Wordless Wednesday: Rewards and Resolutions

I'm excited to share that my second novel, Rescue Me, Maybe, won a Gold Medal award in the Readers' Favorite 2014 contest in the Fiction - Animals category!

Rita looks way cuter in the medal than I do, so she'll model it. (As you can see, she was not super thrilled about the modeling gig. She would rather have a treat than a stupid medal any day! And just so you know... she did get a treat too, of course!)

"Momma, this is lame."

Monday Mischief: Time Is Slow When You Fast

The mischief was all on the momma again this week. Rita was due for her annual check up, and the vet we usually see was only available at 2:15. Since they wanted to do blood work, they said she needed to fast.

Here's a timeline of how the fasting news went over with Rita.

7:15am Momma breaks the news that there will be no breakfast.

"Uh, how's that, Momma?"

Wordless Wednesday: Me and My Shadow

Look at me... I was wordless!

Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday!

Monday Mischief: What a Friend We Have in Cheeses

Last year I posted "Does the Gardener Taste Like Chicken?", which included a lot of very blurry pics, like the one below, of Rita going ballistic when our gardener comes over. 

"Hey, you!! Get outta my yard!"

Less Wordy Wed.: Pups in Their New Homes

Remember ages ago when we had (wool) puppies for sale on the blog? [As as aside... those adorable little corgis were the only ones that didn't sell. So if anyone needs a felted tail-less (sorry Taryn) corgi....]

Today for Wordless (or as I like to call it "Slightly Less-Wordy") Wednesday, I thought I'd show you pics of a couple of them in their furever homes. Er... wait - their woolever homes?? Hmm. That doesn't work. Okay, in their new homes!

Remember our little Muttly?

Monday Mischief: You Mean... She's Not Mexican?

So, the mischief this time around was all on my part... I teased with you Rita's Wisdom Panel DNA test results last week and made you wait until today to find out what she is.

"Can you guess what breeds are in me?"

I mentioned that we had guessed a combo of GSD/beagle/terrier. Well, two outta three ain't bad.

Less-Wordy Wednesday: Travels with Reactive Rita

We are back from our road trip to Oregon with our reactive girl, Rita, and it was (mostly) a super fun trip!

Rita wasn't so sure about all the driving (she's fine with the down-time, but hates all the weird noises), so we tried to make sure she knew how fun road trips are...

Starting with a stop for an ice cream cone (which we split 3 ways):

"Okay, yeah. I could get used to this."

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.

#GiveCancerThePaw: Our Beautiful Angels

Today is our last Give Cancer the Paw blog hop. My co-host Peggy of the Writer's Dog and I invite you to join in and pay tribute to a special pet you've known and loved who has/had cancer. You can write a tribute post, share an old post about a beloved pet, or even just share a photo. Today I'm posting about our beautiful angels.

If you've been around the blog for a while, you know we lost both our beautiful girls, Bailey and Abby to cancer. Bailey had hemangiosarcoma, and Abby had osteosarcoma.

Join Us Wed. for the Last #GiveCancerThePaw Hop!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last Give Cancer the Paw blog hop. My co-host Peggy (of The Writer's Dog) and I have done what we've set out to do: raise awareness about canine cancer, share news of studies and treatments, and raise the "power of the paw" in fighting this evil disease.

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?"

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.

Monday Mischief: Good & Bad Mischief

Good Mischief
This weekend we had a lovely family brunch at my bro's house.

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:

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. 

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??

Know Kids Who Love Dogs? Two-book #Giveaway!

At the Doggie Street Festival on Saturday, I met two fabulous ladies who've both written great kids' books about dogs. Since we don't have any ankle biters young kids in our family, I decided I'd do a giveaway. Both copies are signed by the authors!

Rita gives both books two dewclaws up!

Less-Wordy Wednesday: Doggie Street Festival

Last Saturday was the Doggie Street Festival here in San Diego - a BIG adoption event with lots of different rescue groups, vendors, and (for the first time this year) an "author pavilion." 

I figured I'd tell you about it mostly in pictures, since it's less-wordy Wednesday!

Here's my spot at the pavilion.

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!"

Follow-Up Fri.: A Fair Follow-Up + Puppies for Sale!

A Fair Follow-Up
Remember when were a little bummed that we didn't win the blue ribbon this year (awarded for first place in the needle felting "class") at the fair? BUT, on the plus side, we won the Big Green Ribbon for a "special award" for the Best Theme entry??

Gotta  love a big, shiny ribbon!

Wordless Wed.: Caption These Cute Rescue Pups II

Today it's more pics of cute rescue pups playing at Helen Woodward, the shelter where I volunteer. The little one is Charlie, the big one is Sparkles. 

I just love Sparkles. She's so cute! (Even if she is making a demon-dog face here. She really wanted Charlie to play!)

Wanna try and caption these pups? Here's mine. (It's wordy...)

"Sparkles, what big eyes you have!" "The better to see you with, Charlie!" "And what big teeth you h..."

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 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!

10 New Vocabulary Words for Dog Lovers

For Monday Mischief today, I'm being mischievous myself and stealing an idea from Pamela at Something Wagging This Way Comes. Er... not stealing- just paying homage while adding on to the vocabulary words she posted that only dog people know.

Her post inspired me to share some vocabulary words the dog people in my family use.

Vulturing: (Pamela also listed this word, so we'll start here; only she had a slightly different definition.) Verb; the stooped shoulders and glaring stance the dog assumes when you are in the kitchen and NOT filling her dinner bowl.

#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.

Wordless Wednesday: Caption These Cute Rescue Pups

I've been editing editing editing book #3 and am brain dead (and still 90 pages to go... ugh), so I'm going to be mostly wordless today. Shocking, right?

I took these pics of these cute pups playing at Helen Woodward, the shelter where I volunteer. The little one is Ricky, the big one is Gus. They have a great time together!

Since I'm brain dead, I can't even come up with captions, so I'm leaving that to you! Take it away... Pick a pic and hit me with your cute, funny, endearing, or clever caption! (Or if you're brain dead too, just comment on how cute these pups are!)

Pic 1: Ricky appears to be telling Gus what's what:

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

Follow Up Friday: Fair is Fair...

I haven't done a Follow-up Friday post in a while, but there's "Fair is fair" news to catch up on, starting with our entries for this year's "Fab Fair"-themed county fair! 

Unfortunately, our fair visit this year was a mix of good news/bad news, so overall it was just, eh, fair.

If we're friends on Facebook, you already know that instead of doing the Dance of Joy, we were doing the Trudge of Dejection around the exhibition hall... 

So, let's start with the bad news... We really had high hopes for another blue ribbon this year, but it wasn't to be. 

We got 3rd place in the Needle Felting division for our Meet the Beagles:

Third place?! But look at ALL that ADORABLENESS?!

Go Wild This Summer with BookBub's Best: 5 Book #Giveaway!

MEET THE FABULOUS FIVE!

Read on to see how you can win these 5 books!

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.

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!

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.

Animal Mummies - A Fascinating Exhibit

Recently a quorum of my sisters (a bunch were there but not all... I have many) and I went to see the Soulful Animals: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt exhibit at the Bowers Museum in Orange County, CA. It was fascinating! I wanted to share some of the history and some pics I took at the exhibit. (Pics were allowed as long as you didn't use a flash.)

The exhibit was based on some of the millions of animal mummies found at 31 cemeteries throughout Egypt. 

Shrew mummy

How To Needle Felt a Dog: There Will Be Blood

If you've been following the blog, you know my sister and I entered some needle felted dogs in the county fair last year (and won 2 blue ribbons!) and we've entered some this year as well. Some folks mentioned they'd like to know how to felt their own dogs... so here goes:

How To Needle Felt a Dog

Subtitled: There Will Be Blood. (Yes, you will stab yourself, at least the first 1 or 2 times you try felting.)

Wee Background
I come from a family of crafty folks. When my sis and I first saw Domenica More Gordon's dogs on TV, we knew we had to find out how she made those adorable dogs. (...since we couldn't afford the £500+ price tag!) That's how we discovered "needle felting." 

Since our dogs are not as fine-tuned as Domenica's, we like to call them "caricatures" and we've custom made many pups over the last couple of years. 

My sister's Husky-mix and my bro's angel Golden

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:

Wordless Wednesday: Rita's New Leash & Avoiding a Tired Pun

Rita got a new leash... (not on life. Man, while I was trying to write a title for this post "a new leash on life" is ALL my feeble brain could come up with). She just got a new leash. Period. 

It's a little bit girly, and a little bit bad-ass (cuz it has pink skull & crossbones on it), just like our girl. Here she is sporting it, nice and pooped after a walk.

What Do The Beatles Have To Do with Wooly Dogs?

Remember our blue-ribbon winning entry from last year's Fair??

Pups at the Park

Well, we're hoping for another blue ribbon (or two...) this year!

Monday Mischief: Dynamic Duo Review-O

Today's mischief involves posting something a little different. I've posted about books before on the blog, but never about a book that doesn't have a dog in it.

"Wait, what??? No dog???"

Don't worry! There are still pooch pics! Read on!

Isn't that a great cover?!

The reason I'm sharing a non-doggy-book post is because my IRL friend Liz Fenton and new online friend Lisa Steinke are publishing their debut novel, Your Perfect Life, in June! (Hopefully someday I'll also get to meet Lisa in real life!)

It's Wildfire Awareness Week in CA. Yep, We're Aware!

I'm guessing you've seen on the news (or my Facebook posts) that San Diego county experienced a rash of fires the last few days. At one point there were 9 of them!

Here's a fuzzy pic from my phone showing the news graphic of the 9 fires.
(BTW, we're fine - we live well west of where the fires are.)

Ironically, this is all happening while it's Wildfire Awareness Week in California. Yep, you could say we are aware now! In fact, even though we aren't close to the fires, I was afraid to leave Rita home alone, just in case a fire would break out in our canyon. (It's happened before, although they put it out quickly!)

Wordy Wednesday: How We All Ended Up Exhausted

Just looked back and in almost a month I've only posted 3 times. I mentioned the blog would be quiet for a bit, and originally that was for a good reason. I was feverishly editing my new book! (More book news below.) But then the good reason for the blogging break turned into a sad reason.

A begonia on the hospital room windowsill

A Quick Catch-up and Puppy Mischief!

If you saw my last post, you know my mother-in-law passed away, so the hubs and I have been away from home for over 2 weeks. (Luckily we made it there in time to spend a couple of days with her.)

Rita stayed with Reggie (her cousin) while we were away. She was (reportedly) a good girl (except for not wanting to share her chew bones!), so I have a little Reggie mischief to share.

Reggie sent us this photo while we were in Montreal: