Long Time No See!

Hi everyone!!!

I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted! I'm afraid summers are always super busy and I got a little caught up with my first year at college and whatnot! So far I'm loving college, especially because it's close enough by that I can continue to live at home and therefore live with Mandy :) We certainly have stayed busy over the summer though! Mandy and her brother have gone to countless rodeos for my sister! They're definitely her biggest fans! This morning Mandy and I went to visit a nearby daycare to teach the kids there about trick-or-treating safety! She did a great job in her ballet costume and the kids absolutely adored her! It was certainly a big day for her! We'll also be going in costume to a local Elementary School to have the students read to her! Mandy always has a great time visiting and sleeps for about ten hours straight upon arriving home. :) She's super excited for Friday and we should have pictures to come! In the meantime I have a question for all of you dog owners out there: How do you and your pet feel about animal clothing? Will you dress your pup up? A better question...Do they enjoy being dressed up? As for Mandy she really does enjoy it. She's the first animal I've ever seen that truly loves to wear clothes! She gets so excited and jumps around every time we got out an outfit. She of course has to wear her vest in public so I know she associates that with visiting, however she gets excited over other clothes too!



xoxo,
Mandy & Rebecca!

Dog Poisons! (again)

Ok, so I know I've already done a post on dog poisons, however Shine from Yahoo just came out with another article listing foods that are poisonous to both dogs AND cats. Some of the things I already knew, however there were a few new things on the list (new to me anyway) It also gives more information on why the animal can be allergic to it! If you want to read the original article, you can go here.

Posions:

Avocado (any part of the plant/fruit)
Onions, onion powder, chives, and garlic
Grapes and rasins
Yeast dough (or uncooked dough)
Left-over bones
Foods with a high fat/salt content
Coffee, Chocolate, Alcohol
Sugarless candy (aka food containing xylitol)
Macadamia nuts

Personally, I was quite curious about a few of these. I mean, is grape juice also poisonous to pets? I would assume so. The avocado also surprised me. I've also heard that whole peanuts are poisonous to dogs but not peanut butter? Oh well, I guess a little more research for another post. As for our dogs, we rarely give them people food and they usually aren't too pushy about it. The one we actually have trouble with is our horse, Tux. He has eaten everything from hotdogs and potato chips, to root beer (he can drink straight from a can or straw!) and birthday cake! We have to be very careful with him at rodeos! One time my sister set a can of Mountain Dew down on the fender of the trailer, she then turned around to pick up something from the ground and he wrapped his lips around the can, tipped his head back, and sucked out all the Mountain Dew! Before she noticed he set the can back where it was and she didn't figure out what happened until she picked it up to drink out of it! Lol. He's also good at stealing hot dogs from you without you noticing! (that's right, just the hotdog, he leaves the bun and wrapper)

Mandy's Monday

Hello Everyone!

I don't have much to say today, other than to ask you to head over to Scout N' Freyja's site. Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day and I will see you back here next Monday!

Licks and Kisses!

~Mandy

Busy! Busy!

So I'm sorry it's been so long between posts lately! I will be graduating this Friday and I'm super excited but also super busy trying to fit everything in! I took Mandy to the local flea market this morning because I felt a little bad that I haven't has as much time for her as I usually do! As usually she absolutely LOVED visiting with all the people. The kids are by far her favorite! (I think it may be because of their obvious enthusiasm) It's amazing how a dog can really bring everyone together and start conversations. I don't know how many people told us stories about their own pets, or other Corgis they knew! It's a great way to establish bonds and friendships (as well as get better deals, lol) Mandy was even excited to find that they sell dog toys at the flea market! ...Until of course it squeaked and she decided that the cantaloupes looked WAY more interesting! lol. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera which is a shame since she sat so pretty for everyone! Oh well! I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and stay safe!

Mandy's Monday!

Hello Everyone!

Becca is keeping her promise which means it's time for another Mandy Monday! Becca and I had a great weekend! Since the weather has been VERY warm, hot, ABSOLUTELY SWELTERING these past few weeks, I have been enjoying the pool immensely! I know I am only allowed to swim whenever one of my people are there with me, but they like to swim just as much as I do, so I'm not complaining! Even though I am an excellent swimmer (if I do say so myself) Becca is still paranoid that I will wear myself out and drown. She decided to buy me a doggie lifejacket, so that I won't get as tired when I'm playing in the pool! Well the first jacket she got was WAY too small for me! I normally enjoy wearing clothes but let me tell you, this baby pinched in all the wrong places! She finally exchanged it for a size larger and I wore it around the house for a bit to get used to moving in it...

 Unfortunately I moved in it a little too much and gave Becca very hard time trying to take my picture!

At this point I would happily show you some pictures of me swimming in the life jacket, however the moment I tried to jump in, the whole thing shifted, I got my feet hung, rolled onto my side, and made very pitiful noises while Becca tried to untangle this crazy thing from me! She thinks part of the problem is that when I got wet, all my normally poofy hair deflated, causing the jacket to become looser. This, coupled with my exuberant swimming/struggling only made the situation worse! Anyway, she let me spend the rest of the pool time in the buff so as not to traumatize me anymore. Overall I had a great time in the pool! One of my favorite things to do is to jump in and swim after Becca!

Sometimes we make so many waves, we accidentally knock the raft out of the pool. That's fine with me though, that thing just gets in the way and makes funny noises when Becca tries to lay on it!

After finally catching her she really likes it when I lick her in the face! Sloppy pool kisses are the best!

Another fun thing to do is to jump in at the same time as Becca! I didn't like this at first because I thought for sure that Becca was drowning and it was up to me to save her by nipping at her heels! She showed me though that jumping in can be a lot of fun as we do it together a lot! There is, however a technique to jumping in! First we both have to get out of the pool and stand about 10 feet away, then Becca makes me sit until she gives the release word. (Yes, everything turns into a lesson with her around). After sitting for what feels like forever, Becca will say, "Ready, Set, GO!" The release word here is "GO!" This is when we run to the pool and jump in at the same time!

Becca really likes this picture because it looks like I'm running in mid air!

 Here's another good 'mid air' one. Too bad Becca's big behind is blocking the shot! Lol

Sometimes though I get a little nervous and rather than jumping in the pool before Becca, I just stop in front of her. It's actually quite entertaining because then you get pictures like these where Becca has to pull a hop, skip, jump, and tumble maneuver in order to keep from falling/jumping on me. By the time she makes it in the pool, I have worked up my nerve enough to jump in after her...right on her head of course :)

Becca loves to let me swim with her because it is a good way for me to get some exercise. She used to have a Beagle Mix that would run and ride her bike with her when she exercised, but my thick hair makes me get so hot so fast! This is a good compromise for us both because I get the exercise I need to keep me healthy, and she isn't always worried I'll have a heat stroke in the process. It also helps me to not be as scared of the camera because it associates a fun activity (swimming) with a not-so-fun one (modeling). My little brother, Cole likes to 'swim' as well, if you can even call it that anyway...

He discovered that if he simply jumped in and stopped moving his legs, one of the humans would hold him up in the pool. Cole, being the lazy bum that he is loved this, the humans however, did not! In order to allow Cole to be a part of the action, they bought him a boat to float it! (And yes, the boat is pink, when will these people learn??)

He likes the boat because he can still be 'in' the pool without actually doing any work, and the humans don't mind as the boat eliminates substantial blow drying time!

Here he is flashing one of his one-of-a-kind "Cole Grins." What a lady's man!

 

Yeah, Becca thought this was hilarious, so I threw it in just for her!

Well I hope my Monday brought a smile to your face! If not I at least know Cole enjoyed it! Lol. Well this week is the last week before Hurricane Season starts here in Florida (I know, super scary!) So I will be living it up as much as possible before the afternoon thunderstorms start up again. So far we've been pretty lucky and only had one or two a week! Wish us luck though that we we'll be spared from any hurricanes this year! I wish everyone a very happy week and I can't wait to visit back next Monday! 

Laterdays!

 P.S. On a more solemn note please don't forget to visit MAXMOM. She had to wish goodbye to beloved MAXDOG today, and I'm sure she could use a few words.

Mandy's Monday!

Greetings All!

Hello everyone, Mandy here! As I'm sure you are aware, today is Monday, and after much debate with Becca, she agreed to let me have Monday's posting all to myself! You see everyday Becca leaves me home all by myself to go do whatever it is she does without me! I thought I would take the opportunity to check out everyone else's blogs! Well you can imagine my surprise when I found out that Maggie is completely in charge of her own blog! (yeah, SOOO not fair!) After quite a bit of 'heated debate' she said I could do my own posts on Mondays. As I'm sure you've already noticed, the design of OUR blog has changed quite a bit as well! I was shocked that my poor, delusional owner had chosen such a boring background, and I had to help her spice things up a little! :) You can thank me later, Becca.

Right now it is raining pretty hard, so I thought I would take some time to write this and take my mind off things. You see, I am NOT a big fan of thunderstorms! They kind of scare me a little, and as it is my job to make sure everyone stays safe, I have a lot of work to do during the thunderstorms! I am a Corgi, so I was bred to herd sheep. I've got short little legs, so the easiest (and smartest) way to do this is to nip the noses of the animals (rather than run around them like a nut constantly). Although I by no means insult my dignity by  actually doing this type of work, I do take it upon myself to herd my family. (Indoors of course) It usually starts with my brother, Cole. During the rain it is absolutely necessary that I herd him to a safe place. He's a little thick and often has a hard time figuring out exactly where this 'safe place' is. Sometimes he gets tired of my biting his nose and will proceed to shove it under the couch, therefore making it inaccessible to further herding. After I am satisfied with Cole I usually move on to Becca. Occasionally she will be asleep during this process in which case it is necessary for me to give her multiple 'nose nips' before she will wake up. Sometimes she thinks that by pretending that she is sleeping I will just give up, but she is sadly mistaken and desperately needs to work on  her acting skills. After she wakes up she'll try to calm me down. Most of the time she lets me cuddle under the blanket with her. I don't quite know how but it makes the lightning disappear everytime! Once the lightning goes away I usually feel better, but I still have to poke my head out and check on her every few minutes. For some reason the rest of my two-legged family finds this whole process quite entertaining. One day I will help them to fully understand the gravity of the situation but until then I suppose I will continue to single handedly protect my family. After all, without them I would never get to eat!

Best Regards,

Help Clean the Oil Spill!

As many of you know, I live in Florida, so the oil spill just off the coast has been BIG news around here! It is truly sad just how many animals are being hurt, along with the environment, but there may be a way every dog owner can help! There is a company that is currently collecting human hair, pet hair, and feathers in an effort to soak up and 'corral' some of the oil. Evidently hair is super absorbent and great when put into mats and booms. This article give some more information on how it works. I thought this was great because with four horses, six sheep, ten chickens, one rabbit, three dogs, and a cat things can get a little 'hairy' around here. (haha) They accept all kinds of hair and Mandy and Cole both shed so much every day this is a great thing to do with the hair we would just be throwing away. In order to find out how to donate, you will need to sign up in order to find out where to ship your hair. For a complete set of instructions please visit this website! Although there is a slight ick factor here I definitely think it is for a great cause as it may help save many animals! Please check it out!