Author: Debra

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Blogging for Good

Sometimes figuring out how one began to read a certain blog can be like engaging in a rousing game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  I’ve followed one blogger for probably a decade now and there’s another whom I’ve missed reading for quite some time and yet another whom I’ve only been reading for a couple of years.  I have friends who blog on various platforms and I find it a good way to keep in touch.  My own blogging history includes a few different looks and genres with the current manifestation being more of a “dog blog.” 
About a year or two ago, I began feeling that urge, you know the one, the nest feels a little empty and your cats remain singularly opposed to jumping in the truck to go bye-bye with you so you begin to yearn for a dog.    But this post isn’t about that, it is about blogging itself.  I’m a sports fan, a football fan.  If Michael Vick hadn’t had a great game on a certain Monday night, I never would have seen a certain article that changed my life.  I had read this article about Mel and it broke my heart reading about how scared he was.  I couldn’t get that article off my mind and one evening, embarked on a Google adventure to find the article again to re-read it.    Until I re-read that article, I hadn’t ever given much thought as to what happened to those “Vick Dogs.” 
The article mentioned Best Friends, so I started there and found The Vick Dog Blog, that led me to BAD RAP, and so it went.  From there, I somehow managed to stumble on this post with the most adorable video of a veggie eating Pit Bull and down another fork of the path I went.  It lit a fire in me.  I wanted to foster and if that wasn’t in the immediate future, I would volunteer.  And I would learn.  I began reading more and more in an effort to be fully educated on what is happening now in the world, the rescue world and the Pit Bull world which led me to even more great blogs.
When I started this blog, I wanted to write a little again and of course we all hope to connect to others in some way.  We hope to find a connection and make some new friends and be inspired, at least those are my hopes.  Every time we gain a follower (we’re up to three!) we do a little dance.  Each comment makes us squee just a little (ok, a lot) and every day we are inspired by the works and words of others.
With that being said, I’d like to share with you Our Waldo Bungie.  We’ve been reading there for almost a full year now, and are inspired by their mission.  They foster when they can, they transport, they are involved, they give back by making their corner of the world that much better.  As a bonus, they have some pretty spiffy contests, too.  Speaking of that, presently they are engaged in Blogging for Good.  What’s the scoop? 
“The grand prize is $1,000.00 for the blogger’s favorite charity and $500 for the blogger to continue his/her advocacy work. The charity I will contribute to if I win is Unleashed Pet Rescue – a Kansas City rescue group that focuses on rescuing dogs who have run out of time at local shelters (especially pit bulls) and reaching out to neglected dogs and their owners in the city by providing lightweight tie-outs instead of heavy chains, medication, food, and dog houses. ” (OWB)
It’s a win-win.  Now I realize this little corner of blog-ville isn’t a mad center for traffic, but I hope anyone reading, will consider voting for Our Waldo Bungie in the Bloggers for Good contest.
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Handy Cat

As I noted before, Miko is the inspector of the house and likes to participate in all things handy-man related.  Last night was no exception as I was trying to put together a swing thing for the baby.  In retrospect it was a simple matter of assembly however the instruction manual was one of those with pictures but not a lot of clarification.  I was lucky that Miko was willing to supervise.

Sometimes you just need an extra set of eyes and a little room to spread out in as evidenced by the fact that the kitchen table was not big enough and Ray was of little value as an assembly assistant.

How do your critters help around the house?

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Feline Friday… the Thirteenth

Boo, Miko and Jae have not had much face time here lately, so in light of Friday the Thirteenth, here is a pic of our three feline friends, including our lucky black cat.

Whatever your plans may be for the weekend, we hope you enjoy and take a moment to hug your furry family members.
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The Devil’s Workshop

This week, Mama said I’ve been “wound up.”  I don’t feel wound up, I feel just as straight as I usually am, but Mama said I needed to get a job.  She said something about idle minds and that mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise.  What the heck is a job?  Well it turns out I got the best job ever last night.  Mama took some of my favorite toys and treats last weekend and she put them in an ICE CUBIE for me and my job was to rescue everything.

At first I wasn’t sure about this job thing.  I had to check out this ice cubie and then I wooo-wooo’ed at it a couple of times.  I licked it and it tased like an ice cubie, so I felt braver and checked it out…

I like to crunch, crunch ice cubies in my fat mouth but this one was much harder to crunch.

Then the more I scraped and crunched, I began to realize Squeaky Pig was in there!  Squeaky Pig is my favorite toy!



Don’t worry, Piggy, I’ll save you!





As I was working away at my new job, a nice big crack appeared.  I decided the big ice cubie was like Kong-Kong, I picked it up and smashed it on the ground over and over…and it worked! I had a chunk of ice cubie that could chomp and crunch on.

And after I ate that chunk, I went back to my job of rescuing Squeaky Pig.  It took me a really long time to do my job and by the time I was done, I felt ready to go to bed. 

I really have the best job in the world.  I saw some of my other favorite toys and treats going into the bowl, so I am hoping that I get to do my job again tonight!

Do you have a job too?

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A Dark Day

I haven’t posted for several days and I’m not sure if today is a good day to do so.  In fact, I’m pretty sure it isn’t.  It’s an emotional time as thousands around the world are mourning for Lennox and his family.  It’s an emotional time in our household as well.

After so many weeks of moving in a great direction, we had a set back this week.  It’s frustrating, it’s confusing and it’s heartbreaking.

If I had adopted a 10 pound, fluffy lap dog (as opposed to a 55 pound, short haired, blocky-headed lap dog) I might not have taken that dog to obedience class.  I might have over looked the jumping as a puppy behavior that she would grow out of.  If she lay down in the middle of a walk or grabbed her own leash, I might just laugh and scoop her up to carry her in.  I might have laughed if she ran around the house with underwear stolen from the laundry or when she chased one of the cats.  I might have…

I’m lucky.  I adopted a Pit Bull Type dog and I have gone to classes and I am continuing our education.  I am trying to be vigilant with enforcing proper behaviors.  And I will continue to do so for the love of my puppy.

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Fourth of July (on the Fifth)

We hope everyone was able to celebrate the Fourth in their favorite manner.  We humans spent the majority of the day in the pool, while Ray played in his deck jets for a while before drying off and relaxing in the air conditioned house with a good bone.

After which he engaged in some serious sofa sleeping followed by dinner.  Despite the drought we are experiencing, our town still engaged in a fireworks display.  Well before the fireworks began, I tucked Ray into his crate for the evening with his favorite stuffies, blinds closed and blanket over the top for a nice safe cozy spot.  The whole family was in bed well before fireworks started.

How did you spend your day?

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Stumpin’

So, for some reason, Mama thinks this picture of me is funny. 

When I am happy, I like to balance on my head and do somersaults.  I like to tumble into Mom’s lap like that, too. That way I end up with my belly available to get lots of rubs.  See?  I’m one smart cookie. 
Well, even though I like being warm, I still get hot in this heat (I was born in December and this is my first summer)  so this is how I like to cool off so Mama sent this picture to the folks at StubbyDog for a contest.  She said we could win a Frobo bowl for me and one for my Rescue, Smiling K9’s.  All my friends have to do is vote for me and ask more friends to vote for me too.
StubbyDog Contest.
It’s been a crazy weekend here.  We didn’t have elek-tricity which means I got lots of ice cubes to eat, I rode in the car with the air on, and I stayed up late with Mom and Dad.  We hope everyone survived the storms as well as we did.  Mommy said we lost a lot of food (the kitties and I didn’t lose any food but we had to send our duck, duck, goose away for safe-keeping)  but are all safe and together, which is what is important.
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Big Head Clown

One of the great things about having an anvil shaped head and a goofy personality is that you can usually keep yourself entertained for long (for a puppy) stretches of time.  Ray, as you might imagine, has quite an extensive toy collection with some definite favorites.  As discussed here, the Crinkit is a huge favorite for the noise it makes and the squishy durability of the whole thing.  Churpi-chews are great for down time and having a relaxing gnaw on your mat, plus since it is made of yak milk, salt and lime it can be like a doggie version of margarita cheese.  Ok, that might not be appealing to most readers, but it sure is if you’re a pooch.
Tug is a favorite game for Ray and although he will play with nearly anything, rope toys seem to be a big favorite and circles are his favorite shape.  How do I know this?  Very early on he had a wool circle toy that he absolutely loved to slip his snout through when he played but he also loved to eat kibble out of the middle of the circle .  He also likes to slip his snout through the loop of his rope toy and then pick up other toys, thus earning him the nickname Fat Mouth from Asia.
So last night I happend to look down at a quitely playing Ray when I saw a sight that promted me to call him a Goof-ass and, of course, promptly snap a picture.
Just chillin’ with a toy on my head.
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Poolside Puppy

Ray wanted to share a little bit about his weekend, so he will be taking over posting today.

For the past fourteen weeks (ok, only two weeks in what you call People Weeks) our yard has been dug up and I didn’t even get to do the digging.  We’ve had lots of people with machines in the back yard and I go on all of my potty breaks on the leash now.  Then over the weekend Mommy and Daddy said the pool is done and people came over to swim. 
I got to be out poolside with lots of people who said I was a good boy and they all let me kiss them and I got lots of pets and ear scratches which I liked a lot. 
But then something really, really exciting happened. 
Something called water jets got turned on by the pool and I had so much fun playing in those that people took videos of me which Mom put on Facebook and lots of pictures too.  I really loooove water jets…
They make me feel happy and silly and when I get happy and silly I stand on my big anvil shaped head and try to do sommersaults.
I’m not sure that I want to get into that huge bathtub pool, but I love being on the side with my favorite new toy.  Mom says I am going to become a water dog, but I think I’ll stay on the side, for now.
What did you do this weekend?