Water Introductions ~ B&W Sunday

It's not a fantastic photo this week--my camera's batteries were dying and that always makes it sluggish. But LOOK,Skipper is VOLUNTARILY in the water! This was his first introduction to anything bigger than a little puddle on the lawn. He wasn't as enthralled by the water as his big sister is, but he followed her in when he saw how much fun she was having. When we get a little closer to Spring I'll be taking Skipper down to the river for the first time and we'll see how he does with "big water".

 

 

Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy day, but the dogs have had a blast. Skipper had a wonderful first Christmas, got lots of gifts and wasn't fazed at all by the six family members + one dog staying over for several days (and this included two children under six). Photos of the dogs' Christmas will be up soon!

Christmas Eve Presents ~ Wordless Wednesday!

Staring on Sepia Saturday

Skipper is a very watchful dog--he loves to interact, but he's always going to assess the situation first. Compared to the two girls, who both pretty much leap headfirst into whatever fray meets their eye, Skipper is incredibly observant. It's a welcome difference, for sure, and gives me the opportunity to capture some cute photos!

Monday Mischief ~ Sassin'

"Okay, Skipper, pose reeeeaally nicely for this photo. You'll get at treat. You want to pose for at treat right?"

"NO!"

"No? What do you mean no, are you sassin' me?!"

"..................................................................."

Bench Pose for Black & White Sunday

I'm still working on teaching Skipper to pose for photos. He really struggles with his stays and truly seems to vibrate anytime he has to stand still. He is, of course, continually improving! Until he's perfect though, I tie him anytime I need him to stay in place in an unfenced area--always safety first.


 

Sisters on Sepia Saturday

No Skipper today, instead I'm sharing two of my favorite photos of the girls. They love their little brother, but they still need their own time in the limelight!

Quenya is my doggy angel, and I feel like this photo shows that perfectly. She's one of the most loving, eager hearts I've ever met--but she's a goofball too, don't let her expression fool you!

Smilesmilesmilesmile. All the time, with Victoria. Unless she is creeped out by something, then it's barksnarldiegrowlyap viciously! Not the brightest bulb, but definitely the cheeriest!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Dog Park Antics

Brace Yourselves...

Skipper is coming!

Homemade Venison Treats for Tasty Tuesday!

We're in Florida here, and we have a lot of deer--I mean, a lot. If you threw pixie dust on all the White Tailed deer in Florida they could probably take the whole of the United States to Santa, no need for his reindeer to do the duty ;).

Anyway, while I personally love deer as a species and am a vegetarian I'm not against refusing venison freely offered as it makes great treats for the dogs! So far I don't feed raw (Quenya can't have it at all, ever, and I like to feed the dogs the same thing so they get a high-quality kibble and cooked meat). My family was recently given a decent amount of venison and as per usual gave me all the cuttings/trimmings/extra bits to turn into dog treats!

First, the venison was boiled

 

Then it was ground in my blender to get a mushy, smooth texture

After this I mixed approximately 2 cups venison with 1 cup ground oats, 1 large egg and water to texture, spread it out on a baking pan and baked it at 350 F for 30 minutes

After half an hour at 350 F I broke the pieces up and baked for 1 1/2 hours at 275 F.

I then broke up the pieces into various sizes according to my preferences and testing the recipe on the dogs! Victoria didn't care for them, but that's nothing new. Quenya loved them (she loves pretty much everything) and WOW did Skipper go bananas for these!!

"Pawsup! Is a cue for him to put his paws on whatever I indicate. In this case it was my knee. You can see how focused he is on the off-screen treat.

When it was Quenya's turn for the treat Skipper still tried (unsuccessfully) to steal her treats as well!

B&W Sweet Sunday

It wasn't all snarls and goofy play sessions while my Aunt's dogs were over--there were some sweet moments too!

Holiday Conditioning ~ Sepia Saturday

It's Skipper's first Christmas this year and I'm taking care to introduce him to the holidays properly. Music everywhere, jingling bells, Christmas lights and blow up figures...it can all be overwhelming! Skipper seems to be embracing the season with gusto, and right now our biggest problem is learning that the Christmas tree/treestand is not a 24/7 all-you-can-eat Drink & Chewstick bar. We're getting there, finally. We went to a small community area in our city the other night, there's a Starbucks there I go to almost every day before work that makes my coffee the absolute best. They don't mind my bringing Skipper inside in his carrier as long as I get my coffee to-go, so I grabbed my coffee and then walked around with Skipper to look at the lights everyone had put up. Our journey culminated in getting on the stage designed for various performances and sitting there to look at the giant Christmas tree.

 

Overall it's shaping up to be a pretty good first Christmas for Skipper this year.



 

WW ~ Terrier Terminators

Sleepy Sunday ~ B&W Sunday

Whew, was everyone's Thanksgiving holiday as exhausting as ours? Family from out of state came down and brought two Boston Terriers (11 Months and 12 weeks) and two little boys (5 and 3). Boo and Bee, the Bostons exhausted Skipper (Terrier-cousin reunion!) and the boys exhausted me! We both loved it though and I got some awesome stuff for the dogs on Black Friday (and some stuff for me, of course). Now, though, it's time to catch up on the rest and relaxation that we missed before Monday hits us!

B&W Sunday: A New Main Model

Happyhappy girl!

 While Skipper seems like the focus of my dog-life, considering this blog is named after him and features him as it's primary inspiration, my day-to-day life is actually very much focused on our other two canine house-mates as well. Our almost-senior Pug, Victoria is today's Top Model. Victoria will be six in January and came to me as an rehome rescue. She's never lived an underprivileged life, but her previous owner requested that Victoria be life in my care as she was no longer a good fit for their lifestyle. She has BYB origins and is smaller than most Pugs at between 12-14lbs (it varies on how well I'm watching her diet, haha). She has some health issues that aren't big now but have made her into a Senior dog before her time and will almost definitely shorten her lifespan. It breaks my heart because if any Pug deserved the best chance at life it's Victoria--happy all the time, loving everyone and ready for any adventure you throw her way. But she was badly bred and it has affected her lifestyle. I'm taking this post today to make the statement: Backyard breeding without health testing, a complimentary pairing by a stud/bitch proven to be good at whatever they should (by breed) excel at, and extensive experience and knowledge by the breeder should be a crime. If Victoria's parents had been health tested they probably wouldn't have been paired up and while that means Victoria would have never happened (and in full disclosure something in me does scream that a world without Victoria would be horrible and empty) it would have been the right thing. I'll save the horrors of puppy mills for another post, but be aware: Petstore puppies are just as bad, if not worse, than puppies bred by Backyard Breeders.

Depressing rant over with, here are a couple more photos to lighten the mood!

The obligatory Skipper photo

And dear Quenya mustn't be neglected!

Autumn Morning ~ Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday--Hot Meal on a Cold Day

For participating in a Facebook survey, I got three samples from The Honest Kitchen! While far too expensive to feed my trio on a regular basis, everyone enjoyed them enough that I think I'll buy some more sample packets for this winter as they make a great meal add-on for a chilly day/night. It's getting down to 24 degrees F here tonight which is bleeping FREEZING. This is FLORIDA. Winter hasn't started yet--Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet! Sigh. Anyway I figured tonight was a great night to give the pups some warm refreshment and fill their bellies with yummy things to fight off the chill that lingered even after I turned the heat on.

Samples!

Hot Water + Packet

All made up! (This was Skipper's, he doesn't like loose consistencies so I made it a little thicker than the directions)

Waaaaaaaitiiingggg

The crew was seriously into it. I fed Skipper and Quenya together in the kitchen. Skipper was slightly confused as to how to eat it at first (whilst Quenya's was pretty much gone before Skipper even took the first lick on his) but he got it pretty quickly.

Nomnomnom!

Sluuurp

I am obsessed with his eyes. So pretty.

Almost done, taking a breath.

Victoria ate hers in her crate, as she has a history of resource guarding high-value objects from the other dogs. I knew this delicious-smelling, new, super yummy food would fall into that category, so she got sentenced to dinner isolation. You can tell she was just miserable.