Veggie (and fruit!) smoothie!

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This morning I made a veggie (and apple) smoothie to mix into Lassie’s and Petal’s food.
I think they enjoyed it.

They had the following:

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  • Apples are a good source of vitamins A and C and dietary fiber, and more.
  • Carrots are an excellent source of beta-carotene, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, and more.
  • Broccoli is a powerful antioxidant, supports bone health, prevents cancer, and more.
  • Cauliflower is a good source of vitamins C and A, fiber, calcium, potassium, and more.
  • Green Beans are a rich source of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. A small amount can make a great addition to an overweight dog’s diet as they’ll make your dog feel fuller. (No, neither Lassie nor Petal are overweight, but they still enjoy the benefits of green beans occasionally).
  • Squash provides potassium (which may be beneficial in supporting kidney health and may reduce the risk of heart failure), vitamin A, calcium and more.
  • Zucchini offers vitamins C and B complex, magnesium, and more.
I use to just toss a few or just one of these veggies into their bowl. Then I watched with a frown as they (okay, Lassie; Petal actually enjoys fruits and veggies) picked around it.
Then one day I was surfing the internet and read, many times, that it was recommended that you puree or steam the vegetables before serving them to your dog, because they absorb and digest them better that way.
I had noticed that certain vegetables (carrots especially) came out the same way they went in, so steaming or pureeing them might be worth a try, and since Lassie was picking around his veggies, I went with pureeing them.
Good luck picking around that mush, bud!
So now I run them through the Magic Bullet and pulverize them into mush.
Lassie likes them much better this way.
He’s always been a fan of baby food.

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Load ’em up in the bullet (with plenty of water).

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And mash them up!

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I split this amount up to make three days worth (for each of them), I could’ve split it up for four days had I realized sooner just how much it had made, but oh well.

They gobbled it all up and nothing was picked around or spat out onto the floor.

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This veggie and apple smoothie would also make a great Kong stuffer or frozen treats.
But remember 3 things,
1 there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
2 while many fruits and vegetables are safe to give to your dog, some may not be (onions and grapes, for example) and some should only be given in moderate amounts occasionally.
3 keep in mind that if your dog has never had any of these vegetables before, it may cause them an upset stomach if you try feeding them all these new things at once. My dogs have enjoyed all of the veggies (and apples) pictured above over the years, so they were fine eating them all at once. Normally I only give them 1-4 different vegetables and fruits at a time, but every now and then I like to mix it up and give them a little of (almost) everything we have on hand.

Enjoy! Or rather, let your dogs enjoy!
Though, I guess you could eat it too, if you wanted.
Not me, though, I prefer to chew on my veggies. Haha.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Calling all (rough) Collie owners and owners with long haired dogs!

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Hello.
So you’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today.
“Have you discovered a cure for shedding?!”
Heh. No.
I wanted to talk collars.

I have purchased two zillion collars over the years and I found many that I was very happy with.
Dublin Dog collars are fabulous with their easy to clean, water-and-stink-proof, and sturdy design.
Lupine combo collars are wonderfully easy to slip over a fluffy Collie mane and I love the second d-ring.
Rolled leather collars are great and so nice looking and cause minimal matting.
None of these collars are perfect though, not for my Collies and my picky self.
Dublin Dog collars are a pain to buckle around all that fur, same goes for the rolled leather collars.
But Lupine’s combo collar, while it’s the easiest to get on and off, seems to be causing Lassie a lot of matting.

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Petal wears an Easy Walk harness with a safety strap attached to her collar to prevent Miss Houdini from slipping her front legs over the chest strap of the harness.

Lassie and Petal do not wear their collars 24/7. They only wear them (and their I.D. tags) when they go  outside for a walk or to relieve themselves. They only wear them in the house when we’re expecting company/having extended company stay at the house. When we’re just lounging around the house though, they lounge in the nude.
Which is why I want something that is easy to slip on and off, but I don’t want any sort of choke collar. Limited slip is perfect though, as both Lassie and Petal have a knack for backing out of regular collars.

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“I do no such thing. I’m a perfect angel.”

Looking at all that fur, you can probably see why I really want something that won’t add to my brushing workload. So far, out of all the collars I have used, the rolled leather collar caused the least amount of matting to the coat. I really don’t want to fuss around with a buckle though and some leather collars have bled color into their fur after getting wet and it took many washes to get it out. This was, I’m sure, because they were cheap. Cheap is what I’m looking for though! 😉

I’m out of ideas and I’m hoping I’m not out of options.
Do I need to stop being picky? Or is there a great collar out there that I have yet to find?
Is there such a thing as rolled leather collar with a limited slip chain on it? I tried searching for one the other night and came up with nothing, though I could’ve sworn I had seen something like that once before. Hmm.

This is where you, my fellow Collie owners and fellow long haired dog owners, come in.
What brand and type of collar do you use? How do you like it? Does it mat up their fur? Is it easy to remove and put on? Does it wash well? How often do they wear their collar?

Any and all feedback is much appreciated!
And to our short haired friends: you lucky ducks get to wear whatever cute and fun collars you want and it’ll actually be seen on you! 😉

Thanks for reading guys!

Dreaming of snow

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In July and most of August we received an abundance of thunder, lightning, and rain every day (or very nearly every day).
It was crazy. I can’t remember ever getting this much rain in Southern Utah.
I absolutely loved it.
Now it is September and we’re heading towards Autumn and it’s starting to cool down.
Though, as far as heat goes, it has been a pretty mild summer anyway.
Between the (sometimes) mild heat and the frequent rain storms, I started wondering what winter would hold for us. I’m hoping for plenty of snow.
Because I have literally been dreaming of snow lately.

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December 2005. Northern Utah.

I’ve been dreaming of seeing my goofy Lassie snack on the snow and lounge in it as if he’s on a beach in Hawaii.

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January 2008. Northern Utah.

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December 2011. Southern Utah.

I’ve been dreaming of laughing at Petal as she burrows her face beneath the snow and then takes off like a bullet (because snow is her catnip).

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December 2011. Southern Utah.

But mostly I’ve been remembering the crazy amounts of snow we use to get while living in the mountains in Northern Utah.
I know we won’t get anything like the snow we got then, but a girl can dream. 😉

 That was some insane (and fun, unless you had to shovel the driveway, or you got stuck in said driveway) snow.

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January 2008. Ella peeking to see if her doggy friend is home.

That is a six foot fence.
Or at least it was before the snow came and turned it into a four-ish foot fence (say that ten times, fast).

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“Grizzly, come over and play!”

Believe it or not, we only got more snow that year.
It piled up and up and we wondered if it would ever stop.

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It accumulated more and more and grew taller and taller until…

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February 2008. View from our next door neighbor’s backyard.

We got six feet of snow.
Ella no longer needed permission to go visit her boyfriend Grizzly, she just waltzed on over the fence and romped around in the snow with him.

One of the neighbors behind us had the brilliant idea to dig out a path way for their dogs (I think they owned retired racing Greyhounds, but I might be getting them confused with different neighbors), so they could maneuver around their yard a little more easily and wouldn’t be able walk over their fence.
Well, Lassie, Ella, and my Aunt’s dog (who lived with us for a little while) decided to hop on over and pay their yard a little visit.

Hopping over was the easy part, but getting back to their own yard? Impossible. They were stuck in the neighbor’s yard and since they lived behind us, I had to either run around the block or cut through the backyards. I honestly can’t remember which one I did, but cutting through the backwards sounds smarter and faster, so let’s say I did that.

I go and knock on the neighbor’s front door.
“Hi… um… My dogs are stuck in your backyard… Can I get them, please?”
We had a good laugh about that.
I walked the dogs home and, of course, found a better way to let the dogs out to take care of business, because as funny as it was, we didn’t want that happening every day, several times a day.

We definitely won’t get six feet of snow here (which is probably a good thing, because it does become problematic), but I hope we get enough to have some fun in, without getting muddy.

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Yeah.
I’m kind of tired of the mud.
;P