Life Would Be Easier Without Dogs. But I Like A Challenge.

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Kayla

A couple of days ago I found myself thinking life would be easier without dogs. Lana ate my work heels – these cute but pretty comfortable black Nine West wedges. I’d been wearing them every day, but when I went to dinner I forgot to pick them up off the ground. By the time I came back, there was no hope. I don’t even think a cobbler could fix them.

So, completely furious, I went to my boyfriend’s apartment. By the time I came home, Brody had gotten sick in his crate. I dragged the crate, including Brody, to my bathroom door so we could bathe him, and as the tub was filling, he threw up. Meaning, that mixed with… well, what wasn’t vomit. Worst. Mess. Ever.

Another brown stain on my carpet and some more vomit on my shoes and keys (I accidentally knocked them on the floor, what great timing), and I was pretty tired of dogs. Now, it’s not his fault he felt sick, that happens. Especially after heartworm treatment. But still, for a while I was trying to figure out why it was I insisted on having a revolving pack of dogs in my tiny apartment.

And then I ran across some pictures from a couple of weeks ago. Brody had been getting his treatment in Gainesville and Lana and I headed to a lake with some of our best human friends and their dogs. It was a blast, aside from the slight sunburn I got.

From this angle it’s a little hard to see, but on the left is Maggie the Pit bull from T emporary Home, Permanent Love and the middle two pups are Circus and Nala from Unsaid Yet Understood!

The dogs had a blast together!

And it was nice to see my friends, too. Though since I’m moving in a week, I’ve hung out with all three of my amazing co-workers/bffs (one not pictured here) more than normal. lately.

And of course the dogs love some human company.

And Lana learned she really loves swimming.

It was a pretty awesome weekend.

And that’s why I love my revolving pack of dogs. Days like that more than make up for my disturbing familiarity with stain removal techniques and my sad lack of shoes.

So this week in between stressing about packing and finding an apartment for Mike (that I will share when I come back from my internship in six months), I will count on my dogs to keep me laughing. And I will continue to be grateful for the friends I’ve met and/or grown closer to because of our shared passion for rescue.

I’d Like a Mother’s Day Gift or Two…

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Kayla

Yesterday I ran across an article in the online dog-lovers magazine, Keep the Tail Wagging, talking about Mother’s Day for “fur-moms”. This fur-momma gave a list of the best gifts her boyfriend could give her for Mother’s Day, as a way to say “thanks” for taking such great care of their pets. She ended it with the question: what would you want for “Fur Mother’s Day”?

Anything I want?! Well there’s so many things, I’m not sure where to begin.

No. I am sure.

Number 1: A few more pictures where my dog(s) and I BOTH look nice.

Kisses are nice, but a good picture would have been nicer!

Yes, I want a few more of these!

Number 2: It would be nice to hear how my previous fosters are doing.

I know they’re in happy homes, but I want a picture of them and their favorite toy, or them playing with their new siblings, or them “smiling”, because dogs do smile (Sierra was all smiles). Because I still love them.

Number 3: I’d love for Lana to not destroy something or go through my garbage, for like a week.

Yeah. I miss the days when it was just stuffing I had to clean up. Now it’s whatever I call “trash” but she decides is “treasure”.

Number 4: Maybe she could be a little less obnoxious at dinner, too.

I love her more than anything, but I don’t share food. Ever. Just ask my boyfriend. He nearly lost a hand when he stole the first cookie out of a box. THE FIRST COOKIE!!!

And number 5, the one I want more than all the rest combined: A home for Brody (maybe even someone I know?!).

A picture of Brody after finishing his heartworm treatment. He is still under observation at the vet’s office.

If you’re on our fan page, I’m sure you’ve already seen this image of Brody. The amazing Karen, the head of Aussie and Me, posted it on my Facebook wall on Friday. The vet’s office wrote the caption: Brody has gotten through his heartworm treatment and he will be staying a few more days at the vet’s office for monitoring. He had a visitor stop by to spend some time with him today and it is said that Brody just wasn’t his happy self. It was evident that the treatment has taken a toll on him. Feel better Brody and get some rest. You deserve to take the time you need.

Karen reiterated: Brody is having a tough time with his heartworm treatment but will be ok. He misses you very much. … He is really sad.

My poor baby boy. I’m not there to comfort him when he feels sick and alone. He misses us, and we miss him, too. And that’s just not a good thing to hear in time for Mother’s Day. Even if I’m not a “real” mother.

We miss this smile.

What mother doesn’t want the best for her kids? Of course I wish my home could be his forever home. But this is Mother’s Day, not Christmas. There are no miracles that would make that work. There are just long-awaited “thank you”s for a lifetime of love and devotion. Or, in the case of a foster mom, enough love and devotion to make up for the bad parts of their lives we weren’t able to fix and last until long after they are gone.

Brody Boy

They need us mothers and fathers. They are always thankful. They show us every day. Though Brody won’t be back until after Mother’s Day is over, every day will feel like Mother’s Day after he returns. Because that’s the kind of dog he is. He looks at you and you know he is grateful. You know he is devoted. He immediately finds a place in your heart and stays there. So next Mother’s Day, when he has a real “mom”, I’ll still think about him, just as I think about the others.

And I’ll also be grateful to the family who takes them into their home, to love him, to dote on him, to care for him until he dies.

What I really want for Mother’s Day is for Brody to find a family, and to thank each and every “mother” (and “father”) who has adopted one of my previous fosters. They may not be able to say Happy Mother’s Day, but I can.

Happy Mother’s Day to you, the women who love and cherish the fur-kids I used to raise.

We Want That! (Wednesday)

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Kayla

What do we want this week? Motivation!

I recently sat down and looked at my summer to-do list. RSVP to this, buy gifts for that, send back the textbook I rented, sell the ones I bought, dye my hair cotton candy pink (oh Hell yes!), and get my scuba certification. Too bad those last two will cost a pretty penny. And the scuba thing isn’t purely for fun, I actually need it to apply for the next Disney internship I’m working towards. I haven’t even started the College Program yet and I’m already planning the next one.

Oh and finding a cell phone plan that lets me get affordable internet (does that even exist?!), updating the blog, packing to move in just over 2 weeks, securing my summer volunteer positions….

And keeping Brody in my thoughts as he goes through his heartworm treatment.

So what else do we want? A break! Not from work, because I need the money. How convenient, because I’m getting more hours than I planned…

So my sanity break consisted of testing a new treat on Lana. I bought the Nylabone puppy pack which included one toy and one treat. They looked the same, and a bachelor’s degree in English does NOT mean I actually read things. I had assumed first of all that they were for dogs of all ages, and secondly that they were both treats and I could therefore give one to Brody. Boy did I get a nasty surprise when I bit into the first one.

Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t believe when they say toys/treats are “flavored” like things. They almost never taste anything like it, but I think companies believe nobody’s stupid enough to try it and call them out on it. I love proving people wrong.

Okay, the chicken one tasted like nothing. And the bacon one didn’t taste like bacon but at least it tasted like something. I wasn’t surprised that was the one Lana chose. Apparently that was also the edible one. She ate like two thirds of it in a minute. But, it’s not like she sticks her nose up at the ones that are made for chewing rather than eating. She just goes for food first. She takes after me.

This dog does not understand the concept of savoring. Then again, does any dog?

While the treat may have gone a little too fast, this is probably the fifth chew toy I’ve gotten for Lana from the Nylabone company and I’m always impressed. They last such a long time, they come in a variety of sizes and flavors, and they help clean dogs’ teeth! Not to mention I’m pretty sure the company is good to the environment and whatnot. Yay!

Anyway, it’s well worth the money! If you are looking for something for your heavy chewer, go see if Nylabone has something for you!

Brody and Lana go hiking.

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Kayla

If you are a fan of DBBL on Facebook (if you aren’t, you should go “like” us now! We don’t post annoying stuff all the time, we promise!), then you have already seen a glimpse of our hiking adventure ~~Sunday~~ a couple of weeks ago. (Good grief this post has been sitting in drafts for quite some time!)

This was very exciting for us. It was only the second time I’ve had Lana off-leash (except for going from my car to the front door of our apartment complex) and it was the very first time Brody was off-leash outdoors! I was a little nervous at first, because I’m pretty sure it would be the end of the world if I lost a foster dog. But he was so good!

It was actually pretty funny to see how different Lana and Brody are. Lana’s the type who likes to be first in line for anything. She’d wander too far and play deaf when we called her, until she heard a level of seriousness in our tone and her last name being tacked on at the end. Then she’d run back as if she’d been planning to all along. Obviously I need to get back into training her.

Meanwhile Brody spent most of his time right behind someone else, whether that someone was a person or Lana. He likes to be able to keep tabs on the group. Like a faithful watch dog.

The walk wasn’t entirely off leash, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I was just about to let them loose to run on this weird peninsular thing when I noticed a big grayish brownish lump. It was colored like dirt but it seemed like an odd place for a pile of dirt.

We got a bit closer and it moved! We had run across a very large gator, who apparently was very much awake! So we backed up very carefully and chose to keep the dogs on leash the rest of the walk.

Aside from the deadly reptiles, most of the scenery was beautiful.

And finally the dogs got some room to run (unheard of in my little apartment)!

All in all, hiking with the dogs was a great experience. I’m not that outdoorsy, but I’d totally do it again!

Cats, Dogs, and Rabbits? You Can Rescue Any Kind of Pet!

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Kayla

If you are a fan on Facebook, you probably saw that we were trying to find a home for a couple of cats in need a while ago. Well, unfortunately, these cats still need a home. I only have a photo of one, the male. He is more urgent (his owners fear he won’t handle the baby on the way very well). His name is KC. If you want to learn more about one or both, let me know!!

Here at DBBL, we don’t discriminate. We love our dogs, but we adore cats as well! This handsome devil is about 2 years old. He’s very sweet, but he’d prefer to be an only child. He’s a tad bit territorial, but who can blame him for wanting his new family all to himself? He needs a new home ASAP, as the owners have a baby on the way.

But that’s not all! For those of you who don’t want a cat but still want a fuzzy lump o’ love, I bring you: BUNNIES!!!

I apologize in advance for the photos, they’re not the absolute best pictures I’ve ever seen, but I gotta work with what I’m given!

This first rabbit is a female Angora rabbit. Her black and white coloring inspired her name: Cruella, but we promise she acts nothing like Cruelle De Ville. In fact, she’s more of a princess than a villain! Cruella is an indoor only rabbit. At 12 whopping pounds, she is a wonderful lap rabbit who loves carrots. She is litter box trained and up to date on her shots. She comes with her cage.

This next little guy is just 5 or 6 pounds. He is a Himalayan, brown with a little white. He’s a bit more skittish than Cruella so he isn’t the ideal lap rabbit, but he’s still very friendly. He is also an indoor only rabbit and he, too, comes with his cage. He is not neutered, but perhaps if you changed that they could live in a big cage, together? (I don’t know much about rabbits, so don’t take my word for it!!)

Unfortunately I don’t have the name of the little boy, and there’s an entire other rabbit I know nothing about. I will post the information when I get it. =)

If you were looking for between 1 and 3 rabbits, these little ones would be perfect for you! Feel free to comment or e-mail and I will connect you with the girl who is working on finding rescue for them!

Oh, right, and the obligatory: Brody is also up for adoption (as much as I’d love to keep him)!

A Treat for Tuesday

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Kayla

I’m coming down with a case of the weepies. So what better way to combat that than with sweets?! Unfortunately (or fortunately, for my body’s sake) I didn’t buy gelato at Publix, even though it was on sale.

I am a lucky girl though, because I had forgotten some bananas in my fridge and in a panic I’d cut them up and frozen them a while ago, expecting to make “ice cream” with them. I’d never tried it before, but I figured ‘why not?’.

And then it hit me. I’ll make some for the dogs, too. After all, most dogs love bananas!

Sheesh those are brown! But I’m pretty sure they’re okay. Knock on wood, because I’ve already eaten some!

Anyway, I found the original recipe on Pinterest. If I’m going to be completely honest, theirs looks better. It actually looks like ice cream, whereas mine looks like batter. But, that’s okay, because looks don’t matter. The original recipe is for people and calls for banana, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips. I changed it quite a bit, simply because I’ve never had the honor of “inventing” -or reinventing- a recipe before, and this seemed easy enough for me to handle.

Banana is good for dogs, peanut butter is no problem (unless your dog is allergic, but I’m assuming that’s not really common since so many treats contain it), and honey is okay in smallish quantities (it’s just full of calories, but other than that no harm for dogs). Obviously the chocolate chips had to go. Unfortunately I get distracted and don’t measure, but I’ll try to guess proportions when I post the recipe at the end for y’all.

Like any fantastic (or hungry) chef, I tasted it after mixing all the ingredients, but it was missing something. So I added a cubed, peeled gala apple (I HATE the skin!!). Lana loves apples, and I had one already peeled because that was what I was originally going to snack on before I remembered I could make “ice cream”. And honestly, adding that juicy, sweet little touch made a huge difference! The apple brought it from I’ll eat it because I hate wasting food to I’ll eat it because it actually tastes good, in a healthful sort of way! I also added just a splash of vanilla extract. I’ve seen it in dog treats before, and I really wanted it for my ice cream.

At this point I pulled about 2/3s of the mixture out (well, I tried to get 2/3s) for the dogs. To theirs I added some baby carrots. I probably should have chopped them first, but I forgot. It worked out since it gave them something to chew on, but I’ll admit they dropped the goopy carrots on my carpet first. I should have thought of that… *facepalm*

I added some cinnamon, cocoa powder, and Stevia to mine, and then gave them each a spoonful plus two carrots as a before-dinner snack.

Of course the chocolate version looks and tastes better (to me), but the dogs enjoyed theirs, too!

There’s no compliment to the chef nicer than leaving a clean bowl!

Lana’s a quick eater. Brody better hurry up with those carrots or she’ll swoop in and steal them!

Lana just couldn’t stand waiting for Brody to finish!

I’d say we have some very happy customers.

——————————————————————————–

Here’s my version of the recipe!
Ingredients
-3 Bananas, chopped and frozen
-About 3.5 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (to taste, really)
-About 2-2.5 tablespoons of honey
-1 peeled, chopped apple (gala is my favorite)
-Just a splash of vanilla extract
-A handful or 2 of baby carrots (completely optional)

Pulse all the ingredients together in a blender or food processor. If you chose to include baby carrots, you can blend them right in or leave them whole (chewing them should be good for your dogs’ teeth, but you probably won’t appreciate “ice cream” getting on your floor when/if your dogs pull the carrots out to save them for last).

———————————————————–

If you want to make some for yourself, I just added 1.5 teaspoons of Stevia, a couple dashes of cinnamon (it increases metabolism!) and enough cocoa powder to turn it the color of a good cake batter. Actually, it was enough to make me say “oops!”, but it turned out just right. *Please don’t give your dogs this version, it isn’t safe for doggie consumption!*

Oh, and don’t forget to let the pups lick the spoon you used for the chocolate-free version! (Brody got to lick it too, but his picture didn’t turn out as well…)

A Lesson in Loyalty (Media Monday Part II)

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Kayla

This could almost count as a Wordless Wednesday, since I won’t be too long winded tonight (I have a paper to write, as hard as I’m trying to procrastinate). So, why have I decided to do a Media Monday (Part II) on a Wednesday, instead? Because I was browsing Pinterest today, as I do every day, and came across a picture that so perfectly complemented my last post, it felt wrong to not share it. Like I would be betraying all of you, for hiding it from you.

The image is from CheezBurger.com and it tells the (very condensed) stories of several dogs like Hachiko (and Futurama’s Seymour, of course). Brace yourselves, the weepies are coming.

Dream Big, Bark Loudly

Sharing the stories of shelter dogs dreaming of forever homes.

Life Would Be Easier Without Dogs. But I Like A Challenge.

I’d Like a Mother’s Day Gift or Two…

We Want That! (Wednesday)

Brody and Lana go hiking.

Cats, Dogs, and Rabbits? You Can Rescue Any Kind of Pet!

A Treat for Tuesday

A Lesson in Loyalty (Media Monday Part II)

Follow “Dream Big, Bark Loudly”

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