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!"

Monday Mischief: The Dog's the Thing

Okay, actually Shakespeare said: The play's the thing. But... we went to see a Shakespeare play - and it had a dog in it. And a play with a dog is really the thing!

That mischief-makin' pup totally stole the show!

Some folks from the hubs' work asked us to go to a play at San Diego's Old Globe theater, and they let us pick which one. I knew nothing about Two Gentlemen of Verona (if I had I might not have picked it...) but the blurb said there was a dog. So obviously I picked that one!

The adorable banners at the outdoor theater

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.

A Special Review - Memorial Jewelry

Those of you who've been following along I'm sure remember this picture I posted of my mother-in-law, Simone, and our angel Bailey as a Give Cancer the Paw tribute post. We lost them both to cancer. 

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)

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. 

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.