Goodbye 2009!

Back from cold and snowy Pa. and home with our wonderful 4-legged's again. Always fun going but sweeter coming back. See ya'll soon in the New Year!

All the best,
The Mama

Happy, Merry, and Joy!

That is- HAPPY HOLIDAYS and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of our Blogger and non-Blogger Friends! Be safe, be warm and spread joy and love to all!

With happy woofs and hugs,
Karen, Kris, Bentley, Bridgette
Jax, Roux, and Walter

Sing, sing, sing- Ye Merry "Dales"

Here's a link to some fun songs from one of the Airedale list's I lurk on. Bentley gives a two paws up for the lyrics and Roux, well, she is still trying to figure out what is going on with all the baked cookie smells wafting through the house and why the Mama has those things that smell so good put way up high! As you can see in this picture, the 4-legged's are mesmerized by my awesome singing voice. Ha Ha Ha or is it Ho Ho Ho? What can I say? Enjoy!

http://dsl027-161-026.atl1.dsl.speakeasy.net/AireSong.html

A favorite poem of mine...

Somehow, not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you glad.

John Greenleaf Whittier

Little Red Riding Hood or not....

Roux is definitely the "or not" part....that would be peanut butter on her nose.

Walter was practicing for his very own publicity shoot.

And Bentley was seriously considering bolting. He just didn't think he could move with that weird red thing on his head!

I'm trying to get Holiday pics for the Christmas card lists this year. I have patience but time is running out! I'll try again tonight- wish me luck!

Keeps you on your toes...

It's been awhile and I just wanted to bring all of our friends up to date on the 4-legged's. Today is the next to last day of the Fall semester for me and I can't emphasize how thankful I am for that this morning. One more final exam, then I'm free for a month- give or take. I know the 4-legged's will enjoy me being home with them. Due to weather and other factors, their Klaws have declined over the past two weeks in frequency. Because of this, we all are having to really watch our caloric intake. Bowls are being put down and picked up after meals even if their not empty and the other Mama and I are watching what we eat! I depend on those daily Klaws to burn a few calories and it helps with stress, sleep and makes my 4-legged family a lot easier to deal with when they are having full-surge energy spasms as is usual around here. The rain looks as if it has let up for the day- a day of sunshine for Houston would be nice. We, the other Mama and I, have learned that a tired dog is a good dog when it comes to the Roux girl. When she came to us, the vet approximated her age to be somewhere around a year. We believe that he was wrong in his guestimate. Roux is now a wee bit taller than Bentley and continues to be full of non-stop energy. After Roux came back to join our family, Bentley decided that she was his personal play toy. He learned that she would play with him non-stop and that he can play bitey-face with her all he wants without hurting her. This is a good thing since the other 4-legged's in the family are too small and/or too old to play with a 75-80 lb. Airedale. Bentley is experiencing his 2nd childhood which is really awesome since he turns 7 next month. Of course, Bentley's loud mouthed vocalizations and goofy habits of flipping the food bowls have become Roux's habits too. We have been working on the Sit, Stay, Down and Wait commands for a month or two now when it is time for the afternoon Klaw in the park and are seeing great results. Patience- it is a virtue and it pays off. Still- Roux is in chewing mode- it comes in waves and cycles about every three to four days instead of everyday. We use the black super-dooper extra strong Kongs frozen with peanut butter for Roux's destructive chewing habits. We found a similar product at Academy (sports & hunting store) that is bright orange, over-sized and half of what you pay for the Kong brand. She's made indentations but hasn't succeeded in tearing any of them apart- yet; she very well may succeed. It's better than her eating any more of our house-hold items. The list is long so I won't go into details but you can use your imagination. Roux is really smart and I think when she is a bit older and I have the time, she will go into agility or some other like-minded activity. And we are finally making some progress with her Attention Deficit "puppydumb." All I know is that her exuberance and crazy antics keep all of us on our toes- especially the Bentman so I'm not complaining. Roux is the best thing that could have happened to my Bentman! Of course, that goes both ways- Roux is learning the good stuff that an older dog can teach a young one!

Till next time- have a wonderful week
and enjoy the ones you love!
Bentley's Mama

Update on Snowy Day in Houston!

We went outside to play in the front yard. Roux pulled a fast one as usual and took off with Bentley's fashionable red scarf....

Obviously, the cold makes the 4-legged's feistier than usual....

But I was able to get them to stop long enough for a quick snapshot after the game of chase of "give me back the red scarf!"

Houston- We have a problem!

More to come! Just waiting for the snow to stick so the 4-legged's can go play in it. I know snow is not such a big deal in other area's but in Houston it only happens every blue moon. Must have been a blue moon last night, huh??!!!

A Dollar a Minute....

Look what the Mama brought home! PetSmart Donation Toys! WooHoo!

Darn- she's got that flashy thing out again....maybe I'll just stand here and not move.

Or maybe not.

The game is on. How long do you think before Roux the Chew destroys it?

Bentley helped. He acts like such a goody-two-shoe. Hmpfff!

Bored now. What else can I get her blamed for?

Side note: Yes, I did buy two stuffies but I picked one of them up and hid it after I saw the tug of war start. It's always fun watching the two of them act like the maniacs they can be. Anyway, have a great end of the week. We're supposed to get slushy, icy wet cold stuff tomorrow. Blah.