Portland {Oregon} Greyhound Walking Club

How cool is this? A big thanks to a PDX customer {you know who you are} for introducing me to Portland Oregon's Greyhound Walking Club! Not only do I think this is a super cool thing to do, but it tickles my fancy even more since Portland, OR is my old stomping grounds. I grew up in a town just south of Portland, so it was so fun to see the maps and pictures of P-town. What a fun way to get together with other greyhounds {and their people} and all the while be spreading the word about greyhound adoption!

If you are owned by a greyhound {or two or three or ...} *and* live in the Portland {Oregon} metro area and want to participate, I suggesting checking out The Greyhound Walking Club Blog for updates and notifications!

So here's my question, do you do your own Greyhound walk in your neck of the woods? And if so, where is that? I'm feeling incredibly inspired to start a Greyhound Walk all the way across the country here to the other P-town {that's right I grew up in Portland, Oregon and now live in Portland, Maine - what are the chances of that happening?!?}. Of course I'll keep you all posted! Stay tuned!

Pizza Party on Ice!

When we first moved to the NE I was constantly amazed that ponds and lakes could actually freeze over. In fact, it took a good 3 years (in upstate New York) to not feel a flash of shock and disbelief each time I saw a truck plowing a pond, or children playing hockey atop the ice. This is just not something you would ever see in western Oregon, because it never deep freezes like that in the Willamette valley. It obviously "deep freezes" here in Maine, but now I'm used to such things. I even get out and skate from time to time and love it.

Here's a new discovery for me that was an absolute delight - having pizza delivered to your very own private frozen pond skate party! Pure yummy awesomeness!

*Notice the adorable puppy, Harvey the Weimaraner! Little brother to Otter, the lab mix! Pure cutie-patootie awesomeness!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Got Collar?

There's a Newfoundland in British Columbia who's about to get a new The Ranger reflective martingale collar. This big guy (I'm talking about the collar here) is plenty big enough to fit over it's new owner's 28" head. We do sew collars around this size, more often than you would think, but for some reason I was inspired to take a few pics of this monstrous collar. I get a kick out of these HUGE collars every single time we sew one up! I mean it easily fits around my son's midsection, has room to spare when BOTH of my doggies are snuggled inside, and I have to admit I wore it on my head for a while just to make my kids laugh (ok, I did it for myself).

Peamutt Butter Squirrels Dog Treats (or biscuits)

These peanut butter & oat squirrels (AKA Doggy Dessert Chef's Peamutt Butter Treats) were definitely fun to make. The recipe is fast and easy and Abby and Dewey snarfed up these little squirrels like nobody's business.

You know we're big fans of squirrels over here. Well, I suppose the little furry guys are more of a frenemy, than anything. They're totally cute, but totally overpopulated. Last summer the squirrels in Albany were totally way too sneaky with my vegetable garden. The dogs LOVE them but HATE them at the same time too. If you live with a dog (or two, or three, or...) you know exactly what I mean.

So have fun baking a batch of these treats, and then letting your dog's chomp them to bits.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Peanut Butter

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 cup Water

2 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup Oatmeal

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

Combine peanut butter, oil and water in a large bowl. Once mixed slowly add whole wheat flour and then oatmeal. Roll dough out 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutter. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 20 to 35 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Cool and refrigerate.

Adapted from The Doggy Bone Cookbook by Michele Bledsoe

Courtesy of Doggy Dessert Chef.

Congratulations Jaguar's Family!

Jaguar, originally uploaded by ClassicHound.

What a gorgeous guy Jaguar was! Here he is in his Cocoa Blossom tag collar. I remember when he won our photo contest back in 2008. Samantha, Jaguar's mum, sent us this picture along with the very sad news that he had passed:

"Sadly, our sweet big boy was diagnosed with bone cancer on November 9th and this past Monday December 6th he died unexpectedly during an amputation surgery, which combined with chemo, was meant to prolong his life. We will miss him very, very much- our home is very empty without him but we enjoyed our time with him beyond what words can express.

I took this photo of him in his Classic Hound Tag Collar on November 11th. I think he looks beautiful and peaceful- he was very loved.

JR's Jaguar

10/22/04-12/06/2010"

You will be missed Jaguar! May your family take comfort in all the memories you made together.

Free Mini-Martingale Keychain when you spend $50 or more!

Happy New Year! Giving away mini-martingale keychains just felt like the right way to start off the year. =) So if you've been waiting to buy that matching collar and leash set, or have had your eyes on two different collars, this is the moment you've been waiting for! But it all ends next Friday, the 14th. Happy shopping! =)