The Look of Love

Lanie Explains it All

Translation: "Give me that. That cookie. I can see it. Give it here. NOW."

She's very vocal when she wants something.

Here is a video.

Please enjoy this video of a small boy giving treats to a dog.

Eleven!

I haven't the mental wherewithal for a long post about what this day means, but today is Drive's 11th birthday. He and Lanie have been busy this week keeping me sane. But I want you to know we celebrated this momentous occasion with a ride in the car and a cheeseburger, his two most favorite things in the world. To further enhance his joy and wonder at the day, we've been randomly feeding them treats with no "Sit!" or "Roll Over!" attached.

And the children are out for the night with their grandparents. How much better could a dog's life get?

I'll tell you! The fireworks were postponed due to cloud cover! Score!

Lanie always wants to go on car rides, but the truth is that she spends most of the time terrified. Today I am pleased to report she did fairly well and kept her head out the window the entire time.

By the way, even the 4-door Toyota Yaris is too small for two dogs. FYI.

Noms!

Eleven. More than half his life with me, now.

Oh Happiest of Saturdays!

 May all of your fondest wishes be granted as well!

Why isn't my neck longer?!

This is the face of a dog trying to use The Force to levitate a dropped french fry into his mouth.

His desperation did not go unanswered, although it was his teen-aged human who took pity on him and came to his aid. He remains unable to bring food to his mouth using only his mind.

For this, we are all grateful.

He Cares So Much

The intense love and focus evidenced in that shining eye are directed at the sandwich I am holding just out of reach.

And the Blog Hop, which I keep missing because November is just brutally busy:

Coffee on a fall morning, plus a blog hop!

Time for another Saturday Pet Blogging Hop! It's a gorgeous New England fall day, and I think we're going to go outside in a while and appreciate a few rare moments of sunshine. For those of you less blessed with foliage, I will attempt to take pictures. Maybe I should take pictures of the giant piles of "blessing" I've been raking every day for a week now. Like snow, all the leaves are pretty -- until you have to deal with them!

The little girl trying to steal my coffee here is Kara-mel. She belongs to a wonderful friend of mine, and I love her. That's probably why I kept laughing and taking pictures instead of saving the coffee.

Simple Humor

Good morning, people! We're in the Saturday pet blogging hop again and can't wait to meet a few new friends. I have a long walk planned for this weekend, in a place I hope will provide lots of great picture opportunities. In the meantime, here's a picture I made myself.

This should let you know how easily amused I am.

This is the face Drive makes when the food is gone.


EDIT: I have completely messed up the linky code, I know that. I'll figure it out at some point, but trust me, there should be a list of blogs here.

EDIT 2: Okay then!

So how are they?

I'm feeling okay about the cookies I'll be mailing out today. Lanie will eat anything, it's true, but it's only the really tasty things that will incite her to violence and howling. She knows all the tricks her dad is asking her for, but she's far too excited and interested in the cookie he's holding to perform.

Vegan Dog Cookies

I recently took part in an auction to help aid the greyhounds rescued from deplorable cruelty in Fort Worth, TX. Tomorrow I will be shipping boxes of these cookies to the kind souls who bid on them, with the hope that their pups aren't fussy.

I wish I had a better way to gauge how good they are. I mean, my dogs enjoyed the samples I tossed their way, but my dogs make questionable consumption choices on an hourly basis.

My husband ate one, though, and he said they were okay. Any horrible mistakes in this recipe come from the fact that I'm not used to writing down or remembering my recipes. They just sort of happen.

Peanut Butter Parsley Cookies

1 c. apple sauce
1 c. peanut butter (Such a pain to measure, I just eyeball this. Err on the side of more)
1 tsp. each baking soda and salt
1/4 oil (I used olive oil)
3 c. flour, approx. (I've used different kinds, go wild with your grain of choice)
Parsley (I used about an eighth of a cup dried, but suit your dog's taste and breath)

Combine the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the parsley. Add flour by the half-cup, incorporating it all before you add more. The dough may be a little sticky, but it should be workable. If you want to roll it out for shape-cutting you'll need more flour. I just dropped rounded tablespoons onto the cookie sheet and smooshed them flat with the bottom of a glass. (About a quarter of an inch thick or less, if you need to know that.)

Use a cookie sheet lined with foil and lightly coated with nonstick spray. If allowed to sit in between batches, the dough may start to look shiny and oily; mix it again before you form more cookies. Put them in a 350-degree oven for 15-17 minutes. Watch carefully! They seemed to go from "Almost Ready" to "HAHAHA BURNT!" in the space it takes a toddler to ask for help getting down off his dresser.

There's plenty of room for mix-ins here. Carob chips or carrot chunks or oats, whatever your dog likes. Please research any ingredient you add before giving it to your dog. Some surprising household snacks could be poison for your dog, which we discovered when Drive once ate an entire batch of oatmeal raisin dough. (He's fine! But we hauled his butt to the vet to make sure.)


Have fun! I apologize in advance if your dogs are more finicky than mine. ;)

Blog Hopping Again!

It's that time again! Saturday, I mean. Drive is a little busy with something, but I'm sure he's happy to welcome you to our little blog. We hope you'll find a picture or two that makes you smile. And don't forget, if you haven't heard already, about the charity auction happening now to benefit rescued greyhounds in Texas. (Information is here.)

We're so pleased to meet you!

And we'll say a proper hello as soon as we've cleaned out this jar.

Kibble for Breakfast!

Drive is the only dog I've ever seen who savors his food like this.