Hey Friends! I’m on vacation this week, but don’t worry…..There’s always room on my raft for you! So make sure you stop by my Facebook page all week to live vicariously through all of my adventures! I promise I’ll be back next week with tales of all the fun things I did. 
I’m the kind of dog with a LOT of personality some may even consider me a bit quirky. After all, I do like to dig holes wearing a Super Hero Cape.
So when I stumbled across Fugly Friends on Etsy I thought, oh yes, this has my name all over it. Makers of durable and quirky pet toys handcrafted with oodles of love for all play styles, these unique toys are full of personality.
With a range of styles from stuffed to unstuffed, squeaky or not, some of them even come with secret hidden fortunes inside.
You can fetch your own Fugly Friend on Etsy.
Next week I’m going on vacation, well maybe more like a stay-cation of sorts, as I don’t specifically have any plans to go on a big trip. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have lots of adventures planned.
I plan to try paddle boarding, go on my very first airplane ride, and maybe even take a trip to the beach. It’s sure to be an exciting week!
Being on vacation also means I’m going to take a little break from posting on the blog next week. While I’m sure I’ll check in every now and then, and continue to post on my Facebook Page, things will be a little quieter around here next week while I take a little time to have some adventures.
So I hope you won’t miss me too much, but I promise to return refreshed and with LOTS of adventures to share with you! xoxo
It’s Summer and it’s hot. So you’ll have to excuse me if all I do today is nap on the bed in the cool cool air conditioning. That is all.
Sometimes over the weekend I take on a few DIY projects around the house. Mom says I’m her favorite little helper, and pretty much I agree.
On this particular weekend I decided to help Mom makeover an old chair we had sitting around the house. The BEFORE was pretty blah, but I knew just what would do the trick after seeing this pretty lady on Pinterest:
Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Kyley on Pinterest
So I did what I do best – supervised while Mom taped off each of the four legs with painter’s tape.
Then Mom gave it several coats of spray paint while I chomped on my ball in anticipation. I would of helped, but as you know, these cumbersome paws can’t exactly work a spray paint can.
After a few hours of drying time this baby was ready for a photoshoot, and we all know how I love a good photoshoot!
My new yellow chair looks fabulous with it’s dipped legs don’t you think? I’m now contemplating painting everything this way……how do you think I’d look dipped in teal – it would be the hot new trend in painted pets. I’m gonna be famous!
Now that the hot hot Summer has officially started I’ve been thinking about taking more trips to my local lake. Up until now I’ve never worn a doggie flotation device – not for lack of wanting to – but because I did not have direct access to a credit card (ahem…mom).
But have no fear! Mom ordered me my very own life vest just the other day, and while I wait for my new purchase to arrive in the mail I figured I’d share a round-up of some of the Pet Life Vests that are on the market currently.
I ended up ordering the Kyjen Outward Hound Life Jacket
Now here’s a round-up of a few more life vests for dogs that I thought looked just as swim worthy as the one that ended up in my cart.
Ruffwear K-9 Float Coat from Cabela’s
Paws Aboard Designer Dog Life Vest
Dog Life Jacket from Waterdoggy
Safe swimming everyone!
Since I have a lot of “jobs” (shop greeter, artist, guard dog, farm dog, sidekick, super hero….) sometimes it’s nice to enjoy a few extra curricular activities at the end of the day. One of my favorites right now is agility class.
I still have a lot of training to do before I’m ready to compete, but right now I’m just having a lot of fun! Just see for yourself….
P.S. I like Tunnels about as much as this boy likes Turtles. 🙂
One of the rules when taking your Therapy Dog Test through TDI is that dogs must be tested on a plain buckle collar or harness. Training collars, training harnesses, halties, or any other corrective training devices are not permitted during testing or visiting as a TDI-registered Therapy Dog. And on their website they make note that Therapy Dogs don’t wear vests, so as not to be confused with service dogs, and also for the fact that they cut down on the area where people can pet you.
Even though I ended up taking my test in a plain buckle collar, mom knew that were I to become an official Therapy Dog I would need to wear a different harness when I was making visits.
Mom ended up ordering me a custom made harness from Arja’s Art all the way in Finland!
These harnesses come in a variety of colors that all include reflective piping with each one being handmade to your own dog’s measurements. Designed to fit any breed, they are especially great for dachshunds as they put less stress on our sensitive necks and chest.
I chose the grey color in super soft sheep napa and mom helped me get my measurements sent over to Arja.
When my new harness arrived from Finland a couple weeks later Arja had even included a sweet little gift for me in the package. While I personally don’t have a use for a coin purse (being that I’m a dog and also I am not a girl) it was a super sweet gesture – and mom was happy to keep it for herself.
I suggested storing cookies inside the coin purse, but mom didn’t seem too thrilled by that.
After a week of wearing my harness out and about I’m loving it. It’s great to for the hot summer weather too as it gives me a little more breathability. I still love my custom made harnesses from Kalyxcornucopia (that I wear with my Super Hero capes), but they just won’t work as well for my therapy dog work.
If you are interested in ordering a harness from Arja, you can check out the website and Facebook page – and they are available to ship to the US.
I was such a good boy at my Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog Test on Sunday that Mom made me an extra special treat when I got home.
You might remember the Polka Dog Bakery DIY Sweet Potato Dog Cookie Recipe I posted about a few weeks ago – well Mom decided to make me some as a reward for all my hard work!
First Mom sliced up some sweet potatoes for me.
Then we let them soak in a bowl of chicken broth for about 1/2 hour.
While they soaked I sat on my bed in the kitchen just counting the minutes until they would be ready. It was a whole lot of minutes.
Then after baking them for 15 minutes at 400 Degrees I had to wait a whole bunch more minutes for them to cool.
Finally my good dog treats were ready for their taste test!
Of course wouldn’t you know that mom made me practice my leave it command before I was allowed to eat them!
In the end it was worth the wait, because they were yum! Perhaps I should be a good boy all the time.
You can find the entire recipe for DIY Healthy Sweet Potato Dog Cookies HERE.
If you follow along with my adventures on Facebook, then you probably already heard that on Sunday I became a Certified Therapy Dog! Yippee!
For the past 6 weeks I have been taking classes at the Dog Training Center of Chester County to prepare to take my Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog International tests. One of my goals this year was to pass both tests and my Mom was super happy when I did so on my very first try!
As you can see in my testing video I was SUPER excited to be performing. What can I say, I’m just an overly happy guy! I may have forgotten a bit of my heeling a few times, but I was just so pumped to be meeting new people.
One of the hardest parts of the Therapy Dog test is to walk past a pile of cookies and not eat them! Do you know how hard that is when your nose is 2″ off the ground!? I was very tempted to eat those cookies when I walked by them in the beginning of my test, but when my Mom said leave it I happily obliged and didn’t eat a single one. (Phew, close call, because mom said I would have failed had I eaten one).
Even though I’ve passed my tests, my training will never be done. Mom and I continue to take agility classes and I know I’ll never stop learning and improving. I’m excited to see what comes next for me – I just hope that for any future tests they let me wear my Super Hero Cape – because we all know I look WAY cooler with my cape on!
If you would like to check out all the requirements to pass a CGC and TDI test, you can check it out here.
P.S. Thanks to all my pals on my Facebook page who congratulated me on passing my tests, you guys totally make me blush!