Wordless Wednesday: Dream!

Rita dreams of jerky treats. Plentiful. Chewy. And handed out with great regularity!

In Other Dreams...
I finished my manuscript for my third novel. (It's about a dog-mom, but that's all I'm sayin' about that for now.) I sent it off to my agent on Friday.

FitDog Friday: Keep the Dog Hydrated with a "Cleanbottle"

A while back I saw someone having a wee rant on Twitter about seeing lots of folks out walking/jogging carrying water bottles for themselves and not for their pups. 

Now... what made that person assume the water bottles weren't for the dogs? Sure some dogs prefer to drink from a bowl, but there's no reason a dog can't drink from a bottle. 

Angel Abby demonstrates how:

Wordless Wednesday: Underdog!

At our house, we watch a lot of sports, and we usually like to cheer for the underdog. (Of course, with the San Diego Padres and Chargers, you're always rooting for the underdog, even when you're just rooting for the home team.)

There are other types of underdogs we like, too, though, like corgis!

They fit so easily under things! Here's Reg, who insisted on sitting under my legs when he came over for a play-date. 

Monday Mischief: The Stick Wins (Or Why My Hardwood Floors Look Like Hell)

Last week Rita violated one of our lone rules here - the "no sticks in the house rule." We solved the issue by moving her bed outside for stick chewing al fresco.

Well, we long since had moved her bed back inside, of course. So, today she snuck the stick back into the house when I wasn't looking.

I look over and she's on her bed, attacking the stick. (Sorry about the blurry photo, but it was a swift and aggressive attack!)

"You are MINE, evil stick!"

Wordless Wed.: Caption These Cute Rescue Pups II

Today it's more pics of cute rescue pups playing at Helen Woodward, the shelter where I volunteer. The little one is Charlie, the big one is Sparkles. 

I just love Sparkles. She's so cute! (Even if she is making a demon-dog face here. She really wanted Charlie to play!)

Wanna try and caption these pups? Here's mine. (It's wordy...)

"Sparkles, what big eyes you have!" "The better to see you with, Charlie!" "And what big teeth you h..."

Monday Mischief: A Blatant Violation

Rita is mostly a very good girl - doesn't steal socks or undies, doesn't counter surf, never chews things she shouldn't. Of course, it's easy to be good when you live in a lax house like ours. But... we do have ONE rule: No sticks in the house!

Rita loves to find a stick when we go on a walk. Usually I'll toss it for her a time or two, and then she forgets about it. But the other day, she found a fine stick that she insisted on bringing all the way home. She trotted the entire length of our street (about 3/4 of a mile or more) with it in her mouth, tail proudly wagging. 

So, of course she wanted to blatantly violate the "No sticks in the house!" rule.

#FuelTheCure Blog Hop, Contest and Fundraiser

When we heard our buddy Oz the Terrier was hosting a #FuelTheCure fundraiser to help raise money to fight pet cancer, we had to join in!

Oz is hosting along with Zuke’s (Rita loves Zuke's treats!) to help raise money for the Dog and Cat Cancer Fund. The fund: works with vets to help families in need get cancer treatment for their pets, offers research grants to scientists, and promotes prevention by raising awareness and encouraging early testing for canine and feline cancer.

Wordless Wednesday: Caption These Cute Rescue Pups

I've been editing editing editing book #3 and am brain dead (and still 90 pages to go... ugh), so I'm going to be mostly wordless today. Shocking, right?

I took these pics of these cute pups playing at Helen Woodward, the shelter where I volunteer. The little one is Ricky, the big one is Gus. They have a great time together!

Since I'm brain dead, I can't even come up with captions, so I'm leaving that to you! Take it away... Pick a pic and hit me with your cute, funny, endearing, or clever caption! (Or if you're brain dead too, just comment on how cute these pups are!)

Pic 1: Ricky appears to be telling Gus what's what:

Can You Find Happiness at the Drive-Thru?

Rita is not a super smiley dog. Mostly she just sits with her mouth shut and observes, so when she looks smiley I love it!

Monday was Rita's 3rd birthday so to celebrate we went to the In-N-Out drive-thru and got her a Flying Dutchman. This made Rita HAPPY.

How To Needle Felt a Dog: There Will Be Blood

If you've been following the blog, you know my sister and I entered some needle felted dogs in the county fair last year (and won 2 blue ribbons!) and we've entered some this year as well. Some folks mentioned they'd like to know how to felt their own dogs... so here goes:

How To Needle Felt a Dog

Subtitled: There Will Be Blood. (Yes, you will stab yourself, at least the first 1 or 2 times you try felting.)

Wee Background
I come from a family of crafty folks. When my sis and I first saw Domenica More Gordon's dogs on TV, we knew we had to find out how she made those adorable dogs. (...since we couldn't afford the £500+ price tag!) That's how we discovered "needle felting." 

Since our dogs are not as fine-tuned as Domenica's, we like to call them "caricatures" and we've custom made many pups over the last couple of years. 

My sister's Husky-mix and my bro's angel Golden

Monday Mischief: My Momma Experimented on Me!

Rita here. Sit back, get your popcorn, and lock the doors, cuz I have a scary story to tell!

The other day, Momma insisted on brushing me 50-strokes. I don't like being brushed very much, so that was not super fun but I tolerated it. 

Then we went for a long walk, and I looked like this after:

Wordless Wednesday: Rita's New Leash & Avoiding a Tired Pun

Rita got a new leash... (not on life. Man, while I was trying to write a title for this post "a new leash on life" is ALL my feeble brain could come up with). She just got a new leash. Period. 

It's a little bit girly, and a little bit bad-ass (cuz it has pink skull & crossbones on it), just like our girl. Here she is sporting it, nice and pooped after a walk.

Wordy Wednesday: How We All Ended Up Exhausted

Just looked back and in almost a month I've only posted 3 times. I mentioned the blog would be quiet for a bit, and originally that was for a good reason. I was feverishly editing my new book! (More book news below.) But then the good reason for the blogging break turned into a sad reason.

A begonia on the hospital room windowsill

A Quiet Blog for a Bit

I've missed you guys! Hope you've missed us, too. Know I haven't blogged much recently, and other than this post I probably won't have a chance to blog again until our May 6 Give Cancer the Paw hop. 

BTW, hope you'll join that! 

Wordless Wednesday: Garage-Sale Dogs

Okay, no this isn't a post about dogs for sale at garage sales. (That would probably be a subject for a Blog the Change for Animals post...) This is about all the dogs my sisters and I met when we went to the annual garage sale event in my sister's 'hood this weekend. So many sweeties! 

Our first stop was to say hi to Marley. Isn't he a cutie? (I was there the day his momma found him - he was a stray. Hooray for Marley hitting the Doggy Lotto!)

Monday Mischief: Rita Says #BooMonday!

Rita is not a fan of Mondays. She likes the lazy, sleep-in, late-morning-long-walk weekends!

Rita, Queen of All the Duvet

Less-Wordy Wed.: Note to Self(ie), Games of Bitey-Face + Selfies Don't Mix

The other day during a Reg & Rita play date, the dogs were resting next to me on the porch, so I thought I'd try to get some selfies of the 3 of us. 

The break in the action was too brief though, and I ended up with this

Yikes!

And this:

Monday Mischief: Found and Lost and Found

Found
Back in late 2012, I found this perfect tag for Rita, which I posted a pic of on the blog.

As you can see, it says "Insert Treat" with an arrow pointing at her mouth - very appropriate for her!

Lost
Well, this week, I noticed it was missing. I was bummed, but figured it broke and fell off on one of our walks, and I mentally added it to the always-growing To-Do list.

Wordless Wednesday: Tongues and Teeth

It's almost the end of February and National Pet Dental Health Month, so Rita and Reggie will now flash their healthy mouths as a reminder that even though February's almost over, it's never too late to start paying attention to your pet's dental health! Check those pearly whites, and check your pet's mouth and tongue for lumps and bumps.

These shots are from a recent play date at our house. It was their first time attempting play here, since we don't have a great yard for playing - mostly hardscape. Hardscape or no, it was a successful play session! And it was pretty much all tongues and teeth. 

Tongues:

Wordless Wednesday: Addicted

They say if the first thing you reach for each morning is your phone, you're addicted.

I must be addicted to my dog.