Kitchen Tip Tuesday

How to Make Your Dog a "Helper" in the Kitchen/Free Dog Treat

We have a rather spoiled, VERY well loved dog who allows us to live in "his" house.  :o)  He enjoys being in the kitchen when I cook, I'm sure to keep me "company." 

I hate cleaning out cans/jars so they can be recycled.  He enjoys cleaning out cans for me.  A win, win.  I have a can opener that does not leave any sharp edges.  When I have a can or a jar that needs to be cleaned out and the contents are safe for dogs, I give him the can or jar and he very cheerfully cleans it out for me, then I just pick it up when he is done and put it in the recycling. 

Ways this is a helpful:

1. I don't have to do a chore I don't like.
2. I'm saving water.
3. It keeps my dog busy and out from under my feet.
4. I hate having anything left in the jar, now I can feel less guilty because I am providing nutrition to my dog.  (I still get as much out as I can with a spatula)
5. I often get my feet warmed up in return.

Now I just need to teach him to take the can/jar TO the recycling!

Here is a link to a website that has a list of not safe foods for dogs:  www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=1030

For more great Kitchen Tips, visit:  www.tammysrecipes.com/easy_avocado_dicing

Our crazy dog, Duke:

Duke Update

Duke went to the vet on Monday.  He was declared healthy and was a pretty good boy.  He  was pretty excited about seeing a cat, but he sat well, except for the shaking with excitement over the thought of "greeting" the cat.  We found out he now weighs 82.5 pounds.  He insists the vet scale adds 5 pounds and his winter coat adds a couple more.  ;o) 

Here he is asleep with his "chewy."  Must have taken a lot of effort to chew on it!

A very silly dog

The family my sister is a nanny for sent a Duke ornament. Here is his response.

For those of you who are friends with me on facebook, I will post another video with "Z" in it. I don't want to post it here since I don't put pictures of my kids on my blog.

Adventures in Dogland

Yesterday I needed to take Duke to the vet for his red eye. I also wanted to make sure his weight was fine now that he has put on some weight.

When I got home, there were little blood spots EVERYWHERE in my house! Duke has cut his back paw somehow. As the vet said, only he knows! Probably on a board in the yard that had a nail in it. I have spent a lot of time cleaning up little spots all over my house, including on my rugs. We now know that he is active while we are gone since he left a nice little trail.

Oh, yeah back to real reason I took him to the vet. There isn't anything wrong with his eye--one has pigment in the third eye lid, the other not. His weight is perfect. :o)

It has/is an adventure taking care of his foot. It has to be soaked three times a day--which he LOVES (I end up getting soaked too!). He also has to take two huge antibiotic pills every morning and evening--You have to bury them in peanut butter or he spits them back out! We then also need to wrap it when he goes outside to keep from getting junk in it. Did I mention we are going camping this weekend?--This should be a fun regimine while camping!

Duke chasing his "tail"

Here is a video of Duke chasing his tail. He continues to be a joy in our lives. He went to the vet and is pretty healthy.

Duke versus the vacuum

Duke--the attack dog!

Duke and his new bed. (Material picked out by "T".)

"K" thought he needed a blanket.

I'll try not to keep boring with stuff about our new dog, he's just so doggone cute... :o)

Adventures in the land of Duke

Our new dog is a sweetie and we have all fallen in love with him. He has added a little more adventure to our lives and even took a couple years off of mine! He is wonderful with the kids and likes to play.

On Wednesday afternoon, the kids had taken him out to meet the neighbor kids, who he also loved and brought him back in the house. "T" then decided to go back out and Duke bolted out the door. I was on the phone about to leave a message when the kids came running up to me crying and telling me that Duke was gone. I did not have on any shoes, but I ran out the door to try to call him. Duke was having the time of his life running all over exploring at top speed. He thought that this was one of the best games EVER! All these humans trying to get him and he could get so close and they couldn't catch him! Did I mention this was just the time school was getting out, so there were cars everywhere. There is nothing like sobbing kids, trying to catch a run away dog you've had less than 24 hours and then watching said dog almost get hit by a bus and a car to stop the heart! Oh yeah, then there was the police officer that stopped to ask me if I was going to be able to get my dog back. He was very nice and willing to help, especially after he saw "T" sobbing. I was praying the whole time and God must have worked in the little beast's heart because I told "T" to go get some treats and he ran back to the house and Duke followed him in!!! This lasted about 10 minutes and we took several trips around the block, but seemed to be much longer!! The kids were upset at Duke, but really, in his world we are just people he is staying with for awhile and aren't really his home yet! We have rules in place now for both kids and dog to hopefully keep this from happening again.

We had a two year old over yesterday. He was great with her. He even let her lead him all over with the leash, so I don't think we'll be calling him "Killer." :o)

Today, we all had to be gone, so I decided to leave him upstairs with the door between the upstairs and kitchen closed. We had already tried gating him upstairs, but the gate ended up at the first landing. We gave him his toys and a huge rawhide bone, closed the door and got ready to leave. I carried stuff out to the van, came back for another load and there at the door was a very happy Duke. He even looked a little proud of himself. The latch is a lever type, so he used his paw to open the door. I couldn't help but laugh. He got to spend the day in the bathroom upstairs which he did not escape from.

Our new family member!

Welcome Duke!

The search is over. God led us to a wonderfully sweet boxer. His name is Duke. On Monday, I was really discouraged with the whole dog hunt. The kids wrote "dog" or "puppy" on my grocery list 5 times on Saturday and even hubby seemed to be getting a little impatient! I hadn't received an e-mail back from the MN Boxer Rescue and had even e-mailed someone in North Branch who offered to meet us half way to meet their dog, then never e-mailed me back. (I got an e-mail today--he went to another home--he was older and they were unsure of his history before they got him 4 months ago.)

I was showing Mike a dog at the local pound and then happened to remember a boxer mix at a rescue to show him, so I went back to Craigs List and their was an add for a "Purebred Boxer, great with kids." There weren't any pictures, the ad said he was "rust colored" with black and white markings, so we were expecting a brindle which is kind of tiger striped, not our preference, but the couple were grandparents, had had him since he was a puppy and assured us that he was well mannered and LOVED people. We decided to drive to Cambridge (about 2 hours away) tonight. (I was going to wait until Saturday, but hubby volunteered that we could go tonight.) We walked in the door and immediately fell in love. He didn't bark or growl, just seemed excited to see us and gave the kids lots of kisses.

The gentleman we got him from said they got 26 phone calls for him! We were the first call. :o)

It was a little sad to take their dog. They are moving and can't take him with. I assured him he would have a loving home.

We are thankful God led us to the right dog. He also worked it out so the kids and Mike and I (in shifts) can be home with Duke tomorrow. We have some training to do. He is 1 1/2 years old. The pictures really don't do him justice!

Who is in Charge?

As you know, we've been looking for a new dog. It may not seem like a big deal, but you are making a commitment to live with this creature for many years, so we have been praying about finding the right dog and trying to be wise in our choice. A naughty dog is like having a naughty kid with sharp teeth!!! I had my eye on a handsome dog (Tazer) and had been e-mailing the foster mom back and forth and it seemed that we would be going to meet him on Saturday, but then she e-mailed me to basically say that she had two other people that she wanted to meet him first. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed and quite frankly want to be done with the dog search. I don't really want to think about it anymore, I just want to go home to happy kids and a happy, decently behaved dog! (I did try to talk the kids out of a dog, but they shot down that idea rather quickly and they honestly earned a dog in their care of the pugs we watched for 5 months and the messes they cleaned up!)

Anyway, sorry about the long story, but I was telling my friend about the dog situation and I said that if we were meant to get Tazer, he would still be available, otherwise, there was a better dog out there for us. She said that I am ever the optimist because she thinks that sometimes things that are meant to be don't really happen. This made me stop to think, because I don't really think of myself as an optimist. Really, I think that if Tazer is the right dog for us that God can make that happen.

Romans 8:28--And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. This doesn't mean that everything that happens to us is good, but that God is powerful enough to make good come out of even bad situations. We don't have to live our lives as optimists or pessimists, but as those who know that God is in control and working good in our lives. We just have to leave HIM in charge and put our trust in HIM. There will be times when we are disappointed, when tough times come, but we can look to Him for comfort and ask Him for wisdom and know that He has something good in store for us. I do realize that there may be times that sin (ours or others') "messes" up God's perfect plan for us, but we can go back to Him and He will help us to pick up the pieces and make the best of a bad situation. We can always learn and grow! We will grow much more beautiful if we leave Him in charge! Let Him be your Gardner, to help you grow into the beautiful Christian He wants you to be. Don't forget to let Him pull the weeds out, too! (Couldn't resist a garden reference since it is the first day of Spring) :o)

A Handsome Boxer

Here is a picture of Tazer, a new dog at the MN Boxer Rescue. Isn't he handsome? They don't have a lot of information on him yet. He is bigger than a lot of boxers, but I think that if one of the kids was walking him or he was in the back yard with them that we could be pretty assured that no one would bother them. :o) The biggest problem would be the competition for who was the most handsome guy in the house. :o) And last, but not least, who couldn't use a tazer when you have four kids???? :o)

We will contine to be in prayer about God's leading in finding a dog. I just think he is a great looking dog and hadn't posted anything about our search for a dog for awhile.

We passed...

Woohoo, we passed the application part of the process to adopt a Boxer!!! Thanks to all those who lied on our behalf so we could pass the reference part. ;o) We still have to have our home visit, which I am not too worried about. After 6 years of homecare, I happen to know that my house is better than a lot of homes out there, including many with numerous pets. :o)

I can't believe how quickly the boxer rescue approved our application part. I have to admit, I would have been pretty disappointed and a little embarrassed if we didn't pass being allowed to have a dog. If you don't pass the application process to have a dog, does that mean someone should take away your kids? Just something to ponder...