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:

Give Cancer the Paw: A Tribute Post

This post is a brief tribute to these two beautiful girls that we lost to cancer.

A Quiet Blog for a Bit

I've missed you guys! Hope you've missed us, too. Know I haven't blogged much recently, and other than this post I probably won't have a chance to blog again until our May 6 Give Cancer the Paw hop. 

BTW, hope you'll join that! 

Oh, I Could Write a Blog Post About Your Easter Bonnet #TBT

Don't you love old family photos? I mentioned last month that my bro had uploaded a bunch of old pics and I thought I'd share some in honor of "Throwback Thursday" (TBT) and the upcoming Easter holiday. 

With a nod to Irving Berlin and his Easter Parade, here's a sonnet blog post about some Easter bonnets.

First, we have my mom in this fine floral number. If you've got an empty basket, some faux flowers, and a hot glue gun, you too can dazzle with this look!

Wordless Wednesday: Garage-Sale Dogs

Okay, no this isn't a post about dogs for sale at garage sales. (That would probably be a subject for a Blog the Change for Animals post...) This is about all the dogs my sisters and I met when we went to the annual garage sale event in my sister's 'hood this weekend. So many sweeties! 

Our first stop was to say hi to Marley. Isn't he a cutie? (I was there the day his momma found him - he was a stray. Hooray for Marley hitting the Doggy Lotto!)

#BtC4A: How To Get Your Puppy-Fix Without the Chewed Shoes

Puppies are pretty much the cutest things ever, right? (If you thought, "No, I'm pretty sure it's babies that are the cutest things ever" you are probably reading the wrong blog...) Sometimes you see a friend post a picture of their adorable new pup on Facebook or they email you a picture, and you think, "Oh, I'd love a puppy! They're so cute and cuddly!"

But then you come to your senses, because you know that puppies = chewed shoes, chewed furniture, chewed wires, inappropriate puddles on the carpet, middle-of-the-night trips out to the yard, etc. etc. etc. Let's face it - they make puppies that cute to take the sting out of what little pains in the butt they are.

But... today for Blog the Change for Animals, I wanted to let you know there's a way you can get a fix for your puppy addiction without the chewed shoes!

#SeeBeautiful: Ode to Spring - Dew Bee Dew Bee Dew

Today, it's the This Moment: See Beautiful hop, so for those of you emerging from this seemingly never-ending winter (aka "winternity"), here is a wee ode to spring, ala Sinatra... Dew-bee, dew-bee, dew!

DEW

#WOOF: 3 Things to Love About Reactive Dogs

It's time again for the monthly WOOF (Working Out Our Fears) Support blog hop, where reactive dogs and their owners come together to share similar experiences. This month's theme is "What I love about my reactive dog."

I easily came up with the three top things I love about my reactive girl, Rita.

1. A Reactive Dog is the Perfect Dog for an Introvert
Our first dog, a beagle, was not super interested in strangers when out on a walk (unless she could sniff them). She just wanted to sniff and do her own thing, so we rarely interacted with our neighbors. Which was perfect for introverted me.

Then we got Abby, who loved everything and everybody in the world and wanted to say HI! Not good for introverted me, forced to finally interact with all those neighbors.

Luckily, now I have Reactive Rita. 

Less-Wordy Wednesday: When I Get Home

We have a frosted panel in the door that leads from our garage into the house. So, usually when I get out of the car, this is what I see:

Monday Mischief: Rita Says #BooMonday!

Rita is not a fan of Mondays. She likes the lazy, sleep-in, late-morning-long-walk weekends!

Rita, Queen of All the Duvet

FitDog Friday: Creative Games From the Mind of a Beagle

Happy Anniversary to the FitDog Friday blog hop! There's lots going on for the celebrations, so check all that out at the end of this post.

I haven't joined in the FitDog hop for a while, partly because I've been trying to focus on getting book no. 3 done and partly because you can only write so much about walking the dog. We're boring, Rita and I. We mostly just walk and walk and walk. She's not much of a one for games. She'll play for a couple of minutes, but then she's done. 

It makes me fondly remember our beagle, Bailey, who was a great lover of games. 

Oh, she enjoyed the usual stuff too, like walking and hiking, ...

Less Wordy Wednesday: Crazy Dog Lady Art

{Before we get started... I made a lot of tweaks to my blog template this week. Let me know if anything looks stupid on your end!}

A few weeks ago, I worried that my inner child was actually a cat person, when a found photo of my childhood bedroom revealed a wall full of cats. 

I thought maybe I'd show you what my walls (and shelves) look like now, so you can see that I am in fact a card-carrying Crazy Dog Lady. In order to keep this from looking TOO crazy, I'm not including photos of my own past/present pups. This will all be "dog art".

So, ready for the doggone dog-art tour?

When you first walk in the door, you are greeted by my felted angels, Bailey and Abby. (Yes, the Abby only has 3 legs.)

Less-Wordy Wed.: Note to Self(ie), Games of Bitey-Face + Selfies Don't Mix

The other day during a Reg & Rita play date, the dogs were resting next to me on the porch, so I thought I'd try to get some selfies of the 3 of us. 

The break in the action was too brief though, and I ended up with this

Yikes!

And this:

Monday Mischief: A Message in the Mischief

On our walk this weekend, we noticed these two cars parked at a neighbor's house:

On closer inspection, they had a message for pup owners (or bad boyfriends?):

Less-Wordy Wed.: What the...? Am I... A Cat Person?

Not that there would be anything wrong with me being a Cat Person... It's just that I'm trying to make my way as the Dog-writer Lady. I'm practically a card-carrying Crazy Dog Lady.

But, you know how a lot of folks know who they are/what they wanna be from a young age? Not me. For a long time, I didn't know what I wanted to be "when I grew up." Like, I'm talking, even in my 30's... I always wished I was one of those kids who knew all along.

Then, the other day, my brother uploaded a bunch of old family pics on the web and shared them with me and my sisters. And amongst them, I found this pic of my room when I was a kid:

Click to big-ify

Notice anything funny? (Other than that the slide somehow was reversed, as obvious from "Smithsonian" backwards across the tiger poster.)

#WOOF: Frustrations and Successes with My Reactive Dog

Today I'm joining the WOOF Support blog hop. WOOF (Working Out Our Fears) Support is where reactive dogs and their owners come together to share similar experiences.

I've mentioned before that Rita has a lot of fears ("Have you seen this man?" - may need to re-run that post some day. It was funny, IMHO, and I think 4 people read it.) and, when on-leash, is reactive to dogs (and motorcycles, and crows, and sudden surprises, etc.). Back when we used to go to the off-leash park, she was fine with most dogs, but on-leash, it's a crap shoot.

If you also have a fearful/reactive dog, well, lucky you! And you may want to read all the posts in the hop, because we're sharing: "Successes, Frustrations and Everything in Between"

Wordless Wednesday: A Chew Review with Words Few

Hope you don't mind me being a weeeee bit wordy to do a quick review of a new bone we tried that Rita really likes - Benebone.

My sis, Reggie's mom, turned me on to these. Rita is very picky, but I ordered one (via Amazon) to give it a try. It was a hit! I like it because it's well-designed and the Y-shape gives her something to hang on to. Rita likes it because it tastes like BACON!

Monday Mischief: Found and Lost and Found

Found
Back in late 2012, I found this perfect tag for Rita, which I posted a pic of on the blog.

As you can see, it says "Insert Treat" with an arrow pointing at her mouth - very appropriate for her!

Lost
Well, this week, I noticed it was missing. I was bummed, but figured it broke and fell off on one of our walks, and I mentally added it to the always-growing To-Do list.

FitDog Friday: Five Ways To Rev Up Your Walk with Rover

Have you fallen into a slump with your dog walking? Did you resolve on January 1st to walk your dog more, but now it's just so boring you don't wanna?

Well, here are 5 tips to put some oomph back into your walks with your pup.

1. Bored with the scenery? Drive to a different 'hood!
I used to do this in our old neighborhood, which was kind of isolated so I'd get really bored walking the same loop over and over and over and over. Some days I'd drive to another neighborhood, even just a short ways away, and then we'd have someplace new to explore. New smells for the pup, new houses to check out for you.

2. Use the time wisely

Our sniffy angel on a hike

2A. Does your dog take unusually long to catch up on his/her pee-mails? We used to have a beagle, and believe me there is nothing like walking a scent hound to let you know that "walking" is a relative term. What I generally did with her was stand around a lot, while she sniffed like she was a recruit for the bomb squad. Luckily Rita is only half beagle, so she's much less stubborn when I tell her to heal and we can keep moving. Still, sometimes I let her sniff.

Wordless Wednesday: An Unwelcome Visitor

Do you like it when folks just pop by? Personally, I kinda hate it. After all, I'm a writer. So on most days if you stop by unannounced you'll find me in yoga pants (winter) or shorts (summer) with no makeup and my hair barely brushed. (At least I get out of my PJs, but that's only because Rita has to be walked every morning.) 

Also, the house is usually a mess. If it isn't a mess, that means I'm procrastinating* on my writing.

Anyway, it turns out Rita hates uninvited guests just as much as I do. Case in point, this little guy showed up at our back door the other day when we FINALLY got some rain.

The neighbor's cat

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!