The Adventures of the Broken Butt Pack

A Big fat hairy rant

2009-08-31T09:56:00.002-04:00

After being at the metroparks and running the dogs while pulling the scooter for NEARLY TEN FRICKIN MONTHS, during which time i was approached by several different park rangers who were impressed with what i was doing and never once told me that i was doing anything wrong: today i got "busted". One of the horse people put a call into the ranger station that i was out there with my wild out of control dogs pulling a scooter and putting her horses in danger because "horses and dogs don't mix". So the assistant-head ranger came and talked to my sister who was waiting in the truck and tells her that i have to have a permit to ride on the trails and that i need a valid reason to get one, simply doing it to exercise my dogs isn't a good enough reason to get a permit.

For one, i never passed a single person on the trails today!! NOT ONE FRICKIN PERSON! The horses usually use the North trail loop, and i almost exclusively use the South. The dogs do barkscream frantically and manically when we're hooking up, but it's because they're so excited to go! Once we're on the trails they don't make a peep. I'm so pissed off that someone would call and complain about me i was practically in tears!!

I never never never ride on the road directly where the trailers are parked if there are horses tied, altho i will ride on the other two paved loops as it's the best place to teach directional cues, however that puts over 50 ft or more between me and the horses and, like i said, my dogs are silent once we start out, they only scream during hook up!

I park way down at the end and hook up so i have a direct path to the trail i'm getting on so in case there are horses out i don't have to ride by.

In the past i have told horse people which trails i will be on. I didn't today as i didn't see anyone out until i was already hooking dogs up (those people had just pulled in and could SEE what path i'm taking).

I ALWAYS yield the right away to anyone else on the trail unless they wave me on. Then I will WALK the dogs around the horses before carrying on.

I've been around horses, i ride, i know that some horses spook easily, but honestly if you're taking your horses on the trails i ride on (which weaves in and out of the woods) you better have already worked on bomb-proofing your horse or you're just a plain idiot!

UGH! I now have the ranger station number in MY cell phone, so the next time some horse people let THEIR dog off leash to ride along with the horses i can put in a complaint (which is the ONLY POSTED rule at the park "dogs must be on hand controlled leash". and i get snitched on cause "dogs and horses don't mix"? pah-leeze) or any other rules i now know about that the horse people are breaking for that matter.

when we were at the ranger station a call came in that someone fell off their horse. the incident happened AFTER i was well off the trails and heading to the ranger station. Looks like the HORSES are a bigger risk to the HUMANS than my dogs are to anything. >_<

I called my dad and he met me over at the ranger station to back me up since i was so flustered and i sent my sister home with the boys. No rangers were there but we talked to the receptionist and got a print out of the complete rules. The receptionist said that you have to have a permit for having any animal pulling something on the trails, and pretty much anything that wasn't riding a bike, scooter, rollerblades that are human powered, walking your dogs, or riding your horses. She also said it shouldn't be that difficult to get a permit, but i have to go talk to the head ranger sometime this week to find out more.

So, in the car on the way home i read the rules - ALL of them. NO WHERE does it say ANYTHING about prohibiting or needing a permit for having an animal pull something on the trails! It says it is prohibited to lead and animal by or have an an animal pull a MOTORIZED vehicle at the parks, so the sled dog teams that use an ATV need a permit, but my scooter doesn't have a motor so i shouldn't need a permit. The only other thing mentioned that the stupid rangers could be mixing up is that you can't pull any bike/scooter/cart/rollerblades etc behind a motor vehicle.

So now i'm even MORE pissed off, because they don't even know their OWN RULES!!!!

Ugh. Not looking forward to talking to her. but they're either going to leave me the hell alone, or give me the damn permit or i'm going to raise such a stink they'll regret they ever brought it up!

Why couldn't they tell me this when it was so stinkin' hot out? it's nice and cool this week so i want to go out a lot!! Guess i have to go in now to talk to mrs. head ranger. bah!

Diving Videos

2009-08-15T20:56:00.002-04:00

The first time i've ever been able to call Koda off the toy in Baxter's mouth.

Baxter takes his first actual jump (not slip/fall) off the dock

If you're only going to watch on video, watch this one:

Dock Diving

2009-08-15T17:40:00.002-04:00

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Baxter started out terrified of swimming. He would reluctantly venture into the pond, but only where he could still touch bottom. His love of toys couldn't even tempt his further, anytime he'd lose his footing he'd turn in a blind panic forgetting the toys in his rush to regain his footing.

We tried throwing all the toys out into the water and cheering him on, but that didn't work. He'd get frustrated and then sit down in the water and bark at the toys out of his reach.

That all changed earlier this week when he finally decided he was tired of Koda getting all the toys and dived in!

Why you talk so much? Boring!

Throw the toy!

Whee! I stapled an old rug on the end of the dock to help give Koda more traction in his jumps, i think it's working!

Baxter mostly jumps into the water right below the dock. I didn't get any pics of him jumping in, but i did get some videos that i'm uploading as we speak.

He's so tiny under all that hair!!

That was fun!

This is not a good week for me.

2009-07-18T10:09:00.002-04:00

Trophy is very sick. He keeps throwing up, and has been throwing up since monday - once a day every day the only exception is the one day i fasted him he did not throw up, but threw up 7 hours after his breakfast of rice the next day.

Took him to the vet, who suggested x-rays with his history of eating everything under the sun. Altho i didn't think it was a blockage as he's still WANTING to eat EVERYTHING. Mom said he's also still pooping, which points to no blockage. X-rays showed nothing anyway, but he woke me up to more vomit this morning, even tho i fasted him again last night.

At this point I'm insanely worried about him. he got a small breakfast of rice and 3 ounces of canned Quail meat (ingredients: quail, water for processing). So far he hasn't thrown up again, but he usually throws up between 1-3pm after his breakfast.

UGH! I do not need to lose my dog (who was my grandpa's favorite dog, btw) a mear week after losing my grandpa. I'm going crazy over here!!! :(

Scootering with Baxter

2009-07-13T20:58:00.002-04:00

First I just want to say thank you for all the kind words and comments of support. Grandpa's viewing and memorial service are tomorrow so i will probably be a mess for a few days after that (I've been holding it together so well since Saturday).

Anyway, today I took Baxter and Koda scootering and my aunt went with me to take some photos.

A brief moment of calm in between trying to eat another dog on a walk.

We're off!

Woah. Check out that tongue action.

Let's see a closeup!

Baxter is so much more consistent than Trophy. Trophy is eithering hauling-ass or slacking completely off the pace Koda is practically dragging him down the path. >_< Baxter has a natural talent!

happy

Update and taking a short break

2009-07-10T14:44:00.003-04:00

Just want to fill everyone in.

My grandpa passed away early this morning. I'm taking it very hard since he and grandma have lived with us since i was 10 years old (~15 years). I'm going to be taking a break for a while to spend some time with my family, tho i will probably pop in to read some blogs.

Thank you,
~Lexi and the boys

need some good mojo

2009-07-06T23:32:00.005-04:00

My grandpa turned 83 on June 20th this year. He has a heart condition where one of his valves isn't closing all the way (i don't know all the technical mumbo-jumbo). He's scheduled to have open heart surgery later this month (i don't know the exact date).

Anyway he's not doing well tonight. After a week of temperatures in the mid 70's with low humidity and air conditioning on to remove any lingering humidity in the house, today was HOT and HUMID in comparison. He's been on oxygen for several weeks, but tonight he's having a lot of difficulty breathing and getting comfortable.

Mom said he's rather gray in color, and his heart is working overtime trying to pump blood. Right now he's refusing to go to the hospital, but i think my parents are going to drag him out to the car if he's still in this condition in 20 minutes.

I love my grandpa. We nearly lost him a few years ago to a terrible freak traumatic accident - he was unhooking his car from his motor home on a trip in canada and the car was hit by another motor home pinning him between the two vehicles and nearly every bone in his chest was crushed. He miraculously pulled thru and other than his heart issue is in great health.

The pic above is from last April when grandma and grandpa came and visited me in texas and we took the boys (I only had Shiner and Qwill back then!) camping.

If you can spare some mojo, prayers, and good thoughts the broken butts and i would really appreciate it.

And since we're talking about heart disease, many of you will remember my Daisy Doodle who the Boys left behind with her mom in texas.

Banana Butt was born with a heart murmur, but it has recently gotten worse. She is still in good health, but her mom is trying to be very proactive in planning treatment. She is getting a consult through Texas A&M about a surgical procedure to fix her heart and add many more years onto her life. I don't have a lot of news yet, but i'll keep you posted. i'm sure her mom would appreciate your positive thoughts too.

UPDATE: Grandpa was admitted to the hospital last night for observation. Today it was decided to keep him hospitalized and move up his surgery date. He is being transferred to University Hospitals in Cleveland and will be having surgery at the end of this week or early next week.

Thank you all for your good thoughts! I appreciate it greatly!

Can't get much better than that!

2009-07-05T23:15:00.002-04:00

(looks much better in full, click to see the bigger image)

Thanks to everyone that voted. I think this was my favorite too.

I promise more updates are forthcoming, especially after i quit hell-job tomorrow and am only working at one place instead of two! Yay!

2009-07-02T20:12:00.002-04:00

OK! HELP ME PICK BAXTER'S FULL NAME! I've come up with these four I like:

BrokenButts Finally Home
BrokenButts Second Chance
Both of these play on his previous life, being dumped at the shelter and finally finding his forever home here.

BrokenButts Dr Jekyll Wins
A play on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde book: Baxter transforms from an evil dog-eating monster (Mr. Hyde) to a mild mannered guy he his today (Dr. Jekyll)

BrokenButts Born to Fly
The boy loves his frisbee, what else can i say?

SOO! Please VOTE above! Poll closes SUNDAY NIGHT July 5th.

And for some comedy:
Koda went to sleep laying on top of a pile of pillows and i woke up to find him perfectly buried UNDER them! He didn't even knock a single one on the floor!

Still working on the blog, but the post i promised!

2009-07-01T19:41:00.001-04:00

Trophy loves the water

blog redoux underway!

2009-07-01T16:50:00.001-04:00

I am in the middle of totally reoverhauling my blog. yes, i do this a lot and will continue to do this until i find something i love too much to redo again :0

When all is said and done i promise a new blog post! :)

365 days...

2009-06-25T22:47:00.003-04:00

hard to believe one year ago today i called my roommate to ask if i could get a puppy. And the a few hours later this little 7 pound bundle of energy came home with me from work. He rode on my lap as i didn't have a carrier with me and i didn't want him to pee on my seats! He's grown into teh beautiful dog i know today. We're just starting out journey together. Love ya Trophy!

6 weeks old, 7 pounds

13.5 months old, 45.3 pounds

It's offical!

2009-06-24T21:34:00.004-04:00

Baxter is staying!

He's also keeping the name Baxter, much to my dismay, but i'll take the name as long as i can keep the dog.

He's going in to the vet Friday for a dental and hip x-rays.

Now i need to think of his "official" name.

I need some help!

it SHOULD be 26 characters long and has to start with "BrokenButts_"whatever.

My current dogs are:
Qwill:
BrokenButts Declaration 1776
(qwill? as in quill pen? get it? get it??)

Shiner:
BrokenButts Dimond in da Ruff

Apostrophy:
BrokenButts Grammar Nazi

Baxter:
BrokenButts ???????

help! :)

Five dog day

2009-06-14T21:11:00.003-04:00

I become more torn about B's future everyday.

On the one hand, I'm still saving money up to get his hips x-rayed. He is not limping profoundly like he was a few weeks ago, but he does favor one rear leg.

On the other hand, he gets along so well with all my dogs! Even Toady!! When my sister came back home this weekend i was very nervous that B would relapse and we'd have a fight on our hands, but B didn't really notice. Not to say he doesn't have any snarky moments (oh, he does) but he's easily corrected.

*sigh* fostering and foster failing are difficult endeavors :)

THROW THE FRISBEE!

OK FINE!
On to the photos! (my sister took all of the frisbee shots, so don't blame me if you don't like them. lol)

As if we had any doubts he was all border collie

The very first throw i did today was really high and ended in Koda jumping over Baxter with the bottoms of his toes over 3 feet off the ground. It was awesome to witness, but of course it wasn't captured on film and i think Koda scared himself as this was all the airtime he got after that.

ah well. at least he cought it.

unlike some dogs i know

Qwill's only frisbee chase today. I told him off for being so mean to Trophy today and so he pouted mostly, but did chase this roller.

Doesn't Koda look good? Much better from overweight dog who was pulling out all of his hair last year. We finally have his food and grass allergies under control!

A glimpse "behind scenes". Notice Shiner grazing in the background. I'm surprised Qwill isn't grazing either. They both think they're cows! Oh, and Hi! That's me in the midst of my canine chaos! :)

Shiner and his aunt. Think he's do this for me? not a chance!

He even looks content.

If i did that to him he's be out of his mind in terror. Since i am the devil in disguise to him. *sigh*

Whut?

not dead, just really busy.

2009-06-14T14:26:00.002-04:00

It's sad that i'm excited about my psychotic manager at the-job-from-hell cut my days down to one as it means i will get ONE day off this week. I'm not complaining because i hate that job, i hate that manager, i get paid less than at my new job, and having to be there only once a week is a blessing.

i keep picking up hours from coworkers at my new job. And i couldn't be more happy. Have i mentioned that i love my new job? lol.

But anyway, that is why i haven't updated in a while. because i am working or trying to work with my dogs and i don't have a spare set of hands for the camera.

with the help of my sister i took some photos of the gang today. I will post them when i get home work tonight at 7:30. In the mean time here is one to hold you over till then.

(getting 4 dogs to look at the camera simultaneously was hard enough. getting 5 to do the same is proving impossible. Also - note to self: group photos BEFORE frisbee or all you can see of B is his tongue!)

Let's Play!

2009-06-04T22:51:00.002-04:00

B continues to amaze me with his progress. Early this week he started to play with Trophy and eventually Shiner. Not really Qwill yet, but Q's feeling a bit asocial since he feels i don't spend enough time with him anymore. *eyeroll*.

B's even learned the fine art of Trophy sitting!

Bitey face

and has some killer kung-fu moves!

he also apparently thinks he's a shark

Trophy's a good sport tho!

Shiner's in a e-collar for a few days as all attempts to get him to stop licking at his foot failed. e-collars make Shiner grumpy as all hell. More so than he normally is, so he didn't play with B this afternoon so i could get photos. In fact the little shrimp won't even walk where you want him to go. I had to carry him upstairs, and my dad had to bring him to my room from their bed (the only reason he jumped on the bed in the first place was i was sweeping the floor and he thought the vacuum was going to eat him).

Working at my new job is amazing. I can NOT WAIT until they put me full time and i can tell my other job to shove it *crosses fingers, toes, eyes, tongue, legs, and everything else i can get a hold of that business takes off and they can put me full time!!!* Trophy is going to make his debut on Sunday. I can't wait! I'll see if i can take my point and shoot camera and get some pics. :)

now, i'm off to let the boys out again and then to bed!

Long over due

2009-05-31T10:27:00.005-04:00

(these photos taken Thursday 5/28)

This is Trophy.

As you know his birthday was this month. But since Baxter/Blooper (I'm trying to change his name, but not everyone in the house is onboard from here on out i will refer to him as B) had just arrived and our birthday visit was delayed until this week. After a successful trip to the Grateful Dog Bakery we came home with this box of goodies!

Don't they look yummy?

They are.

Yes I've tried them. I don't like the carob frosting as much as this one (i can't remember if it's vanilla or peanut butter). They're dryer than human cupcakes, but that's what makes them for dogs, ya know. :-P

Everyone lines up for dinner and i divided the treats so everyone could try both frosting.

Toady's dish. I only have 4 bowls in raised feeders, so poor Toady was vanquished to the floor. i don't think he minded.

Since it was his [belated] birthday i let Trophy have a quick early bite.

and they're off!

unfortunatly this was the last picture i got as i GREATLY underestimated Shiner's inability to chew his food and he started choking and since i don't yet know the doggy first aid protocol for choking, i started panicing and reached down his throat to scoop out most of the food he was gagging on until the piece of cake he had swallowed whole had passed thru and he could finish dinner. I about died. it took me a good two hours to stop shaking. Needless to say i'm REALLY glad that my new job requires us to learn doggy first aid and i CAN'T WAIT to learn.

Shiner was fine, altho he was a bit miffed about losing some of his dinner. Needless to say we will be handling birth/gotcha day treats a bit differently in the future (perhaps i will put the pupcakes in the food processor first).

(these photos taken today)

B is still learning the fine art of group picture taking. He's either sulking because he thinks Qwill is going to get all the treats.

Or he's making crazy faces (to Trophy's horror!)

or he's staring at the ceiling (unfortunately he does that a lot. he has an OCD about lights on the ceiling)

Eventually i get lucky and snap one that's just right, even if B looks a bit worried.

Update you've been waiting for

2009-05-26T21:22:00.002-04:00

I was holding off on updating for a few reasons, 1. because i have no new photos (sorry!) and 2. Baxter is limping and i've been trying to figure out what to do about it.

B runs well with Trophy. He doesn't like when Trophy gets super excited at the beginning of runs, but i'm confident that with time, more exposure to Trophy and that behavior and more exercise in general he can overcome it. Once they're running he doesn't have a care in the world. He reminds me a lot of Koda who took to this new "job" instantly. He just knows that he is supposed to run infront of me and keep the line taught.

the bad news is that ever since our run Sunday and tossing a few frisbees later that day - B has been limping badly on his rear left leg. I'm trying to come up with how i'm going to pay to get it x-rayed, and what that means for him in general.

The truth of the matter all boils down to - if he can't run with Trophy he can't stay here. If i wanted to run a dog with hip dysplasia (if that's what's wrong with B) i have two dogs already to do so, i really don't need a third!!! It could be just a soft tissue injury (pulled muscle, or a strain) which should heal on its own with a few more days cage rest, unless it's severe.

Anyway, my point is, if i x-ray his hips and he has hip dysplasia the reality is that i need to put him up for adoption. BUT can i justify spending the money for x-rays if i'm not keeping him?

It's a hard question to face and I'm torn in different directions. He's been limping for two days. I'm putting him on cage rest till Saturday (my next day off). if he's still limping then we schedule a vet appointment and i beg for money on the street corner (lol).

I really want to keep him.

He's fitting in very well here despite his dog aggressive past and he's working thru his issues with *surprisingly* little training from me. He's worked thru his fear of the clicker. He chooses to RUN WITH Trophy and no ATTACK Trophy while doing it. The question now relies on if he PHYSICALLY CAN run with trophy, and if he can ever play frisbee again.

cross your paws and fingers that he can become the fourth BrokenButt, and not the third dog with a broken butt in this house. :(

(to R, J, B &D who asked about the broken butt thing, Qwill and Shiner, my first and second dogs, have hip dysplasia. I jokingly refer to them as The BrokenButts. My pack name is the BrokenButts, since technically their butts are broken. :P )

BUT for some SUPER GOOD NEWS:
I WAS OFFERED A SECOND JOB AT CAMP BOW-WOW!!! I START TOMORROW!!! This greatly reduces my stress over financial issues, and I'll get to play with a big group of dogs while at work! I'm so excited! :)

I think Baxter's found his forever home!

2009-05-21T23:32:00.003-04:00

I'll keep you pretty much in suspense for now. more updates tomorrow. it's past my bedtime!

Amazing news to report!

2009-05-18T22:20:00.002-04:00

I came home from my 9 hour work shift today to find 3 dogs loose in the kitchen: Qwill, Shiner, and BAXTER! He was unmuzzled, untethered, and playing fetch with my sister while bumping noses and walking by the other two boys! We are taking things even more slowly introducing him to Trophy (who can be a bit too IN-YOUR-FACE for some dogs), and it will be a VERY long time before he is formally introduced to Koda (who has enough issues of his own) but his progress thus far is AMAZING! He hasn't even been here two full weeks!!

I am so excited! And the two books i ordered to learn more about treating reactivity and dog-dog aggression arrived in the mail today. They are "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons and "FIGHT! A Practical Guide to the Treatment of Dog-Dog Aggression" by Jean Donaldson. I'll let you know what i think of them :)

And finally, I have a job interview tomorrow with a doggie daycare and overnight boarding facility. It would only be a part time position to start, but I'm SUPER excited and hopeful anyway as the less hours i have to work at my current job the BETTER!!! Cross your paws for us!

Baxter and his Frisbee

2009-05-13T13:57:00.004-04:00

Baxter loves to play frisbee.

He's actually pretty good at catching them, but i didn't get any good catches on film.

can you really say "on film" when your camera is digital? what are we supposed to say instead? hmm... must ponder that...

Such focus

He knows how to keep his eye on the disc!

rawr!

nom!

If you have never checked out "Just Another Dog Blog" i highly suggest you do. She has two border collies, Bella and Kate. The following photos are my tribute to Kate, who, try as she might, just can't catch the ball. We lovingly refer to this as "pulling a Kate" so if you hear me mention it in the future, now you know why!

Silly boy. He also LOVES to play with the Jolly Ball. Probably more so than the frisbee, but since he slobbers all over it and then rolls on it trying to catch it he ends up all slobbery and grass stained, so i prefer frisbee to this game.

That's a good Border Collie right there - nice and tired!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROPHY!

2009-05-10T07:14:00.002-04:00

Hard to believe he lived this long, considering all the trash bags, paper towels, stuffing, fleece toys, toy parts, and hair he ate along the way..... but we did. Can't imagine life without him now! Love you Trophy-Dophers!

Trophy's 1st Birthday from Lexi Dvorak on Vimeo.

A short update

2009-05-06T22:25:00.002-04:00

This is Baxter:

He

REALLY

Likes

To

Play

With

His

Sheepie!

Oh, he likes to play ball too. And is very photogenic. :)

Had our appt with my vet today I'm happy to tell you his is heartworm NEGATIVE. What a relief that was! More cute photos of him tomorrow. :)

He's here!!

2009-05-05T22:07:00.004-04:00

Just one pic for today. We have a long road ahead of us with this guy and getting him settled and accepting of other dogs, but the fact that i finally (albeit temporarily) have a prick eared dog that will play ball for hours (more than Koda even!) is wonderful fun!! I'm going to try him on a frisbee tomorrow too.

More pics tomorrow, I'm exhausted now.

To answer some of the questions i've been asked in comments:

-the border collie he cam in with was adopted already from the shelter. i don't know if he also had issues with other dogs or not. It is a shame they couldn't be adopted out together.

-no, the American Border Collie Association has not been contacted, at least not by me. I've been involved in BC Rescue for over 18months now, starting with the adoption process and moving to the fostering side of things now. I network with many of the individual BC rescues via forums, and have never heard of anyone contacting the ABCA. In fact if you go to their website they make ZERO mention of rescue.

-i have not contacted Best Friends in Utah, as it is very far away, and I would prefer to have an All Border Collie or Herding breed dog rescue take him in. Placing these dogs in forever homes can be a complicated process since many people think they want a border collie, yet the dog is completely wrong for their family - usually because they are so hyper active. Border Collie rescue and herding breed rescues (aussies, cattle dogs) have more experience with the breed's individual needs and the experience in matching dogs to homes. Not saying that Best Friends isn't a great place for a dog to end up. Not at all, they do amazing work.

-i have sent e-mails to both border collie rescues that are in Ohio, and have not heard back from either yet. When trying to place a BCmix that was in Tiffin, which is where BuckeyeBCR is located we heard that their foster homes are full. I do not have first hand confirmation of this.

again, thank you all so very much for helping me get Baxter out of the shelter. Keep your paws crossed as he goes into the vet tmw for a heartworm test! paws crossed for negative results!

THANK YOU!

2009-05-04T15:31:00.002-04:00

I don't think i can ever say THANK YOU enough this week! The response has been OVERWHELMING! $350 raised to help Baxter! I am leaving the donate button up on my previous post in case anyone still wants to contribute, all additional money raised will be donated to the rescue group that takes him in!

Baxter will be sprung from the shelter tomorrow when i get there after work, and I will update everyone with new pictures then.

THANK YOU!!!

Please Help Me Save Baxter

2009-05-03T00:43:00.005-04:00

Hello dear readers,

I promise not to make a habit of this sort of post, but this is a very deserving cause.

I would like to introduce you to Baxter,

Baxer is a 5 year old pure bred Border Collie who was surrendered to the Lake County Ohio Dog Shelter when his elderly owner could no longer care for him and his 8 year old border collie companion. It is evident that Baxter and his companion were left to themselves for much of their lives. Due to having very little socialization with dogs, his chances of adoption from the shelter are near Zero. I fully believe that his issues can be turned around with an experienced hand and positive training.

Baxter has very little time left and needs to be pulled from the shelter ASAP - before Wednesday. However, due to parental restrictions i can not foster Baxter long term, and am working desperately to find a rescue with foster space for him.

And, unfortunately, financial restrictions due to Qwill's untimely run in with a ball-possessive dog and a trip to the vet for wound cleaning and antibiotics (which deserves a post of its own at a later time) means I may not have the necessary resources to pull him in the first place.

I know times are troubled right now my friends, I know some of us are penny pinching and cutting back, but this dog desperately deserves a chance.

Any collar purchases made at my etsy shop (http://loveofqwill.etsy.com) from now until Wednesday will go 100% to saving Baxter's life. Every dollar will make the difference between life and death, so if you can only spare $1, I am including a donate button at the bottom of this post. Please consider a donation. Baxter's pull fee is $95, which covers the extensive vetting and neuter from the shelter. Anything extra raised will cover food costs, vet costs, and will as a donation to the rescue who steps up and can take him in.

My sincerest thanks from the very bottom of my heart go out to anyone who can help me save this dog. Please repost and link to this entry as much as necessary. I am truly sorry if this entry offends anyone, that is not my goal at all, just trying to save a dog who has pulled on everyone of my heart strings. A dog who needs a second chance.

Update: we have raised $35 so far to help save Baxter! Thank you to everyone who has donated so far from the bottom of my heart! Please keep spreading the word!

Update 6:55pmEST: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Over $300 in donations so far to help me save Baxter! I am blown away by the kindness shown by every single person who has donated, posted, twittered, and spread the word about this beautiful dog! I have never felt more humbled by your kind, selfless acts and I know i have said this before but TRULY I THANK YOU FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!! I am crying tears of absolute joy and elation from knowing that even tho a rescue has not yet been found, he is going to be safe! I am trying to send an e-mail of thanks to each individual who has donated, but my mail box is overflowing, so forgive me if i miss you, you are truly appreciated!

Happy Spring!

2009-04-29T14:09:00.001-04:00

AS PROMISED - Pumpkin Kongs!

2009-04-29T13:45:00.003-04:00

Ok, this isn't a recipie, it's just a how to. It's easy, but time consuming, and will stain, if precautions aren't taken, BUT these keep my dogs busy FOUR TIMES longer than anything else i can stuff in their kongs, so i endure.

What you need: 1. can of pumpkin. I have a giagantic one because i can! (no pun intended) this can makes enough to fill 12 kongs. The 30oz can fills 3-4 kongs. 2. apron 3. 2 metal bowls (plastic will stain!) 4. metal strainer 5. tea towel that does not have any tears or weak spots 6. kongs

Start by putting on your apron. Trust me this process is messy and will stain!!! Then open the can. Make sure it's fully charged as my Gizmo died halfway thru.

Tada!

Put the strainer over/in one of the bowls. The strainer will prevent any large chunks falling into the pumpkin juice. Start with small amounts of pumpkin in the tea towel until you get used to the motion that removes the most water.

Twist the towel up around the pumpkin.

Squeeeeeeze! I've found that flattening the pumpkin out and wringing it against itself works well to remove water. half the battle is getting the water off the towel and into the bowel!

Once you've removed most of the water you will be left with what looks like baby poop in a diaper. Was that TMI? sorry...

Um.. you'll be left with what looks like deep orange playdough. better? IT doesn't have to be completely dry, but dry enough that it's not going to leak out the bottom of the kongs.

You'll be amazed how much water you will get out of just one scoop of pumpkin

After half my my giant can my arms started to get shaky so i stopped.

This will be just enough pumpkin to fill 6 kongs.

begin the stuffing process. make sure you pack the kong starting at the bottom as it's hard to remove air bubbles once it's full.

These are ready to go into the freezer. They need to set up for at least 4-5 hours.

Store the remaining pumpkin in the fridge. this will keep long enough for me to finish squeezing next week. Don't throw the juice away! My dogs will get it in their dinner tonight. they love it. 2 2/3 cups of juice from 1/2 of the pumpkin... wow!

couple things to note. I'm not kidding about staining! Check out my nails and the dog's beds:

they now only get these in empty crates!!

Pumpkin is a great stool regulator. It helps prevent constipation and diarrhea. Don't feed too much or it can CAUSE diarrhea. my dogs will get the juice tonight, a kong tomorrow, and another kong on monday. If you have problems with your dog having diarrhea a lot add 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup of pumpkin to their food daily, depending on their size. Enjoy!!

Brown-noser!

2009-04-29T08:43:00.000-04:00

Video!

2009-04-22T20:50:00.002-04:00

Ok, I know i promised (via twitter) a kong treat today. BUT we are totally out of fridge room, and since i only have a GINORMOUS #10 can of pumpkin (I used the last small can yesterday testing my technique). However, expect it soon! Besides, i shouldn't give the boys that much fiber twice in one week, i'm trying to cure the runs, not cause it! (did you know that pumpkin can cure diarrhea AND constipation and too much can CAUSE diarrhea?! Weird huh?)

Well, anyway. I'm getting back on a training schedule with the boys, here's a video of the Monster trying to learn 4-in-a-box which is just placing all four feet in a box. I'm clicking for him putting his BACK feet in the box, as he's mostly forgotten he has them.

I also have a vid of Shiner box-hopping, but i can't edit it as it's a .mov file, and i can't edit .mov files and it's too long to upload to photobucket. Anyone know of a FREE .MOV EDITOR?! He's so cute hopping into boxes, but i can't share it! *pout*

What's going on 'round here

2009-04-19T12:37:00.002-04:00

hi everyone! It's been a busy week here. Unfortunately none of it involved pictures, which is why there have not been any updates.

It rained most of last week (and is gearing up right now to rain any second) so the boys were cooped up inside a lot. Thursday and Friday were warm and sunny and dried out the ground a smidge. Friday we went out to play, and while hosing the mud off the boys Trophy discovered that hoses are VERY VERY AWESOME. He loves to chase the water hitting the ground, even more than the red dot as there's something tangible he can actually get his mouth on. He also discovered that butterfiles are fun to chase.
Yesterday was downright HOT - nearly eighty in the sun according to the thermometer. I got sun burnt while washing my car, but Trophy had a blast still chasing the hose, even trying to kill it running on my car. lol!

Yesterday I also bought the little brat a new toy. I will be giving my review on it in a few weeks when we've had a chance to try it out more. I hope this will be THE PREFECT TOY as it come WITH A GUARANTEE! If Trophy destroys it, i get a NEW ONE. *evil laughter*. ahem, sorry. don't know what came over me. :)

Giveaway Winner and NEW STORE ITEMS!

2009-04-12T12:38:00.003-04:00

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who visited my store this past week and entered our giveaway. I hope you will remember me when you are shopping for your pet's new collars!

The winner chosen by random.org's random number generator was post number 24 by AmandaSue. She will get to choose one collar style in the spring fabric of her choice. But that's not all! I am please to announce that I am adding FOUR new spring fabrics that she can also choose from!

Stripe 039 Stained Glass:

Stripe 040 Ball Field:

Stripe 041 Strawberry Kiwi:

Stripe 042 Sunshine Brights:

they will be added to my shop shortly!

In other exciting news, I will be adding 1/2 inch CAT COLLARS, and 3/4 inch wide dog collars before the end of May! I placed the order for my materials, and will do several test collars before adding them to my store, but look for them in the near future!

TODAY I have a new product that will be going up in my shop this afternoon: Collar COLLECTIONS! These are sets of 5 to 7 coordinating fabrics. You will be able to choose two to five fabrics from the collection to be made into coordinating collars. Great for multi-pet homes that want their pets to look great together, without having them wear the same collars. Also great for collarhollics who need a collar for almost every day of the week!!

Streamline sets:
2 collars - $25
3 collars - $40
4 collars - $55
5 collars - $60

Buckle sets:
2 collars - $27
3 collars - $43
4 collars - $70
5 collars - $64

Martingale sets:
2 collars - $31
3 collars - $49
4 collars - $67
5 collars - $72
(These prices are only for the Collections and do not apply to all multiple collar orders)

here is a sneak peek of two of these collections (I have 5 planned right now) that will be on sale starting later today.

Collection 005 Brights:

Collection 001 Feeling Blues:

It's good to come home.

2009-04-10T21:56:00.002-04:00

I hate going to work. BUT, I love coming home afterward. Not only does it mean i can finally take my shoes off and sit down, but it also means this:

How can you not love that face??

Unfortunatly Trophy usually looks something like this:

(I still haven't be able to fully capture his big toothy grin, but i WILL SOME DAY!)

But one dorky pup aside how could anyone NOT want to come home to three (or 4, or 8 or 12. Err. ok just 4. My limit is 4.) of these happy faces?

I love these boys.

REMINDER: Contest for the free collar ends SUNDAY!!! Keep twittering and entering! :)

It's time for a giveaway!!

2009-04-05T17:53:00.003-04:00

Qwill told me it was time for another giveaway! This time we will be giving away one collar from our spring collection - up to an $18 value! There are lots of ways to enter to win:

1. Visit our etsy store then come back here and post a comment telling me which of our new spring collars is your favorite.

2. Twitter about this giveaway. This one can be good for up to 8 chances to win if you twitter once a day! Comment for each time you tweet, and be sure to leave your twitter user name.

3. Follow my blog. There is a link to do this in the right hand column. If you already follow my blog, that counts too! just leave a comment!

4. Follow me on twitter! Leave a comment with your twitter user name!

When all is said and done you could have 12 chances to win!

The fine print:
1. An email address is required! Either in your comments OR on your blog profile.
2. A winner will be chosen using random.org's random number generator from the number of comments left. So be sure to leave a ONE COMMENT for EACH ENTRY.
3. The winner will be contacted via email and will have 3 days to reply before a new winner is chosen.
4. Open to US and Canadian addresses
5. Ends on Sunday April 12 at 12:00pm EST
6. Winner will be able to pick one collar fabric pattern from our spring collection that will be custom made. Winner can pick the style of collar (martingale, streamline, or buckle), and will specify the size to be made.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED! Thank you all for your participation, we look forward to more contests in the future!

Nibbles Treats - review

2009-04-01T19:11:00.002-04:00

*warning this post is picture heavy! Enjoy! :)

Today the boys got a big surprise! A package arrived for them in the mail!

Unfortunatly it looked like the mail lady thought the package would taste yummy and tried to take a bite of of the packaging. Or maybe Trophy took a chunk out before i got home... hard to tell. And check out Q, would you? He's sassing me. (He's feeling much better today if you couldn't tell)

uh... mawm? can you stop gabbing and get to the treat opening.

Sass I tell you. Well, my goodness. Three goodies to try from our new friends over at "You Had Me At Arf!" Aren't you boys spoiled? Turns out the dogs over there are lucky enough to have their very own dog treat company! And you can check out their online store here: http://nibblestreats.com/.

Let's check out the goodies. First up are WHO SHOT JR'S. Made with unbleached white flour, wheat germ, all natural peanut butter (no salt or sugar added), egg, vegetable oil & carob chips. Sounds like the puppy version of a Reeses-cookie. yum.

They're even shaped like bullets! Don't they look delish?

What do you think Qwill?

*Schlurrp*

Just the treats, not my fingers please!

mumphsorrymumble. *crunch crunch munch*

Mmmm thish is delectable

Mmmm chooooocolate

It's actually Carob Trophy.
who cares. more plz!

Well. Those went over well. Next up is some cheesy goodness.
CHEDDAR CHEESE STICKS: Whole wheat flour, baking powder, vegetable oil & low-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Ok, check out the melty cheezie awesomeness of these treats. These almost look good enough for me to eat. (Oh, and I COULD TOO. that's the best part of all natural treats)

If you couldn't tell, these were a bit hit.

Last up is this delishous pretzel.

The verdict?

TROPHY PUT THE PRETZELS BACK RIGHT NOW!!

Yeah, they love them.

Oh! And Zeus loves them too. He didn't even wait for me to open the bags.

Luckily he's a bit easier on my fingers. I wasn't sure about the compatibility of carob with a kitty's digestive tract, so i didn't let him have any of the "who shot JR's", but he loved the cheese sticks.

The low down:
Nibbles Treats is built around one idea: providing yummy organic treats for dogs where healthy trumps all other factors. I liked how the treats are named after actual dogs, it's a nice break from dog food boutiques whose names are so annoyingly over thought (really, there's no prize for fitting "paw" into every one of your 200 treat varieties. :-P) and of course, knowing that these treats are all natural is a comforting thought - won't the boys hate it if i try to share their treats?

Not to mention that the customer service is delightful. :)

Further testing will need to be done, but i think the cheese sticks were the favorite. How could any-pup say no to all this cheese?

In conclusion, you should all check out these delish treats. I know we'll be ordering again!

Poor Poor Mr. Q

2009-03-31T22:31:00.002-04:00

Qwilly had a dental cleaning today. While he was under they removed a tiny skin tag that was on his upper lip under his nose. It wasn't growing, and wasn't bothering him, but it bothered me.

Poor Q. I don't know what is so different about this time versus his dental a year ago, but he is is out of it.

The lights are on...

but no one is home.

He's down for the count...again.

In fact, all he's done since i brought him home is follow me around like the lost little dude he is, and lick his catheter site

Poor guy. He's so pathetic.

He needs some snuggles.

Before we head to bed, Qwill wants to make sure you know that we've added 7 Spring collars to our etsy shop. You can view them all in the slideshow that plays on our site, but here are a few of our faves.

http://loveofqwill.etsy.com

Silly Shiner

2009-03-25T17:49:00.002-04:00

I just love group shots of my boys. :)

especially ones that put them in odd situations. Qwill and Trophy jumped on the table with no problems. Shiner, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it.

altho, he wasn't as angry about it as he was in this picture:

but the real fun always comes at the release.
OK!!

Trophy and Qwill know what's goin' on!

Whee!!

uh... Shiner? you coming?

Not no how not no way am i jumpin' off dis ting. SAVE ME!!!!

The Anatomy of a Broken Butt Play Fight

2009-03-24T18:56:00.002-04:00

The boys are really enjoying the spring weather. Let's join them in their favorite game: kill the puppy*.

Trophy, stupid pup that he is can be, starts the game by locking onto his target and pouncing at a million miles an hour.

Unfortunatly he tends to overshoot his intended target. Instead of using his superior speed to gain the upper hand by circling back around his foe and trying again, the dunderhead tries to run while facing backwards.

Two things to note in this pic, 1. they're still traveling at a million miles an hour (evidenced by the blurry ground) 2. Trophy is completely perpendicular to his direction of movement. Frankly I don't know how he didn't/doesn't crash and burn.

Obviously this gives Qwill the opportunity to catch up and take him down.

He managed to get free, but that's when backup comes in. Qwill and Shiner are always on the same team when it comes to battling Monster.

Then they faceoff like stallions at war.

Trophy doesn't stand a chance. Once they have him down, Qwill will pin him while Shiner goes for the thigh. Apparently he likes dark meat.

Then, when he start squealing like a little girl I have to call off the troops.

Except then Trophy gets all macho, because he thinks he scared the big boys off with his gigantic muscles.

But they don't let it get to his head.

One last crack at telling Qwill who's really boss...

Then they decided to get a drink. Which always gives Shiner the ZOMGZOOMIES

OH The neighbor's dog came to say hi! (Trophy didn't like the competition for cutest lab, and tried to kill poor Taz with his tieout rope.)

MORE ZOOMIES!

WHAT MAWM HAS TREATS???

ZOMG GUYS! TREEEEEEAATSSS!

HAI mawm! Hai! I can has cookie now plz?!

Ooo! me too plz?

What are we talkin' 'bout?

More tomorrow!

*No Trophys (Trophies?)are ever ~~severely~~ harmed in the kill the puppy game.

blogger overhaul

2009-03-23T14:22:00.002-04:00

ok, i still have some background tweeking to do, but it's looking good right now. If anyone knows how to add space between the sidebar(s) and the entries PLEASE let me know! :)

Welcome to my studio!

2009-03-23T12:54:00.003-04:00

My bedroom is a multi-purpose area. It's my computer room, tv room, dog sleep space, my sleep space, sitting room, storage area, and lately my "studio".

So come on in.

If you remember from previous posts, I used to have the dog kennels in my room. Well, since Koda has moved in with my sister and her apartment I decided it would be a good time to relocate the kennels down stairs. To make room in our living room, one part of the sectional couch was moved upstairs. It is a wonderful place to sit and watch tv, check my e-mail or make collars (or all at the same time). It's also a good place for the dogs to sleep, as Shiner's demonstrating.

Here we are in "workshop" mode.

Altho, it doesn't look like Shiner's going to let me get any work done today.
I'm too cute to move!

Trophy says he's still handsome as evar!

And Qwill, who didn't want to be left out, but is still miffed that i yelled at him for jumping on me and knocking down a load of laundry. silly boy.

IN SUPER EXCITING NEWS: Shiner has a recall! It's not 100% reliable, as our walk around the pond yesterday demonstrated (the call of goose poop and deer turds were far greater than my yumalicious treats). *sigh* BUT, It's a huge improvement over last fall when he would run in terror in the opposite direction despite handfulls of treats.

~COLLAR GIVEAWAY!~
And lastly, if you missed the buy one get one free sale, fear not there will be more in teh future! IN THE MEAN TIME: If you have a blog and would like to help me advertise I will be happy to provide one FREE collar for you to review. I do have some stipulations, and a limited number to give away, but If you're interested, please post a reply and I'd be happy talk with you more about it.

Happy Customers!

2009-03-17T19:29:00.002-04:00

I'm proud to introduce Ziva and Maggie, new owners of Love of Qwill collars!

Ziva shows off her stripes.

Aren't her ears absolutely adorable?

Here she is showing off her dotty side.

And here's her sister, Maggie, looking beautiful in purple. Maggie's a bit camera shy, but we think she looks great anyway.

If you want to read more about Ziva and her adventures as a Search and Rescue dog in training you can visit her blog here: http://zthesardog.blogspot.com/

Thanks guys, we're glad you love the collars as much as we do!

Qwill wants to let everyone know that our blog special is going on until THIS SUNDAY March 22! After that you'll just have to wait and see what specials he has in store for you! :)

Our Big Announcement!

2009-03-08T17:15:00.003-04:00

Qwill and I are excited to announce that we have decided to sell our handmade custom collars!

For the Love of Qwill, the cure for collarhollics!

In honor of this event, and to thank you all for reading my blog, I am offering a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE offer!

Simply add "I LOVE YOUR BLOG" in the notes to seller section, along with your fabric choices, and neck measurements, and TWO collars will be on their way to you in 7-10 days! Feel free to contact me with questions!

In the sidebar of the blog you will always find the link to our site, gallery slide show, and links to the fabric choices.

Thanks for your support!

We're Not Dead! Promise!

2009-03-08T13:44:00.003-04:00

I apologize for our total lack of updates! My computer, which had been in various stages of a drawn-out death crashed 10 days ago and after a lot of problems trying to rescue my pictures (most had been backed up, but there was about a weeks worth of new photos i hadn't yet made copies of) and then more problems trying to wipe it clean, well... i just got her back! I'm trying to reinstall everything i need, but we're back now!

Now, a nearly one month overdue post:

Shiner's Gotcha Day Pup-Cake

On his Gotcha Day, Shiner and I braved his extreme carsickness to take the trip to the Grateful Dog Bakery in North Ridgeville Ohio to get his free pup-cake!

He was a bit miffed that he had to share, but Koda didn't get a sprikle to make up for it. Besides, I told them they would share on their birth- and gotcha- days, so he had to share now.

Ready and...

...waiting for their snack.

NOMNOMNOM

Did you even taste it Shiner??

Trophy cleans up the crumbs while Qwill hopes in vain that it was just the appetizer for the full meal.

More?

And speaking of Shiner's special day(s), we recieved our trophy (not Trophy) from his third place win at MangoMinster 2009!!

Isn't it gorgeous?!

Shiner knows he all that and a bag of chips. ;-) We can't wait till next year, it was so much fun!

Maybe I shouldn't complain about Shiner's inability to do...anything... he won a trophy for the trophy shelf before well, Trophy! (maybe naming a dog Trophy wasn't such a good idea after all?)

NOW! I will be back later today with a SUPRE EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!! Stay tuned!

Happy First Gotcha Day Shiner!

2009-02-17T08:06:00.002-05:00

While a Best in Show win would have been an excellent culmination of our first year together, Shiner did a great job and ended up in 3rd place. But no matter the outcome, today I'm celebrating 365 days with the little half starved mutt that I can't do anything with, but can't imagine life without.

Happy Gotcha Day Emo-Dog!

Shiner's First Gotcha Day! from Lexi Dvorak on Vimeo.

2009-02-15T01:31:00.000-05:00

everyone go vote for shiner!!!
http://mangosgreatadventures.blogspot.com/2009/02/mango-minster-day-six.html

Well, it was almost completely wordless!

2009-02-11T18:38:00.002-05:00

Just found out that my little emo-puppy, Shiner, has won best in group at Mango-minster!

"I did WHAT?! I can'ts belivs it!"

Stay tuned, we'll need all your support to make it to Best in Show!

Congrats to Addie and Lucy for being runners up together, Sisters need to stay together, you know! :)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

(Vote for Qwill)

2009-02-10T20:33:00.001-05:00

Qwill, Shiner, and Toady are up for the vote tonight.

Vote vote vote!!

http://mangosgreatadventures.blogspot.com/

Vote for Trophy!

2009-02-08T17:53:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, we're all competing in the Mango Minster 2009. Trophy is up to bat in the Sporting group, and Qwill, Shiner, and Koda will be competing on 2/11 in the herding group!

here's the link, go help Trophy win reader's choice!

http://mangosgreatadventures.blogspot.com/

Obesity in Canines

2009-02-05T23:43:00.006-05:00

Obesity is not only a problem among American people, but also their dogs. I would like to present to you two pictures.

First up, this is Koda in September 2008 tipping (breaking?) the scales at 72 pounds and looking a lot like a stuffed sausage.

This is Koda 5 months later at a MUCH healthier 57 pounds. I still would like him to lose a few more and build up some more muscle, but that will happen with the miles of scootering i'm planning on this spring/summer.

My point here, is that 90% of Koda's transformation was caused by diet changes. Cutting him down from nearly 3 cups of food per day to 2 strict meals of 1/2 cup high quality food per day and the same amount of exercise he was getting before. Only when he was down to ~60 pounds did i start upping his exercise.

YOU CAN HAVE HEALTHY DOGS TOO! Remember that feeding your dogs table scraps can cause DEADLY pancreatic diseases (just ask your vet), overweaight dogs (like humans) have increases in joint problems at younger ages, and the the "feeding guidelines" on dog food are just a SUGGESTION.

The best way to tell if your dog is overweight is to touch him! Familiarize yourself with the Body COndition Score, or BCS (http://www.purina.com/dogs/health/bodycondition.aspx) and run your fingers along your dogs rib cage. You should be able to easily feel (but not see) the ribs without having to feel through a layer of fat.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me (I am not a licensed vet or nutritionist, but i have done a fair share of research), or make an appointment with your vet!

Now.. if only someone could create a dog-food type diet for humans and i could limit myself to only 1 cup per day :-P :)

Slippers for Toady

2009-02-05T23:30:00.003-05:00

Koda has allergies. While i'm pretty sure I've figured out the cause (food allergy PLUS terrible grass/pollen allergies), the cure is hard to implement since certain nameless people in this house can't resist giving him treats with wheat or corn in them. (I, too, am to blame occasionally if i mix up training treats... it's confusing!)

Anyway, whenever he's having a licking party at his feet, I put him in a pair of home-made booties to prevent him from licking himself raw (He had almost no fur on his feet this past summer from so much licking!)

Poor Toady, he doesn't like his slippers.

Oh, and what's this?

yes. it's a sock. Apparently someone tried hiding one of the booties in an attempt to not have to wear any of them. Ha. Nice try buddy. :)

Three posts in one day? GASP!

2009-02-01T21:39:00.002-05:00

I swear i did not set up the following pictures.

First:

take the dogs outside, play some red dot, go to get my PJs, and:

now... i may have to stage Qwill and Trophy in the same position just for kicks! LOL!

Portraits

2009-02-01T17:14:00.002-05:00

Courtney asked for some portraits with the boys. I'll see what funny tonka trucks i can find to stuff them in, but for now I'll share the full sized images that i used to update their profiles in the sidebar. :)

Be sure to click the pics to see them full sized.

The First Annual PooperBowl!

2009-02-01T15:23:00.002-05:00

At Petsmart yesterday I bought the boys a squeaky AirKONG football, just in time for the Super Bowl. So today we took them outside and let them play in their own PooperBowl! We divided them into teams: Hip Dysplastics Vs Whole Dogs.

It was a warm day (comparatively speaking as it was 15 yeasterday)

Trophy wasn't thrilled about being on Koda's team. Koda didn't want to hear any of his stratagies.

Since Dog's don't have thumbs the rules are thus: the Quarterback (played by Aunti) throws the ball and the first team to bring the ball back to the quarterback gets 7 points for the "touchdown". Teams are given 4 points per tackle of an opposing team member, and 1 point is deducted for any penalties.

Time for the kickoff! Hey, guys you're running in the wrong direction?

Koda's going long for the first touchdown

and the second

and the third

...and the fourth. Ok, so having Koda on the team is like an automatic win... stop complaining Trophy

Buh I wanna git da bawl.

Well, that's not the way to do it. 4 points for team HD!

I've lost count of what touchdown this is for Koda, but Shiner's slamming Trophy down for another 4!

Srsly Trophy, where is your game today?

Team bawlhogs: 1 million, Team HD: 12

Coach gave team HD a stern talking to during halftime and the boys seam to have remembered to bring out their running game in the second half.

Qwill is stepping up and trying to get the ball away from Koda

He's failing

Still trying

Still failing. What can i say the boys got heart!

Shiner's been racking up the tackles tho. I've lost track of the score by this point, Koda's got like a billion or something...

Mawm, you suck at picking teams

Uh... blame your quarterback. Yes i know she's their quarterback too! Stop complaining!!

Try harder!

*ugh* That's not hard enough!

Wait a minute! SCORE! GOOD JOB Qwilly!

So at the end of the day Koda had too many touchdowns to count, Shiner had too many tackles to count, Koda and Trophy walked away with the win, and Qwill came away with the MVP for his single touchdown.

I love you boys!

Opinions Please!

2009-01-30T13:16:00.003-05:00

I hope you all have seen the little poll above (I tried to make it obvious!)

My work schedule is settling into a nice groove which leaves me 3 days in a row to work on stuff. Usually I'm not very creative. We go scootering, do some training, then i play some video games while the dogs nap (or i nap!).

I'd like to do some more on this blog, (including posting pics more often, i know i know!) so please vote on what you'd like to see more of. I hope to do a little bit of everything, but having one thing i could focus on might just be the motivation i'm looking for! If you vote for a review or how-to please leave a comment with WHAT you'd like a review/how-to of! I aim to please. I am already working on a how to file your dog's nails with a dremmel because i absolutely *heart* mine! So stay tuned for that. :)

Cheers!

Scootering Pics!

2009-01-29T18:51:00.002-05:00

I meant to post these pics a while ago, but forgot. Then the boys and I suffered our first scootering accident on Wednesday (note to self, do not slam on the front brakes, you WILL be pulled over the handle bars at high speeds) I'm fine now, but have some awesome bruises and a very sore knee. It was my fault as i over reacted trying to keep Koda away from a pedestrian. Oh well, live and learn. I'll be going back out again probably on Saturday.

Anyway, the following pics are from Friday January 23.

I rode the bike around the first lap with my sister, Tasha, on the scooter. (Trophy is in red Koda in blue if you can't tell them apart lol). Then I stopped and we sent the boys around again w/o a "rabbit" on a bike to follow.

They really love to run

Third lap (.9 miles)

We're slowing them down to take a small break and get some water. They still want to go!

(notice how they're in exact opposite step?)

Ok, after our break. Tasha is the "rabbit" on the bike and I rode the scooter. My dad took these two pics.

Not the best picture of me ever... i need bangs of some sort, but blowing wind doesn't cooperate with glamor shots. lol. :)

After a couple laps and another break they boys were still running FAST. Their hearts were in this run 147%! So my sister still rode as the "rabbit" and we sent my dad around on the scooter!

wavin' to the camera!

The boys ran just over two miles that day! Not bad at all! I can't wait till spring to hit some of the trails (after i invest in a helmet and some knee/elbow pads!!) :)

I just want to end by saying THANK YOU! To Mona and her Mommy for featuring Qwill and our blog on her "String of Friendship" section! Thank you and welcome to everyone who has meandered into our little blog from there! :)

The Tail of Beetle the Bard Part 2

2009-01-18T21:40:00.003-05:00

Most of yesterday was spent transporting Beetle to his new foster home in Michigan thanks to Shellie, and Kim's neighbor who lent the use of her vehicle. Beetle is now settling into his new "home". This video made me cry over how quickly he can cope, not because i wanted to act all pouty and depressed, but because i'm very glad he can adjust to new surroundings. He is going to become a beautiful citizen with a little bit of training and a forever home who can give him the chance he deserves. Without further ado. Posted with permission.

My dogs are finally getting back to normal. Qwill is thrilled i won't have another dog around me all the time getting in the way of his snuggles. :)

The Tail of Beetle The Bard

2009-01-17T00:08:00.005-05:00

Today I took a huge step into something i've been passionate about since before bringing Qwill home over a year ago - the other side of rescue. Pulling a dog seconds from slated death, fostering, transporting, and being an ultimate part of him finding a forever home. Today I brought home this guy:

He is a 1-2 year old absolutely drop dead gorgeous red merle Australian Shepherd. This poor fellow, who I am now calling Beetle as it is MUCH better than "Andy" that they were calling him, was adopted out three times, and returned. Once he was returned after only 2 days, which is not giving the dog a fair chance at all. He is mouthy, meaning he just wants to grab (NOT bite) everything in site, but it is his way of exploring and he obviously hasn't been told this is not appropriate behavior. So far that has been my biggest problem with him, and it's more annoying than anything else.

My OWN dogs have been a bigger pain in the butt than he has. Trophy barked at him for 30 minutes straight at the APL when i was evaluating him with my dogs. That is highly unlike Trophy, but i am now making an effort to take Trophy EVERYWHERE with me since apparently i either messed up his socialization, or Koda has been a VERY bad influence on him.

*Updated*: He has a genetic defect with his eyes called hypoplasia which basically means his pupils are deformed. It is very evident in this picture especially in his right (looking at him on the left) eye. his pupil is actually shaped like an oval and doesn't have any part of the iris surrounding it in the lower right corner of his eye. As far as i can tell it doesn't affect his vision, you can find out more about hypoplasia here. (remember to click the pic to see a bigger version)

Does he remind anyone else of Daisy Doodle? Just a little?

Anyway, this boy, as gorgeous as he absolutely IS, as much as I want my next dog to be a merle, I just don't have the money to adopt him right now, and he will be moving on to a foster home in Michigan in the next few days. But you better believe I'm going to love on him until he goes! Everyone please say a prayer, cross your paws and send whatever mojo you've got to spare to this guy that he finds a UNDERSTANDING forever home! He absolutely deserves it!

Besides, not keeping Beetle means I've been given the green light to pull, temporarily hold/foster, and transport other dogs in desperate need and get them into rescues and forever homes, and that thought makes it easier to pass Beetle off to the next person in line to help him out :)

A Post All About SHINER! (post 2 of 2)

2009-01-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

This is Shiner

This is Shiner ~~on drugs~~ in a hat. (although he may have had to take therapy after this session)

He sure is cute, don't you think?

I can just hear him now..

"why i gotta wear dis, lady?"

"I's cuuute jus da way I is."

*wub*

Where's the puppy? (post 1 of 2)

2009-01-14T20:59:00.001-05:00

Can you find Trophy?

There he is!

I believe he's channeling Zoe's ability to pancake. lol!

2009-01-11T15:24:00.002-05:00

View from the front door

Out onto the back porch

up on the back porch

opposite view from the one above, into the back yard

Ahh nothing like an early morning pee into a snowbank that's up to your stuff

I love when they get the Snow-Zoomies

(who let him get so big already?!)

Snow drifts up to his armpits

Qwill's speciality: high-speed tackle in 3

2...

1!

I think the like snow because it's like an all you can eat buffet

I don't ask questions...

Qwill: "Hey Koda! Race you to that tree and back! First one back wins!"

And it's Qwilly in the lead, but Koda's hot on his tail

round the tree and here they come!

It's the home stretch!

Aw shucks! It's koda by a body length, but Qwill gave it his all!

And here comes his cheerleading squad!

It's on to everyone's favorite game: ~~Smear the Queer~~ Kill the Puppy

Well, maybe it's not Trophy's favorite game...

Back to the buffet...

i can hear them now: "have you tasted the yellow snow? it's delish!"

Hope you're all warm and well! Much love from the Broken Butts!

Be Vewy Vewy Quiet...

2009-01-05T01:05:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately I woke it up when i opened the desk drawer to pull out the camera...

Whut mom? Yus. I's vury comforble. Y u ask? Plz to stop wid da brite lites and goes to sleeps nao?

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've had a busy Christmas! We've been taking the dogs scootering almost every day. They're all doing very well; especially Koda who is turning into a scootering BEAST. I have a video and some crappy pictures from my point-and-shoot to post, hopefully tomorrow, but i make no promises.

Happy New Year from the Broken Butts!
~Lexi, Qwill, Shiner, Trophy, and Cousin Koda

Despite his flaws, he's actually rather well trained...

2008-12-23T00:53:00.002-05:00

the story of "Leave it, Trophy"

Poor Zeus (my cat) is sick and refusing food unless it's hand fed, or in today's case, stolen from the hedgehogs (which is cat food). He stole the food right out onto the bed with Trophy sitting right there. Trophy was excited, he saw his plan laid out in his head and then...

"Oh snap. Hai mom"

"Wow dat looks mah-ty tastee!"

"It shoore smellz mah-ty tastee too"

"Wood u shar some wiff me, small-fluffy-not-dog-mister?"

"Wai u walks way wiff out answerin' me?"

"Shurly he woodent mind if i had jus one"

"Is so close, maibe i cans just tri a widdle bit?"

TROPHY LEAVE IT!!!

"Wuzn't me! Wuz Qwill... yeah, yeah, Qwill!"

"Wuz onli trin' to helps"

"Why u not let me clean up mess small non-dog made?"

after two more attempts to get my anorexic (but healthy! according to all the tests) cat to eat a bit more i released him to ready the sleep space for sleeping: OK Trophy!

"YES! U bestest mom evar!"

Upgrades!

2008-12-17T18:14:00.002-05:00

I finally created my own background and played with the layout a bit, please let me know if you experience any problems with it!
Thanks :)

I've been tagged!

2008-12-17T15:01:00.002-05:00

Amy and her two beautiful dogs Rockstar and Kipp tagged me in the 6th photo meme.

The rules are simple: go to your photo archives on your computer and go into the 6th folder and count up to the 6th picture and post it on your blog, along with the story that goes with it.

now, i will tell you i cheated slightly, instead of the 6th folder in the "My Pictures" folder, i went into my Nikon folder and went into the 6th folder in there. Otherwise it would have been Green Day concert photos, and not related to this blog.

So here is the 6th picture inside the 6th folder in my Nikon Photos folder:

This is Qwill posing with Inara, my neice. I was just trying to get some cute photos of the dogs with her. Shiner was still pretty new with us at this point, so i didn't force him to sit with her, but Daisy and Qwill who had been around her from the begining (and absolutely loved her) sat with her. I think Inara is around 7-8 months.

Here are some of my other favorites from that day:

Now i'm supposed to tag 6 people, but i'm a rebel, so i want you all to do it! but i'm not tagging anyone. :)

peanut butter jelly time! (hold the jelly)

2008-12-13T13:17:00.002-05:00

Don't hold out on me mom! I'm ready!

oh, yeah.

What's going on?

i hate you!

i hate you so much i won't even bother looking at you!

Now Trophy takes this peanut butter thing seriously. He approaches the problem by concentrating hard on the solution.

He's concentrating so hard i think his brain's on fire.

wait for it...

wait for it...

maybe?

SCORE!

That was hard work, he's pooped. Take a bow little buddy, well done.

Shiner gave me gold on the first drop of peanutbutter.

nom

nom

nom

omg this is delish!

more?

more?

MORE??!

SWEEEEET!!*

*no Shiners were harmed by the licking of the knife.

Just for Aunt Courtney:

2008-12-13T12:35:00.002-05:00

A picture of Shiner being something other and emo, I call this one:

Hopeful

We're ready for Christms! Are you?

2008-12-06T17:08:00.002-05:00

In an effort to NOT send mt Christmas cards in January, i sat the boys down and took their picture for the card! In order to not give away the surprise for my readers who will actually be getting that card i won't share that pic, but i will share a few others with Koda from the shoot.

Qwill says he lurves Christmas toys, so you should buy him billions and billions because he's cuuuute!

I NEED IDEAS!!!
I'm feeling un-creative at the moment, so in a comment leave me ideas for silly, serious, single, or group photographs and i will fill requests! Want to see my dogs in funny hats? I can do that! Want to see them on top of a picnic table? I can try that! I'm just not feeling the creative juices flow, so lets see what you can come up with, the dogs appreciate the outings! :)

Working like a what?

2008-12-04T23:16:00.003-05:00

Where, my dear (tho few) blog readers, did the phrase "working like a dog" come from?

This phrase brings forth copeous amounts of laughter from my mouth when i think about it. After all, to my four spoiled rotten mutts a "hard days work" would include:

lounging in kennels, occasionally chewing on goodie-filled kongs in the process

napping on the bed

napping on the PILLOWS on the bed

eating

sniffing butts, piles of poop, old shoes, the floor, etc.

herding a red dot

tugging

playing with brothers and wrestling.

now seriously, when all is said and done, i'd RATHER work like a DOG, instead I work like an underpaid, untrained, part-time stocker/cashier in a gather busy grocery-type store.

So, my dear blog readers i appologize for the lack of updates, my dogs are feeling your pain as it means i have had little to take pictures OF and thus no pictures to post. So, here is one picture of one of Trophy's new collars, one i bought, not one i made. But i really love this collar on him. AND i'm off for THREE WHOLE DAYS! So maybe i'll find something to take pictures of... maybe :)

Snow Babies

2008-11-21T10:27:00.002-05:00

So this isn't technically the FIRST snow of the season, but it's (so far) the best snow of the season, and it happened when it was light out so I was able to actually take pictures. I appologize as i'm still learning how to best edit the blindingly white photographs taken in snow, so some facial detail is (unfortunately) lost.

This is the post-potty zoomies

Takedown!

Poor Shiner, late to the party as usual.

This is what you look like when you eat a ton of snow

While Trophy was distracted pooping, my older two got in some quality wrestling time of their own.

It's a rare occurrence since Trophy MUST be the center of attention.

Morning poo out of the way, he's rushing in to not miss any more action

MMMMM let's all eat snow!

Shiner says snowflakes are delishous and nootrishous noms and he doesn't ever wants to be a warm weather pup again.

Poor Trophy, always Koda's sheep.

I tinks i has somefin on mah nose, mom.

Unfortunately right after than my camera died, and then right after that Qwill started to shiver, and then shake complete with teeth chattering, so I had to rush him inside and warm him up. He will not be appearing without a jacket in anymore wintery scenes, but i think he'll like it better that way.

Now the dogs are konked out so hard on my bed no less than 3 of them are snoring outright. God i love snow!

Brothers

2008-11-20T19:59:00.002-05:00

Shiner is always a complete brat when it comes to resource guarding his chews, especially special chews like rawhides or stuffed kongs; so imagine my surprise to find him snuggled up to the Q while gnawing away.

It's always a nice reminder of how well my mini pack gets along, and it just makes me go "awww" :)

of course, the second Qwill was done chewing that meant he was out to get the remainder of Shiney's and the growling/snarling commenced, but for a few moments they were the best of friends, and i have proof!

Product Review: Everlasting Treat Ball

2008-11-17T13:37:00.003-05:00

Trophy is 6 months old now, and (typical of a lab i'm sure) going through a phase where he is destroying all chew toys. Unfortunately, it means he's eaten a lot of them too. So I've been on a mission to find new chew toys he won't kill in 10 seconds.

That's when i spotted this in the toy isle at PetSmart: The Everlasting Treat Ball.

image from Drs. Foster and Smith

Claims:
*Virtually Indestructible
*Dog treat ball is made of soft, yet durable, puncture-resistant materials and offers hours of interactive chewing fun
*Holds up to the toughest chewers with unique wobbly design that rolls erratically
*Add dog treats in the middle and sandwich them in with everlasting treats on one end or both

Cost:
I paid $18.99 for the medium treat ball and $6.99 for two refill (liver or chicken) treats at petsmart.
Drs. Foster and Smith lists them at $19.99 and $4.99 (chicken only)
JB Pet Whole sale has them for $16.99 and $3.99 (JB Pet has many more flavors of refills)

It seemed ingenious, like a Kong toy, but with pre-made treats that fit perfectly into the shell. Like a kong you can also stuff the inside with smaller treats for even more interaction with the toy.

image from JBPet

I'm not sure what the toy is made out of, but it is jelly-like. One "everlasting treat" is in the toy when you buy it, and i bought a refill pack. (I purchased the medium size). I stuffed the toy with some little treats i had at home, plugged a second everlasting treat into one end, stuffed Trophy in his kennel (to keep the other dogs away from it) and watched the fun begin. The little butt had the "everlasting treat" out of the toy in less than a minute. I stuffed it back in, and he again pulled it out immediately.

I was a little peeved, since i was looking for "everlasting" relief from his boredom. So i decided to get tricky and i flipped the treats around so there was no longer anything protruding out of the toy for him to grasp and pull out easily(first i had to remove the treats i had hid in the middle, much to the delight of the older dogs standing at my feet. It was hard work getting them out of there!).

He still was able to pull it out of the toy!! Upon closer inspection i discovered that he had managed to rip the part of the toy that holds the treat in place:

Then i decided to give him just one of the treats themselves, as the refill package says "Use alone or with the Everlasting Treat Ball for challenging chewing fun."
So much for "everlasting treat" as alone he was done in just 20 minutes. It also made a huge gooey stain on his kennel bed, so use only on tile, or take rugs/beds out of kennels first unless you don't mind washing the bedding right away.

I bought two more treat refills today to try once more, but i will probably give the whole thing to Shiner who isn't as hard a chewer. If i were to try again i would probably choose the Large size, as Trophy would probably have a harder time getting his mouth around the whole thing to pry the treats out, but that's probably not going to happen in this lifetime.

Over all:
Two paws down, just a waste of money
Quick comments:
probably great for non-hard chewers, the treats are messy-do not give on rugs or bedding.

Sing for your Supper! er.... Work for your lunch?

2008-11-17T12:54:00.004-05:00

I had a busy morning today. And as there was going to be no one in the house i decided to hold of feeding the boys until i got home, even tho it wouldn't be until noon.

Since I stopped at petsmart to buy a new Kong since we had to throw one away as they actually managed to chew part of it off, i decided they could work for their breakfast.

I'm still dealing with some resource guarding issues between Shiner and Koda so they had to eat in their kennels.

This is the new Kong i bought today, it's going to be for Trophy since he's such a hard chewer, but i gave it to Koda today. Can you believe the hard chew Kong was CHEAPER than the regular red kind?! I couldn't believe it!

Qwill is amazingly talented at removing the stuffing from kongs. He finished first and waaaaaay ahead of Koda and Shiner.

Unfortunately i'm apparently still missing one Kong, so Trophy got to try out his new boredom buster. I hope it holds up better than the everlasting treat ball, but more on that in my next post. This is why i gave Koda the hard chewer kong.

A Study of Qwill, by request (update 2 of 2)

2008-11-13T10:25:00.004-05:00

Now don't go requesting things all the time, it cramps my style. But this request i couldn't turn down because 1) it was from my best friend and 2) it was for my favorite dog. Yes i have a favorite. Shhh don't tell.

He goes by many names, Qwill, Mr. Q, Qwillyman but he's just a heart breaker. look, look into those amber eyes and just TRY to tell him he's not beautiful, go on, look:

I just love his mis-matched ears, don't you?

Especially when he's playing coy

Incase you're wondering, Q doesn't tilt his head. I believe it is because he's so smart he doesn't have to try to understand me, he just does.

This next set of photographs have been unedited as i wanted to show you teh crap i have to go thru to get individual portraits with my 3. It started out that i wanted a picture of Qwill looking up.

But of course Shiner thought I wanted high-fives, and since Shiner is KING of high-fives (what are you going to do, it's his only trick) he had to step in and show Qwill how a master does it.

And then Trophy, king of the GOOFUSES decided that all this attention on his brothers was totally UN-cool, so he dive-bombed the whole proceding.

Trophy attackes make Shiner even MORE emo.

And all of that, dear blog readers, causes Q to take a page out of Shiner's book and pout. Because not only was everyone else (including Koda's TAIL of all things) stealing his spotlight, i had the audacity to focus on the jax toy in this shot.

and then he wouldn't even look at me when i tried to appologize.

don't worry Q, you're still my favorite.

A case of the sillies (update 1 of 2)

2008-11-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

I took these photos a few days ago, but didn't post them as i was so excited about their finished Christmas collars! It's just a few random pics, but it'll keep me unbored while the new ones i took today are uploading to photobucket.

Mr. Toy hog himself, what can i say, the boys have taught him well. they regret it when they try to play with his horde tho.

But even tho Trophy has managed to out grow (and i'm pretty sure by now, altho i haven't weighted either recently, out weigh) Shiner, Qwill still has the upper hand and lays a pretty mean smack down.

Or, if beating up the little brother doesn't always work, he can always try to scare him into submission.

Oh, and what was Shiner doing during all of this? Pouting cause he wasn't the center of attention. Cheer up little emo puppy, we all still love you.

Christmas is comin'

2008-11-11T19:26:00.003-05:00

Apparently i'm only truly predictable with Qwill, as our two contest entries both answered correctly about his collar. :) What can i say, Blue goes on Q like white on rice. ... Or something. Anyway, here are the boys showing off their correct collars:

Trophy is showing off his awesomely retro Christmas collar. I think the sparkles just add to his personality.

Koda looks manly despite the poinsettias on his collar. Don't mind his expression, the vacuum was running downstairs and he haaates the vacuum.

Here's Shiner showing off his bold Christmas stripes.

Oh.. right. what was i saying about Shiner not having many collars (while Trophy has a million) because you can't SEE them? *sigh* look up Shiney boy, show us your holiday bling.

much better. Only don't mind his layer of dirt, it's impossible to keep this dog clean. :)

And lastly, since you already knew it was his, Mr. Q and his sparkly swirly snowflakes!

Qwilly says snowflakes are delish, don'cha know?

NOTE: from here on out i'm going to link back to larger images in my photobucket, so click the pics for larger images.

Tis the season!

2008-11-09T23:39:00.002-05:00

sorry, no dog pics this time, BUT i got the boy's Christmas collars made!
Let's play a game, guess which collar belongs to which dog (click for larger image):

From left to right: 1. retro Christmas stripe 2. swirl of snowflakes 3. poinsettias on green 4. bold Christmas stripe with red accent. collars are not pictured in a specific order.

winner gets virtual dog slobber and a biscuit. ;)

Bird Dog

2008-11-05T20:46:00.002-05:00

Koda is known for being a Quirky dog. There's nothing normal about him.

His latest trick is to take over the pillows on my bed. usually this means laying on them like he's human.

However, his newest trick is to pretend he's a bird and build a pillow nest.

Happy Fall!

2008-11-03T20:40:00.004-05:00

This weekend we all fell back, causing much distress to my sleep schedule as Trophy woke me up at 7:30, instead of 8:30!
In other news, it is wonderful to see fall in Ohio again, the leaves turning bright beautiful colors and Trophy having an absolute BALL chasing the falling leaves all over the place.
I did manage to get them all to sit still, even for just a few moments without their long lines to get a picture or two.

Then Koda saw Cruiser (our neighbor's outside cat) streak across the back yard and he was GONE. My boys didn't even blink, even the pup remained in a stock-still stay (heh, checkout my alleteration!) until i snapped a few pictures of the three of them, reclipped the leads to trophy and shiner, and then went to lay the smack down on a certain chubby dog who thinks stay means "the human doesn't care what i do, and i don't care what the human thinks, period".
I'll leave the link to the larger version of this image so you can see the subtle details i know are lacking from the shrunk-down version.

Snow's just around the corner, and i promise, promise, PROMISE i will have my camera ready for Trophy and Shiner's first snow day!

A Study in upside down

2008-10-27T19:06:00.003-04:00

Qwill and Trophy have only a handful of true loves in this world:
food
being scratched
food
toys
the game of chase
food
and laying upside down.
Oh, did i mention food?

Anyway, they look so goofy when in upside down mode that it's hard not to laugh, or grab the camera.

you don't think he's comfortable do you?

He looks kinda like a vampire bat...

Qwill looks much less comfortable, but I assure you as he spends at least 30% of his days in this position, he must be comfortable.

One of Qwill's other quirks is that laying on his back causes him to sneeze. This is him mid-achoo

Compare that to Trophy, this is Trophy smiling. now... just imagine he's running up to up and jumping on your lap to say hello with his ears tucked back all submissive and his butt waggling at a billion miles per hour. It's pure comedy. Unfortunatly i can't catch the smile when he's doing that, i just barely managed to get it whith him on his back :)

And for a random funny picture, it's a party in Koda's kennel!

and just so this entry isn't Shiner-less, until next time!

Trip to the "park"

2008-10-26T21:41:00.001-04:00

Took the boys to the vet clinic to run around in a fenced in yard. This time i remembered my camera.

We were first greeted by this wonderful little guy. After a few moments of barking at him, Trophy and the gang decided he was the best chase toy eva! Apparently my next dog must be a whippet! :)

Heart dog

Heart-throb

He loves teh digging pit, plan are underway to get him a sandbox.

hunkypants

and evil demon in disguise

"see i tooooold yous iz a border collie"

CHAAAAASE!

Unfortunatly i had to put the camera down when Koda's Border Collie obsession switched from ball to Trophy must DIIIIIIIIEEEEE!

more pictures i took today to post tomorrow... or whenever :)

Two updates in one week! How lucky can you get!

2008-10-16T21:25:00.003-04:00

Aunt Tasha was home from college for a day, so of course she spent some quality time with her nephews!

Shiney lurves his aunti, and she loves him too!

She says she doesn't like Trophy, just cause Trophy's not a real border collie, but she's lieing. Aunt Tasha loves Trophy too.

I mean seriously, how could you hate this face? Altho leave it to my sister to hate a dog just because he's not a border collie....

And there's my heart-dog looking super cute to make up for his absence from tuesday's update.

More snuggling with Aunti

Just in time for Halloween, it's vampire dog!

Then Aunti got very cold, so we had Operation Thermalcore and inlisted our best troops to warm her up.

Now on a different subject, all the snarling Koda has been doing at Trophy, my bright little pup has picked up on. He now thinks it is proper to greet people by snarling, or rather "smiling", at them. Unfortunatly, while it is SUPER CUTE, it has prooven impossible to capture in a photograph: see!

Bye!

Caught Being Cute

2008-10-14T22:45:00.002-04:00

Today has been awful. For me and the dogs. If i want to go there yesterday was downright awful too. I'm going to try to make it up to them by making a trip out to the dog park some time this week. but it can't be tomorrow and one day i have a job interview, i just don't know when exactly until i call them back tomorrow (YAY!)

Anyway, Trophy and Qwill spent the day with me house sitting for my sister so they could get their cable hooked up (since it had already been rescheduled FOUR times, and they couldn't skip band...) Shiner had to stay behind becuase he gets car sick and i didn't want to deal with it. Much to my dismay, Trophy puked IN my car, and Qwill puked IN my sister's appartment. UGH!

But after a boring day of lounging on the couch away from his other best friend, Trophy came home and I find them like this:

I appologize for the angle, i knew if i got up they would move.

We're not being cute, we're plotting against you. Totally.

Yeah, so about that whole update every day thing...

2008-10-09T11:07:00.007-04:00

(ETA: BLOGGER ATE PARTS OF MY POST EARLIER, I FIXED IT ALL UP NOW, THERE WAS ONE CUTE PIC OF SHINER THAT WAS RE-ADDED)

I was totally kidding. besides after last weeks recall disaster the boys are on a tight watch and a short leash outside, so i don't have a lot to take pictures OF. After all, i don't want to bore you with millions of cookie cutter pictures, now do i? Besides, the boys were less than thrilled during this session anyway...

It took about 50 treats just to get Shiner to look at the darn camera.

Shiner says: "haaaeeeeey ladith!"

This picture explains why Koda has taken a sudden "liking" to Shiner. Poor boy, he just send out all sorts of gay vibes.

"Hey sweetie, you come here often?"

"Why don't you come over and snuggle wiff me?"

...as you can see Shiner is less than thrilled, but Koda just won't take no for an answer.

I guess i can't really blame him, how can anyone resist that face?

even when he's being snotty and emo he's cute.

Trophy, on the other hand, totally knows how to woo the ladies.

too bad he doesn't know any ladies.... whoops, apparently he didn't know that.

(It's because he has a giraffe neck)

And mouse ears.

apparently he didn't know that either.. Sorry Troph, don't pout long, your lips are droopy enough already.

Want to hear a secret? I hate Koda's ears.

But I love Trophy's.

I love Qwill's ears too.

Who am I kidding? I love all of Qwill! :)

Koda has lost 3.5lbs in the past two weeks! He's already feeling much happier!

Now for a game of fetch! Koda doesn't like sharing

mostly his tactic is to out-run his opponents.

other times he'll take the long way 'round and practice avoidance

becuase when Qwill gets the duck, it really irks him and he becomes a toy Nazi.

And when the other three and playing, this is his usual stance:

The self-proclaimed "fun police"

Today he tried playing tug with the others... but it didn't last long and he went all snarky and i had to tell him off.

brat.

leave the playing to those that know how:

like this shark here... ... ...on second though Koda's sharky/snarky enough on his own. Pay no attention to this shark here.

How about a community dance instead? The hokey pokey? Or maybe it was simon says?

Doesn't matter, back to tug. until next ~~week~~ time!

Qwill's new "job"

2008-09-27T17:38:00.003-04:00

In preparation for winter, and as a way to give Koda lots of exercise with minimal exposure to the grass, i've started teaching the dogs to walk/trot on the treadmill. Qwill really seems to enjoy it! Trophy likes to experiment with the moving tread while Qwill is on the machine (which is why i said his name is this vid as it distracts Qwill. Trophy is successfully trotting on it as well. Shiner said "NO WAY JOSE!" and slammed on the breaks. Since i don't want to break the thing (it's my grandparent's) we're going super slow with him, he'll get a few days off and we'll try again.

Right now they're doing a quarter of a mile twice a day which is about 5 minutes twice a day.

Anyway, here is Qwill "patrolling" the sun room.

I also got some new group shots today!
This is what happens when you try out a manual mode, then forget to change it back to auto and then your dogs get ants in their pants and you only get a few (bad) pics when you do set it back to auto:

auto: much better, too bad about the composition. :(

Shiner has taken up being pensive as a hobby

Trophy just likes chewing on sticks. :)

I'm just too awesome:

2008-09-25T17:38:00.005-04:00

I wanted to be sure to show you all the collars i made for Qwill and Shiner. Qwill's is the blue and green stripe and Shiner's the hearts.

I also have martingales done for Daisy and (almost done) with Calli's (Daisy's new playmate). I'm only almost done with Calli's because mom was apparently right about her sewing machine.... and i gave it a heart attack. It's not working anymore and i have to finish it by hand :( it's super cute tho!

And lastly, how is Trophy doing 48 hours post surgery?

so good he's peeing on the floors, wrestling with Shiner, and tormenting Koda.

Awe! Thanks!

2008-09-23T23:10:00.002-04:00

We received an award from Samantha, Holly and Zac! Thanks guys!

there are "rules" or something to this, but i'm a rebel and i'm not going to follow them (besides i'll never get my custom layout done at this pace...). I love all the blogs i have listed in the side bar, go check 'em out!

Not so much fun afterall

2008-09-23T17:32:00.001-04:00

Trophy says "mawm, plz don't take me back to da vet... they took away all my balls!"

Don't worry Trophy... you can only be tutored once per lifetime! :)

Trophy will be blogging for himself today:

2008-09-22T23:52:00.002-04:00

hey-lo der everybodi! Trofee here to updayte u on waht's goin' on! Tomorrow mawm is takin' me on an advenchure. She's takin' me to get "tutored" and she said something about "balls"... i hope she meant tennis balls and i gets to chayse dem all day long! I just wish my brudders could get tutored wiff me, i's sure we'd has so much moar fun if we went together.

Waz dis? mawm said bruddarh's has allready been tutored. Too bad dey's sleepins and i can't ask dem hao much fun i's gunna have.

Oh! Mawm made me a new collar too. She says it fits me purfektly since i'm a skurvvy dog... whutever DAT means.

Okays, I's gunna go to sleeps nao, gots ta get up early to get tutored! Night!
~Luv, Trofee

pee-ess: mawm wanted me ta tells ya she maid mai collar all bai herself wifout any helps at all! Yer da best mawm, nao less go sleep.

i made Trophy a new collar!

2008-09-19T21:57:00.004-04:00

...actually my mom MADE the collar, i designed it. And I helped! (I cut out the fabric)
Anyway, it's super cute. It is also a super learning experience, as even tho i made it the same length as the store baught collars, it is only going to fit trophy for another 2weeks or so. Also, we used the cotton webbing we had insteading of buying polypropolene webbing... well, polypro is thinner, tho this collar is very thick. So thick in fact that i can't show you any closeups as my mom's sewing machine couldn't handle the double material and we did it by hand (er, mom did it by hand [it's not that i can't sew, mom just thinks i'm going to cause her ancient sewing machine to kick the bucket and she can't buy a new one]). So the stitching isn't pro-quality. I don't care, i think it looks sooooo cute on him! I have some polypro to make a 2inch thick pirate theme collar for him when he'll look ok in a 2inch thick collar, right now he'd look like he was wearing a neck brace! I also have some 1" collars to make, but (again) we only have cotton, so we'll see how it goes or if it's also too thick.

Isn't it purdy?!

Trophy has decided he wants to be a model when he grows up

He's got that "sexy serious face" down pat.

work it baby!

Shiner is jealous HE didn't get a new collar (soon baby, soon)

Trophy wasn't helping, he was rubbing it in. Look at him and his smugness.

Actually, i lied. Trophy was pouting too. Ungreatful heathen. Actually he's pouting because he really wants to be a dalmation when he grows up and I laughed at him.

And so he doesn't feel left out, here's Q in all his sleeping glory. Yes, he sleeps with his eyes open sometimes. Yes, it's creepy.

Video(s)

2008-09-17T14:42:00.004-04:00

The verdict: bad bad allergies. Koda's on pred for a few weeks and we have to wash his feet every time he comes inside and bathe him head to toe twice a week. fun fun fun. Mom and I are going to go make some booties to keep him from licking at his feet.

I'm uploading a swim video i had so i will add that one to this post when it's done. :) hurrah!

Playing in the Morning Dew*

2008-09-17T14:42:00.002-04:00

*Morning Dew, much less sticky than Mountain Dew.

Trophy woke me up at exactly 8am again this morning, and i decided instead of taking them potty and going back to bed for an hour to actually get up and go play.

I'm uploading the video to youtube, so i'll post it as soon as it's done loading. In the mean time, here is Monster soaking wet from wrestling in the dew.

I'm off to the vet with Koda here in a few minutes, he's chewed his back feet to peices and i want to make sure they get checked out so they're not infected. Most days he's not chewing/scratching much, but the past two days have been getting worse. So, I'll post that video when i get back.

posting a bit early,

2008-09-14T22:35:00.000-04:00

HAPPY FIRST GOTCHA DAY QWILL!

Pumpkin Treats

2008-09-13T17:20:00.003-04:00

Today, despite the fact that Trophy and Shiner have completely regressed and forgotten what it's like to be potty trained (don't get me started on that topic of conversation right now); I pulled out some recipes that i had found a while ago for dog treats. And i'm going to share them with you.

The first is for Pumpkin Treats. I modified this one a lot from the recipe i had. This is how I made them:

1 large can (29oz.) of Packed Pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!)
1 box (14oz.) Cream of rice cereal (you could also use cream of wheat)
1 cup Grandma Lucy's True freeze-dried dog food Chicken flavor (large chunks of Chicken removed)
approx 1 to 1 1/2 cups finely chopped carrots and celery

finely chop the carrots and celery, place between several layers of paper towels and press between two plates. Microwave for about 2 minutes. We are trying to get as much water out of the veggies as possible.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Spoon portions onto GREASED cookie sheets. I used a 1/2 teaspoon measure to make training-sized treats and a Tablespoon to scoop out some larger treats. Those were a bit large, i would do a 1/2 tablespoon next time.

Bake in a pre-heated 300 degree oven until the treats come out rather firm to the touch. For the 1/2 teaspoon treats 20-30 minutes. For the 1 Tablespoon treats 40-45 minutes.

The verdict?

Needless to say my boys LOOOOVE them. Koda has turned up his nose, but he's always been like that so he doesn't count.

You can find more information (or order) True here. i much prefer it as an additive for my dog's food, or in baking than as a full food. It smells really good!

I'm also making sweet potato chews. They are super easy. Thickly slice the sweet potatoes, place on baking trays and place in a 250 degree oven until the potatoes have been dryed out.

I'm going on hour 3 in the oven right now. I took them out at 2 hours to flip them over. I used the same trays that i made the treats on, so it was greased. I'm starting to wish i was making something yummy for myself and not my dogs!

The one on the right i already flipped over.

And not that he deserved it, but Monster got a new collar today.

GO Bucks!

Just pretend the date is 9/4, ok?

2008-09-10T14:55:00.003-04:00

Well, to make up for *cringe* missing a week of updating, i bring you *LOTS* of photos... over 50 of them, ready? GO!

This is what has been keeping me so busy as of late. Never paint your room argyle. Just don't, trust me. It looks cool when done, but getting there is a ROYAL pain. And yes, i know i technically finished the room on monday, just shush. I was feeling un-photographic.

Oh, and here is the promised picture of Trophy's "new" collar. notice he's not wearing it, because in the ~16 hours or so that he'd been wearing it, he decided he'd rather EAT it, not wear it.

Then, that wasn't nearly enough for him, he had to eat Qwill's collar too. The Brat.

BTW, if your dogs wear Primer collars, don't buy them from anywhere BUT www.sitstay.com. They have a lifetime guarantee that INCLUDES CHEWAGE (as long as they have the product in stock). The replacements only costs you shipping to their warehouse, and $7 for return shipping. I will never order from anywhere else, because they also have the cheapest prices i've found! www.sitstay.com, be there or spend too much money on collar!

Ok, now on to today's adventure. Mom and I took the boys swimming! Some of these photos were taken by her, she's such a nice mum.

Since the last time i took them out Trophy and Qwill decided to dive off the dock and nearly drown, we went with life vests on today. Trophy is complaining because his is not fitted correctly. That's because it's Shiner's. I'm not buying one for each of Troph's growing stages, so he'll have to make due. Shiner, since he doesn't like swimming, got to go nekked today.

It should be noted that Qwill's vest used to be the same color as Trophy/Shiner's. Drat that texas sun!

Koda is, as always, the first to make the comitment to getting FULLY wet.

Trying to get Qwill to repeat his stellar rock impersonation... jump Q, jump!

Err... maybe he learned a leson?

We discovered today that Koda's a bit of a ball/bumper hog. He doesn't care about his dry land squeaky toys or balls.... but don't touch his water toys!

If you hold Koda back tho, other than the fact that you have to listen to him whine and carry on and make terrible noises, Qwill is more than happy to play fetch.

Yay Q!

You do have to admit that Koda has a bit more... flare?

Or it's just that he weighs 1.5 times as much as Qwill... who's counting?

Ah, here's my monster!

Poor Trophy didn't really want to have anything to do with the water today, he must have really scared himself before... hopefully i can get him out of that, as i've contacted the lady in charge of the Buckeye Dock Diving team, and Q, Trophy and maaaaaybe even Koda will be joining next year.

Koda needs to learn to jump off the dock and not just go at it from the shore...

In other news, I've decided i want to keep a life vest of Trophy at all times. Why? because then i can carry him around like a suitcase. See?

Go on in Troph, the water's fine!

Qwill likes to watch the goings on from the end of the dock

He has a much better vantage point there, and can bark incouragement when needed

Or he can look all noble and kingly.

Or not.

Oh yeah, and remember Shiner? Who i said didn't need a life vest cause he doesn't go out in deep water where he can't touch?

Guess I'll be buying another life vest sooner than i want to...

And watch Trophy here, he's no fool...

He knows you get there much faster when you run around!

Doesn't Shiner looks so pleased with himself?

You're looking a bit tired there Koda...

A bit off your game even!

Lets run around on land all crazy! Poor Trophy, after Shiner got done with his debute swim, his new goal was to trounce Trophy into the dirt.. or the water. When he finally tried to drown him we called it a day, but that was a bit later than this...

It's a race to the Wubba!

Go figure, Koda got it first

And Trophy's taken off with the bumper!

Koda can't have that...

The Three Stooges,

"Oh hai, arn't mah ears cuuute?"

yup i noe, kthanxbai!

sploosh!

Splash!

run boys run! It's time to go in!

All ready for their bath!

and by bath i mean hose-down. And by "ready" i mean they can't escape.

All clean!

Ok, that should have satiated you, see you tomorrow! (Or next week, who's counting!)

Broken Butts Part 1

2008-09-03T23:20:00.003-04:00

Ok, ok, so i got myself readdicted to Kingdom Hearts inbetween working in my room... and the battery died in my camera, i promise NEW pics tomorrow, especially since Trophy got a new collar he wants to show off. :)

In the mean time, here are the images of shiners hips.
keep in mind that the right hip (on the left side of the image as you are looking at it) is a perfectly formed joint.

The red lines are exactly parallell to eachother, and shows where the left hip (right side of the screen) SHOULD be to be aligned with the right hip.

This image shows you a break in another part of the pelvis, i'm not sure what that segment is actually called. The red lines should meet at the same vertebre.

There you have it, one of my broken butts! There is a lot more damage that is hard to see in these small images, so click here to see a much larger image. I have images of Qwill's hips to share, but that will wait to another day... or maybe i'll *gasp* post twice tomorrow!

night!

Not enough hours in the day!

2008-09-02T22:32:00.002-04:00

Today I spent all day cleaning out my closet and throwing crap away and moving furnature out of my room so i can paint it tomorrow (it's going to be so pretty! Light blue, with a chocolate accent wall and an argyle stripe between my closet and the door! I'm so excited!), then i bought paint/tape/rollers/etc. Tomorrow will be more work, but i'll try to take a moment to take some photos.

In the meantime, here is a shot of Shiner I took yesterday. Midget decided today that he'd light off into the neighbors yard and ignore me and the whistle! Of course then Trophy decided that if Shiner didn't have to listen, neither did he, and it was just a mess me trying to drag 3 dogs back by their collar. No more off leash time for Shiney for a bit. He has to earn my trust again.... but here he is lookin' cuuuute :)

Welcome Home Boys!

2008-09-01T22:26:00.002-04:00

We made it home at 2:30am Saturday morning. It was a looooong journey, but the Boys have settled in remarkably well. Today i let them go off leash for the first time ever, utilalizing a metal referee's whistle to get their attention and bring them back to me. It's a trick i learned off watching "It's Me Or The Dog". I love that show, you should totally watch it. British people let their dogs do some crazy-stupid things, like let their 80lb GSDs walk on the kitchen table.... great show. Anyway, on to the puppers as that's why you're here!

Remember Koda? Here he is being chased by his new archnemasis, Trophy. Koda is F.A.T. And on a new crash diet, so pardon his hugeness for the time being, he'll be a healthy boy in no time, promise!

Trophers just looooves to follow and chase after Koda, usually this results in Koda growling/snarling at him and dropping whatever he had in his mouth that they were chasing after, which Trophy then picks up and hauls ass back to me. This time he was distracted or something and let Koda keep his prize. Troph's a nice puppy like that.

Then we took a walk to the pond in our backyard. The boys all went in to test the water.

Which always leads to the zoomies!

What is it about dogs getting wet that triggers the zoomie sensor in their brains?

Go Broken Butts! Go! In case you can't see it, Trophy is on the far left half in the screen, next is Koda/Pudge, then Shiner all stretched out, and waaaay out in front behind some weeds is Mr. Q himself.

Zoooooooom! Until tomorrow!

A Tribute to my Favorite Banana Butt

2008-08-27T07:39:00.002-04:00

My parents will be here around lunch time, and then it will be packpackpackpackpack until probably tomorrow morning when we leave (depends on how much packing is left or we may leave friday, but the goal is tomorrow morning).

Anyway, since i probably won't have time to update later as i'm taking everyone to the vet for health certificates, and taking my car to get it's oil changed and a million other small things that i forgot to do until RIGHTNOW, then i'll be backing the lappy and won't have anything to update on as my phone and it's internet arn't fully cooprative yet (I can read websites, but apparnetly not post anything...*twitch*) Anyway, i give you a tribute to the Banana Butt and Qwilly's lurve for her. And just pretend i'm not crying over leaving her behind tomorrow morning. cause i probably will be.

*cue sappy love song music*

I'll miss you Doodle.

in honor of Ohio

2008-08-26T23:35:00.002-04:00

I goofed off instead of packing for most of today, then we went to dinner and i actually did finish packing after that. Well... almost finished packing. There's just a few things left to gather together... but anyway. I didn't get to actually take any pictures today... so i went thru my photo logs and found these two amusing photographs from December when Courtney and I took the dogs (we only had Qwill and Daisy then, *gasp*) and the baby on a crazy road trip to Ohio to surprise both our mothers. All around it was a very bad idea and i loath long car trips because of it, but i digress.

Daisy was less than thrilled by the cold weather.

Dispite his face in this photo, he likes snow. Don't let him fool you. Besides, that's a good thing when you consider that we're moving to where it snows a whole lot more than it does in southern Texas!

tomorrow i've already planned my tribute to the Banana as it will be Mr. Q's last day with the love of his life (next to me, of course). See you tomorrow!