Fixed

This will be brief. This morning I had my surgery and am now home recovering with the help of Rob and a confused and worried pack.

More once the swelling and pain go down a bit.

Chewy Sends Another Winner

Hi Everybody,
It happened again. The big truck man handed Mom a package from Chewy and we boys got to taste test it. This time it was something we've never had before, Wellness Petite Treats. The flavor was perfect for us, duck, mango and coconut. Doesn't that sound yummy?

 Yes, they are petite and we aren't, but that's OK. Notice that in the corner it says, "over 150 treats per bag". That's a whole lot of treats so we can each have two or three. Here's Dad testing them. He tests all our treats. Mom only tastes a few of them, the sweet ones and nothing messy. 

So then it was our turn. I'm getting ready, come on Dad.

Noah had one and thought it was excellent.

Sebastian liked them too but in his big mouth, a petite treat can get lost.

We all got seconds because they were really good.

Look who else wanted to try them. Mackey is sort of petite so these were perfect for her and she liked them too.

Thanks Chewy for another really tasty treat. Mom says they're the perfect size for training. We'll all be starting that again as soon as her hand is fixed. She also says I need to tell everyone that Chewy sent these treat at no cost in exchange for our honest review. So here goes, these are honestly really good treats. Try some.
Your pal, Fudge

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

There's a product in the marketplace and maybe in some of our homes that is very deadly for our cats and dogs. It's XYLITOL and it's appearing in more and more commonly used products. It's a sugar-alcohol derived sweetener and many pet owners are still unaware of the danger.

In humans the sweetener is safe but just a small amount of xylitol can cause a dangerous insulin surge and a rapid drop in blood sugar in dogs. A single piece of gum or one mint containing xylitol can cause hypoglycemia in a ten pound dog. This graphic from The Preventive Vet page shows how little it takes to poison a dog.

Lately, some companies are adding zylitol to peanut butters, a favorite of dogs and dog owners. I find myself reading manufacturers labels more than ever before and even checking the ingredients listed on products we've used before. I spotted zylitol listed on a couple things I'd been buying for years and have now cut them from our household use. I prefer not to even have a product containing zylitol in the house. I'm also asking questions about and examining gifts my dogs receive from friends. We can't be too careful with the health and lives of our pets.

Dr Jason Nicholas of Portland, Oregon is trying to make everyone aware of the dangers of zylitol and has compiled a list of products containing the sweetener. Some of these will surprise you. Here is the list, but be sure to check labels because more companies are starting all the time.

 http://www.preventivevet.com/xylitol-products-toxic-for-dogs

 You'll see that there are non food items on the list, too and with the holidays approaching some of these may be coming into your home. Be aware of what products could contain this deadly product and stay safe.
               

Holidays Are Here

Hi Everybody,
Happy Holidays!!! I know, you're all looking at your calendars and saying "Fudge, the holidays aren't here yet." But look what Dad made...

Yes, here in Portieville, it's Thanksgiving today. You see Mom won't be able to use her hand at the Thanksgiving on the calendar, so we decided to have it now before she gets operated on. Mom says that with human pups you usually have to go by the calendar because they hear from their friends when things are, but with a dog family she and Dad can decide to have holidays whenever they want. We can have Christmas in March or Halloween in January or any holiday whenever it feels right.

 So we have a huge turkey all cooked up and Mom is making mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing and she's making enough for all of us. Dad will cut up the turkey, put it in little bags and freeze it so we can have it with our dinners for weeks.

Today we even got a super present. The big truck man came and brought a whole case of sardines so the girls can eat stinky fish every week.

We love holidays and without a calendar to follow, we can have lots of them and even invent some of our own. So Happy Whatever Holiday You Want It To Be.

 Your pal, Fudge

Then It Was November!

Wow, is this year ever flying by.  Here it is November and I still have October stuff to do. First up is an overdue Chewy review. This should have been done a couple weeks ago, but life events got in the way, so here it is. Last month Chewy was so sweet. They sent the wonderful Grandma Lucy's pumpkin treat for the boys, but they didn't forget the girls. The girls got a wonderful surprise from The Honest Kitchen - Wishes.

Wishes are fishes and when I saw that they were haddock, I ordered them right away. Haddock is one of my favorites. Growing up in Central New York, I ate haddock sandwiches all the time and wish I could get one here.

 Look, the only ingredient is haddock. I just knew the girls would love them.

Look at the size of these pieces of fish! The only bad thing is that there are only about eight pieces in a box, but they're so big that they can easily be broken into smaller pieces.

And what did the girls think about them? See for yourself.

Chewy sent us these excellent treats free of charge in exchange for our honest review. They hit the jackpot this month as all the dogs except Mackey were thrilled with the choices.  Mackey' s very picky about treats and has only a couple kinds that she likes. She tried the pumpkin ones but they aren't one of her favorites. We'll keep trying and eventually we'll hit one that makes Mackey excited.

Other reports for the new month include one on my leg. It seems to be slowly healing. Next week I'll do my pre-registration for surgery and the following week I'll have my hand surgery. If you know of some activity to fight boredom that only requires one hand, please let me know. The recovery for this surgery is six weeks and that's a long time to avoid stitching.  Over the last week I couldn't stand it and started a cross stitch. I didn't want to tackle one of the special ones that I have waiting so I just did a random Autumn piece. It turned out pretty well for basically using just one hand.

Of course, since this is November 1st, I want to say happy anniversary to my other half. This is us 29 years ago today.

And this is us more recently.

And finally here's Sebastian, just because.

Happy Reminder

Guess what is fast approaching.  Christmas is only 58 days away!

Why did I think of this? Did a little bird tell me?

No, a little plant told me.

See, my Christmas cactus is in full bud and will be soon be spreading holiday cheer thruout the house.

 This will be a quiet holiday season for us. My hand will be in bandages making it impossible to bake or stitch and we'll be missing the sweet, somewhat bossy face of Miss Morgan and all the others at the bridge, but we'll be here together and I'm sure the dogs will be as excited as ever.

Big Birthday Bash

Samba and Fudge's pups are nine years old today. We got an early email from sister Gracie who is celebrating with her family. Then I went to have my stitches out and when I got home, it was time to party.

These have been on the kitchen counter for a week and every time I walk by them I get hungry for Oreos. But today they got moved to the garage in preparation for the event.

Rob called the pack together and everyone was on best behavior because special cookies were ready to be handed out.

See how nicely they sit and wait, with a few exceptions.

So here are the birthday kids. Tess

Bailey

Noah and Lola

Norma Jean

They're all a little scruffy looking today from playing in the leaves. Sebastian and Mackey were also included.

And yes, Sydney even got invited to the party.

Happy birthday babies, I remember that day nine years ago as if it was yesterday and I love you even more.