Stroll in the Park

Victoria is always looking for mischief, but today she was content to ride in her stroller around one of our local parks! It was a rare time of just her and myself and we enjoyed it immensely! She loves to hang, suspended by her harness, with her front body as far out of the stroller as possible so she can smell everything we pass by. When she gets tired of this she'll sit in the stroller with her paws just resting on the top in a human-like position that gets the people we pass every time. Little ham.

I am SO EXCITED for tomorrow. Quenya gets to come to work with me!!!! How awesome is that?! And not only does she get to come to work with me the whole day, she'll be teaching my class about DOG SAFETY and BODY LANGUAGE! Sorry for the caps, but this is a seriously wonderful thing--to be able to help a group of five and six year olds understand how to behave safely around dogs. Can't wait to share the pics!

Bath Time!

Sepia Saturday ~ Toy Interaction Styles!

Puzzle and interactive toys are a wonderful way to keep my crew entertained. Our newest is a treat dispensing toy by JW. There are three levels and each level has holes with an adjustable size that enables kibble put in through the top to slowly filter down to the bottom and out holes there as the dogs spin and bump it. Quenya has never been too much of a puzzle toy solver--she isn't an independent dog, and it is much more natural for her to take the attitude of "I'll just wait until the other two get a really good spin going, and then I'll steal their kibble." Victoria works the first few minutes, then when it gets harder as the amount of kibble in the toy lowers, she quits. Skipper, my darling little terrier, will work until the very last crumb has been removed.

Thoughtless Thursday ~ Sometimes it's hard to be a Pug

Victoria is accident prone. She is an extremely ditsy sweetheart who absolutely doesn't think before she acts. She goes to sniff a bag I've just set on the couch, and this happens. She wasn't fazed at all and happily ran around the house with her canine siblings carrying her impromptu flag until I called her over for a photo.

There are just so many more ways to lose your dignity compared to the other dogs!

Family Portrait Saga

The good, if poorly lit and a bit fuzzy.

The just plain awkward.

Louisiana Alligator Natural Dog Treats

Today the dogs tried a bag of treats I picked up at a visit to a boutique-y/outlet-y type store earlier this month. The primary protein? Alligator! Living in Florida I worry about gators eating my pets, so it was interesting to try it the other way around.

Just like with all my training treats, these are corn, wheat and soy free, using instead barley and potatoes (white and sweet). Neither of these irritate my dogs allergies so everyone got to try them! They are USA sourced and made and break up easily for training, although they are a smidgen crumbly.

Skipper was so excited to try them he wouldn't even model. He insisted on trying to break into the package each time I snapped a photo!

These treats made my dogs CRAZY. All three of them equally so, which is unusual. They are very smelly as a warning and the smell lingers. I'm willing to put up with it because my dogs love it so much, but someone highly sensitive to smells would have a tough time handling these treats. I plan to use them sparingly and make the most of the value my dogs place on them.

I know you're eating something reeeeeally good mom!