Merry Christmas from Playing with the Big Dogs.

Merry Christmas from Playing with the Big Dogs.

    Last night we were able spend Christmas Eve with family had the privilege to watch children open gifts. We attended two different Christmas Eve celebrations last night and had a wonderful time. It's the nice part about having both our mothers live in the same town we do.

At Nik's family we got to watch his sister's kids still enjoy the magic of Christmas and the surprise and joy of getting something wonderful that they love. At my mother's we got to enjoy the company of friends that we have know most of my life and are now part of our extended family.

     One of Nik's  family traditions is that they get gifts from the family on Christmas Eve and they get  "Santa" gifts on Christmas Day so when we visited we opened presents from his family. The tradition with my family is we give the gifts to the friends they visit and open the ones they give to us. It was a wonderful celebration of family and friends.

       We are very lucky to have a loving and understanding family and Sadie was  invited to attend both Christmas celebrations.  She loved it. All the kids and the noise and people is really her cup of tea. She even had gifts from the family and got plenty of treats. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and only slightly over shadowed by the trip we are going to take on January 2nd but it was a wonderful night.

   I will be working most of Christmas day but my fantastic family is going to celebrate with me when I get home this evening. I have a night of family, pj's, a warm cup of tea, and presents to get me threw the work day. Also Sadie is waiting and she is the light at the end of the tunnel waiting for me to come home.

Merry Christmas to all. I will try to get Christmas Day pictures to share but I make no promises I might get wrapped up in enjoying my self and be distracted.

Sadie playing in the snow.

Sadie is enjoying our snow she loves to play in it and then lay down by the heater. I do everything I can to make sure Sadie is mentally stimulated with different experiences and challenges.  Earlier that day I had throw some sweet potato in the snow for her to dig out and find. She loved it. Sadie is a big fan of sweet potato and I like a nice healthy treat. She would go check the spots every time she went out to see if she had missed any. Sadie really loves the snow and hopes we keep getting it!

Oh the holidays.

It really is the time of year that we are reminded to take the time and think of all the things that we are thankful for, and the wonderful things in our life. I know it would be better if all of us did this more often but life gets busy and hectic and stressful and we forget about the little things that we love. It seamed like a good idea to take a post to mention some of the things I really appreciate about my life and about the people and animals I share it with.

 Chevy as a puppy.

I am thankful my friends trust me and are willing to ask me for help. Right now I have the privilege of having one of my friends dogs stay with us for the weekend. He had some family obligations that made it necessary to have Chevy stay somewhere else. The fact that he trusts me to take care of his dog really means a lot to me. Thank you.

 Chevy and Sadie on Thanksgiving.

Having family that is not nearly as animal/ dog focused as I am but they love me and do there best to relate and understand me. Not to say they don't love or like animals they are just a little less focused on it. But Sadie and Chevy were  invited to come to Thanksgiving so they don't have to stay home alone.  Thank you.

 Sadie playing on a map.

Something that always makes me happy is the dog training club I am a part of.  This is a collection of people who are really fantastic. They are always happy to help or offer advice. It's really nice to have other people that are as interested in training as I am but have been doing it longer and have that experience to offer.

And there is Sadie. Sadie who introduced me to the joys of owning a pit bull.Who is my main motivation to learn more about training and caring for dogs in general. Sadie is not ashamed to express how she feels running around like a doofus in her classic Sadie squat pose. We have a lot of work to do and issues we need to train with but she is a wonderful dog and I love her so much.

I am very thankful for all the wonderful people I have in my life and I hope I do my best to show it.

Stress and a new idea.

This week has been really stressful. Last week I got injured, hurt my wrist and it's still recovering.  Also I work in customer service and we are launching a new product next week. In anticipation work is extending our hours. It was really stressing me out.

This last week I did something that helped. I had the good fortune of getting to know a shelter dog over the past week and helping him always made me smile. It really put life into perspective. I have a nice bed to sleep on I have people that love me. But for one walk every day I could make someone else happy. I could throw a ball and walk a dog for an hour and he was so happy to see me. His owner came and claimed him after five days but I still remember how it felt to just devote yourself to making someone happy. And it felt really good. I will admit that almost every time  I went to the shelter I end up crying.  I am going to make it a goal to walk Sadie more and to not worry about the training but just appreciate the time with her just the two of us. Also I am going try and help the shelter out on my days off volunteer and walk a few dogs.

Happy Halloween

Sadie wishing everyone a happy Halloween. 

Kitty pumpkin!

Sadie rocking the tutu of many treats. 

"Sigh what I do for cookies."

A slow week.

     I came down with a cold last weekend and am still getting over it. And I have spent my time drinking tea, napping, and watching Big Bang Theory.  Sadie has been fantastic through all of it basically napping, cuddling and following me around. She does get this worried look on her face when I sneeze loudly like she is worried my head might explode.  So I took some cute pictures of her napping around the house to share.

 

Sadie relaxing in her bed.

 

 Sadie chilling on the couch.

 

 Napping in my bed.

Resting on my knee.

Our Favorite weekend escape.

Most Saturdays you can find Sadie and me at the local farmers market. We both really love the market.  With the fantastic food, the incredible people, and the beautiful crafts there is always something to discover. Also it always seems like the nicest people in town are there, both the other shoppers and the people in charge of the booths. Or maybe they are just like me and that going there puts them in a good mood.

Sadie's favorite part of the market I think it would be walking by the caramel popcorn guys. There is always a little spilled that she snatches up as we walk by. Her next favorite thing would be the kids. Sadie is super tolerant and loving of children so any time we see a family with some kids looking interested we invite them to come say hi. I normally have Sadie sit because it seams to  reassure both the parents and the children that this is a polite well mannered dog and that she does not want to eat the children. Maybe I should let them know she is full on popcorn?

My favorite part of the market is having Sadie with me. So many more people come and talk to me and interact with me then would if I was alone. I get to see the friendly, kind side of a total stranger and I always appreciate getting to see and remember that it exists. Also, I am a little shy and have a hard time striking up a conversation on my own. With Sadie I can talk about her and feel incredibly comfortable.

One of Sadie's best characteristics is how she is happy to meet anyone. From children whose petting is really more of a pat, to timid people who shyly touch and then back away, and even those with disabilities that cause them to maybe be less gentle than most dogs would like. Sadie does not react to them any differently and is always so happy to see them. Last time we were at the market Sadie meet an adult in a wheelchair. I don't know if she had ever been close to a person in a wheelchair before, but she was happy to greet him and the both of them were happy when we asked if he wanted to give Sadie a treat for being such a good dog. I would love to take credit for this fantastic behavior but, other than trying to make every outing pleasant, I have not done anything to prepare Sadie for people with disabilities.

Sadie always is impressing me with her happy accepting friendly nature. I am excited for more adventures with her.

Happy Fourth Birthday Sadie!

Sadie turned four years old today! I am happy to report that she seemed to enjoy her birthday. I would also like to add she recently went to the vet for her yearly check up and she got a clean bill of health. Our vet was really happy with her weight and how clean her teeth are. I am super happy to hear she is healthy, it's the best birthday gift.


Now on to the fun part.
Sadie kicked off her birthday with a sleep over with Paquette. Both dogs enjoyed helping bake the cake and then we all hung out and watched/slept through a movie. I took a nap today and Sadie was asleep next to my head and Paquette was asleep on my back it was very cozy.

 This morning Sadie got to go on a early morning walk with her pal Chevy. My schedule and his owner's is pretty opposite so it was the first time the dogs had been able to hangout in a while. When we finished our walk we needed to take Paquette to her grooming appointment so Sadie went along and spent a few hours at daycare playing. When the dogs came home after that we were all pretty tired so we all took a nap. When we woke up from the nap Sadie put her party clothes on and they enjoyed some cake.

 

 Paquette post grooming. 

After the cake Paquette had to go home.Sadie like most kids on there fourth birthday was wiped out and had to take a second nap.

After we took her on her second walk she opened her presents. Sadie was not excited about the new collar but is currently trying out her new chew toys. It has been a wonderful birthday and I hope we get to spend many more with her.

I also wanted to share a picture of her cake. It is a peanut butter and carrot cake, with pumpkin and apple sauce cream cheese frosting and I used the leftover ice cream  bones as decoration. It's decently healthy we very little sugar and smells fantastic. Well if you like peanut butter that is.

Taste of Fall.

How To....
Fall Pumpkin ice cream treat.

I know this is a little more of a summer treat but Sadie still loves it even with the weather getting colder.

What you will need.

1 cup of Plain yogurt

1 cup of Canned pumpkin

And I like to add some parsley. (I was out for this one but I normally add just a little bit of  it.)


Now I have a cookie sheet designed for this so I like to use it but before I had the cookie sheet I used small paper cups because you can just destroy the cup to get the treat out. For this I will use both I can show how its done. Also I normally have a little to much for the cookie sheet anyway.

In a medium sized bowl mix the pumpkin yogurt and parsley until they are well mixed.

 

 

 

 I then put the mixture into a sandwich bag and cut off a corner to make it easy to fill the cookie sheet and less messy.

 

After that fill the cookie sheet and the paper cups I place them in the freezer until solid.

 

 

I really love the cookie sheet they pop out super easily once frozen and I have not had any issues with them sticking.


Sadie is a wonderful helper always keeping her eyes on me willing to help out with any spills and is always happy to lick the bowl.

 

Please note all dishes are washed in the dishwasher after being pre-cleaned by  Sadie. Don't mention it to her she loves being a kitchen helper.

 

 After they are frozen solid I place all the pumpkin bones in a sandwich bag and store them in the freezer. They last for a few months in the freezer. Sadie loves them I tend to make them more when it's hot out but I wanted to make a fall themed treat.

Size compared to Sadie's foot. 

Taste test.

I think she likes them!

Nom nom nom.

*A fun fact. Pumpkin has been found to help with constipation and diarrhea in dogs so I always keep a few cans on hand and if Sadie acts a little sick I will try adding that and leaving out some of her food. If it doesn't clear her up or she gets worse we go to the vet. But Sadie has always had a rough time with bathroom habits. 

Fostering a dog.

Having said goodbye to our foster puppy recently I have been thinking about the whole fostering experience.

Maya would give me funny looks after a few pictures.

I have spoke with many of my dog friends that fostered a dog, and most of them are in a group called "foster failures". They tried to foster a dog but grew too attached and were not able to let go. Most of them expected us to also end up keeping our little puppy. We did consider it. She was, and is, a sweet, loving, brilliant girl who holds such a deep place in my heart.  Today I want to walk through some of the turbulent times that come with fostering.

She loved to cuddle and sleep.

We got her at around three months old.  She was pretty small, but the world was her playground. Maya developed in leaps and bounds under our care.  Within the first week after we got her, when she was spayed, she growled at the vet staff.  A month later, when we took her in to have the stitches removed, she was friendly and playful the entire time.  The staff even commented that she had really improved emotionally since we had first got her. Watching her grow and improve was something I will always treasure.

Joint head turn.

In our attempts to remind ourselves we called her our foster puppy and us her foster parents. We would take turns reminding each other that she was a foster puppy and we were just getting her ready for her forever home. It didn't work.  That little trouble maker who chewed the chair and would whine or talk at everything was in our hearts and was there to stay. She has such love for every person in her life that it's hard to believe the first two homes felt the need to get rid of her. We used that love she gave us and helped her to find a home with someone that would be amazing for her.

No I will not look at the camera.

Honestly, I don't know if I would have been able to let her go as easily as I did without seeing the relationship she had formed with her new mom. Her mom is a good friend of mine that I have known since we were little kids. She was in town visiting some family when she first met Maya. She had already expressed an interest in Maya but had not been sure if she was at a point that she could alter her life to suit a dog's needs. When she visited they went jogging and for walks while I was at work and most nights she was come over and they would cuddle and watch TV together with us. When my friend had to go back home Maya pouted around the house, confused why her new best buddy had not come over to hang out. My friend, after meeting Maya and spending time with her, decided to do what she needed to rearrange her life and get Maya in a little over a month. Seeing the work she was doing and how much they liked each other really helped me to let her go.