dog – The Rox Life

Hey, it’s only 102º! WOOHOO!!

Hendrix had quite the eventful morning. She got to visit the vet for the first time in about a year. I can’t complain – she’s pretty healthy. Sadly, a lot of the vet techs she had made friends with had left our clinic and moved on. Thankfully, the wonderful Dr. Hunter at LazyPaw Animal Hospital took her time making Hendrix comfortable & accommodating her finicky with new people behavior. I understand she was quite the angel in the back (blow me over with a feather). After that, we were off to agility class. I was trying to keep her energy up & a bit “frenzied” by tugging and she seemed very willing to play today and with some speed. The other half of her team (aka ME) was a little off kilter though…as I had a little bit of an upset stomach this morning. She got to chase and be chased by our coach’s BC…I think she has a crush on him (he’s quite the blue chip agility prospect). She was pooped! I came home to drop her off and pick up Cooper (he was going to visit his pal TuggerTails for a bit). I peeked in on her a few minutes after leaving (yes, we have a dogcam), and she had installed herself to sleep in her open kennel. I totally endorse that choice when she was left “free” to roam downstairs. She remained there sleeping until we got back home a few hours later.

Looks like this 30 minute post is going to consist of mostly doggie info! (Imagine that!!) I thought I’d share my “recipe” for what I’ve decided to call Elvis Pupsicles. These are great make at home treats for days like today (that is – HOT).

To make these wholesome, cool treats you’ll need:

plain non-fat yogurt or Greek yogurt
honey
peanut butter (get one with no sugar…preferably just peanuts)
bananas
ice cube trays
blender or food processor

I can honestly say I didn’t measure a thing for this recipe. I just eyeballed it. I put about half of the 35.3 oz container of yogurt in the blender, added 1 very ripe and 1 not as ripe banana (though I think ripeness is irrelevant it’s just what I had), and maybe around 1/4 cup each of honey & peanut butter. I blended it all up till smooth and then poured out into ice cube trays. The consistency was pretty thick but I went with it. You could certainly add a little water or the dogs would probably like chicken stock – if you wanted to thin it out a bit. Trays went into the freezer for at least several hours, and then I removed from trays and stored in a Ziploc freezer bag.

We like stuffing the cubes that will fit inside of the pups’ Kongs. Here’s a picture of Hendrix enjoying her Elvis Pupsicle Kong…at this point she’s actually just continuing to lick the empty inside…I confess we give our dogs lots of treats. However, we try to choose healthy ones and we balance treat intake with food portioning and lots of activity. Our vet seems to approve of their weight & condition.

Cheap Dog Toy — Apparently, the most fun dog toy money didn’t have to buy.

I think we’ve gotten into a rhythm now with the morning routine. Cooper usually wakes to have his morning outing and eat around 5am. I keep hoping as he gets older this can start happening a little later… Funny thing is – as soon as he takes care of business and is fed, he goes RIGHT back to sleep. Can’t complain too much – at least he sleeps pretty much 7-8 hours through the night. Hendrix just goes with the flow – she knows food, exercise, etc. will all happen in their own good time.

About an hour and a half nap – Cooper’s ready to get up and have some activity & Hendrix is happy to join in. This week, I’ve been trying to walk the two dogs together*, and then give them a little run around time. This morning, in lieu of the walk – we went to the dog park. As long as they get a little rowdy play time, they seem to settle in between 8:30am and 9:30am. Fortunately for me, they’re pretty much chill the rest of the day…until dinner time of course.

Earlier this week, Cooper picked up a discarded water bottle on our morning walk. We were on our way back home, and it was just a few houses down – thankfully. This has become THE featured play toy in the backyard.

I can’t say I used to be much of a “morning person”, but I think the dogs might have converted me. It’s so nice to get up when it’s still dark and get stuff done before some people even leave their houses. Shhh…don’t tell my Dad I said that. My little Hendrix & Cooper sure help me appreciate a lot of the simple pleasures! I love them for that!

*Training note- Although walking the dogs together requires some diligence and special leash configuration on my part – it really seems to have smoothed out some of the rough edges between Hendrix & Cooper. I’m a little worried about these walks impact on Cooper’s learning to heel properly. Even though I have not started him with a formal heel behavior, he walks very nicely on a loose leash on my left. He’s received reward/reinforcement when he’s making eye contact at my immediate left, and he’s realized the value in staying there and checking in with me. When we have our little “pack walks”, he’s a little more focused on keeping up with Hendrix & she’s a bit of a forge ahead walker. Interestingly, walking with him adds some complexity to the walk that slows her down and keeps her from forging too much. So, I think the group walks do a lot of good, but I’ve got to make sure I keep reinforcing Cooper on walks with just him. I’m actually thinking to get a back attach harness for him for the group walks…so he associates that set up with have a little more freedom on the walk.