Doggy Meat Cake

Romeo's Birthday is coming up on Thursday and he will be 11. So I am going to throw him a party at the BuTCh dog park!I needed a cake recipe for it so I adapted my puppy meat loaf recipe:

Doggy Meat Cake
1 lb, ground beef Or Chicken or Lamb (depending on your dog's dietary needs)
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 cup of finely diced carrots or  mixed peas and carrots (frozen is just fine)
2 eggs

Mix all together and mold into a shape or use a baking pan*, bake at 350 for 45 minutes, remove from oven, let cool

Frost with Mashed potatoes!

*I used a cupcake pan, make sure you spray pan with cooking spray (PAM) Then put the cup cake in the papers when they were cool and frosted!

This Years Christmas Photos

 

I just love my dogs' pictures with Santa. But unfortunately (or not) I was unable to do it this year as The B-Town Dog group was hosting Cocoa Bar to raise money for our local dog park. Anyway, we were able to get professional pics done this year, thanks to Mud Bay, a local pet supply chain, with  a fabulous store here in Burien. The photographer, Emily Reiman of Best Friend Photography took to kinda dumb dogs and made them pet models. I cannot get over how she got Buddy to behave and Romeo to listen. She will forever be in my debt!

Now to find a couple of nice photo frames and give to Ma as a Christmas present!

PIRATE PUP RALLY

One of our B-Town DOG members is a finalist in the Beneful Dream Dog Park 2013 contest. This is so important to the Dogs of the South End. So please attend if you can, dress like a pirate (not required but encouraged) and get ready to yell your lungs out for Kellie and Bailey!!!

AND PLEASE REMEMBER "VOTE DAILY FOR KELLIE AND BAILEY"

Model Dogs

Romeo and Buddy are fashion hounds!!! This show is a local Newsmagazine, Evening Magazine. My friends Joel and Angie own Secondhand Hound. Very cool store- a thrift shop for dogs! See if you can spot my two troublemakers! I need to add Joel and Agie were Buddy's fosters, so for him the trip to Ruston is like going home!

Burien's Sidewalk Pimps

 Romeo and Buddy are lying on the sidewalk acting like they own it because The Bike Rack we sponsored through WABI is finally installed. They remind me of the "Shed Pimps" from the Food Network show "The Shed".

                   

Happy BIrthday Buddy Bucko!!!

The fun thing about adopting a dog, if you don't know his/her birthday, you get to choose!!! I pick this day as his birthday as it was the day he became my little buddy.
The first year started out a bit tough, as he didn't like wearing coats, eating at our mealtime. And he wasn't a fan of walking at night after I got home from work.

Buddy after his spinal surgery

Add that he needed emergency surgery a month after adopting him I never thought he or I would survive the year! But time went on and now he wears a jacket without so much as a whine, he has accepted our letenight meal time, and he is first out the door at late night walk time. And more important, he has become my daily laugh machine, my little buddy who likes a scratch behind the ear and a good belly rub in the morning. He is a great fit with Romeo.

Romeo and Buddy showing off new hair cuts last Christmas

Anyway Happy Birthday Buddy Bucko!!! Hope there are many more to come!!!!

ADOPTING SHELTER DOGS "WORKS FOR ME"

I have two dogs whom I adopted from less than Ideal situations. First, Romeo, a “Cocka-Poo” (Cocker Spaniel/Poodle). He is my calming influence. A good natured happy guy with good manners. Always ready for a game of “ball” or “stick”, plays well with others, as long as they don’t do much “Biting” (he hates that). I adopted Romeo when a gal at work, who owns a boarding kennel, put an ad in our Intra Net classifieds. It appeared Romeo was boarded at the kennel, and the owner, skipped out on paying and skipped out on Romeo. Well first look at Romeo and I was in love. I recognized his calmness, and his love of riding in the truck almost immediately (His favorite place to sit in the Truck is right on the back of the seat- I am thinking so he can look out both front and rear windows. Anyway He is a good dog, one of the best I have ever had!

   

 Buddy, my little “Cocka-Tsu” (Cocker Spaniel/Shi Tsu) on the other hand, well if Romeo is my calming influence, Buddy is my “Let’s go out and ride that damn roller coaster” influence. He is my little comedian. And a great source of entertainment. And when I say “adopted from less than Ideal situations, he wasn’t abused or anything. He was a foster dog at A.A.R.F. and waited a long time for a forever home. People that would try him out, I’m afraid were not patient, expecting a perfectly mannered canine. And get sent back. And while his “foster parents” are all great people, that has got to mess up a dog’s confidence.  Buddy likes to bark and play. And if he is hurting will bite (nip) when you touch him. I can’t blame him for that – I am the same way. So I let him bark when he is hungry until it is dinner time. And it is fine. So with Buddy you have to practice patience.

  

 My adopted pets work for me. Maybe it’s because they have such opposite personalities. Maybe it’s because I think of them as children. All I know is adopted dogs that others have work for them. Sometimes you just have to wait it out!

Blue Dogs- A collaboration!

My friend, Maureen, who is the Guru of the local walking set, put a post on the WABI site (Walking and Biking) and posted this cool graphic she edited of Romeo and Buddy.

The original B&W picture

I fiddled with it on the computer, making a faux border and after much trimming, cussing, cutting, cussing (note: I said cussing twice- there was that much cussing) I framed it in a Ikea Ribba frame I just happened to have around the house. Here is the final product:

The Graphic is from a favorite photo I took of the dogs at Burien Town Square Park. Turning it into a blue "Warhol-esque" picture was entirely Maureen, I don't know what editing program she used. I am taking partial credit for the original picture and the frame job. Because that is how I roll.

D.Y.I. DNA TESTING

I am a big fan of CSI but that is not the reason I got a DNA test kit to test Buddy. Or maybe it is- maybe I just wanna be CSI Gill Grissom for a few minutes... and I have my first case in years...

He just looks guilty.

CSI investigation #867-5309
Suspect- Buddy "Bucko" Johnson
Crime- None as of yet,  possible impersonation of a Cockapoo; and possible suspicion of pooping on the rug, and the occasional garbage invasion, eating food wrappers and packaging. And his brother, Romeo (adopted) says to add destroying all the boom booms. (Stuffed toy animals)

Reason For DNA Sample: Suspect is of mixed breed make up. Need to take DNA to establish his genetic make up, in the case of Buddy getting older, knowing his breed sill help in the instance and curtailing certain breed specific diseases, helping him to be a happier healthier dog, enabling him to commit far more heinous crimes in the future
I recieved a Canine DNA kit from Wisompanel. In the kit there are two swabs for taking a saliva samples from suspect's cheek and gums. The sample is then sealed and sent to the main lab in Lincoln, Nebraska. And then I wait patiently for Buddy's results. Allowing me time to fly home to Las Vegas, Nevada and give my wife, CSI Sarah Sidle, a little pickle tickle and a bouquet of flowers. And maybe some blowfly larvae.

Respectfully Submitted-
Gil Grissom
3rd shift Supervisor, LVPD Crime Lab

TO BE CONTINUED

Crap... Crap, Crap, Crap!

This is of course my latest little drama in life, and of course will be continued...

I woke up Friday morning. Got the dogs ready to go for their morning walk. Leashes on and such. I got out the door and realized something was wrong with Buddy- he wasn't using his hind legs so brought him inside and definitely decided something was wrong, called the Veterinary hospital. they said to bring him in ASAP. So I called work and left a message that I would be late and rushed Buddy to the vets'. Dr. Le took a quick look at him and figured he had a slipped disk in his spine, and referred me to a veterinary neurologist to get an MRI. Unfortunately, there isn't one in the immediate area so I had to go to south Tacoma. So off I go to Neurologist's office with a shaken up little dog in the car. Shaken up?  Well not really- Dr. Le had the foresight to give him a shot of morphine first to relax him. Not one for his owner but hey, someone had to drive. Long story short- I got down to the vets in Tacoma- 28 mile trip- and they couldn't have been nicer... the attending vet agreed with Dr. Le's assessment, and said he had already called their neurologist who would see Buddy and give him an MRI, and if it was indeed his disk, surgery. Well you know me... I fall to pieces usually when any of my animals is seriously ill, but this time I held it together long enough to sign the surgery papers and arrange payment (I am thinking of changing Buddy's name because his surgery cost the price of a used car so his new name will probably be Subaru or Mercury). I went in to say good bye to Buddy, took one look at him there in his cage with those sad eyes looking up at me like he was saying not to leave him. Then comes the sad feelings and the tears and my bravdo went away. SO anyway go to work late waiting to hear from the vet's office so they call as I am underneath the cafeteria dishwasher trying to unplug a drain and my cell phone rings. The call came from Dr. Hicks, the neurologist, explaining that Buddy's disk was indeed compressed and his spine was swollen and the surgery would indeed lessen and eleviate the pain and get him on the road to normal again, and he would call me when the surgery was over and let me know how things went. I went and finally took a coffee break and realized I had been running since 10:00 am and hadn't eaten anything or checked my blood sugar or taken my medication at all. Great, I thought, now get yourself sick dumbass. Anyway, Chris one of my co-workers and decided a pizza would be capital for lunch- he went and picked it up, paid for it and everything. So lunchtime comes and I finally ate something and get the call from the Vet- Buddy came through just fine and was resting comfortably. Thank god for Veterinarians and their Techs and Aides I thought because in the midst of this crap day they really did their jobs and kept it (and me) together. And on a brighter note, I visited Buddy Saturday morning and while he was groggy and wearing a "collar of shame" and had his entire back shaved with a nice scar, he came outside the cage to see me, and when it was time to leave, growled at the tech when he put the lead on him to go back into the cage - that's when I knew he was on the way to recovery.

UPDATE-Sunday 9/30-
Just got back from visiting Buddy at the Vet's Hospital in Tacoma- They let me take him out for a walk! There he got to see Romeo, And they said he can probably go home tomorrow!

Easy Art

I have a portrait of Romeo taken by Joel Green, a professional  photographer, that I won in an auction. Nicely framed, I wanted some similar pics of Buddy and the both of them to hangnthat would compliment them. So I took some more pics, and with an editing prohrsm turned them Blsck snd white,then “matted them using Windows Paint-- I simply framed the outside using the shape tool and filled in the rest, A trick I learned from a professional photographer I know. Then printed them on glossy photo paper.The end result is some great pics of the dogs and a few other things to hang on the wall!

AARF Fun!

Romeo and Buddy checking out the goodies!

What I did on my weekend. Well I had to work, but I did have some time to attend the annual A.A.R.F (Animal Assistance and Rescue Foundation), where I adopted Buddy, Whine and Cheese Auction. While auctioning, I bid on some great items, and won two... A gift basket of dog goodies, which includes a grooming and a pet sitting certificates!

YUMMY!!!

And a guilt free  Raw Chocolate Cheesecake, which as you can see is slowly getting eaten, piece by delicious piece, from Deceptive Delights, a bakery that specializes in no guilt desserts! And too SWAG Bags full of goodies and food for Romeo and Buddy! All in all a good night and a great organization for dogs!

Welcome Home Buddy!

Friday night-The first night night with buddy in the house went ok.  At first Romeo had the same look that Sammy cat did when I brought Romeo home... kind of a "What did you do" look. After a little bit of jealousy, everything was fine after I convinced Romeo that he was still my #1 dog.

Saturday- took the boys out. First to Town Square park and Burien Press to meet folks, then to Kevin and Sean's "A Place for Pets"  pet store, to buy a tandem leash for them.

 Buddy takes a time out for a snooze at Westcrest Dog Park. He got along with all the dogs!

Time to go boys! Buddy and Romeo seemed to adapt to the tandem leash right away!

Buddy seemed to adapt to his new home very quickly and right now is sleeping at my feet. It was a big day for him. And I think he will be a greatt addition to the household.