Our newest greyhound, Coral, has been a very well-behaved girl since she came to live with us a couple of weeks ago. She's still pretty new to living in a house verses living in a kennel at a dog track, so she's still getting used to things like furniture, carpet, stairs.
Everything has been going smoothly. That is, until yesterday morning when she decided to steal ornaments off the Christmas tree.
Here's another pooch-friendly cookie recipe. Both my pups love homemade treats, and I feel better about giving them doggie cookies made with natural ingredients.
I found this recipe on the RVSPCA e-newsletter, Paw Prints. When I am baking holiday cookies for people this weekend, I might as well make up a batch of biscuits for the pooches, too.
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup soy milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil.
In a bowl, combine flours and baking powder. In another bowl, combine all other ingredients, mixing to smooth consistency.
Gradually add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture and combine well.
Knead dough on a floured surface until pliable (2-3 minutes).
Roll dough until 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1-by-2 inch rectangles. (Editor's note: use a cookie cutter for holiday shapes. The dogs won't know the difference, but they will look more festive and fun!)
Arrange rectangles on baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Completely cool on a rack and store in sealed plastic bags or plastic container.
Refrigerate up to 1 1/2 weeks.
Here's the lovely Sasha trying to step into Santa's sleigh. She's an almost 2-year-old poodle/chihuahua mix. So would that be a Poohua or a Choodle? Anyway, she's awfully cute.
For the politically active dog on your Christmas list, may we suggest a collar that shows your pooch's party loyalty?
The New Hampshire Historical Society is selling needlepoint dog collars with your choice of a Democratic donkey or a Republican elephant and the state motto "Live Free or Die."
For all you independent voters, or Teddy Roosevelt fans, they also offer one with a moose that simply celebrates New Hampshire, a state that has shown dogged determination to preserve it's first-in-the-nation presidential primary tradition.
The collars come in four sizes and, according the Web site, were hand stitched by an Armenian women's co-op with leather work from a long-standing New Hampshire company. I noticed they do not come in the traditional blue-for-Democrats, red-for-Republicans color scheme.
Politically-themed collars could cause for some rousing debates through the neighborhood and around the dog park. If you happen have a two-dog, politically-divided household like mine, you could get one of each party. And walk one dog on the left and the other on the right, so as to be completely fair and balanced.
Now, if my dogs could chose the next chief executive, they would want a president who could promise them unlimited ear rubbings and tummy scratchings. In that case, my husband would be the next leader of the free world.
What do you think? Would you want your pooch to make a political statement?
Here's the first entry for the Christmas photo contest. This is Samson, a 3-year-old miniature schnauzer, who is pretty adorable as he waits for Santa Paws.
If you tried to e-mail me your photo and got a "bounce back" message, it's because my e-mail box was full of work-related messages and attachments! Bah humbug!
I quickly deleted all that stuff so now I can receive lots of pictures of cute pets celebrating the holidays. We are all about setting the right priorities here at The Happy Wag.
Keep 'em coming.
If you missed taking your pet to the malls to get a picture with Santa earlier this month, have no fear. There will be a half dozen more photo opportunity with the jolly old elf at the Valley View PetsMart.
A flyer tucked neatly into my bag on Sunday says that St. Nick will be posing for digital photos with pets on Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 1-2, 8-9, and 15-16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Price is $9.95, but you can save a dollar with your PetPerks card; $5 of each paid photo will be donated to local adoption partners, including shelters and rescue groups. A decorative holiday frame is included.
The flyer also says this package is a photo of you and your pet. I don't know if this point is negotiable for all you camera-shy folks (like me.) When we had our pets' pictures taken there two years ago, we did have to be in the photo, too.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and that means a hearty feast for most families. And since we consider the four-leggers part of the family, they should feast, too. Right?
Well, actually, the favorite foods of most Thanksgiving tables are not very good for your pets. Too much high-fat foods, like turkey skin basted in oil or butter, can cause pancreatitis, a painful illness that can lead to chronic digestive problems. Too much of any food can cause excess gas, which can cause bloat, a potentially life-threatening condition. Chocolate is poisonous. And brittle bird bones pose a risk of choking or tearing the intestines.
All of these problems can and cause a scary, not to mention expensive, trip to the emergency vet hospital, effectively ruining your family’s holiday.
Okay, enough already. You get it, don’t give in to those pleading puppy-dog eyes and hand over the table scraps. Easier said than done, I know. Do I practice what I preach? Not always. I have been known to give in and slip a little turkey or pie crust to my hound.
But if you want to play it ultra-safe and make sure your dog does not suffer any harm this holiday, enlist the help of all your dinner guests. If you all work together, your pooch may be the only one who eats sensibly on Thursday.
During the daylong cooking process, keep the dog occupied and out of the kitchen— ask the kids to take Rover out to the backyard for a game of Frisbee or fetch, or have someone take him out for a couple of long walks.
When dinner rolls around, make sure everyone knows that feeding Fido is a no-no. If everyone gives your canine just a little something from their plate, she could end up overfed and crying from a tummy ache before the dishes are clear.
Once the meal is over and the leftovers are put away, make sure to tie up the garbage and keep it far out your dog’s reach. Snooping snouts can smell right through those plastic bags, and even the most well behaved pooch may not be able to resist the temptation to tear open the Hefty and dive right in. Then you have a potentially sick dog AND a huge mess to clean.
If you simply can't resist, white turkey meat is probably the safest bet. If it's mixed in with their normal dinner, you can control the total amount of food your pet eats. The big thing to avoid is constant, all-day snacking, which is probably good advice for everyone.
Remember, perhaps even more than food, dogs crave attention and affection. Treat them to lots of praise and a good scratching and they will have a happy holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving!
By Saturday morning, you should be out of your turkey-induced coma, done with the malls and ready for a little fresh air. What better way to work off extra calories and shopping stress than taking your favorite pooch to the park?
Six Wags Dog Park in Salem is offering a free Yappy Hour from 8 a.m. to noon this Saturday.
According Katie Halsted, a park partner and Roanoke's own Pooch Professor, all dog washes will be $10 this Saturday, no matter what size your puppy happens to be.
So get out there, let your pup get as dirty as he or she likes in the park, and then clean up before you leave. What a deal!
Asia, the jalapeno-licking, furniture-chewing pug, brings home the prize in the first Happy Wag comment contest.
Here's the story:
We got our middle pug, Asia, about eight years ago. She was the runt of her little and subsequently, the breeders gave us a weight gainer formula that made her teeth razor sharp. Well...she was biting into the furniture with abandon. The breeder recommended that we get jalapeno peppers and squeeze the juice onto the legs of our beautiful coffee table as a deterrent to biting. We went to a Mexican specialty store that sold us their highest potency peppers. The juice had an opposite effect on Asia. She sniffed it, licked it, and chewed all the more!! So much for best laid plans!
The image of the ravenous little pug made me laugh. Hey Asia, I love peppers too, but I never used them to season furniture. Here's hoping your pet mom, Laura K., does not have to use the book "Dog Days" to prop up a table with a chewed-off leg.
Thank you to everyone who posted a comment. They were all great stories and it was a tough choice. To Cali, Bogie, Beethoven, Ned, Zoe and especially poor little Boo Boo, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't eat too many table scraps!
And to Katie, I am so sorry for the loss of Tawsky. I am sure he was a wonderful dog and I know you miss him. We lost a dog suddenly in August, too.I will be thankful this year for the memories we have of Missy as I am sure you will be of Tawsky.
Experts say when you are adding a pet to your family, you should "adopt with your head, not your heart."
Those experts have never met Coral.
I saw her picture on Petfinder through Star City Greyhound Adoptions, the non-profit group from Salem that introduced me to Dexter. I thought Coral was not only beautiful, but she seemed to have a gentle, almost ladylike quality about her.
I met her at a meet-and-greet on Saturday, and she had me at hello. My husband drove out to the store, spent a few minutes with her, and he agreed she was a sweet dog. She came home with us that afternoon.
She hit it off right away with Dexter. They played in the backyard and he is sharing his pillows and toys with her almost without complaint. Even our cat, Thai, seems to accept her, a much smoother transition than he did when we first brought Dexter home.
Even though the decision to bring home Coral was largely based on emotion, we did use our best judgment. We have room for another dog, we can afford to take care of her, and we knew what to expect when we brought her home. We are familiar with greyhounds and we know how to help as Coral figures out her racing career is over and now she can enjoy her retirement.
There is always an adjustment period when a new pet enters a home, and while this weekend with Coral went very well, we know we will likely have issues to deal with as she settles in as a member of our family.
If you have a story about those initial growing pains when you first bring a new dog into your pack, post a comment.
