Cookie Monsters

When I was little, ok up until the age of about 10, when my family went out to dinner, my parents had to monitor how much sweet tea (the table wine of the South) I would drink prior to eating my meal. Why? Well, I had a tendency to drink so much tea without anything in my stomach that it would make me puke, which would quickly put an end to our family dinner out, usually before it actually started. I just couldn't help myself - it was too good to stop, no matter how sick I felt.

I think today many of the 31 greyhounds who attended our first ever Howl-a-day Cookie/Treat Exchange might be able to relate to my childhood habit. Greyhounds of every shape and color were treated to an afternoon of fellowship and festivities at the Five Seasons Brewery beer garden. Many were decked out in their holiday finest. There were of course the traditional reindeer antlers, as we all know greyhounds make the perfect substitute to pull Santa's sleigh, well - as long as they can wear coats. Seka even trotted out her antlers, but refused to let me take her photo.

There were Santa hats and even a full Santa's Little Helper costume, with a boa collar and beard. I saw a few elf hats with pointy ears, made especially for those greyhounds who don't have the type that stick up by themselves. But I think everyone in attendance agreed that the camel costumes took the cake. Who would have thought that greyhounds would make fantastic camels? Fawn colored ones sure do, especially when you put dangly tassles around their ears. These guys were the camels for the three wise men in their church nativity last weekend. Oh, and that's Dr. Spock sporting that costume - his ears naturally do that all the time, so it was perfect for his camel head dress (no greyhound ears were injured in the wearing of this costume).

But of course we were there for the cookies. Everyone enjoyed exchanging a sampling of our favorite homemade dog treats, along with the recipes. My girls loved Luke's Mackerel Smackerels. I mean, who doesn't love a good ol' fashioned fish cookie? Click here if you would like our recipes for Roxy's Gingerbread Bones and Seka's Kissable Garlic & Cheese Balls. It's our holiday gift to you!

Seka totally enjoyed herself. She just layed on her bed and requested that her treats be placed next to her face for consumption. Roxy, on the other hand, was too nervous about the roof falling in on her to appreciate what was going on. In fact, at one point the poor thing was shaking and drooling so bad that she crawled in my lap and just shook like leaf for about 15 minutes. This was her first outing to a greyhound event that was held indoors. We need to do a lot more work with her at places like Pet Smart before we do another indoor group event again (insert cry to Jen for help here).

The loot the girls came home with looks more like a trick-or-treat bag instead of Christmas candy. And if left to their own devices, they would still be eating out of the basket right now. But just like me, they've had to learn that a little goes a long way when it comes to some things that you like - or at least if you do have to get up from the table and puke don't tell your parents or you'll have to leave the Western Sizzlin' without going to the soft serve ice cream bar.

GBD Meets IHT

If you told some people that you were driving/flying across country to meet a complete stranger that you simply chat with online, they would think you're crazy and then take down all of the information about where you are meeting, when you'll be there and when you should be home (well, if they like you they do that). But people who are a part of an online community or social network really don't think much about it. In fact, they think it's cool. Even cooler if the person you are meeting lives on another continent.

So when I heard that Katy (aka: I Hate Toast) of Needle Nose fame, would be in the states for the holiday season to visit her yank family I made it a point to schedule a business meeting in Dallas so we would have a chance to meet up. Boy I'm so glad I did.

Now I've lurked on Katy's blog for well over a year before I began commenting on it. I love her writing style. I love the way her mind works. I love her sense of humor and the way she looks at her dogs. She cracks me up. But you always wonder if that person behind the computer is the same in person. The great part is, Katy is even better in person.

We had a great dinner of baby-sized burritos (minus the appendages) and compared notes about our greyhound groups, showed pics of our dogs, and already started making plans about an east coast tour of greyhound dogs, er "cousins" the next time she is in the states. So, all of you east coast bloggers, we'll have to start planning for Katy's next visit and have some sort of gathering. I'm thinking we should peer pressure the Virginia bloggers to host since Trina and Gyeong are always showing off those fabulous greyhound parties they are having :)

Tonight's Top 10

The nightly David Letterman "Top 10 List" bit never gets old to me. Some nights it's funner than others, of course. But it's always entertaining to see how he delivers the content. Whether he simply sits behind his desk and reads it from a card "old school style" or invites a guest to read the list for him, its his signature piece and not an easy thing to come up with every night of the week.

I ought to know. I tried my hand at making my own Top 10 list on this really cool networking site called DemoListic. This site allows people to create all sorts of lists - Top 10 Most Boring Things Ever, The Worst Taste in Music, Best Cat Postings on Craigslist. Then as a member of DemoListic, you can create your own list on the same topic and the system then creates a consensus list. If you don't want to create your own list, that's fine - you can just make snippy comments about what others have ranked instead.

Be warned - you will get sucked into the vortex. There is plenty to look at on there. Some stuff great. Other stuff, not so great. But it's a lot of fun and a great way to waste time! So, why not start with the first greyhound list on DemoListic! Let's debate the Best Greyhound Color to Own!

While our topic may not end up on Dave tonight, we can entertain ourselves and be famous in our own minds. Just imagine Paul chiming in as you write your comments.

The Curse of the Orvis Dog Beds

Have you ever been shopping and seen someone wearing something that they are selling in the mall and you think to yourself - "wow, that looks really awesome!" You don't really pay much attention to the fact that the person wearing it is 10 years younger and 20 lbs thinner than you are. Those, let's say, leather pants, must be found and must be had.

Well, you look around for those leather pants. You may even take the time to try them on. While you study yourself in the mirror in the dressing room, you say under your breath, "damn, I look good." Just forget the fact that all department store mirrors are really fun house mirrors in disguise. Those pants make you look hot.

You get home, put the pants in the closet, all tucked away, ready for your big night out on Friday. Friday night gets here, and it's finally time for you to slip into that sexy number. When you take a look in your own mirror what's staring back at you resembles a teenage wannabe, who's thighs look more like her mother's than Gisele Bundchen's in those hideous excuse for a pair of trousers.

I've bought my share of "leather pants" during my shopping tenure. And sometimes they have nothing to do with clothing. The latest such purchase was a pair of Orvis dog beds for my girls that I bought just two weeks ago. These beds have little foam beads inside as stuffing instead of normal polyfiber stuffing, which offers little support for their bony bums. My girls have tested out beds just like these at Patti's house and seemed to enjoy them while we were there. They even raced the other dogs to see who would get to the bed first. In my head, they had thoroughly tried them on for size and seemed to be pleased with what they found.

So when the beds arrived, I was disappointed in the girls' reaction to their new snuggle beds as I placed them on the floor for them to break them in. Not only did they not immediately run to them, dig and nest on them until they were perfect and then plop down on them for a nap - they wouldn't go near them. In fact, they wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

I e-mailed Patti and asked what I should do. She told me to take out some of the beads inside of the beds so they would be a little less firm and that should remedy the problem. After unintentionally spreading some Christmas cheer throughout my house with little white foam beads (stupid static electricity) I successfully deflated one of the beds and found that the second bed was actually damaged (that one was returned to Orvis the next day with no problem). Still no interest from either of my two princesses after all that work.

I then decided that maybe they didn't like the way the cover smells and that maybe they would like it better if it smelled more like me. After all, they covet sleeping between me and Kev every night. So, I spent the entire day using the bed as my personal bean bag. I'm sure we were quite the site: me, sitting on a dog bed, laptop and spreadsheets all around me in the floor, while there are two hounds sleeping peacefully on the sofa behind me. Not really the commercial Orvis would want for their dog bed, I'm sure.

Now worries - the next day my sister and her two dogs would arrive for Thanksgiving. I thought for sure that her two pups would claim the new dog bed as theirs, which would cause Seka to become a giant cranky pants about it and then take sudden interest in the evil Orvis bed. So much for that plan. Both visiting dogs would rather lay on the hardwood floor in the kitchen than on that bed.

So the slightly deflated Orvis bed continues to lay dog-less in our living room floor. I've thought of a few solutions that could help with this dog bed of doom dilemma. I believe it is the sound that the bed makes that freaks them out so much and has them avoiding it at all costs. So, I wonder if I add some polyfil stuffing in with the beads to cut down on the rattling if it would help? I even thought about shredding up some of Kev's old underwear that are in the rag pile and put them in the stuffing, since that would kill two birds with one stone. The cats seem to like it as is, but that doesn't satisfy me. I've posted a poll to get your feedback on this topic since I'm really at my wit's end on this subject.

At this point, sending the darn thing back isn't an option in my book. I'm the kind of girl that even when the outfit looks like a mistake in the mirror just before you leave the house, I stick with the decision I made and let the chips fall where they may. That's why I rocked a pair of black leather pants and a purple sweater with black fur trim in Vegas just six years ago.

Fad Diets

Think about the last time you were in a school cafeteria. As you looked around at the tables riddled with milk cartons, wadded up napkins and plates of cold food, you might have noticed a group of boys all gathered around their leftovers concocting a nasty mix of butter beans, pizza, burnt french fries, salsa, and mayo and looking for someone to eat it. I refer to these kids as the mad scientists and their only goal is to create the nastiest pile of goo out of whatever was served for lunch that day. If you happened to miss them the last time you visited a elementary-, middle school- or high school-aged child, be thankful.

I couldn't help but think about these mad scientists as I was making the final preparations for my girls' big diet switch this week. Yes, I've come to the dark side and today we officially moved to a BARF/Raw diet. For my non-hound readers, this diet consists of feeding the girls 50% raw meaty bones (chicken backs, chicken necks, turkey necks, beef ribs, etc.), 20% raw muscle meat (pretty much any meat that doesn't have a bone in it and beef heart is considered muscle for some reason), 20% veggie mix, and 10% raw organs (liver, green tripe, etc.).

So, why in the world would I do this? Isn't kibble easier? (yes, especially when I feed them at 5:30 am) Isn't this expensive? (not compared to the premium kibble I feed) Aren't bones bad for dogs? (not unless they are cooked)

Really the main reason I decided to make this change was seeing the physical difference in the many dogs at coursing events who are fed raw (I would guess 90% of them are). Their coats are shiny. Their teeth are amazing. Their breath is non-offensive. Their weight is perfect. They have tons of energy. In general they are the picture of health. I could really see a big difference between what my dogs looked like and what their dogs looked like. After a lot of research and a lot of reading, I decided to take the plunge.

Right now we don't have a big freezer to hold a bunch of frozen meat for the girls, so I can't really buy in bulk, but I did purchase 35 lbs of chicken backs and necks on Sunday and spent the evening weighing and packaging them into individual portions so it would be mindless no matter who is feeding them. Some seasoned raw feeders may call me a wuss because I wore a glove to handle all that raw chicken, but I just didn't want to get it all under my nails. I don't mind touching it, just not 35 lbs of it all at once.

Then on Monday I spent time making the veggie mix, which will make up 20% of their diet. Dogs do not digest the nutrients in veggies unless they are pre-digested or broken down in some way. So in order to replicate the way a dog would eat the stomach contents of it's prey (which is how they would get these nutrients in the wild) you whip out the handy dandy food processor, pretend to be a mad scientist and mix a bunch of raw veggies together and throw the goo in the freezer. I had to take a picture of these radishes that I got to pulverize into the goo for the girls. Aren't they lovely?

Now, I hated sitting next to those mad scientist boys when I was in school. It always made me sick to my stomach to watch them mix a bunch of crap together on their plates. Heck, I hate going to those giant southern buffets that serve fried fish, spaghetti, tacos, collard greens, and ham all right next to each other. The mix of smells kind of put me over the edge. I was a tad bit concerned about how I would handle mushing up all those veggies, but I did okay until I added a bit of tuna to make it more appetizing for the girls. That almost made me lose it. I think I made enough for at least a month, so the next time out maybe they will like the veggie goo without the fishy smell.

The girls thought mom hung the moon as I went to the fridge at 5:30 am to serve breakfast. They handled their chicken back meal easily. It took them about 5 to 7 minutes to finish and they have been satisfied all day so far, something I was a bit concerned about. Also, no upset tummies. This is the first day of a lifestyle change and not a fad diet.

Maybe my mastering of the veggie goo will allow me an honorary membership into the mad scientists club. While I won't sit with them at their lunch table, I'm thinking my stomach may be more iron-clad after a few more weeks of feeding raw meat and organs. Then again, let's revisit this if I ever get the nerve to serve up a plate of green tripe.

Sweet Dreams

I was eight years old when the movie Gremlins was released. For weeks prior to the opening night of the movie I cuddled with my fluffy Gizmo at bedtime and enjoyed my books on record (which came in my Hardee's kids meals) on my Fisher Price record player. I couldn't wait to see this film. Well, 1984 suddenly became the year of sleepless nights for my family thanks to my night terrors which ensued after seeing this horror movie which was so keenly marketed to children. To this day I cannot watch this film without having a bad dream.

It got me thinking the other night about my girl's dreams. If your greyhounds are like mine, they are vocal dreamers. When they are dreaming there are little yips and barks that creep out of their bared teeth. Their ears flick up and down. Their legs twitch. Their tails wag. Their eyes roll around inside their heads (See Seka's demon look to the right). Upon occasion, their dreams have awaken me from a dead sleep.

I always assumed that my pups had only good dreams. That all those dreamy barks came from their visions of chasing bunnies through fields of clover on a sunny day. I suddenly realize that this may not be the case. Seka could easily be dreaming of me trimming her toenails. Roxy could be reliving whatever it was that makes her do that submissive thing she does. I can only hope that all the wonderful and fun things that I do with my girls day in and day out provide more good dreams than bad.

The first step in having sweet dreams is being warm and snuggly. Most of the time, Seka sleeps bed with us. But Roxy sleeps on her bed in the floor and we keep it a bit cool in our house. I ordered little miss skinny mini a pair of four-legged jammies from Pam at Cozy Coats and More. These arrived in the mail today and I immediately put them on our tiny girl for a fashion show. Roxy was a flash of pink as she celebrated her new found warmth with a speedy lap around the backyard. Like a little kid in a new favorite outfit, she won't let me take them off of her. Seka keeps looking at Roxy as she prances around the house with mixed emotions - a tad bit jealous and a tad bit happy that she isn't wearing them.

While Gremlins is forever banned within 500 feet of my personal space, I am going to have to assume that the girls' dreams so far have been good. There's not been any jumping up and screaming in the middle of their naps. Running into my arms in a blind fit of terror in search of protection from the imaginary creature lurking in the room. Nor have they flat out refused to go to bed in fear of what they may find behind their eyelids. Unless the bunny in their dreams turns around and begins to chase them, I think we should be okay.

I Wana Be Sedated

Every greyhound person who has ever taken their pups out in public has heard crazy comments - and usually it's directed toward their dog.

There are the classic comments including, "What a beautiful great dane?" and "I've only seen gray greyhounds."

The less tactful usually say to the dog itself like, "Don't they feed you enough?" - this one is obviously directed at Roxy in our family.

And who can forget my all-time favorite comment that came from a nice mountain man as we walked Seka on the Greenway Trail in Boone, NC, who plainly asked - "Is that there one of them high-speed dogs?" Why yes it is.

I thought I had heard it all when it came to comments about my greyhounds from strangers. That was until the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens this weekend. SEGA has had a Meet n' Greet booth at the Steeplechase for several years now and this year we had 18 greyhounds in attendance. This event is a lot of fun for both humans and hounds. Food, wine, lots of people who love to love on the dogs, wine, a beautiful location, wine, incredible horses jumping hedges at incredible speeds - did I mention the wine?

I think it might have been the wine that lead to one of the most unbelievable comments about our dogs. Our SEGA tent was set up next to the Terrier Races. Yes, 30 or more Jack Russel Terriers barking, yapping, jumping, going nuts in general for about 4 hours straight and all the while our dogs are just relaxing and napping or greeting people without a sound. So as you can imagine, it was quite the juxtaposition between the two breeds.

While talking to a couple about our dogs, the woman said, as plainly as if she was asking if they had fur, "Do you guys have your dogs sedated?" I had to ask her to repeat herself, as I was afraid I misunderstood her. I mean who would think 16 people would drug up 18 dogs and bring them out in public? But she repeated her question and anxiously awaited an answer.

I almost told her that the only sedation that occurred here was for the owners, but I took the high road (don't ask me why). Maybe she just wanted to be as relaxed and carefree as our dogs. To be laying 20 feet from yippee dogs without her nerves standing on end. To nap for hours as people peek at her in a little pen. Maybe she wanted to know what we sedated them with so she could get some for herself. Why else would someone ask such a question? Congratulations, lady - that one will be recorded in the greyhound book of stupid questions!