Puppy Eating a Rubik's Cube

Do you have a puppy? Do you have a hat? We’d love to feature your dog (all dogs are puppies at heart, right?) in an upcoming “Puppies Wearing Hats Eating Bacon Sharing Facts” post. If you provide the puppy wearing a hat, we’ll provide the badly-Photoshopped bacon. Send your pics our way! This could be your pooch:
Puppy Eating a Rubik's Cube
Puppy Eating a Rubik's Cube
Puppy Eating a Rubik's Cube
Puppy Eating a Rubik's Cube

German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign

Meet Molly, who entered our family on Friday. She's an energetic bundle of fuzz who would chew the couch into a wad of leather and padding if you give her half a chance. Toby and the cat hate her and are showing no signs of relenting, though we remain hopeful. She's a full-blooded German shepherd about 9 weeks old. I tried to find a dog through two rescue organizations and the Humane Society. The latter was helpful but bogged down in ridiculous regulations. The rescue groups are useless cookie eaters who constantly beg for donations but don't seem to have any interest in actually placing a dog into a home, in my opinion. Just as well; we love the little devil dog and wouldn't trade her for a carload of Rin Tin Tins.

German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign
German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign
German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign
German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign
German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign
German Shepherd Hates No Dogs Sign

Huge Ears Dog

Gringo is an Australian Cattle dog mix, although he is smaller and we don't know exactly what other breed he is mixed with, but we don't care! We rescued him two months ago and he is simply the happiest dog on earth! He loves running around like crazy, going to the dog park to meet new friends, hiding his toys in his secret place no one knows, going camping in the van with mum and dad. Above all, he adores getting in bed with mum and dad in the mornings and hiding under the covers when the sun is coming out so he can sleep a little longer. Gringo is very curious and smart; he always listens to everything that happens around him with his huge ears. He is definitely the best thing that happened to us!

My dogs name is Lilo Lacey. We chose the name of Lilo because it's just a funny name and Lacey because my mom's dog's name was Lacey and she was put to sleep.

My name is Leah. I love my dog. I feed her every day before I go to school, and I always kiss her exactly 28 times before I go to school and when I go to bed. I kiss her because she is too big and she sheds so she can't sleep upstairs with me. I also kiss her because I had a hamster and it passed away before I went on a trip so I'm worried that something could happen to Lilo.

Lilo is seven years old; I'm 13. Lilo is my world. When she passes away it will be very hard for me. The funniest moment I have had with Lilo was I was taking her on a walk and she fell off a dock into a lake. When she jumped out she had seaweed all over her head. We called her Medusa.

Lilo is also my little brother's baby. His name is Stephen. These are his words about his feelings for her, "She is silly and very energetic."

Lilo is loved, cared for, missed when we are gone, and also she is our team mascot. She is the sixth member in our family!!!!!


Years ago, a few months after my first dog died (Siberian Huskey/Chow 13yrs), I got a new puppy. I was living in a motor home and this little Alaskan Malamute/Wolf hybrid was a blue-eyed handsome boy.

We were in Indiana in July and it was extremely hot. To protect the puppy, I took to leaving him in the motorhome with the air conditioning running.

At two months, he was already housebroke, but I was used to a 13 year old's bladder, and one day forgot I was dealing with puppy bladder. He'd been in the motorhome for a couple of hours, when I went in to check on him.


when we went to the barn, he ran up to one of the horses and tried herding the horse. the horse kicked him in the forehead (just barely hurt him) and then he ran to the closest person. we put him in an empty stall with water until we took him to the vet.

after that when my friend and i were walking, my dog shiloh followed us and crawled under the fence and tried the same thing again. the horse started bucking and kicking at shiloh; he ran around her a lot. my friend and i kept calling him to us, then he ran out to the barn (big trouble) :P

Dog and Bird Friends

A researcher drawing up a blueprint to attract birds to the suburbs has made an intriguing discovery — dogs can be good for our feathered friends.

Grant Daniels, 22, has surveyed 214 gardens in ten Hobart suburbs and found that those with dogs are more likely to have a healthy population of ground-feeding birds like the superb fairy-wrens.

Mr. Daniels, a graduate of the University of Tasmania School of Geography and Environmental Studies, said that it appeared the dogs ignored birds, and because of this lack of aggression, the birds in turn were happy to co-exist with the canines.

“Where there are dogs you are more likely to find fairy-wrens and possibly masked lapwings,” he said.

“Ground-feeders have learned they have nothing to fear from most dogs, unlike the threat posed by cats.”

Dog and Bird Friend
Dog and Bird Friend
Dog and Bird Friend
Dog and Bird Friend
Dog and Bird Friend
Dog and Bird Friend

Doggy Baby

I was interviewed recently by My Baby Radio, the online radio station for families and new parents, to offer advice on living with dogs and children.

From My Baby Radio.com: “Introducing dogs and babies can be tough and introducing a family dog to a newborn baby is always a worrying time for parents. Attacks on little ones by man’s best friend seem to be reported in the media on a regular basis. However, canine behaviour specialist Dr. Jez Rose believes the incidents make the news because they are still relatively rare and it’s that which makes them worth reporting on.

If you’re the proud owner of a dog but have a new baby on the way, you may be worried about your pet’s reaction. Alternatively, your family could be thinking about getting a dog but you don’t know what to look for. Are some breeds better with children than others? Which ones need the most exercise? The list goes on!

Doggy Baby
Doggy Baby
Doggy Baby
Doggy Baby
Doggy Baby
Doggy Baby

Cute Christmas Animals

There are many kinds of wreaths, apart from the traditional green leaves with red holly. We can make wreaths out of many different materials, the important thing is that it is circular and that you can nail it to your door.

If you are drawing a blank, check out the wreaths below made from cork, ties, felt, buttons and Christmas papers. You could also make a wreath out of old CD’s.

How do you put together a wreath? The key ingredients are lots of materials to decorate with, and a sturdy base. Let’s look at the button wreath, for example, Buy some wire from the hardware shop and make two circles, one larger than the other and attach them together. Then take cardboard and mount it on the wire. After this is dry, you can begin to add the buttons.

Cute Christmas Animal
Cute Christmas Animal
Cute Christmas AnimalIf this wreath seems too hard then you could try this other wreath made out of yarn balls. It is much easier, you just need a few balls in different colors and sizes and then simply attach them to the wire base – like beads on a necklace.
Cute Christmas Animal
Cute Christmas AnimalIf you are drawing a blank, check out the wreaths below made from cork, ties, felt, buttons and Christmas papers. You could also make a wreath out of old CD’s.

How do you put together a wreath? The key ingredients are lots of materials to decorate with, and a sturdy base. Let’s look at the button wreath, for example, Buy some wire from the hardware shop and make two circles, one larger than the other and attach them together. Then take cardboard and mount it on the wire. After this is dry, you can begin to add the buttons.
Cute Christmas Animal
Cute Christmas Animal

Funny Christmas Animals

Yesterday didn't turn out the way I'd planned. My sister's family got sick so our Christmas celebration had to be rescheduled. Of course, we were also planning to celebrate birthdays that night with dinner out. That meant some scrambling on my part to put together a birthday for my hubby.

I asked him to take our son to speech therapy so I could have a couple of hours to plan something. While he was gone, I baked his favorite kind of cake...devil's food chocolate. I wrapped his gifts and came up with a plan for his birthday. So that evening we drove to Portland to visit the Grotto and see the lights, puppet show, petting zoo and music performances. After that we went to the Laurelwood brewpub for dinner. We hadn't been out to eat like that in over a month so it was a nice treat and they brew great beer there so a nice treat for my hubby. We went home for cake and presents. A really nice birthday!

Funny Christmas Animal
Funny Christmas Animal
Funny Christmas AnimalI'll be preparing for tomorrow's kick off of an intense writing month (aka JaNoWriMo), finishing work on our budget and menu, setting up our envelope system and getting caught up on a few things that need to be done. Tonight will be pretty mellow. I hope to talk hubby into taking the kids to either Zoolights or Portland International Raceway to see the lights. It's the last night for both. Then we'll use the east coast's countdown at 9 o'clock our time to usher in the new year with them. I've got sparkling cider and a box with hats, tiaras, leis and noisemakers to open.
Funny Christmas Animal
Funny Christmas AnimalOne thing I've noticed is so many people act as if Christmas is over. We take the twelve days of Christmas to heart around here. December 1- 24 were Advent, the preparation to Christmas. I didn't get my Department 56 villages up until Christmas Eve! The 25th until Epiphany is the actual time to celebrate the holiday.

I've been trying to teach this to the kidlets, too. Each child picks one of their gift from under the Christmas tree on the 25th to put aside until Epiphany, the day symbolizing the visit of the three Wise men/kings/magi when they gave gifts to Jesus. My dad called this Little Christmas when I was growing up though we never exchanged gifts on that day. But I figured saving the gifts might help the kids understand better why I have us do what we do. Time will tell if I succeeded.
Funny Christmas Animal
Funny Christmas AnimalOne family I know puts up their lights a couple of weeks before Christmas, but doesn't turn them on until Christmas day. They celebrate the twelve days of Christmas by leaving little gifts in the stockings each of the twelve days. I thought that was a neat idea and was so happy that my oldest got to hear that we're not the only ones who do things a little differently.

Of course, the rest of my family takes down their trees and decorations on the 26th which is why we're hosting Christmas today since our decorations stay up until after Epiphany. And now that we have an artificial tree, I won't have to worry about it turning into a matchstick by the first week of January!

General Dog

Dogs pant a lot because they have no sweat glands on their body except at their paws.

More people are killed by dogs, than by bears and sharks combined.

A dog’s nose print helps investigators identify dogs. It works like a human finger print.

Over ½ of dog owners sign their dog’s name on greeting cards.

Despite their breed or size, all dogs have 42 teeth and 321 bones—all breeds.

A dog’s heart beats at 120 times/minute; that is 150% compared to the human heart which beats at 80 times/minute.

AKC has 161 breeds of dogs.

General Dog
General Dog
General DogBorder Collies were bred between England and Scotland (thus getting their name as “border” between two countries) to be shepherds’ dogs. They have proven to be one of the best shepherds’ dogs because of their ability to work long hours and complete tasks on their own without the shepherd’s presence.
General Dog
General DogDalmatians were used as guard dogs during wars (gaining the title “dogs of war”). They were also used as fire-apparatus followers, following and coaching horse drawn fire engines (a job that gave them the firehouse mascot in the United States). Dalmatians also served as hunting dogs. There is no certain information about their origin, though some believe that they originated in Dalmatia, used to be a province of Austria, but is now in Italy.
General Dog
General Dog
The tallest dog breed is the Irish Wolfhound—its height is 33-36 inches. Even though a Great Dane holds the record for the tallest individual dog, it is not the tallest breed—generally about 32 inches.

The St. Bernard is the heaviest dog breed, weighing up to 240 lb (110 kg). Its height is 27-35 inches.

The world's smallest dog breed is the Chihuahua.

The smallest mature dog on record was owned by Arthur Marples from Blackburn, England. The dog was a Yorkshire Terrier that was 2.5 inches high at its shoulder and weighed 4 ounces. It died in 1945 before the age of 2.

The heaviest dog on record weighed 343 lbs. Zobra, an English Mastiff, was not only the heaviest, but the longest dog on record, measuring 8 feet 3 inches. Though there are reports that Benedictine, a St. Bernard, weighed 357 lbs. Many websites still erroneously state that the heaviest dog ever weighed is 319 lbs.