April 29, 2013

Monday Mischief: I Met My New Cousin!

Rita here! I met my new cousin, Reggie, this weekend. Momma said I did really good! She took about a thousand pictures, so I will let the pics tell the story:

We met through some bars, but he looked like he wanted to kiss me, and I looked like I wasn't going to eat him, so they let us meet for reals.

April 25, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: Opposable Thumbs

Last night the hubs asked me what I thought Rita would do if she had opposable thumbs.** I said we'd probably need to put a lock on both the fridge and pantry doors.

What If My Dog Had Opposable Thumbs?
I decided to Google "what if dogs had opposable thumbs" just to see what would come up, and it turns out there's actually a "What if cats and dogs had opposable thumbs?" Day. It's March 3rd. Unfortunately we forgot to celebrate it this year. It's in its 22nd year! According to the man who started the "holiday," people "aren't supposed to actually do anything on March 3." (Which is good, since I forgot to send out cards and get gifts!) "It's all about contemplation of canine and feline evolution." Since we missed the official "celebration," we'll contemplate it now.

Here are the top 3 things I think Rita would do if she had opposable thumbs:
1. Open the fridge and help herself to the contents of the cheese drawer.


2. Go online and order all the treats she can stuff herself with. (And she'd be able to open the front door when they were delivered.)

"If you loved me, you'd give me your credit card number."

3. Take the car and head down to the beach whenever she felt like it.

Okay, I wanted to put a picture here of Rita in the driver's seat of my car, but she ALWAYS sits in the back, and no amount of treats could convince her to keep her fuzzy butt in the front. She kept leaping into the back. And nobody wants a backseat driver. (She's so funny. We had to fight with Bailey and Abby to keep them OUT of the front!)
What If a Cat Had Opposable Thumbs?
If a cat had opposable thumbs, he'd probably just lie there and do the Roman Emperor "thumbs up/thumbs down" thing whenever you displeased him. "Why did you bring me so few cat treats? Thumbs down!"

And now... here is Jimmy, a cat who can actually do that:

As you can see, no, Jimmy does not want to do it again. And I love how he gives her the "thumbs down" when she says it's time to get up.

What would your pet do if he/she had thumbs? 

** There's a little back story here... One day loooong ago, Mike and I were talking and I said it was a good thing the dog (our beagle, Bailey, at the time) didn't have opposable thumbs. The next day, I heard him talking to Bailey, and he said something to her about not having "disposable thumbs." Yeah, he gets a lotta teasing about that. (In his defense, English is not his first language - although you'd never know it to talk to him since he has no accent - but he still gets a lotta teasing about that.)

April 24, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Jealousy

Today's word is jealousy, cuz I bet you are gonna be jealous that I got to get my hands on this little fluffball yesterday! Meet my new nephew, Reggie!
Reggie with his favorite aunt! (Sure my other sis will have somethin' to say about that.)

April 22, 2013

Monday Mischief: Photo Mischief

I'm not super techy when it comes to messing with photos. I've never "shopped" a photo, as it were. (Why do they call it PhotoShop? It has nothing to do with shopping. Outta be PhotoTweak. Just my opinion...)
But recently I have played with made mischief with a few photos - and I think I might be addicted now. The photos I want to share also relate to two giveaways you can enter, so read on!

What the Dog Ate Giveaway
Thanks so much to Taryn over at A Tail of Two Cardis who wrote a lovely post about my novel, and is hosting a giveaway for a copy right now. All you have to do to enter is visit her post here before Thursday, April 25th and leave a comment about a funny thing that your dog (or another pet or even you) ate. It's open to folks beyond just the US, so hop on over there.

Now, when you do, you'll see that Taryn decided to "revise" the cover of What the Dog Ate, substituting one of her handsome pups for my usual cover model:
Too cute, right??

This of course made me wonder: "Why didn't I ever think of that?!?" So, here you go - Rita as cover girl:
She makes a cute cover girl, IMHO!
If you are wondering what the dog ate, that's a little spot of melted cheese on her nose.

Celebrate Jeffie's Birthday! 
Meanwhile, Jeffie over at the Talking Dogs blog is celebrating his 7th birthday, and stretching out the celebrating over the entire month of April. (You know how to pawrty, Jeffie!) Part of the celebration involves a giveaway for a $25 Amazon gift card if you submit a party pic of your pup by April 27. Check out this post here re: entering. The winner will be chosen in a random drawing, so go on over and join the fun. 

I can't resist taking fun pics of Rita, so we had to enter. I was able to doctor up the pictures I sent with some captions using the free website PicMonkey. (Thanks to Taryn -again- this time for the heads up about PicMonkey!) There's a paid subscription version, but you can do some fun things even with the free version.

So, here are some outtakes of the pics I took of Rita, and at the end you'll see the final captioned shots I sent in for Jeffie's pawrty.
One outtake - she's drinking a "The Vixen" beer
Another outtake - the party "aftermath"
One more outtake - I put some cheese on the lid!
 And here are the 2 I submitted:

I had to put a treat in the lampshade to get her in there, of course!

Now go out there and have some fun with your photos! And enter some fun giveaways!

Happy Monday Mischief!

April 19, 2013

FitDog Friday: Pearly-White Canines!

... and incisors and whatever else a dog's mouth has going on in there. Yes, today on FitDog Friday, I'm posting about something that may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to keeping your pup fit and healthy: teeth. Just as with humans and dental health, keeping a dog's teeth healthy is super important too! (Note: Be sure to read to the end of the post for a link to a giveaway on one of our fave blogs!)

Do I Really Have to Brush My Dog's Teeth?
I grew up in the days of ignoring the dog's teeth, so it's been a little hard to get in the habit of regular brushing. When I came across Jozi the Corgi (yes, another Corgi! You know we love those around here, as evidenced by yesterday's post!) & the Pussycats' Smooch a Pooch Giveaway, we had to enter. How could Pooch Smooches resist a "Smooch a Pooch" giveaway?? Plus, I figured if we won I'd have no excuse not to brush Rita's teeth.

Well - we won! So now I have to start brushing Rita's teeth. And we've been lazy, but no more excuses.

I couldn't believe how big the box with our winnings was. Rita could have fit inside! I didn't remember everything involved in the prize package, so was expecting a tiny box with a doggy toothbrush and some Dentastix - but no! There were tons of goodies!
She's so excited, her head's all blurry in this photo.
I had to really dig around in there to make sure we didn't miss anything!
Rita with our haul!
Here's everything we won:
  • A coupon for a free office visit and dental consultation to Banfield (inside Petsmart)** 
  • Paw Print Keepsake 
  • Doggie Toothbrush 
  • 2 Doggie Toys
  • Dentastix Fresh samples - yes sir, yes sir - 3 bags full!
  • Sephora goodies including a $25.00 Sephora gift card (Whoo-hoo! Some shopping for the Momma!)
  • Toothbrush, toothpaste & Altoids for us humans to keep our breath minty fresh and clean

Rita loved the toys that were included:
"Give, Momma!"

But quickly abandoned them in favor of the Dentastix:
"Oh, I love the easy-open packaging."
"Seriously, Momma. The Sephora thing is yours. Get away from my Dentastix!"
Just one, Rita!

After she finished the lone Dentastix I would let her have, she was back playing with her new toys. This one is really cute and is designed for snuggling - it sort of has a blankie attached to the stuffed part.
"I'll snuggle this later. Right now, I think I'll eat it."
Today we got out the toothbrush, which is really cool and 3-sided. As luck would have it, I'd been reading My Brown Newfie's post on all the benefits of coconut oil, (check it out cuz there's lots of good info about the health benefits both inside and out, for you AND the dog!). Via the comments and following some links, I found that some folks use it to brush their dog's teeth, so I thought I'd try that. I've tried in the past to brush Rita's teeth with one of those finger brushes and some gross chicken-flavored toothpaste, but she was not keen.

Today when I came at her with the new toothbrush with a bit of coconut oil on it, she was happy to give it a go!
"Yum!"
"Momma, could you stop the brushing action and just let me lick this??!"
Look at those pearly whites! Gotta keep 'em that way!

Thanks again to Jozi the Corgi & the Pussycats! (Stop by and check out their cute blog!)


**NOTE: I'm happy with our vet and he runs a teeth cleaning special every February, so if anyone would like the coupon for the free Banfield checkup, let me know. I'm happy to mail it to you!

Do you brush your dog's teeth? It's important for keeping them healthy!

Now... In Other News?
Remember when Taryn from A Tail of Two Cardis won my giveaway celebrating What the Dog Ate's first anniversary? Well, she's having her own giveaway starting today, so stop by A Tail of Two Cardis and check it out!



April 18, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: The Unbearable Cuteness of Puppy

Mirth Watch Thursday is all about making you smile (and/or laugh) - and what could be more smile-inducing than a NEW PUPPY??? Nothing - that's what. And thus for today's smiles we bring you the newest member of our extended family. Meet my new nephew, Reggie:
Here he is, quickly falling in love with his new Momma.

April 17, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Spa or Gulag?

Rita generally doesn't like to be brushed, so when Daddy came at her with the brush** this weekend, she went belly up. 
Ugh. You try to get a little shut-eye in the sun. But no....

April 15, 2013

Blog the Change: My First Shelter Love

It's time again for Blog the Change. When I was trying to think of what I wanted to write about, I thought I might do a post on Black Dog Syndrome (if you've never heard of it, in a nutshell - black dogs, especially big ones, are much less likely to get adopted than their lighter shelter mates). While I was looking for a picture of Smiley, my sister's very lovable black Lab mix from my youth, I came across lots of pics of my first shelter love - Lazar Wolf:
Lazar, the day we brought her home - 1980

April 11, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: Mistaken Identity

Today, it's time for a pup pop quiz on Pooch Smooches.

I want you to tell me what this is:

You don't even need any help with this do you? You don't need a hint (like "it rhymes with merit") or multiple choice options to narrow it down (like: "a. Seal pup, b. Ferret, c. Toy Poodle, d. Rodent of Unusual Size".)

April 10, 2013

I Have Been Remiss - Part II: Winnings!

Okay, I know it's wordless Wednesday, so I'll try to not be too wordy and mainly show pics of what we won, but I have to give shout-outs where they are (over)due!

First off, we won several books!
"I don't always read, but when I do, it better involve a dog." ~ Rita

April 9, 2013

I Have Been Remiss - Part I: Awards

In the past few months Pooch Smooches has been given several awards by other lovely bloggers. I've been totally remiss in mentioning them and officially thanking them for the awards. There are various rules involved - usually answering a series of questions, and then nominating other bloggers. I added them all up, and (since I've been remiss for so long) that would mean answering 54 questions and nominating 77 different blogs. That's a lotta questions/blogs, so I'm just answering a few of the questions and generically nominating blogs in my Blog Roll to the right. (I hope I haven't left anyone off!)

I know... that's cheating. I'm usually such a rule-follower (like Maggie, the main character in What the Dog Ate), but, geez - 77 blogs is a lot!
"Did we get the awards cuz we are cute, Momma?" No, Rita.

Here are the awards in no particular order:


April 5, 2013

FitDog Friday: Kale - Good For You & Your Pup

SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place have gotten together to start a new blog hop - FitDog Friday. We love fit doggies around here and have often joked about opening a fat farm for pups, so we thought we'd hop along on this inaugural FitDog Friday. (If you want to hop along, see details here.)

April 4, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: Behind the Limerick

In case you missed the wonderful limerick that Oz the Terrier wrote about Rita, here it is:

There once was a Shepherd named Rita
who was mixed with a Beagle, not an Akita.
She can throw a mean punch
and eats dead gophers for lunch
which she chases with a Peach Margarita.

And if you did see it and wonder why I let my dog drink margaritas... let me 'splain.

First of all, she's actually more of a straight-up-tequila girl:

April 3, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Uninvited Visitors

In just the last couple of days, we've had a lot of uninvited visitors. First there was this little guy:
"May I come in? No? Okay, then, I'll just poop and be on my way!"