Delicious Doxies

Last year, we went to a store that had a ton of unique cookie cutters.  After looking through hundreds of different shapes, I finally found a dachshund shaped cookie cutter, so of course I had to get it.  And since that time, it has been sitting in a drawer in our kitchen, unused.

This weekend, I decided that needed to change.  I wanted to surprise Hubby with gingerbread dachshunds.  But this was going to take some finagling.  Since the first step was to bake the cookies and let them cool, I had to make Hubby promise to stay upstairs.  He took the dogs upstairs with him.

I baked up about three dozen cookies.  Unfortunately, the design of the cookie cutter included a really thin tail on the dog, and half of the cookies lost their tails.  It took a little over an hour to mix the dough, bake the cookies, let them cool, and wash all the dishes so Hubby would not suspect what I had been doing.  After the cookies all cooled, I stacked them in a container and hid them.

Later on in the day, Hubby sequestered himself again, this time to wrap Christmas presents.  I took this opportunity to ice all the cookies.  They looked adorable, even the ones that had no tails.  When Hubby came downstairs, I made him close his eyes, and I led him over to the table covered in cookie.

Most delicious surprise ever.

Poor Dog

Hello friends, hope all is well with you.  We have been patiently waiting for Chloe to get an "all clear" from the vet after her surgery.  Yesterday, she got her stitches out, and is now able to play once again.  She is now the happiest dog in the world.

Speaking of happy, or in this case unhappy dogs, there is a video clip that Hubby showed me that be both absolutely adore.  I seriously watch it at least 3 times a day right now, it is so funny.

I hope you enjoyed it!

Review: FunBites

We are always looking for new treats for our dogs to try, so when I had an opportunity to try FunBites, I was excited to possibly find another healthy treat to add to our treat rotation.

These treats are marketed as being healthy for dogs, fortified with calcium and phosphorus.  The chewing also helps clean teeth and freshen breath.  While my dogs do not have a huge problem with this, it never helps to have treats aimed at good dental health.

When I first brought the treats out, the dogs were not interested, as they were engaged in a serious game of bitey face.

 However, when they heard me open the bag, they came running.

 Dexter, the older dog, quickly chewed his snack down to nothing.

 Chloe, who is still just a puppy, took more time with hers, and when she walked away from it for a moment, Dexter swooped in and finished it for her.  Clearly, he approves of the snacks.  I tried later to give Chloe another one, and she finished it, chewing it slowly.  She will definitely get the dental benefits from these.

Since my dogs are small, this was a perfect treat for them.  They both seemed to like them a lot.  The packaging says these are appropriate for all dogs up to 75 lbs.  However, the bigger the dog, the less time it will take to chew, which reduces the dental benefits.

Also, be forewarned that these treats contain rice flour, maltodextrins and dextrose.  For dogs with food allergies, this may be a problem.  Also, for dogs with weight issues, this treat may not be a good choice.  There are a lot of empty calories in the treats.  My dogs stay within a healthy range, so these will work for me.  But for older dogs, dogs with low activity levels, or dogs already overweight, these may not be the right choice.

So in summary, a decent treat for small dogs that will help with dental health.  A nice additional source of calcium, but beware the additives and their empty calories.  As for us, we give these Harkle Hounds seal of approval.

I received this product for review as part of the Amazon Vine program.

Merry Christmas!

Both the kids opened their Christmas presents this morning.  Dexter was so excited, even though he was still tired from his big day yesterday!

Nora mostly watched Daddy open her stuff for her, but once it was all out, she was pretty excited too, which is saying a lot because, well, you know, she is a cat.  Cats are usually too cool for Christmas.

All in all we are having a wonderful holiday, and the celebration will continue all through the coming week.  Stay tuned for more posts about our holidays!

Merry Christmas from Dexter, Nora, Mommy, and Daddy!

Happy Birthday Dexter!

Today is Dexter's first birthday!

Hard to believe isn't it?

Like any good Mommy and Daddy, we got him some presents.

He got 2 new blankets...

and...

TREATS!

Oh my goodness, this is the best day ever!

Even Nora made an effort to be nice to him and celebrate!

He also got a little bit of steak for dinner, as well as some ice cream for dessert.  He is the happiest boy ever right now!

Happy Birthday baby boy!

Mommy made me COOKIES! - by Dexter

Oh. My. Dog.  I do not know what I did to deserve this, but I better find out fast and do it a lot more often.  Mommy made me cookies!

As you know, doggies like us cannot have chocolate.  But we CAN have something called carob, which looks a lot like chocolate.  So Mommy made me carob chip cookies that are special for dogs!

As soon as she told me she as doing it I got very excited, but she explained that it would take a while.  First she had to mix the dough.  It already looks delicious!

Then she had to form the cookies and put them on the cookie sheet.  The cookies had to bake in the oven for 20 minutes, which to a little guy like me seemed like forever!

After they came out of the oven, the cookies had to cool.  That was the longest wait ever.  I could not stand it, they smelled so good!

Finally, Mommy said it was time to try one.  But I had to sit like a good dog first.  I was trying so hard to be patient!

It must have worked, because Mommy gave me a cookie.  I took it to my crate, which is where I like to eat my treats (please pardon the mess, I tore the place apart waiting for the cookie).

Oh my goodness it was so delicious nom nom nom nom.

I love my Mommy so much for making me cookies.  I gave her a big kiss when I was done eating it.  I might even be nice and share some with my friends Rosie and Bandit.

And Mommy, because she loves Daddy as much as she loves me, made special people cookies for Daddy as well, so he can have some when he gets home.

What a lucky couple of guys we are, huh Daddy?

Thank you Mommy!
Love, Dexter

Chomp!

Dex has never been a fan of rawhide.  He usually drops them in his water bowl so that they get all gross and we throw them away, then give him a treat he actually likes.  So, when my friend Jen offered to give me a treat she had that were too small for her dog, I was not sure Dex would like them, because they looked like rawhide, even though they weren't.

Boy was I wrong.

Enter, the Pork Chomp.

Instead of being made with beef rawhide, these are made from pork skin.  Dexter loves the taste, and unlike rawhide, these do not cause digestive issues, which is important to dogs with small tummies like Dex.  They help clean his teeth, which is good, because these treats literally make him smile, I swear!  We have also noticed a reduction in Dexter chewing on his blankets, because now he has a better (and tastier) outlet for the chewing instinct.

Right now, he gets about 1 a day, and it keeps him occupied for about an hour, because they are just the small knotted bones.  I am sure a bigger one would take longer, but Dex can be a pig and not know when to stop, so for now, we will stick with these little ones.  Seriously though, we can bring him upstairs to our room, put on a movie, and he will lay on the bed chomping for almost the whole thing.  Everyone is happy.

So, if your dog does not like rawhide, and you need a good chewy treat for him or her, I suggest these.  In fact, I want to note, I was not asked to review these treats by the company, and I was not compensated for this review.  I just really believe in this product, because it makes my baby happy!

Counting Canine Calories?

Today I think I have officially seen everything.  While shopping for some new treats for Dex, I stumbled upon this:

100 calorie packs for dogs.  Really?

Right now, Dex is still technically a puppy, and our vet told us to not worry about him consuming too much food or too many calories at this point, because he is still growing and using lots of energy.  But I know at some point, we may been to tighten up his food intake a little, so that he does not get too plump.  Doxies can easily put on too much weight, and it can cause major health issues.  So I get the importance of watching intake, but come on, 100 calorie packs?

What is next, Doggie Weight Watchers?  I refuse to calculate points for my dog, I have a hard enough time remembering to do my own.

It's My Birthday!- by Nora

Guess what friends?  It is my birthday!  Well, as close as we can tell anyway.  You see, when Mommy adopted me from the shelter, they did not know my exact date of birth, just that it was sometime in July.  So, Mommy decided today we would celebrate my birthday.  I was so excited, all day I knew something was going to happen, I just did not know what.

Mommy said they were going to have a surprise for me after they ate dinner, so I hung around the dining room, wondering what would happen.  After they ate, I noticed them getting into the container where all my and Dexter's fun stuffs are kept, you know, treats, toys, clothes (shudder).  Next thing I knew Mommy and Daddy were fooling around on the dining room table.  Look at what they were doing:

It's a birthday cake!  FOR ME!  Complete with 4 candles, because I am 4 years old!  And it is my favorite flavor.  Fish!

Mommy helped me blow out the candles....

And now, I get to nom it!

Thanks Mommy and Daddy for helping me celebrate my birthday, and for loving me enough to put up with all my shenanigans!

Love,
Nora

P.S. After I finish celebrating my birthday, I will help Mommy pick the winner of the Crochet Kitty contest.  Stay tuned!

Paw it Forward-by Nora and Dexter

Last week, we were invited, along with Mommy, to take place in a very fun thing called Paw it Forward.  We learned about this from our friend Maggie Mae over at Maggie Mae Says.  Her bloggy is so cute, you should check it out.  We are so happy to have made such a good furend in Maggie Mae!

Anyway, the game works like this.  Someone, in this case Maggie Mae, sends a box of pressies to three furends.  Those 3 furends send pressies to 3 of their furends, and it just keeps going on and on.  How cool is this?!

So, yesterday, when Mommy got home from lunch her friends, she saw a box on our doorstep, and she knew that it was our box from Maggie Mae!  YAY!

Mommy brought the box inside and we opened it up

We pulled out all the pressies, starting with the lovely card from Maggie Mae.

First, we opened Nora's pressies.  They included two different sets of mousie toys, and some delicious treats.

What awesome pressies Nora got, she was a very very happy kitty.

Next, we got to open Dexter's pressies.  He was so excited, he opened them all by himself.

Dexter's pressies included a squeaky blue hamburger, a squeaky blue dog, and some yummy treats.  He was over the moon with happiness and excitement.

Maggie Mae even included a pressie for Mommy.  It was maple syrup from Maggie Mae's home state of New York!

What a wonderful box of pressies for us!  Thank you so much Maggie Mae and mommy, we just love everything.  (Dexter even took his hamburger to bed with him last night!)

So, now, here is for the BEST part.  We get to Paw it Forward!  That means, the first 3 furends or their mommies who leave us a comment saying they want to play Paw it Forward will get special pressies from us!  You will need to leave us your email address in the comment, so Mommy can contact you or your mommy to get a little bit of information.  We hope that some of our furends will want to play Paw it Forward with us, to keep spreading around the happiness!