Injured Paw

My poor Coco has an injured paw pad.  This past weekend she played too hard at grandma and grandpa's and peeled her pad a little.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  In fact, it happens quite often; really anytime she plays hard, like when we go to the dog park.  Once it even happened when she chased a cat across the street.

This time it really put her out of commission for a day or so.  She was limping along, acting pretty pathetic. My poor little Coco Pie, too rough for her own good.

Luckily, her Mommy had some doggy triple antibiotic to help it heal.  And she is on her way to perfect paw!

Wordless Wednesday: Skeptical Coco

Dogs with Celebrity Names?

Recently I came across an article on the New York Times webpage about rescue groups naming up-for-adoption dogs after celebrities in hopes of creating bonds for potential owners-- who wouldn't want a cute pittie named Janeane Garofalo?

While the trend is popular among small agencies, I think this could work on a wider scale. Since our society is overcome by celebrity obsession, why not try to mirror that enthusiasm for adoptable dogs?  Who could leave George Clooney at a shelter?  

In support of this encouraging trend, I'm going to give Coco a celebrity name. When we adopted Coco, her name was Scarlet (I think because she had a gash on her face), so Scarlett Johansson seems like a good possibility.  But I have a hard time thinking of Coco as a vixen.  

After much deliberation, I have decide that Coco's celebrity name will be Lucille Ball.  This feels right.

Happy Valentine's Day!

So lucky to have these two...

Wordless Wednesday

"That treat is.so.close."

Picture by Rochford Photography

Home Alone!

So what does Coco Louise do when left to roam the entire house while her parents are at work? This:

I came home to find trace evidence of a morning spent finding the treats she gets when she brushes her teeth, then scheming to get the bag open,and an afternoon relaxing in her new bed, noshing on her Airy Bites.

Daddy, since he was the one who left the bedroom door open for her this morning, tried to hide the destruction, but didn't do a good job. Usually, she spends her days confined to the living room and kitchen.  I can just imagine her delight when she realized that he left to door open upstairs.  Must have felt like she entered the garden of Eden.

Luckily for us (mostly Daddy) all she ate was a bag of treats!

Coco's Treat Shop Valentine's Day Bags!

You can treat your favorite valentine to some of Coco's treats--it's ok, she doesn't mind sharing.  Our treats are homemade and every batch is taste tested by Coco.  Make your pup's Valentine's Day pawsitively delicious!

Order Here

Berries and Banana Pupsicles

Since it has finally warmed up a bit, I thought I'd treat Coco to a popsicle.  Here is a recipe I've developed after changing one from this fantastic site.  When the weather warms up, give it a try!

Berries and Banana Pupsicles 

What You'll Need:

1 banana

1 tbs peanut butter

handful frozen blueberries

4-5 strawberries (frozen for fresh)

containers to freeze your pops (I used Solo bathroom cups, but upcycled yogurt containers are perfect also.)

What to Do:

1. Mash your banana so that it is nice and creamy.

2. Mix the PB into the mashed banana like you see in picture 2 above. 

3. Next rinse and chop your strawberries. 

4. Reserve a few of the berries for the bottoms of the container, but mix in all the other berries, like in picture 4 above.

5. Put in the reserved berries in the bottom of the containers, see picture 1 above.  

6. Scoop the PB, banana, and berry mixture into the containers.  I gave each of them a little tap, tap on the counter to compact them a little better. 

7. Let your cute little brown dog lick the bowl because that is the best part, refer to picture 3 above for blurry example. 

8.  After 3 hours in the freezer, my pops were nice and frozen.  I cut the side of the container to get one out and it came out easily.  

Coco loved these pupsicles.  They are perfect because we always have these ingredients on hand.  They freeze well and while they are a little messy, she eats them before they can melt too much, like in one single bite.  

She thinks if she sits pretty next to the bowl maybe she can get another one.  Berries and Banana Pupsicles are a hit! 

Vintage Dog Photos

I love these vintage photographs taken with people and their dogs.  It reminds me that not much has changed in 50-100 years.  We still love our dogs and still love it when they look adorable.  Enjoy!

How about this cute dog? Just a regular member of the family...spending an afternoon running errands.

pic via terribly cute.com

Or this one? A kid, his and his chicken.  What more could he want?  I love how this all seems so natural. I don't know, maybe it is.  Either way, I love it.

pic via tasteart.com

This one reminds me of Coco looking out the window at the squirrels. Dogs are so curious.  Bus so are we, aren't we?

pic via myfotolo.tumblr.com

This may be my all-time favorite photo.  It really shows the compassion people have for their dogs.  It has captured a kindness and sweetness that just melts me. 

source unknown

I like being reminded that my life with Coco isn't anything new, that the generations before me have loved their dogs just as much as I do mine.  They probably didn't spend as much money on theirs...

Lucky Dog

When Coco turned 1, her grandma and grandpa bought her a nice big bed.  In the years since then that nice big bed has turned into a nice big stinky heap of stink.  So for her 4th birthday, which isn't until March but frankly I couldn't stand the smell of that thing for one single day longer, I bought her a brand new (fresh) bed.

She loved her old bed, which went to Madam Star, and I was a little afraid of hurting her feelings when we took it out of the house.  She didn't even seem to mind, and thankfully has taken to the new bed brilliantly.

Any tips on keeping the new bed smelling decent, aside from washing the cover, which I did to the old stinky one, too.

Wysong Dream Treats

This evening the doorbell rang, which doesn't happen very often, and when it does Coco is supposed to go on her mat (which is in the kitchen very near the front door).  She is very good at hearing the bell and instantly going to the mat; however, once there, most of the time she inches toward the front door as she sits on her haunches.

 Tonight was different.  She actually stayed!  And it was a good thing because I didn't know who was at the door and I didn't want her to release herself early from the stay command--which happens when she knows the person at the door.

Turns out, the UPS carrier brought me/her a package from our very good friends at chewy.com.  Inside was a bag of treats for the whole family--ok not so much me or Bill, but certainly Sissy and Coco.

Wysong Dream Treats (rabbit flavor) are freeze-dried disc shaped treats that are suitable for dogs and cats, which was a big draw for me.  Anything those two can share and not fight over, I'm on board with.

Coco about knocked me over trying to get open the pouch before I did, but Spooky wasn't too interested.  I left the broken up disc in her dish and am thinking maybe she will get back to it.

I really appreciate that they are made in the USA!  We will be trying the quail flavor soon! Thanks chewy.com!

So Cozy

Could life get any better?

As I'm looking at Coco next to me, I don't think I have ever been that comfortable in my life.  And even though that chair is supposed to be for humans, it seems to fit her little brown body perfectly.  

On a similar note, have you ever wondered what kind of body shape your dog would have if he/she were human?  No? Just me?

Coco's Super Bowl Sunday

Coco loves Super Bowl Sunday.  For the same reasons we do: the excitement, the competition, the commercials, but mostly the food. The chips, the nachos, the lil smokies in bbq sauce, the hot wings, cheese and crackers in the shape of footballs, potato skins, sliders, and pizza bites.  Isn't it great being a dog?

P.S. We don't really let Coco eat hot wings because of the bones. That would just be irresponsible of us ;)