Wordless Wednesday: Keeping Cool

 Bless Rudy.  He stayed back so Rosie 

could explore her very first pile of ice cubes solo.
This is very loving of Rudy because he loves
 it when I clean out the ice cube bin!

  Ahhh...  pretty cool!

Can you see how curly her coat is becoming

 thanks to her Golden Retriever mother?

I love it!

Wordless Wednesday: I've got a smile for you!

Rosie is all smiles!

And, believe it or not, there's no dirt on this nose!  LOL

Monday Mischief: First Doggie Pool

We just might finally have a water dog again!

We got our first doggie swimming pool many years ago on the farm.  Sherman and Spanky were thrilled.

The pool had colorful fishies printed all over the bottom and Spanky loved to stick his head under the water and chomp at them to try and "catch" them.   Sherman loved to just lay down, soak and cool off.

To our great disappointment, Tucker, Lucy and Jeffie regarded their doggie swimming pool as a giant water bowl.  No playing; no soaking.  Just a tongue lap now and then.  So much for the pool.  

Rudy got so excited about water - that's Rudy shown above when the creek overflowed into our yard - we thought we had a water dog.   We were thrilled and picked up a little kiddie pool at the big box store.  Our thought was that if he really liked it, we'd get him a bigger one.

Well, Rudy did like to walk around in the doggie pool water.  Sometimes he stomped a front foot down to splash.  Unfortunately for us, he mostly thought it was a really big water bowl.

Now we have Rosie, a very confident 6 month old puppy who's usually ready to try just about anything!

 

 What is this thing and why is it in my yard?

 

 They've put this thing on the deck now... where are Rudy and Jeffie?

 Hey guys, should I be afraid?

 

Rudy says there's nothing to worry about.

But now they've put my Jolly ball in there

and a tennis ball!

 

I've got to get my Jolly ball!

 

Forget the Jolly ball.  This is fun!

 

Oooh... you can drink it!  You can splash it!

You can stick your head in it!

 

Wow, my head is wet!

 I think I need a towel!

We now keep a "dog towel" by both the patio and back porch doors for our little swimmer.  I managed to capture some video and when I've got some time, I'll get that uploaded to our YouTube channel.  Rosie loves the water and I suspect there's a bigger doggie pool in her future!

Follow-up Friday: Rosie's Spay, Dog Treats, Giveaways

I'm glad to be joining Heart Like a Dog in the Follow-up Friday blog hop again this week.  This is the blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.  Hosted by FUF creator, Jodi at Heart Like a Dog and co-hosted this week by Misty at Misty Shores Chesapeakes. 



This week has flown by.  I'm weather obsessed (always) and, perhaps, never more so than this spring.  Our weather has been seriously crazy for this area of the country.  Pity the folks who already had their tomato plants set out in their gardens when it sleeted and snowed for 2 days straight.  In May!   While I shook my head and grumbled about the damage to blooming flora, the dogs just were wishing the white stuff would accumulate enough to make snow angels.

Rosie had a trip to the vet to remove her stitches from her spay surgery.  She did terrific throughout the experience.  No cone for her.  It was her nursemaid, Jeffie, we had to watch in terms of licking.

I've been thinking lately that I should be buying lottery tickets because I've been so lucky!  First we won a box of The Honest Kitchen Smooches dog treats from Roxy and Torrey at Roxy the Traveling Dog.

We heard from Kate at SlimDoggy that we were one of the FitDog Friday giveaway winners of a coveted SlimDoggy scoop!  I should note, that given how Rosie loves to eat, I suspect that soon we'll need to be joining the FitDog Friday blog hop!

And we won 2 adorable Cesar Millan dog toys from Bren Lee and Titan at Pibbles and Me!

Image stolen from Pibbles & Me

Jeffie, Rudy and Rosie entered that giveaway thinking that if they were  lucky enough to win, they'd share with the homeless dogs at their favorite shelter.  Bren and Titan have graciously sent our prizes to Stray Rescue for us.


Good Dog Take Outs - New Flavors Review and Giveaway
We've heard from several of the winners of our Good Dog Take Outs giveaway and these yummy, all natural dog treats got paws up! 

Yesterday Sharon sent these cute photos of Schooner and Skipper.  She says they loved their Carob Cherry and Chili cheese Crinkle treats.  In fact, Sharon writes:  Schooner is still barking, wanting more as I am writing this email.

All About Jeffie Quiz
Ann at Pawsitively Pets was the winner of a pair of my hand crafted dog lover earrings in the random drawing for this contest.  She'd already emailed me to let me know she received them and really likes them.  Then yesterday she made my day with this glowing For Love of a Dog review with some wonderful photos! Wow!  Thank you, Ann. And I think you rock those earrings!


This weekend, among other things, I'll be writing a review of a new dog book, It's Just A Dog by Russ Ryan, finishing a custom jewelry order for another book author, Jaimi Wolotsky - this one a book about rescue dogs.  And, hopefully, the sun will come out and there will be some Jolly ball.  Lots of Jolly ball!

Wordless Wednesday: Love Times Three

 

Rudy

 Jeffie

 Rosie

Wordless Wednesday: All Partied Out

The Talking Dogs are all partied out and catching up on some zzzzs...

If you missed the party, fetch Jeffie's Birthday Party page.

Good Dog Take Out Treats New Flavors: Enter Now!

 

When Good Dog Take Outs heard that we were celebrating Jeffie's birthday this month, they very generously offered to join in the fun!

Good Dog Take Outs has added new flavors!  

We got to taste test some of them and 

6 lucky party dogs get to try some, too!

We reviewed Good Dog Take Outs a couple of months ago and they were a big hit with all three of our dogs.  Their dog and cat treats are made in the US, in fact they're made in the heart of central Michigan in a licensed kitchen!  They oven bake fresh pet treats from human grade ingredients that contain no added fillers or preservatives.

Their new flavors include:

• Carob Cherry - Carob and Michigan Grand Traverse area red tart cherry juice.  They're the closest you can come to a chocolate covered cherry for your dog safely. 
• Nacho Mamma Chips - nacho cheese flavors and special handmade seasoning.
• Iced Cinnamon Rolls - heart healthy cinnamon and raw honey. Cinnamon improves circulation and has anti-inflammatory properties for your dog's joints;  raw honey helps boost the immune system.
• Chilli Dogs - spicy puppy shaped dog treats with no additives.
• Wheat/Gluten Free Chilli Cheese Crinkles - cheese, spices and no wheat/gluten.  Like cheese straws for dogs.

We ordered the Carob Cherry, Nacho Mamma Chips, Wheat/Gluten Free Chilli Cheese Crinkles to taste and Good Dog Take Outs sent Jeffie a package of Original Flavor as a special birthday gift!

Not only are these dog treats all natural and healthy, they look and smell good, too.  The Carob Cherry are adorable with their heart shapes.  Nacho Mamma Chips look just like you think they should!  The Original Flavor are cute dog bones with icing squiggles.  The Wheat/Gluten Free Chilli Cheese Crinkles look like cheese straws.  The Dog Daddy even tried them:  Yum!

Jeffie, Rudy and Rosie didn't really care how the treats looked.  One whiff and they were ready to party with Good Dog Take Outs!

Though it was nerve wracking waiting for a taste test, Jeffie, Rudy and Rosie had beautiful party manners!

I wish I could tell you which new flavor was their favorite.  However, they loved all of them!

We like to make our own dog treats, but sometimes there simply isn't time.  Good Dog Take Outs are just like homemade - without the time and messy kitchen!  Plus they come in such cute take-out containers.  Perfect for gift giving to a special doggie friend.

We're pleased to give Good Dog Take Outs pet treats our highest recommendation!

   Six lucky winners are going to find out

just how good these treats are...

because we're doing another giveaway!

Six (6) winners will win two (2) 4 ounce packages of Good Dog Take Outs in their choice of dog or cat treat flavors!

All you have to do is use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.  Sorry, winners must have a United States shipping address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  We received no financial compensation for this review.  We purchased 3 varieties of these dog treats. Good Dog Take Outs gave me one package as a gift.  We only publish our own opinions at Talking Dogs and share information about products we like and support. 

Follow-up Friday: Monkey Winner, KONG Dog Treats, Photo Contest and More

I'm delighted to be co-hosting the Follow-up Friday blog hop with Heart Like a Dog this week!  Created by Jodi at Heart Like a Dog, this is the blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

At Talking Dogs, we've been partying all week.  All the month of April, we're celebrating Jeffie's 7th birthday.  Because of all the "party favors" we're giving away, we have winner's to congratulate and we're also participating in Fido'[s Freebie Friday blog hop which is co-hosted by Dog Tipper, All Things Dog Blog and Doggies and Stuff.

First, we want to congratulate Nellie who won the special Dog Blogger Necklace from For Love of a Dog in the giveaway at Dakota's Den!  Not a winner, but you'd like a necklace like this?  Fetch one at For Love of a Dog! 
They're on sale now!

If you'd like to enter to win a cat blogger version of this necklace, fetch Cat Chat with Caren and Cody.  Hurry!  The giveaway ends soon!  Or you can purchase one at For Love of a Dog.

Next we need to woof about receiving the Versatile Blogger Award from The Daily Dog Blog.  Thank you, Julie!  We'll talk more about this later this month, but we just had to woof a bit today.

2 Black Dogs Too Long at the Shelter:  Adoptable Dogs
Many thanks to those of you who shared this post via social media.  Both dogs are still without homes.  The fact that one has been there for over 5 years simply breaks my heart.  Please continue to share. 

Mischief Monday:  Too Much Party Punch?
In addition to having a laugh at Rudy's expense, we announced the winner of our Monkey Giveaway!  Congratulations to Jodi! We hope she enjoys her monkey earrings from For Love of a Dog and that Sampson and Delilah enjoy their Skinneeez Big Bite dog toy.

KONG Premium Jerky Dog Treats:  Product Review and Giveaway
If you haven't entered this giveaway yet, Jeffie, Rudy and Rosie think you should.  They LOVE these new, made in the US, KONG jerky treats for dogs.

The "photo shoots" for this giveaway and the one we'll be doing this next Tuesday (new flavors of Good Dog Take Outs) were pretty funny.  After a round or two of taste testing, none of the dogs minded wearing party hats at all.  As they jockeyed for position, a few hats got knocked akimbo and Rosie lost hers a time or two.  I'll share some of the "out takes" on a future blog post.

Jeffie's Birthday Party Pet Photo Contest
Just want to clarify - you do not have to make sure your pet is wearing a party hat in the photo(s) you submit.  And Photoshopped photos are fine with us.  

Join the fun! We've already received some fantastic party photos!  We'll be sharing more each week, plus you'll soon find a Jeffie Birthday Party page here on our Talking Dogs blog.  One (1) winner will be chosen at random (random.org) to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card.

So far, we've got some real party animals joining us!

 Gracie and Cider came to the party from Kelly's Pet Salon in Michigan!

 Gambler is ready to par-tay!   He lives with JoAnn at Sand Spring Chesapeakes in Wisconsin.

 Artie dressed as a Ninja for a Pet Days party at the Harley Dealer and thought why not use this dog-gone good costume again!

 

 Coco is ready to celebrate!  Coco Chanel Bella is a 7 year old American Cocker Spaniel who lives with Christine.  Jeffie and Rudy are smitten!

Snoopy thought if he got enough birthday balloons, 

he could hitch a ride to Jeffie's party! 

Nibblet (above) and Shiner (below) 
of Pawsitively Pets are pretty in party pink!

What are you waiting for?  
You can see what fun we're having.  Join us!