Wordless Wednesday: Thankful!

I'm thankful for this little cutie:

A puppy in the poppies

Monday Mischief: Does the Gardener Taste Like Chicken?

Rita hates our gardener. Probably most dogs do. I mean, how often do strangers just wander into your yard, armed with sharp objects and loud machines?

I try to keep her calm, by closing her up in our bedroom and drawing the blinds. Unfortunately, we have these vertical blinds where all she has to do is shove them aside to see the intruders. Our usually fairly calm girl turns into the Tasmanian Devil: (sorry about the picture quality, but it was dark and I was just using my phone. And she was a moving target!)

"Hey you!"

FitDog Friday: Counting Paws & Steps

The hubs and I recently added pedometer apps to our smartphones. We thought I'd easily hit the suggested goal of 10,000 steps/day (since I walk Rita every morning for 45-60 min, plus run errands, etc.), and we figured the hubs would have a hard time since he's often stuck in endless meetings and works 10-12 hour days.

The Unit enjoys a good walk

Mirth Watch Thursday: We Are the Furred

My mother-in-law told us about this video that she saw on TV in Canada. (Maybe in between footage of Toronto's mayor Rob Ford's latest exploits?) It's sort of a "We Are the World"-style video (hence the post title), as you'll see:

Being Wordless With the Word of the Year

Did you hear what the Oxford Dictionary said the word of the year is for 2013? 

Yep, "selfie." Just be thankful it wasn't "twerk."

Monday Mischief: Mischief-less In 7 Letters or Less

Today, while out on our long Sunday walk, a car with a vanity plate went by, so I asked the hubs to ponder what the 3 of us would distill our essences down to in 7 characters or less. With some collaboration, here's what we came up with for the 3 of us:

Mirth Watch Thursday: How Rude Is That Puppy in the Window?

Just a quick mirth watch post today (what?! She's not going to be wordy?) because it's NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. To officially participate, you sign up online and keep track of your word-count progress, and to "win" you need to come up with 50,000 words (most of them formed into actual sentences!) by month end.

Hang in there for more cuteness like this!

BTW, 50,000 words does not a novel make. In general, your average 300-page novel is about 90-100K words. So, really it should be called NaHaANoWriMo - National Half-a-Novel Writing Month, but that's unwieldy and sounds like some ancient Hawaiian word.

Wordless Wednesday: Tiny Hats and Fond Memories

Y'all know Flea, right? If not, go subscribe to her Jones Natural Chews blog now, cuz she's funny and she gives away yummy treats and fun things. (Like the leash Rita won!)

Anyway, you should also be friends with her on Facebook, cuz she's funny and she gives you ideas for things to post about on your blog! Like the other day when she posted this picture of this fine, tiny hat, and said she was going to put it on her duck Jimmy the next day.

Monday Mischief: Rita - Confused About Vet's Day...

There was some confusion at our house this morning.

Follow-up Friday: More Cancer Stuff and Some Not-Cancer Stuff

It's Follow-Up Friday - the blog hop where we follow up on former posts, answer questions, share funny comments and wrap up the week! 

Dogs of Blogville Calendar
Remember waaay back in August when I asked you to vote to get Rita in the Dogs of Blogville Calendar? Well, they arrived, and they're gorgeous! Big thanks to Jodi of Heart Like a Dog and Julie of Daily Dog Blog for putting these together!

Give Cancer the Paw: 8 Ways We Try to Prevent Cancer

Welcome to the inaugural hop for Give Cancer the Paw. Thank you for joining Rita and me and our lovely co-hosts, Peggy and her pups Kelly & Ike from Peggy's Pet Place. We wanted to start today because November is National Pet Cancer Awareness Month. We want this hop to be about spreading awareness, support and hope!

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things I could write about when it comes to cancer in our pets so I had a hard time deciding, but I thought I'd start with sharing an important topic: things we do to try to keep Rita from getting cancer.

Monday Mischief: Ever Loved an Obedience School Dropout?

So... Have you ever loved an obedience school dropout? We have. Two of them, in fact. Both our angels, Bailey and Abby, were obedience school dropouts. Although that was the Momma's fault, not theirs. (Bailey's class was unorganized and we got bored, and Abby's class just wasn't a style that meshed with the Momma.)

But no more! We now have our first graduate from Obedience 1! Here she is practicing her down/stay. And she didn't even need to be coaxed into this position with treats!

She looks thrilled, yes? (She's actually just pooped!)

Mirth Watch Thursday: The End of K9 Kamp (for Now!)

Another session of K9 Kamp has come to an end. The goal was to add some extra activity to your normal routine, especially by adding some "Fitness Fun & Games." 

Mostly we went for our usual walks, walks and more walks, which isn't exactly "fun and games" but it was fun to walk around the neighborhood at night this month and check out the spooky displays for Halloween. Also we were aided in that effort by a package we received from Miss Flea of Jones Natural Chews! 

We won a reflective leash from a giveaway on Flea's blog, and she sent it with some Jones chicken and beef taffy in the box, as you could have probably guessed from Rita's reaction to the box:

Wordless Wednesday: Outtakes, So-Cal Fall & A New Hop!

I'm going to be a tiny bit wordy today (quelle surprise, right?), because I want to tell you more about the new blog hop that Peggy from Peggy's Pet Place and I are starting! More on that at the end, after I share a passel o' pics. 

So, last week I shared this selfie of Rita and me in my new SlimDoggy gear that I won.

Monday Mischief: Rita's a Howl-o-Weenie!

Rita is not a fan of Halloween. She thinks it's even worse than Fourth of July!

First of all, she hates the decorations people put up:

Skulls with googly eyes have no appeal for her!

K9 Kamp: Are You and Your Pup Keeping Up?

It's time for a check in on how K9 Kamp is going. You might remember that I posted about this month's challenge a few week's back, which is to add an EXTRA 30 minutes of activity with your pup 3 or 4 times a week. 

Mirth Watch Thursday: Trick or Treat? Definitely Treat!

In yesterday's post, I told you about how we met this gorgeous gentleman, Parker Pup:

Really Wordy Wednesday: Black Tie with Betty White

I apologize in advance for how wordy this will be, but I wanted to share my pics from the Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) Gala of Hope and tell you all about it. 

I also apologize in advance for how crappy our pics are. (!) My sis and I are new to having iPhones. (Do all iPhones take crappy pics indoors if the lighting isn't great, or is it just us? It's just us, isn't it...) If I'd known, I would've brought my "real" camera! Darn it.

Anyway... here goes the full report! 

My "date" and I checked into our lovely hotel room and got dolled up.

Monday Mischief: Even More in Awe of Betty White Now

Okay - I'm going to start right out by saying the mischief is all on me today. I am too beat to give you a full report on the Morris Animal Foundation Gala of Hope today! But... I'll give you some teasers and answer the Big Question.

Terrible photo - but that lady in red is Betty!

Follow Up Friday: More Questions than Answers

I'm joining the Follow Up Friday hop a little late...

Mirth Watch Thursday: I'm So Hoppy

In homage to Rita, our Mexican jumping bean, and this photo that I posted of her on Monday...

... I thought I'd post a hoppy video. And this one just happened to cross my path yesterday. This is a lot like how Rita looks when she's amped up about something. Luckily she doesn't get amped up too often!

Wordless Wednesday: A Pup in the Grass

I've posted before about how Rita loves to flop down in cool grass on a walk.

Well, a neighbor planted some crazy tall grass, and Rita was only too happy to disappear into it this weekend on our walk when it was still kinda hot here.

Rita??

Blog the Change: A Cool Shelter Policy

It's time again for Blog the Change for Animals!

I think I've mentioned before that we got Rita from Baja Animal Sanctuary.

Monday Mischief: The Girl's Got Vertical

Recently I posted about Rita being a Sheagle - she's half beagle, half shepherd (at least, as far as we know). But maybe she's got some springer spaniel in her too. Or sproinger spaniel.

She doesn't look like she'd have a lot of vertical (after all, she only measures about 20 inches tall)...

"Measuring tapes are scary, Momma!"

... but man, the girl can jump.

Follow-Up Friday: We Get To Go!!!

If you read yesterday's post, you know I was soooooo bummed about not getting to go to the Morris Animal Foundation Gala of Hope... but we ARE going!! I just found out a few minutes ago that it's 100% for sure happening!!

It's all thanks to entering my beautiful angel in a photo contest!

Feeling Blue on Mirth Watch Thursday

You guys! You are not going to believe my tale of woe...

You know I love Morris Animal Foundation and Betty White right? (If not, I mentioned it here, plus mentioned my donation pledge to MAF in my book trailer that I posted yesterday.) So, imagine how excited I was when I got a phone message inviting me and the hubs to the MAF's "Gala of Hope," featuring Betty White - we're talking free tickets!

Since we donate to MAF, we get their mailers so had seen that the event was happening on Oct. 19. I had said to the hubs how much I wished we could go, but (a) it's in L.A., about 2 hours from our house (that's with NO traffic), (b) the tickets for the 2 of us would have been $600, (c) it's not the hubs' favorite thing in the world to get dressed up and go somewhere fancy. So the mailer went in the recycle bin.

But they called yesterday and said they wanted us to come for free!! We were chosen because of Abby's entry in the Orvis cover dog photo contest. If you've been following the blog for a long time, you'll remember that I entered this photo of her in the contest way back in Feb. of 2011.

Wordless Wednesday: Sending Out Golden Thanks!

If we're friends on Facebook, you may have seen this already (and if we're not friends on Facebook... why not? Look me up on there!). Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen it - the lovely Sugar the Golden Retriever, with a little help from her mom, made me a video trailer for my new novel, Rescue Me, Maybe!

I was so thrilled that they offered! I sent them the words and the pictures, and they turned it into this:

Monday Mischief: The Ball Is Always Greener...

Rita's not all that big on playing ball. But of course she wants the ball if it's in someone else's yard. 

Rita spies a lovely big, green ball in a neighbor's yard

K9 Kamp is Back!

Hey K9 Kampers - get yer booties on cuz Kamp is back and it's time to rise and shine! And walk! And hike! And do whatever else it is you like to do to get up off your butt with your mutt!

Mirth Watch Thursday: That Infamous Cupcake Dog

On yesterday's post, the first comment made me laugh. It was in regard to this picture:

Andrea of This Pug Life said, "She reminds me of that infamous cupcake dog in the first pic. :)"

Wordless Wednesday: What's With the Waiting?

Rita has been enjoying some samples we received from I and Love and You of their dehydrated raw food.

She loves it! But in the immortal words of Tom Petty, "the waaaaaiting is the hardest part!"

Monday Mischief: Art Imitates Life or Vice Versa?

Rita had to go to the vet on Friday for her annual checkup. (And she was super healthy! Well... still waiting for her blood work results, but eyes, ears, heart, teeth, weight were all deemed "just great" by the vet.) Anyway, our vet's office has a sign posted with the Top 10 items ingested by pets.

Thanks to my sis for the photo.

Q&A With Peggy Frezon for FitDog Friday!

Today, we welcome Peggy Frezon, of Peggy's Pet Place, and author of Dieting with My Dog, and Heart to Heart, Hand in Paw. I read both books and they're pawesome! Peggy's a fantastic writer, and I can't wait to get my paws on her new book: The Dieting with my Dog Guide to Weight Loss & Maintenance.

Pooch Smooches is excited to be part of Peggy's blog tour, spreading the word about the book and about doggy (and human) fitness! Today we've asked Peggy to join us here for a little Q&A about the book.

 

Mirth Watch Thursday: Clumsy Can Be Cute

Yesterday, Rita had a golden opportunity to shame the Momma. So many things that the Momma does that she's embarrassed about... So little blog space...

If Rita had a video camera handy, she could record how clumsy I am and shame me with that. It would totally be payback for the "Pancake Catching Fail" video. She could do a whole compilation video of me running into walls and tables and bruising myself on drawers and various other objects that LEAP out into my path over the course of my day.

Lucky for me, she doesn't have a video camera.

But.. I found this dude on YouTube who has a really cool super slow-mo camera. And he has clumsy dogs. (Clumsy dogs are dogs after my own heart!) And, bonus, they are super cute dogs too!

Enjoy:

Rita and I can totally relate to these pups not being able to catch! How about you? Are you clumsy too, or is it just me and Rita? ...And these cuties in the video. How about your pups?

That's it - just a quick Mirth Watch post today! It's been busy, busy around here with the launch of Rescue Me, Maybe.

Now, go forth and be mirthful! 

Human Shaming: Rita's Revenge

Rita here! I want to start by thanking Kol’s Notes or My Brown Newfies for giving me a chance to turn the tables on my Momma. She embarrasses me all the time online, so it's good to get a chance for payback. You know what they say about Payback - she's a bitch, just like me! (Payback is a weird name for a girl dog...)

Follow-Up Friday: Dog Breeds & Dog Books

It's Follow-Up Friday - time to catch up on the news and answer those burning questions.

It's been a busy week, with Rescue Me, Maybe officially launching this past Monday. Boy, you think writing a book is the hard part... but the work has really only just begun once it's published! Anyway, let's get to the followin' up.

Mirth Watch Thursday: You Need A Unique Breed!

Today on Mirth Watch Thursday I'm blogging about unique breeds. Rita is a marvelous mystery mutt... or is she a unique breed? That's right... I give you, the sheagle! 

Wordless Wednesday: Pups and a Pledge

Pups:
First I want to show you some special pups today:
{Wait... we interrupt this post to first apologize if you subscribe via email and get this twice. Somehow this posted with a back-dated timestamp. (?) Had to hunt all over to find it and repost it as today. Sorry for the dupe. Now... here are some pups:} 

My mom's angel beagle, Sugar

Monday Mischief: "Rescue Me, Maybe" is Here!

It's here! After a long haul, the launch date for my second novel is finally here!

To celebrate, many of you know I hosted a giveaway on the blog last Monday. The winner of the signed copy of Rescue Me, Maybe and the matching doggy-themed bookmark is.... drum roll please....

Follow-Up Friday: Calendars, Captions and Questions

I'm busy busy busy getting down to the wire on the upcoming Monday launch of Rescue Me, Maybe, so I'm going to try to keep this Follow Up Friday post short(ish).

Yes, it's Follow Up Friday - time to answer those burning questions and follow up on the news.

Mirth Watch Thursday: Rita's "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" Report

You guys! It's me, Rita. Momma and Daddy went to Maui (again) and I was stuck at The Gulag* (again)!!!

This time, they even put me behind bars while I was there:

Wordless Wednesday: Caption These Pups

The hubs and I just got back from 8 days in Maui. {insert day-dreamy sigh here}

While we were gone, Rita stayed at my sis's house - aka The Gulag; the place where they have {cue the dramatic music}... dun dun DAAAAA.... rules.  

But, now they also have a puppy to play with! Reggie and Rita had a great time playing together. Here is one of their play-time shots:

How I spent my summer vacation: Tried to eat a Corgi

Monday Mischief: Book Mischief and a Giveaway!

Remember when I showed you how jealous Rita was about not being on the cover of my new novel, Rescue Me, Maybe:

Look up "hangdog" in the dictionary and you'll find this face

FitDog Friday: Rita's Favorite Way to Stay Fit

As I've said on the blog many times, our main way to keep Rita fit is just a LOT of walking. But one of her favorite ways to stay fit is to have a play date.

This is Rita's best friend, Dakota:

Wordless Wednesday: Need a Smile?

Here's one!

Keeping Up With K9 Kamp: A New, Old Hike

Since it's the last Friday of August (where did the summer go?) it's time for the Keeping Up With K9 Kamp monthly wrap up.



Koach Jessica at You Did What With Your Wiener said this month's Kamp challenge was to "try one new activity with your dog." Suggestions included: hiking, nosework (like hide & seek), agility, running, geocaching, kayaking, swimming, or walking a brand new route.

Mirth Watch Thursday: Who Would You Save? Who Would Save You?

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal recently about our "unique" relationships with our pups. Yes, it's unique all right. Would any other species put elf hats on another species?

"Momma, I understand our relationship is unique and beautiful. But... really?"

Wordless Wednesday: Does Your Dog Have a Spot?

I don't mean a spot of color, or a favorite spot to lounge in. I mean a spot that when you itch it, you can count on their leg to start involuntarily scracthing along in time with your hand. That kinda spot.

Monday Mischief: Alarming Mischief

The other night, Rita started barking at about 2 am and woke us up. Since she quickly calmed down, I figured she'd seen a critter in the yard and we ignored it.

The next morning I found the problem: the smoke alarm in my office somehow fell out of it's little frame-thingy (sorry to get all technical on you there!) and hit the hardwood floor. How that didn't wake us up, I don't know, but it sure woke up Rita!

There was no battery in it, but I didn't really think anything of it since we'd had an issue last winter with the darn smoke alarms going off in my office/the hallway every time I took a really hot bath - which was, oh, about every night. So I knew we had dismantled a couple of them.

Later that day, I saw Rita freaking out about something by her toy basket. I thought, "Oh great, another unwelcome guest!" Turned out it was the missing alarm battery.

Following Up Friday with Questions, Funny Comments & Rita Reading

It's Friday, so time for the Follow-Up Friday hop, hosted by Jodi of Heart Like a Dog and her co-host JoAnn from Sand Spring Chesapeakes. Time to answer those burning questions and follow up on the news.