Follow up Friday and Day 6 of the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers Event

Once again we're joining Heart Like a Dog's Follow up Friday blog hop. Thank you Jodi, for inviting us all to join the hop that "lets you wrap up the week and leads you right into the weekend."

We only have one update here tonight but it's a pretty big deal: Our auction has ended and we have a winner!

In case you aren't following us on Facebook, we announced Monday night that our auction for the black diamond paw print pendant ended successfully and we have a winner. The necklace is on its way to a new owner who we hope will enjoy it and wear it with pleasure.

The auction raised $102.50 USD and we promised to double match the amount. So Save a Sato will be receiving a donation of $307.50. in the next couple of days. Just in time for Christmas.

We hope it helps and thank everyone for Tweeting and sharing and pinning and bidding. Please know you did an amazing thing for the dogs in Puerto Rico who are in so much need of care and a kind hand.

Thank you. You have made my holiday.

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It's time for the Advent Calendar for Dog Lovers hosted by Kol's Notes, Heart Like a Dog, My Brown Newfies, My GBGV Life & Bringing Up Bella! 24 giveaways in 24 days, plus a grand prize worth more than $500 - who wants to win? Today's giveaway is sponsored by K9 Bytes. You could win a hand crafted whimsical leash & collar set. Click here to check out the Advent Calendar and enter today's giveaway!

Follow-up Friday w/a Reminder about the Diamond Paw Print Pendant auction

I've got a few weeks of posts to follow up on here so let's get right to it, shall we?

Honey, I broke the dog

I really wanted to thank everyone for their input on this. At best I was thinking maybe I'd learn I wasn't the only one this ever happened to. Hearing so many folks talk about similar experiences, possible solutions and even just brainstorming ideas was more than I could have hoped for. There were so many good comments and suggestions that I had to start writing them down so I wouldn't forget to follow up on them.

KB from Romping and Rolling in the Rockies' note seemed to ring truest for us: "I wonder if, in Bella's excitement to see you, she gets hypersensitivity of certain nerves. I know that this type of "hypersensitivity" can happen. It's essentially the body's way of lowering the threshold of a nerve so it fires more easily." When 24 Paws of Love concurred with that assessment from personal experience, it became the opinion we decided to pursue first.

KB suggested we 'tone down' my welcome home which is also what our trainer recommended. It's a good idea but a little complicated to pull off. See, I greet Bella the same way every day. Bella, on the other hand, greets me with more or less enthusiasm depending on her mood. (And she is one moody puppy as we know...)

But I am working on moderating my greeting so that, regardless of Bella's mood, I don't play in to any over-excitement on her part. Cross your fingers.

Don't It Make My Black Dog Brown

Bella has almost finished shedding for this year and between that and adding a little salmon oil and some kelp into her meals, she's not quite as blonde as she was a few weeks ago. She's still nowhere near as dark black as she used to be but at least Carolyn has stopped calling her "Blondie". Crystal from So Fly: My Life with Flyball Dogs made me feel a lot better after recounting the story of a dog she grew up with doing this as well.

Still we'll have Bella's thyroid checked next time she's in the vet's office just to keep an eye on things. Otherwise, it might just be time to realize our little girl is growing up and maturing. Le sigh.

Beautiful Black Diamond Necklace - Auction Starts Now!

Well, the auction is off and running. Thank you to everyone who has jumped in sharing the post or bidding on the pendant. It's only at $79.00 now which is a really good deal for a diamond necklace. The auction runs until Monday at 9:38 PM EST so there's still plenty of time to get in on the action. You can bid on it here!

And remember, 100% of the proceeds (plus a double match!) will be donated to Save a Sato so it's a total win-win. Pretty black pendant for you. Pretty green papers for them.

And finally, I learned in the comments of our Wordless Wednesday post, that Deanna and Day-Z from Deanna Time are in a contest to win a "Dream Dog Park". She made a great video for her entry and you can vote for them by clicking here. If you have a moment, go check out the video - it's definitely worth the 2 minutes of your time.

Follow up Friday 8

Today we're joining Heart Like a Dog's Follow up Friday blog hop. Thank you Jodi, for inviting us all to join the hop that "let you wrap up the week and leads you right into the weekend."

I wanted to follow up on our Through the rabbit hole post because Bella's reaction to the rabbits has rather surprised me. Nothing quite asdramatic as Beau's reaction, mind you, but our expectations are more than a little different between the two dogs.

Bella has a pretty high prey drive and goes absolutely Cujo at even the long-distance sighting of a squirrel. So when I realized the rabbits were grazing on the INSIDE of her fenced in area, I got just a little nervous for their safety.

Imagine my surprise when one day I let Bella into the area and saw a bunny go high-tailing it across the yard with Bella in pursuit. Note that I did not say in "hot" pursuit. The bunny was moving full-speed. Bella, surprisingly, was not. She was chasing it but not with any real conviction.

After a few years, I think you get to know your dog. Especially when, as in our case, you've had to pay special attention to her subtle signals. When Bella sees a squirrel, she gets all up in full-on attack mode: hackles raised, ears forward, body tense.

While I watched her 'go after' this rabbit, she was showing a much more relaxed posture - more like play than fight/hunt. And she was nowhere near moving at full speed.

I wonder, what does Bella sense about squirrels that makes her go haywire that she didn't sense in the bunny? I don't have a clue and would love to hear your thoughts about it.

I do think it's telling that the rabbits seem to feel safer inside the enclosure than outside. Maybe it's because they usually know when Bella's coming due to opening doors and a crazy hu-mom that calls out a warning to them.

In other news, our thoughts are still with Marquie and her family, as well as all our other friends who have lost their beloved companions in the 2 years we have been blogging: KB and her beautiful K, The Houston Pittie Pack, Jana's Jasmine, Mrs. Taleteller's beautiful Blueberry, Mister Mango, regal Remington, the charming Au, sweet, baby Charlotte, the lovely Cali, gorgeous Gizmo and ever adorable Howie. Sadly, I am sure I have missed too many more. I would also like to offer a special verbal hug to our own friends Sheila and Matt who lost their beautiful Kismet in a tragic and horrible situation this summer. You are always in our thoughts.

Finally, thanks for all the kind words about our blogiversary. It has been a unique pleasure getting to know all of you and your animals. Your friendship, kindness, encouragement and wisdom has taught me so much. Here's to another two years of sharing stories, celebrating successes and comforting sorrows. Cheers!

Follow-up Fri... er, Saturday

Hey guys, a quick Follow-up Friday here on a Saturday night. As you can see, I've done little to improve my time management skills and am still playing a bit of catch up.

I do hope to be back in action again this week getting back to Bella's crazy story, her training and her growth. In the meantime, following up on the last week....

Meet the new nephew

Isn't Frodo cute? If you were paying attention this week, you might have picked up on the fact that he's not the first Frodo in the family but more on that in a moment. I was very excited to meet Frodo having talked to my sister through their whole adoption experience. Frodo sounded just like the dog for them and, while every new dog needs some adjustment time and Frodo is no exception, he's also a very happy, friendly dog who defers to the cats in the family and seems to just love everyone.

I enjoyed playing with him and he apparently liked me a little bit, too. I got slathered with kisses, he sat in my lap and later in the day began with ear slobbers and nose nibbles. He was playing with me. And I was hooked.

To answer one question that came up, no Bella and Frodo have not met yet. But now that I've met Frodo, I anticipate a successful meeting someday in the future. (If he defers to the cats, there's a good bet he will also defer to Bella.)

However that meeting will be delayed for a while yet due to Bella's current state of health. More on that in a moment.

Wordless Wednesday 83 - A Beau and his cat.

Aren't they cute? Beau and Frodo were a real interesting pair. They played rough together, slept together, and when I took Beau for walks, Frodo traveled right along with us just a few meters behind. I miss them both.

And as you have no doubt by now surmised, little kitty Frodo is Frodo the First. Handsome nephew dog, Frodo has been duly dubbed (at least on the blog), Frodo the Other. ;)

Follow-up Friday 5

Is it Kosher to follow up on a Follow-up?

Well, I need to so here goes anyway... Bella had her appointment with the neurologist at Angell Animal Medical Center and we have a diagnosis and a treatment plan. She has what is the equivalent of a torn rotator cuff. We are weighing our options under the advice of doctors, trainers and friends. We will keep you posted.

Additionally, we have recently learned that Bella likely has Colitis.

Poor little pumpkin just can't catch a break.

Her tummy has been doing well on the prescription diet but all treats are off for now. We will be adding them back in gradually to see at what point she starts having tummy troubles again but this also means that her Reactive Agility class is cancelled for the time being. (Of course, that's cancelled for the time being while we schedule her treatments anyway.)

Poor little pumpkin.

On the bright side, she obviously feels rather sorry for herself and is looking for comfort in the form of hugs and snuggles. We are happy to oblige.

So that's all the news that fit to print right now. Monday I hope to pick up the story of Bella's agility and training adventures again. In the meantime, thanks for all the positive thoughts and good wishes. If you're interested in keeping up with Bella in real time, I give more frequent updates on her Facebook page if you want to follow her there.

Thanks a bunch for dropping by. And thank you, Jodi from Heart Like a Dog and this week's co-host, Two Brown Dawgs for letting us join in the Follow-up Friday blog hop.

Follow up Friday 5

Oh my dog, what happened to February? (For that matter, what the heck happened to March!!!) I went looking for what number Follow up Friday this would be and realized I seem to have misplaced an entire month. :(

Anyway, on to some follow up and then I want to take a moment to talk about some blog-keeping notes.

First, the follow-up:

• "Black & White Sunday: Let me in..." had a lot of people wondering why Bella, apparently already inside, wanted to be let in and in where? This picture was taken Christmas morning and Bella wanted to be let in to the room with her presents. (Which is actually the basement.) Sorry about that.


• Going back just a little further to a week ago Wednesday's post "A little nervous", this was actually a fairly recent picture taken just in January of this year in her agility class. As far as Bella has come, she still gets nervous sometimes but is learning more and more to look to us for assurance.


• And now a word about Wordless Wednesday 82 Thanks for all the kind words about my beautiful boy, Beau. He was handsome and he knew it. Of course, everyone who met him told him that so, you know...
  
  I will undoubtedly wish Beau a happy birthday every year. I spent a third of my life with him and his presence left an indelible mark on me. But don't worry or feel bad, I no longer dread the day. Although I won't commemorate the day of his passing, his birthday has become a day of appreciation. Beau was A Good Dog.

So, you might notice that this follow-up is a bit thin. That's because I haven't been posting as much as I would like. Which leads me to some blog-keeping issues:

First, allow me to apologize for not keeping up with everyone. I miss you all and look forward to maybe having some time this weekend to do catch up.

Second, allow me to apologize even more profusely for doing such a crappy job at recognizing the kind folks who've presented us with awards over the last several months. I swear I had a post written to get me back in to the groove and my PC shut down on me crushing all my pride and enthusiasm that I was finally getting "a round tuit".

Finally, allow me to apologize for letting Bella's agility story wane a bit. I know the next chapter, I just need time to write it.

Now, please, allow me to offer this series of lame excuses for all of the above:

1. My job is simply out of control. I can't say much more than that but I'll be lucky to have time to breathe over the next 3 months. If I live through the experience, one would hope it will make my life easier going forward.


2. Jan, being retired, has decided this is the perfect time to begin work on finishing the ceiling in our master bedroom. Fair enough, I've been whining mildly about the lack of such for some time. However, it demands some of my time and attention at times or, at the very least, creates an interesting ambiance what with the scaffolding and air compressor hanging about.


3. At the same time, our master bath shower decided to crumble and we've spent the last several weeks at glass and fixture stores, talking to plumbers, and fighting over designing the tile layout for a new one.
   
   And let's just say I find myself regularly considering a change in profession as my mind boggles over the estimates people keep delivering to us with a straight face. Really, if you've never been through it, it an incredibly eye-opening experience.


4. Finally, there's the reason you all are here: our beautiful Bella.
   
   Bella is still doing well in her agility class and her behavior modification program continues as well. However, since September 2012, she has been limping and doctor after doctor hasn't been able to figure out what's wrong or offer her much relief.
   
   She has been going to rehab (details on that forthcoming) and been through a number of vet exams, x-rays and ultra-sounds. It is frustrating and heart-breaking that we haven't been able to ease her pain and on top of it, she can't run and play because we don't know the impact doing such would have on whatever is wrong with her.
   
   She is still our little darling and has been a plucky little soldier through the whole thing but it's discouraging and sapping my energy in ways I never imagined.
   
   Over the last few weeks, she's started having tummy issues (diarrhea, a bit of lethargy, and even a morning barf-fest) and we were back at the vet again today. We're trying a special, limited diet and pro-biotics for now but will probably have to cancel her rehab and agility class if she can't have her special "go-to" treats that help her get through those scary events.
   
   I don't mean to whine. I know this is what life is. But with Bella, just going to the vet is a traumatic adventure and requires careful planning and preparation.
   
   It's also unspeakably heart-breaking to know that, despite all we've done to allay her imaginary fears, when push comes to shove, we can't protect her from real danger.
   
   On the bright side, she has an appointment with a neurologist at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston on Tuesday. The doctor we are seeing has been presented as something of a miracle worker by absolutely everyone we have spoken to so our hopes are high for some sort of resolution or at least a path to progress. We will keep you posted.
   

In the meantime, I ask for your patience and forgiveness. Bella is the reason I started the blog and right now she takes priority over it. But I do miss you all.

Follow up Friday 4 - Confession time

We are participating in Heart Like a Dog's "Follow-up Friday" Blog Hop. "The blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend."

Thanks Jodi for letting us join you in this fabulous idea.



Just Beau

The over-riding question from this post seemed to be about blogging from my iPad. Huh. I didn't know that was such an unknown. 

I can't speak for any platform other than Blogger but yes, Blogger bloggers can download the free Blogger app from iTunes and blog directly from your iPad. (Yes, there's a version for Android, which makes sense since Android and Blogger are Google products.)

I can't tell you too much about it yet but you can take pictures or 'upload' from your photo stream. I'm just really tragic at formatting photos on my iPad. The other frustration I found was that you can't do a whole lot of formatting of your post in the app but maybe I just haven't figured that part out yet.

A nice feature is that you can begin creating a post even if you're not on a network (my iPad is not 3G) and save it for later. When you get back on the network, it syncs to your web version Blogger account so you could adjust your formatting there or you could just publish the post as is from the app. So far, I think it's "okay" and it sure worked for me in a pinch.

30/30 Challenge.

I really hate to fail. I'm mean really hate to fail. But alas, I must confess, January kicked my butt and we failed to meet the 30/30 Challenge set forth by You Did What With Your Weiner. We started out strong but I got hit with the flu in the second week which totally wrecked me for about a week.

I did try to stage a come-back getting on the treadmill for a much-needed run once I was on my feet again but I haven't been able to keep up the momentum and then the record cold temperatures arrived and our heating system died.

So it's time to admit defeat, thank YDWWYW for the challenge and hope everyone else fared better than we.

And then there's Bella. Probably what's sapped my energy more than anything else is Bella's injury. She is still on exercise restriction and she limps almost constantly now. She's even begun holding her left foot up so as not to bear any weight on it at all. This isn't getting better, it's getting worse. And it's heartbreaking to watch.

To update you on her situation, we have started seeing a veterinary rehabilitor. We're going to put her on Rimadyl (carprofen) for a month or two to see if its anti-inflammatory properties can help fix her up.

And then, while the Rimadyl is doing its thing, Bella will be getting some very limited, monitored exercise on the "underwater treadmill". Since the water in the tank provides buoyancy, it should reduce the pressure from weight on her leg. The hope is that she can begin to work out the pain and stiffness and strengthen the shoulder muscles in a controlled and supported manner.

Of course, because this is Bella we're talking about, first we have to get her to accept the tank and stop trying to climb out of it and into Daddy's arms. She did extremely well with her first try and we think (hope) she'll look forward to going to rehab in no time. (Given her most recent visits to the vet, she was quite a wreck walking into the clinic the first day. And she pretty much ran back to the car when it was over. We'll work on that.)

We'll also work on getting pictures/video.

This is my dog on rehab.

Wordless Wednesday - Passengers

A few updates about some of my more recent passengers that I learned via the receiving shelter who took Russell, Juniper, Garland and Poinsetta: Pet Tails Rescue. They have a Facebook page where you can see the little cutie pies all cleaned up and with their brand new moms and dads. Russell, Juniper and Garland have all been adopted and I think only momma Poinsetta is still waiting for her very own forever home.

Russell even has his own Facebook page. I wish all my little travelers did.

Agility for Reactive Dogs

I guess I didn't realize just how lucky we really are to have such an innovative training center near us as this story sparked a lot of interest. There were a bunch of questions asked in the comments and I promise, I'll do my very best to cover them all. Thanks very much for the support.

And thanks again to Jodi from Heart Like a Dog and this week, Gizmo and Beth from Terrier Torrent, for co-hosting the blog hop!

Wishing you all a lovely, warm weekend.

Follow up Friday 3

I am very excited and honored to be co-hosting Heart Like a Dog's "Follow-up Friday" blog hop this week. It's cool enough that Jodi allows us to steal, uh, share her idea in the first place but then she asks us to join her in co-hosting it as well. Thanks Jodi!

Brain Games...

The video of Bella playing her Nina Ottosson puzzle got quite a few comments and, as I expected, some questions about her injury. I wasn't being deliberately cryptic, we just don't have a whole lot of information to share about it yet.

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Jana Rade of Dawg Business did ask what we have tried so far to have the injury diagnosed. So far we've had 3 doctor examinations, x-rays, 4 weeks on Rimadyl and 1 ultra-sound. Bella is still limping and we still don't have a solid diagnosis of what's wrong. Or a plan on how to fix it.

The orthopedic surgeon at Tufts Small Animal Hospital called it "biceps tendonitis, supraspinatous tendonitis". And if it is what he thinks, he wasn't especially hopeful about being able to fix it.

We have a call in to a local rehabilitator to see if we can do anything to ease the ache without medication. (The Rimadyl worked but Bella's barely 5 years old and we don't want to have her on even more meds if we don't have to. Plus, Rimadyl has it's share of concerns.)

So that's where we're at right now. I'll provide updates as we get them.

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The Punks over from 2 Punk Dogs were impressed with Bella's food motivation and thought they might be too scared to play with such a puzzle. That reminded me we had talked about super-high-value treats when we met at Woofstock this past Fall, and I was supposed to get them the name of the food we use.

See, Bella is food motivated but when it comes to fear and getting her attention off of scary things, the food has to be on the Filet Mignon side of the spectrum. One of the things we found to be very useful is "Vital Essentiatls Freeze-Dried Nibblets". We use them for a lot of the training we do. They're expensive so I like to cut them up into quarters so they last a LOT longer. I'll write a post about the various treats we use someday soon.

If it's any consolation, Punks, Bella was afraid of her clicker when we first started using it so we know how hard it can be to overcome those fears. Good treats, patience and a slow approach can go a long way to helping with that.

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And finally, Jodi, our blog-hop host herself from Heart Like a Dog, asked if we fill every compartment in the toy. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. For this go-round, we're not using the toy for nose-work so much as something for her to do. I mix up how many I fill just to keep it interesting for her.

But, since I'm pretty sure the idea of the game is to get the dog to find the compartment that has the food in it, we play that way on other occasions.

The 30/30 Challenge

You may recall we're also participating in You Did What With Your Weiner's 30/30 Challenge this January. It's a Challenge to get you and your dog a little bit of exercise even in these cold winters months. In fact, 30 minutes of it for 30 days. Hence the 30/30 Challenge.

Things were going so well for days 5 - 7 of the Challenge. I got on the treadmill over the weekend and even started running again. Day 7 (Monday) brought milder temperatures outside and I got out to do the two-mile walk around my office park. Day 8 brought shin-splints but hey, that was not going to stop me! I still got out to do the office park walk.

And then Day 9 brought, well, day 9 brought the beginnings of a cold or the flu or whatever it is that's brought down every person in my department at work one body at a time. Days 9 and 10 were a bust for the Challenge and Day 11 is looking even worse. :(

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Bella on the other hand is doing very well for her part of the Challenge. She's still getting her walks, although we're not risking increasing them until we can meet with the physical therapist. We're still playing her games (she has more than one of those Nina Ottosson puzzles so I try to change them up) and even "Daddy" is helping her play the games.

Hopefully, next week will see me back on my feet and we'll be back in the game.

So that's it for today's Follow-up Friday. Thanks again to Jodi for the opportunity to participate as well as co-host. Hope you all have a great weekend!




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Follow up Friday 2

We are participating in Heart Like a Dog's "Follow-up Friday" Blog Hop. "The blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend."

Thanks again to Jodi for this fabulous idea.



The 30/30 Challenge

This first entry doesn't count as a real follow up because we haven't posted about it. But since we'll be 'following up' weekly on our progress and we have to start somewhere, this seemed an appropriate place.

We are terrified proud to announce we have committed to joining You Did What With Your Weiner's 30/30 Challenge to walk for thirty minutes/day for thirty days. With a slight modification.

The Challenge is supposed to be for both dog and owner but my dog is in the middle of a strict rehab/assessment protocol and only up to 15 minute walks at this point. (Long story - stay tuned.) Her 'mother', on the other hand, had a few too many Christmas cookies and really needed some motivation to get her act together and back on the treadmill.

Well, I haven't gotten on the treadmill but I have gotten outside in the cold, cold, cold and walked my 30 minutes/day. It has not always been in one shot but I plan to change that now that I'm back in the routine of work and a regular schedule.

For Bella's part, we have added brain games to her daily routine and we have done so every day since the Challenge began. She's getting her walks around the yard and is back in her "Agility for Reactive Dogs" class so she's on track and looking good.

Happy New Year from the Crazy Dog

Our buddy, Roo, dropped by from Roo's Doins and asked if Bella was wearing a puppy snuggie in that picture. Pretty close, Roo, pretty close. We call it her bathrobe but it's really a towel. More specifically, it's the FURmitator's FUR Dry which you can read a review of here: Dog Tipper FUR Dry Review.

Bonus: Bella doesn't care much (read: is mortified by) her Thundershirt, but this FUR Dry bathrobe seems to have the same calming effects on her that the T-shirt does for other dogs while drying her and keeping her warm at the same time. Go figure.

Onward and upward

Another of our friends, Sage, of The (mis)Adventures of Sage fame asked what Bella was looking at in the picture. I'm afraid to say, nothing. Well, nothing that her mom's eyes could see anyway. Bella was quite taken by a scent on the air however her mom couldn't smell that either. ;)

And Roo noticed that Bella was wearing her EzyDog Chest Plate Harness in the picture. Good eyes, Roo.

To answer your mom's question "Does it help with pulling?" Somewhat. It definitely makes me feel I have better control over Bella when she does pull and I don't worry about her hurting herself because the chest plate takes the brunt of the force and spreads it across her chest, rather than focusing on her shoulders/throat like some harnesses do.

As to your question, "Is it comfortable?", I'll have to ask Bella to answer that one.

"Roof woof, roof, aroo, mumble."

I think that's: "Yes".

It looks comfortable and the chest plate is nicely padded and soft.

It took a little while for Bella to figure out she needs to put her foot through one of the holes and I resisted using the harness for a long time just for that reason. I'm glad I finally took the plunge though as Bella seems to like it and I feel a lot safer with it on her.

We'd also like to let Snoopy from Snoopy's Dogblog know that he is welcome to hoard all the snow for the rest of 2013. We've had enough already and it hasn't even started. ;)

So I think that completes this week's follow up. If you do have questions on any of our posts, don't hesitate to ask and I'll try my best to answer them on Fridays.

Thanks for dropping by and we hope you enjoy your weekend!

PeeS - Jodi, if you happen to see this, you asked previously if we'd be interested in co-hosting the hop someday. While I have no idea what's involved in that effort, the answer is still definitely "Yes!" Let us know here or drop us an email. We really enjoy this idea and thank you for inviting us all to share in it.

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Follow up Friday

As we take our first foray into Heart Like a Dog's "Follow-up Friday" Blog Hop, we want to thank Miss Jodi for inviting us to join in the fun.

The idea is that sometimes you just want to 'follow-up' on something you posted earlier in the week or maybe forgot to mention or think needs clarification based on some of the comments you've received. I think I'm working with all of that here today.

'Tis the season - Author's note

I feel terrible that I forgot to include Haopee from My Dogs Love Me for their gracious gift to us this season. See, they won a contest over at Dogs N Paws but because the prize could only be shipped to the US, they gave us their prize instead! I offered to have it mailed to them in the Philippines but they wouldn't hear of it.

So Bella has a nice new reflective collar. It arrived yesterday and I haven't gotten a picture of it yet but it looks great. And I promise, Haopee, I'll send a picture right over as soon as I get it. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. And thank you Dogs N Paws for running the contest! What a fabulous bunch this community is.

'Tis the season - Update

More cards! Bella is just embarrassing us with her plethora of Christmas card goodness. Her total (including online greetings): 34!

The humans in the household DOUBLED our stash and now are at a whopping total of (wait for it...): 2

Hrumph.

Review Tuesday: Printcopia Printcopia - Update

While the post was written last week, our first giveaway contest ended this week and we have a winner: Congratulations to Hilary from Feng Shui Canines! We hope you enjoy your new 8x10 Canvas Print. And thanks to everyone who participated.

Christmas photo-shoot outtakes #1 - Author's note

Thanks for all the kind words about the pictures. Bella was such a trooper for our first real prop-filled photo-shoot. It's her mom who has so much to learn. But at least I finally figured out how to get the lighting in this room of the house to work.

Czizo from Life with Beagle noted that her Lulu would have no interest in participating. So allow me let you in on my very secret secret: Treats. Lots and lots of high-value treats.

Thanks everyone for dropping by. Hope you're having a lovely Friday and have lots of wonderful fun planned for the weekend!