it's been a year

and I miss him as much as I did the day I lost him...

That's my sweet man on the left...

 

Emmylou Harris

tidbits of goodness

Stamps. Super cute stamps. And during the rollout, a million meals will be donated to shelters. I'm going to stock up on these so I don't end up having to use the Forever stamps (sorry folks... I know that the Liberty Bell is patriotic, but it's not the prettiest stamp I've ever seen).

And something a little (or a lot) less world-changing, but important nonetheless. Poop Freeze. Need I say more?

french 101

I had a friend pass this along to me... I've always wanted to learn to speak French. This is probably how I'd go about it too.

my, what large ears you have...

How cute are these Easter Bunny Lab dog toys? Oh, how I wish my dogs didn't destroy stuffies in 30 seconds flat.

a star is born

Unfortunately, we had a dog attack here in South Carolina last week and a woman was killed. The dog was believed to have been a pit bull. The whole situation was absolutely horrible, and my heart goes out to the woman's family.

But I'm incredibly grateful to Stewart Moore and WIS-TV for allowing my friend and dog trainer Teoti Anderson to come on their morning show last week to discuss dog aggression, how to protect yourself in the event of a dog attack, AND why breed specific legislation doesn't work. She also wanted to show viewers that pit bulls can be great dogs, and so she asked to borrow my man Quincy! In the wake of this sad tragedy, I was grateful that WIS was eager to show the softer (and more accurate) side of pit bulls.

Please forgive the terrible video quality. WIS didn't provide the clip online, so I literally had to record it by playing it on my TV and then recording it with my camera.

Quincy was a natural, and I hope he won over the hearts of everyone watching. I can't see how the viewers couldn't help but love him! And Teoti did a great job as well. The only problem now is that I'm afraid the fame might be going to Quincy's head:

stylish snoozing

Pretty bed. The dog's pretty cute too...

happy birthday, pea soup!

My shy girl Penny Sue (aka Pea Soup) celebrated her fourth birthday yesterday! Her birthday gift was a top notch bully stick, and she made the most of it...

have y'all met george?

He's a big boy... the biggest in the world, as a matter of fact.

strange habits

Quincy has developed a very strange habit... he chatters his teeth. It doesn't happen all the time - usually just when he's taking treats or smelling something very intently. I have no idea why he does it, but it is so funny. I tried to capture it on video to post here... he wasn't doing it as emphatically as usual, but you'll be able to get the idea.

(PS - that's little Matilda you hear in the background. She was wondering why she was in her crate when there were cookies being handed out.)

snoot of steel

Take a look at the photo below. See the little pink box I've placed there? Look carefully at the crate bars in that area... see how they're all bent? That's because Matilda likes to sit up and stick her snoot through the bars. She hasn't used her teeth to pull at them... she's just pushed her fat, little nose through there enough that she's been able to bend the bars. Crazy.

snow!

So we got snow... LOTS of snow... this past Friday night. To those of you residing in less balmy regions, you probably can't understand my excitement. In fact, you're probably sick of snow right about now. But down here, we don't ever get snow, and certainly not nine inches.

The only one of my dogs that had ever seen snow before is Oliver. But even he had never seen more than one or two inches at best. So it was hilarious to watch them go piling out the door for the first time after it fell and watch them all come to a dead stop. They looked around at each other like "WHAT is this STUFF?!" But then it took about 30 more seconds for them to decide that it didn't really matter what it was because it was FUN!

Ollie ate it. Penny liked to catch snowballs in her mouth. Quincy just did huge donuts in the yard. Henry just ran around trying out the different activities of the other dogs. And Matilda... well, let's just say her new nickname is "Snowplow." I tried to capture it on video, but it was just too dark. She would take off running, get up some speed, and then hit her belly and slide through the snow. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Matilda sat in this chair most of the following day... fascinated by the melting snow falling off the trees.

But of course, all the snow is gone now. In fact, most of it was gone the very next day. But we all made the most of it while we had it!

feelin' lucky?

Green beer, anyone? Sorry puppies... none for you.

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays... I love Ireland, I love green and I love my dad (his name is Patrick). I realize it's not necessarily a big holiday, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to craft some collars to celebrate.

As always, you can find them in the shop!

need a nap?

So Oliver had a dental and a tooth extracted on Friday, and the vet had to give him anesthesia of course. He was still a little loopy when I picked him up. I can't help but laugh like a crazy person when I watch this. Sorry Ollie...

flying dog

Exhibit A: Handsome, energetic and enthusiastic dog sits at the top of a rather tall staircase...

Exhibit B: Handsome, energetic and enthusiastic dog's banged-up legs after said dog decides that the stairs simply take too much time... he'd just rather fly... and then do a face-plant into the sidewalk.

Seriously people... he also has a scraped chin and chest and a busted lip. He PLOWED into the concrete, and then didn't miss a beat. Just kept running. And there I am trying to chase him down to make sure that he didn't indeed have a broken jaw like I was sure he must have.

well that's one way to draw a crowd

talented friends

I have a very talented friend who is a great artist and photographer. She's also my go-to "Mona Mae Keeper" when I go out of town. And for Christmas this year, she was super generous and gave me this lovely painting that she did of my sweet miss.

She recently opened her own shop on Etsy that features all original work. Make sure to check it out!

another way to help haiti

Search and rescue dogs are working overtime in Haiti right now trying to find those buried as a result of the earthquake. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation - the only non-profit in the nation that recruits rescued dogs, partners them with firefighters, and trains them to find survivors buried in the aftermath of disasters - has deployed several teams to Haiti to help. 

USA Today ran an article this weekend about the efforts of search and rescue dogs in Haiti. One team - Bill Monahan and his Border Collie - rescued three young girls buried under a four story building.

If you'd like to support their efforts, please take the time to go to their web site and donate.

[NOTE: Apparently their web site is down because they're receiving so much traffic. You can learn more about what they're doing in real time by following them on Twitter.]

Watch the video below to see a hero-in-training:

puppy love

Valentine's Day collars are in the shop! My favorite is the HeartBreaker Bow Tie... Check them out here.

Who says guys can't wear pink?

And all my proceeds from this year's Puppy Love Collection will go to the Morris Animal Foundation Canine Cancer Campaign. I lost my puppy valentine to cancer less than a year ago, so by raising some money for the cause, I hope to save someone else's valentine.

anthropologie doorstop

Where's a poorly hung door when you need one? I really wish I had a good excuse to bring this guy home...

the dog hair factor

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here, but I love interior design. It's a huge passion of mine, and if I had a chance to do it all over again, I'd say "forget political science... let's get an interior design degree!"

Anyway, the reason for my digression here is to confess that my design choices in my own home are primarily dictacted by two things: 1) Do I like the way it looks and 2) is it dog-friendly?

So when I look at a photo like the one above, the conversation with myself goes something like this:

"Ooh, I love this bathroom. So pretty! I love the way they've hung the deep green velvet drapes outside the door. And the rug is such an unexpected choice for a bathroom, but it really adds interest to the room. Oh, but it's probably an antique. I could just see my face the first time one of the dogs tracked mud on it. And can you imagine the scratches their nails would make on that floor? And those velvet drapes - you might as well just hang a sign on them that says 'Dog Hair Magnet.'"

But here's the thing... I love my dogs WAY more than pretty velvet drapes, white floors and fancy rugs. So I stick with what works (i.e. washeable, wipeable, nothing too fancy), because at the end of the day, an expensive sofa isn't going to greet me at the door with a wagging tail and an open heart.