Just a cute few cute puppy picts!

Tonight Isabella was scratching her eyes...so I took a few photos!

The first one she is asleep all tucked in.

The second she is rubbing her eyes as she wakes up!

The last one, the cute puppy Isabella realizes I am taking photos.

She is too cute!

Thanksgiving Goes to the Dogs!

Thanksgiving 2009.

I am thankful for family, dogs, and country just to name a few things. I have finally managed to get the kids together and we are on the road to my aunts. Then the traffic sets in. Funny that a 20 minute drive can take us nearly two hours to complete. Amazing.

One good thing from this journey is my daughter managed to convince me to bring Isabella our Italian Greyhound. Like I may have mentioned before in another post, I have had little time to take the dogs on road trips or to the park. As a result little Isabella is all too thrilled to accompany us to wherever we are going.

Isabella is definitely a front seat dog with head out the window kind of girl. She always has to see what is going on all of the time. Interestingly enough, our in the car adventure is taking much longer than I anticipated and Isabella is grateful to sit out the long ride. While on the drive she managed to say hello to passers by in other cars. Isabella even had little kids in other cars waving to her and blowing her kisses.

Finally towards the end of the drive Isabella is near exhausted from the adventure. I was at a stop and took the photo above. Oh, she is one happy pooch. Moments like these remind me why our four legged friends are so dear and touch our hearts the way they do. Our day to day problems at times should be set aside to recall the simple things like long drives, happy puppies, laughter in trials, and the wind in our hair.

Dogs are amazing creatures!

Cold Weather and My Four Footed Friends

Last night was one of the first this year! Isabella my little Italian Greyhound buried herself under the covers. It is OFFICIALLY winter, LOL!

We usually see winter sparked off by turning and falling leaves or possibly the Thanksgiving isles in the store. I know it is winter when my little cutie Isabella buries under the covers prior to 8 o'clock in the evening. Not only does this dog dig in to the bed to get warm, she will intentionally undo a perfectly made bed and make it her own!

Here is the story. I get home last night and walk into my room, in the middle of my king size bed is this LUMP! A moving lump at that. So excited by my arrival I can hear this thump, thump, thump. This is Isabella's tall wagging. Too chilled to come out of her undercover haven she lets me know she cares. What a doll.

Well at least with the call of winter officially here I get my pillow back, which is Isabella's snuggle zone spring through fall. I will give up my bed for my pillow any day of the week!

Thank you Isabella, you are a great foot warmer!

Hope and Inspiration of Dogs

Oh boy it has been some time since I have written ... life does get busy! Recently I have been inclined to spend my efforts on the fight for our country and her continued freedom.

Though I have been sidetracked there is something I have noticed now more than ever. Dogs are peaceful creatures. They are not affected by the day to day goings on of life. Dogs are also oblivious of the politics that go on or the turmoil around the world.

These glorious creatures love and dare to continue loving even when we are in the foulest of moods or are impacted by the outside world. My loving David for instance, while Obama was spewing his humdrum of "global economy" was grooming his adorable puppy self unaffected by the man on the big screen.

I captured this image to remind me of what really matters, love, life, family, and peace. I love you David and you forever give me joy!

Sleepy time for the family, dogs included

Every night around nine in the evening our house winds down. The evening resolves, rituals commence. But before we can relax in bed, I look over and as usual the bed is taken. My pillow is commandeered. My Isabella puppy is comfy and I can't dare move her.

I slowly reach over to the end table, grabbing my phone to snap a shot, and just then Isabella peers up at me. Her expression is one to be remembered, as if to say "don't you even think about it".




Our bed seems to be the dog's favorite resting grounds. I think there are many more adorable pictures to come through the years of "bed time doggy bliss"!



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Eduardo is a good boy!!!!! j2s.jpg hosted at ImageShack.us

Eduardo is such a good puppy tonight...He just loves our bed!!! Eduardo especially loves a neat made bed. Good boy Eduardo, good boy. Sweet Pooch!

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Eduardo at the Park Today! omt.jpg hosted at ImageShack.us

Boy this was a fun day at the park with Eduardo. He had a great time with his two little buddies! I would love to see some pictures of your four legged friends, so send me a few!

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The Best News Ever, So Far At Least!

I was online tonight and read the most interesting dog-gone thing ever.

My grandma, I recall, received meals on wheels to help supplement her food supply. This service provided her daily lunches to ensure she was fed at least once a day. Great program, I think! Well what about the cat she owned? Did he get fed ?

Well the story in the following link tells us about a girl scout group which deserves some kudos for helping those four legged friends that cant help themselves, and whose owners may or may not have forgot to feed them, or may just be finding it hard to afford to feed them.


http://www.pawnation.com/2009/05/05/girl-scout-troops-helping-to-feed-pets/

Dirt, a dog's best friend & owners worst nightmare

The latest in our household is fighting the lovely dirt tracked into the house by the four legged loved ones.....the dogs.

Like the trash can troubles I have tried everything with the dirt too. As you may already know, trying to make a dog human is impossible. Trying to keep the dogs indoors at all times is in my mind cruel and not ok in our home. With dogs comes the dirt they love to play in, lounge in, and sometimes carry with them! Yes, carry with them in clumps.

Sure we humans enjoy the cool house, air conditioned and comfortable. Not our dogs. Oh, no, no, no! No matter the heat outside, and cool temperature indoors our dogs will almost always be caught under the shrubs or lounging in the sun, in a cool pile of fresh dirt they recently dug up for their enjoyment. Of course after their leisure time outdoors, they come in for a nice cool drink of water and to say hello to their humans. Lets not forget that when they do say hello and I look at their adorable brown eyes staring up at me....I also see behind their frantic wagging tails the many, many feet of leaves, dirt, and twigs they lounged in. Mind you they consider this to be them lavished in luxury!! I look at them with their ears perked up, eyes bright, tails a going, and their plush fur filled with filth....good times for the puppies for sure. Who can take this right to puppy freedom from them. NOT ME!

What can one do? Well I certainly won't deprive them of their doggy duties. So this time I bought two 4 foot by 2 1/2 foot rugs. One is for outside and another is for inside the back door. I think this might work. I also have rearranged the back yard leaving them two "great" dirt spots they can play in and make their dog haven. So we shall see.

If you have any tips please let me know!

Dogs on a car ride

So today I took both of the poodles on a drive. We were on the road for about an hour, pretty much a straight shot of a drive for the pups. Before I knew what was coming, a stench filled the car. Oh my! Not only did one of the poodles vomit in the back seat, but now he was eating his regurgitated feast. Yuck! Of course as the responsible driver I am, I kept on driving. There was no where to pull over, timing is always great when things like this happen. What does one do? Keep driving until home. With five miles to home came five miles of smelly stench of warm dog puke.

Poor dog. David, our poodle, is such a sweet guy. He never meant to vomit on my car seat. David is not to blame, he was being a dog, I am to blame. Now don't get me wrong, I am usually very in tune to the dogs feeding schedule and car rides. I have always made sure to keep the dogs in exposed situations where they are used to all different circumstances and environments. This helps the dogs to stay connected, interactive with the family; at the same time they will be comfortable everywhere they go. How could this happen? Then I remembered! There was about a cup of dog food left in the bowl when I came downstairs when we woke up this morning. That was it, I forgot to take up the food last night.

I could have hit myself over the head. Instead I will be more careful. David must have scarfed the food down quickly right after waking up this morning. You may be wondering why David got dog food but not the other poodle? Well, David is the dominant of the two. Edward, our other poodle probably had no sneak attack planned to go over David's head to get to the prized morning snack. This was a good thing for Edward today.

So that was our morning. The exciting part started when I was privileged with clean up duty of white leather interior of the poodles car. :)

Today was a great day for the pooches!

We had a great day today despite the warmth in San Diego, CA. There are three dogs in our house; two Standard Poodles and an Italian Greyhound.

For the Greyhound the warm weather is easy on her because she has very short hair and minimal body fat. For the two BIG Poodles, the story is much different. One poodle, David, has trimmed fur 1" in length. The other, Edward, has a show cut which is in some areas upward 12" long! Both poodles have extremely dense hair which adds to the body heat. Another factor is that a dog's normal body temperature is approximately 102 degrees. We humans think it is hot in the summer and our body temperature is only a meek 98.6 degrees on average! Poor pooches.

A few things that help with keeping the big dogs cool are ice cubes in their filtered water, instead of their raw diet thawed I prefer to feed it to them frozen, and also I make sure to give them an area in the house which has a fan with air conditioning. In the winter and fall I take the dogs to the park or on walks in the morning and afternoon. This is not practical during the summer and spring months for the poodles. If I am unable to go to the park early enough in the morning I will make a point to go on a walk around the block or to the local lighted dog park at dusk or later. This allows for the weather to be bearable for the boys to play and not get exhausted. Despite going later in the day I still make sure to bring my own water with ice cubes. This keeps the boys cool and hydrated... and not to mention happy pooches!

If you have any tips or information on ways to keep summer fun for the dogs please let me know!

Pooches got in the trash can again!

Anyone who has had a puppy or dog knows just how curious they can be. Trash cans are the best fun, next to unrolling and shredding toilet paper that is! Don't get me wrong, we have dog proofed the home. Also, we do supervise the dogs. They are however extremely creative and have impeccable timing. We have tried everything you could imagine:

• Standard Can- every type imaginable...now we get pricey...
  
• Step Trash Can- this one was easy to figure out, just knock it over!
• Flip Lid Trash Can- easier now that our dog figured out how to knock over the step can
• Button Lever Flip Trash can with locking lid- this took 3 months, then the dogs learned how to push the button!

Now what? So after spending a small fortune on trash cans, for now, I turned the can around so the dogs cant reach the lever. It has been 4 weeks and all the trash has stayed in the can. What happens when those mischievous dogs learn how to take the trash can and turn it and push the lever? Perhaps DUCK TAPE? Quite possibly.

Really, there has to be someone out there that knows the secret trick to keeping the trash in the can! A miracle can? Voice activated? Pin Code? Finger or retina scanner? I think it is amazing how our dogs can be so creative. I am almost certain the dogs are thinking always about the newest way to get into the beloved trash can. I say this because not once have I ever, not ever, seen my dogs trying to get in the can! Nor have I heard them pawing at it. My pooches are calculating by the moment, pondering when they will sneak in the next attempt.

After two years of battling the trash can blues with the dogs I think I have finally concurred the frustration and ranting. Perhaps I am going nuts, or is laughing the only thing I can do to try and pacify the dreaded search for the perfect trash can. You decide, because I give up. If you have any information that can help or advise our family, including the puzzle solving pooches, would like to know!!!!

Oh our four legged friend, the puppy dog

So, aren't those pretty puppies so cute? Little bitty eyes, puppy dog eyes as they say. Paws cute as pie. Those little ears that are soft as all heck.

I love dog clothes, do you? We have an IG (Italian Greyhound) in our home and being that she has limited body fat and short hair doggie sweaters even in the spring come in handy. If you have any crochet patterns for dog sweaters to share, or pajama patterns of your own making to post that would be wonderful. If you know of a boutique for jackets to order on the internet those of us loving all things dog will enjoy them thoroughly.

Our dogs will love you for it.

Dogs, dogs, dogs

Ever just wanted to go to one place to connect with everything DOG? You are here!

I have always struggled to find information and services for those four legged family members in our home. With your help and input we can do it, our dogs are counting on us!

When you run across a good dog boutique, web resource, or retail supplier let us dog fanciers know!

Our dogs will love you for it.