Not Even A Pig

Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a pig ?



We have lots of little creatures around this house. I'd love to be able to show you pictures of sweet little black dogs with their Christmas collars sitting nicely in a row, but I'd have to sedate them all and prop them up. Instead I'll show pictures of some of the Christmas creatures that stay put until I move them.

We have The Little Drummer Boy and Santa.


More bears in festive holiday clothes.


This one seems dressed for a very special party.


These two are more casually dressed.


Awww...


These two look slightly confused, but nicely dressed.


I'm not sure if these are reindeer or moose, but they're festive anyway.


This is definitely a moose.


Penguins like to party.


I really like this guy, but I don't know what he's supposed to be. A duck? Or maybe a platypus? I vote for a Christmas Platypus.


Fudge hates this dog for some reason. He growls whenever he sees it. I obviously keep it up high.



Do you see a resemblance here? The one above was given to me by Rob for Christmas 1996. The one on the right was given to me by Rob in January of 2000 and she is his constant companion. I think he must like shaggy white dogs.





After I photographed the black dog, Fudge decided that he needed to get in the same spot and so I took his picture, too.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

A Public Apology

When I was in second grade, I guess that would be about seven years old, there was a little boy named Jimmy who 'liked' me. He was always hanging around and would stop by my house in the mornings to walk me to school. My Grandmother thought he was cute, so she welcomed him. I couldn't stand Jimmy. Even at that age I needed my space, and Jimmy crowded me.
























One day not long before Christmas, Jimmy joined me and my friend Donna, uninvited, as we were chatting on the playground. He was jabbering on about Christmas and Santa, so to get rid of him I told him there was no Santa. Well, it got rid of him. He ran away crying and that was the last time he ever bothered me.

























I immediately felt awful and I've remembered and regretted it to this day, decades later. Not only was I wrong to say that to Jimmy, but I was wrong.





I believe in Santa Clause.



Santa Claus represents the spirit of selfless giving. I believe in him all year, not just at Christmas. I think most dog people understand about selfless giving. It's what we receive from our animals daily. It's what makes people give their time and money to total strangers who need help. It's what brings people together after a natural disaster.



What could be better than selfless giving and unconditional love? I'm sorry, Jimmy, I was wrong. There is a Santa and I believe in him.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I've been feeling like the Grinch this year so Rob decided to take me out for a Christmas spirit transplant. The idea was to look at pretty decorations and just enjoy the day. No stress.


Aren't these pretty? They're made of pine cones and sprayed and sparkled. They're especially nice with a whole bunch of them together. Very cheery.


I guess these would have looked better after dark when the lights show up, but I wasn't going to wait around that long.


Here are some more twig deer. They'd be pretty in our back yard, but my dogs would probably decide to chew on them, after all they are sticks, right?


Well, here we are at the North Pole, Missouri branch. What a charming little greeter.


We headed for Santa's workshop and found this fellow standing guard.


Santa wasn't in. Guess he slept late, but we saw this elf trimming the place.


I couldn't fit the whole tree in the shot. It must have been 20' tall.


Here come Santa. He was out test driving the reindeer.


The whole team is here.


Looks like they're ready for the big trip at the end of the week.


This big bear has his arms full of little animals. I guess he's giving them a bear hug. I want the big guy.


We stopped off for some coffee and some coconut shrimp and saw these little fellows sitting in the wreaths.


Maybe all these happy sights are starting to work their magic on me. It seems like a lot of people are having a tough time finding their holiday spirit this year. Have you found yours?

Remembering

Eight years ago today we said goodbye to Bentley. When he left he took an enormous piece of my heart with him. He was my first PWD and the reason I live with eight of them today. Samba is even named for him.



Two years earlier on December 3rd we lost Pylon and last year on December 23 Monty died. Only four months earlier we said goodbye to Lucy.

I've had pets all my life, dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and assorted other species. We all know that along with the joy of sharing our lives with an animal, the day will come when we lose them. Their lives are much too short and we somehow have to deal with it.

Many of us have had to say goodbye to a beloved pet this year, but almost all of us have faced it at one time or another.



Chan and I would like to honor the pets that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, the recent ones and the ones who went before and took part of us with them. Starting December 27 and continuing thru December 30 we will have Rainbow Week on the Dogs-N-More blog.

We invite everyone to join us. We will post pictures, names and dates and whatever you would like to say about your pet. All types of pets are welcome. If there was an animal that meant a lot to you who belonged to a relative or friend, please include them. This is to honor the pets who were so important in our lives for whatever reasons.

You can e-mail your pictures and information to either Chan or me and we will post them in no particular order along with some poetry on those days December 27 - December 30. What better time than the last week of the year to remember those little lives that brought so much happiness into our lives?

Christmas Doodles

I've always loved Christmas. It's my favorite holiday and I usually spend a good portion of the year getting ready for it.

When I was a little girl, my Mom and I lived with her parents, two brothers and sister. I was the first grandchild and yes, I was spoiled. My Grandparents both loved Christmas and it was an enormous celebration in our house with lots of family and friends, good food, pretty decorations and fabulous gifts. I remember several years when I was surrounded by adoring adults who showered me with attention and gifts. I've always wished every child could experience a day like that at least once in their lives.


Chan has some interesting questions on her blog today and I'll give my answers.

Have you started your shopping?
I've already started my shopping for next year. I have a closet off the guest room where I stash gifts and there are several in there. I buy things all year as I see them or think of them. I keep a notebook with a list of every Christmas gift I've given since 1968 and I make notes all year when someone mentions something they'd like. I also watch what people look at in store windows or magazine ads. I make some of my gifts, and some years have made them all. I start knitting, sewing or cross stitching between Christmas and New Years.

What is one of your special traditions?
Growing up we had a number of traditions, but when Rob and I married we wanted to start our own. We make cookies and fudge, put it in pretty containers and take it to our neighbors and special friends.

I think our favorite tradition is putting the dogs toys in the toy box and opening the box on Christmas morning. I love watching them look thru the box and select that special toy. Some hide the first toy and come back for a second, some trade with another dog and poor Monty could never make a choice. All the good toys were gone before he could decide. I always held out a special one just for him.

Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Yes and no. Before I married, my Mom would stay at my apartment on Thanksgiving night, then we would go shopping the next day. We had so much fun, eating out and shopping for each other. If she saw something she liked, I'd get it for her. She'd buy neat stuff for me, then we'd go home and play with our loot. We'd start our real shopping the next day. Now, I do almost all my shopping on-line, so I can shop on Black Friday and never see another person.



When do you put up your tree?
We usually put them up around the second week in December. We have a 12' tree in the living room decorated with traditional ornaments and ornaments that we've acquired on our travels. There are some old family pieces and some hand made ones.

We have a 7' tree in our big room in the basement. I don't know what to call that room. Den doesn't seem right for a room with a 15'ceiling. We usually refer to it as the gallery because we have lots of paintings hung in there. I trim that tree with blue and silver ornaments and our doggy ornaments.

In the front entrance hall we have a 5' tree decorated with fake cookies and candies, though they look very real. Apparently they don't smell real because the dogs have never tried to eat them.

We have an 18" gold metal tree in the bedroom on the dresser. I have special tiny little ornaments for it. We have a teeny 5" tree in the kitchen with teeny dogs on it.

Do you travel at Christmas or stay home?
When we lived on the East Coast closer to family, we sometimes spent Christmas with one family or the other. Now that we're so far away we stay home. Also, it's almost impossible to travel with ten dogs.

What is your funniest Christmas memory?
The year my Mom got all the tags mixed up on the gifts. As my brother, sister and I would open a gift, she'd grab it out of our hands and hand it to someone else. It was very confusing, but funny.

There was also the year my dog Libby went downstairs while we were asleep and ate all the candy and fruit from our stockings and licked the candy canes my sister had tied on the packages. The next morning there was stuff scattered around from the stockings and the gifts were all sticky. By the way, Libby had diarrhea for two days after that.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?
The Nightmare Before Christmas. We love Tim Burton.



Do you like Christmas baking? What's your favorite?
Yes, I like it. My favorite is my Grandmother's chocolate cookie recipe. It was my Grandfather's favorite and I think it's mine, too. I don't make it very often because I could sit there and eat the whole pan full. They bring back lots of memories besides tasting delicious. I like baking for the dogs, too, because they're so pleased when I do it.

Do you have a fake or real tree?
We have fake trees. Until I married Rob, I always had real trees and my family all had them. Every year I got sick at Christmas. I attributed it to stress, but Rob discovered that I'm extremely allergic to pine oil. The tree was making me sick each year and no one ever thought of it.

When does panic set in to get it all done?
I think this year is the latest I've ever been for a combination of reasons. There have been years when I've been all done in July and my goal each year is to have everything mailed out on the day after Thanksgiving. This year I'm late, but since there are no small children anymore to shop for, it doesn't really matter if things are there ahead of time or a few days late. As it is, I mailed out the last packages today.

Are you wrapping on Christmas Eve? No, most of our gifts get mailed to family and friends who live in other states and countries. Everything is done well before Christmas Eve, though the last few years Rob and I go out early that day to pick up little stocking stuffers for each other and maybe stop for an Irish coffee to celebrate.



What is your favorite family fun at Christmas?
Since it's just the two of us, we usually have a game of Scrabble and share a bottle of wine. We play with the dogs and if we get new toys, we play with them. It's a quiet relaxing day around here.

What Christmas craft do you like best?
I'm not sure what a Christmas craft is, but I enjoy knitting Christmas stockings and other ornaments. I also cross stitch and sew ornaments and stockings. My Mom and I used to make toothpick trees and I bought the materials to try it again in the coming year.

What is your favorite Christmas music?
My favorites are Greensleeves and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. There are lots of others I like a lot, too. About 18 years ago I taught myself to pay the piano and I enjoy playing Christmas music. I haven't played in several years, but that's something I'd like to get back to in 2010.

When do you plan to finish shopping? I never finish. When I see something that seems right for someone I know, I get it and stick it away for the next Christmas or birthday.



I've been sick for the last few weeks and haven't had much holiday spirit. I was starting to feel overwhelmed, but Rob stepped in this week and helped me get everything together and shipped out. Everything is on it's way to it's new home and most of it will be there before Christmas.

It's been a tough year starting with losing Monty last Christmas, getting used to Robs' retirement and now Samba being sick, but I'm going to try to relax thru the rest of this year and get back on track for 2010. Thank you all for your wonderful comments this year and for being so supportive.

4 Week Checkup

Samba went to visit Dr B today. It's been four weeks since she started treatment for MMM. She's had a few side effects from the high doses of steroids, but nothing we can't live with. She's lost six pounds so she's going to get her wish and get bigger servings at meal time. Her voice has gotten higher, she has a slight tremor and her hair is getting thin on her tail and legs.



The good news is that she can open her mouth more than two thirds of the way. We demonstrated this by feeding her some yogurt in the examining room. The doctor watched how she moved her mouth and how aggressively she grabbed the spoon. He was very pleased with her progress.

The part that bothers me the most is the muscle loss. Her head feels like a skeleton with hair. The area marked temporalis muscle is gone. There's a deep hole there. Her whole muzzle feels thinner. The muscle that has been lost is gone forever. The muscles around it will get stronger and take over the job of the ones that are missing, but she'll never have a nice smooth, rounded head again. Dr B says that most people won't notice because of all her hair, but it feels so strange to me, and it makes me so very sad.

So tomorrow we'll cut her Prednisone from 40 mg daily to 30 mg. With luck some of the side effects will go away as the dosage drops. She'll stay at this level for a month as long as she continues as she is. We'll also do some mild physical therapy with her ball and a soft toy. We're using the ball to judge what level she's at. If she continues to carry the ball, we're Ok, if she won't carry the ball, she's in trouble and we have to see the doctor immediately.


Here is Noah kissing his Mom and telling her how glad he is that she's feeling better.

Umm, Umm, Good

Last week on Dogs-N-More, I posted some links to recipes for pet treats. There are some that sound really good and I intend to try several of the recipes. Now, I'll share a couple recipes that I've made over and over for my pack. Of all the biscuit recipes I've tried, these are their favorites.



I usually use the dog bone and fire hydrant cutters. The large bone can be cut into several pieces for sharing. I recently bought the paw print cutter and the Portuguese Water Dog cutters.



My dogs all love treats, even Tsar, the picky one, so I like the idea of knowing exactly what goes into the treats I'm giving them. This way I control what they eat.





Our Very Favorite Biscuits

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered dry milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 tablespoons margarine, shortening or meat drippings
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, dry milk, salt and sugar.
Cut in margarine until mixture resembles cornmeal.
Mix in egg.
Add enough water so mixture forms a ball.
Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut out shapes with cookie cutter or make strips.
Bake on lightly oiled cookie sheet for 25 - 30 minutes.
Cool on rack.



I make a few changes to the recipe. I use only a pinch of salt. I add 2 tablespoons of wheat germ and I add 2 -3 tablespoons of dried soup greens.



So far, I've had no complaints.



Our Second Favorite Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 multigrain oatmeal or quick cooking oats, uncooked
1/4 cup honey crunch wheat germ
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon baking powder

With mixer at low speed, mix 1 cup flour with remaining ingredients and 1/2 cup water until well blended.
With spoon, stir in remaining 1/2 cup flour.
Preheat oven to 350
On well floured surface knead dough until it holds together.
Roll dough 1/4 inch think
Cut out cookies.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes.
Turn oven off. Let cookies remain in oven for 1 hour.
Cool on rack.
Store in airtight container or freeze.



Now if you want to hand mix and knead, that's great, but I make them in my food processor. I throw everything in, hit the button till it all holds together, then get on with cutting them out. My cooking patience doesn't last long, so I need to get it over with as soon as possible.



The dogs don't seem to know the difference between hand mixed and hit the button on the machine mixed.





We hope you'll try one of these recipes or one of the many listed on Dogs-N-More. Your pets already think you're the best person in the world, but I guarantee they'll think you're also the smartest if you can make treats.



We also wrap some of the biscuits in plastic wrap, tie a ribbon around them and give them as gifts to our friends dogs. It makes us very popular.