New Year's Eve

We are heading to Nellie's Party at https://catfromhell.wordpress.com for her bash.

Hope everyone has a wonderful last day of 2014 and enjoys ringing in the New Year! We wish you all health, happiness and love for 2015.

Thanks to Nellie for dressing us up for the big day!

Finally We Got Our Christmas Gifts

I decided to wait until we were a 2 dog house again to give the gifts (with hopes that it would take 2 dogs longer to destroy them than 4).

Here is how the pups did:

Hailey got a new piggie, which she promptly took and snuggled with by the fire.

Phod got an indoor ball which he promptly demanded we play fetch with

I love my new ball

We also got this slingshot which is really for Phod. While Phod may have gotten 2 toys and Hailey only one, Hailey eats way more cookies than Phod, so it all works out! 

Mischief Monday - They Work Hard for Treats Here

For some reason I got into my head that I should do agility with all 4 dogs.

First trick (sorry no pictures) was jump over the broom stick. Hailey and Barley excelled. Hailey kept showing off that she could jump over it when it wasn't her turn. Phod did it once and decided it wasn't worth the payment. It took a long time for Tendra to figure it out, she kept trying to go over but she did get it.

Trick 2 was the tunnel. When Tendra and Barley took agility, apparently this wasn't a favourite. Hailey again showed off her mad skills but whipping in and out while I was trying to coach the others through it. Phod went a few times, including a very funny time through the middle to get some cookies. It took some coaxing but Barley did it. It was hard for him as he is such a big boy and it was a little tight for him.  Tendra got quite good at this and was soon running through it.

It was a lot of chaotic fun!

Brown and White Sunday

This is Phod the week before Christmas. It rained here on the 24th and the 25th and it made the front yard a mess. Most of the snow is gone but little pockets of frozen ice/snow.

We have company dogs until tomorrow. They will have been here a week. While 4 can be a bit of a challenge, all 4 get along super well, so that is great. It just seems one of the girls  is always demanding something. We have a puppy rating system. Zaphod is always number 1, followed closely behind by Barley. The girls switch positions 3 and 4 depending on the moment. 

I mentioned that Phod can be picky with treats and Andrea asked what does he like. He seems to really dislike fruit and vegetables.  He seems to like meat based or all meat treats. We had a package of Wingalings from our November BowserBox and he loved those. He also likes plain old ordinary milk bones (not the healthiest choice, but sometimes you need a little food motivation). He does not like rawhide. He is hit and miss on peanut butter. He has been enjoying his kongs these past few nights but that may be because everyone has a kong. There are very few treats that he likes that he gets that excited about. However, he is compliant enough that he will work for even less preferred treats. (He is the exact opposite of Hailey in this way who loves everything). What he loves the most of everything is fetch. That is his strongest motivation. 

Life with 4

For the holidays my parent's dogs, Tendra (whose name is the last 3 letters of my name and the last 3 letters of my sister's name) and Barley, have been staying with us. My parents have been dividing their time between our place in the country and my sister's in the city. For a few nights the Man and I were alone with the 4.

Getting ready to take 4 out

Having 4 is fine, it is a little more work than 2. It seems whenever we go out, 3/4 are good and one is not. For example: On different occasions Tendra and Barley have both taken themselves for walks, not too far, but far enough.  Phod (who has lost and found precious in the past few days) was a jerk when playing with ball when we were all out and kept taking all the balls. Hailey is always good outside as she is always on leash.

The biggest change has been adjusting our routine to fit our company's schedule. Tendra is a very routined pup and can be very, very annoying when her routine is not followed. She will obsessively bark until she is fed/given her kong/taken out etc. etc. She is probably the most difficult of the pups as she is far more demanding than even Hailey (which is actually hard to imagine!). Barley, is very much like Phod in temperament and is easier.

Three doing tricks for treats, from the back - Hailey, Barley and Tendra

Phod during training time. He is just not that motivated for cookies

The Man is very glad that they are not all perfect and hopes that it stops me from wanting another dog!

Holiday Outtakes

First, be sure to pop over to Dory's for a pawsome party.

We thought it would be fun to share some our our holiday outtakes today.

Get it off 

Maybe if I look over here she will disappear

If I move really fast maybe this will be over sooner

You move this way and I will move that way. 

Something better must be over there.

Photo Bomb 1

Photo Bomb 2

Let's try and get out of frame

MMMM smells good here

Refusing to look

Phod: "I'm out"

Let's take this thing off

Merry Christmas - Watching for Santa Claus

Our official Christmas portrait of 2014

Some of you had a sneak peek when I accidentally published this on Sunday -ooops!

We wish you all a very pawsome Christmas. 

Wordy Wednesday - FFHT

Because of the holidays Murphy and Stanley are holding their FFHT today. The challenge is to use the target sentence (and for December there are two sentences) in a post.

Here we go!


It was Christmas Eve and Hailey and Zaphod were pacing, waiting for Santa.

Hailey: "He is never coming."
Phod: "Maybe we have been so naughty he won't come."
Lady: "You have both been very good pups. But I think you should know, Santa only comes to houses where the pups are sleeping."

Quickly both Lee and Phod curled up and went to sleep.

Phod feel into the deep sleep of a pup who listens very well. Lee on the other hand was plagued with dreams. In her dream, she and Phod were elves, working with Santa in the North Pole. It was their job to wrap the gifts for all the good kitties in the world, which was ALL the kitties in the world.

While wrapping the 87 millionth cat nip mouse, Hailey asked the elves, why all kitties get gifts. She knows some kitties were a bit evil. The elves laughed and laughed and laughed and then the chubby elf says "Santa leaves all kitties gifts whether good or bad because he knows if he doesn't he will get covered with scratches and bites and would have to go to the hospital and wouldn't be able to finish his deliveries. It is safer for him to just put them all on the nice list."

Hailey sighed. It explained why threatening Baggy with the loss of Santa never worked. For a brief moment she thought maybe she would like to be a cat so she could act however she wanted and would still get gifts. Then she remembered she couldn't go outside as much as she was a cat and decided she would try and be a good dog instead.

Thank you Dory and the Boyz

We were matched up with Dory, Bilbo, Jakey and Arty for the Blogville Christmas exchange. (You can visit there blog here if you don't know them). Since Tendra and Barley are joining us for Christmas, we thought it would be more enjoyable to open the gift a little early, so with Dory's permission we opened it Sunday.

Checking out the gifts

Let's get opening

Look at the cool ornaments. Must get great pictures to put in them. 

Two puzzle toys - awesome! 

Here we are taking the puzzles for a spin.

 Lady says she loves how easy they are to wash when the pups are done. The pups say it is great how fun they are and they give us treats!

Thank you Dory and the Boyz for such wonderful gifts!

Mischief Monday - Change

The pups think the mischief award goes to me for changing things in the house.

First I brought new chairs in and have been trying to keep the pups off it (with little success).

If she just moved this pillow, I would fit better

Next, I brought new bedding in for the guest room, a room the pups are not allowed to be in as someone likes to pee on the bed . . . . .  It is now ready for our guests who arrive today!

Just testing it out to make sure it is fit for Grammy and the Big Guy

Then I was blogging and didn't schedule our Christmas post right so it went up and some people saw it and commented. (You would think after 4 years she would know how to blog).


Our Christmas Card Count:
Us: 37
Humans: 6

Black and White Sunday - Our Christmas Card

This year we are participating in the Blogville Christmas card exchange. It is so much fun to get cards both in the mail and electronically. This year I gave our card a lot of thought. It occurred to me, that the animals on the card exchange list are the lucky ones. They are the ones with loving homes. They are also inspiring to me. I wanted to find a way to thank them all for being in our lives and to honour them. So instead of mailing all those cards, we decided to pay it forward, in honour of all our fur friends from Blogville and the Twitter-verse.

Here is our card:

Nin's Santa Letter

Dear Santa,

What Santa is?
What Christmas is?

Love Nin



Added by Hailey:

Dear Santa,

My Nin is very old and not very bright and I will act as his representative (I have power of attorney). He is a pretty good boy, but he does pee on the floor or my bed sometimes and he has always been a puker. He also likes to sing a lot. It can be a little annoying.

 He would like to be humped on Christmas, but I will give him that. Given that his tummy is old and sensitive, I think treats are out. You can give his share to me as I have been such a good girl. He doesn't need any toys either cause he is too old to play. You can give me his toys too. Me being happy would make him happy. For Christmas, you can give him some pets and maybe let him sit on your lap for a bit. That is what he really wants.

Hailey on behalf of Old Nin

Fantastic Friday - First Holiday Gifts of the Year

Last Sunday our Auntie K brought the pups their first holiday gifts. They got to open them while she was visiting as we won't see her until 2015 now.

Hailey opening hers - she used her teeth! 

Phod checking his out, he was too nervous to open it alone

Here is what was inside:

Spiffy new bandanas. You can't really see what they say, but Lady was thrilled she was able to get a picture of the 3 of them (they are all sitting and sort of looking toward the camera - Christmas miracle!)

Here they are up close:

Thank you Auntie K. We love them! 

Our Hanukkah Celebration

First, I should remind everyone we are not Jewish, but we celebrate Hanukkah (we aren't really Christian and we celebrate Christmas - we see it the same). It started over a decade ago as a "theme" party over the holidays (to do something different) and has grown into a true celebration. We have Hanukkah dishes, decorations, books, music and toys.  We eat a brisket type dish, latkes (one of my favourite foods in the world),  green beans with peppers and pine nuts and donuts. This year Man did up some deep fried Brussel Sprouts. Those are a new favourite.

This year is an extra special Hanukkah because it was my niece Maggie's first Hanukkah. Maggie and I are exchanging 8 crazy nights of Hanukkah gifts (plus she will get some Christmas gifts from us too - she may be a little spoiled). We opened the first one early on the weekend (because Hanukkah started on Tuesday night and with everyone else's holiday schedule we decided to have it the weekend before). We will open the rest on the correct night.

Hanukkah is probably my favourite holiday of the year.

Here are a couple of my favourite pictures.

Posing by the Hanukkah Tree

Maggie opening her first gift - Phod looks on and Emma helps out

Maggie - she is 6 months old now

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Hanukkah!

Zaphod's Santa Letter

Dear Santa,

Thank you very much for all the wonderful toys and treats your brought last year. I really loved them. You are very nice. I would give you licks if we met and I wasn't too scared.

I don't know what to ask for. I have everything a pup could want. I have 3 soft dog beds. I have a basket full of balls and chucks and discs. There is a drawer of puzzle toys and cupboards full of cookies. I have my places to sleep by the fire. I have a wonderful sister Hailey and a Nin and a great Lady and Man. I know they work very hard to give me the best life they can.

Hailey says it is rude at Christmas not to ask for anything so, if I have to I have 3 simple wishes: a new fetch toy because I love fetch so much Santa; for Lady and Man to love me forever and maybe not to have to do things like clean my ears or give me a bath or use the vacuum; for all the puppies and kitties in shelters and rescues to find amazing loving homes. That is what I would like the most Santa.

Have a safe trip and I will try not to chase your deer that live near our house.

Love your Phody Boy

Hailey's Christmas Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

This has been my best year yet. I did not really destroy much or run away from my people. You know I was super excellent girl when I was staying with my Grammie and the Big Guy. I have patiently tolerated my Lady's crazy demands for taking pictures (which often include the humiliation of dressing up), I have continued to allow her to write about me in such a public manner, I was fine when Emma stayed with us for months and months, and I have worked hard on my tricks. Overall, I know I have earned an A+ for my behaviour and should be rewarded with lots and lots of treats. To show you how much I have grown the past year, I am not going to even be picky about what kind of treats. I love all types. So whatever you have lots of, feel free to leave an A+ amount. 

Lady says she hopes this kind of growth will continue now that I am almost 5. I make no promises, but think ample rewards for being a super star this year, may help keep me motivated to behave next year. 

Thank you,

Love your Hailey Girl

Christmas Card Count

Us - electronic and snail mail - 25     Peeps - 0

Sorry we haven't been around this weekend, it is our annual Hanukkah party this weekend, so we have been busy shopping, cleaning, cooking and soon entertaining, more about our party later in the week!

Feline Friday - Nin's Adventures

While we were away, Nin went to stay with Uncle Chris and Emma. 

Nin has always hated the car, and here is a sample of him protesting on the way to Uncle Chris'. (This is only a fraction of the yelling at I got when I brought him home Monday night, but being alone in the car made it impossible to tape. Needless to say, it was a long hour drive home!)

Nin did great at Uncle Chris'. As soon as we got there, he checked the place out. He didn't hiss or seem stressed, which is impressive especially when you remember he is 19.5 years old. He found great spots to sleep. Uncle Chris gave him lots of extra treats (any food he was interested in he pretty much got!). Uncle Chris reported that he was annoying (he has always been a chatty cat) but more active then he has seen him for a long time. 

Emma, who normally can be found snuggling with Nin when she is visiting our house, did NOT enjoy having him in her house. She began piling all her toys so she could guard them. She did not like when he drank out of her water dish (there was another for him, but he is use to sharing with dogs). She didn't like that he slept in her spot. Overall, she was the stressed one.

Emma will be staying with us for all of February and March, so we will see how the two get along then!

Hailey and Phod were very excited to see Nin and to check him out and smell him and hump him etc. etc. when we got home and Nin seemed happy to be there. 

All members of our pack had a great time away! 

This and That Edition

This week has been a bit of a gong show for the Lady. No one really did her job while she was traveling the world so she has a lot to catch up on. She has been reading as many blogs as she can, but not commenting as much as we think she should!  She has been taking us on great walks and we are working on a new trick we will share another day.

This is how Lady feels about being back to work

We thought we would address some of the comments/questions from our blog since our return.

We were so glad to hear that Dory and the Boyz got our gift after the headache of having to mail it!

The Trip
-Lady will share some more adventures likely after the holidays. We want to do some holiday posts!
-Bella, Roxy and Dui mentioned that when their peeps were in Norway, they only found North American food. Lady found reindeer when she was there:) She said it was awesome!
-KB mentioned the awesome coffee in Italy. Our peeps can't speak to that as neither of them drinks it!

Grey Sunday
We are sure Phod was extra excited to be on the beach and swimming. Our little lake freezes over very quickly so we stop taking him early in the season. We believe he has another ear infection - the last one was from his summer visit. We are waiting to talk to the vet.

Things that Go Snap
It is one of those situations where I wish I could read Lee's mind. She is such a lovely girl most of the time. We do know that Tendra and Hailey are both dominant, bossy females, so that may be part of the problem!

The Routine
-We would like it noted that the boy dogs could have slept in either bedroom, but made the decision to sleep in the living room. It is where Barley usually sleeps and for whatever reason Zaphod picked it as his spot too. It is funny that our one night after the trip there, that Barley, Hailey and Zaphod all wanted to sleep in the guest room with us!


Wordless Wednesday - Waiting Patiently
-Lady would like to say that is not her with Phod, that was Phod playing with his Grammie while she abandoned us.


Stop by tomorrow to read about Nin's adventures.

Lady is trying to keep her head in the clouds!