{20sept2010: camping trip}

The other week we took a couple days off before Labor Day weekend to get one last camping trip in (college football season was starting and Jason has to be home on Saturdays for football).  This time we went with our friends and Darwin's bff, Juneau, and they took us to a great spot a couple hours south east of Seattle.  

This was a view of Mount Rainer on our drive to the spot.  
We left Seattle around 530 and didn't get to the camping spot til close to 730-800.  Being that it's the end of summer the sun goes down around that time, so as soon as we got there we quickly set up tents in the dark.  It was raining earlier in the week and it was sort of a last minute planned trip, and no one brought dry wood, so we all scattered about looking for reasonably dry pieces so we could start a fire.  We had a little luck, but most of it was damp so we had a small smokey fire, and it was FREEZING that night.  By the time we got to camp, my car said it was 48F outside, meaning that it was probably below 40F throughout the night.  I had been feeling sick earlier in the week and Darwin was tired too, so we both headed to bed earlier, trying to keep warm (without much luck).  It was a rough night, let me tell you.
But in the morning we all got up to a beautiful warm sunny day.




We spent the morning sitting out in the sun, reading, walking the lake and doing some fishing in the lake.
{Dar taking a walk with Aileen and Joo}

And for the first time (maybe ever), Darwin actually laid down on the ground and relaxed! She's becoming an outdoorsy city dog!

More pictures to come!

{15sept2010: wordless Wednesday}

celery treat edition:

and don't worry she didn't get all of those... just 2 or 3.    

{09sept2010: balancing fail}

The other day I came across a new (to me) blog, Dear World, It's Me Liz, about a girl and her English Bulldog, Bogart.  She had a post from a couple months ago that had me cracking up and jealous at the same time.  See if you can contain your laughter after checking out Bogart.

The cheeto eyebrows are the best.

See, I've tried before to balance things on Darwin's face/head and she never lets me even get close.  Even for Biggie's Dog Pile Contest a while back, Darwin would only let me put things on her body, but not her head.

After seeing Bogart's impressive balancing act I was inspired to give it another try with Dar.


 
  
FAIL.
Jason said I was being mean since Darwin was totally not into it and since apples are one of her most favorite snacks.  I wasn't letting her off so easily though and made her work for her treat by at least letting me balance it on her foot.
  
  

So not the same as her head. 
I know I probably should've used something smaller and easier to balance than a big apple, but it was the first thing I grabbed.  I'm not giving up yet!

{08sept2010: wordless Wednesday}

I didn't know bull terriers came in miniature version edition.



 

{07sept2010: recall}

This time it's not another Merrick product but Hartz.

image via ohmidog!

"Hartz Mountain Corp. has issued a voluntary recall of nearly 75,000 bags of dog treats because of concerns about salmonella.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration detected the presence of salmonella organisms in one or more 8-ounce bags of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats during random testing.
The company, based in Secaucus, New Jersey, has not received any reports of animals or people becoming ill as a result of contact with the treats, and is investigating the source of the contamination.
The affected treats are stamped with the lot code BZ0969101E, according to the FDA.
Dog owners who have purchased the recalled treats should immediately throw them away, and the FDA advises dog owners whose pets are exhibiting fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain and nausea to seek veterinary assistance.
Consumers with questions regarding the recall should contact Hartz at 1-800-275-1414. You can read the company’s press release about the recall here."

{07sept2010: should've would've could've}

This should have been Darwin and Sunshade or Jaffa meeting for the first time, but no it's not. 

This would have been Darwin and Sunshade or Jaffa rolling around on the ground together, but unfortunately it isn't.

This could have been Darwin and Jaffa playing a round of bitey face, but it's not because we woke up yesterday morning to Darwin coughing and hacking.  We had a date to meet up with Sunshade and Jaffa for that afternoon, but with the morning coughing we were worried Darwin was dealing with another round of kennel cough and we didn't want to infect Sunshade and the landshark.  
So rather this is Darwin meeting a random Airedale at the park a couple weeks ago (who definitely could have used a visit to Squaire dog grooming).
Oh and after we canceled our meet up, we didn't hear a single cough out of Darwin for the rest of the day.  Hopefully great that it isn't another kennel cough flare up, but annoying that we canceled meeting up with blog friends!  Grrrr.
Sorry Sunshade and Jaffa (and Elaine and D-guy)!  

{02sept2010: results}

So the results of yesterday's wordless Wednesday post...

Yep, that's right, Darwin lost.  Three times in fact.  I think she was just going easy on the little guy because it was his 7th birthday.

{01sept2010: wordless Wednesday}

tug at the dog park edition.... guess who won?