Waffles Wednesday - Rockin' the Orange

Hi everybuddy, Waffles here.

Look what the man in brown shorts brought me! I have a brand new ORANGE harness! 

Glogirly got it for me on account of her mom used to tell her, "Always match your handbag to your shoes."  I LOVE bags, but I'm a little worried about wearing SHOES.

I bet the same applies to harnesses and Waffle Wagons!

Oooooh! The Ladies at the nursing home are really going to SWOON!

Waffles Wednesday: PetSmart Field Trip III and Giveaway Winners!

Um hi everybuddy. Waffles here.

Yesterday I got to go on a field trip! Me and Glogirly met up with Spaghetti Bob's human at PetSmart. This is my third field trip and Glogirly said I did really good.

I'm trying out a new kind of harness to see how I like it. It's lighter than my other one and lets more of my furs show so people can admire and pet them. But it looks like a GIRLY harness. I think I need something way more manly, don't you?

Here I am in my cool Sleepypod carrier. Glogirly puts it inside the shopping cart and opens it way up so I can get up and look around whenever I want.

Or I can hunker down when one of those dog things comes by. I'm not so sure about the dog things yet. I mean they have four legs and all, lots of fur. But they look pretty strange.

Mr. Rat from my last field trip must be living in his new forever home. But I met his cousin, Mr. Mouse.  I think he was a little bit scared of me. I was hoping he'd invite me in for lunch.

I don't really know if this is a Mr. Mouse or a Mr. Rat, but he's running like mad. Do you think he knows he's not going anywhere?

I got out of my shopping cart a couple of times, but it's still a little scary. I climbed around on the shelf with the cat toys though. And played hide and seek behind the wand toys and feathers.

Oh, and I was super brave in the car too. I chattered the whole way there while Glogirly sang songs to me. And then I laid down and rested the whole way home. Shopping is hard work!

love,
Waffles

We've Got Sleepypod Giveaway Winners! 

Big congrats to Melissa from Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries & More! You've won the uber-cool Sleepypod Atom Pet Carrier.

Big congrats to Toni from RCTees!

You've scored the pawsome Yummy Travel Bowl!

Thank you to the nice people at Sleepypod for providing our prizes.

And thank you to everyone who entered. If you didn't win, don't worry...there's lots more in store!

Katie & Maggie are excited to announce the winners of the GLOGIRLY & Tiniest Tiger Giveaway!

Congratulations to Sue B of *katsrus* and Maggie from *shelter-cats.com*! Yay!!!

You'll be receiving your Stress-Stopper prize packages very soon!  Thank you SO much for entering and supporting us and our Tiniest Tiger friends!

Waffles Wednesday: A Grand Day Out - Waffles' First Shopping Adventure

Um, hi everybuddy. Waffles here.

You'll NEVER guess what I got to do yesterday! Ok, the headline is sort of a clue.

I went shopping! Glogirly brought me to the local PetSmart. In fact, Katie...I mean the Boss, was looking around the Townhouse ALL morning long for a receipt. I think she wanted Glogirly to try and return me. Or at least exchange me for some freeze dried salmon treats.

But this wasn't that kind of shopping trip. It was like going to school. I was learning to not be afraid in strange, new places and to be friendly to people I don't know.

When we were getting ready to leave the Townhouse, Glogirly put my harness on and *helped* me into my carrier. I wasn't too happy about the carrier, but she kept saying we were going someplace fun and someday I might actually like getting into the carrier. Then she put me in the car and strapped my carrier down with the seat belt. She drove way slower and calmer than she usually does and she was talking to me and singing the whole way there. She sang "You Are My Sunshine" and changed the words to "You Are My Waffles." I think the people in the other cars thought she was singing to them. But they probably weren't named Waffles.




Glogirly brought me into the store inside my carrier in a shopping cart. She opened up the top of the carrier and attached my leash to my harness, then let me get comfortable with the surroundings. I got to ride around the aisles looking through the shopping cart. There was SO much to see and smell. I was a little scared, but I didn't freak out at all.

Lots of people came up to say hi. Glogirly says I was very well-behaved and let them pet me and talk to me. It was still a little scary, but Glogirly protected me.




We met our friend Dee at the store. She's Spaghetti Bob's human. Bob's the therapy cat we featured on our Labor Day blog post HERE. Dee is super smart when it comes to training cats and helping them become comfortable in new environments. She told Glogirly to look for subtle signs of stress, like dilated eyes and lip licking, and to not push me to do anything I didn't want to do.

When I was ready, I even let Dee hold me in the toy aisle. I've never seen more feathers and catnip mice in my LIFE!



One of the highlights was meeting my new friend, Rat. You can tell by the look on his face that he was pretty surprised to see me. He even tried to run away on his wheel. I really wanted to bring him home for the Boss, but Glogirly said we better stick to the salmon treats.

That was my adventure! Glogirly says we'll go back again soon after I practice a little more with my leash and harness. Next time I think I'll say hi to the birds and fish.

Smucci Too Pet Bed Giveaway!

Don't forget to enter our COOL giveaway! One lucky GLOGIRLY reader will win their choice of a small or medium Smucci Too Bed Set valued at $159. There's LOTS of hip designs and beautfiul colors to choose from. Enter by Sunday, September 8 @ 11:59pm EST. 

And if you just can't wait...

Save 20% thru the end of September with coupon code: Glogirly. 

ENTER HERE

Suspicious Package Alert

Hi everyone, Katie here.

We get a lot of boxes here at the Townhouse. The UPS & FedEx men are like family. Except of course that they still insist on ringing the doorbell.

Many of you know I'm not a fan of boxes, bags or any other enclosed spaces. Maybe I was a packing peanut in a former life.

I'm particularly concerned with the contents of this box.

It's not food. It's not nip. It's definitely not toys. Yet Glogirly is acting like it's kitty stuff.

There's a blue something or another inside this box and I don't like the looks of it.

Oh. My. Cod. I REALLY don't like the looks of it.

At least it's not pink. That would be a very bad sign.

Vote for GLOGIRLY & Support Minnesota's Feline Rescue, Inc.

We need your votes to help win $1000 for some very special shelter kitties. Just a few miles from the Townhouse sits a small rescue shelter called Feline Rescue, Inc of St. Paul, Minnesota. Feline Rescue is a no-kill, all-volunteer cat rescue organization with shelter, foster and outreach programs. They provide safe shelter, veterinary care and socialization for stray, abandoned or abused cats until permanent homes can be found. 

Feline Rescue is one of the little guys making a big difference in the lives of homeless kitties.  And nothing would make us happier than being able to award them such a generous donation. 

Please take a moment to vote GLOGIRLY for Funniest Blog. And while you're at it, we've got a number of friends and fellow bloggers that are finalists in other categories. Each of them has selected an equally deserving shelter for their donations, should they win. 

So, Vote, Vote & Vote some more. Once daily thru July 31. Thank you so very much. We heart you big time.

CLICK TO VOTE

Waffles Wednesday: My First Harness

Um, hi everybuddy. Waffles here.

Check out my new harness! Glogirly got it for me to see if I might want to eventually go on some outings and meet people.

It just arrived yesterday, so it's all still really new to me. It wasn't very fun to put on, but once she got it all adjusted and buckled I forgot all about it and started chasing my wand toy around.  She said she wanted me to associate something fun with my harness. And you KNOW how much I LOVE my wand toy!  The don't call me Air Waffles for nothing!

When my friend Odin from Cat Wisdom 101 found out I had a new harness, he got in touch right away. He's a very experienced harness kitty and thought it would be helpful to share some of his special tips and tricks, on account of I'm a beginner and all.

Odin's top 10 recommendations for harness newbies:

1. Make sure you're microchipped. Actually, even if you never go outside you should STILL be microchipped. Stuff happens when you least expect it. Both me and the Boss are microchipped. I think Glogirly should get microchipped too.
2. Start with the harness indoors. Get comfortable. Glogirly played with me and talked to me really nice. That made my harness more comfy.
3. Add the leash indoors first. Your human can pick up the leash, but they shouldn't pull or tug. They should follow YOU around. They can use something like a Neko Fly or other wand toy to encourage you to walk around. 
4. Keep your training sessions short. Start at 5 minutes and gradually increase.
5. Once you go outside, stay very close to home. Don't go near anything noisy like busy streets. Since we live in the city, Glogirly says she's going to look into taking me in the car to a very quiet park nearby. 
6. Have your human use a verbal cue like "outside" or "walkies."
7. They should reward all wanted behavior and ignore the rest.  
8. Consistency is super important. You should train at the same time everyday if possible. Before mealtime is best so you'll associate your training with your noms.
9. Commitment is super important too. It won't be long before you'll look forward to your outdoor sessions. Don't let your human be a slacker. 
10. Have fun!

In addition, Odin said this is a great time to practice basic training commands like Come, Sit & Stay. Glogirly says my learning curve is steep here. I don't know what that means, but I DO know that treats are involved so I'm ALL-IN. 

She said we're going to do a separate post about my Come, Sit and Stay training. And treats.

Odin-Cat Wisdom 101

We want to thank Cat Wisdom 101's Odin & Layla for their great tips on harness training! 

Since we are SO not the experts here, it's awfully nice to have smart friends that can help.  

Cat Wisdom 101 is also a finalist for The Petties. They're in the Best Cat Blog category.

AND, since you're probably heading over to vote... just sayin' !

Now for your daily Petties reminder...

Vote for GLOGIRLY & Support Minnesota's Feline Rescue, Inc.

We need your votes to help win $1000 for some very special shelter kitties. Just a few miles from the Townhouse sits a small rescue shelter called Feline Rescue, Inc of St. Paul, Minnesota. Feline Rescue is a no-kill, all-volunteer cat rescue organization with shelter, foster and outreach programs. They provide safe shelter, veterinary care and socialization for stray, abandoned or abused cats until permanent homes can be found. 

Feline Rescue is one of the little guys making a big difference in the lives of homeless kitties.  And nothing would make us happier than being able to award them such a generous donation. 

Please take a moment to vote GLOGIRLY for Funniest Blog. And while you're at it, we've got a number of friends and fellow bloggers that are finalists in other categories. Each of them has selected an equally deserving shelter for their donations, should they win. 

So, Vote, Vote & Vote some more. Once daily thru July 31. Thank you so very much. We heart you big time.

CLICK TO VOTE