Thursday, November 29, 2007

French Bones

We usually get a little "people food" mixed in with our evening kibble, but the "parents" may be eating something that's not canine-kosher. So sometimes "Dad" will whip out his "French Bones" recipe. It goes like this:

Ingredients (per dog)
  • one dog biscuit (we like Milkbones)
  • two eggs
Directions
Preheat a non-stick pan or griddle on medium, then turn the heat down to low. Drop in a little butter, then add the eggs. Snap the bones in half, and use them to break the yokes.

Fold the eggs over the bones, and flip the mixture over frequently to coat the bones and gently scramble the eggs. Cook until the mixture is no longer runny. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and chop the eggs into pieces. Mix into kibble and serve.
Adjust the ingredients (number of eggs and bones) to suit - these are Great Dane portions using the generous-sized bones.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Helping in the Garden


Sunbathing on the patio is already a guilty pleasure without watching "mom" working in the yard digging holes, dropping in plants, and pouring water on top. So now and then we try to help out with steps one and three. As "mom's" reaction to this aid is a little hard to figure out, we've found it best to do our gardening while not being watched, and maintain plausible deniability. Still, the way she's constantly replanting our favorite specimens, she must want to encourage more outdoor participation.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Path to True Happiness



One of our favorite adventures is a car ride, and when there's lots of preparation like water bowls and maps, we can hardly contain our excitement. Yesterday we ended up at a quiet parking lot in the mountains, where we all got out for a hike. It was a well-maintained trail (other than a few side trails "Dad" stumbled into) so we were able to lead the way and keep an eye out for danger - not to mention natural curiosities. Weather was perfect: cool breezes and warm sun. About the time we were getting pretty pooped out, we'd found the way back to the car and settled in for a quiet ride home. A tired pooch is a happy pooch.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Seed Capital



We share our outdoor domain with many other creatures, some of the most amusing being the birds that hang out at "Mom's" feeders. But we have to wonder how many boxes of Milkbones she could buy with the money spent on those big sacks of seed. It's not like Lesser Goldfinches are going to provide the crack security detail that we offer - heck, sometimes they just fly into a window. We haven't walked into a door in a long time. [So walking into a screen door doesn't count then? -- "Dad"]

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Another drip on the wall

Great Danes are near perfection in canine form - even the books describe our breed as "the Apollo of dogdom." [These two are more like "the Apollo 13 of dogdom." -- "Dad"] If really pressed, though, we'd have to admit that there's something a bit wonky with the lip design. No doubt it worked well for our ancestors, who needed a wide-open jaw for attacking bears. For civilized dogs like us... not so much. Effective drinking from a bowl is a particular challenge. Cosmo especially tends to leave almost as much goo in the bowl as he gets water down the throat. Fortunately our "parents" have learned to translate our look that clearly signals "I'm thirsty, but the water bowl is too gloppy" and proudly demonstrate this by refilling the bowl with fresh.

Still, there's the problem that not everything stays inside the mouth. So we've had to perfect the muzzle-drying technique of rapid oscillating rotations of the head. The best location for this activity would be in the hallway, where both walls are close by and blank-slate white. Cosmo's personal best mark reached 5 feet 4-1/2 inches above ground level. Perhaps one day this could be an Olympic exhibition sport.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

The Magic Bed


We both turned 50 (in dog years) recently - "Dad" says we'll be getting offers to join the American Association of Retired Pooches, but I think he's just trying to be funny. Anyway we still feel and look like young pups if you ask me. There are many factors to staying young, including choosing the right "parents", a healthy diet, and regular exercise.

And, of course, getting plenty of beauty rest. I've heard some dogs get to sleep on the bed with "mom" and/or "dad", but for a Great Dane? Get real. Anyway, who wants to get yelled at every time they start into a little snoring? So we got "mom" to make us some super-comfy beds, and we thought we'd share the simple, inexpensive design so you can ask your "folks" to fix you one too. Just give them that woeful look - you know the one - when they ask you to lay down on a hard floor or plain carpet.

Our beds are made from three layers:
  1. an "egg-crate" foam pad, about 1" thick.
  2. a "memory-foam" mattress pad, another 1" thick. This is especially good for big dogs like us, or anyone prone to joint problems.
  3. a blanket on top for softness and washability. We prefer solids or plaids, but hey, if you dig SpongeBob, we won't say a word.
Take your "parents" for a car ride to a Wal-Mart or similar store to pick all of these up. Have them cut the pads to size if necessary, then lay the blanket on top (folded in half if it's big enough), wrap it around the edges and tuck it in. That's it! Your job is to curl up on top of it and give a big sigh of contentment.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Woof, it works!

"Dad" is pretty smart, for a human. We got him to hack the WiFi router to pick up our thoughts when we stand next to the antenna just so. Run that through an industrial-strength spell checker and we're on-line and world wide!

We want to use our new corner on the web to pass out some expert advice, share adventures, and hopefully entertain you. If you haven't learned to read yet, get your people to spend some Quality Time reading our posts to you. They never get tired of stuff like that.