Monday Mischief: The Coyote in the "Window"

Sometimes on Sunday mornings, we like to watch CBS Sunday Morning while we sip our coffees and read the paper. And sometimes the segments are boring (which is why we read the paper while we watch). But there's one segment we always enjoy (and even stop reading the paper to watch): the "Moment in Nature" at the end.

As soon as good ol' Charles Osgood said yesterday morning that they were going to "leave us" with some coyotes in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, I knew Rita would come over to watch, so I grabbed my iPad to record it.

Strange Bedfellows

Sleeping with the Furry Kids
I got an email from my sister this morning, saying that her back was hurting, from her bed and "from having a dog invade my space. She is so twitchy in her sleep that I'm practically on the edge of the bed trying to keep away from her. What's wrong with this picture?"   

It got me thinking about this picture that I'd seen all over Facebook lately:

"Sleeping with Pets: Expectations vs. Reality"

[Photo from: http://9laughs.com/sleeping-with-pets-expectations-vs-reality/]


I think those of us who let our dogs sleep in the bed start out thinking, "Won't this be nice!? Won't it be cozy!" But the reality is usually anything but.

Monday Mischief: Not So Much

Poor Rita! Her Pop had meniscus surgery on both knees on Thursday, so she has not been getting her usual amount of attention. She's been a very good girl through it all, although not shy about letting us know how bored she is. (A lotta heavy sighing going on around here!)

We gave her a bone to try to keep her entertained this afternoon. You can see how put-out she is. (Those are the hubby's knees strapped up to his super-duper ice machine in the foreground.)

"Most boring weekend, evar!"

Wordless Wednesday: Beach!

It's (mostly) Wordless Wednesday time again - and today's word is BEACH!

Rita finally got to go back to Fiesta Island!

Here is her super-excited (although blurry) face on the way there.

Monday Mischief: How Rita Spent Our Vacation

I survived The Gulag
Hi everypawdy - it's me, Rita, again. I know I promised last week to tell you about my time at The Gulag, so here it is. Since it's Mischief Monday, let me just start by saying I didn't really get up to any mischief there. (Well, not too much anyway...) I was a very good girl! (No, it's my pawrents that got up to mischief - after all they left me to go to Maui!)

At The Gulag, they made me go on a diet and I think they drugged me! [Note from Rita's Momma - yes, they did probably give her less calories than we do, but that was a good thing since (1) the vet said she needed to lose a couple of pounds and (2) she was getting less exercise. And, yes, they gave her some benadryl to help keep her quiet since she was on restricted activity for 2 - 3 weeks because of possibly having panoesteitis.]

Here are some pics of what I did there. Mostly I had to work:

I had to guard the gate

Human Shaming: It's the Dogs' Turn

Have you heard of the popular Dog Shaming site? If you are not familiar with this phenomenon, there's a pretty funny video/report about it from CNN here. (Of course, given the opening lines of What the Dog Ate, wherein the main character, Maggie, finds out her dog has eaten her hubby's mistress's panties, this sentence from the report was the one that really caught my eye: "...underwear eating seems to be one of the most common misbehaviors.")

Anyway, the folks at Kol's Notes and My Brown Newfies thought it would be fun to let the dogs have a turn shaming their humans, so they declared today:

Wordless Wednesday: Rita & Ray

Hi everypawdy - it's Rita. My pawrents went to Maui last week and all I got was a trip to The Gulag and this manta ray toy. (Remember I went on that "trial" sleepover to The Gulag, well now I know that "trial" means it's going to happen again!)

Me and my ray, Ray.

What the Dog(s) Ate: Wrenches, Hair Ties & Bras. Oh My.

Did you know there is an annual award for pet x-rays? Well there is! Yes, it's time for the annual Pet X-Ray Contest 2012 Winners! (Also - keep reading for another chance to win a paperback of What the Dog Ate!)

Ciao to My Chow Hound?

What Happened to My Good Eater?
Rita, as far as we know, is a German Shepherd/Beagle mix. Until very recently, her beagle side has really shown through any time there's food in the picture. This was a welcome change (back to what we were used to with our beagle, Bailey) from Abby, who was obsessed with keeping her super-skinny super-model figure.

In related news, we won something again! Yes, AGAIN!

But, about 6 weeks or so ago, a weird thing happened. Suddenly Rita wasn't such a chow hound anymore. You might remember we won a sample of Honest Kitchen and she loved it, so we bought her some and had started mixing it in with her Blue Buffalo kibble. For a couple of weeks, she was all over it, licking her bowl so hard that it would slam up against the wall. But then she just went off of it.

Food! Rachel Ray's Nutrish, from MyBrownNewfies.com

I tried just the kibble. I tried just the Honest Kitchen. She didn't seem to want either one. Around the same time she went off peanut butter, which every dog I've ever known loves. She used to love it herself! The other night we made pizza, and she turned her nose up at the "bones."

The only way I could get her to eat was if I cooked something for her myself and mixed it in with her kibble. So, if we were having chicken, I'd set aside enough for a few meals worth for her and boil it along with some greens and then dice that up with her food. Or I'd do the same with some fish or turkey. I'm not a great cook - but she LOVED it! (It's nice to have someone enthusiatically gobble your cooking!)

This is the Lamb Stew. Rita's intrigued...

As I said, this has been going on for weeks now, and I had been trying to figure out what the heck happened to her appetite. But I finally figured it out! When she got the diagnosis of the panosteitis, one site I looked on said that dogs who have it can become depressed or even anorexic. Well, she'd actually gained some weight from all the laying around and not exercising, so that didn't really make sense to me. But, I started to think, maybe the only reason she didn't become anorexic was because I started trying so hard to vary her meals and mix in some home cooking that she kept eating her meals. Plus, she never went off her treats - I mean, she's not crazy.

Anyway, while I was writing up this post I searched again on panosteitis and, more specifically, whether it affects the appetite - and it does! In fact, the site I found said loss of appetite is usually the first symptom. Now it all makes sense!

Rita Wins Again!
So, winning the Rachel Ray "Naturally Delish" dog food from Jen at the My Brown Newfies blog could not have happened at a better time! Rita loves a little bit of it mixed in with her kibble. (I have to mix it up really good or she eats around the kibble...)

"That was SO yummy!"

I have no idea what this new Rachel Ray food costs, but I think it's available in grocery stores, which is handy, and it also comes in resealable tubs, which is also handy (and way better than dealing with an opened can of food). Plus it's made with no fillers, meat by-products, artificial ingredients or preservatives, plus no corn, wheat or soy, and 100% of the proceeds go to help animals in need. I'd imagine it would be pretty pricey to feed your pup this alone, but it's been great for mixing a bit in with Rita's dinner to get her appetite going again.

So, thanks to My Brown Newfies and thanks to Rachel Ray for the yummy* goodies for Rita.

Hopefully we'll get our ol' chow hound back one of these days!


* I should probably say "yummo" instead of "yummy", as a nod to Rachel Ray since that's what she always says... but my bro is not a big fan of Ms. Ray,** so I'll stick with yummy. Or I'm also partial to yumma.

**My bro is a great cook and therefore watches the cooking channel a lot. I think he doesn't like her because she is so darn chipper. Chipper is not really a word that would ever come to mind if you were looking for a one-word description of my bro. Plus, I'd say his cooking style is more Alton Brown than Rachel Ray, so he's just not into the whole 30 Minute Meal thing - he wants to make the 8 to 10 Hour Meal. Seriously. He needs his own cooking show. We keep telling him he should pitch it to the Food Network - we even have the title already: "The Surly Chef". There'd be none of that constant patter. Instead he'd just cook and occasionally explain something. If the cameraman got in his way, they'd have to bleep out a lot of expletives. (Even if the cameraman didn't get in his way they'd probably have to bleep out a lot of expletives...) But the food would be amazing!

Monday Mischief: Quiet Mischief??

Have you ever had to keep a puppy quiet? It's not easy! Even though Rita is maturing a bit and now at the ripe old age of about 14 months, she's still very active. Yes, she's way more mellow than crazy Abby was - but she's still far from a couch potato. She wants to run and play like every other normal puppy does!

Even before we found out that she has panosteitis and that we need to keep her quiet for 2-3 weeks, we were already trying to do that since she'd been limping on and off. On the days when we were avoiding walks and vigorous play, we tried doing some training and some very gentle inside play, but it wasn't enough to tire her out. So I got the idea to order a Tug-A-Jug. I have a friend that uses one with her dog and he loves it, and I hoped Rita would too.

Basically, as you can see, it's big plastic jug that you fill with little treats or kibble and then the rope toy that's knotted down inside acts as a barrier to getting the treats out without some effort.

On Amazon, the marketing blurb calls it "the ultimate interactive toy!" and says it has "multi-sensory appeal," stimulating your dog's "sense of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste." What other toy hits all five senses - except maybe a live gopher! (That part's not in the marketing blurb - I added that bit myself.)

Sleepovers are Exhausting

Recently, Rita went for a trial sleepover at my sister's house (aka The Gulag - where they have actual rules that dogs must abide by!).

It's a dilemma, isn't it? Wondering and worrying about what you're going to do with your pup if you go away on vacation or for work.

My sis and I have been trading dog-sitting duties for a long time now, which used to be no big deal back when we had Bailey, who was close in age and temperament to their corgi, Lou. But now that we keep insisting on getting these darn puppies, and since Lou has become a distinguished older gentleman, well, it's a little more complicated.

Abby used to pester Lou relentlessly trying to get him to play with her - and driving him into a state of...let's call it extreme dismay. So we decided on a trial run with Rita, so see if she'd be an improvement in Lou's books over Abby.

This was the first time since we got Rita back in January that we'd be away from her for a night. And she looked a little concerned when Momma left.

"Wh-where are you going, Momma?"

Wordless Wednesday: Treats?

Rita got a new name tag:

In case you can't see it that well, it says "Insert Treat" with an arrow pointing up at her adorable little hungry face. (We got it from Dog Tag Art; they have a lot of fun options!)

Cute, eh? Of course, we ordered it before we found out that she has panosteitis and needs to lose a few pounds, so we might have to ease up on inserting the treats. I'm pretty sure no matter what, she'll still manage to wheedle some treats out of us! Rita says, "Dieting bites!"

Monday Mischief: Being Nosy

Is this mischief (being NOSY), or is she just trying to be helpful? 

The other day I potted some plants and, of course, Rita had to come stick her nose into what I was doing. She's always got to be RIGHT THERE next to me, checking out whatever I'm doing.

"What are you doing, Momma?"

Update on a Limping Puppy

I don't normally blog on the weekends, but we just got back from the vet, and I figured this was the easiest way to update everyone at once who loves little Senorita Rita. Don't worry - it's not scary news. But it does involve the words "bone disease."

As many of you know, Rita has been limping on off for about a month now. We'd been taking it easy on and off - skipping trips to the beach and foregoing our usual long walks - and then the limp would go away so we'd go back to normal.

This past Monday after a particularly crazed wrestling match at Fiesta Island, she started limping really badly. We took it easy all week (no walks on Tues or Wed, and only short trips around the block on Thur and Fri), and she seemed fine again. But then last night she was definitely limping again, seemingly for no reason. So, this morning we were off to the vet.

What's In a Name?

Today's post was inspired by Dakota's Den's post on How Did You Name Your Dog.

Dakota's Mom shared this very fun graphic produced by Matt Beswick for Pet365. {Click here to view Matt's full post.}



Who knew that George Washington had so many dogs? (I assume not all at one time...) And both G.W. and Queen Elizabeth had dogs named Vulcan?? What's up with that? (And doesn't that seem like sort of an imposing name for a cute little corgi?)

Anyway, I thought I'd share the story of how our pups got their names:

Bailey was named after Bailey's Bay, which was near where we lived in Bermuda. We thought we were being so unique and original! But suddenly there were Baileys everywhere, because there was a popular character on... I forget... a show we didn't watch so we had no idea. Maybe 90210? Something like that...

Abby's full name was Abby Louise, because that used all the letters in Bailey's name. Awww. Miss that girl!

Rita was named after Rosarita Beach, the beach in Baja Mexico where the rescue group found her. When she came to us, her name was Peaches. (Which was a funny coincidence, because there is a minor dog character in What the Dog Ate named Peaches.) Anyway, Mike makes a mean peach margarita, so in addition to being named after the beach, she’s also named after peach margaritas.

A pearl in the poppies

After reading Dakota's mom's post about how she found that Dakota means “trusted friend,” I decided to look up what Rita means: “Pearl.” This is another funny coincidence, because I joked with Mike when we were trying to come up with Abby's name that I wanted to name her Pearl so that I could be “Mother of Pearl.” (I know - I'm a dork.)

I guess we picked the right name for Rita, as she is definitely our special gem!

How did your pup get his/her name?


Very Brief Book/Writing News
In book news, I got another nice review on Chick Lit Central. Also, I had another idea for a book that I like and think could be a lot of fun to write - so I'm now working on three, yes three, different books at one time. And making myself crazy(er). Going to try to focus and finish one!!

Wordless Wednesday: I Gotta Wear Shades

That's right - Rita's future is so bright, she's gotta wear shades. (Okay, really it's just cuz she likes to hang her head out the window...)

Remember last Wednesday when I posted pics of Rita sporting her Doggles? Well, Sunday was the first time we actually remembered to try them in the car:

"I know it's cute, but must I wear them?"

Monday Mischief: Scavenging!

This Monday Mischief is actually mostly about me and some mischief Mike's admin asked me to join in - but Rita benefited from the mischief as well!

Last week I participated in a scavenger hunt that was a team-building event for my hub's Finance department at work. The hub's admin was the one who invited me to be one of the "things" they scavenged for, so he didn't know I'd be there.

The hunt took place in downtown La Jolla, full of nice restaurants and shops and always bustling on a Friday afternoon - especially in the summer. I was told to hang out reading What the Dog Ate on the bench outside Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. There were 6 teams, and even though the hunt was to last all afternoon, they were told that my particular clue was only good from 2 to 3 (so I didn't have to sit there forever).

The clue was something like: "The dog ate my homework" is one of the most common excuses in America. Stop by this 3000 mile mountain range for a sweet treat, where you'll find a La Jolla author who can tell you what else the dog ate.

When I got there, the bench I was supposed to sit on was otherwise ocupied by a homeless guy. Luckily there was a tiny little wall about 6 inches off the ground in front of the shop, so I sat on that and pulled out my book and tried to make the cover obvious.

What's Better Than a Good Book?...

...A FREE good book!

It's time to announce the winner of my giveaway of Peggy Frezon's Dieting With My Dog, and the winner is... Danielle Murgia! (Yep, that's right... If you checked Peggy's blog this morning to see who won What the Dog Ate, the same lucky lady won both books! What are the odds? But Rafflecopter is totally random, so, it's just Danielle's lucky day. Maybe she should pick up a lottery ticket today!) 

I'll email you shortly, Daneille, to get your address. Congrats on the double win!

Speaking of being lucky... I won two books myself this week! 

Wordless Wednesday: Lovely Rita

For this week's (mostly) Wordless Wednesday, I figured we'd focus on the cuteness of Rita. (And, okay, I admit... there's some book-related wordiness at the end.) But mostly, there are a LOT of cute pics - and even a painting! - of Rita:

"This is cute enough, right? We can stop now, right?"

Monday Mischief: UnbreakOBall & Monkeybutts

It's Monday Mischief time again, so this week we've got a video of Rita being mischievous with another little something that we won. Yes, we won something again! We've been so lucky lately! Remember a while back I posted about the UnbreakOBall contest and encouraged folks to enter? And remember I included the link to my entry for Abby versus Barney, which Liz from the Indestructible Dog Gear blog turned into: "The Tale of Abby & Barney: A Love Story"? Well, Abby was named the "Indestructible Dog of the Month" for July (whoohoo!) so Rita received an UnbreakOBall in Abby's memory.

"More mail for me??"

Dieting With My Dog - Giveaway!

One of the really great things about publishing my book has been meeting other writers - like Peggy Frezon, author and dog columnist. So, today I wanted to introduce you to Peggy and her book, Dieting with my Dog: One Busy Life, Two Full Figures…and Unconditional Love.

My copy is on its way, so I haven't read it yet, but the book tells "the honest and heartfelt story of one overweight woman and her chubby spaniel, struggling to lose weight together. Their wonderful results will inspire anyone who wants to get fit and healthy…with their furry best friend."

“Peggy Frezon has written a charming and delightful tale. Dieting With My Dog is sweet, funny, inspiring and adorable, just like Peggy and Kelly!”

–Julie Klam, bestselling author You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness

Post Olympics Blues

Now that the Olympics are over, we have the post Olympics blues... We have had to resort to entertaining ourselves with our own sporting events around here - like Pancake Catching, Puppy Pouncing, Open Water Swimming, and the Sweet Potato Chase.

Open Water Swimming 
Remember last week I posted about Rita's first swim, and how we didn't have our camera? Well, this past weekend I remembered to bring my iPod Nano along, so we caught some videos of her in the act. (Luckily we went both days of the weekend, as the video from the first day was mostly of the hub's finger...)

So, here she is, our own little Rita Lochte: (it just occurred to me that Ryan has the word for "lake" in his name; he must have been destined to be a swimmer.) Note - please ignore my high-pitched squeaky voice in this video. She was probably trying to swim out to hold me underwater to make the squeaking stop....

Pancake Catching Fail

Hi all - Rita here. Today it's time for Monday Mischief. Momma thinks I am a good girl, so she doesn't really think I get up to much mischief. (She's soooo wrong!)

Momma made this video of me yesterday -- it's supposed to be a game of catch with Momma using pieces of a leftover pancake from their breakfast to get me to learn to catch. (You can't really hear the sound very good - but it's mostly just Momma saying "Are you ready?" and then laughing at me. Nice, Momma. Real nice.)

The Kona Interview

Today I'm very excited to have Kona here for an interview. Kona doesn't get to have his say in the What the Dog Ate, so it was nice to sit down and chat with him and see what makes the big guy tick. So, let's get started.

Q. Hi Kona. Welcome to the blog. Let's start with some basics. What breed of dog are you?

A. I’m a chocolate Lab. I am very handsome. My Momma says so.

Q. Are you a purebred dog?

A. No. Why would you ask that? Do I look doughy? Are you suggesting I'm a flabrador? I think I’m kind of muscle-y. I mean, I’m not pure muscle, but I have a lot of muscle. I do have some doughy parts, but man. Pure bread. I like bread, don’t get me wrong, but that just seems like a mean question. [Looks down and shakes head.] [Muttering] If this is how this interview is going to be, I'm outta here. I thought this was going to be a puff piece. Man, talk about hard-hitting questions.

Q. No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. You’re very muscular! [Kona sits up and smiles.] I meant, you know – where did you come from. Do you have papers?

A. [Tilts head.] Papers? You mean like the papers you pee on? I haven't done that since I was a puppy. Geez. What is this??

One-Word Wednesday: Pounce!

It's Wordless, or as I prefer to call it, One-Word Wednesday again, so I give you this photo of Rita:

If you've been around here a while, does this remind you of anypawdy?

Puddle-Plopping Pleases Puppy

It's Monday Mischief time and this morning Rita's mischievous idea was to plop down in a puddle on our muggy morning walk. Swell. The girl can sniff out a puddle at 50 paces. She finds puddles that I don't even notice and suddenly plops down or pounces with her front legs into them. And the muddier the better! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but fortunately, she dried off before we got home.

Awww. Every hike needs a stream!

Catching Up: Winnings, Hedgehogs & Mini Cover Models

So much to catch up on in this post! But it's mostly pictures...

More Goodies for Rita

Last time, I posted about the winner for my giveaway (Baba HooHoo!) but Rita's winnings also continue to come in! Remember all the stuff we won during K9 Kamp? Well, this week we got two more items. First, Rita got some stuffed squeaky bones from Flint & Lars: 

"I love mail!"

Not just one; not just two...

...but THREE squeaky bones. So spoiled!

Then she got her Dog Cookies book from Hubble and Hattie

The hub's reaction was "wow, some of these look really good!"

These we didn't win (I actually paid for something for Rita for once!) but to celebrate Abby's third birthday, Rita got a bag of hedgehogs:

"It says here these are wheat and gluten free. Interesting..."

"I'm goin' in!"

He's a little dirty - she ran outside with him, afraid I'd steal him!

Looks like she's checking out his (nonexistent) hedgehog naughty-bits in this photo.

In addition to her new toys and treats, Rita has a new friend. The hubs has (luckily) been getting home at a more reasonable time all week, so we've been going on a 20 minute walk most nights to a little park by the ocean where pups and their humans gather. The pups meet to play, the humans to watch the sunset. Rita's new little friend is named Bee. Rita loves Bee! 

Teeth, claws, and blurry-quick movements to the contrary, Rita does actually play really nicely with Bee:

Bee is a tiny thing & she often hides between anyone's legs.

And they both share their water nicely - even with other random pups:

"No, no, after you!"

A Mini Cover Model

In needle-felting news, my sis and I felted a Charley - the cover model from my book! I was worried we wouldn't do him justice since Charley is so handsome, but I think he came out cute. 

Real Charley & Mini Charley

Mini Charley & Mini Abby, Charley's Angel

Book-related News

I've had several reviews, interviews, posts, etc. lately. Here's a list if you want to check any of them out (most of you have already seen these since I posted them on Facebook/Twitter):

1. A wonderful review on My Tail Hurts from Wagging So Much. (I made her stay up too late.) :)
2. I was the featured "Writer of the Week" on PetPR.com
3. I got to answer fun questions on Coffee with a Canine (have a look if you want to know the one thing I would ask Rita if she could answer a single question in English).
4. I got my first blurb! A "blurb" is when a published author gives a lovely little sound-bite for your book. The wonderful Elsa Watson, author of Dog Days, called my book a "a cheer-me-up read, the story of a smart woman putting her life back together. Maggie is the character women have been waiting for - she's clever, funny, and REAL." So, that immediately went up on my Amazon page for the book! Hooray, and thanks again to Elsa!

You'd think with all this good book news, sales would be a little better, but - not gonna lie - they haven't been great. They've been just OK. Nothing you could live on... unless, maybe you were a pet hamster. A pet hamster could probably live pretty comfortably on the proceeds - could maybe even be like the Kardashians of hamsterdom - but that's about it. Anyway, hoping for some momentum to build, but in the meantime, it's nice to hear from folks that they've enjoyed the book. 

If you want to make an author's day - send them an email telling them how much you liked their book!

One Word Wednesday: WINNER!

OK, it's supposed to be Wordless Wed., and I'm changing it to One Word Wed, but of course I can't limit myself to just one word... But the main word for today is Winner!

Without further ado, the winner of the big giveaway is (do you hear the drum roll??): Baba HooHoo!! (Isn't that the cutest login name?)

Here's how she won... I used Randomizer.org to generate a random winning number which was 23. (I like #23 since it's my birth date.) Baba Hoohoo had the 23rd comment slot, so she's our winner! And now a signed copy of the book, Smooches treats, The Honest Kitchen cookbook, and an adorable pink & brown bookmark hook all tucked up in a cheery pink tote bag will be winging their way to her!

Wordless Wednesday: Some Veggies are Scary

I believe we've established that I'm not good at the wordless thing, so here's a modicum of words and some pics for "Wordless Wednesday."

I pulled out some veggies the other night for dinner. Later I hear "THERE'S AN INTRUDER"-type barking from Rita. I figure it's someone on the street, but she won't let up, so I go out to the front of the house and she's standing in the kitchen, hackles at half-mast, barking like crazy at... the eggplant on the kitchen counter.

"Must. Kill. Evil. Eggplant."

Bloggers Unite for Dog Rescue: How You Can Help

As I said last week, today is a special global event: Bloggers Unite for Dog Rescue to bring attention to the importance of dog adoption and related issues. The event is being sponsored by Blog the Change for Animals (BTC4animals.com), Blog Catalog, and Dog Rescue Success.

For my part, I thought I'd bring attention to dog adoption issues by writing about the Helen Woodward Animal Center where I've been volunteering for about 6 or 7 years now. At the end of the post, I'll also list some ways you can help too! There's even a super easy-peasy one!

Celebrating the Print Version: Enter the Giveaway!

I briefly mentioned the other day that the paperback version of WHAT THE DOG ATE is now available! Hooray! I can hold my book in my hot little hands. (And now you can too! Links for purchasing are at the end of the post.) So, I'm doing two things to celebrate:

Donating proceeds

I've committed to donating 10% of the proceeds of all print sales for the rest of this year to Best Friends Animal Society. I had a hard time deciding who to choose, but decided on Best Friends because I admire what they do (I'd love to visit them some day!) and love their mission: "To bring about a time when there are no more homeless pets." I can't even imagine that - what would it be like if there were no dogs and cats to rescue?? Wouldn't it be wonderful? 

So, if you buy the book in print, know that part of the money will go to help animals in need. And we're not just talking dogs and cats here! No - you'll be helping chickens, ducks, goats, horses, parrots, pigs, pigeons (adopt a pigeon??), rabbits, sheep, and one burro and one mule. (Someday I would love to have a burro or a donkey! But that's probably not going to happen in my lifetime...). Burros... those are asses right? So, buy my book and save an ass!

A Giveaway

The other thing I'm doing to celebrate is giving away a goodie bag to one lucky winner!

Wordless Wednesday: Rita's Got Mail

Wednesdays are normally my usual blogging day (since I'm generally a one-post-a-week gal), but since I've already done some other posts this week, and since I'm still getting things together for my official book announcement, I thought I'd just do a quick "wordless Wednesday" post.

Obviously I'm not very good at the wordless part... But I'm going to try to keep them to a minimum. So, here is "Somewhat Wordy Wednesday":

Rita's K9 Kamp winnings have started to roll in! And she loves it!

Monday Mischief: Counter Surfing

Winner!
We recently won a sample pack of Honest Kitchen food and treats, thanks to the folks at Fido Friendly magazine and Honest Kitchen. I won it by correctly answering a trivia question about Honest Kitchen on Fido Friendly's Facebook page. I just happened to know the answer off the top of my head, because I'd been thinking of switching Rita to Honest Kitchen and had been on their site a few days before. But then I got lazy and didn't order any food.

Well, now that we won the sample, and Rita has discovered how delicious it is, we'll definitely be making the switch. Rita really loves the treats too; here she is counter-surfing for one of the Pecks treats:


I recently discovered there's a regular Monday blog hop called "Monday Mischief" co-hosted by Snoopy's DogBlog, Alfie’s Blog, Luna Dogs Life and My Brown Newfies.

Rita is not actually all that mischievous...

Blog the Change for Animals Event

Wanna help a pup in need? 

Today, July 15, lots of dog bloggers are bringing attention to the upcoming "Bloggers Unite for Dog Rescue," a special online global event that will take place on July 23, 2012. The goal is to bring attention to the importance of dog adoption and related issues. The event is being sponsored by Blog the Change for Animals (BTC4animals.com) and they are partnering with Blog Catalog, and Dog Rescue Success to help save the lives of dogs in need.



So, this is just a little heads up that on July 23rd, bloggers from all over will be posting about various dog rescue issues...

The Post I Wasn't Planning To Write

The first half of this post, I wasn't planning to write. But then I did write it. And it's long. But there's lots of pictures. :)

The Six Months Point
Yesterday was the six month anniversary of the day we lost Abby. (Or the day we helped her get fitted for her wings, as I like to think of it.)

I really didn't plan to make a big deal about it. I'd kind of been dreading it, which is silly because why is 5 months and 29 days after we lost her any different than 6 months after? Anyway, I'd planned to get through the day without spending much time dwelling on it.

But Abby had other ideas. She put many little signs in front of me all day yesterday!

Here are a few:

In the morning when Rita and I were heading out for our walk, I pulled Rita's leash and harness out of the drawer - only somehow Abby's old harness came out instead of Rita's walking harness. Of course Rita was very interested in it since it smelled like Abby. (Sometimes I wonder if Rita is thinking, "Where is that other dog that lives here?" since she plays with Abby's old toys and sleeps in Abby's old bed.)

Giggling in the daisies

Pouncing on bugs.

Later in the day I went to leave a comment on someone's blog, and I had to sign in to my Google profile. I've changed my profile pics in almost all of my various social media places to be me/me & Rita now. (It was sad, changing them over, but some folks on Twitter commented on what a pretty dog I had, and I had to explain that she's an angel pup now, and that we have a new dog. I figured it was time for Rita to have the spot light.) Anyway, when I logged in to leave my comment, somehow my old profile pic of Abby's face came up instead of my new pic (the one in the upper right corner here) of me & Rita. Just a little surprise of her face saying hello.

In the afternoon I finally got around to going to Michael's to buy frames for some pictures/paintings I've had sitting in the closet for months. Of course, one of them was the 8X10 of the pic below of our little familial unit, so I was carrying that around the store with me for a long time, looking at my gorgeous girl.

"Let's play!!"

"I'm ready for my close up, Ms. DeMille. I mean, Mama"

Running like a maniac

There were at least three other things too last night, so finally I was, like "Ok, I get it! You want me to pay attention to you and make a fuss!"

All hail the Princess

"Mmmm. Frosty Paws...."

Our girl always was really good at demanding attention! She did it pretty much every night! In the words of that crazy skank from "Fatal Attraction," she was not going to be ignored. No, never. (Carrying on with that "Fatal Attraction" thought for a moment... both Abby and Rita would also probably be really into some bunny stew... But they are not crazy skanks. Ok, they're crazy. But they're not skanks.)

Sparkly girl

"This. Place. Is. Awesome!"

So, that's why I've plastered some of my favorite pics throughout today's post: to remember (and make a fuss over) what a special girl she was.

"Nom nom nom"

And Now For Something Completely Different

"That looks good..."

When we last left Elmo & his Boy, George (hehe, see what I did there?), they were enjoying their spa day. Things got a little hairier on the Fourth. It started out fine during the day, when we enjoyed typical Fourth-type foods, including some watermelon, which George bogarted.

That night, we decided we needed to be home in case Rita was afraid of the fire works. Since this is her first Fourth of July, we weren't really sure how she'd react. You may have seen in the news about the "Big Bay Boom/Bust."

From our living room, it sounded like a rocket ship launching into space. And Rita was OK with that. But not Elmo and George. Nope, they hid under the guest bed and covered their eyes. (Or "eye" in Elmo's case. Notice, though, that he covered the space where his other eye used to be. Old habits...)

They really did have something to fear when Rita came along...

Rita would love it if they could stay forever. ("Forever" meaning until she's done killing them.)

"I'll take this! Thank you."

"I'm going to kill you, Elmo!"

"No, Mama! Must. Kill." "But, Rita, he has another Tour stop!"

Rita in the "MonkeyButt Bunnies - It's All About the Ears" cape

She got a treat for enduring that!

It's time for the boys to get back in their box and head to their next stop. By-bye, Boys. It's been fun. 

Next time...
Stay tuned for lots of news about the book (in print!!! It's HERE - but only available for purchase direct from CreateSpace so far; it'll be at Amazon soon!), and some links to guest posts and whatnot.