Arwednesdays with Arwen - A Winter Walk

Hey it's me again! Arwen the Wonder dog to show you a neat little thing that happens to our roads in the winter.
Notice the grooves? The pretty little lines that make you want to follow them and sniff all the way to the end, wherever that may be?
They are there, according to mommy, for traction. See, I have nails and paws that spread out like snowshoes in snow and ice, and they keep me pretty stable, but cars need extra help on these dirt roads. In winter they get very, very icy, which is good for me, 'cause it keeps mommy walking fast so she can't stop or turn around and make me go back inside, but bad for the cars since they don't have nails to dig in, just big tires.
The town brings out these big machines that I like to bark at, that mommy calls graders, and they scrape the road and put grooves in them to provide traction for the cars.
Pretty nifty, eh?

Here's another shot - mommy thought it was very pretty to see the roads and snow and grooves, but I just want to get back to walking, so I'll see you next week!
and Arwen the Wonder Dog

Arwendnesdays With Arwen the Wonder Dog

Welcome back to our Arwendnesday's With Arwen the Wonder Dog posts, where every Wednesday is devoted to my hyper, wonderful, ridiculous dog, Arwen. 

So there we were: on a walk during a very overcast morning last week, when I noticed this beautiful, snow covered field and decided to take some photos with my little camera.

Then the battery died.

Do over!

The weekend rolled around and we were on another walk on an even more overcast morning when it started to rain. Pour really. And snow. At the same time.

Lovely.

However, in my quest to not be completely boring to you, my wonderful readers, I decided to keep on going and try to take my winter field shot anyway.

That and Arwen was full-steam ahead and the roads were a little icy, meaning that to turn around would probably end up with me falling and breaking a bone on said icy road.

So there we were: Arwen and I reached the aforementioned field and I brought out my (now charged) little camera and proceeded to try and photograph the field, which in the above photo is not really looking like anything special, though I assure you it is beautiful in person.

I heard a "Yip!"

And I looked down...

And there was Arwen, prancing in the snow, thoroughly soaked (and loving it, I might add), and wanting me to stop taking photographs, and throw her some snowballs already!

Catching snowballs is her favorite winter pastime (well, that and eating her, uh, poo when it is frozen, but she's a dog after all, and I digress - with a shudder), and she will catch snowballs until she is panting so hard she has to sit or lie down in the snow in between each toss, or your digits feel like they will never thaw in this lifetime, whichever comes first (my fingers usually give in before she does, much to her disgust).

Notice the preemptive tongue sticking out here, as in between frantic barks that make it sound like I'm torturing her, she sticks her tongue out and tries to catch the snowballs with her tongue, snapping her jaws shut around it with an audible snap (I would think this might hurt, but she doesn't seem to care), and eating the whole snowball with a very self-satisfied smile. She smiles, I've seen her do it.
She's odd, but I love her so very, very much.
...As long as she doesn't kiss me until after I've brushed her teeth about a million times.

and Arwen the Wonder Dog

Arwen The Wonder Dog

Arwen in Profile

Ok, I missed yesterday's ArWednesday post, so here it is Thursday, just for you. I'm playing with my ancient manual macro lens on my digital camera body and of course, Arwen is a great subject. She did, however, put her ears back when I took this one, probably not liking the clicky-thing being so close to her, but I still like the shot anyway :)

Arwednesdays with Arwen: Farewell to Mr.Seal

It had to happen at some point. Yes, we held it off for as long as we could, maybe we even went into a bit of denial. But it was always lurking in the backs of our minds: one day, Arwen's stuffed toy seal would have to go to toy heaven. It had a long life, to be sure: it started out as a childhood toy of my own, was usurped by Gandalf as his special friend, and then usurped from him by Arwen. It survived my childhood, it survived Gandalf, but by far its hardest years were with Arwen. Having ripped the stuffing out, I stuffed it back in and sewed it. She ripped it out again, I sewed it back in again. It happened again and again (and again, I think about 5 or six times total), though I will admit to not stuffing every piece back in every time - the amounts of stuffing this seal held, I have no idea how it didn't explode on its own! Finally I left it unstuffed and Arwen actually seemed to like that best. She carried it everywhere. I took photo after photo of her with Mr. Seal. When I washed it, I blogged about her stressful day here.
Finally, the dreaded day came.
Arwen was discovered trying to rip out the eyes and nose. It was a VERY tough day. I took it away, hoping to teach her not to do that. No good, she tried it again as soon as I gave it back to her. I threw it away, I am sorry to say. A moment of silence if you please, for Mr. Seal. He will be remembered fondly for many years.
Poor Arwen went through seal withdrawal for almost a week, trying to go back to her crab (which also has no stuffing), or her pepper (which also has no stuffing), or her ball, or her Kong, or bones, but nothing really seemed to hold her interest and she'd constantly go back to the cupboard where the garbage is hidden, as if to say, "Mommy...I really need my toy back please".
Then one glorious day arrived...

Brennan came home with a new toy!!! It is a dino (we think), but it looks and feels sort of like Mr. Seal!! We christened it Mr. Dino. It took about a day for Arwen to overcome the shock of having a new toy (her eyes went absolutely HUGE when he showed it to her), and now, well, she goes everywhere with it! She takes it to the window with her when she wants to look outside (above), she takes it to the back door when she wants to go outside, she takes it to bed when she wants to sleep.
And she is happy :)

Arwednesdays with Arwen the Wonder Dog: Sleepy!

Arwen the Wonder Dog here, with some good news: my mommy got a part time job that lets her work from home! She is working for an IT company and I know that with the income she earns she'll buy me lots of treats! Okay, okay, she'll pay bills and adopt Polar Bears (see our Monday post), but I know treats will be in there too!

In the meantime I'm enjoying the warmer weather we are having now and staying outside as much as possible to chase squirrels...I mean, smell the air and enjoy the sunshine. When I'm inside, though, I pretty much nap all the time, preferably surrounded by my toys (the more the better). Mommy doesn't want to miss blogging to all of you, but we had to let you know just in case we are missing for a few days and you were wondering. Never fear, mommy is working to buy me treats and adopt polar bears...I just hope they don't sleep on my side of the bed!

That's all for now,

and Arwen

Arwednesdays With Arwen the Wonder Dog: Arwen Has an Outie!

Hey, it's me, Arwen the Wonder Dog, and today I'm showing you one of my unique features: my "outie" belly button! You can see it in the photo above, it is the little pink circle the arrow points to.
When I was a puppy, my mommy was a bit concerned by the little bump my "outie" makes, as this can mean that my doggy mommy had pulled away from me during the birth and pulling my umbilical cord, which can cause internal problems. My mommy wanted to make sure I was okay and took me to the vet. After the vet looked, she said it was fine, and that I would just have an "outie" and that I would be even more unique. I say, well of course I'm unique! I'm a wonder dog!

Mommy likes to tickle my belly button when she scratches my belly. I don't really care, as long as I'm getting attention and belly rubs!

Have a great Wednesday!

and Arwen

Arwendnesdays with Arwen the Wonderdog: Happy Birthday Daisy!

We were visiting our friends over at Daisy the Curly Cat, and found out that today is Daisy's 6th birthday! Celebrate! Happy birthday Daisy, we hope you have many more!
Be sure to visit her blog to see her presents and a few of her very adorable outfits.

Til tomorrow,

and Arwen

Arwendnesdays: Outtakes

With me being such a super star, it is no wonder we have many, many photos of my gorgeous self. What is odd, is that there are so many bloopers! I never thought mommy could get a bad photo of me, but there it is: we have some, and we thought we'd share them. The above shot is from mommy trying to get photos of me asleep on her bed. I had been very still but a bird flew by the window, chirping at a squirrel at one of our bird feeders. Needless to say, I wasn't sleeping after that! You can see me opening my eyes REALLY wide - so wide the white shows all around! I promptly got up and barked at the squirrel. It ran. I was proud.
Here mommy was getting photos of me playing with my crab. One of my favorite things to do is to flip onto my back and pretend that my toys are attacking me. Unfortunately the crab decided to cover my face in this shot and it looks like the crab is getting the upper hand..er..claw, rah rooh!
Here is mommy's favorite blooper to date. Daddy was taking photos of me opening my Christmas presents and when I talked a thank you (rah roooh roooh is the correct term), I tilted my head up in the air, and daddy got the shot...right up my nose! Unfortunately it isn't in focus..or, well, the background is, because daddy doesn't know how to use mommy's camera yet. Rah rooh!

We hope you enjoyed our bloopers, remember to enter the contest over at Fireseed.ca to try to win one of four fabulous prizes.

Have a great day!
and Arwen

Arwendnesday: What Arwen Got For Christmas

Hello, it is me, Arwen the Wonder Dog here to show you more of my Christmas presents! Yesterday you saw me get to open my pressed rawhide bone, above, but now you get to see the rest of them!
Grand monna and Grand daddoo got me this squeaky orange standing toy. Mommy thinks it is hilarious, though no one else seems to think it is as funny as she does. It stands on its own two feet and is squeaky and rolls and bounces so I like it. Mommy says she is surprised I haven't destroyed it and left it a tattered mess of tiny pieces all throughout the house, but hey, mommy, I've only had it a few days and I've been pretty preoccupied with my other gifts you know!
I also got a box of some of my favorite treats. Mommy likes to make mine, but sometimes she treats me with these Wellness Wellbars. I like the peanut ones, but these are a different flavor - yogurt and apples and bananas - some of my favorite foods! I Looooove them....
Especially when mommy puts a smush (a technical treat word) of peanut butter in my Kong toy, and then seals it up with a few of those Wellbars treats!
I also got a Nylabone. Now, mommy doesn't like me chewing on plastic, but I am a VERY powerful chewer and these are the only things that last....for a bit. She even tried getting me one of those "Galileo" plastic bones...that are supposed to be indestructible...they aren't, though they did put a few good dents in mommy and daddy's nice hardwood floors (it's a good thing I'm cute, rah rooh!). Anyways, after the Galileo bone that was very expensive and was, in fact, destructible, mommy went back to the Nylabones in the hard plastic. Mommy got it in chicken flavor ("How do they make plastic taste like chicken?"..."I don't know mommy, I'm a dog!") and I also loooove it! Thank you mommy, daddy and grand monna and grand daddoo for my Christmas presents! Spending time with you would have been enough, but I sure am not going to lie and say I don't like presents, because I do, a rooh rooh rooh!

Have a great day efurrybuddy!

and Arwen

Arwednesdays with Arwen the Wonder Dog: Putting Up the Tree

Hello everyone! It's me, Arwen the Wonder dog, and welcome to an instructional day...I am putting up the tree! Here I am in the living room, with all of the boxes of stuff. Okay, so mommy had to move the furniture a bit for me, and she brought up the boxes, but I told her where to put them. Come on mommy, we need to put up the tree or Santa won't leave me cookies!
Now, we use an artificial tree for fire safety, cat safety (when he was alive), and because it is more environmentally friendly than cutting down trees every year. The only challenge is that I have to put the tree sections together! How do these things go again mommy? Oh yes, I had mommy plug in the remote sensor and extension cord, and put a piece of foam on the floor to protect it. We have a remote for the sensor so that we don't have to reach behind the tree when we want it turned on. Thank daddy for that one, he's always up for fun technology!
Here is the tree, all ready for decorating. Mommy has to help with this part - my paws don't grip the tiny hooks and I also can't reach the top of the tree without jumping on it...which mommy does NOT want me to do! We are fortunate that our tree is already pre-lit so that I don't have to go around it, getting fake pine needles in my paws. What a relief!
After several hours of mommy being rather obsessive-compulsive ("I can't put that burgundy one there, there is another burgundy one close to it!"), and my careful snoopervising, the tree is decorated in gold and burgundy, with many ornaments given to us by grand monna and grand daddoo. I like the tree skirt - I think it still smells a bit like Gandalf. I also like the dog ornament that mommy got just for me...I don't mind that it isn't the right color (it is brown, I am black!), as long as I am on the tree!
Merry Christmas!!

and Arwen

Arwednesdays with Arwen the Wonder Dog: Daddy's Girl

...Hey, who are you calling a Daddy's Girl? I don't care if he is in his boxers, trying to relax, he is going to pay attention to ME, not mommy...I'm worth it, don't you think? I mean, look at my belly, it is so cute and just calling out for a belly rub. If mommy is too busy to scratch my belly while she is doing her holiday baking, then daddy will just have to take over. I still don't understand why mommy won't pet me during her baking...I think people would be honored to have my furs in their cookies, but noooo, she won't do it. Fine! Daddy will take over and get the honor of paying lots and lots of attention to me.
Now, I'm sorry to cut this short, but all this attention is making me tired, I need to nap now.
Rah rooh! have a grrrreat day everyone! Mommy says we are going to put up the Christmas tree tonight so she is going to try and get photos of that to show you :)
and Arwen

Arwednesdays with Arwen the Wonder Dog

Wow! Mommy and her shop are featured on Indie Smiles! There is a whole article there by Linda of LindaGJ. In it there is talk about fibromyalgia as well as her beautiful jewelry.
High-5 Mommy! We hope you all have a great Wednesday.

Mommy also wants to thank everyone who came out to the Gluten free Baking Exchange cooking class last night. It was so much fun and there were so many awesome baked goods for everyone to take home. Can't wait for next week!
and Arwen

Arwendnesdays With Arwen the Wonder Dog: Treat Time!

Hello, and welcome to another Arwendnesday with me, Arwen the Wonder Dog! Today is all about Treats. I LOVE TREATS!! Mommy always tries to buy the best quality treats, but paws down, I love the ones mommy makes for me the best! She bought a really good book a few years back called, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" by Dr. Pitcairn, and it is really good. Mommy tried feeding me the natural diets for a while, and though I liked them, I eat so much food that mommy had to stop before they went broke, Ha Roo! She still buys the very best pre-made food that she can afford, which I love, and the vet says it is really good too, so that is fine.
Anyways, the book also has some really good TREAT recipes in there. Mommy changes a few of the ingredients so that they don't have wheat in them, so the recipe isn't exactly the same, but it is still drool-a-licious! Here they are before baking. Mommy wanted to use her bone shaped cookie cutter, but these are a little sticky for it, so she rolls them into small balls and presses them flat. She makes each one a two-serving treat, so they can be broken in half, or given whole when I am a REALLY good girl!
Mommy tried half of one of my biscuits to make sure they taste okay, and to make sure they weren't too hot to eat. Mommy said they are a little bland, but still kind of tasty! They are more like a savory cookie for people, but HEY! Let me try mommy!! Here is the taste test - I'm trying to be careful not to take mommy's fingers with the cookie, I don't think she'd like that.....
NOM, NOM, NOM! I LOVE MY TREATS!!! I think I might have licked some of the finish off of the floor in my attempts to get all of the crumbs!

These are really tasty and I recommend this book for anyone interested in knowing more about feeding and general care for dogs and cats.

That's all for now, I am going to try and get a few more treats before my mid-morning nap!
and Arwen

Arwendnesdays with Arwen the Wonder dog

Hello, it's me, Arwen the Wonder Dog, here for another installment of Arwendesdays with Arwen the Wonder Dog. Today's lesson is, "Oh, The Places You'll Sleep". Mommy was going through her photos and realized that she has many of me sleeping in various places around the house. I thought I should give you all pointers. The first photo is me sleeping on the bed. I always take daddy's pillow and make it comfy for me so that I can look out the window to watch for squirrels and birdies. I also sometimes bring my toys with me and put them on the pillow so that they can watch out the window as well. Mommy puts blankets down for me so I don't get my fur all over the bed, but if you look closely at the left side, you'll notice I've also arranged Mommy's new Healing quilt (see yesterday's post for details) so that it is touching me!
Here I am on my bed in Mommy's office. I don't usually like lying on the doggy bed, but Mommy is spending a lot of time in the office and wants me to be comfy, so she puts the bed in the corner beside her, near the bright faux flowers and encourages me to lie there to be more comfy off the floor. I have to say I like being next to her! I also have a little fleece blanket that I can use if I need extra comfort, though with my fur coat, I find it gets a bit too hot, so I usually paw it off.
As I mentioned before, the floor is a perfectly reasonable place to sleep, especially when you have a toy or two nearby! This ensures that when you wake up full of energy, you have a toy ready and waiting for you to play with. It is also a good place to get a bit of sun (it seems to like to move around in the sky, necessitating that you move with it), though here it is only on my nose and shoulders.

Couches are, of course, one of the better places to lie down as they are comfy, large, and when Mommy and Daddy are sleeping in their bed at night, I can come and stretch out full. I still like to sleep in bed with them (mommy says she feels like a chopstick because, between Daddy and me, she only gets a sliver of the bed!), but the couches are very nice as well. It is even better if a human is there, as the chances of you getting a snuggle or a scratch are greatly improved.

Naturally, if there are blankets around, take them! They are easily curled into a comfy nest and create a nice warm, snuggly area to sleep, preferably with a toy nearby.

I hope you have found this informative! Until next week,

and Arwen