Lucy’s Birthday and Gotcha Day

Hi, it’s me, Lucy, the birthday girl. I came to live with my Mom and Dad exactly four years ago today! Being a lady, I wouldn’t tell my age, but the vet thought I was one year old at the time. And in heat. (Oh wait, I didn’t mean to say that.) Anyhoo, this day was assigned as my birthday, too. So that means I am five years old now.

For my birthday, I asked that Ella my BFF be OK and not have the big C. We were friends at first sight, and love each other a lot.

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It will probably be another week or more before we get the biopsy results.

In the meantime, Mom surprised me with some treats. This morning, I got some of my very favorite Healthfuls Chicken and Fruit Wraps.

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They have real dried apple, kiwi and banana wrapped in a chicken filet, and it’s all natural and sized for a big girl like me. Xena didn’t get any. She might have gotten one of her treats from Christmas, though.

I got extra portions for supper, too. My bowl floweth over, BOL!

After supper me, Xena and Riley celebrated my birthday with Peanut Butter flavored Frosty Paws! (Sorry, no pictures available.)

So anyhoo, as great as my birthday was, I’ll let you know when my real wish comes true in a week or so.

Love and kisses, Lucy

Santa Paws Treats and Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Thanks to Shoko and Tyebe of the Canadian Cats and Nelly and Phenny of Easy Blog for hosting In Purrsuit of Flavours.

Xena: It’s that time again! We get to share our favorite recipes and this month it’s all about color. But since me and Lucy, umm, I mean Lucy and I, didn’t get to give a doggie recipe last month, Mommy said we didn’t have to follow the rules (like we ever do)!

Lucy: I always follow the rules. Mom and Dad say I’m “compliant.”

Xena: OK then, Lucy, I’ll post our (my) recipe and you can help Mommy post hers. Mine has nuts and dried fruit in it, just like the fruitcakes that I hear are so famous at Christmastime. This recipe is called Santa Paws, BOL, and the picture is very “colorful”!

Lucy: Now that Xena has given you something yummy for your Moms or Dads to make for you for Christmas, here is something my Mom and Dad enjoy eating, and it’s bright red for the Christmas holidays. I think you could probably use ground chicken too. This week, Mom is going to find out if it is any good with her already cooked leftover turkey! Or you veggie terians can try something like tofu or whatever. I hope you like our recipe and it is yummy in your tummy.

Slow-Cooker Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Serving Size:6 (if you have lots to go with it, BOL)

Ingredients

• 6 small red bell peppers 
• 1 cup cauliflower rice (or use real rice)
• 1 pound ground turkey (or use your food processor to chop fine your leftovers)
• 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 1 cup water

Instructions:
Cut off the stems from the peppers. Scoop out the seeds on the inside, leaving a hollow shell.
In a bowl, mix the ground turkey and spices. Stir in the cauliflower and coconut oil, then mix in the Monterey jack cheese.
Scoop up some of the turkey mixture and pack it into each pepper shell.
Place the stuffed peppers into a Crock-Pot and pour a cup of water into the bottom. Cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours. Top with a little extra cheese 10 minutes before they are done.

“The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”
― Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

A Christmas Recap (or What I Got for Christmas)

Xena: Me and Lucy had a great Christmas with Uncle Bill and Aunty Jen and Ella and Achilles. We all opened our pressies Christmas morning, and I got a santa that makes crinkly sounds that I don’t really like, and a great new bear.

Lucy: They are for me, too, Xena.

Xena: You don’t like to play with them, so they’re mine. But I will be kind and give you the crinkly santa thingie.

   I love my new bear friend.

Anyhoo, Mommy asked me today why I keep taking my new bear friend (who I haven’t thought of a name  for yet – any suggestions?) into the bathroom and leaving him/her there. All I could say is, “Why not?” Ya know, it’s not my fault if I take new bear with me through the house and she/he doesn’t follow me back, right? 

Lucy: Mom and Dad got home just before our aunt and uncle left. That was a good present. Then our peeps brother Andrew came over for a while, too.

Xena: And then, on the day after Christmas, Mommy brought out all these new pressies for us that she had been hiding.

Lucy: I got new jammies. I’ve never had jammies before, and I’m not sure if they look OK on me. At XXL, they are the largest that Chewy.com carries. Mom says I am just a beautiful big girl. They are soft and warm, so whenever it gets cold, I will be cozy, especially now that I’m not allowed to sleep in the bed with Mom and Dad any more. But that’s a story for another time.

Then Mom helped us open our other pressies. I kept my jammies close so Xena didn’t take them.

Xena: I we got two bags of treats. One of them is Stella & Chewy’s Wild Weenies Grass-fed Lamb. The other one is Dr. Jodie’s Natural Pets N-Trail Mix with lamb liver and spleen, grass fed beef kidney,  turkey heart and gizzards, and pork brain. Mmmm. They are both freeze-dried raw, so they fit nicely into our raw diet.

And I got a treat puzzle! I’m so excited about that ! I tried one at an agility classes, and I got really good at it.  You see, all you have to do is smell where the treat is, then move the circle thingie out of the way with your mouth or paw. I always go back and double and triple check that I got every single one. I think that’s called being detail-oriented.

Lucy: I wanted to try it, but Xena wouldn’t let me.

Xena: Too slow, Luce. You snooze,  you lose. (Especially when it comes to a schnauzer and treats!)

Lucy: Mom got a pressie from Dad that me and Xena just didn’t quite understand. They moved with her when she walked.

Mom laughed and said, “Leave them alone,” and “They’re not toys.” But we think otherwise.  By the way, do I look odd in this picture? I think it’s just the camera angle, right?

Xena: Wrong.

Lucy: Be quiet Xena.  So, can you see that they have stained beards, just like Xena? The bad news is that one-size-doesn’t-fit-all, contrary to what the ad said. So Mom got the company to agree to pay for return shipping with her refund. She called it “false advertising.”

That’s the end of our Christmas recap, friends. We hope you had a good holiday, too. Love and wiggles from Xena the Schnauzer Princess Warrior and Lucy

Xena: Pee S. I have decided that my new bear is a girl and I think I will name her after my aunty and call her Jen Jen (unless you have a better name.

PeePee Ess: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Friday Food for Thought

Think mushrooms are not safe for your dog? Think again! Just be sure to cook them first, and do not feed them raw.

Xena was just diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis, which is a fancy way to say inherited inhalant allergies. I was quite shocked and dismayed to hear this – even while rejoicing that it was NOT the sarcoptic mange that I had suspected. I took great care to find a reputable breeder as well as doing everything I can to support her gut health, where the immune system originates. And sometimes, even with the best bred dogs, something can go wrong. Hence, my dismay.

So now, we have nowhere to go but forward, and it seems that reishi and shiitake mushrooms are going on that journey with us. Here’s a quick overview of the best mushrooms to keep both dogs and people healthy as well as to help with certain conditions, from regulating blood pressure to treating allergies and cancer.

You can follow this link to find out more about these fungi that are power players for both you and your dog. We’l let you know how the journey goes, and if we notice a difference after feeding some of these cooked mushrooms for a while.

We hope you enjoyed another episode of Friday Food for Thought.

I’m Xena, and I approve this message. Wait, what? The election is over? Well, I still approve it ’cause it’s about giving me food! ~Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Watermelon

Lucy: Mom went to the grocery and bought us watermelon.  Xena: We were hoping real hard it was for us, cause it looked sooooo gooooood!!!

Lucy: We got to play catch. I am a very experienced catcher.

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Xena is still learning, so I got to eat what she missed.

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Xena: But Mommy kept throwing watermelon at, er, to me, and eventually I caught some.

Lucy: I mostly caught, but once in a while Mom didn’t make a good throw, so Xena got to eat that. We had so much fun, and Mom laughed and laughed while she stuffed her face ate some watermelon too while throwing it at to us..

Xena: After we were all done making a mess catching and eating watermelon Mommy had to get out a bucket and mop the floor, but she said it was worth it.  Then she had her “special” watermelon treat. We didn’t get any.

Lucy and Xena: It’s still summer as long as there is watermelon!

 

 

Garage Selling with Mommy

Friday I was the official garage sale pup. Since my dear friend Mr. Purrince Henry taught me how to count, I was able to help Mommy know what number to put on the stickers with that funny $ in front of them. 

The first thing to sell 87 minutes before the sale even opened was Santa Claus.  Nothing else in this picture sold at all today, but lots of other stuff we don’t have pictures for did. I laid sweetly in Mommy’s lap and let everyone pet me. I was what is called the PR Dog. I even helped Mommy get a new dog to groom, a Bishon Frise. The nice man is going to make an appointment because the last place he took Max – Max is his dog’s name – they cut all the hair off his tail. I don’t see the problem, but if it gets Mommy a new dog to groom, that’s good.

I got rewarded with blueberries. When Mommy closed the box, I pushed it all over the driveway, but couldn’t get it opened. Mommy said I had to do a little more work for pay, so we worked on my newest Agility Won exercises. I had to sit still and not get up or scoot while Mommy walked away from me (with the blueberries), then walked back right past me, circling around my tail end, and then around to my front. I moved my head to follow her, but that’s all, just like I was supposed to do. Mommy said I was a very good girl and I got more blueberries. Not too many, though, ’cause too many gives me the squirts…blue squirts.

There was so much stuff left that we are going to do it all again Saturday. My peeps brother Adam is going to help while Mommy grooms three dogs.

That reminds me, but I am going to whisper so Mommy doesn’t hear me telling you. Last Sunday she was sitting in the window chair in the front room and started feeling something stinging her back. It got her really good, and around on her belly too. When she lifted her shirt, a fire ant dropped, and she thought it fell into her pants. So right there she stripped off all… oh never mind, Lucy is making the cut motion with her paw. Anyhow, Slider and Peyton came to get groomed, and even though the bites were swollen up like lakes, she went downstairs to groom them. Pretty soon she used her phone to call Daddy who was upstairs and told him she needed benadryl right away, and being a good Daddy he put down his work and brought her some. A little while later, after Slider had his bath and she had cut Peyton’s nails, she lifted Peyton off the table and Mommy laid down on the floor because she was starting to faint. She managed to get Daddy on the phone again, and he came down and took her to the medi-clinic place. (Side note: Mommy managed to call the pups’ Mom and left the door unlocked so she could come get them.) She was able to get up and get in the car and laid the seat back. Gross alert! She was mostly almost-fainted on the way there, even when she started to throw up. Since she was laying back and almost fainted, she also mostly missed the bag, and there was a big puddle in her lap. Now here is the My Daddy is a Hero part. He didn’t faint and he didn’t puke. Instead, he got her to the doctor’s. In the parking lot he took off his shirt, pulled an old pair of his jeans from the trunk, and helped her get changed into his clothes in the car so she could go into the doctor place – looking like a homeless person. Then he drove home and got dressed and brought Mommy clothes to change into. Don’t I have the bestest Daddy is the whole world? Oh yeah, Lucy said I should tell you Mommy was fine after that. She was feeling so much better that she said her usual No! when the doctor tried to give her prednisone, he, he. So anyhow, Slider and Peyton are coming back tomorrow to get groomed.

OK, OK, I know this is getting long and there’s no pictures, so you can stop reading if you want, but I have more to whisper to you. Two days later Mommy took us back to the dog park. She was loading the poop bag dispenser with plastic bags from home when something bit or stung the top of her hand. At first it hurt a lot and then redness started spreading all over her hand and wrist. She still stayed and let us play – which wasn’t as much fun ’cause there were hardly any other dogs there – and took another bennie when we got home. Whoops, Lucy said I should say benadryl so you don’t think Mommy is a drug addict or something like that. Anyhow, within a couple of hours, her hand and wrist were swollen up like a fat glove. You couldn’t even see any of the wrinkle in it. Shhh, don’t tell her I said that! She couldn’t even make a fist or hold onto stuff. The next day the redness had creeped up her arm, so she made the decision to go back to the same medi place. This time she accepted a shot of steroids in one hip and a shot of antie biotics in the other hip ’cause the doc said she had both inflammation and infection. It took until Friday for her hand to look normal again, and she is taking antie biotics and preds and probiotics and eating lots of yummy yogurt, even though nothing tastes good now. She’s not sleeping much but she is peeing a lot and hungry all the time. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t like the medicine. Although I am hungry all the time without any medicine.  Lucy just mentioned that this is turning into a novel, so I should say goodbye now.

Oh, and could you please just say something in the comments about me helping with the yard sale and not this part about Mommy ’cause I don’t want her to know I told you. ‘K?

Xena the Garage Selling Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Mommy’s Home!

And look how nice I sit and stay until she tells me, “Free!”

Xena, the Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Birthday Surprises

Dear friends, before I start telling you about my great birthday, I want to say I’m sorry for tricking you. I didn’t mean to. My paw hit the publish button by mistake, and I wasn’t near done. But I am now, so please don’t be mad and read about my most specialest day ~Xena

I had the bestest birthday I ever had. Of course it was the only one I ever had. On the way home from work, we stopped at the Smart Pet place. After looking around, we went home with yummy treats for me.

When we got home, there were all my stuffie friends, including Ludwig, in the kitchen with bags of pressies for me. Winter bear got tired and fell asleep while he was waiting for me to get home, so he missed me opening my pressies. This pink bag had a lot of bouncy yellow foam balls that Mommy will throw for me. I love to play fetch with balls, and I’m even getting better at catching them with my mouth and my paws.The flower bag had yummy flavored bones in it – I had to share one of them with Lucy. Mommy let us chew on them for a while before dinner, but when she saw how quickly we chewed them apart, she took them away from us and fed them to that bad old can that’s under the sink. I hate that can. It gets lots of stuff I could eat! 

Ludwig ran and got me to come open my last pressie. He whispered in my ear, “I got this one for you, Xena. You are my friend and I love you.” Sure enough, that bag held my favorite pressie of all…a bully horn sized just right for me. Lucy wanted to chew it up, so I am going to take it to work and leave it there, where she can’t get it.

Next came supper. I got a French meal called steak tartar. Instead of bacon on top, there was fresh salmon. It was on a real fancy plate that used to belong to my Grandma. Next to it is my dessert: sliced apple and strawberries and goat yogurt.

Nom, nom, nom.

Lucy got beef and chicken and egg and cabbage and a tiny bit of salmon. And she got the same dessert as me.

She ate so fast that she made all these disgusting piggy noises (sorry, Bacon). We got our desserts after we finished our meal and had licked our plate and bowl clean. You can see we both dug into the yogurt first.

So that is the story of my first birthday, and I hope everyone liked hearing about it.

I am Xena the One-Year-Old Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Happy Dog and Cat Treats

I hit the mother load. 🙂  Twenty-one nutritious and delicious recipes for easy-to-make treats. I have been wondering about how I could give Lucy treats since she is on the Raw Diet. Even though the treats are baked (and one is frozen), they are still species appropriate and solves that problem. You can access this ebook here.  If you try any of these, I would love to read your-and your fur baby’s-thoughts on them.

 

 

 

 

Earth Day Challenge

I got excited about entering the Earth Day Challenge that Louis Dog Armstrong, who is in charge of the A&E Department, is sponsoring. The earth is the only home that I will ever have that will let me do my pee pee and poo poo on it. Seriously. Think about it. So I want to help make sure it is here as long as we are. I heard that it helps to plant a tree, so I  thought up something really special. I planted a Dog Treat Tree!

First, I dug a hole. Then, I planted a dog bone treat (see red arrow). Next, I made some fertilizer (see blue arrow). Finally, I fish ya’ll liced what the tree will look like when it is grown. I learned how to do that fish ya’ll lice thing by watching the video my Sister Angel Lexi made. I can’t wait until the tree is big and I can pick and eat the bones. I hope it will be ready in less than 87 days. I hope I did a good job for Earth Day!

My First Kong

I’ve been pretty much bored out of my skull all day with Riley gone off somewhere with Andrew and no one to play with. I played the in-out game until My Amy Mom yelled NO! NO MORE! and told me to settle myself somewhere. So I went and asked My Jeff Dad and he also said no. I waited a few minutes, thinking they would get bored, too, and want to play the game with me some more. I asked My Amy Mom and got the same answer. Straightway, I went back to My Jeff Dad’s office and asked, and he said I would have to ask my mother.  *hurumph*

After a while, I saw My Amy Mom take my new Kong toy off the top of the refrigerator. Then I watched her tear up some cooked chickie boobies, make some mashed potatoes from a box, and pull a bag out of the freezer. Next, she did this.

When she opened the door and let me go out, my first thought was game on! But then she came out with the Kong, and it had this yummy food in it. I wasn’t real sure exactly what My Amy Mom wanted me to do at first.

I’m not sure what to do with this.

Then she told me it was mine and I could have it and the food that was in it.

I’m licking the good end. I finally wedged it against the fence and that worked better.

My Amy Mom sat in the sun while I worked out the best tek neek to get all the yum out of the Kong. I guess it turned into a pretty good day after all!

Wiggles and wags, ❤  Lucy.

Note from My Amy Mom: Here’s the easy recipe, especially if you have some leftover chicken.  Ground beef would work equally well. You can place the stuffed Kong in the freezer to make the play time with it last longer. Also, I doubled the recipe so I could refill it when this play time was over, and it will be ready for next time.

Chicken Pot Pie for Dog Kong

• 1/2 Cup Cooked Chicken
• 1/2 Mashed Potatoes
• 1/4 Cup Frozen Peas and Carrots

Mix all ingredients together and stuff into a KONG. Freeze for a longer lasting treat.

*Will fill one to two Large or X-Large KONGs

Visitors Just for Me

Everyone has been coming by to see me, at home and at work.

My cousin Piper and my Auntie Jen were here over the weekend. I was very glad to see them. They even slept in the bed with me and Mom. We had puppy piles.  During the evening, Piper was careful to not invade my personal space, while still keeping an eye on me.  Sort of.

Piper! Wake up! You’re supposed to be visiting with me.

My peeps brother Andrew, and Jentry and The Boy came to the house and brought my brother Riley.  Everyone was so sweet and even Riley gave me a special nose touch goodbye when he left. Mom forgot to get pictures.

Now my friend Gracy has come to cheer me up, too. She is good at sharing.

It’s OK, Mrs. Lexi’s Mom. I told her she could.

Yesterday and today my friends at work visited. Ms. Beth brought me a Mickey D’s ice cream. I took two bites, and it was good, but that is all I wanted. My BFF Dave gave me his special Dave treats, and I took two from him this morning when he came in, and two more before he left. I just can’t say no to Dave. My Pastor Evelyn has been trying to feed me pancakes and sardines and other stuff I used to like, but none of it seems good anymore.

Tomorrow Mom plans to take me to see my other peeps brother, Adam. He will be happy to see me.

I’m not eating more than a couple of bites of food each day, and it is even getting hard to drink. I sleep most of the time, and no longer mind that Mom holds me and cuddles at night. In fact, it is strangely comforting. Mom finally stopped shoving pills down my throat. *whew*  And she stopped taking me to the vet’s, too. Mom said she is doing something called palliative care for me.

Mom’s brother-in-law sent her this article, “Will there be dogs in heaven?” Spoiler alert: The answer is No, but read the article to find a really happy ending.

 

 

 

Bestest Treats Ever – A Schnauzer’s Perspective

I, Lexi,  have been working on perfecting my D&D (Disdain and Dump) technique. I think it could be a PAWlympics event. I call this one the Double Dish Tilt.

       Notice the artistic placement

As a reward for my world-class efforts, Mom made me the bestest doggie treats ever. Why, I bet even the cats would love these! The main ingredient is — wait for it — LIVER! One of my good friends, Linda, who comes to visit me at work, brought Mom this recipe. She stole printed it from allrecipes.com, where you can also have your peeps steal use it. Only 3 ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of beef liver, 2 eggs, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. A few tips and disclaimers from Mom when making it:

1. Jelly roll pan? Who has a jelly roll pan? I just used a cookie sheet and it worked great.
2. I only had calf liver in the freezer, and it was a bit more “liquidy” when put in the food processor, so I about doubled the flour and it came out great.
3. If you are going gluten-free, use brown rice flour.
4. This is VERY high, quality protein, so it’s great for dogs/cats like Lexi who has been prescribed a high protein diet (to help fight the C) but not so good for dogs/cats with other problems such as UTI’s.

Mom said this was the fastest and easiest dog treat/cookie she ever made, and she has baked a lot of them! Oh be sure to refrigerate. Mom froze half of them. She said if you don’t want to bother following the link, just throw everything in a food processor, spread in a cookie pan lined with parchment, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 F degrees. Let cool and slice. Easy peasy.

                      Liver Cookie Bars

I, Lexi the Schnauzer, give Diabetic Dog Treats (which we have renamed Liver Cookie Bars) my pawsome seal of approval!

Unresponsive

NOW what?

Unresponsive. Yep, that’s what this Big C is to the poison they pumped into my system up at UTK. Even after making me “sick as a dog” (excuse the pun) it only poisoned ME, not the C. There are more tumors growing in my upper gums. So no more chemo. The nice Dr. Karen has now put me on an herbal and another medicine to try to slow down the advance of the C.

How much longer, Mom? You forgot my breakfast!

After that news, we moved to my favorite room at the animal hospital – the one where I get my acupuncture! My appointment wasn’t for about 87 hours, but nice Dr. Karen said there was no sense me going home and coming right back, so she would get to me in a little while if we could wait. Mom agreed, but no one remembered I had not had my breakfast. All ended well, as the treat dispenser named Angela came in before I died of hunger and started feeding Wellness Treats into my mouth while Dr. Karen made me a pincushion. My hip does feel better, and we stopped at Mickey D’s on the way home!

Pee S, I overheard Mom talking to my other bestest friend named Sky about getting me another massage! Umm, I think it was for me, anyhow. I will let you know.

Getting More Treats: Tips and Tricks

I asked my fellow Blogville residents to submit ways they pry treats out of their mostly unsuspecting hoomans, and the response has been great. Read and Learn:

First, from the pooch who started all this, my buddy Ray :

Getting treats now and then is easy as it only takes a cute look, or an offer to shake a paw etc. If, however, you want to develop treat getting to a fine art, then it will take some work…. but it is well worth the effort. Tip No.1 – Understand your humans’ routines and make sure that you are close by at all food times! The first, and most important step, is to understand (really understand) humans! They may come in all shapes and sizes, and all different personalities, but (contrary to what they believe) they all share similar traits which are useful to for us to understand and use for treat getting. They are, like us, creatures of habit! They establish routines and generally stick to them, so the obvious benefit is to note when they are involved with food. They may be snacking, or preparing food, eating from plates, but when food is on their mind… treats should be on yours! Once you know the routines regarding food, never ever try and go outside during those times because you will simply miss out. Believe me, if you are not around at that time, they will most likely not even think about you. Woof! Ray.

After thinking about this question some more, Ray has one more thing to say:

Tip No.2 – Remember what treats you are given.

This is really important because, although humans are habit driven, they often lose focus and/or forget stuff. As you may know from a recent Post, I got a treat at my usual time however, it was not the treat I usually got. Rather than be satisfied with the fact that I got a treat as usual, I decided that I still needed the treat that I was supposed to get. It worked! I had two treats instead of one!

 

My newest friend Kosmo gives this advice:

I just go in front of Dad and start to stare at his eyes. It normally takes a half minute and I have treats on my mouth. Mom is more difficult, if I stare, she asks, are you sick or what is the problem now, but after her two questions, Dad arrives and so on… I get the treats I wanted. Have a treatfull day!
Kosmo, a cat in faraway Finland

 

 

Reilly and Denny, my Florida Cowspot dog friends, have this to say:

BARK BARK BARK – and bark louder – thus the peep will usually give us a treat to keep us quiet – works every time

 

 

Christmas, our youngest and very handsome Mayoral Candy Date, gives this advice, although I must warn you. I think his Mom took over his blog, so beware:

Well, here’s a tip my mom told me to share with you all. We do lots of training every day…for da dog shows and for learning new tricks and obedience stuffs. Anyway, if I’ve had enough treats for da day or if she doesn’t want me loaded with treats, she won’t feed me da breakfast and instead she’ll keep my kibbles in a bag and train me for all my daily stuff for about an hour. I am a huge eater so I treat kibbles as if they are treats. It’s a great way to treat throughout the day! Your pal who would still rather have treats than kibble, Christmas

Kismet, my only fine feathered friend, gives sage advice, as usual:

Squawk softly.

Upon asking Kismet if he would add “and carry a big stick,” he replied, “Little stick. That’s all I can get into my beak.”

 

Hailey and Zaphod two more new friends, say this works for them:

In our house, Lady often falls for sad eyes, especially when she is eating something. We stand and we stare until she gives us things.

 

 

This, from my very first Blogville kitty friend, Purince Siddhartha Henry (whom I call S.H., he, he):

Not sure that katss have any speshell to way to signal thee Hu’manss fur treets Lexi; how efurr mee doess! Mee gets on thee counter an sittss UNDER the cupberd with mee foodabullss an treet bags inn it…mee sorta ‘chirpss’ an looks deep inn to LadyMum’ss eyess….. gets her efurry time!!!! Mew mew mew…. Oh an mee eatss Greeniess Dental Katnip flavored crunchie treetss an Greeniess Semi-Moist Chick-hen treetss….. Say it must bee time fur treetss rite???? Bee seein you! 😉  **paw patsss** Siddhartha Henry xxxxx Pee Ess: Iss amee-yow sorta chirp what LadyMum LUVS an it toe-tallee werkss fur mee 😉

 

Riley (my brother) doesn’t have his own blog but still wanted to contribute. He said, “I follow my Dad Andrew around the house, around the yard, or wherever we are, right on his heels to let him know I want a treat. If Andrew sits down, I sit next to him and stare at him – you know, that thing where we plant our thoughts in their heads – until he ‘gets it.’  I don’t stop until I get what I want.”

 

Sam’s Mom, Monika from Tails Around the Ranch tells us about this pawsome method Sam has:

I’m sure all dogs salivate at the thought of a treat and I’ve learned to work on that natural behavior with dimwitted Sam. His claim to fame is he will sit very patiently when we’re at the hospital [Sam is a therapy dog], staring intently at the high value Zuke’s training treats I bring and when I say, “lick your chops,” he’ll lick one side all the while staring intently. Then when I say “lick the other side,” by golly, he will do it. I’ll tell him to ‘do it again!’, and right on cue, there goes the tongue on the other side again. I think it’s just a reflexive thing [sic] but he seems to have made the connection and he now does it routinely on command. The patients and nurses sure love it. It’s the only trick he does. Paws and kisses, Monika & Sam

My cousin Piper doesn’t have his own blog, but he asked me to share his sure-fire method. In his words:

Simple. I use the schnauzer mind meld technique. It is similar to the Vulcan one, but I don’t have to touch Mom or Dad’s head to do it. It involves an intense stare and thoughts shooting out of my eyes into their minds.

 

 

That’s all for this time, friends. I am waiting for a video from Easy and there are more tips I hope to get in. That will be another post. Of course, we can’t have too many ways to ask for our treats!

I am Lexi with the upset tummy. (Let’s not say the word t-r-e-a-t anymore right now, OK?.)

 

Share Your Treat Tips

Colin of meandray.com related how Ray communicated that he didn’t feel he got the usual treat at the usual time, thus scoring treat #2. It got me to thinking. Good as I am at communicating and scoring treats, many of you are just as good (no, Mom, I am not adding the usual “or better” here). Why don’t we share our tactics, thus increasing the probability of getting bigger, better treats for ourselves as well as helping those who haven’t yet acquired this skill. I am not going to announce a “tell how to get a treat” day. Just blog about your favorite treat(s) and how you convince your hooman to give it to you. Whenever you want. If you would like, send me your tip and I will publish it in a week or two with everyone else’s. I will also  include a link to your blog. Just shoot me an email to the address on my sidebar.

 

New Treats

Feel the love

Mom disappeared for a while today – I mean, she left the house without me. She came back with something special just for me!
If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it and look at the red writing, you will see it says, “Live. Love. Treat.” Now that is my kind of treat!

 

 

 

 

 

I found the entire “bone” fit into my mouth. I tried to chew it up like that, but the task proved to be beyond even my abilities. I had to eject part of it from my mouth to swallow.

 

A slight break in devouring my new treat.

Mom insisted on taking my picture. I refused to look at her. That’s ok, take my picture, but never my treat!