Dog Bath

Question: What's the most pitiful animal face you've ever seen?

Answer: This one

Seriously. My dog hates baths. Not like "Tries to escape and you have to chase him around the bathroom" hates, but more like "Gives you the sad eyes and wimpers" hates. He's really not into this getting clean thing and he's not shy about telling us. See?

 (P.s. Please overlook the dirty bath tub. So of that is his dirt and some is mine but I always wait until after I bathe him to clean it.)

Growing Puppy

Judah is getting so big! They grow up so fast!

We try to walk as often as the weather allows. Can't wait for winter to be over so we can really start training for our furry 5k.

He's Here!

Judah's finally here! He's perfect! So soft and sweet and good natured. We're so thrilled and can't wait to get him trained. He's going to be our walking/jogging buddy and we hope to get him into a doggy 5k next year.

Craft: Unstuffed Dog Toy

You don't need a fancy unstuffed dog toy to make your dog happy while keeping your house and your dog's g.i. tract clean of cotton batting. I made one today and it only cost me fifty cents. Purchase your stuffed animal at Goodwill, Dollar Tree, or a similar discount store.

Unstuffed dog toy

You will need:
1 Stuffed Animal
A Needle
Thread to match

Directions:

First remove all small item from the animal such as bows, t-shirts or hats. Carefully remove a seam from your stuffed animal. I took the back out of mine. Remove all the stuffing you can reach.



Then turn the animal inside out and carefully remove all the stuffing (and silica if present) from the head, arms and legs.

Once the stuffing has been removed turn the animal right side out and gently hand-wash the animal. I wouldn't use anything stronger than dish detergent. Rinse thoroughly and lay flat to dry. 

Carefully sew the seam back together and give it to your buddy. Enjoy hours of throwing the animal across the room and letting your pal bring it back.

(Doesn't look too pleased to be unstuffed! But he's still super cute!)

Only 1 more day till Judah comes...

Judah Shopping and Homemade Dog Biscuits

We went shopping this week for Judah necessities. We got him a collar with a tag, a leash, a Kong ball, a "Crazy Critter" and a tennis ball.

I keep holding the little collar (UK blue of course) and staring at that little tag with his name and our phone number engraved on it. I like the little jingle sound it makes. I keep imagining his little head poking through  that collar and the little tag jingling while he walks. I am so exited about this puppy.

We've also been shopping for dog treats and found that we can make them for much less than we can buy them for at the pet store. I'm also fond of the idea of knowing what he's eating. (I always talk about being an organic mom someday and making my baby's food myself.) They can be made any size and shape so they can be made to fit into the Kong ball we got him. Here's a recipe that Reeve found online that we will probably end up using to make Christmas treats for all the dogs we know.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:
1/2 C Peanut Butter
1/4 C Honey
1 T Virgin Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
1 C Chicken Broth
1 C Rolled Oats
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C All-Purpose Flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, honey, oil and chicken broth. In a separate bowl combine flours and oatmeal. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Place dough on floured surface. Roll and press dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Use a bone-shaped cookie cutter (or cookie cutter of your choice) to cut into shapes.  Bake on parchment paper for 14-16 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool.
(Taken from: http://acozykitchen.com/homemade-dog-treats/)


I'm going to keep looking for more recipes for dog treats. Perhaps I'll try these out on Matilda first to see if they are good. I'll post more recipes as I find them.

Only 2 more days till Judah comes...

Meet Judah!

Meet Judah everyone!

Judah is a Canaan Dog. His breed is native to Israel and the Negev Desert.  He will be joining our family next month, just before Christmas.

A little about Canaan Dogs:
Canaan dogs have been around for centuries. The ancient Israelites used these dogs for herding livestock. Paintings of dogs believed to be Canaan Dogs have been found that date back as far as 400 BC.
Scientists began domesticating Canaan Dogs in the 1930's. They captured the wild dogs and found them to be easily trainable and highly adaptable. They were used in WWII to detect land mines and proved more effective than mechanical devices.

Canaan Dogs were introduced in the United States in the 1960's and accepted into the AKC in the herding group in 1997.

Why a Canaan dog?
When we started thinking about getting a dog we started taking tests online to see which breed was best for us. We both kept having the Canaan dog show up in our top three. We had never heard of the Canaan before so we started looking into the breed. Upon studying this unique dog we decided a Canaan was the perfect breed for us. Canaans are exceedingly intelligent and can learn up to 200 individual commands. They make excellent family dogs and are very protective of their family.

Why Judah?
A strong Israeli dog needs a strong Israeli name. Judah is one of the twelve tribes of Israel as described in Genesis. He was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah and his name meant “Praise.” King David was decended from Judah and so was Jesus. We threw around about 100 names and researched the peoples of the Negev and finally we settled on Judah.  


About our Judah:
Judah is three months old a weighs 15 pounds. Full grown he will stand about 24 inches at the shoulder and weigh 50 pounds (Almost as large as, and similar in appearance to a white German shepherd.) We are expecting him to arrive about a week before Christmas and we can’t wait!

Can’t wait for you to meet our Judah!

Puppy!

We have been searching for a puppy for quite some time now. We knew we wanted a Canaan dog, an ancient Israeli herder. We wanted a male, and a solid white or white and fawn one (without any black on him.) We knew we wanted a big hearty dog - not some spindly little thing. And we had a price limit - under $500. This is asking a lot, since most Canaans are black and white and sell for about $1500.

I was praying feverishly for God to send us the perfect pup and then, yesterday, I got the email. A woman in Illinois has a three month old, solid white male that needs a home. He can't be sold at full price because his tail has an extra kink in it and doesn't curl up like it should. He weighs 15 pounds (at only 3 months!) and will probably top out around 50 pounds (about 3/4 the size of a full-grown male german shepherd.) And the best part is that he is well under our price limit!

And this woman has bred 76 litters of Canaans already! In fact, she is the one who sold JFK Jr.'s dog, Friday, to him.
I got to talk to her on the phone yesterday and I think we are all thrilled that this baby is coming home with us! We can't wait to go get him!
We haven't been able to think of a name for this sweet little boy, but I'm sure one will come in time. (Leave your suggestions in the comments below!)
I'll post more as I know more. Looking forward to meeting him.