AND WE GOT MUD!

Remember the snow I was telling ya about yesterday?...well its gone...and the mud has returned.  The weather turned unseasonable warm this afternoon and even though we loved it, it was bad news for the dogs, Rudy especially!

I thought Id work outside for awhile, after all it was springlike.  Bad mistake to keep a mud loven dog out for too long in those conditions...will try to make a mental note NOT to do that again.

Yuk!

Mud once again!

Yeah, mud!

I think I'm in trouble now

I wont play in the mud again (heh heh heh)

All clean

Rudy with an attitude



WE GOT SNOW!

We did get some snow last night if that what you want to call it...just enough to cover the dirty looking ground and to make the dogs extremely excited about going out side!  The dogs seem to forget the task at hand (going Potty and eating breakfast) for eating the fresh snow instead.

yum!  fresh snow

sophia and seb fighting over the snow

Tucker doing snow removal

BUBBLES

     What to do with a "pack of wild dogs" at night when we want to relax and they want to play.  Bubbles is an awesome game to play and yes it does get noisy.  All our dogs have played bubbles since the day they came here and it is by far there favorite thing to do.  We play indoors or out depending on the weather, we even play it in the dark!  Rudy does remind me at night that its time for bubbles by sitting by my feet and growling at me.

We're ready

Yeah, bubbles!

What a wild bunch!

Tucker loves bubbles too!



WHERE IS WINTER?

     I know the calendar said we are in winter right now, but it sure hasn't felt or looked alot like winter!  We did have a few inches of snow and the below zero cold snap last week, all pretty much in the same week.  It is now 38 degrees this morning and raining and yes, a wet mess from all the little dog feet.

Doggies playing in the muck which isn't very fun!

My pond was frozen, but...it rained

Mud puddles instead of snow banks

     Well I guess the doggies will just have to play with the new toys I found them until the weather gets better!

The pink ones my favorite!

Don't try and take my teddy!

I love my new toys!

     Then there's Rudy who likes to beat his brother tuckers pillow up......

Aah, I finally got my bed back!

     And how was your day?

HOW GREAT IS THIS!

     My husband and I received some pretty nice gifts from our children for Christmas, but these shirts we received from my daughter topped it off!

This one is Ricks

Rick modeling his shirt

This is my shirt, LOVE IT!

If you need a shirt too, here is the link to the site.

A DEHYDRATING EXPERIMENT

     Today was WAY too cold to spend any kind of time outdoors.  It was going to have to be one of those mischievous days spent inside for the dogs ...ripping up a few more toys and picking on each other, or barking at every unsuspecting person, dog, car  etc... that goes by.  Yup, it was going to be one of those days!

     I figured it would be a good day for making some wholesome dog treats.  I looked around and came up with broccoli stems ( dogs love broccoli ) and some Gerber pureed sweet potatoes.  I always keep baby food around for making dog treats.

      I Poured the pureed veggies on fruit roll up trays and spread them out evenly.

    
     I let them dehydrate at 125 for 3 1/2 hours, peeled them off the tray and did a taste test myself, they were really yummy.  Ill be trying other Gerber baby food fruits and veggies for the humans and the doggies!

                                                         sweet potato roll-ups
  

                                                                              The taste test

ANOTHER MEMBER IN THE EMPTYNESTER FAMILY

     Another new human in our circle of doggies, we are so excited!  Another little face to lick and for us to fight over who gets to sit by her first.  This has to be just as good, if not better than,  the homemade dog treats that mom makes us!
    
     Details...I'm sure you all want details. Her name is Sundai Rose and she was born on her due date, January 16th.  She weighed 9# 6 oz and was 21 inches long...did I mention were excited!

This is Sundai Rose, she just got home from the hospital today.

Sundai Rose, 2 days old

This is another one of our favorite humans..His name is Aiden and Sundai is his cousin.

THE DOG DAYS OF WINTER

     Our winter here in Wisconsin has just begun....What?   Its already the middle of  January!  Well we had a truly great fall/beginning of winter.   The doggies and I were doing daily walk up until our January12th snowstorm, we sat on our outdoor swing in 50 degree weather.

     Our doggies do love the snow, but when it gets cold they like to lay around in the house.  It was 10 degrees today and will be colder tomorrow.

Sophia

Dexter

Cooper

Sebastian

we aren't going out there!

SUNDAY SCROLLINGS

     Another Sunday, another football game!  Good food, good company( just us and the doggies ). People are crazy here when it comes to football, tailgating in the cold.. already at before dawn..in the frozen tundra of our beloved lambeau field.
    
     We love football as much as the next guy, especially when our team is 15-1 and were the superbowl champs last year....But our favorite seat for the game is on a couch covered with cavalier king charles spaniels.  Our doggies love football weekends.  They are used to the raised voices and every now and then let out a woof of there own, a crumb dropped gets tackled like a loose football on the field.

     The doggies all "dress" for the day too, with homemade Jerseys made for them by me.  Here is a video of the doggies enjoying the superbowl last year.

SNOWSTORM "ANGELA"

     We finally had our first major snow storm of the season!  It was a named storm since it had more then a few inches, the first named storm of the year.  Normally here in Wisconsin, we would be half way threw the alphabet all ready.

     The winter here has been gorgeous and that's not a word that's used often to describe winter.  Our last little bit of snow was the 1/2 inch we got before Christmas, but being in the high 30s and 40s it didn't stick around long.

     We received the snow in the evening, just some light fluffy stuff, but when the dogs eyed it they forgot that they went out to do there business.  My dogs LOVE the snow!  They even at times have forgotten that it was time to eat.  I'm not sure the fascination with the snow and why they want to eat so much of it.  They beg to go outside, not to go potty, but to eat more snow.

Yum!

what fun!

Dashing threw the snow

Yum!

Yummy


The doggies were sure glad to see this new amount of snow that fell on January 12th!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

HEALTHY CHICKEN JERKY

     What could be better then making healthy treats for your dog?  When it comes to that, not much.  Just knowing that it wholesome and you actually know whats in it is worth the cost and the piece of mind.

     I made chicken jerky for my dogs many times, of course paying an arm and a leg for the boneless skinless chicken breasts we always used, but never batted an eye since we figured the doggies were worth it.  On my shopping adventures to get grocery's for the week, I came across 3# bags of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast as the store special of the week for 3.99 a bag.  What a deal!  I wished I could of grabbed more bags, but for lack of freezer space, 3 was all we could get.

     Making the jerky is so easy and here is how we do it:
Unthaw the chicken breast.  Cut into strips and lay on the trays, do not over crowd.  Turn the temperature up as high as it goes and dry for at least 8-10 hours depending on how thick you cut them.  I like mine slightly thicker so they are chewy and it takes the dogs a few minutes to eat them.  When the time has past and the jerky is how you like them, turn your oven on and turn it down as low as it goes. Take the chicken out of the dehydrator and lay on a baking sheet.  Chicken needs to be kept at a temperature of 165 for 30 minutes before using.  My oven only goes down to 180 so I used that temperature for 30 minutes.  It makes the chicken a nice golden color.  Remove from the oven and put in a container and refrigerate immediately.  Cover the chicken when cool.

     I'm sure alot of people are thinking this is alot of trouble to go threw for a dog!  We disagree.  It is cheaper, healthier and the look on the dogs face when they eat one is priceless! (really it is )
.

THE BEST LOVE IS CAVALIER LOVE

     As everyone already knows we have 6 dogs, yes 6!  They can be as challenging to raise as children and yes we did have some of those too, 5 to be exact.  The children have left the nest and are having children of there own(there will be 9 grandchildren soon).  I wasn't lonely, not sure how we ended up with six dogs, but I can say that I am probably busier now, but Love it.

     Unlike children, especially teenagers, my dogs are always glad to see me and everyone else who walks in the house for that matter.  The dogs never have to be told to go to bed and stay there or have to be woke up in the morning more then once.  They always eat there breakfast without any back talk.

     Yes, they are alot of work, and my doggies do squabble like kids sometimes, especially the brother and sister pair, but it is so much more easier to tell there to quit and behave then children.  Dogs aim to please, children aim to drive you as crazy as they can!

     The dogs love baby's, and young children and give out alot of kisses and licks to them.  They wont hesitate to curl up by a sleeping baby and growl if one of the other dogs come near, as if they are protecting them.

dogs love a wagon ride with a baby

Rudy relaxing with his baby

Don't even try coming over here!

My doggies have all these little people to play with

All the "fur baby's"

     So, If you plan on getting a dog, it is true what they say,  Dog ARE like potato chips, you cant have just one!