sh*T my dog does

Okay - I couldn't come up with a creative title for todays musing of the dogs in my world but there it is.  I wanted to share some of the strange things my lab mix does.


Picture this, it's dinner time at home - or breakfast or snack-time, or any time there is kibble in the bowl and the mood strikes him.  My 3 year old baby boy - bommalomma (after my fabulous President) starts eating.  He takes exactly one mouthful, chews it and swallows, he then fills his mouth a second time and walks away from his food bowl....Where does he go?  To find me - crunching and chewing and slowly walking - down the hall, in to the living room, in to my bedroom or office or whereever I happen to be.


I can hear him crunching and his collar jangling.  He finds me - he walks over to me and just looks at me.  I have to say - "good boy, eat your dinner" before he walks back to his food bowl and starts all over again.  Always the same rountine - first bite; chewed and swallowed, second bite - crunch crunch crunch-jingle jingle jingle....


He has done this since he was a puppy and I know that it started with me probably cooing and rubbing his tiny ears and talking to him the first few times it happened.  It's just so odd and endearing to me I had to share.


Second - he loves to remodel and help around the house....I will put together a list of items he has helped me decide to replace.  Let's just say that I would have to wear a disguise or send friends in to cable company with my chewed up remotes (about 15 of them - they were his favorite for about 2 years)

Third (and I do know dogs do this) when he wants to lay down in his bed he has a compulsive dance/act that he has to do before he can lay down.  It's a quick circling (in one direction) round and round several times, then he digs at the bed, then he circles round and round the OTHER direction then back to digging.  He does this several times and I am like - "BOMMA - lay down already".


This of course causes him to walk over to me to see what I need - and therefore starts the whole thing over. 
Send me some sh*T your dog does!

Happy Valentine's day other holiday musings

While I would not describe myself as the scrooge of all holidays, I must finally admit that I am not a big participant.  I am more likely to say ... "whoa - it's Valentine's day????" usually around 4:00 on the fateful day and when I discover that my love has decorated the porch with hearts and there is chocolate hidden in my bed.

I remember my first Valentine with my beloved where I received a perfectly darling white teddy bear with a box of candy and a sweet card.  This given to me with the expectant look of "where is my present" and I had to confess that I was really like a Jehovah Witness when it comes to all holidays.  Of course I also asked "please don't buy me any more stuffed animals"  they creep me out (or some such statement in my defense)  Lucky for me we are still together and today I got a nice note with 'happy valentine's day' written on a piece of paper and left on the counter for me this morning.  PERFECT!

Somehow, I block out the shamrocks, ghosts and costumes, the red white and blue streamers and firecrackers, and other 'stuff' that is out on display when I shop.  What this means that I do sometimes disappoint those I love.  Is this terrible?  No easter baskets, no green beer or special treats....Is there something wrong with me or do others have this same issue?
Maybe I spend too much time at the dog park and not enough with actual human friends.  

So today is Valentine's Day...to all my friends and family - I love you 365 days a year - didn't buy you anything!



Head out the window and other observations

Please take me with you

Planning a weekend at the beach should invlove at least a minimum of thinking and list making.  I am a prolific list maker but I rarely use much less remember what I wrote on them.


Ususally, I am grabbing up a bunch of stuff the night before and scrambling around in the morning.  One time I ended up with a neatly folded stack of dish towels that were underneath a single t-shirt.  I had just scooped up the pile and threw it in the bag. 


My sister has a bitchen' house at the coast and I am lucky enough to be able to go there sometimes when I need a break.   She is also a dog-aholic so this means we get to bring our hounds with us.  I was pretty sure my Bomma-Lomma's first trip to the coast here would be amazing and he did not disappoint.   


So I did my usual - sat at the dining room table writing a packing list that I wasn't going to use...kong, peanut butter, dog bed, dog food, dog treats, leash....see the pattern here?  We are going to the coast....


The magic morning arrives - up at 5:15, coffee on, and the schlepping to the car begins.  Meanwhile, my boy is about to come out of his skin.  Scrambling around, jumping, paw, and overall mayhem from him.  The other 'child' is a dignified 14 year old so she just sort of ran back and forth from the dining room to the back door....somewhat confused by everything that was going on.


An uneventful drive down with both of the dogs sleeping most of the way until we let them out in Astoria.  Then it was windows down and nose out.  When we got to the beach house, I decided  to just open the car door and let him out to run around and get rid of some pent up energy.....


Let's just say that hindsight is 20/20 and I will never do that again.  He took off like a shot - straight down the trail leading over the dunes to the beach.  I am not as agile as I used to be so the sight of me 'running' after him was probably not the best.  He did come back to me a few times but not close enough for me to grab him and put his leash on.  Continuing my slow 'jog' I heard the first of many screams of "NO",....Get away......G*D D**N DOG"....I got over the last low dune and there he was happily playing with a family - well he was happy anyway...the family wasn't.  He was diving around one young man on a floaty - trying to either hop on with him or tip him over.  The mother and father were trying to grab him as he ran past them and I was screaming his name at the top of my lungs like a fish wife.  He looked my way a couple of times with a "who are you?" look - he had never seen me before, never heard my voice, nothing!


WOW - I did not know that one could feel the death ray of looks from that far away - but if looks could kill or maim, I would have dropped over.  I scrambled over and said 'sorry sorry sorry' about a million times with them standing there with arms crossed fuming.  Meanwhile, my pooch has discovered the ocean and this is all I needed. 


I have see a lot of videos of joyful dogs and wished like crazy that I had a video camera to tape him on that day.  I forgot all about the crabby people and even they warmed up and managed a smile watching him. 


So glad I took him - so much fun - he ran and ran and made friends for hours then slept like a baby all night.  Going to buy a camera for next time for sure!

What to do when it won't stop raining.....

I wish I could shout to the world that I am someone who diligently takes their pups for long walks and adventures in a dog park, regardless of the weather.  Sadly, I am not.  When the temp drops below 50 degrees and it's pouring the rain, I find myself standing at the open back door with my best friends looking out on the yard...trying to get them to go outside for a minute.

Then by the second day, I am watching my 3 year old lab mix race around the house like his butt is on fire, listening to the cats yowling constantly as he tries to get their attention....(nothing like a lab nose scooting you around the living room) and even my older dog barking her head off at his bad behaviour.  I knew I had to do something for some stimulation and excericise before much more time went by or I was going to have my couch further modified.  (pictures to be posted later today) What to do....what to do...

I decided I would spend the day baking up dog treats - they could lick the bowl, sample the wares, and overall help me out in the kitchen. We all piled in to the car and off to the grocery store we went.

**Another bit of advice, select the treats you will make, and actually LOOK around to make sure you have everything you need before you start whipping stuff up.... just sayin

Here's a link to a great list of recipes:
Treat Recipes

First Up:

LIVER BROWNIES - Beware!!!! My dogs were thrilled with the smell - this was not the same for me but it gave me the opportunity to open the front and back door to air out the house.

1 1/4 lbs chicken liver
1 Cup wheat germ
2 Tablespoons wheat flour
2 Cups oatmeal (quick cook kind - not instant)
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 Tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat oven 350°F. Liquefy liver and garlic in blender or processor. When smooth add eggs (shells also) and peanut butter. Blend until smooth. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add liver mixture and olive oil to dry mixture and mix well. Spread into a greased 9×9 baking dish. Bake 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into pieces.

Second in the oven: Super easy and really pretty good for not having sugar or chocolate
PEANUT BUTTER CUT OUTS
2 cups whole wheat-flour
1 cup skim milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon Baking POWDER

Preheat 375°F. Mix ingredients together and knead heavy dough a bit. Roll out to 1/4 inch and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

I will post pictures of us making these and you will see for yourself how helpful everyone was.  It even stopped raining long enough for me to grab the miracle toy - "chuck-it" and the glowing yellow priceless diamond that is his tennis ball and off to the park we went!