on her bed with her for a while and massaged it and pet her while I listened to Northern Lights audiobook.

Eventually I got her up and we went out for another walk, I was afraid that she would have trouble going down the stairs if her paw was hurting, but she managed fine. And while walking outside she walked slightly better, though she was very slow in coming home.
Back inside upstairs she again was limping, like the carpet was hurting her or something. I gave her a treat and tried to play ball with her, but she only retrieved it once slowly, not seeming to want to when her leg was hurting.

I went back to the computer and worked for a while longer, and she came in and snuck under my legs and layed down under the computer desk, I had to move the chair out a bit to make room for her. I worked for a bit more, but then stopped and started putting away the laundry watching her watching me under the chair. When I was done I went back and pulled away the chair and pet her for a while longer. I then went to take a shower and she came and layed down in the bathroom to wait like she normally does, but when I got out and went to the bedroom she didn't follow me like usual. I had to encourage her to get up and follow me into the bedroom.
Currently she is in her bed, her leg seems to be hurting her very badly because I had to coax her to her bed, she almost just lay down in the hall. I hope she feels better in the morning.
If she wakes up when I go to bed I will probably let her sleep up there with me, otherwise I'll just let her be on her bed.

-M

Rough Night...

Poor Cinnamon. She had an upset tummy last night (as you can see from the post below)….but after the initial “blast” it only got worse.

I bought a new coffee table for the living room over the weekend and started to set it up last night. She kind of started getting all fidgety, huffing and puffing around me like she was totally out of breath. It took me a second to realize that she was doing what I like to call the “poopy pacing”…you know, kind of trotting back and forth – not able to get comfortable because she knew what was rumbling inside of her!!
We all know how it feels. And it is no fun! We took her out about 4 times between dinner and bedtime (normally she only has to go once).
And she continued that trend throughout the night. Our friend Adam was staying over and ended up having to wake up and take her out. Thanks Adam (and our carpet thanks you too). I took her out two other times in the late hours of the early morning.
Needless to say Cinnamon didn’t sleep much last night – and thus neither did I. Mike slept through the night though…so at least one of us will be functioning today. I don’t blame her though…the same thing will happen to me when I am old and can’t get to the bathroom on my own. Things like that don’t matter when you love someone like we love her.
Lucky for Cinnamon she gets to relax and nap as long as she wants during the day today.
Oh girl…I wish I could join you.
Well, let’s hope that she got it all out of her system last night and tonight will be a much better night for all.

-L

Soupy Poopy!

Dont worry girl...pewhhh! It happens to the best of us.

-L

Happy Valentine's

Today Lindsey and I took Cinnamon to the dog park in Redmond, we stayed and played for a while looking at all the colorful doggies and then we left and ran a few errands, like buying books and looking at furniture. Cinnamon stayed in the car for most of those stops, but after that we took her to the PupScrub and gave her a nice bath. As her skin we had noticed was becoming quite dry and flaky.

There was a dog at the PupScrub, a husky I believe that kept whining while it was being bathed, in a low moany way, it did not sound like a dog at all, it was quite humorous.

We bought 2 cannolis and took Cinnamon home and I sat on the couch to finish a book and Lindsey picked Cinnamon up and she layed down next to me and proceeded to fall asleep.

She kept making herself comfortable by putting her paws on my arm and snuggling up closer.
She has never fallen asleep on me like that, usually when we put her up on the couch she just licks her paws or looks around until a few minutes pass and she decides it is time to get down.

I think she was just very very very very tired today.
And it was very sweet.

-M

Sleepy Time

Today Cinnamon made friends with a rich black dog named Gladys, and she went to the dog park, but she spent most of the day sleeping. In that beautiful way that she does.

-M

Life and Love - Dog Style

When you are a dog, life must be so much easier. At least a dog that lives with a family that loves them as much as we love Cinnamon.
These dogs – they really do live the high life. Money is never an issue. Cinnamon, you don’t slave your life away at a job that many times seems meaningless. You spend your days lounging in a nice cozy house just waiting for the moment that Mike and I come home. We see you peaking out the windows…watching for the car to pull up (possibly trotting over to your bed and getting snuggled so we think you have been sleeping all day).
You eat when you want, sleep when you want, play when you want, burp when you want (ok, so you can’t always pee when you want, but who likes doing that anyway).
And the best part is people are always there to take care of you. Someone’s always there to pet you and brush your hair. People always smile when they see you…like there can never be bad news when you are involved. If you make a mess (always on accident of course), they get it. It was an accident. A mistake. And they love you anyway.
They always love you.
We always love you Cinnamon. And we know that you love us back.
I see it in your smiles each day; I see it when you role on the floor and play ball with me; I see it when you snuggle up with Mike for a little nap. You love us so much sometimes it shakes your entire body!! And that makes me smile even as I am writing this.
That must be the best part about being a dog….loving others with your entire self – that is what you were made for. It is your job as a dog to love and you do it the best my doggy.
You do it so good that I think that is what you were created for. Yup. You were made to be a furry, bouncy, barky, cuddly, prancey, slobbery mass of love!!
It is a noble task to have love as a profession. A task that really isn’t suited for us humans. We put too many rules and regulations on our affection; monitoring, guarding, and over thinking everything. We are too scared to let go. Oh to love like my dog – love so freely and opening. Loving each and every person that walks through the door.
Cinnamon, you teach me every day what it means to love more freely and purely. Thank you for that. My constant, wonderful, beautiful, favorite dog! Mike and I love you – but even more then that I think we love how you love us!!

-L

Dinner Time, Our Favorite Thing

Last night right around dinner time, it was time for dinner.

We made beef stew which looked and smelled very similar to Cinnamon's new wet dog food that she's been getting mixed in with her dry food. So similar in fact when the can was opened and the scent released, Cinnamon came into the kitchen looking up at us making food wondering when she would get it. She never did cause it was our dinner and she had her food in her bowl.
She eventually learned this and went and ate her own food while we went and ate ours.
All together as a family.

I did share some of our brown oaty bread with her, which she enjoyed, along with a nice piece of swiss cheese.

And who doesn't love swiss cheese?
Cinnamon loves swiss cheese.

-M

Bath Time

Yesterday I stayed home from work cause I wasn't feeling well, and lins got off early enough for us to take Cinnamon down to the PupScrub to give her a bath, as we hadn't gone in over two weeks.
It has been very rainy lately so when she goes outside she walks through puddles and splashes all manner of mud and dirt up onto her legs and underbelly. That and over time her head begins to smell dirty, why that of all places I haven't a clue.

So we take her to the car and she knows exactly which one and where to sit and wait while we unlock the doors and open them, retracting the seat as far back as it can go to give her room. She can put her front paws up but she can't jump to get her back legs up so we have to lift her the rest of the way. Inside I squeeze in next to her and give her as much room as possible. She always puts her head up by the shifter and lays it down when she finds room to, its very cute, and we've taken many a pictures of her like that. After a couple of minutes sitting up she always manages to curl her body around and lay down at my feet in the car, she looks super cramped but she doesn't complain too much.

At the PupScrub she hugs the walls, as she doesn't particularly care for the floors. They can be quite slippery, but this time her feet stayed firmly under her.We were the only ones there that night, which was a first, as usually all five of the tubs are filled with all kinds of dogs hooting and hollering about how they feel at that current moment. None of which I care to hear.

Same situation with the tub as with getting into the car, she can lift her front up but we have to help get her back end in. Easy enough as its not very high up.
We always use the tar medicated shampoo as that is supposed to help with dandruff and itchy sensitive skin; that with the oatmeal conditioner and a tearless face wash.
We usually spend about an hour there wetting her down, washing her slowly and letting the shampoo sit for a couple of minutes, playing with her hair making mohawks and such, rinsing, then doing the same with the conditioner, but the place was close to closing so it only took about a half an hour this time.

The longest part I think is drying her. I sit at the front of the tub on a little stool blocking the opening with a towel so she doesnt try to jump down, as she seems a bit afraid of the hair dryer from time to time. I hold her front and towel dry her and pet her while Lins blow drys her everywhere else, its a bit of a routine we've found ourselves doing.

There is a short little leash that they provide to hinge them to the back of the tub away from the opening where they can be tethered so they dont wander around and jump out when they are wet, we used that for a while but the past couple of times we dont hook her, one of us just holds onto the leash, I think she likes it better that way too. When its time to dry her though I take the leash off completely since I am blocking the front. This time though when her face was being blown Lins didn't turn it down to half power so Cinnamon was more bothered by it than usual. She proceeded to wander back around the tub, knocking over the shampoo and conditioner that was on the ledge before finally coming back to me trying to make a break for it, but I stop her, I always do, just pet her and talk to her, and shes okay then.

When were done we get her two gourmet doggie treats, this time a large donut and a fish cookie. Then we take her down the sidewalk to a little courtyard with trees and she uses the bathroom there like always.

After we got her back in the car we went to Walgreens right down the street to pick up some stuff. She jumped up onto the seat when we went into the store and waited there looking in at the doors presumably the whole time we were inside. We came out and saw her looking at us with a smile on her face so I had Lins take a picture with her camera.

The other picture is from a bath we gave her a while ago, but it shows how little she looks when wet, and that is her with her mohawk down her back too.

-M

While I work

All day today I have been working on a commissioned piece of art, and I have barely moved from the computer. It gets to be quite boring just sitting here listening to music and drawing nonstop, but when I have a deadline, I have a deadline.

Cinnamon has been coming in and out of the room throughout the whole day, but now that I'm the only one home she has come by me and fallen asleep on her bed.
Lately she has been sleeping with her head falling off of the bed, it's very cute, though it looks to me like it could be quite uncomfortable.

Glad she's here to keep me company though.

-M

I like car rides

We have found that Cinnamon is extremely found of car rides. Is that true of most dogs? Maybe it is, but it is sort of foreign to me because I have had mostly cats all my life...and we all know how most cats feel about the car!!

So this truth was solidified in my mind when I took Cinnamon out to potty the other day. I don't know why I did this, but right at our front door I took her leash off to let her roam free. To my surprise she bolted down the path heading for the parking lot....oh dear....what did I do!

I jogged on the path after her, worried that she would run into the street and get hit by a car. But when I rounded the corner and looked out into the lot, she was nowhere to be seen. I know dogs can get fast...but I know my dog and she is not that fast...is she?

My eyes canvased the lot and then spotted a golden cinnamon colored mass next to our car. It was her. Sitting by the passenger side where we always put her in, waiting patiently for her ride!!! What a dog! I could not stop laughing. For one, she just looked up at me with her big eyes - so excited and ready for a car ride. But what really made me laugh was the fact that she knew exactly which car was ours and where she needed to go to get the car ride that she wanted!! It made me lover her that much more.

Every day she surprises me with things like this that prove just how wonderful a dog she is.

Love you always girl.

-L

First Snow of 2009

This evening around 4pm it started snowing. We had gone down to SouthCenter to celebrate Jordan's birthday, and by the time we left the restaurant to drive home there was at least a half inch covering the ground.
We got home probably a bit after 7pm with around the same ammount accumulated on the ground, Lindsey went inside and got Cinnamon and the video camera while I waited in the car.

A few minutes later I saw Cinnamon wearing her coat and sniffing the bushes bordering the sidewalk to our house with Lindsey following her, camera stuck to her eye watching every little move Cinnamon would make.
We spent about 10 minutes outside walking in the snow over to the side of the condos where there is a large area of grass and trees, I took the leash of Cinnamon's collar and let her walk around as she saw fit.

At first she didn't do much, just kinda stood and yawned by Lindsey taping her, but I went further away and called to her and she trotted down to me and sniffed around.
We tried to wait until she used the bathroom but she either didn't have to or forgot on account of the snow, as it can be quite distracting.
Eventually she got cold, or so I imagined and we started walking back to the house.
She never used the bathroom but she did get covered in snow despite how many times she tried shaking it off.

We brought her inside and dried her off then we went about our nightly habits, a few minutes before I went to shower she had ate some ice cream and when finished didn't feel like giving up the cup, quickly moving her head over it and guarding it if Lindsey or I came close.
Lindsey wanted to get it from her so she didn't swallow any paper bits as she tore it up, so she got her the treat box in the kitchen and as soon as Cinnamon heard it shake she jumped up and I snatched the cup out from under her.

It is still snowing but will probably be turned to rain by midnight, but hopefully we will have more snow days this winter to take her out in, she seems to love it, if not only for the fact that she feels she can pee anywhere.

-M

A Cinnamon Christmas

Have you ever thought about what a holiday, special occasion or even just a lazy Saturday looked like through the eyes of your pet?? I have, and thus my entry today. I am sure I don’t have all of the details correct, but I think this gets you pretty close (hour by hour) to what her Christmas this year was all about.

6:00am
Wow I have to potty. I have been in this hot room all night – sleeping on the big bed with mom and dad – and I drank an entire bowl of water before they lifted me up here. Yes, I definitely have to potty. Too bad I don’t have hands. I have no way of getting outside to do my business. Well…I will do the only thing I know will work…wine!! Yep. Wine, wine, wine. It works every time.

6:20am
Burrrr. It was really cold outside. All that white stuff makes it hard for me to walk, but it makes the potty spots really easy to find. I can see them all lit up in bright yellow!! Ah well, back to sleep.

9:00am
What…why are you moving? Hey, where is everyone going? I don’t want to get up, but I don’t want to stay here alone. Mom, don’t leave; we were all snuggled up and warm and now you are leaving. Why? What is going on out there? Sniff, sniff, sniff….oh. Oh!!! Something smells like heaven. Ok, get me down. I don’t know how to get out of this bed on my own. Help dad. Fast!!!! My tongue is out, my mouth is watering. Is that my food that smells so wonderful!! Yum yum yum yum.

10:00am
Nope. That was not my food that smelled so yummy. I did get some cheese though. Um…I like cheese.
I got a new bone and treats too. Dad put something on my head and kept smiling at me. What was he smiling at? Mom made that flash thing and smiled too. Everyone was smiling at me – do I have bed head or morning breath or something? What is so funny? Humf. Time to lay down for a bit. Just a second to rest my eyes and……snore.

11:00am
Opened my eyes – everyone is still here. Humf….Snore.

1:30pm
Yawn…stretch…hum, thirsty. Come on legs. One, two, threeeeee…four. Fhew. All legs are up. Over to water bowl. Get a nice cold drink. Sniff around. Make two laps around the house for good measure. Come back to bed. One, two, threeeeee. Humpf. Down. Snore.

3:00pm
There is something crawling on me. What? Ahhh it is that little thing, Hunter is what they call him. Boy is that annoying. Can we get rid of that…thing? Maybe leave it outside or something? It moves too fast and makes too much noise. Grrrrr. What a bother.

3:30
Gotta go, gotta go! Take me out please.

4:00pm
Pet time. Yup. That is right. I will keep putting my head under your hand for you to pet me. I like this way too much to let you stop. I love this. It is because I love you. Tail wag. Thump thump thump. This means I’m happy. Oh…let me just roll to my side to give you more surface to pet. Side dog – your favorite!

5:00pm
Yum, yum, yum. I smell dinner. My dinner? Nope – you are all at the table eating some good foods. What do I get? Ok. You are eating your dinner so I will go eat mine. Drink my drink. Come over and lay under the table. Maybe I will get a yummy bit. Burrrp!!! My my, where did that come from? Me???

6:30pm
Ball time? Play? Take the ball, one fetch, lay down, I’m done.

7:30pm
All that food, all that water….gotta go again! Quick, quick. Maybe we can go for a walk too? Smell the sights – yes!!

8:00pm
Nice walk. Now time for a nice sit. Lets turn that sit into a lay. Ah yeah – that is nice. Head down. Snore.

9:45pm
Potty time. Once more. Promise, just one.

10:00pm
Back to bed. Lift me up please. Nigh nigh.

This is Christmas from Cinnamon's POV. What a great day!!! Love you girl.

-L

14 Years Old

Christmas eve 1994 Cinnamon was born.
She had a whole lot of brothers and sisters all with Christmas themed names, her name was Bell, but that didnt last for long.

We came to pick her out and looking at her whole family she was the runt, but that's who I chose. Mom painted her nails pink on one foot so we would know it was her when we came back. How ever many weeks later, we came back and took her home.

We originally were going to name her Starr, to keep in the Christmas theme because we (or perhaps I) didn't like Bell. Instead we named her Cinnamon because of her dark coat, cinnamon colored, and because my parents named their two goldens we had when we grew up after spices, Ginger and Sage.
So we kept the tradition going with her.

Today, fourteen years later it is her birthday again, and we decided to start a blog to record the next hundred million years of her life, as a memory.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cinnamon, happy birthday to you.


-M & L