o meaty thighs

O meaty thighs,

how I love that u help me run and play,

but maybe one day u could deflate just a little,

so my hiney paws know what it is like to touch the ground when I sleep. :) 

here comes gassy boo boo

The tiny orchestra that is tiny chumley's little tushie has been warming up lately.  A soft serenade of barely perceptible little tweeees and pfwooOOooOooops that sometimes make themselves known more boldly in other ways, thanks to the smattering of new Fromm kibble that I thought we should start slowly mixing in to his regular food this week before we run out of it.  From my perspective, with any luck, the musical score for this transition will be a short one, but I know a certain little gassy boo boo who would be more than happy if this were the never ending soundtrack of his life.

hee hee, mom, is there any way we can wait til school starts to change my kibble? i am pretty sure i can create three new notes and at least two new octaves by then! :) :)

soon 2 b delicious

oooOOOOooOoOoo! mom, I can help u eat that no problem!! :)

turkey chicken whole grain barley whole grain brown rice and wholegrain oats

We were a team, tiny chumley's kibble and I. One half cup of kibble twice a day and all would be well.  Shiny coat, bulky lean muscle mass, and firm, dog and duk museum quality stools.  Sure there were couple of recalls a few years ago, but you learned from that, right? I forgave you. tiny chumley forgave you. But I guess that wasn't enough. 

Researching alternate kibble brands for the little kielbasa wasn't exactly on the radar for things to do this past weekend, but news that tiny chumley's brand was discontinued meant that was exactly what we had to do.  The good news is that there are plenty of four and five star options available nowadays, and the not so great news is that there are plenty of four and five star options out available nowadays. From the ingredients themselves to their sourcing, to where the kibble is made and its nutritional analysis, and to even the kind of facility in which the kibble is made, there are a lot of factors to consider and prioritize.

To narrow the field down a bit and minimize disruption to the little kielbasa's digestive tract, we started with a look at ingredients, hoping to keep them as close as possible to his current food so that the transition won't be confused by the addition of novel ingredients like tapioca and potatoes and non-chicken and or turkey based primary meats.  (I know, it's a little confusing since tiny chumley is so obviously holding tight to his score sample bag of potato and duck food in the picture below, but I think random treat snackie food, which is how we will use this, is different than regular daily eat a lot of it food. if you know what I mean, as Baxter would say, and ps do not tell duk duk about the duk food, he most definitely would also say.)  

After sitting on the floor yesterday perusing ingredients at the little kielbasa's favorite pet store, we narrowed the list down to specific recipes from Wellness, Merrick, Candidae, Fromm Family and perhaps one from Lotus.  Now comes the hard part, working in the gray zone of cross referencing whatever info might be available online with the differences in fat and protein and other nutritional content data, to come up with the one we should transition test.  I am pretty sure tiny chumley himself won't mind whatever we pick, but I do hope his little body will be just as agreeable, for many many years to come. :) 

u know what :)

It's been rather busy this week in top secret makey world, learning and researching stuff and juggling the progress on multiple projects, all while tiny chumley spends his days as he usually does, sometimes helping me, sometimes sleeping in the sun, sometimes eating and digging, and of course barking, and sometimes plotting his own little top secret adventure with his merry little band of toyfriends. :)

...hee hee so we are agreed. this weekend we will finish digging the backyard mega pit and start filling it with u know what so we can u know what in time for u know what so u know what can u know what. unless it u know whats, in which case we u know what by the u know what so we can u know what. any questions? :) :)

wooty hoo :)

dear diary,
yesterday a special package came in the mail from my friend miss debbi and words cannot even express mom and dad's glee at what was inside, or mine either because looky - she sent us a lovely doxie pin, and a card that was addressed to mom and dad but had a super secret howdy message on the outside that I know was just for me.  u know, from one wolf to another. one lucky wolf to another, I should say. especially since that pin she gave us? he is totally holding purpley pink flowers which everybuddy knows is the universal secret stand over there or suffer the stink of purple flowers sign. so when mom wears it and I am by her side, no worries on walkies!

well diary, I have to go so I can ask dad if he can help me write a proper thank u note to miss debbi and then I am going to ask duk duk if he wants to pedal with me 2 the store so we get the gummy worms he owes me back and a frame for our Wolf card so we can hang it in our heat cave.

toodleydoo!
b :) 

wolf and little wolf

...and this, Hank, is a poopie snake I made just last week. i would say it is a grade A/b on account of the corn specks and eye watering pungent aroma,  but u can see physically that it is a little short on account of the fireworks that night if u know what I mean. oh and if u can, if u want to keep your snakes museum quality like this one,, try to poop inside, or as close to the house as u can. and never ever poop on a walkie.  u might think your mom is doing u a favor by picking them up and bagging them nicely, but nopies, u will never see them again.  now, next on our lessons for little puppies agenda is interacting with girls and for that we will need Cassie and our cootie suits...

front seat driver

well, okay maybe I would need just a few big books to sit on but see mom, I can steer just fine. and duk duk is really good with the brakes and the gas plus dad's car is air conditioned so that way our gummy worms will not melt like they would if we took the pedal car. :)

giant blueberry

the little dachshund sat patiently, trying his best to ignore the racing putter patter of his heart, and the twitchy twitch twitch his curious wet nose.  there was no need to rush, he knew.  soon enough, he delicious giant blueberry would be in his tummy, and that would be the end of that. :)

haffie horn honn hthuh hob hay

uh, hood humbuffee het hmee hown hweethz? 

 

laundry day

 pheeeew-wee, duk duk, u were right. "and I thought they smelled bad...on the outside!!". hee hee, I wish the next dryer load would hurry up and finish so we can cover our back door and quadruple our stink power. :)

baxter and duk duk's tiny tales for little puppies: pop! (part 1)

the little dachshund could not believe his luck.  there before him it lay, a tiny kernel of unpopped popcorn. the little dachshund had always heard popcorn pop, and he had always smelled popcorn pop, and he had even tasted delicious popped popcorn, but he had never ever actually seen popcorn actually pop. and so the little dachshund patiently waited, waiting for his tiny popcorn kernel to pop...

sunny with a chance of dirt balls

Some little wolves have yet to discover their passion in life, but this little wolf has most definitely discovered his. :)

we built an outdoor sink :)

A few months ago I was wandering around in the Habitat for Humanity Restore, minding my own business, when right there before my eyes was a Kohler stainless steel drop in sink.  Not just any sink, mind you, but one where one of the basins actually looked long enough to accommodate all of tiny chumley's enlongated cuteness without him having to curl into a donut.   And, it was only five dollars. Five dollars! Clearly, this was a message from the shopping gods. All I had to do come up with a plan,  wait for all the other stuff I needed to show up at the Restore and blammo, tiny chumley's make shift paw washing station would be upgraded to the ergonomic outdoor sink of my dreams.

Of course, it didn't quite work out that way.  Research and planning took forever, and apparently treated wood doesn't show up that often at our Restore, or galvanized pipe for that matter (though ebay does so, yay for pipe fittings by mail!).  And amongst other things, I learned you sometimes have to go to three different Lowes on three different days to find a working pipe cutter machine, a Kreg Jig really is handy, and friends with drill presses are indeed very valuable friends.  Yeah, the shopping gods didn't exactly give me a simple quick and easy project,  but what a super cool project it turned out to be. And yes...just in case you were wondering...

tiny chumley fits perfectly. :)

 

hee hee mom, since we are outside and all, after we wash my paws do u think it would okay if me and duk duk filled the sink all the way to the top and played 20000 poops under the sea? :) 

just another wolfy wednesday

rooooh ri ron't row...ruffing raybe? :) 

sprinkles with a chance of stinky

mom, the next time we go walkies in the rain, could we just, u know, not? :) 

psst pass it on: tiny pooper doots on monday and thursday :)

 wait, what? no okay, i am ready, mom....extra extra, poop all about it - super cool tiny pooper poop bag dispener and snackie holders, one litter of eight and one litter of nine, soon to be in my mom's etsy shop, just look below for details! extra extra poop all about it - plan your summer adventure and never worry about leaving your poop behind again, extra extra poop all about it!

 

hee hee, that's right my friends, now all u need to do while u r waiting for either doot is 

a) mark your calendars and set your alarms and

b)work on your let's go for a walkie stare. u know, like this..

 good lucky luck and i hope u have a wonderful weekend! :)

and now a word from my stinky neighbor friend cassie

Hello my friends, it's me, Baxter, your roving rover reporter, reporting to you today about a super cool toy I was sent to review from my friends at chewy.com. Only, I could not review the toy because it is a pull toy and, well, u know, my neck and all. So, I asked my next door neighbor friends the little misses and Cassie if they would help, and lucky for me they said yes, and that they would even do it from way over there. 

So this is Cassie. You remember Cassie, right?  Big, slobbery, panty one and a half year old girl dog who is still learning how to stand over there?  This is what she looks like when she thinks she is going to get a snackie.

And this is what she looks like when she is actually going to get a snackie, which happens to be piece of her gimungous kibble, which I really admire.  The size of her kibble I mean.  Not her. Although she is not bad for a friend who is a girl. Anyhow you can tell she really really really wants that snackie because she is doing her best perky ears and sit.  Remember that because we will get back to that in a moment.

Now this is the very cool toy Cassie will be reviewing.  It is a Kong Rope Squezz. I forgot to measure it before Cassie slobbered all over it but here you can see how it compares to the piece of paper I used to print the review form I made for Cassie to fill out.  The Kong Rope toy is made from a nice woven rope and I would say mid grade durable bitey parts (less durable than a Kong Toy but more durable than a toyfriend) and a cushioney handle.  Overall I'd say based on these materials, it is meant to be an interactive, actively supervised toy and not one u just let your dog chew on and destroy in a minute, because u know, that's what toyfriends are for.










So back to Cassie and her review.  This is Cassie when u squeak the ballie part of the tug toy.  Yep, I'd say she really really really really wants it, dontchoo? Cuz she totally has her snackie face on.   So as Khan would say, "shall we begin?"

Cassie and the little misses played tug and toss and tug, tug, tug for almost and hour and even though the little misses were very tired, Cassie had so much fun that you could tell she would have very much liked to have played longer. 
.

So here are the pros of the Kong Rope Squezz:
1) Soft cushioned handle for the human side allows for extended playing time
2) Easy to grab squeaky ball for dog side
3) If your dog is a hanger on like Cassie is and you need to do some bicep curls, then u pretty much can do your arm workout and play with your dog at the same time
4) It is heavy enough to be chucked pretty far in the yard if u want some rest in between tugs of war
5) Super for any dog who likes interactive play, and does not have to worry about neck or spine issues.

And the cons?
1) As with any tug toy, probably not the best thing for a weenie dog to play with as a tug toy. 
2) Probably not the best use of toy money for a dog that would prefer to just kill a toy (like moi) rather than be in a tug of war with it. 

And how would little miss Julia rate it?

So that's it my friends. If you know a dog that likes their toys on the tuggier side of things, then this toy is definitely for them. And if you happen to order yours from chewy.com, it will get to your house in a flash.  This is Baxter your roving rover reporter wishing you the most wonderful of Wednesdays :)

we so luckee

ooooOOoOoOooOOoooo!! delicious snackies!! boy that sure was nice of miss pam and bailey to send us this package, wasn't it, duk duk? sometimes i think we are the luckiesy dog and duk in the whole world!

and looky - they even sent us more awesome poop bags refills so we can fill our next litter of tiny pooper poop bag dispenser and snackie holders! 

hee hee, "chasing baxter".  like u would really have 2 do that if u were gonna give us a bag of poopie. we'd be like just standing there saying, "yes please, fork it over", right duk duk?

yeppies. we should totally write miss pam and bailey a very nice thank u card today. well, maaaybe just after..

last one to eat eleventy threeve snackies is a rotten poopie snake!! :) :)

summer vacation: dia uno

hee hee hee, u got that right, duk duk.  all we need 2 do is find a trampoline and -- oh, hi mom. what's that? o, just getting ready to, um, well u know, mom...do nothing in particular really. :)