Monday, June 25, 2012

Paws Crossed for Jay! And Home made Dog Treats!

Our Jay-bird might be taking flight very soon, as she has a potential adopter! :D! He seems like a fantastic home for Jay! So I am keeping my paws crossed that Jay gets to go to her forever home this week!

In the meantime I am enjoying what may be my last couple days with Jay. Our time is mostly spent hanging out in the sun running and chasing balls and frisbees and eating lots of ice cubes!

Sunset Walk
Sunset Walk

New Friend! 

Which reminds me! I wanted to tell you all about what I did this weekend!
I originally had planned to take Jay out to the beach, but the weather had other things in mind. So we decided to stay in and make doggie treats! So I wanted to post what I made and how, so you can try them yourself!

So the first one is more of just a summertime snack for hot puppies!

Peanut butter filled ice cubes!
Take an ice cube tray put a little water in the bottom. Then add a little dollop of peanut butter (I find spoon+fingers work best for this) then fill with more water slowly (so it does not mix too much). Then freeze! And voila! I thought of doing this because Jay loves ice cubes and peanut butter so I thought, why not combine the two! The peanut butter doesn't really freeze on its own so it will be a cool lick-able filler that dogs love :)
Disclaimer: These ice cubes melt, or dogs crunch them up, or lick them across the floor - so its better to give them to your dog when they are somewhere you don't mind water and peanut butter.

The next one is FILLED with great stuff for your dog!

I call them...
SUPER COOKIES!


Trust me... they are so good I've even given them to people and they liked them!!! But it is 100% filled with great stuff for humans and dogs! And no wheat or flour!

The ingredients are: 
4 Cups of Rolled Oats (I used Quaker quick oats - it's all the same really)
1/2 Cup of Flax Seed (Or ground flax seed)
2 Ripe Bananas
1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter (you can use either with or without added sugar/shortening - without is healthier though)
1 Tbsp of Cinnamon
1/2 Cup of Water
1 small apple (Optional)

Now first let me go over why each of these ingredients are so good:

Oats: 
- Are an excellent source of antioxidants
- Are low in starch
- Are a great source of minerals such as potassium and phosphorus
- They have a high silicon content, making them very beneficial to our dogs' bones and teeth
- And they sooth the gastrointestinal system

Flax Seed
- A great source of anti-carcinogens and omega-3 fatty acids
- Low in calories, fat, and sodium
- Benefits include: a healthier heart, smooth supple skin, and a shiny coat.

Bananas
- Sweet to a dogs (and our) palate
- Contains several essential amino acids, electrolytes, minerals, vitamins B6 and C, potassium, fiber, and manganese!
- Banana's natural sugars metabolize quickly to provide instant energy. So they are even better for working and performance dogs.
- Banana's assist in maintaining normal blood pressure, heart function, fluid balance, and digestive tract function.

Peanut Butter
- Highly digestible
- Abundant in protein, healthy fats, and essential vitamins and minerals
- And (of course) dogs love it!

Cinnamon
- Smells and tastes great
- Soothes the gastrointestinal system and nausea
- Improves brain function
- Helps regulate blood sugar (vital for any dogs at risk of diabetes)
- Is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory (great for dogs struggling with arthritis)
- Can lower blood pressure and cholesterol and slow the growth of leukemia and lymphomacancer cells.

Apples
- Good source of dietary fiber and Vitamin C
- Low in saturated fat and sodium
- Contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids - which contribute to a healthy, glossy coat and help to control skin allergies

Disclaimer: Two reasons I posted apples as optional - one is just due to cooking which I will explain later, the other is because dogs with arthritis or kidney disease shouldn't eat apples as the omega-6 fatty acids are not good for them.

Okay! Now on to cooking!

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl (you'll need a fairly large bowl - trust me)
- Mash bananas and peanut-butter together in separate bowl.
- Add the banana/peanut-butter mash to the dry ingredients  (stir slowly or oats will fly everywhere)
- Add the water and continue mixing all the ingredients together.
- Let it sit for a few minutes when done as it is initially very sticky.
- In the meantime (If you decided to use an apple) take the apple and core it (the seeds are poisonous to dogs), then cut it into very small pieces.
- Once the "dough" has begun to "unstickify" roll it into small (Tsp sized) balls and place on greased/non-stick baking pan (recommend to grease use a little olive oil/other vegetable oil - works great and not too slick)
- If you want to do shapes instead spread the dough out to about 1/3 of an inch on a cutting board or other flat surface (try to avoid using flour to stop it from sticking - instead use a plastic cutting board or wax paper)
- Side note - This makes a lot of cookies, you will probably need two baking sheets.
- Take the tiny piece of apple and decorate the tops of your cookies with them.
(The reason I do it this way is because one batch I added them to the banana mixture but they didn't mash well so it was tough forming the drops because the apples kept falling out - besides they look really neat when cooked on top!)
- Place in oven and cook for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- If you want them extra crunchy what I did was leave them in but turn off the oven. So as the oven cooled with were still heating - thus removing moisture- but not burning.

And voila!
They will last about a week or so out and about, or 2 weeks in the fridge or 3 weeks (or longer!) in the freezer.

Here are some "after" shots! I made a batch of drops and a batch of hearts! (I made a double batch)




Notice the gap where two drops were eaten by humans ;)


And to give you an example of just how yummy these are... as I said I've had HUMANS eat them and ask for more!!!
And an even better example... I put a small piece of cooked chicken in front of Jaycee and held one of these cookies (she knew I had it) and she sniffed the chicken then just stared at the cookie in my hand!
She wanted this cookie more than meat!! If that doesn't win you over I don't know what will!

They were super easy and fun to make! And smell like cinnamon buns while cooking :)

Hope you try the recipes here! If you do please comment and let me know how your dog liked them! Also feel free to comment with your own secret doggy cookie recipe!

Will post more soon!
Paws crossed for Jay!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Jaycee's One Month Update

With Jay the first word that comes to everyone’s mind is Sweet! Jaycee is such a sweetheart and has a heart of gold! Her winning personality and puppy demeanour quickly melt everyone’s heart! Since fostering her, I have not had a single person meet her and not comment on how sweet and amazing she is! She is a beautiful dog with even prettier eyes that will turn on the puppy charm at every opportunity!

Jaycee is a 10 month old, medium size, Pitbull X Husky! She is a snuggle bunny and would love to pretend she is a lap dog, but she knows better than that! She loves to be where the people are, and will lie down next to you and chew a treat or nap or just enjoy being petted. 

Jaycee loves to cuddle on your bed, but is also fine in her crate and will sleep quietly in there as well. Jay LOVES to sleep in and will easily sleep over 10+ hours! If you don’t get up she just keeps on sleeping! I can’t count how many times I’ve slept in by accident because she is so still and quiet while sleeping. She will occasionally give a light snore, but it just makes you want to cuddle her more because it is so cute! 

She is extremely smart and loves to learn! She knows multiple commands, hand motions, whistles, and we even taught her to sit and lie down by snapping our fingers!  She also LOVES to play fetch! She will retrieve that ball all day for you! She sometimes thinks it’s a fun game of keep away, but she is learning really fast and now drops it with no problem!

She loves people and knows a good belly scratcher when she meets one and loves to get belly rubs all day long! She also loves kids! As a puppy sometimes their energy is very exciting, so it is better if the kids stay calm around her so she knows that is what is expected of her.  Also, as she is still a puppy if a stranger approaches too fast over top of her she gets a bit nervous and will back up, as many puppies do, but she will go up to greet the stranger herself no problem, and will be begging for more pets faster than you can say “Hello!”!

She is also great on leash! She trots along with a loose leash. She may give the odd tug for a squirrel or bird but saying “leave it” gets her back on track. She much prefers to just sniff around and trot along next to you. She also has good off leash skills!  And she is good with distractions when she is playing fetch too! Other dogs, kids and soccer balls didn’t bother her! She may look at them but she heads right back to you with her ball. Unless the other dog comes up to her for some playtime in which case she is all for it!

Jay is very dog social! She loves going to the dog-park, and loves going to doggie daycare. She gets along great with all the other dogs, and loves to play! If the dog doesn’t want to play she is great at respecting that. She is very polite and will greet other dogs very nicely and calmly. 

Jaycee is looking for an active cat-free home where she can play ball and meet lots of dogs and then settle down for a snuggle at night!

She is a fantastic dog and will make her lucky future forever family very happy! 












Saturday, June 16, 2012

Rainy Jay

I just want to say first off that the fundraiser went SO WELL! We filled the bar!! We raised TONS of money for Turtle Gardens and this is going to help all those dogs find their forever home!

Jay is also doing great! She is the sweetest puppy you could ever meet! And she keeps you smiling all day long! From her cute cuddle face, to her greeting stretches, and from her hanging tongue flopping in the wind as she runs for a ball to her late night quiet snoring - She is a little bundle of Joy and laughs :)

She is SO Great on walks!! We went for a hour and a bit walk this morning in the rain and she was so great!
She has been having a blast at daycare and they love her there! And she is always so pooped when she gets home!
And will sleep for a few hours! Here are a couple pics of her nap-time after she got home from daycare :)






She also loves going to the dog park, even though it was raining! She didn't look as white when left as when we got there ;)




She loves giving cuddles and napping after she has had her fun-time :) For her that includes her favourite pass-time... Fetch!

I got a great action shot and video of her catching the ball in midair!!! :)

The Flying Dog!



Jay is also super smart! She already knows quite a few commands and tricks, but this is the first time we've tried working with her on her "high-five" command! This is the first time! Look how fast she got it already!!


She loves learning and she loves to use her mind, and so she loves her treat dispenser toy! She was very quick to figure out how to get the treats! 



Will post more soon!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

My Bag!!

To all of you who read my blog, you will probably remember my post about losing my bag... It was really stressful having to try and replace each piece and try to hope no one is taking out credit cards in my name etc...

Well...

I have my bag back!! With everything in it including CASH!! Thank you Anonymous Hero!!!

And because I believe in Karma, and what goes around comes around...
As it is totally amazing that my cash is all still in my wallet - I am going to be donating it to Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue! It's not much compared to the expenses 70 dogs generate, but I know every bit counts!

I am very happy to be able to help this wonderful rescue and its rescue dogs while at the same time beginning to repay that amazing stroke of good karma that just came my way!

If you would like to donate as well and help out those wonderful dogs you can visit us at our fundraiser at Schanks Sports Bar and Grill (In New Westminster, BC) on Friday June 15th! We will be there from 7-10pm!
Or you can use this link to donate! (You will recieve a tax recipt)
http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=d83850

$20, $10, or even $2 - every dollar helps!

And think of it this way... every dollar you give gets a rescue dog a dollar closer to a healthy, happy life in their own forever home!


Friday, June 8, 2012

Jay Goes to the Park

Before I begin, I just have to post the cutest pictures first ;)

So I am starting at the end... once she got home from her fun day, she took a nap and cuddled! She is so adorable!!



Cutest Picture Ever!

How could you not love that face? Not a single person meets her that doesn't comment on how awesome and sweet and pretty she is :) She's a heart-stopper that one ;)

So back to her day... now that it was finally sunny we took Jay for a nice romp in the park today. And she loved it! Of course, what dog wouldn't?

She was very funny when these little birds showed up - Jay chased them from the ground. No barking or whining, just enjoying a nice run! :) She just jogged beneath them on the ground and then once she started getting tired she came and sat with us and enjoyed the sunshine!

We played fetch for a while too though she was getting tired so she started walking the ball back instead of running. She drank a whole water bottle of water then sat and hung out for a bit until she was ready to play a little more while we waited for our ride (aka Adam ;P)

Also, the yellow rope you see is her 30ft "running rope" as we call it. Essentially as we can never be too careful with our foster dogs, but would still like to give them the "off-leash" experience we as the rope. The rope is left untouched by us unless a foster dogs wander off in which case we step on or pick up the rope so the dogs are still "on leash"but still able to run where they want! And jay loves it! She doesn't care about the rope at all she's just happy to run around :) and we haven't had to worry about her walking off because she likes to stay near us but better safe than sorry!
I got some great action shots of her running and catching the ball! Also, a couple of her stay ability and her catching the ball from a sit! Which is good because I think I owe you all some photos as they have been lacking in the last few posts ;)

Lets start with some Running pictures:













Now some Standing Shots:









And now some classic sitting and laying down shots!




Winkie Face ;P







 These are some "action" shots of Jay as she's catching the balls!








And as a little extra, this is Jay holding her "Sit+Stay" while Adam walks very far away with her very favourite ball! 


Will post more soon!