hey, everyone! we were asked to contribute to an article, at the healthy paws pet insurance blog. we probably could've made a list of about 100 things, but we kept it as short as possible. there are other fellow dog bloggers who contributed as well, some are our friends, and we think they have some good advice.
rule #2: when you think the humans aren't watching, snatch the treats. sometimes the treats can be tricky, like when there's not a lot left. but, you must always find a way to get to the bottom of that treat bag.
you might need to walk around and tilt the bag so they all come falling toward your mouth.
make sure you know how to take the bag off your head though. at this point my human caught me with my head in the treat bag and had to help me take it off, since it got stuck.
last week.
okay. so - we just noticed our last post was march 27th. we've been super busy this year and hopefully we can get back into the swing of things. this year for rocket's birthday he just got some presents. the other month i was still dealing with rocket's digestive issues that were sooooo not fun. pretty exhausting, but fingers crossed he's been doing really good on the food he has now. i didn't want to take a chance and bake him a cake that he would have a unfortunate reaction to.
rocket got some puzzles for presents and has yet to figure them out. smarty pants yuki figured them both out right away. i need to find some really difficult ones for her birthday.
have you noticed that your pups seem to have some sort of unspoken set of rules? i know yuki and rocket both do, and i figured i'd start sharing them because they are pretty odd and make me laugh.
rule#1: it does not matter if i have taken the roof off my house, you can't see me, nor can you get to me and the kong full of treats i have dragged in through the tiny opening of the house.
oh, yes. rocket could just not see yuki. i mean, can you? what's even more funny then rocket thinking he couldn't get to yuki because she was in the roofless house, was that yuki enters her house through the tiny entrance. who goes into their house through the roofless opening anyway?
if you have a schnauzer in your life, then you probably know that they have many issues with their digestive systems. spartacus has finally been put on a prescription diet after a couple of episodes of painful tummy trouble. spartacus' vet says this is something very common with this breed. i think yuki and rocket may eventually have to be on a prescription diet, since they both have frequent digestive upsets, with no obvious reason for them. below are some pictures i took of what i think is his best physical feature, those beautiful eyes!
what do you mean my house is not a toy? but it's so fun to roll around in it and rip it up into separate pieces.
i bought yuki and rocket an elevated feeder,
after reading that it helps with digestion.
yuki immediately took to the new feeder, but rocket did not. at first he didn't know what to do when he saw it. when he realized it was okay to eat from it, he'd only eat the food from the half of the bowl that was nearest to him. it was strange he didn't know how to eat the other half and once even walked around the feeder to eat from the other side of the bowl. i don't know if these bowls help them digest their food better, but thankfully rocket has since learned to eat from the bowl normally.
do you guys remember my barkday cake from last summer?
well, we were asked if we wouldn't mind sharing the recipe, which would be used in a food issue with pup culture magazine, and of course we said yes. go check out the latest pup culture magazine, there's several mouth watering recipes we know mom would love to try!
yuki has found other things besides pillow to play with. she has discovered her new dog house is not only a fun place to hide and nap, but to also play.
hi everyone, in case you haven't noticed mom changed the blog name to 'bearded creatures'. it first was yuki the dog (which i personally think is the best one), then it was yuki and rocket, then it was no name and now mom decided she is going to call it 'bearded creatures'. i've overheard her many times say she wants schnauzers in all colors, and also has her eyes on other breeds like the airedale, welsh terrier, and irish terrier. all of them have beards. she may eventually add more to the pack someday when she has the land. i just want to know what she's going to do to our yuki and rocket logo when that day comes.
anyway, that's not what i wanted to talk to you about. i just wanted to warn every critter out there that i think medusa is on the loose.
come follow me, i'll show you just want i mean. it's very scary.
this is some serious stuff guys. i think a schnauzer puppy wondered into our yard and that's when medusa looked into this poor pup's eyes and turned it to stone.
i'm even fearful for my brother rocket, i mean he's annoying and all, but i don't want him to be turned to stone. so, if you think you might see medusa (she's the chick with snakes for hair), don't look into her eyes! does anyone know a dog or cat named perseus? something tells me he might know just what to do.
the boys (rocket and spartacus), have their 'schnauzer hideaway', a boys only club. well, now i have my very own soft, portable dog house. it's 20x20x20, it fits my body perfectly,and the best thing is the opening is only 10 inches tall. now, i'm a small dog, so i can duck under the entrance and stretch my body on the inside. but, rocket? bol!! if he weren't such a scaredy dog, he'd probably get stuck just trying. i now have a place to hide when rocket is bothering me and he won't be able to get to me.
i think rocket is finally catching on to this whole photo taking business. for the first time, i had a hard time choosing which rocket photos i was going to share, because rocket had so many good ones.
just in time for valentine's day, these treats are super easy to make and require only 5 ingredients. yuki gives these treats two paws up because she was barking for more.
strawberry treats
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups+3 tbsp rice flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
strawberry purée, about 1 1/3 cups ( i made mine from a 11 oz bag of unsweetened frozen strawberries that were defrosted and puréed . i included the water/strawberry liquid.)
carob chips
directions:
preheat oven to 350f
combine the flour, wheat germ, and flaxseed.
stir in the strawberry purée.
mix until a dough forms. knead dough on a surface floured with plenty of rice flour. the dough should not be sticky. if so, just add more rice flour.
roll out dough to about 1/4 inch in thickness. cut out
shapes and place on a lightly greased pan or lined baking sheet. with a fork, poke holes in the biscuit cutouts to resemble a strawberry.
bake for about 20 minutes.
let cookies cool. once cookies are cooled, dip bottoms of biscuits into melted carob and let dry.
when i tell people yuki poses for the camera, i am not speaking figuratively. yuki literally poses for the camera. she knows which poses i think are cute and will keep still until she hears the clicking stop. not after one click, after several clicks, and then she will reposition herself for her next pose.
below are a couple of pictures of yuki posing in the background. i was taking some pictures of actual humans, when she started to roll on the couch, freezing in these different poses. one of these days i'm going to remember to be quick enough about recording it for all the disbelievers, i know there are some of you out there! ;)
sunday, when all the humans of the u.s. were watching the super bowl and all the canines were watching the puppy bowl, rocket was trying to figure out the kong wobbler.
i haven't brought out the wobbler since rocket was a pup and he had food aggression issues. i reintroduced yuki and rocket to the kong and rocket was really good. yuki remembered exactly how to get the treats out and ate most of them. when yuki walked away from the kong, rocket positioned himself just like you see in the picture above. poor rocket, he's never learned how to free the treats from the wobbler. yuki has always had very good puzzle solving skills, but not rocket. it seemed he was really concentrating and thinking about how to get those treats out. does anyone have a pup or are a pup that doesn't know how it works?
january has been a very boring month, hence the lack of january posts. but, we did find some things to occupy our time, by fixing stuff the way we believe it ought to be.
mom had some cupcake toppers and rocket, somehow, unbeknownst to her, got a hold of one. he decided that deer don't really have any use for their heads or limbs.
i decided i did not like mom's pillow case. pillows do not need bows, so i completely chewed of part of the bow. mom did not like it, but she did not let me finish. i'm sure once i finish the job, she will be thanking me.
when rocket started having skin issues the other month, i started to get a suspicion that it might be a food allergy. while i'm still not entirely sure if that's the case, because he will need to be tested, i wanted to change his food slowly from chicken to salmon, to see if i would see any difference. rocket loves his new food, but it seems unlike yuki, he knows he's a dog. he'd much rather have dog food over most human food. of course i'm not including any type of meat us humans eat, because he is a wolf at heart, and naturally meat is number one on all canine's lists.
now, i know yuki is not a fan of kibble, she normally thinks it's boring and tasteless. usually, i will mix it with some sort of lean meat i have cooked, or when pressed for time i'll heat up some blue buffalo stew and mix it in. i got their new salmon food in kibble form first. yuki turned away from the bowl when she sniffed the new food, but i was able to coax her into eating her meal by mixing in some meat. since rocket was enjoying the new food so much, i thought i'd get the canned salmon, and serve it heated up and mix it in with the salmon kibble. when yuki smelled her bowl, she made the weirdest face and displayed the weirdest body language ever. in order for yuki to make sure i completely understood her disgust for this finned creature, she took one of her blankets and completely covered her bowl with the blanket to hide and cover it.
oh, what fun it is to have such a finicky eater.
the first snow of the new year arrived yesterday morning, surprising us.
i knew yuki would love this surprise when she went outside that morning.
but, i think we officially have a new member of the schnauzer snow lover society. okay, it's not an actual group (that i know of), but now that we have added a second member, maybe it can be a thing?? i really wasn't expecting that rocket was going to enjoy the snow so much. last year he did not like the snow or cold one bit. he's wearing his jacket in these pictures and from his demeanor, i thought maybe he still wasn't a big fan of the snow.
that was until i took it off and
realized his loathing of all clothing/accessories was holding back the
snow lover in him.
here he's realizing he's out in the snow, without his jacket.
notice the subtle change in his expression.
rocket now has that mischievous look on his face.
he locates his prey, err yuki.
ready for attack.
of course playing and running through all the snow has consequences. i'm
not sure if it's a schnauzer thing because of the type of fur, or this
happens to all dogs, but their fur gets matted with balls of ice.
you would think it would be easy to take off but it's really not. it's like the ice has frozen together with their fur and trying to pull it off is not only painful, but could also pull off fur with the ice.
the quickest and easiest way for me to remove the ice is to use a blow dryer. i keep it by the backdoor when it's snowing. even if they aren't playing and just going outside to go to the bathroom, the snow still sticks to their fur. i blow dry their legs, loosening up the ice and loosen in it free with a towel i have in my other hand. at the same time, the fur that is just wet and without ice begins drying and warming them back up.
yuki of course has her own ideas on how to get the ice off and this involves leaning on a bar stool and eating the ice off.
