An Experiment Goes As Expected

Last week, Jodi at Heart Like a Dog, who frequently writes cute posts about the funny or sweet things her dogs do that make her smile, wrote about how her boy Sampson stops eating his Kong and stares at it, "knowing someone will help [him] get the goodies out..."

She said that he will "either bounce the Kong until he gets the pineapple out, or he just stops all together. "

I commented that "Rita would look at me like I was insane if I put fruit in her Kong." Jodi asked if I'd ever tried pineapple, conjecturing that Rita might actually like it. I said I was "100% certain Rita will give me a look of disgust if I offer her a piece of pineapple." And an experiment was born.

Less-Wordy Wed.: Celebrating the Dog's Birthday!

Rita turned four on Tuesday. Well, we don't really know her exact birthday, but June 16th is the day we celebrate. Based on the age Baja Animal Sanctuary guessed at for her, we figured her birthday was around mid-June, and since 6/16 is her angel-cousin Lou's birthday, it seemed like a perfect day to pick for Rita.

Rita wanted a party with pony rides and a clown (to bark at) for her birthday but we decided on something a little more low-key.

We started the celebrations on Sunday night, when the whole unit went to In-N-Out burger and Rita got a Flying Dutchman! (Which is 2 burger patties with cheese. Yes, I know - so decadent, but she only gets one on her gotcha day in January and her bday in June.)

Monday Mischief: Pom Wonderful - and Pom Confusing

This weekend the hubs came in and said we had 7 pomegranates growing on one of our trees.

This was news to me, for 2 reasons:
1) I didn't know we had a pomegranate tree. We've lived here almost 5 years and never seen any fruit on the trees so we didn't know what they were. Turns out we have two pom trees! Yay! Pom wonderful! 

2) I thought pomegranates were only in season in winter, since we always only get them from our CSA in January. (I Googled it and according to the Pomegranate Council they usually only grow in No. America during late summer and early winter. Maybe our tree is confused since our weather was so hot in winter and has only just lately felt like early winter!) Pom confusing!

We all went outside to check it out. (I apologize that these are blurry!)

"Hmmm. What's this?"

See Beautiful: Volcanic Edition

A couple of weeks ago when I posted about the hubs swimming with an Iron Dog, I mentioned we'd gone to the Big Island for my Big Birthday. Today I thought I'd share some of the beauty of Hawaii with you!

We spent a few days in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and it was amazing! (It would have been even more amazing if the rain had let up a little more often.)

Here's a picture of the Kīlauea crater during the day (during a rare break from the rain!).

The Shortest Path To Treats

With our 2 previous dogs, they never wanted their walks to end. Bailey would dawdle along, sniffing and exploring for ages if'd you let her. Abby, who we used to always take to the bay, would dance out into the water just out of reach when it was time to get in the car and go home.

Abby evades capture just out of reach in the water

So with Rita, I taught her that getting home from a walk was a good thing by giving her a treat when we get home.

And now of course she wants to race home!

My Dog Loves Life! #FuelTheCure

Today I'm joining Oz the Terrier and Sugar the Golden Retriever who are hosting the "Loving Life Contest and Fundraiser" along with Zuke's treats to support the Dog and Cat Cancer Fund!

You know that (unfortunately) dog cancer is an issue that Pooch Smooches is passionate about, so I was happy I remembered to participate, because for each blog post in the hop Zuke's will donate $5 to DCCF!

You can join in too - but time is running out as the contest/hop ends May 22. All you need to do is create a post showing your pet loving life and include #FuelTheCure in the title. (Complete rules and info for the contest are here on Oz's site.)

We're also happy to participate because Rita LOVES Zuke's tasty treats and I love that they donate a portion of their sales to DCCF, which helps pet parents afford cancer treatments for their sick furry family members.

So, in the spirit of the hop, here are some pics of Rita loving life and doing some of her favorite things!

Rita loves to go on walks...

Less-Wordy Wednesday: Rita Refutes the "Lazy" Label

Rita was miffed that I called her "lazy" in my post last week. She insisted that I "roll tape" to show how crazy she gets over her Unbreakoball. (We'll get to the tape in a minute, Rita!)

Ages ago (probably before most of you found PoochSmooches), Rita won an Unbreakoball. She LOVES it. I don't know why she gets so nutty over this toy! It's like nothing else we own.

I don't bring it out often because it's hard plastic and a bit scratched up, so that plus hardwood floors is not a great combo. And she can't play with it in our yard because we live on a super steep slope, and if it rolls off the deck, it's a goner.

But I got it out the other day and she immediately went nuts.

These pics are all a blur cuz she runs by so fast with her prized possession.

Cracks me up how she hooks a tooth in to carry it around.

Monday Mischief: Paws and Pints!

Okay, you know the hubs and I love dogs.

Our Dog is Lazy: Recumbent Fetch & Another Inventive Game for Lazy Dogs

We are coming to grips with the fact that our dog is lazy.

I've mentioned before that Rita's not really that into playing fetch. Oh, she'll run after the ball/toy a time or two, but then she just takes it to her bed.

Monday Mischief: Our Dog's a Drama Queen

This past weekend, the hubs and I went away for one night, so my sis came and dog-sat Rita for us. 

After some initial barking when my sis let herself in the house, she was greeted with two kisses from Rita. (Rita is VERY stingy with kisses so getting two is a big deal.)

Once Rita got over being happy that it was her auntie who came in and not a burglar, she started waiting for Momma to come home.

Rita camped out by the garage door

No Mischief at Grandma's -- Well, Maybe a Little

My mom has a collection of teddy bears. But Rita never tries to snag the ones that aren't "hers."

My mom has one little lavender-colored, bean-filled bear that Rita is allowed to play with. It sits on a little stool in my mom's bedroom, and Rita runs to get it first thing when we go visit Grandma. It always makes us laugh when she runs to get it right away, like it's the whole reason we're there!

Less-Wordy Wednesday: Sporting Dogs

Usually sporting dogs are the hunting breeds... but not at our house. 

Oh, Rita does like to hunt a squirrel or dead gopher every now and then, but she's more of a Pawdres ball girl:

"SD... Does that stand for Super Dog?"

More Hiking Mischief

Last week I blogged about our hike with Rita in Marian Bear Canyon in San Diego and the mischief therein. Well, this weekend, we went back, only headed west instead of east like last time.

We saw lots of pretty flowers (or weeds?) growing like crazy. 

There were these tall yellow things growing everywhere. They looked really pretty along the hillside. You can see how tall they are in this pic because they are growing up over the hubs' head and he's 6'2".

Wordless Wednesday: Caption Rita and Reg

Rita and Reggie had a very fun play date today. Can you caption these cute pups?

Hiking San Diego's Canyons With Your Dog: Hiking Mischief

One of the many things I really like about San Diego is the canyon parklands which run through the 'burbs (and even quite close to downtown). Although the canyons can be a bit scary at times (like fire season...) they are great for going on a nice hike and feeling like you've gotten out in nature, even though you might be hiking right along a freeway.

Check out the link above for a list of all the canyon parklands and maps of each.

You'd never know we're hiking right next to a freeway!

My Dog's So Weird: Miss Sniff

Instead of Mischief Monday, today we have Miss Sniff Monday.

Rita has some funny habits, and this is one of her more amusing ones. Every morning, when I get dressed, as soon as she hears the rustling of the fabric of my clothes, she comes running to sniff my pants.

If I'm putting on yoga pants or shorts, she's pretty sure she's getting a walk and her tail starts wagging.

Me, getting my shorts ready to put on

My Dog's So Weird: Breakfast Mischief (And... A New Title)

Rita has some very odd habits.

Here's one that's been surfacing lately - she doesn't want to eat her breakfast.

Dinner, she'll snarf down in two minutes flat. But breakfast? She'll often sleep until 9, get up to go outside quickly, and then go back to bed.

Off The Wall Mischief

About once a week, I try to get Rita over to her BFF's house for a playdate.  They play like crazy, and then we all go for a nice long walk.

I've shared a photo of her BFF before - she's a boxer named Dakota. She will kiss you with that big ol' tongue if you let her.

Monday Mischief: Dog Days of Summer - in Winter

It's too hot to blog! Siriusly. My office with the computer in it gets the sun beating into it in the afternoons (and trying to blog via an iPad is an exercise in frustration!), so I'm going to try to keep this brief!

The weather in San Diego this afternoon while I type this is 87 degrees.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Minx, the Sphinx

Remember I told you about Rita's artwork/custom-bedding project? I didn't have the heart to throw it away, so it's in our bedroom and she sleeps on it every night. (Sometimes I hide it under her blankie but she's not crazy about that.)

Here she's our little minx in her custom bed, doing her sphinx imitation: