I ddn’t much feel like walking the dogs tonight, Im a little sore from our extra long power walks last night.  So I loaded up Brutus and Rufus in the rental and we headed off to Tim Horton’s for some timbits.  We went through the drive-thru and I had the window in the back of the SUV rolled down.  Both the boys had their heads sticking out of the window facing the drive-thru window.  I think the teenage boy running the counter about shat himself when he went to hand out the box of timbits and my drink.  Its not everyday you see two monster dogs in the drive-thru at 11o’clock at night.

They love timbits.  Always have and I suspect they always will.

ETA -  I guess I should have put links to Tim Hortons and Timbits on here.  I forgot its kind of a regional thing.

Sunday is the end of my weekend. Thank goodness it’s Sunday.  I can only hope this week will be better than the last.  I haven’t had time to blog or read blogs (which I appologize for), neglected the dogs and have had one horrible thing happen after another.

Friday was supposed to be great! I had been looking forward to Bark Park’s special friday night pawty, with live band, the entire week.  It was not to be.  Around 230pm my husband calls to tell me he has broken down in another state on his way back to town from a business trip and needs me to head out after him.  So I start calculating how long it will take to get him and get back to town (5½ hours round trip) and if I hurried I could make it back for an hour at Bark Park with the dogs.  I head out and get about 40 minutes out of town and am chatting away on my cell phone when my car looses power and I also break down on the freeway as well.  My engine is shot.  I absolutely can’t believe it.  Call roadside assistance – what a nightmare! And then we call my BIL to pick us up.  We didn’t get back home around midnight.  No Bark Park for the dogs.

Next up I have to figure out how to get Jack and Greta from the kennels first thing in the morning for Courtney.  We get a rental car and head out to pick them up.  Jack has had the runs at the Kennel and an accident on his bed.  They stink worse than farm animals and have poop on their legs and faces/ears.  Gross!  The bed was so disgusting, even after being washed that I just left it behind for the dumpster.  Poor Jack!  At least they were picked up and settled at home waiting for their mom, disgusting, but home.  We had friends from school in town which I didnt get notice they were coming until late Thursday night and if I wasn’t on the way to meet them, I would have bathed the two.  I would absolutely hate to have to come home to that.

Now I have to figure out what we are going to do about the car situation and recover from a stressful and busy weekend.  Everyone had extra long walks tonight to burn off some of the negative energy we all have.  I know I feel better and they all seem exhausted now.

Hubby has more business out of town tomorrow and I am stuck at home with no car.  Hmmm, maybe I will bake dog treats to make it up to the dogs.  Good news is even with the holiday weekend there IS a bark park on Saturday! YEY.

Here’s a little black and white eye candy.  I’d hate to end on a bad note

Z and I decided to take Apollo and Hera into the pool with us to swim. It was nice out early on and I got some great shots in the pool. Poor Brutus and Rufus were just beside themselves because I left them inside. Rufus barked at the door the whole time. But the yard just isn’t big enough for us to swim with all the dogs running around like fools.

We made quite a break through and Hera finally got up the nerve the other day to jump in. She had been using the steps exclusively to get in/out of the pool but was too much of a chicken to try jumping in. First it started out as a “slide in” to the pool. Then she started getting brave and actually jumped in. She kept getting braver and braver and eventually was launching herself into the pool. Apollo not to be out done, decided he was going to try his hand paw at it too. With in an hour in the pool my dogs went from circling and barking to full on launching themselves into the pool. Labs and water…. like PB&J…

GERONIMO!!!!!!

OHHHHH I am sooooo mad! As you all know we have moved into a suburb neighborhood with 6 dogs from the country. It has been an adventure needless to say. Everyone lets their dogs roam or leaves them unattended in electric fences.

Since we also have the pool, the kids are here nonstop wanting to swim. So far they have all been good about latching the pool gate on their way out. Last week I caught the gate unlatched, but closed and was able to shut it before the dogs discovered it. However today I was not as lucky!

The last kid left to go home, Z leaves to play golf and my OH has my car (with the keys to his car). I let the dogs out back to pee and walk inside for 3 seconds to answer the phone. I hear Brutus start barking as I am walking to the door… All the dogs but Zeus and Brutus are GONE! And no where in sight! I absolutely panic! I throw on my shoes and run out the door with a handful of leashes.

My first concern is the little yip yaps (3 crazy barking chihuahuas) on the corner that really wind up B and R. So I run straight there, not a one of my dogs in sight. So I knock on the door and ask the lady to bring her dogs inside just in case. Rufus is actually pretty good with little dogs, but I didnt want to take any chances after the “Yorkie incident”.

I am bawling and hysterical at this point searching for them desperately. I see the kid that left the gate open and lay into him bawling hysterically. I hear another one of the boys calling “Brutus, Brutus” and running towards my house. It was Rufus and he ran around the front of the house to get back in… (guess he got hot and had enough of an adventure after 5 minutes). They all start heading back to the house with boys in tow. Thank goodness! Crisis Averted.

That 5-10 minutes seemed like an absolute eternity.

I went back over to the Yip Yap’s house to let her know they had been rounded up and to thank her for bringing them in and explained what had happened with the gate. I assured her it wouldn’t happen again.. She was thankful that I had come to warn her. The gate is now locked and I have hidden the key. I will just have to keep it locked and escort the kids in and out. Another lesson learned – burb life is difficult with 6!

Remember Heidi?

I just got an update on one of my former foster Saints. I got an email from her family with pictures letting me know how she was doing. I am sooo excited she is doing so well. I hear from my previous
fosters’s family from time to time. In fact I have made good friends
with several and talk to a couple weekly. Heidi, now named Daffodil, is
an extra special girl. We had quite a bit of time together bonding and
I am so happy she has found such a happy loving home.

“It’s been almost a year since Daffy joined our family. She has grown– we think she is the tallest St. we have ever had. The last vet visit in March she weighed in at 140. So I guess she is eating well.

She is really fun. We walk daily and some days she goes to “day camp”. Then she comes home completely exhausted. She loves to ride in the car and has an assortment of toys.

She still grabs kleenex when possible and will eat any eggs left out or butter. We have learned to put these things away. All in all she is a joy.

Phyllis, Bill and Daffy”

Zeus’s new Sew Crazy Dog Lady collar came!!! Woo Hoo!!!! It is gorgeous and looks sooo good on him. My son even agreed that it looks good and he’s a tough cookie to impress. The green stands out against his black fur magnificently! Yet again I am sooo impressed with the quality and style of the Sew Crazy Dog Lady’s collars.  Thank you for another wonderful creation.

Zeus really likes it too. He likes all the attention he is getting when we fuss over his pretty jingles (collar with id tags – we call them his jingles) and is prancing around. He knows he looks posh and stylish! I have ordered a couple new one for Brutus and Rufus as well…. they are big surprises!  I think you are going to LOVE them!

So…. with out further ado…. The handsome Zeus modeling his Sew Crazy Dog Lady collar…

Our buddies Jack and Greta are in the kennels this week since their mom and dad are on vacation. I offered to go and check on them a couple of times since the place they are at isn’t very far from my house. They are being boarded at Kennel Club USA in Johnstown, Ohio. It’s only about 8 miles from here and a very pleasant country drive. So I went out there this morning to see how they were doing and WOW what a set up, a sprawling 45 acre “pet paradise.”

I go inside and announce that “Hi my name is Lora and I’m here to visit Jack and Greta.” The owner goes in the back to check Greta and Jack’s “scheduled location.” As I stood alone in the front (which has a gorgeous shop with fantastic collars and leads, grooming products and other dog related stuff) one of the birds , an African Grey calls out… “Hi my name is Lora” – OMG my jaw dropped… The owner comes back and I ask what the bird’s name is (thinking its Lora or some derivative). He tells me it’s Wendy… hmmmm I’m like I swear that bird said my name. He said she probably did, probably copied what you said when you came in. WOW! What a smart bird!

The owner gave me the grand tour and I must say it is one of the cleanest facilities I have ever been in. There was NO poopie smell, the floors were clean and the staff was attending to several groups of dogs in different areas. There’s a little dog play area that’s inside with glass windows so I could watch them for a bit. There were some groups of large dogs out in the play yard running around. Jack and Greta were in their run when I got there which was incredibly clean. The staff was handing out fresh water bowls when I was there.

The owner has designed several collars which he has made specifically for his shop using super high quality English Bridal leather. You can see a couple of the creations on his site.

I didn’t have my camera on me when I went or I would have asked to take some pictures, but you can see the place on line at their website www.kennelclub-usa.com It’s a fabulous facility and If I ever went out of town, I would certainly have the thundering herd boarded there.

Ahhhh what a glorious day! Gabby the greyhound showed up at our house around 8:45am. The greetings were unceremonious for the most part. Brutus was a bit put off at first but quickly came to his senses and remembered Gabby is his good buddy. We left the house shortly after her arrival for a wonderful day at Bark Park. Apollo and Hera were the only dogs of mine to make the trip today. My car won’t hold much more than 3 dogs in the back and since my son went with me there was no more room. I tried fitting Zeus in and Gabby snarled because the other dogs were stepping on her. Next time.

We played for hours! The weather was beautiful and the shade was very nice. Gabby was done after a short time and found a nice cool place to lay in the shade. Every now and again you would see her streak by with another sight hound and lap the park with a sudden burst of energy. But most of the time she looked like this:

OR THIS

Hera on the other hand spent a good portion of her day running around barking at dragon flies. Today several other park goers saw the dragonflies she was chasing and now she is no longer considered insane… lol She got brave and jumped in the air for a few of them this time.

Apollo ran the agility course a few times with Zach. He wasn’t as interested today. I think Zach waited until he was too tired to really enjoy it. He has remembered everything he has learned so far and even braved the teeter totter today.. He made a new friend today too.. He played with this male lab for ages and they both seemed to really like those little rubber duckies. They tugged on one and never scuffled. What a cute pair they made.

Our good friends George and Betty were our guests today and they brought Apollo’s friends Maggie and Joely up to play as well. Its been a long time since we have seen them.

Of course the Newfies and some of the Danes were there today. I took lots of pictures of them which can be seen in today’s gallery. I think these two are my favorite ones.

I ended up taking over 225 pictures in all.. which is surprising since my hubby had to meet me with my camera battery. I put it in the charger last night and thats where it stayed when I left for the park… ugg. Not all of my pictures turned out, but I put alot of the ones that did into todays Bark Park Gallery in the Photo Gallery Page which you can reach HERE. Make sure you stop by and see all the gorgeous doggies we met today. (Don’t forget to click on the pictures above to enable lightbox)

Our buddy Gorgeous George at Georgeous nominated us for June’s Awesome Blog Award over at Dogs with Blogs Bone Zone. How nice of him! The voting runs for several days and there are some pretty awesome blogs in the running this month so we don’t expect to win. We are just honored that George thought so highly of us.

Our competition includes:

• Nanook and Pooka (WOW the pictures of those gorgeous NEWFIES!)
• Clovers Adventures
• Charlie Daniels (our new buddy)
• Chef
• Angel Cooper & Levi
  

Check them out if you are in the mood for some good reading. Good luc and congrats to everyone for having such PAWSOME blogs!

Its offically Friday and while that means nothing to the thundering herd in general… It means Bark Park is a matter of 24 hours away! I have that song “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers stuck on loop in my head…. Saturday also means the new episode of Dr Who!

Hera really needs the park this week. She has been too cooped up for her own good and is getting really antsy. I haven’t been able to walk them much this week since I have been so sick. Yesterday was the first day I have felt better. Of course the OH nor son will do it for me (I can’t even get son to pick up his shoes let alone tool around the block with several dogs and poop bags).

There has been some excitement this week though. The neighborhood kids have been over swimming and they like to play with the labs in the pool. Tossing them tennis balls or splash bombs or swimming around with them. They still aren’t too brave when we try to get them to jump in, they prefer the stairs… lol

Hera and the boys…..

Next week’s Bark Park is going to be on a Friday Night. I am planning on going really early so we can get out of there before the massive throng of people shows up after work. Weather forcast looks good for tomorrow… a slightly cloudy 82­° F.

OOOOH I almost forgot. We have another bit of excitement this weekend. We will be watching Gabby the Greyhound overnight on Saturday. She will coming early Saturday (I suppose may be going to bark park with us – i have to find out bark park’s owner if I can do that) and will be picked up late on Sunday night. I still dont know how we are going to do this with the non-existent yard and the that Gabby refuses to go potty on the leash. My friend says that Greyhounds are trained NOT to pee/poo on the leash when they are at the track. The trainers want them to head straight to the starting blocks and do nothing or think of nothing but racing. Its hard for some retired racers to overcome.

One last bit of eye candy…… (this picture makes me laugh sooo hard — oh Rufus)

Make sure you have the latest version of flash player to view this effect properly. Mouse around and left-click on the pictures to activate. Right-clicking will open in full screen mode and to return to normal mode, right-click again. Enjoy!

[tiltviewer=17,700,400]

(photoshop is so cool)

As you know, I am a self professed collarholic. I can’t help it – the Sew Crazy Dog Lady has the best collars around!

I have been searching for the right fabric for Zeus’s collar. I was pretty set on green, he’s black and green looks really good against black. I just wasn’t sure what I was looking “for” – I knew it would jump out at me when I saw it though. Jen the Sew Crazy Dog Lady emailed me a fabric swatch she was thinking about carrying and knew I found the perfect collar pattern! I ordered it at the end of last week. Its finished, I paid for it and now I wait for the post. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. Zeus is going to look absolutely smashing in this gorgeous green collar. It is sooooo “him”!

ooooh I can’t wait! I just saw the other pictures of it on her site and its brilliant!  OMG she called me her best customer… awe. I think my dogs are your best customers

Amanda, a friend of mine does saint rescue in the North East. She has a couple of her own dogs (danes and saints) as well. She’s had kind of a rough week So I thought I would make something for her to cheer her up.

Saint at the Beach

We went to the in-laws for a Father’s Day BBQ yesterday afternoon. While we were there I noticed a gorgeous golden retriever running and playing across the field with another family that was having a BBQ as well. They were having a great time and from what I could tell the Golden was very well behaved. I paused for a bit to watch longing for my dogs or at least one of them to join our fun. But that will never happen. My dogs arent welcome at family functions. Not a single one of them. The inlaws dont visit us or have functions at our house because of them, and my dogs are really well behaved. It makes me really sad too.

I do get to use them as an excuse to get out of functions early. They can’t be left for a long time you know, they need to pee or be fed. And it also keeps me from going to West Virginia for Christmas, which is nice because I get to have the whole house to myself to hang out and cuddle with the dogs

Anyone else’s dogs banned from family events?

Is this just the sweetest face… how could anyone not want it kissing them?!

After an unbelievably stormy night and morning (lightning, thunder and power loss), the sun came out and gave way to a beautiful day. Apollo, Hera and Zeus were able to go and play at Bark Park… Whoo Hooo!! I thought about bringing Brutus with me, however I’m so glad I decided against it. It ended up getting alot hotter than I had expected. I forced my hubby to come along and he played with the dogs and had fun too. My son is at his grandma’s this week so there are no Agility pictures of Apollo. I did however run him over a couple of the obstacles and he did really well. He was much more confident and ran up and over them alot faster. Man, does he LOVE those squeaky ducks. I think I am going to have to buy him one for home.

I created a page in the gallery for today’s adventures. You can visit it HERE.

Our dane buddy Backus the Great Dane was there today… Isn’t he big and handsome! Look at that face

And look at these lovlies… Apollo is quite smitten with his new lady Airedale friend. I think it’s puppy love!

Well Jason from Camp Crystal Lake didn’t show up today. Nothing bad happened, except for some stormy weather this afternoon. However, I did have a couple of ghouls show up looking for some food…

These ghouls aren’t too scary so I shouldn’t have any nightmares. Hope you don’t either!

Tomorrow……. Bark Park! Can’t wait.

I was reading some blogs this evening and I came across this picture on Animals Need Help. The post entitled “The Logic of Animals Beats the Logic of Humans” is absolutely adorable. Some of the pictures I had seen in other places before, but I have never seen this one: For some reason it made me think of Amber Mae praying for the mothers day goodies

Cute Puppy Praying for goodies

Amber Mae Praying for goodies…..

See the resemblance?!!

Well the dogs are all tuckered out waiting on me to go to bed. I am supposed to be taking a shower but I had to post those pictures… I was out in the pool briefly and need to get the pool icky off me, I’m starting to feel a little better. The dogs are all healthy now and enjoyed a few apple slices for a snack earlier. Well, as you can see.. someone’s zonked out and is going to need carried upstairs if I dont hurry up and go to bed…..

The servers have been down most of the day. I have been online with Hostgator several times and it appears there was a faulty piece in the main servers (higher up than hostgator) that held the server I am on. It has been replaced and we are back up and running again! Apparently they have done some upgrades while they were off line as well.

Sorry for the inconvenience or to panic everyone.

ETA – we went down again for a short time this evening. More upgrades and updates on the host side. Hopefully we have seen the end of down time.

Can we catch colds from our dogs?! Just kidding, I know we can’t but we can from our spouses and children! I am usually lucky and don’t get sick when my hubby does, but I didn’t dodge the bullet this time. I started feeling bad last night and it continued getting worse and worse. Now I feel TERRIBLE! Hubby is sick, son – not yet, Dogs – seem to be feeling better!

None of the thundering herd has had the runs or vomited today which is a huge improvement. Hmmmm now that I think about it, no poops from the boys at all. They had rice/hamburger mixture for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. Dinner was the regular fare and so far so good. They all seem in good spirits and aren’t moping like yesterday. I am hoping we have seen the last of the ickies for awhile.

My lover boy Rufus knows I am feeling bad and has been extra attentive all day long. This evening I was sitting on the floor folding a load of towels and he laid down in my lap, he does this alot, but this was different. It was like he was trying to comfort me. He also made me scoot over on the bed so he could lay down with me when I was taking one of my many naps. Apollo and Zeus were already on the bed and he stood there staring at me with those pleading eyes. So I moved over a foot or two and he jumped right up there with me and stretched out beside me. He didn’t try and make me pet him like he normally does. He just laid there and cuddled. What a sweet boy!

Keep your fingers crossed I feel better tomorrow. I have taken my Nyquil and the bed is beckoning. Night.

I stared my day to the sound of herk herk herk herk and blapppt! GROSSSS – RUFUS!!!!!! So I had to clean my bedroom carpet. What a way to start the day… oh then it gets worse. Apollo, Zeus, Brutus AND Rufus all have the runs! Apollo has blood in his poo… not a lot, but enough for me to be concerned and keep an eye on him. He hasn’t been his normal bubbly self either. After I fed them breakfast, Rufus pukes it up. My poor babies! I don’t know if they ate something that didn’t agree with them, they have contracted a tummy bug or the heat is getting to them. It has been over 90 for 3 days. So I boiled 3 pounds of hamburger and a bag of rice for their dinners/breakfasts. I just hope they are feeling better tomorrow.

On a lighter note, opened the pool today! WHOO HOO! The water is still a little murky but it should clear up in a few days. The dogs had mixed reactions to it. Eris had NO desire to get in and ran inside. Brutus and Rufus ran around the pool zoomie style and played. I coaxed ok I pulled them in and they were NOT impressed one bit! I don’t anticipate them getting in again, shame. But Apollo, Hera and Zeus had a BALL! They jumped in after tennis balls and a plastic football. Hera barked her fool head off and I had to send her inside so the neighbors wouldn’t call the police…lol.

And then…. I found out I am featured on PETSblog as the first ever dog blog of the month! They did a wonderful write up on me and the kiddos! I am sooo unbelievably flattered! You should cruise over there and check out this fantastic blog. Its very informative and well written with a range of topics that is appealing to animal lovers far and wide.

We had and absolutely PAWSOME time at Bark Park today! It wasn’t hot like we were expecting and was overcast the whole time. We really lucked out because the weatherman was calling for HOT (94°F) and muggy and I think the high was 83°F. Courtney’s crew (Jack and Greta) couldn’t make it today, but Laura and the greyhounds (Gabby and the foster Danny Lynn) met us. There was a really nice group of dogs there today. i dont think I heard one scuffle the entire 4 hours I was there. Needles to say the troops are exhausted and are sleeping soundly on the floor at my feet… especially Apollo.

My son came along and frealized he really liked agility work. He trained Apollo on the agility equipment and he did an absolutely fantastic job. Apollo learned the A-frame, dog walk, tunnels, jumps and even did the tire 3 times (but I have no photographic proof.. maybe next time). Hera spent most of the day running around in circles with her head in the air, barking. Her old friends the dragonflies payed her a visit and she was happy as pigs in slop running around chasing them. i caught several people looking up in the air trying to figure out what on earth she was chasing and scratching their heads. I let them in on her secret… dragonflies.

I took so many blog worthy photos today it is impossible to put them all in this post. I added a Bark Park photo page to the gallery showcasing today’s visit and a few of the dogs we saw today. Make sure you check it out.

Here’s some of Apollo’s highlights!

AND A VIDEO!!

I took these video clips sometime in the spring, before we moved. It’s taken me this long just to figure out how to get them off the camera (it had been awhile). Now that I have it figured out again, look out! I’m going to be a regular Spielberg!

Enjoy!!

ignored the dogs most of yesterday. I know, that’s not like me. Aside from Brutus getting a car ride and trip to Petsmart to meet our friend Laura (yes he wore his barrel.. lol) to pick up part of a cage I had lent her awhile back. Hera decided to break to the door on her crate. Seems she doesn’t like going to bed early. So you ask, what WERE you doing then?

Drawing. I haven’t done any in a long while. I think the last one I did was for Cynthia of Tip Tail for her Entrecard widget. Well she asked me to do another one for Utah Dogs. So here’s what I came up with.

Click thumbnails to enlarge all photos

Which I turned into their banner.

OR

She hasn’t seen them yet and I’m not sure if she’ll like it or not. But I sure hope so.

Its SOOOOOO flippin hot today. The weatherman says it will be 94°F and HUMID today and it feels every bit of it and then some. I went to pick up my son from the Golf course earlier and Rufus tagged along for the ride. Of course my a/c went out as soon as we pulled out of the neighborhood. It happened last year too – as soon as the temps reach 88°F, it’ll go out until the temps come back down. It was so hot and Rufus just panted and panted. Looks like this is the last car trip for the boys for awhile. Hopefully it won’t be this hot tomorrow at the dog park… T minus 20 hours and counting til Bark Park- whooo hooo!

“I scream. You scream. We all scream for ICE CREAM!”

The temps are starting to raise a little higher each day. Soon we will be in the full grips of summer. What better way to keep cool than eating ice cream or frosty paws/pupsicles. I have 3 tasty reicpes for frozen dog confections you may want to try. I have a batch of “Brutus Buckets” in the freezer as we speak. For an extra special treat try filling a Kong with one of these recipes and freezing!

Brutus Buckets

• 32 oz low-fat or non-fat yogurt
• 2 mashed bananas
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 Tbs honey

Combine all ingredients in bowl and blend well. Fill small paper Dixie cups (the bathroom size) with the mixture. Freeze for at least two hours. Let stand for a few minutes to soften prior to serving. Yields 10 – 3oz Brutus Buckets.

Zeusicles

• 1 large containter of fat-free or non-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 can pumpkin
• ½ cup peanut butter

Blend all ingredients together in a bowl. Using a spoon, place into small snack size ziplock baggies and form into the shape of a popsicle. Place in freezer and allow to harden. Yields 20 Zeusicles.

Rufus Toes (our version of frosty paws)

• 32 oz plain non-fat or low-fat yogurt
• 46 oz applesauce
• 1 qt low sodium chicken broth

Combine ingredients in bowl and mix. Pour mixture into ice cube trays and freeze. Store cubes in a large ziplock freezer bag. Yields 9 trays of Rufus Toes.

They arrived a short time ago. Of course I had to go outside and get a few pictures of them so I could share. I am really excited! They turned out better than I had expected. Now my big boys are proper booze barrel totting Saint Bernards. I must say I am very pleased with the quality and design of the barrels. Dan “the keg man” Jordan of Saintbernardbarrrels.com was fantastic to work with. Service and quality is amazing!

Hey Mom… the postman has something in a box… is it for us?

What could be in there?

Something new for Rufus

Something new for Brutus

Look how handsome we are together… I think I hear the cries of someone in need of “rescue”

We give the kegs Rating:

Holy Moly they will be here today!  They were shipped from Indiana on Saturday afternoon.  I checked the tracking site on USPS.com around 3am this morning and they were shipped out and in route from the Indiana Hub!  So on a whim, because I am really excited and a little bored, I checked the tracking number again.  Low and behold the package not only made it to my local post office, but its in the post carriers truck as we speak! The mail usually arrives around 2:00pm – I am waiting on baited breath!  Photos will be forth coming!

A Peanut Butter filled Kong is a great healthy alternative snack for your dog. Brutus is enjoying his Kong emensely! Yes that is slobber.

If your dogs are anything like mine, they like human left overs. Mine will lay down in a semi-circle around me while I am eating and will wait patiently for me to offer them the last forkfuls off my plate. While I dont really like them eying every single bite I take and drooling, they are remarkably well behaved and will not try to encroach on the plate. I usually don’t think twice about what I give them because I know their No-No list (which is topped by Bush’s Baked Beans) and the “Doggie No-No” list.

Most people know not to feed chocolate or chocolate products to their dogs. But what else is bad for them? You would be surprised. There are several random items that are quite harmful if eaten. A friend of mine living in Arizona found out the hard way what happens when her 2 year old Saint Bernard got into a container macadamia nuts Friday night. After a nap, she found him looking really sorry for himself and unable to

stand. She took him to her vet the next morning and he was diagnosed as having macadamia nut toxicity. (Article detailing the symptoms and treatment for macadamia nut toxicity.) Luckily he was treated and will make a full recovery.

After this ordeal I thought it a prudent reminder to post the Doggie No-No list in hopes that we can prevent sickness, injury or death of our beloved furry companions.

Doggie No-No List

• Alcoholic Beverages
• Avacados (skin and pits) – causes difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation in the lungs and heart. The fruit, pit and plant are toxic.
• Chocolate (all forms) – causes seizures, coma and death. Baker’s chocolate is the most toxic.
• Coffee and Tea (all forms) – foods and drinks containing caffeine cause similar symptoms as chocolate ingestion.
• Fatty Foods – causes pancreatitis.
• Macadamia Nuts and Walnuts – Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, muscle tremor and paralysis. Limit all other nuts as they are not good for dogs in general, their high phosphorous content is said to possibly lead to bladder stones. Exception to this rule seems to be PEANUT BUTTER.
• Moldy or Spoiled foods
• Onions, Onion Powders – destroys red blood cells and may cause anemia.
• Raisins and Grapes – causes liver damage/failure. As little as a single serving can kill a dog.
• Salt – excessive consumption causes kidney problems.
• Yeast Dough – expands several times its original size in the stomach. Especially dangerous to dogs prone to bloat.
• Green Tomatoes – can cause tremors and heart arrhythmia. The plant is more toxic than the fruit, though all should be avoided. This is a member of the nightshade family.
• Pits (apple/cherry/peach) – contain cyanide. The fleshy part of the fruit however is good for them.
• Garlic - excessive amounts
• Products sweetened with xylatol – causes liver failure.

Happy June!