Tis the season...

Some of us have been a bit…naughty, and some of us have been extra nice.  So Mom said we better be careful, because Santa Paws is always watching.  She said if we aren’t good, we won’t be getting anything in our stockings but coal!  

Since we don’t want that to happen, we are setting our paws on the straight and narrow, and will be minding our doggie P’s and Q’s!  And just to make sure we do get some goodies in our stockings, we paid Santa Paws a visit.  We were on our best behavior, and are pretty sure we impressed Santa. 

 What are kind of gifts are you hoping for this Christmas season?  Are you being extra good?

A sweet reminder...

Dogs in poems...

Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you're never friendless ever, if you have a dog. ~ Douglas Mallock My sunshine doesn't come from the skies, It comes from the love in my dog's eyes. ~ Unknown

Smarty pants... (Our 250th post!)

Jodi over at Heart like a Dog wrote a post about how her dog, Sampson, manipulated her into letting him off leash during a walk.  Which made me laugh, because so many people claim dogs are stupid.  But I think they are more clever than we realize, and here are some of the reasons why:


Our dogs know, by reading our facial expressions and body language, when we are happy, sad, angry, worried or frightened.  They can not only judge our moods, but they either join us in our happiness, or try to offer comfort if we are not in a good mood.










We had one dog, Mojo, who taught herself how to open the fridge, and she would make midnight raids.  When we blocked off the fridge, she learned which button on the microwave to push to open it, and would steal the loaf of bread we stored in there.


And they know how to beg for food, without ever saying a word.  Our boy Ryder is the master of the "heavy head" trick.  To be fair, this is our fault, because the first time he did this, we didn't discourage him.  So what is this trick?  We can be sitting on the couch, eating something, and Ryder decides he would like us to share.  So he will hop up on the couch, sit next to you, lean against you and put his head on your shoulder.  That's it, there is no whining or drooling, just his head on your shoulder.  If this doesn't work, he will press his head closer, so that his cheek is pressed sweetly against you.  If it still doesn't work, his head becomes progressively heavier and heavier, just in case you were some how unaware he was there.  It's a pretty unique form of begging, and he will quit and get down if you tell him to stop, so it's not obnoxious.  But I have given in and shared whatever snack I had at the time, because I do think he was pretty clever to think of it...

So in what ways has your dog shown how clever he or she is?

We sure are lucky dogs!

It's that time again - the collies get to express their opinions in another review!  This is thanks to our friends at Chewy.com, where you can buy all sorts of yummy treats for your dogs and cats!




Last weekend we had two friends staying with us.  Miley and Jody were visiting, while their parents were out of town.  These two collie girls are good friends of ours, and they even traveled with us to the Collie National when it was held in Wisconsin, back in 2013.  So we always have a good time when they come to visit! 


Since they were visiting, we decided to be nice collie hosts, and let them do the review with us!

Miley posing pretty with the treats!

This month we were asked to review Natural Balance Delectable Delights Duck Formula Tender Cuts Dog Treats.  Mom of course HAD to read the ingredients list, she loves to see what is in our treats/food.  The first thing she noticed was this:


Key Benefits

• Made with high-quality duck
• No corn, wheat, artificial flavors or colors
• Suitable for all breeds
• Great for puppies and adult dogs
• Made in the USA

Yes, "made in the USA!"  Mom will not let us eat any treats made in China, because so many dogs were getting sick from them.  So she is always happy when she sees that the treats are made in the USA.  She also mentioned that she liked that there was no corn, no wheat and no artificial flavors and colors.  She also likes that Duck is the main ingredient, followed by brown rice. 


Of course, we aren't concerned with all of that!  So on to the important stuff!  BOL


Smell - we thought the smokey smell to these treats was pawsome!  It had us all lining up to try some!
Taste - We were not disappointed, we LOVED these treats, and wished Mom would have let us eat them all!  They were that good!  They were nice and chewy, and Mom said they would be perfect in the show ring, as they would be certain to keep our attention when the judge was evaluating us!


We give these treats four paws, and we just bet your dogs will agree! 

Pumpkin kitty thought these treats smelled really yummy too!

DADO - what does that mean?

It stands for "Dumb Ass Dog Owner," the subject of today's blog hop.  This blog hop was created for everyone to write about their experiences with dumb dog owners.  It was created/hosted by Heart like a dog and Tales from the backroad.


So what makes a person a dumb dog owner?  I think it is someone who deliberately allows bad behavior in their dogs, or someone who chooses to remain ignorant on how to properly care for and train their dogs.  And sometimes, a dumb dog owner, is just someone who is a lazy pet owner.


I have been a little unfocused while trying to decide what to write for this post.  There are just so many stories to choose from, I am having trouble narrowing it down!  There are the stories I could share from my time working at a veterinary hospital.  There are the stories about people I have met in my own neighborhood.  There are stories from my experiences at dog shows.  And finally, there are stories from people I have had arguments with on Facebook.  So which do I choose?

I guess I will share the stories that bothered me the most.  For instance, while I was working at an animal hospital, a black Labrador was brought in to the hospital by the police.  He was accompanying his owner on a quick trip to run errands around town.  While they were out driving around the owner’s truck was hit by another car, in a pretty bad motor vehicle accident.  I don’t know who was at fault for the accident…but I do know that most of the dog’s injuries were caused by his dumb owner.  Why?  Because his owner had this sweet, beautiful dog riding in the back of his pick-up truck unsecured.  Dogs do not belong in the backs of trucks, ever.  Not only are they in danger because of possible accidents, they could also injure themselves by jumping out of the truck.  Because no matter how well trained you think your dog is, if he sees two dogs running and playing alongside the road, he may jump out to join them.   Or he may see something that just excites him so much, he forgets everything you have taught him and just reacts by leaping out of your truck and into the path of oncoming traffic.  Why do people still think this is ok? 

Or how about the dog owner on one of the collie groups on Facebook who posts about breeding her collies?  Now, I am not saying that breeding your dogs makes you a DADO.  Without reputable, knowledgeable dog breeders, we wouldn’t have all the wonderful dog breeds we all love so much.  But when you adopt two collies without registration papers off of Craig’s List, and then breed them without doing any health testing what so ever, and then try to sell them on Facebook to strangers…well, that makes you an extreme DADO.  You don’t know what kind of health problems those puppies might develop, you don’t know what kind of temperaments they may have, and you do not know if those random strangers you met on the internet are going to provide loving, caring homes for those puppies.  And then when you fight with the people who try to educate you, because you announce “you are going to breed another litter because rescues charge too much money,” you are showing that not only are you ignorant, you are choosing to remain that way.


And how about the friend, from my past, who posts online to ask “does anyone know anyone giving away kittens?”  Because he will not get one from a shelter or rescue, because they charge exorbitant fees for mutilated animals!  (He thinks they are mutilated by being spayed or neutered, as he actually believes that all animals should be free to reproduce at least once.  Can you imagine the animal overpopulation we would be facing if everyone shared his views?) And I guess this makes him a DACO, Dumb Ass Cat Owner, technically speaking...


There are just too many stories, and that is just sad. 

Throwback Thursday - Remembering Lad

This past September marked the three year anniversary of our losing Lad.  He was our first collie, and he lost his battle with cancer when he was only 7 years old.  We still miss him, and always will...

The Return of the Queen

Pumpkin Kitty here, and time for another fabulous post by me, the fabulous feline. 


While the collies will tell you that I am just one of the pack, and that I believe myself to be a collie too...they couldn't be more wrong!  Just because I enjoy a fun game of "chase the collie around the house," doesn't mean I am confused about my species!  Anyway, the awesome folks over at Chewy.com sent me some treats to review...because they know it isn't ALL about the collies around here!





They sent me Zuke's Natural Purrz cat treats, the Tasty Tuna Recipe.  And while I am finicky, I have to admit that these treats were delish! 



This time the servants humans kept a close watch on the treats, they didn't want me to indulge my inner lioness and devour the entire bag in one feast!



As you can see, I did give it a valiant attempt!  But they are being stingy, and only doling out a few treats per day.  But these treats are worth the wait, and so I will sleep right here, and wait until it's time for more!





So if you want to embrace your inner tiger, you should get your slaves humans to buy you some of these treats too!  Just have them click on this link:
Natural Purrz at Chewy.com

This will have you licking your chops!

We were lucky enough to be asked to do another review by our friends at Chewy.com!  And dog oh dog were we excited about these treats!  Our mom made us wait until Halloween, because she said this way we could have treats too! (We always feel a little sad that all those little humans dressed in funny, and sometimes scary, costumes get all the treats.  So this year, we were able to join in the Halloween fun!)






We were sent a bag of Grandma Lucy's Pumpkin Treats.  We loved the cute design of these treats, as each cookie was shaped like a little teddy bear.  And our Mom said these treats smelled good enough for humans to eat, but Mom must have been dogging us, as she knew we were definitely unwilling to share! 



Abby was so busy enjoying these treats, she only had time to give us this quick quote:
"Oh my dogness!  These treats sure taste delicious!"









And our Mom said something about "the best part of these treats is that they are made in the USA, and are 100% organic!"  Personally, we think the yummy taste is the best part, we just wish they were a little larger!  Mom said she liked the small size, because she didn't have to worry about giving us too many treats, since the main ingredients did contain cane syrup and juice.  She said while too many of these little bears might add to our waistlines, the small size made them an excellent treat.  So Mom said she would be ordering us some more of these cookies so we could enjoy pumpkin dog treats, while our human family enjoys their pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day - which was music to our furry ears!  So because of the cute bear shapes, the quality organic ingredients and the "lick your chops" yumminess, we give these treats our highest rating of 4 paws!

• Suitable for all life stages
• 100% USDA Organic, USA originated ingredients
• Oven baked
• Human-grade ingredients
• No by-products, artificial sweeteners, colors or flavors
• Certified kosher
• Made in the USA!

You can order your own bag of Grandma Lucy's from Chewy.com, just by clicking right here:
Grandma Lucy's Pumpkin Treats  But you better hurry, treats this good are sure to go quickly!


***if you enjoyed our review, be sure to come back tomorrow, as Pumpkin kitty has a review of her own to post tomorrow!

Grass Island

Last weekend we decided to take a hike on Grass Island.  So we grabbed a couple collies, because everyone knows hikes are more fun with canine companionship, and we headed off to explore a new area.

While we have never visited it before, Grass Island is located about 20 minutes away, in another shoreline town, here in New England.  It actually isn’t an island, despite the name, as it is attached to the shore by a narrow, stretch of land.  This narrow band was maybe five or six hundred feet across, so during severe storms I bet Grass Island is cut off from the rest of the town, and actually does become an “island.”  The Island was once privately owned, and the only building on the island is an iconic fishing shack.  The original house burned down in the 1930’s, and was rebuilt.  Back in the 1960’s the owners of the house and property donated it to the town.  Though only a shell remains, its simple lines and beautiful setting, make the shack on Grass Island one of the most photographed and painted landscapes in our area.



Ryder, posing pretty for the camera!

We were able to get close to the island last Spring, but could only photograph the house from across the water.  This time we figured out how to get out onto the island, and spent a peaceful afternoon wandering around and exploring the beaches of Grass Island.

Quiet, empty beach...

Abby found some driftwood!

There was a lot of driftwood, all over the island...

Pretty shoreline...

"I know the way!"

"I found it!"






Holly wants us to hurry up!

Curious collies!

Exploring...

The Watchers




Ryder enjoys the view!




Pretty as a picture!

Family portrait time...

Holly makes friends with a local beach dog...






It was a lovely afternoon, and we will definitely be visiting again!

The crisp evening air, and the crinkle of the leaves underfoot mean Fall is here...

Fall has arrived here in New England, and we have been taking hikes, to enjoy as much of the Autumn foliage as possible.  It seems like I claim every season is my favorite, with the exception of Winter.  But I do love this time of year.  Everything is so beautiful, and the Fairs and cooler weather just make me long to spend more time with my family…and of course, my collies.  So here are some recent pictures we captured on our drives and hikes here in New England, hope you enjoy them!





















And to view even more of our Fall pictures, click here:
Autumnal Collies

And Summer turns to Fall....

Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  The air turns cooler, and with the change in temperature, it brings a distinct change to the world around us.  The trees dazzle us with their autumn finery, adorning themselves in rich shades of red and gold foliage.  They put on such a beautiful show, that leaf peepers begin driving up and down our local highways and back roads, just to soak in all the stunning colors.

The local towns hold their fairs, as Farmers complete their harvesting.  And pumpkins soon begin appearing on front porches to greet visitors, and chase away scary spirits.  We also love Fall because of all the seasons, it seems to complement our collies best.  We never fail to get some amazing pictures, while our collies indulge us by posing for the camera.  So I thought I would share some of our current and past Fall pictures, and hope you will all join us in celebrating this wonderful season…

This fall...

Falls past...