I saw this YouTube video and I couldn’t stop laughing. Anyone who has/had a dog can relate to this. The lab’s facial expressions are just priceless. Although Wally never looks guilty (that’s Tango’s specialty) he does have the classic Golden Retriever “love me/I’m so proud of myself” slanty-eye-smiley-face. Everyone lucky enough to be owned by a Golden knows that one. Too cute!!!
Filed under Uncategorized
Spring can’t come soon enough for us this year. According to the weather gods, our region hasn’t seen such a long, grey, snowy and bleak winter since the 1970’s. This picture was taken on the weekend. It shows Don standing in front of the snow mound on the side of our driveway. It is hard to get the perspective right……Don is over 6 feet tall and the snow is several feet taller than he is and this isn’t even the highest that it was. It is going to be well into June before all this white stuff melts away naturally. We might have to fire up the old snow blower to start breaking down the mound and throwing it into the middle of the cul-de-sac to help it melt quicker.
On Saturday we drove almost 3 hours south of here. As we got further away from home, there was less and less snow. When we got to our destination, the ditches and fields along the highway were bare grass. Quite a noticable contrast to what we have here.
It has been a really tough winter for Team Tango to train. It has been either brutally cold or they have been very limited on where there could go because of the depth of the snow. Even with 30″ snow shoes on, Don was still stinking a foot or more into the snow and poor Tango would do “face plants” when she was in a full run and the snow suddenly gave way below her.
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I finished my quilt block for February. Not bad….it is February 22nd so I made it with 6 days to spare. This one was a little more tricky. We missed the demo class so we had to just go by the written instructions and hope for the best. My finished block looks like the picture so I guess I did it right. Both the January and February blocks have a lot of gray in them so I am hoping for a little more colour in the coming months. Next week we get our fabric and instructions for the March block.
Filed under Block of the Month, Quilting
Last weekend we attended a fund raising event for H.A.R.T. (Humane Animal Rescue Team). They had a professional photographer that donated her time to take Valentine themed pictures with proceeds going to HART. I think they turned out pretty good.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your two and four legged loved ones!!
Today we had the pleasure of celebrating both Hope and Tango’s birthday. Hope turned 3 yesterday and Tango is 7 today. Don’t they look marvellous for their age!
We spent the day at Patty’s acreage and we all had a wonderful time. It was a surprisingly mild February day for Alberta. We had lovely home made pizza for lunch and then the whole gang went on a walk around Patty’s acreage. I got to wear Patty’s snow shoes to try and keep from falling through the deep snow. I had a few good wipeouts and Don and Patty had to hold my hands on the steep downhill parts but I survived! Tango scraped the underside of one of her dew claws. Good thing that Patty is a Vet and she was able to put her skills to good use and put some blue vet wrap on our drama queen’s boo-boo.
After our walk the two legged party goers enjoyed Patty’s delicious rhubarb crisp and the 4 legged ones enjoyed a special birthday cake homemade by Susan.
Here are a few more pictures from our wonderful day.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
My poor boy. The Vet warned me that it could get even worse before it gets better. It is quite common in the summer but he rarely sees it in the winter. It is often caused by bug bites….especially from spiders. The dog develops a severe reaction and they get swelling and ugly blister like things that weep and burst. Wally is on some steroid medication. I feel so bad for him. The drugs are supposed to make him drink and urinate more and possibly be more hungry than normal. I just want to hug him and make it all go away. He got some Timmy bits to help make him feel better.
Filed under Wally
This morning I had to take Wally to the Vet because he had this weird, weeping, crusty, inflammation on the side of his muzzle. While we were waiting to see Dr. Scott they asked if I would be willing to allow Wally to participate in a study that the University of Calgary is doing. They are taking blood samples from pure bred dogs to study their longevity. My golden boy has been a regular blood donor for almost 10 years now so getting a blood sample from him would be easy. I mentioned that I had my other dogs with with me and offered their blood too.
Wally was in and out in 2 minutes. Then came Tango…my drama queen. She is such a German Shepherd. She started vocalizing the minute she got into the reception area. They took her into the back to get the sample. I could hear her screams from the waiting room. The Tech was laughing and shaking her head when she brought Tango back to me. Then came little Tilly. I thought for sure she was going to be a drama queen too but she surprised me. All the techs were busy in surgery so one of the other Vets volunteered to get her blood. Poor Tilly….I felt so sorry for her. They had a hard time finding the vein in her neck and they kept stabbing her repeatedly…my little ruby pin cushion. Finally the Vet gave up and got a Tech to complete the deed. As you can tell by Tilly’s facial expression…..she was NOT amused.
I just joined my first quilt club. It is called “Block-of-the-Month”. Once a month for 12 months we get together at a local quilt store to pick up our fabric and instructions to create the block for that month. In January 2012 we will have 12 blocks completed and then comes the task of assembling them into a quilt. The store owner will offer suggestions for piecing them together or you can use your own imagination to construct a finished quilt. We had 3 colour options to choose from: red/green Christmas theme, an earthy/fall bali batik collection or one called spring/summer. I chose the spring/summer group. Although I am not a big fan of brown, gray or beige, I thought it would be good to challenge myself to try something outside of my comfort zone. Here are the 6 fabrics that I will be using all year:
Each block will be constructed using the Lazy Angle ruler. I’ve never used anything like this before so I’m looking forward to learning new cutting/piecing techniques.
There is only one rule for this club. You have to finish your block for this month and bring it to the fabric pick-up for the next month to prove that it has been completed. If your block is done you get your next bunch of fabrics for $3.50….if not then you have to pay $5.50 for your fabric. Just a little incentive to help keep you on track. I just finished my block for January. Phew I made the first deadline….only eleven more to go. Here is my finished January block:
I’ve been quilting for a year and half now and to say that I was addicted would be an understatement. I have completed 1 baby, 2 lap, 2 twin, 2 double, 2 queen and 4 king size quilts. I also have 3 wall hangings, 1 lap and 2 kings size quilt tops in various stages of construction. Do you think I need an intervention???
Filed under Quilting
Made a second Bargello quilt for a Christmas present using the same Lightening Strikes pattern. To see more pictures and find out more about it click here.
Filed under Quilting
My ‘kids’ know that when I am having yogurt, they always get to lick the empty cup. They especially like it when a large container is ready for their pre-wash cycle. They all try to shove their muzzles into the bowl at the same time and they often end up with yogurt face.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Well we finally had a nice weekend without tons of new snow or freezing temperatures. We celebrated by meeting out at Patty’s house with all of the dogs (Wally, Tango, Tilly, Hope and Bentley). The gang went for a walk in the waist deep snow desperately trying to keep to the narrow track for fear of getting stuck in the deep stuff. At some points the snow was so deep that the dogs looked like they were dog paddling in water to keep from sinking into the snow. Of course Wally found a pile of horse/cow poop to roll in and all the dogs had their fare share of “meadow muffins” to eat. The wind was incredible but at least it was a couple of degrees above zero so it wasn’t bad.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Our dogs have a really bad case of cabin fever. With the Xmas holidays and generally freezing cold weather, Tango and Don haven’t been out doing any training and it has been too miserable to take the dogs for a good off-leash run. Poor Wally has had to put up with Tango jumping on him and using him as her personal chew toy and energy release. Well all that changed on New Year’s day. We met Susan and the gang for a good romp in the snow. As you can see by the video there are a lot of smiling faces (puppy and human alike) and wagging tails. We even managed to coax little Tilly up the giant snow mound.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
I can’t believe that it has taken me almost a year to finish this. I bought the fabrics and I was all excited to start making this quilt when I first blogged about it back in February of 2010. Unfortunately life and other quilts got in the way and our quilt kept taking a back seat. To see more pictures and read about this quilt click here.
Filed under Quilting
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,000 times in 2010. That’s about 12 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 112 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 185 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 59mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was November 1st with 123 views. The most popular post that day was Our Dogs.
The top referring sites in 2010 were WordPress Dashboard, facebook.com, en.wordpress.com, mail.live.com, and mail.yahoo.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for lifeinthedoghouse.ca, lifeinthedoghouse, http://www.lifeinthedoghouse, puppy sleep, and http://www.lifeinthedoghouse.ca.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Our Dogs January 2010
Photos February 2010
My Quilts March 2010
1 comment
About Us January 2010
Puppy Halloween Party October 2010
Filed under Uncategorized
2010 was a great year for ‘Life in Dog House’. All 3 two-legged kids came for a visit and we added anothor four-legged member to our household. Team Tango participated in 2 missing person and 3 cadaver searches and were re-certified for another year.
I’ve updated the banner with more current pictures of the dogs. My boy Wally is really starting to develop the classic old golden white muzzle. I guess that is to be expected since he is almost 10 years old. He is still really young at heart and physically (other than the white hairs on his face) he looks and acts like a dog half his age.
We don’t know what 2011 will bring but if it is even half as good as 2010 we will be truly blessed.
Filed under Uncategorized
I got my two quilts back from the Manquilter. I’m pleased with how they turned out. The blue floral quilt had a lot of detail quilting whereas the Asian quilt just had an overall design done. Last weekend I took a longarm quilting class from Matt. I am hoping that in the near future, with a little more experience/practice, I will be able to do all the longarm work on my own quilts. To see more pictures and read about them click on the appropriate link:
Filed under Quilting
We got up this morning and took our ‘kids’ for a walk and then gave them their special Christmas breakfast…kibble smoothered in tuna. They snarfed it up and then cleaned each other’s bowls. After we opened our presents, Don and I headed off to the Humane Society to spend some time with the puppies there. I am a regular volunteer dog walker but today, since the shelter is closed, I was allowed to bring a guest for a tour and visit. Our Humane Society has won awards for their innovative shelter and companion animal adoption programs. We did some walking and lots of smooching and chin scratching. We were thrilled when we got to see Esperanza (see her full story below) and her fat, healthy puppies. It was encouraging to see her putting a little weight on her injured leg. It was a wonderful way to spend our Christmas morning.
Filed under Volunteering
..and all through the house not a creature was stirring…not even the dogs.
Wally and Tilly curled up by the fireplace waiting for Santa to arrive
Here’s a cartoon from DrawTheDog.com. It reminds me of my ‘kids’….they are always shoving their big heads into all parcels and bags to check out what goodies are inside.
This story is perfect for this time of year. Once again a dog shows us the true meaning of love, hope and giving.
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It is hard to believe that our little girl turns 1 today. She has brought such joy and laughter to our home. There is something about having a small, cuddly dog that you can pick up and smooch. She has taken over our bed and makes sure that she has the best real estate..between the two of us and under the covers of course. Her birthday present was a big, juicy prime rib bone.
Filed under Tilly
I’m so excited I feel like a kid in a candy store. I have had a quilt top sitting in my sewing room for a year now It is actually the very first quilt I ever made. In fact I worked on it at the same time as I took my intro to quilting class and had it finished before the final class (ironically, I still haven’t finished the sampler quilt I made in my intro class). I didn’t want to free motion quilt it myself because I loved the finished product and I didn’t want my lack of experience with free motion quilting to wreck it. It has taken me a year to find someone who I trusted to add the magic to it for me. That man…yes it is a man…..is Matt Sparrow from ManQuilter.com.
As I type this post he is working on it live on USTREAM. Here is the link to watch it live….ManQuilter
Matt was kind enough to create a video clip for me so that I could include it in my blog. When he finishes this quilt he has another blue/gold oriental themed quilt he is going to work on. I think it was the 4th quilt I made. He said he should be done both of them in the next 3-4 days. I can hardly wait to get a look at them. I will post pictures when I get them home.
Although I don’t agree with some of the things that Cesar Millan does, I believe that he is definitely on target when he talks about how he “rehabilitates dogs and trains people” and how dogs live in the now and move forward. I’ve written about Hope before. She was a puppy that my friend Susan and I co-fostered. When she came to live with us, she had 2 previous foster homes that were not ideal for her. She was covered in stress dandruff, had continuous eye and ear infections and she was very anxious and vocal. In fact, the day I picked her up she put her mouth on my arm and began squeezing it with increasing pressure until she left visible teeth marks. It was like she was saying I don’t want to do this but I don’t know what else to do to relieve the tension that I am feeling. At that moment I knew that she was coming home with me. I couldn’t leave her to suffer another day. We weren’t sure if we could help her but we were willing to try. In just a few weeks, her skin condition improved dramatically and we could see the beginnings of a very beautiful, gentle personality emerging. Six or seven months later she was healthy enough to be moved on to her wonderful adult foster home with Patty. Eventually Hope’s entire litter was rejected by the guide/service dog school and Susan was given the opportunity to adopt her and give her a forever home. I cannot think of a better place to be if I was a dog. Under Susan’s loving care, Hope has blossomed into an amazing, gentle soul. Patty and I still get our regular dose of “Hope love” when she comes to our houses for sleep overs and puppy-sitting.
Susan has two active, energetic grand daughters and a 6 month old kitten. Hope puts up with all the activity and excitement and shows no sign of stress or anxiety. Susan shared these wonderful pictures of Hope, Copper (kitten), Petra and Gwen playing together and thoroughly enjoying each others company. The girls just love crawling into Hope’s kennel and Copper likes to hang out on top. It just brings tears of joy to see how Hope is living in the present and not letting her past affect her future. We two-legged creatures could learn a lot from our four-legged friends.
Filed under Foster Puppies
On Friday morning there was a news report about hunters finding a human skull. Within hours the request came for cadaver dogs to search the surrounding area to see if more human remains could be located. Team Tango left the house very early this morning to aid in the search.
Ok, I admit it. I am a sucker for those big, sad, brown eyes. When I am leaving the house, all Wally has to do is give me the ‘look’ and I have no choice but to invite the dogs to come along. To be honest, I enjoy their company as much as they like tagging along as my co-pilots. They take turns sitting in the passenger seat and watching the world go by. They love drive-thrus and they instinctively know which ones give out dog treats. When we go to our neighbourhood Tim Hortons, all three squish on to the front seat to wait for their dog cookie or better yet a Tim-bit.
It is funny to watch drivers’ reactions as they casually look around and then discover they are being watched by Tango’s intense stare or they ooh and ahh when they see little Tilly and Wally cuddled up together. I can’t imagine my life without dogs.
Team Tango got their first call-out for a cadaver search. They were up at 04:30 Sunday morning and on the highway for the long drive to the search site. They met up with two other dog teams who had made the trip the night before. Although no human remains were found, it was a good opportunity to practice their newest profile.
Filed under Tango
Don and Tango were out training on the weekend. Wally and Tilly took up their place at the front door waiting for them to return safely. I just love that my ‘kids’ snuggle together. It just makes my heart melt when I see them all intertwined together.
Every Sunday Tilly goes to her small dog play group. Today happens to be Halloween and a lot of her ‘playmates’ came in costume. We have quite a few Dachshunds in our group and they have the most amazing costumes designed for their long bodies. We had the classic weiner between a bun, purple dragon, a jockey, flower, angels, dracula, princess, superman, ladybug, bumble bees and a clown. It was very entertaining.
Filed under Tilly
It is my niece’s 17th birthday today and I made her this quilt as a surprise. I asked her what her favourite colour was and she told me deep purple, light pink and sea/turquoise green. I tried to use those colours to make something she would like. To read more about it and see more pictures, click here.
Filed under Quilting, Two legged family
Tango has another certification to add to her list. Yesterday she passed her Cadaver test. There were 3 fields set up. Two had an unknown number of samples and one had none. Don had 20 minutes to search each field. At the end he had to identify how many samples were in each field and which field had none. He was a little nervous and wanted to be very thorough so he took the full 60 minutes to complete his test (some of the more experienced handlers completed all 3 fields in 20 minutes). Our girl found every single sample and made us very proud. It is amazing to think that just a little over a month ago they started learning this new profile.
Dogs can smell things humans can’t because they have more nasal membrane than we do. We have about 65 square inches of nasal membrane, while dogs have about 900 square inches — an area that’s greater than that of a dog’s whole body. The nasal membrane is packed with olfactory receptors, specialized cells responsible for detecting scents. A German shepherd typically has about 220 million olfactory receptors, while a human has about 5 million. Experts believe that the bigger the dog and the longer her muzzle, the keener her sense of smell will be. German shepherds aren’t just better at sniffing out scents than humans are, they’re better at it than most other breeds of dogs. A terrier may only have 150 million olfactory receptors, and a dachshund has about 125 million. As human remains decay, they produce a variety of very distinct odours. The odours are like a signature, because they appear nowhere else in nature. A cadaver dog can actually detect human remains through concrete, buried underground, or at the bottom of a body of water, using its extremely well-honed nose to search for faint traces of the chemicals emitted by the human body during decomposition.
In search and rescue operations, cadaver dogs can be used to ensure that every body on the site is found, so that the family can have peace of mind and closure. A cadaver dog can also be used to search for a missing person, or for someone who is known to be dead.
In addition to being used to find whole bodies, cadaver dogs are also trained to react to any trace of human remains. This can be very useful in crime investigations, because a cadaver dog can indicate that a cadaver was in a particular location at one point, even if it is no longer there. They can also find traces of bodies which criminals have attempted to conceal by destroying the evidence.
Congratulations Don and Tango…..a true team!!!
Yesterday Susan and I piled all 4 dogs into the van and we headed out into the country to go to a pottery show/sale. It was nice 80 minute drive on a beautiful, sunny fall day. As much as I love my boy’s big, fat head and muzzle….there is one major drawback. Those big jowls hold a lot of spit and poor Hope was the victim. Susan and I were having lunch in the front while Wally and Hope pushed their fat heads between the seat to enjoy the aroma’s. That’s when it started. When Wally smells or sees food he immediately starts drooling…..big steams of spit pour from his handsome jowly face. Unfortunately poor Hope’s head was below the flow.
Filed under Wally
Life In The Dog House 