Showing posts with label Rita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rita. Show all posts

September 7, 2014

Monday Mischief: Sleepover & DNA Test Results Mischief

We're back from our vacation and blogging break! (Pics of vaca coming on Wednesday!) But before we went away, we had a sleepover guest - Reggie!

It was his first time spending the night, and there were a couple of mischief moments, like when he stole Rita's usual spot on the sofa!
"Hee hee! I stole Rita's spot!"

August 20, 2014

Why To DNA-Test Your Dog

We've gone back and forth for a while now - well, years really - on DNA testing our pups. Back when we first started looking into it, there weren't that many breeds in the database, and we just decided to skip it.
We don't know what this angel was... just gorgeous!
Well, then I got the opportunity to talk to some folks about the Wisdom Panel 2.0 Breed Identification test kit. They were in San Diego attending a local event as part of a "Swab-a-thon" tour to test shelter dogs and help provide some info about their breed makeup to help match them to their furever homes. Isn't that a great idea?

I couldn't make the event, but they still sent me a home test kit to try out, and set up a phone interview with Harrison Forbes, who is a celebrity pet expert and dog trainer. (Check out his site - you might recognize him from appearances on Today or The View.)


Here are some of the questions and answers we discussed on the phone.

August 17, 2014

Monday Mischief: Chicken Treats?

You might recall (although, really, I'd be surprised if you did!) that I mentioned ages ago that there's a house in our 'hood that puts Trader Joe's molasses treats out for passing pups, along with a fresh bowl of water.
Rita munches a treat (note all the crumbs around her; slob)

August 12, 2014

Less-Wordy Wednesday: Hitting the Beach

I've written before about how we don't go back to the off-leash bay-front dog park anymore. (After The Worst Walk Ever we tried a few other times, but Rita doesn't have a perfect recall and I worried too much that she'd get in trouble with another crazy person.)

But recently we tried one of the many on-leash beaches. There are lots of beaches in San Diego where you can walk your on-leash dog - the only catch is that it has to be before 9am all year, and then after 4pm in the winter/6pm in the summer. 

August 10, 2014

It's Easy To Forget You Live With A Beast

Some of us put bunny ears on our dogs, or reindeer antlers. We let them share our sofas and our beds. We cuddle them and kiss them.
"I EAT antlers. I do not WEAR antlers!"
It makes it easy to forget that you live with a beast. Until they kill something.

August 3, 2014

Monday Mischief: Rita's First Ice Cream Cone

Since July 31 was National Mutt Day, and August 1st was the day we used to celebrate angel Abby's birthday (she would have been 5 this year; read more about her here), I took Rita to McDonald's for her first ever ice cream cone.

As you can see from the intense stare, she thoroughly enjoyed it.
"OMD. Where has this been all my life?"

July 29, 2014

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.

July 24, 2014

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:

July 22, 2014

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. 

July 20, 2014

Monday Mischief: Wrongfully Convicted

Rita here at the keyboard...

I want to tell you about a recent miscarriage of justice!

My cousin, Reggie, and I were wrongfully convicted. We were thrown behind bars without the benefit of a trial before a jury of our peers!

Here we are in the hoosegow. (You can kinda tell by this shot that Reg gets wrongfully convicted a lot, so he just takes it in stride. But me... what did I do?? I never go behind bars at MY house!)
But... but... but... what did we I do wrong??

July 13, 2014

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!"

July 6, 2014

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.

July 1, 2014

July Comes In Like a Lamb (Lung): Review & Giveaway

Okay, I know it's March that's supposed to come in like a lamb (or a lion...) but this month it's July! This month's going to come in like a lamb (lung ... or trachea) for one lucky winner!

When Flea at Jones Natural Chews (y'all know Flea right? If not, check out her blog!) approached us to do a treat review and giveaway, I said we're in!

June 26, 2014

#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.

June 22, 2014

I Don't Wanna Walk! (And a Winner!)

Rita can be so weird sometimes. 

Like, today, it started with making waffles for breakfast, and she wouldn't take the bite I offered her. (She's super picky. What a nut.) 

Then I attempted to take her for a walk, and she insisted on dragging me back home after only 5 minutes. This from a girl who normally LOVES her walks.
Rita in her usual walk-loving-mode

June 17, 2014

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.

June 15, 2014

No Monday Mischief Here - Just a Birthday Giveaway!

Monday is Rita's third birthday (Whoohoo! **blows noisemaker**), which is a Super Big Deal since our sweet angel Abby never even made it to 3. (Poor Ab.) So, to celebrate - we did lots of fun things on Sunday, and we are having a giveaway today!

We celebrated on Sunday since The Daddy has to work on Rita's actual birthday. (Actually... we have no idea when her birthday is. But the rescue guessed her birthday was somewhere in June. We were going to pick the mid-point, but that's my brother-in-law's bday, so we picked the 16th - which is her angel-cousin Lou's birthday, so a pretty special day!)


We went for a lovely walk. (I confess, this pick is from Saturday, but we did almost the exact same walk on Sunday...)
A lovely day for a walk!

June 12, 2014

See Beautiful: Orange You Glad It's Summer?

Okay... technically it's not summer until the 21st, but most schools are out and the weather's heating up, plus isn't Memorial Day weekend the unofficial start to summer? So, close enough!

Now that that's out of the way... I have to confess... I don't really like summer all that much. Since we live in the Land of Lovely Winters, I prefer every other season over summer, when it can get too hot for nice long walks/hikes with the pup. Neither Rita nor I like to get overheated, so... we just try to get through summer. Plus, since the hubs and I don't have kids, we always go on vacations in the spring or fall when it's quieter, so it's usually a long, hot wait for vacation!

But... I wanted to do an "orange you glad it's summer" post because of this, the scene on our front porch recently.

June 1, 2014

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: