Remembering Lassie & Ella

I’m thinking Thursdays, because of Throwback Thursday, are going to regularly be about Lassie and/or Ella. I miss them both terribly and though they’ve passed on that doesn’t mean I can’t blog about them anymore. I have a lot of memories and photos of them that I can share. Throwback Thursday is the perfect opportunity to do just that.

blogOCT12007LASS2

October 2007. I took this photo through the railing of our front porch steps. We were living in the mountains of Northern Utah at this time. A very beautiful place to live. Lassie loved to walk through the neighborhood with me. He introduced me to kind people by being a wonderful conversation starter. He scared away the kids that picked on me by being a very loud barker. Little did they know the worst he would’ve done to them was poke them with his snout. He always knew when I was upset and he always knew exactly how to cheer me up. We were each other’s best friend. We did almost everything together and we were rarely seen apart. I didn’t fit in with the kids my age in our neighborhood, but I had Lassie and his friendship was the most loyal and loving friendship I will ever have. He changed me forever and will always be a huge part of who I am. Which is why this blog was made with him at the forefront of my mind.

blogJUL282007ELLA

July 2007. Ella often looked like she was smiling! She was a happy dog and as a puppy she was pretty laid back. Her vet loved her so much that he often asked me if he could keep her. Ella liked people during her early years, but she much preferred the company of her fellow canines. She didn’t come to love being rubbed and petted and doted on by us humans until she was 2 years old. Until then Ella spent most of her time with other dogs. We almost always had a neighbor’s dog hanging out at our house. She had a “boyfriend” who lived next door (and is now at the Rainbow Bridge with her) named Grizzly. Grizzly loved Ella so much that he dug a hole under our fences so he could come over whenever he wanted to visit her. We were really good friends with his humans, so he knew us well and his family always knew where he was when he went “missing”. Ella was hard not to fall in love with. She radiated so much love and happiness most of the time. Most of the time because she certainly had her “back off!” moments, but we’re all allowed those moments.

ThrowBackThursday-300

   

Also, Petal wants to tell you all that we’re finally expecting some snow. I’ve told her not to get her hopes up because we’ve been “expecting” snow a few times now and got nothing. But my weather app says there is a 100% chance of precipitation tonight, so we’ll see.

WM_IMG_3739

Snow? For me? I hope so! Photo from December, when we had lots of snow.

We’re having very dark and stormy skies today. The sun has been gone all day and it feels like it’s been the same time all day. I’m not gonna lie, I love it. I associate this weather with venturing out in my coat and mittens and with Petal happily trotting beside me. With going back inside to get warm and cozy beneath the blankets with a mug of hot chocolate in my hand and a view of snow falling in a beautiful flurry from the sky. It feels like the world slows down a little and I like that.

But I don’t like mud. So I’m hoping for lots of snow, if we do, indeed, receive some.

B&B3b_Fotor

Oh no, not THAT look!

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no no no.

She’s got that look again. That look that scares me.

blogthinkingpetalJAN2014

THAT look! The look that says she’s clearly thinking of something. Something extremely mischievous.

This is not good.

I don’t want to know what it is.

I don’t. I just don’t.

Keep it to yourself Petal.

Be good. Have a biscuit, just please don’t do whatever it is you’re thinking of doing!

blogwhatlook

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not plotting anything… honest.”

O.O (<– my horrified, bugging-out eyes)

That’s it, I’m out of here.

Anyone willing to take me in for a few days?

Snoopy's Dog Blog

Today we’re joining the Monday Mischief blog hop hosted by Alfie’s Blog, My Brown Newfies and Snoopy’s Dog Blog.

Dancing for Snow

Hi all, Petal here. I’m here to tell you all about my poor snowless life.

I have no snow. Unless you count this patch right here.

patchosnow

There are a few other patches here and there, but they’re mostly muddy and ice-like now. Definitely not the kind that’s fun to play in or eat.

It’s not fair! It’s January! It should not be 55 degrees outside.

So today I decided to do a snow dance. Like a rain dance, but for snow.

I know nothing about snow dances, or rain dances, but I’m sure it’ll work anyway.

Here’s what I did: first I spun around in a circle three times…

spinforsnow

Then I prepared to jump…

tothesky

Up to the sky I jumped!

You must jump several times.

Throw in some Jazz Hands; Mother Nature will appreciate your style and pizzazz.

jazzhands

Then, just in case the dance wasn’t enough, I looked up to the sky and begged a little.

begforsnow

Thinking about snow made me wish I could taste some! I continued to look up at the sky as I licked my lips so she would know how badly I want some snow.

tastesnow

May I have some snow? Pleaaaase, Miss Sky?

Oh I hope it works!

Cross your paws, friends!

XOXO Petal

New Toys and a Training Bra

Over the holidays Kol’s Notes and many other fantastic blogs hosted an Advent Calendar with 24 days of giveaways. We entered these fun giveaways and were lucky enough to walk away with a prize!

We won two Unbreakoballs and they just arrived about two hours ago. One regular sized and one large sized. Like REALLY large. It’s awesome.

I entered to win this particular prize with my sister’s dog Penny in mind. She’s a ball fanatic and incredibly destructive.

Here she is, super excited about her prize (or the treats in my pocket, who knows ;))

unbreakoballpenny2

She’s actually a little leery of the larger ball, but by the end of our playtime outside she was warming up to it. She loves the smaller ball and is still trying to figure out how to pick it up.

unbreakoballpenny

These balls are thick, sturdy, and a bit heavy. I think they’re definitely going to be impossible for Penny to destroy! Which is great, because she only had two toys of her very own before, now she’s got four. 😉

unbreakoballpenny3

The balls are also made in the USA! How great is that?

Here are both of the girls posing with them, because Petal wants to be included, even though she couldn’t care less about these giant orange balls.

unbreakoballpenpet

Thank you to Unbreakoball and the hosts of the Advent Calendar! Penny is very happy to have some more toys to play with and we’re all happy she can’t chew them apart and then swallow them. 😉

Now for a little Throwback. I had a whole other post ready for this, but… it took a really sad turn. I’m saving it for another day. Maybe.

Instead I’ll do a silly throwback.

Throwback to Petal’s first training bra!

blogMAY82010petalbra blogMAY82010petalbra_2 blogMAY82010petalbra_3

5 months old and wearing her first training bra! ;P

ThrowBackThursday-300

We’re joining the Throwback Thursday blog hop hosted by Dolly the Doxie and DOGthusiast.

2 Brown Dawgs

 

We’re also joining the new Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.

Review, Giveaway & Recipe

Hi all! Petal here! We have a treat review to share today and I told Mom that since I’m the one who taste tests them, I should be the one to write the review. She agreed.

Chewy.com sent me some tasty treats from a company called Fromm. They make all dry foods, canned foods and treats for us dogs. They make cat food too, but who cares about cats. All their foods and treats are made in the USA! Me and Mom have heard lots of good things about them, but we’ve never tried them before now.

Chewy sent me my very own 6 oz baggie of Fromm treats. They even put my name on the box. Says right here it’s for Petal.

addressedtoPETAL

They only put Mom’s name on it so she wouldn’t feel left out. They’re considerate folks at Chewy.

First things first when you get a package you gotta open it! My second favorite part!

openitttt2

My very favorite part is finding what lies inside. I have to say, I was very bewildered by these treats at first. My Mom thought it was funny, apparently she requested this flavor just to confuse me! There’s a word for that and it’s R-U-D-E (because Mom won’t let me use strong language, something about being a family friendly blog).

Now Mom insists on relaying the whole embarrassing conversation I had with her out in the yard…

WMreviewcranliver WMcranberryliverreview WMreviewcranliver2 WMreviewcranliver3REVIEWcranliver4 REVIEWcranliver5 REVIEWcranliver6 REVIEWcranliver7

Don’t laugh guys. I didn’t want to eat some strange cranberry hybrid’s liver. I didn’t see the comma in these here ingredients:

Wheat flour, cranberry COMMA liver, salt, garlic powder.

That’s it! According to the ingredient list on Chewy.com, the liver is chicken liver.

My Our (Mom just insists on being included) favorite things about these treats:

Low calorie (just 1 calorie per treat!) (this is obviously MOM’S favorite thing)
They’re made in Wisconsin with Wisconsin cranberries
They’re made with delicious liver (my favorite thing, Mom says “ick”)
They’re bite sized (about the size of a quarter) and perfect for training
They’re a fair price
They don’t stink and they don’t make Mom’s hands smelly

tastytreat

Things to consider:

They’re a crunchy treat, not a soft one, so if you’re looking for a soft training treat, this is not it.
The actual bag does not state what animal the liver is sourced from, so I’m just assuming that Chewy is correct and it’s chicken liver; the only reason I’m pointing this out is because I know some dogs are sensitive to certain meat sources, so sensitive doggies should be aware of that.

Chewy.com is also hosting a giveaway! There will be first, second, and third place winners. You can enter to win using the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(if the Rafflecopter widget doesn’t show up, just click the link. Sometimes it shows up for me and sometimes it doesn’t, I don’t know why. Sorry!)

 

Time to turn the blog back over to Mom, she has a treat recipe she wants to share with you all.

XOXO Petal

 

Last night I whipped up some dog cookies for Petal and I thought I would share the haphazard recipe with you all. Now I’m just guessing with these measurements because, uh, I rarely measure my ingredients when it comes to dog cookies. Measuring stuff = having to wash the measuring cups. Um, no thanks.

Here we go. Petal’s Fish and Fruit Cookies.

You will need:

 

About 2 1/2 or 3 cups of the flour of your choice (I used wheat and the last of the coconut flour that we had, but I know a lot of you pups have wheat allergies, so use whatever floats your boat!)

1/4 cup canned pumpkin (plain pumpkin. Nothin’ but pumpkin)

1/2 cup (about) Cranberries

1 cup..ish Pineapple chunks

Salmon oil

a few pinches of Parsley (I used fresh parsley because I had it on hand and it needed to be used)

Preheat your oven to 350º.
Throw the cranberries, pineapple chunks and parsley (if using fresh) in a blender with either water or the pineapple juice if using canned pineapple and puree well. Pour it into a mixing bowl with the flour and salmon oil (I used 4 pumps of Grizzly Salmon oil, but feel free to substitute or skip the oil all together or, if you have some canned salmon on hand, puree it and use that (I plan on doing this next time)) and mix well, adding more flour or more water as needed to make a good dough. Too sticky? You need more flour. Too hard and dry? You need more water.

Roll the dough out and cut with cookie cutters or use a pizza slicer to make squares (I used the pizza slicer because we didn’t have any cookie cutters small enough for what I wanted (bite sized cookies)). Place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake. I baked mine at 350º for about 20 minutes before lowing the heat to about 200º, at which point I just peeked at them every so often and gave them a little poke. Once they felt a little bit crunchy, I turned the oven off and left the cookies in over night to cool.

fruitfishcookies

Have you ever seen an uglier batch of cookies? This is what happens when I’m too tired to roll the dough out nicely. It also helped that I used our poor, lame pizza slicer too slice them. Our pizza slicer is so incredibly bent that it can no longer go in a straight line, it swerves and wobbles pathetically. Our pizzas’ look just as pretty.

This morning the cookies were nice and cold and I broke them apart easily and dumped them into Petal’s cookie jar. The cookies on the outer edges were nice and crunchy while the middle pieces were softer and chewy. They also smelled really good, very fruity, if there wasn’t salmon oil in them I would taste them, but I think the salmon oil would add a weird taste that I would not enjoy. Petal seems to love them though!

Today we’re linking up with the Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop hosted by Kol’s Notes and Sugar the Golden Retriever. Check out either blog for more info and the rules of the hop. If the hop does not show up below (the hop and the Rafflecopter are teaming up to drive me crazy), you can enter it at either Kol’s blog or Sugar’s blog.