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:

Monday Mischief: Another Mischief-Maker in the House

Rita is generally a very good, calm girl and doesn't get up to a whole lotta mischief.

Sometimes, though we still end up with mischief in the house, coming from the direction of The Daddy.

Like this weekend. Saturday I went with my sisters to the annual dog show in town, where I bought Rita a bag of duck feet. (Human grade, USA-sourced duck feet. Good stuff!) They were, of course, a hit with Rita.

Sunday I asked the hubs to go get Rita a duck foot for her afternoon treat. And then I tried to go about my business.

Only to have this happen:

Of course he can't just give the duck foot to the dog. He has to torture me with it a little first.

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.

Monday Mischief: Little Dickens or Mother's Angel?

Rita and her cousin, Reggie, had another play date recently, and it was as wild as the last time.

Here they are playing sort of a backwards game of peekaboo:

See Beautiful; Eat (?) Beautiful

Today we are participating in the {This Moment} See Beautiful blog hop hosted by Sugar the Golden Retriever every 2nd Friday of the month.

Last time, I posted "see and hear beautiful," so this time I thought I'd try both see and eat beautiful. 

See Beautiful
We have a hawk that hangs out in our neighbor's huge eucalyptus tree.

Guest Post from MAF: Help Save Dogs and Kids!

As you know, we lost our angel Abby to osteosarcoma. 

Pamela Anderson had nuthin' on our beach babe.

It was while Abby had cancer that we discovered Morris Animal Foundation when we participated in their K9 Cancer Walk with our girl. We also entered her in the Orvis Cover Dog contest which raises money for MAF. We've been supporters ever since, and attended their gala, and I've pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from Rescue Me, Maybe to them. 

So, when MAF contacted me about doing a guest post, I was happy to agree! I asked if they'd specifically write about a new project they recently started. Thanks very much to Katie and MAF for sharing this info with Pooch Smooches' readers! 

Take it away, Katie: 

~ ~ ~

Every year, ten thousand American dogs are diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. This is a number that Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit working to further veterinary science, would like to change. Even more devastating than the sheer number of dogs with this terrible disease is that this type of cancer develops in young dogs—those between two and three years old. Osteosarcoma does not let up, either, as this cancer will commonly come back in dogs that have already had this ailment.

Photo provided by MAF

Owners can often tell that something is wrong when their dogs start to show symptoms of lameness. At this point, it is highly likely that the cancer has spread to other parts of the dog’s body. The current treatments for osteosarcoma include amputation and extremely strong chemotherapy drugs.

In order to combat this terrible disease, Morris’ 5-5-5 Project will fund five osteosarcoma studies. This project as a whole will last five years and will provide the chosen five studies with approximately $5 million. Every year for five years there will be a new osteosarcoma study bringing hope to dogs affected by this illness.

This study even has the potential to help kids, too. Finding the most effective cancer drugs for dogs, could potentially mean finding the most effective treatments for children affected by osteosarcoma. Morris is continuing the fight against cancer with this new project; join us and donate to Morris Animal Foundation. Thank you to all of our donors and those spreading the word about Morris studies!

Author Bio: This is a guest post by Katie F. on behalf of Morris Animal Foundation. Visit morrisanimalfoundation.org/ to learn more about the animal health research that Morris Animal Foundation participates in.

~ ~ ~

With Abby, she was hit even younger by the disease, being only 15-months old when she was diagnosed. As Katie writes, it was the limping that caused us to take her to the vet. With such a young, goofy dog, we figured she'd just overdone it. But when the limp didn't go away, x-rays confirmed osteosarcoma. 

We opted for amputation (obvi, from the above picture!), and also a lotta chemo (both IV and at-home pills) plus holistics treatments. We had another amazing 15 months with her and lost her at age 2 1/2. But she lives on in our hearts, and now in the character of Maybe in Rescue Me, Maybe.

Here's hoping the research funded by MAF can find some answers and bring hope for parents of both dogs and kids who get this horrible disease!

Thanks again MAF for the post and for everything that you do for the animals! #CancerSucks!

Thanks to Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs for hosting the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog hop. 

Wordless Wednesday: Boys, Boys, Boys

Rita here. I'm taking over cuz Momma's always too wordy. I'll tell you what's been going on with pictures. My post is kinda all about boys. And at the end, you get to see me naked on a faux sheep-skin rug.

First, of all... Remember this little guy? My cousin, Reggie?

Well, he's not so little anymore. He turned 1 recently and we had a FUN playdate!