Paws in the Park 2014

We had such a wonderful time and so much to tell that it didn't fit into one blog post. The Save a Dog Paws in the Park is held on the grounds of the historical Wayside Inn in Sudbury. (More about the historical sites in another post. Mom made us pose for pictures so we could share.) We saw so many new shelters and rescues that we hadn't seen before. It was great seeing them all come out and have a chance to get name recognition and make some money for their rescues.

When we went in we got bandanas and a goodie bag. If you were rescued from Save A Dog you got one color. Everyone else got the blue we are wearing. We thought we looked dashing.

People were so kind and generous and because we were so cute well behaved we got lots of free treats. Mom brought home some, too.

We thought of Frankie and Ernie when we saw the Daschund Rescue Kissing Booth. If you'd have been there guys, they'd have broken the piggy bank.

Protecting the Asparagus

Mom planted asparagus not really thinking it would come too much. Several years later every spring, we have to go out and guard the asparagus from creatures that might eat it before Mom and Dad get to cook it. It doesn't look like much, but Mom and Dad say it is a special veggie. Mom really likes the fact that it comes back on its own every year. It doesn't have to be replanted each year and it is pretty low maintenance from a veggie growing perspective. This crop is just about ready to be picked. Mom is already trying to decide what to make this weekend.

We just want to know when we are going to get one of those dog biscuit trees. We'd take real good care of it and make sure those nasty squirrels didn't attack it. Mom keeps saying she hasn't located one yet. We think she's just too busy hunting down veggie plants for her and Dad.

Friday Flowers

Today's Friday Flower picture is of our first Iris of the year. This poor yellow Iris didn't fair well with a week of rain. The purple Iris aren't even showing blooms yet. While Mama likes the yellow, purple are her favorite. She's collected different types from friends, family, and local garden club sales. Hers have spread and she's been able to pass them on to various family members.

We are looking forward to the Hostas. They make for great shade and places to stalk watch the various creatures that visit the yard.

I Love My Purebred Dogs and I'm Not Afraid to Show It

Mom isn't a Facebook person, but felt compelled to post after reading Jen at My Brown Newfies & Me post this morning. As rescue Shelties we are huge supporters of rescuing dogs of all kinds. However, we also support people who get their pets from responsible breeders. There are lots of reasons people choose specific breeds.

Responsible breeding helps maintain healthy breed lines. Knowledgeable breeders work to reduce the instances of genetic challenges each breed faces and to help maintain the positive characteristics and traits of each specific breed.

Mom and Dad did lots of research before settling on Shelties. Mom had grown up with smaller dogs, but for a variety of reasons, Shelties proved to be a good choice for her and Dog Dad. While some fully understand and support their choice, especially when they realize we came from a rescue, others continue to think it is a snobbish attitude to want a purebred dog. We support owners’ right to choose as long as they do it in a responsible fashion. You can support Purebred dogs and be against puppy mills. In fact, we don't know any owners who love purebred dogs and don't understand the harm puppy mills do to purebred breeds through poor breeding.

There has been a huge campaign targeted against purebred owners and it is short sighted and ignorant. There is a way to support and encourage pet adoption from shelters without attacking those who choose a responsible alternative path. Choosing a responsible breeder to bring home your pet is a healthy choice for people who want a specific breed. There is nothing evil or selfish about making a choice that is right for the family.

However, even pet parents who choose breed rescues face critics for choosing purebreds over a mixed breed. These attacks seem even more childish since purebred dogs in rescue need homes, too. Having groups that understand the breed and can target appropriate homes for them seems like an intelligent choice, not a reason to criticize. Yet, Mom has been criticized for choosing breed rescue over visiting the local mixed breed rescues. This just seems to be about control, not really what is in the best interest of dogs.

We believe it is important to unite as dog owners and support all who love dogs without dividing into splinter groups. There is room for all of us the purebreds and the mutts, rescues and those who came from breeders to support and encourage each other. When our families start to splinter and point fingers, it is the dogs who always lose.

We think all dog owners should love their dogs and not be afraid to show it. It is time for the judgment to stop.

Wordless Wednesday: Inquiring Shelties Want to Know

Save a Dogs Paws in the Park

Save a Dog in Sudbury is hosting their annual Paws in the Park on Sunday May 4, 2014 from 10AM-3PM at the Wayside Inn, 72 Wayside Inn Road in Sudbury, MA.

The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children 5-12, and free to those under 5. For more information check out the website here.

This has become one of our annual dog walk events. We love walking in a historic place, shopping, activities, and visiting with the other dogs.

If you walk a little farther, you can even see the building where Mary's little lamb went to school. The building has moved from its original location, but you can see Mary's school. (Dogs have to peek in from the door, but you can take your picture outside if you want.)

Last year we got to try complimentary massages and a doggy agility course. Who knows what this year will bring. If you are in the area, come down and help raise some funds for Save a Dog.

Friday Flowers

Mom loves tulips, but doesn't always have the best luck growing them. This one popped open yesterday and she just had to get a shot of it.

Katy's Fort

What to do when there are lots of people at your house? Retreat to your own personal fort. You can see and observe all the action, but they have to work real hard to get to you.

Easter Egg Roll

Normally the Easter Bunny comes and leaves us special Easter treats and toys. This year was no different. However, Mom and Dad thought it would be fun for us to participate in an Easter Egg hunt. We refused, politely. They were not pleased. So they decided to make it into a roll. They started rolling the eggs filled with smelly, but tasty treats and enticed us to "hunt" them down. After being tossed a few, Bailey broke ranks not only chasing them down, but learning to pop them open.

Katy required more convincing to engage in the sport. She was willing to attack the open ones. Mom was so disappointed not to get the shot of the egg that Katy had on her nose before she popped it off.

Happy Patriot's Day

We are celebrating a long Easter weekend because Patriot's Day and Easter fell on the same weekend.

For those of you outside of Massachusetts Patriot's Day is celebrated neither as the day of the Boston Marathon or the reason for an afternoon Red Sox game. It also has nothing to do with our NFL football team. Today we celebrate the opening battles of the Revolutionary War the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Since we aren't much for guns and loud noises we celebrate at home with Mom and Dad.

Friday Flowers

This is what comes of living in New England folks. Yesterday we posted pictures of snow. Today the snow has melted and we have pictures of the daffodils in bloom.

We are looking forward to our visit from the Easter Bunny. We hope he has lots of cool treats. Mom is talking about experimenting with treats in Easter Eggs. We'll see how that all works out. We wish all of you who celebrate a wonderful Easter holiday. We hope it is filled with lots of fun and treats.

It Snowed!

You know we love our snow cookies. We even get ice cubes in the summer we love the icy stuff so much. However, we were just starting to enjoy the joys of spring. The white stuff on the ground was unexpected. We had not placed an order. Our annual charity walks are just around the corner. We don't want Mom and Dad backing out because of weird weather. We'll admit we were perhaps a bit aggressive in our snow cookie prayers. However, we'd really like this white stuff to stop before it interferes with our Spring plans.

We Dogs are Sticking Together

The Easter Bunny

Frankie and Ernie posted about the search for the Easter Bunny. We just wanted to let them know we had the great fortune to meet and have our picture taken with the Easter Bunny last year. He's HUGE. Makes sense he'd have to be in order to distribute all those eggs. He doesn't have a sleigh and all those reindeer to get around.

Mom searched and searched, but the Easter Bunny must have been too busy to make a return appearance this year. We are sad to have missed him, but glad we at least got the chance to see him once.

After chasing those tiny little bunnies, it was rather scary at first to see a Bunny bigger than Mom. However, when a bunny has dog treats, you find yourself strangely attracted to it.

Happy Birthday Dad!

It's Dog Dad's Birthday and we are so very excited to celebrate the day.

Thank you for another year of ball games, long walks, tummy rubs, and a shared love of our favorite sports teams. We hope for many more long years together. Have a day filled with love and laughs and don't forget some dog cookies.

Love,
Bailey & Katy

Look What We Found!

Over the years, Mom has turned more to perennial gardening for her flowers. She loves the idea that no matter what the weather is like, her health, or other situations that get in the way of her gardening ambitions, there are always flowers that magically appear each year. She loves getting out as soon as the snow is gone to start checking for the crocus. We already missed the chance to get pictures of one that she saw just a couple of days ago.

We noticed the tulips are coming along. Mama has some daffodils ready, but they never have really taken to the environment here. The rest of perennials will be along, as it gets warmer. We’ve been protecting Dad’s asparagus garden. Those pesky rabbits are back. We are going to have a busy season protecting the veggie gardens. So far, the asparagus is our main duty as it is a perennial so it comes up without having to be planted. Mom and Dad will wait until after Memorial Day to plant the rest of the veggies. We are keeping in shape chasing the squirrels. They seem to have slowed down a bit during the winter. One barely made the tree this morning.

Bailey's Birthday Pics

Mom never got around to posting my birthday pics, so she promised she'd put them up today.

Katy and I had a great celebration. We played snow tag and it was amazing. We even got what Mom is hoping are the last of the snow cookies for the season. Mom is begging us to stop praying for snow cookies, but how can you not want that cold sweet treat?

After our evening kibble, we got these tasty birthday cookies. I liked the frosting off mine, but Katy kept dropping hers on the floor so the frosting would fall on the floor and she could pick it up in chunks.

I got two new stuffies to add to my collection. These are my favorites because they make sounds like the animals do. The cow moos and the duck quacks. Cow has been in time out a few times since he's arrived. I just can't help myself. I love the sound and once I get started, I get a little compulsive and its non-stop mooing. Mom says its like listening to a cow barn when I'm at my worst. As Mom's typing Katy is sitting on my cow. She thinks I don't know where he is, but I do. I just know if I distract Mom, she'll never finish this project.

We finished off the night with two bully sticks and a game of ball. Our friend gave me Kong tennis balls and we were thrilled to discover tennis balls can squeak!!! Who knew?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone. We are not wearing the green, but we are so excited. St. Patrick is one of our favorite saints. Since we have such a garter snake problem we are trying to convince Mama that along with her St. Francis garden statue she really needs to get a St. Patrick statue. St. Francis just attracts all the animals that we then have to chase away. Just look at all the bunnies that have arrived since he showed up. However, we could really use St. Patrick's help with the snake population that will be waking up when all this snow melts.

Dad arrived back safely from his business trip. We are not crazy about Dad traveling, especially since we aren't there to keep him safe. You'd think they'd be glad of a little Sheltie security, but not so much.

Mom was under the weather last week, so she'll have Bailey's bday pictures posted soon.

Happy 11th Birthday Bailey

Cookies and presents when Dad gets home tonight. Until then Katy has promised a day of play and fun to celebrate your special day. You even got a light dose of snow cookies to start your morning. I am hoping you two stop praying for snow cookies and we do have more traditional weather for Katy's birthday.

We are still in shock that you are 11. We still think of you as that big fur ball that we brought home from your Foster Mom in CT. You still have that puppy charm where ever you go.

Happy Birthday Bailey. Many more.

Wordless Wednesday: Keeping Out the Cold

Catching up on my Reading

Bailey's never been one for reading, but since I discovered Mom's bed, I've always loved exploring her books. There is something about sticking my nose in a book and exploring it. Of course, there was that incident with teeth involved, so Mom insists I have to be supervised around books now, but oh I do love them. Today we were exploring a mystery where, well I won't spoil it for you. I love to nose my way to the end find out who done it and then work my way through the clues. Mom does find it a bit annoying when I lose her place.

Today, sensing I was missing my daily dose of all the wonderful winter games we've been watching she actually read some of the story to me until I fell asleep. Now I am certain I know who did it. Except she won't let me tell her. She hates it when I guess first and ruin the book for her.

Mom and Dad Have Been Under the Weather

Have you ever noticed the odd expressions humans have. Dad says he and Mom have been under the weather and that's why they just don't have the energy for playing and walks like they normally do. Dad have you felt the snow falling on your head? You are under the weather every day.

They seem to be doing better, which has us feeling happier. You have no idea how much work it is to be a bed warmer for sick dog parents. They want you to stay with them and keep them warm. Then they complain you are taking up too much of the bed. They aren't rational when they are sick.

We have been enjoying the games though. Katy has taken to curling, Bailey not so much this time around. Perhaps he's outgrown it. Bailey's been more into hockey and the extreme sports this time around. We both enjoyed watching the skating. Mom and Dad watched all the team and individual competitions so we got caught up with all the skating.

Our snow cookie totals are really adding up. We think perhaps we may have over done our cookie prayers. We had two storms in two days that had significant cookie fall. Today it's raining so the cookies are getting washed away a bit. Tonight when it gets cold they'll likely freeze. Frozen cookies are an interesting taste. Unlike Mom and Dad the snow seems to have energized us. We have had some wild games of snow tag. Even when it isn't snowing we come in looking like snow dogs.

We are looking forward to watching the last of the events this weekend and then the closing ceremonies.

We Had a Delightful Snow Day with Dad

The Snow hit us on Wednesday and we got a whole day home with Dad. He dug out our backyard snow run and then we had some time for fun in the snow.

We played some wild games of ball. Mom doesn't have great aim and we had to dive into the snow banks after one of the balls she tossed.

We are enjoying our new batch of snow cookies. We even dined on some we brough in with us after our ball game. Now we are gearing up for the Olympics. Bailey's favorite event, curling. He will even fight for the remote to keep the channel from changing. Katy is pretty interested in all the events. What events are you looking forward to seeing?

Tag

Do you guys play tag? It is one of our wild and crazy indoor games. You've seen this couch. It is normally covered in nice soft fuzzy fleece. Well when we play our crazy game of tag this becomes our safe zone. Katy decided you are fair game anywhere on the floor. However, when you jump up on the couch, you are safe. Upstairs the safe zone is Mom and Dad's bed.

One of us usually starts the game and the zoomies begin. Katy is usually the one that declares a time out by jumping up on the couch. As you can see here, sometimes she is joined by Bailey. Then one will bump the other and the zoomies begin again until exhaustion sets in or Mom and Dad step in and declare the games done.

Wordless Wednesday: A Practical Valentine

Cloudy with a chance of Snow Cookies

We take you to our weather reporter in the field to discuss the coming storm.

Snow cookies were light, but tasty yesterday. Without additional supplies, they'd be gone within days. However, our weather computers tell us that heavy snow cookies will be arriving over night and staying though the early morning. Those early morning bathroom runs could be a bit challenging amidst the huge piles of abundant snow. We expect to have our snow run up and running tomorrow morning if our weather tracking system is working and the snow does arrive. With the cold air coming in after this storm, we could be having snow cookies for some time to come.

Super Bowl Sunday Party

As you may now we are big football fans and even though our team wasn't in the game, we couldn't miss the big game. Dad and Mom mad preparations for the game that included getting us new bully sticks and replacing a Valentine's heart we killed during one of our own footbal exhibitions on Saturday.

One of Dad's favorite friends always brings dog cookies for the start of the game and half time. In honor of the special game we also got a cookie at the end of the game. Mom and Dad were cooking up some special treats and man it was hard not to beg. The bully sticks helped to deal with temptation.

We had a rousing game of ball outside before the game and that kept us calm through the first quarter. However, we were looking for more action by the second quarter, especially knowing those half time cookies were coming soon.

We hope all the Seattle fans are enjoying their championship today. We are relaxing and preparing for the Olympics overload. Mom says we also are preparing for a big snow cookie dump tonight. We are in the 5 to 10 inch range as of this morning. While we love our snow cookies, that makes getting out for our bathroom runs a bit challenging. Dad will have to dig out our snow path again.

Wordless Wednesday: Plotting

Wordless Wednesday: On Alert

Wordless Wednesday: Watching the Game with Dad

Exhausted

With all the excitement of playoff football and supervising the humans putting away all the Christmas decorations I'm exhausted. While the tree is FINALLY down, they are still packing away boxes into the attic. The stuff multiplies every year. It is quite hard to supervise all this clean up. Don't let Frankie kid you the snowmen are not the worst of it. There are all kinds of Christmas things that can attack when they are being packed away. They so don't want to go to the attic for the rest of the year. Oddly enough, our Christmas toys were some of the first things to be packed. Mom promises as soon as the Christmas stuff is in the attack she'll locate our Valentine's Day toys.

Our football team is advancing on to the next round and we are so excited. Unlike baseball and basketball, football has half time. Dad's friend brings dog cookies for the game and we get one for the start of the game and one for half time. This time he even brought an over time cookie, but there was no need our team won with plenty of scores to spare. I'm glad we won, but that overtime cookie was just waiting there to be eaten. I was kind of hoping it could be a celebration cookie, but no. On to next week.

We are trying to find a way to put cookies into Olympic events. Perhaps cookies for American Gold medals? Mom's not buying it.

Mud Baths Lead to Dog Showers

On TV we heard them talking about the benefit of mud for your skin. Mud we have as the snow melt has left us with a muddy mess. So while we were out exploring we thought we'd show Mom how we were going to take care of our skin.

Mom was not as pleased with our efforts as we thought. In fact she was so horrified, she didn't stop to take before photographs. She hurried us off to take doggy showers.

Our plumber installed a new attachment to the downstairs bathroom so Mom doesn't have to do a whole tub for us. This thing just sprays and wets us down. Since neither of us likes water the tubby experience has always been unpleasant. There was always the feeling Mom was attempting to drown us. While still not pleasant, for the most part this just feels like we got stuck in a bad rainstorm that comes complete with dog shampoo.

Christmas Fleece

Mom's Mom made Dad and Dog matching sports fleece blankets for Christmas. The only major league team we don't have is the Bruins. Dad checked and according to the woman where we get our fleece, the NHL hasn't released the rights to hockey fleece. However, thanks to Grandma, we think we are up to date on available fleece binkies for Dad and Dog in Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics. We've never had Celtics blankets in Dad or dog size before so this is awesome.

Dad already has the Patriots fleece laid out on the couch for next week's playoff. He's letting us enjoy our Celtics blankets. He's resting our Patriots ones for the big game. We are huge football fans and settle in with Dad to watch every game. We watched all the college bowl games with him. We still don't quite understand why they call them bowls. There's no kibble there.

Wordless Wednesday: Waiting on the Kibble

Ringing in the New Year

As we mentioned in yesterday's post we are behind in our blogging. Like many of our fellow bloggers we participated with our humans in ringing in the New Year. One of our favorite humans came to spend the night. Mom and Dad had board games going on all night.

We had ball games, chase games, and some snow sports going on. We even rung in the New Year with dog treats. It was a wonderful evening.

When we got tired we rested. Those are new Christmas pillow Mom's Mom gave her for Christmas. I think she really meant them for us, but after all the fleece she made, she had to give something to Mom so she didn't feel left out.

We were a bit surprised when nobody went to bed. While Dad is a bit of a night owl. Mama is an early to bed kind of woman. We were so tired when she finally called it a night or day. Then of course she was in no mood to rise and shine on New Years Day when we were ready to play.

Christmas Wreaths Final Picture

We got behind in our postings AGAIN. However, Dad had a really awesome long Christmas vacation and we enjoyed every minute of it with him. So, no blogging. We are going to try to get everyone caught up on what we've been doing this week. First we thought we'd post our Christmas wreaths before they come down. We filled two wreaths and probably could have started a third this year. Suprisingly Mom and Dad got more this year than usual. However, most of them were for us from our wonderful blogging friends.

We had such an amazing Christmas holiday. Christmas Eve we had a house full of grandparents, Aunties, and cousins. It was so crowded and everyone wanted some Sheltie time. Dad's Mom and Dad bought us tons of toys and treats. Mom's Mom made us new fleece blankies in our favorite sports teams. A visiting friend bought us a box of our favorite treats and some toys. We were so thrilled.

Mom and Dad were so tired after hosting Christmas Eve that they went back to bed after letting us out on Christmas morning. We hunted everywhere, but that Santa is better than the Easter Bunny at hiding out stockings. Finally Katy couldn't take it anymore and started scratching at the side of Dad's bed demanding to know where Santa hid the stockings. I think she was afraid she might have been on the naughty list and Santa decided not to leave stockings this year. She was wrong.

Santa filled Dad's socks with toys and bully sticks. Santa makes round bully sticks. These are the coolest things ever because you can stick your paw in the middle and just chew away. He also found new toys that talk. We got a kitty that meows and a frog that ribbits. Mom finds the kitty kind of freaky because it really sounds like there is a cat in the house.