Friday Fix (10/26/2012) - Halloween

By Christy Hess

This is the last blog before Halloween. Halloween can be a fun time of year for the whole family - even your dog. However, there are also potential dangers and sources of stress for your dog.

Halloween Candy and Other Treats

Remember that human treats are not usually good for dogs! Candy - especially chocolate - can be toxic to your dog. Other candies may also contain xylitol, a highly toxic substance. If dogs ingest food wrappers, there is a risk of choking, upset stomach or gastrointestinal blockage. Finally, alcoholic beverages and dogs do not mix!

Trick-or-Treaters and other Guests

Many dogs love visitors, but the constant ringing of the doorbell might get your dog over-excited or very stressed out (I know it gets to me after a while). Some dogs can become fearful of strangers and even be afraid of people they know if those people are in costumes. If your dog seems afraid of guests in costumes, let them go to another part of the house where they can feel safe.

Halloween Costumes for Dogs

Some dogs really enjoy getting dressed in costumes - they might ham it up and revel in the attention (take lots of pictures and send them to us). Other dogs can become scared or uncomfortable in clothing of any type. If you want to dress your dog up, start simple with a Halloween bandanna or collar.  If your pup doesn't like it, then don't push the issue.

We didn't have puppies for the last two weeks, so instead of cute puppy pictures, I thought I would share some dog costume pictures. You can still get you pup a costume at wag.com or you local pet store.

Happy and safe Halloween.

Saturday Fix (10/20/2012) - Time

By Christy Hess

This is one of those weeks where I just lost track of time, been sidetracked by all of the beautiful fall colors. We didn't have puppies this week. That ALWAYS messes me up!

We are still waiting for Brook's baby to arrive - it should be any minute now. Can't go anywhere without the phone handy.

On top of that, I am house and puppy sitting for my sister, so my routine is all messed up. It is like a vacation! I had great plans to catch up on all of my stuff, but I have been mesmerized by my nephews two-year old Shih Tzu (Georgia). She is really fun. She makes sure I take plenty of breaks to pet her, going as far as laying on my keyboard if I don't pay attention to her soon enough. Makes for some interesting emails :)

So this week, I vowed to give up coffee. Instead, I have found that there are two drive-up Starbucks within blocks of each other. Sorta the opposite of what I was planning, but hey it is like a vacation!

So please forgive me for the delay in getting this out. I hope you enjoy the pics (most of them are thanks to our fosters):

Hope you have a great week.

Halloween is coming up. If you dress-up you dog - send me a picture (mcshess@comcast.net).

Friday Fix (10/12/2012) - Bling

By Christy Hess

So here is my question of the week - not puppy related, but thought I would pose it to my puppy folks.

If you see that you "pocket dialed" someone do you feel the need to call them back to let them know they can disregard the last call? 

I am thinking that if I leave a message and all that can be heard is me crunching some potato chips or singing along with the radio, the LAST think I want to do is to call someone back and leave another message to tell them to disregard the last message. Did they really listen to the entire message anyway? 

Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts!

This week, I found a new toy. If you know me, you KNOW how much I love, love, love new toys.

Baaahaaaahaaaaa - Happy Friday. Well - if you were viewing it on the computer with shockwave - preetttyyy funny!

Friday Fix (10/5/2012) - Chet

By Christy Hess

I woke up to snow on the ground today. Seems like we went straight from a super hot summer right into winter. Which is sad, because fall is my favorite time of year when I really like sitting on the back patio enjoying a good book.

If you are looking for a good book (series) I would highly recommend the Chet and Bernie Mystery series by Spencer Quinn. This is a very light, mysteries written from Chet's point of view.

A little background from the book from the Neff Review website:

Bernie Little is founder and part-owner (with his ex-wife) of the Little Detective Agency, and Chet is his partner. This confuses some of his potential clients, since Chet is a very large dog of indeterminate breed. Bernie always assures the dubious that Chet was top of his class at the police dog training school, though this is not, strictly speaking, accurate. Chet explains:

I'd done pretty well in K-9 school, up until the very last day. The only thing left had been the leaping test. And leaping is just about my very best thing. Then came some confusion. Was a cat involved? And blood? I ended up flunking out, but that was how Bernie and I got together, so it worked out great.

The first book in the series is "Dog On It" by Spencer Quinn, I highly recommend snuggling up by the fireplace and enjoying:

As always on Friday, wanted to share some of our photos of mix breed (pure love) puppies. Here are just a few of the puppies we have for this week. Thank you Jill and Kristin for the great photos.

Happy, happy Friday!