Raw Food Diet, Day 198- Paranormal Crate

Spooky things have been happening around here lately.My mom is not a good sleeper.  Scratch that.  She's an awful sleeper.  And I would know because on occasion she'll peek into my crate in the wee hours of the morning.  But lately she hasn't been getting up and walking about as usual during the restless nights.  Instead she stays tucked in safe and scared.  

She's been seeing things.

For a few nights last week, mom would wake and see a dark, shadowy-looking thing in the bedroom, vertical and about the hight and width of a grown man.  Just a haze that's a few shades darker than the rest of the room.  Sometimes, if the bedroom door was open, mom would look out and see the shadow near the kitchen island.  It never moved.  Just stood.  It would be missing some nights and visit for just a short time on others.  Sometimes we hear bumps in the night.  These make me cry softly from my crate.

We live in an old old building.  So old that tourists visit just to take a look.  Nineteenth-century old with wonderfully cold marble floors.  It's old.  So maybe there are ghosts here.

A few days ago mom left her digital camera on the kitchen island.  It was off and had been off for hours.  Until it turned on.  We heard it sing its little chime as the lens came forward and the lights lit, and it focused on the white of the ceiling.  Mom turned it off and put it in a drawer.

For a few weeks, not every night but every so often, the TV would turn on.  Everyone would be in bed.  Doors would be closed.  Remotes put away.  Quiet.  And then the TV would turn on, loud and bright in the other room.  Sounds of infomercials and nonsense.

It was yesterday, late morning, while mom was working on the computer and I was crying and whining out in the den.  Crying and whining and crying.  I was terrified, and mom didn't know why.  I moved nervously about and would stop suddenly, slamming my bum to the floor in a Sit, licking my lips like I do when I'm stressed and making little noises with my throat.  I would peer around the corner of the island and run to the windows on the other side of the room.  Cry and whine.  More bum slamming and lip licking.  When I worked up the courage again I'd take another gander around the island and run, this time to my crate.  I wedged myself inside and shut the door as I am somehow able to do and kept myself safe inside for well over an hour.  When I eventually emerged my tail was tucked between my legs and I was frightened of the island.  One last peek around and I calmed down.  

There was nothing there.  Not this time.

Raw Food Diet, Day 197- Deep Thoughts by Stanislaw #7

A Sofa with Secrets

So last weekend, I invited some humans friends over to play with me for a few days.  It turned out that they wanted to do sleepies in my territory and I said, "Okay, you're welcome to snuggle with me in my crate."  My humans had a different idea.  

Apparently my friends were going to do sleepies in the living space of my territory.  That's when all of a sudden my napping couch turned into a human-size bed crate!  This absolutely blew my mind.  I thought I knew everything about my napping couch since I spend a lot of time there, but apparently it is a transformer.  

As you can probably understand, this scared me for a while and I hid in my own crate.  I was still interested in what was going on, so after a while I came out to investigate.  That's when I realized that couch transformations could be an opportunity for me to jump on a human bed!

I flung my body onto my couch (now a bed) and realized it was as comfortable as a human sleeping crate, complete with human-smelling pillows and blankies!  I decided that this was the place I was going to stay.  However - like when I jump onto the main human crate - I was forced off by my people and made to sleep in my own bed.  The next day, the couch bed was gone and my napping sofa was back to normal.  I sniffed around for the bed that was inside of it, but could not find it.  I haven't seen any sign of it since.

This may sound weird, but I think that my couch is magic.

In the image above, you'll see our buddy Henry (right) and Big Pupi's girlfriend, Lilly (top).  The third dog is a mystery...

Raw Food Diet, Day 196- A Little Bit of This, and a Little Bit of That

Hey dog bloggerinis!  Stanislaw here.  Just chillin' and being as tiny as possible.

This morning Big Pupi and I went on a fast hunt through the public gardens.  He was so into running and I was so into naughty-ing.  There were squirrels and rabbits!  I just couldn't concentrate.  I think Pupi and mom dragged me half the distance.  I got to take in the view!  

During the trip home, a wee cairn terrier magically appeared right in our running path and since he was a super friendly guy mom stopped for a moment so we could say our Hellos.  He was attached to his human on an extendable leash, and even though his woman knew he was in the middle of two other dogs she kept walking ahead.  Our leashes got tangled, and the stinky poo-head lady never stopped to help!  The other dog's leash got wrapped around Pupi's ear, and that's when Mrs. Jerkface, who was still walking on ahead and watching, decided to give it a harsh tug.  Pupi squealed and reared back, starting a fight between the terrier and himself.  They were stuck!  Mom eventually managed to separate them and send the extendable leash snapped back at Bratty McBratface who never said a word and continued on her way.  Mom had some choice words for this evil human but said them only to us.  I can't type them here.  Can you tell that we're a little bitter?

In the end Pupi's ear wasn't badly hurt but he was on edge and barked and snarled at each dog we passed for the rest of the run.  Mom was fed up and we cut our run short and went home for some feasting.  After all that excitement I now find myself all tiny and warm on the sofa.  Pupi is all leggy and snoozely on the armchair.  I guess it all ended okay.

In other news, I've made a snood debut on the snood-maker's website!  She apparently found my makeshift dishtowel snoods "comical."  You all know that I don't take anything to do with feasting lightly!

Okay, so maybe I do look a little silly with my ears missing.  But if it must be done to get my chicken necks, then it must be done.  I can deal.

In yet MORE exciting news, Pupi and I are the oh-so proud recipients of more awards!  From Nottie Scottie, the handsome little devil, we've been given the Best Friend Gold Card!  Big Pupi did say that he wanted a credit card!  But we all know that friends are better than anything money can buy.  Thanks NS!
I guess we've made some pretty great buddies since we've started blogging, because from Rudolph and Goofy we received the Friendship award!
Thanks guys!  And the pup in the award image has ears like we do!  We're feeling very special today indeed.

Well, these awards need to be passed on, but after our fiasco this morning mom is running late and will need to do her research at a later time.  It can be tricky trying to figure out who's received the awards already and who hasn't!  So we'll get back to this soon.  Until then...

Happy hunting,

Tasty feasting,

Successful Naughty-ing!

Stanislaw

Raw Food Diet, Day 195- The End of a Birthday Weekend

***

Big Pupi typing away again:

So now that I'm officially the man of the house (Stanislaw remains the only young lad around these parts), I feel that I'm old enough to have certain privileges.  Like a doggie door.  Or a credit card.  My humans say NO to both, but they have a human door and meat-buying cards!  So not fair.  

Anyway, to continue my birthday tale from my last post, we did as you'd expect... we had vanilla ice cream!  Stan and I couldn't keep our tongues in our mouthes at the sight and smell of that creamy deliciousness.

We snarfled our creamy feasts down super quick, and mom even let me chew on the bowl until there was nothing left but birthday bowl confetti.
I was waiting to be showered with birthday gifts, but instead my uncle and grandpa came to visit!  They brought with them plenty of belly rubs and they even let me snoozel on their human crates that magically appeared in the living room and office!  Sweetness.  They even insisted on taking us all for a nice walk to Lake Michigan and they let us lap water from the human water fountain!  These guys were super cool.

It was very sad for Stan and me to see them go early Sunday morning.  They didn't stay very long and we kept begging our humans to let us keep them.  Please dad?  Can I keep Uncle?  They dragged their bags out the door barely after sun rise.  It was also on this morning that dad got up before the sun and put on his fast hunting gear.  Was he taking Stanislaw and me for an early hunt?  No, he wasn't.  Stan screamed in protest from his crate.  Dad had another early morning where he had to go deal with that beast called Race... the one named "Half Marathon."  Mom was supposed to go as well but she hurt her knee and wasn't allowed to fight the monster.  I guess dad did okay because he came home without a scratch on him!  And there's always lots of feasting when our humans get back from battling with Race.  So it was a sad morning but in the end it turned out a-okay.

To get back on the topic of my birthday... throughout the weekend my birthday gifts had trickled in.  First up was this fabulous and insanely generous gift from Stanislaw's girlfriend Paris.  She sent it along as a double birthday treat for Stan and me to share since our special days are so close.  This was definitely the best gift a pup could hope for~

Stan and I know what it's like to be down on our luck, to not get the love we need, the medical care we need, or the food we love (and need)!  And anything that goes out to help another pup that finds itself in a bad spot sure makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I mean, we are a pair of seriously spoiled pups now, and don't we all deserve to be spoiled?  We know that every donation makes a difference, and so we couldn't be any more thankful for this gift.  Thanks a billion paws over Miss Paris Rain!  (Did anyone notice the handsome black cocker spaniel in that photo?!  Fabulous feasting!)

Now in more selfish news, Stan and I got some pretty rad offerings from our humans for my special day.  Turns out that my folks traded in their wonderfully lumpy, human-scented pillows for a fresh new set.  I have to say that I like how their minds work and in true "waste not, want not" fashion they gave their old pillows to Stanislaw and me.  He immediately took to the one that smelled like dad.  He tried to work on Good Boy Chews on there, but just couldn't keep himself from burying his face in the bumpy softness of eau de dad.
I, on the other paw, immediately found mom's old pillow and curled up nice and tiny to make sure that my entire body was resting on something soft.  My humans call this my "prince and the pea" routine.  They think it's funny that I like to rest my fanny only on the softest of things.
Stan started getting a little warm lying on the pillows but he really didn't want to remove himself from the coziness completely, so he stretched out nice and long and left half of his body on the pillow, the other half on the cool wood floor.
Before the night was over our humans put our new pillows in our crates and wrapped them around with our fleece blankies.  Stanislaw and I didn't make a peep the whole night... and mom would know because she wakes up for everything - even our late-night digging and reconfiguring of our crate blankies.  But no, tonight we stayed put and didn't so much as wiggle a floppy cocker ear.  

Man, birthdays are the best!  How much longer 'til my next one?

Big Pupi

Raw Food Diet, Day 192- One Whole Paw Plus a Dewclaw

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Big Pupi gets the blog today!

Ladies and gentlemutts, today I am celebrating a very special day.  You see, this very day is my made-up birthday and my humans are guesstimating that I'm about 4 toes and a dewclaw years old.  

Three years ago, over the Fourth of July holiday, I magically and mysteriously showed up at the shelter.  Twenty-four hours later, my foster mom came and saved me and I partied in her home with all of her super fun pups.  It was some time in the first 1/2 of August that I moved in with my humans, and it's been fun and feasting ever since!  So, the combination of my early August adoption, plus the fact that my mom's lucky number is 8... that's how I got to have this special date as my special day.  Sweetness!

My day started off with my favorite:  a run to the bark park and then some tennis ball fetching, kiddie pool wading and territory marking activities.  Unfortunately, our visit to the park didn't last long because a woman with 2 very large, very aggressive dogs showed up, hackles raised and looking for trouble.  Never the type of guy to back down from a fight, my mom got me (and Stanislaw) out of there ASAP.  We enjoyed a fast, hard run home and we got a great big birthday breakfeast.

ANATOMY OF A BIRTHDAY FEAST

I got extra canned salmon on mine.  It was so tasty!  After my feast I did my usual thrashing on the sofa and beating of my SingingChristmasTreeMouseToy, then I grabbed my lucky tennis ball and balanced it nicely on my chin rest.  Then it was snoozel time.  I'm hoping to dream of the vanilla ice cream that I know is heading my way later today!
Also heading my way today is a bath.  While I find this totally unacceptable on my birthday, I've been told that my grandfather and uncle (on my dad's side) are coming to visit this weekend and arrive tonight.  And you know what... I'm okay with smelling pleasing to humans if it means constant attention and forgiven attempts to snoozel on the pull-out sofa bed.  (That, my friends, will blow your mind.  More on the sofa bed another time.)  I've met these two humans before and let me tell you - they are totally game for the belly rubs.  I guess I can make it through a bath if it means I get 2 days'-worth of pets from 4 pairs of human hands!  Dad says that they're coming in for the Red Sox game, but I think they secretly wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday in person.  

Resting up for my celebration!

Big Pupi

PS- For those of you that asked, our grandmother got our snoods from here:

They also make super snazzy collars and harnesses!

Raw Food Diet, Day 191- Animail

There are rows and rows of clangy boxy things at ground level of my apartment building, and day after day my humans return to the same one. After our noon weebles outing, my mom will usually stop by this clangy box place and make Big Pupi and me Sit Like Good Boy while she opens the little door to the box and fetches shredding materials. Yesterday a soft and flat package emerged from this clangy box, and mom said it was for me! (...and Big Pupi, I guess.) As we were headed to the elevators, Lisa - a super cool lady that works in the lobby, gives me pets and lets me cool my belly off each day on her floor - told me that I had a package and handed my mom a little brown box. More mail for ME?!

I skipped all the way back to my home with excitement. What could it be?! Mom opened the soft package first, and pulled out two snoods! Turns out that she had been looking for snoods for a long long time, and our grandma located some and sent them along. Our ears dangle in everything and even though the fur gets trimmed right up to the leather, we still manage to get them filthy with feasts and other stuff humans don't like. Snoods keep our dangly lobes neatly tucked away. Well, up to now we had makeshift dishtowel snoods that had been fashioned with a hair elastic, but I like the real thing much better. I just so happen to look smashing in my new snood.

I guess Big Pupi looks okay in his too.
Big Pupi absolutely HATES to have anything slipped over his head, so it was a bit of a struggle to get that on him. Someone should tell him that he'll wear it when feasting! Then maybe he'll be a bit more cooperative. Speaking of feasting, I had to test out my new attire.
Great success!

After a quick snooded snack of dehydrated salmon, we opened the small brown box. Inside we found an order of supplements from B-Naturals.

First we got the Green Blend, which is a mix of alfalfa, irish moss, algae, spirulina, seaweed and other good stuff. This is a great way to get all your minerals, and you only need a teeny tiny bit each day. Also in the box was the Immune Blend, which is jam-packed with all sorts of vitamins, probiotics and digestive enzymes. It's flavored with chicken liver and when the jar was opened Pupi and I started whining because we wanted to eat it!
Each of our supplements and our digestive enzymes used to be given separately, but to make our people's lives a little easier they now only have to measure out a teaspoon of the Immune Blend for each meal and toss in a fish oil pill. Simple! And you all know how I feel about efficient feasting. I need my meals ASAP. The Immune Blend is great for any pups that could use an immune system boost, and since Pupi and I are such social boys about town our folks feel it's best to keep our systems in tip top shape.

As if the day couldn't get any better, mom disappeared for a while and came back with a bag smelling of deliciousness. I was disappointed to learn that it was human deliciousness, and it all went into cupboards and the meat locker for safe keeping. Well, not all of it went into human storage... mom got us canned salmon!
Pupi is a salmon fanatic and goes to town on his meals when there's a scoop or two of the fishies on top. Delish! It's very important to get a variety of proteins to ensure that we are exposed to a wide nutrient profile, and also to avoid the development of food allergies. This canned salmon is a super easy way to mix things up.*

In other non-feasting news, I want to give a big howl of appreciation to Momo and Pinot for the Daily Blogger award!
We may take the weekends off, but this is inspiration to get my humans to take down my dictations on Saturdays and Sundays as well. Lazy people! From one set of spaniels to another... we love it! If any of our blogging pals post more days than not, and if you haven't yet received this award, consider it yours! We'd love to pass it on.

Keeping my ears clean while snacking on salmon,

Stanislaw

***

Big Pupi has to add a comment:

I just wanted to remind any raw feasters -- fish that swim upstream to breed should NEVER be fed raw. They may contain a parasite, and if this parasite is infected with a rickettsial organism it will cause Salmon Poisoning Disease. These types of fish are only safe after thoroughly cooking, as this kills the microorganism. Dogs are the only species susceptible to the disease, so if your human loves sushi tell them not to worry, but also not to share any with you!

Vanilla ice cream, on the other paw, carries no parasites and is creamy deliciousness. I am counting down the seconds to my birthday tomorrow, and I've been eyeing that container of creamy feasting that my humans got for Stanislaw's birthday and saved for mine. I need candles and stuffies and belly rubs and a morning at the bark park and sleepies in the human crate and...

Raw Food Diet, Day 190- DIY Air Conditioning

Well folks, there's not much new going on here.  We had some super intense thunder storms this week and tornados out in Illinois.  I made sure to freak out my humans especially well by looking out the windows and howling whenever an emergency alert came on the TV.  Mom kept jumping out to look out the window.  Ha!  I have my people so well trained. 

It's been super humid and warm here, and any time I go out for weebles/bird hunting I wind up so steamy hot that I absolutely MUST cool my groin off on the lobby floors of my apartment.  They're marble and so fabulously chilly!  My folks have even begun to budget time into my walks so that I may spend a few minutes with legs askew making sure that I have as much surface area in contact with the floor as possible.

If they don't let me sprawl out on the lobby floor, I'll insist on getting some quality cooling time on my hallway floor.  It's not nearly as awesome, but sometimes it has to do.  Thank goodness that this shaved belly makes cooling off possible even on sub-par flooring.  
My morning walk was cut way short when mom saw lightening, and before we knew it mom, Pupi and I were all running home in the pouring rain.  You know that I love a good belly soaking, but not this way!  Since I still had so much energy to burn off I made sure to be especially helpful and destroyed a roll of paper towels, poked mom in the arm with my nose about a gazillion times, barked at my neighbor's barking, and zoomed around the apartment trying to get Pupi to play chase.  No luck, but zooming can be a great time on its own.  But when I was done with my races I was all hot again and pretended like I had a potty emergency so that I could go froggy style on the floor again.  Woohoo!

My groin is chilly,

Stanislaw

Raw Food Diet, Day 189- Death to Stuffy

Great success!  I killed my first stuffy!

Big Pupi never lets me destroy the stuffies.  And trust me.  I've tried.  However, for reasons known only to Pupi, he allowed me to do as I pleased with this purple bunny toy which was my Easter gift from grandma.  I worked slowly, cautiously.  First I removed his eyes which left a nice gaping hole in his head.  Then I realized with great joy that there was a whole world of bunny guts inside, complete with a squeaker!

I left bunny bits strewn about the apartment, and Pupi and I both enjoyed nibbling and shredding the guts into smaller and smaller puffs.  I guess he never before realized the full potential of a stuffy!  Look at how quickly his nubbly little tail is wagging.
We were allowed to shred and tear for a while, but once I completely deflated the bunny and removed its ears, mom took it and the precious squeaker away.  She said that they were going in the trash, but I really think that she saved them for dad to play with when he got home from work!  He's the kind of guy that would appreciate my hard work, and enjoy himself some squeaker chewing.
Well, the stuffy killing fun didn't last long and now Big Pupi is defending all the other toys as usual.  There may not be any more de-stuffy-ing for a while, but boy was it a good time!  It was also educational - now I know what's really inside those live bunnies I see outside that drive me so wild.  Just wait!  Some day I'll get me one of those and destuff him as well!

Bunny guts are fluffy,

Stanislaw

Raw Food Diet, Day 188- Ready, Aim...

Okay.  I'm going to be honest here.  I've got a little problem.

You see, I'm a manly beast of a dog, and as such I need to mark my territory on a regular basis.  The state of Illinois is a lot of territory to cover, and so it would be best if I were efficient in my efforts.  Big Pupi's got the marking skillz.  He can hit a pole 3 feet up if he so desires.  A blade of grass?  No problem.  A pebble that he finds particularly worthwhile?  Done.  Another dog's head?  Consider it the Property of Big Pupi.  As for me?  Well, it's another story.

My aim is less than adequate.  I get lucky sometimes, but more often than not I dramatically miss the fence I'd like claim is my own.  I can't hit a barn wall unless the wind blew in my favor.  Sure, I don't really concentrate enough to ensure accuracy.  Usually I weeble on the move, which requires a 4-paws to the ground posture so that I may continue to hunt birds and bits of bread left in the grass from helpful folks trying to fatten up my pigeons.  I don't get a whole lot of aiming practice, and when I do I try to walk while hoisting one knee to the heavens.  This, as I have recently learned, has dire consequences.  

I weebled on myself.  

I did.  I hit my front legs.  Both of them, above the knees.  My chest fell victim as well.  My dexterity did not impress my humans and they carried me into the apartment and plopped me straight into the tub.  There was no treat and no dignity.  I was soaped, scrubbed, rinsed and it was repeated many more times than I'm sure the shampoo bottle required.  I was scoured until I squeaked and all my manly smells swirled helplessly down the drain.  

Big Pupi, who had been locked inside the bathroom with me, was pulled from his hiding place and thrown into the place of cleanliness and girly smells.  He too was washed until his whites were white again.  Did I weeble on him too?  Sorry man.  Next up was a game with the hair dryer (we totally love the hair dyer) and a break from grooming while the Comcast man came into my territory to replace the human's cable box (for the third time).  I tried to harass him with my most ferocious barks, but how was he to know there was a beast in there without my doggy smells?!  Once he left we were attacked yet again by that dang buzzy thing and it stole, (yet again) my manly beard.  

Big Pupi opted for a new look this time around.  

Mom shaved a baby mohawk into his head.  It was partly inspired by Hero, who has the fiercest 'hawk of them all.  It's also a Rally Mohawk, which he hopes will inspire the Red Sox to pick up the pieces and fight their way to the playoffs.  They better clinch a playoff berth, or else Pupi gets another visit from the buzzy thing.
He thinks it's pretty sweet, but it needs to grow out some. 

As for me, I got my normal 'do, shaved belly and all.  It's been pretty hot out so I'm glad to be a bit more naked.  But now I've got to start working on getting back those manly smells again.  Another trip to the bark park should take care of that.
What I've really got to focus on is my territory marking skills.  If they had a class I would take it, but I probably wouldn't pay attention for more than 2 seconds.  I can't even make it through a weeble without getting distracted!  Oh the plight of an ADD cocker spaniel!  Poor me.  I'm going to go drown my sorrows in some string cheese.

Attending target practice,

Stanislaw

Raw Food Diet, Day 185- Bark Park Extravaganza

Mom actually remembered to bring her camera to the bark park yesterday morning, and so we got lots of photos of what we like to do when leash-less and beast-full.  

Check out territory.  Mark as necessary.

I'm a heavenly boy.  See my rays of light?  That's the reflection from my halo.

Every morning that we're at the park those Border Collie dogs are there.  They used to annoy me very much because they cramped my bark park style, but now I've come to really enjoy them.  They make for some sweet games of chase, and since I totally dig being chased their herding instincts have come in handy.  I make some hairpin turns and they're not able to stop me.  Instead they have to chase me around the park!

Shall we?

Seriously dude.  Herd me.  I dare ya.

I've been working on my "Border Collie Stare."

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

I'm so much faster and beastlier than my brother.

Big Pupi loooves to play fetch.

He actually brings the ball back to the humans!  Sucker!

As for me, I'm all about the....

KIDDIE POOL!!!

Icy cold water on my belly!

I ate a beetle on our way into the park, and I made sure to throw it up in my pool!

(Mom didn't get a picture of that.  Believe me - it was awesome.)

I'll even share my pool, but Big Pupi likes to weebles in it so mom kept having to dump it out.

Once I'm cooled off, running is super fun.  So is obeying mom when she makes me Come Sit because I get feasting treats!

Gravity's got nothing on me.

Beasts on the loose!

We worked our manly muscles and sprinted for quite a while before mom made us walk home.  I whined a bit when we left because I love the park so much, but I knew it was time for some breakfeast because my kiddie pool-chilled belly had started to rumble.  We feasted, we had our 30 minutes of zoomies, then I passed out and didn't wake again until lunch time.  Ah.  Park days are the coolest.

Cold water on my belly,

Feasts inside my belly,

Please rub my belly.

Stanislaw