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

A Year Later: In Memoriam

Well, it has been one year. On this day, November 3, 2008 I lost my beloved Gandalf to a rare hip disease. It was tough initially, but I have been very fortunate to have had a loving family, a fabulous dog, and the wonderfully supportive blogging universe here to help me. He was a great cat. Headstrong, full of dandruff, but great. I have made peace with his departure, and I have his ashes and many, many photos to remember him. Also, there is always life where there is death. I donated money to Guelph University's animal sciences department to help research cures for diseases in cats and dogs. I also donated to the Country Cat Sanctuary, and in doing so, found my new 'brothers'...
This past summer when my parents lost their cat Sheeeba to old age and arthritis, they knew they wanted to adopt after they had grieved her properly. After a few months of an empty house, they knew what they needed to do, so they started making a wish list for their perfect cats: they wanted a pair of cats to keep each other company and they wanted cats that were having a hard time getting adopted. Enter the Country Cat Sanctuary and Fintan and Laughlan. They had other names that currently escape me, but they were brothers who had been at the shelters foster home for over a year, leaving their kitten hood behind in a haze of 16 other cats. They hadn't been socialized and were frightened. But they loved each other. They were brothers and stuck to each other like glue, sleeping on top of each other, even when there was a whole bed to sleep on.
My parents spent some time with them at the foster home and knew they needed to give them a try. They took them home and after a few scared weeks, the year and a half old brothers are now ripping up and down the house, have had their nails cut for the first, second and third time (ever!), have seen the vet to get their shots and checkups and are happy. They have found their forever homes, and my parents have found their "neener heads" (goofballs), their life after death, their cure for grief. Yes, we miss our lost pets, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, there is always life after death.

I think Fintan and Laughlan totally agree.

Remember, please adopt, don't shop for pets. There are millions of animals waiting in shelters for their forever homes. Just because they don't have papers or fancy pedigrees, doesn't mean they won't make excellent pets that fill your lives with joy for years. Please give a homeless animal a chance at a great life and visit an animal shelter near you for your next pet. Maybe you'll find your perfect "neener head" yourself :-)

November's Charity of the Month: National Wildlife Federation

Thank you to all of my new clients, and my return clients for your purchases. Over the last two months, you were able to help raise $15 for Epic Farms, the previous Charity of the Month.

For November, I have chosen the National Wildlife Federation to be the Charity of the Month. I am hoping to raise $20 to symbolically adopt a jaguar, a perilously endangered large wild cat. In a recent National Geographic Magazine, it is reported that there are now more captive large cats (especially Asian large cats) than wild ones. This is making their survival nearly impossible, and experts are now saying that our big cats will probably go extinct within our lifetimes if something drastic is not done. How horrifying!

10% of the total sales of all the items in my stores (before taxes and shipping) will go towards symbolically adopting a Jaguar through the National Wildlife Federation. Thank you in advance for your help!

If you want to donate directly, or find out more about the National Wildlife Federation, please visit their website here: http://www.shopnwf.org/home.jsp

Thank you for your caring and compassion, you are helping to make a difference in the lives of people and animals everywhere!

Have a great day,

Soulful Sunday: The Day After Halloween

Image from http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Since it is the day after Halloween, I thought this was appropriate. I remember as a kid trying to avoid the houses that didn't give the 'good stuff' and then comparing notes the next day at school with other kids to see who gave out full sized candy bars, cans of pop, and other cavity creating confections, and to try and remember to go to those houses the next year... I never got a toothbrush though. Good thing....those people would have gotten toilet papered for sure!

Thankfully, living out (WAYYYY out) in the country means that we don't get trick-or-treaters, and thus don't have to worry about getting egged or TP'd for not giving out good candy. Being about half a mile from the nearest house means we have to watch our mailbox getting smashed occasionally (not yet, thank goodness), but that can happen at any time, not just at Halloween, lol. In 7 years, we haven't had a single person come for candy...though that may be also in part to the fact that Brennan makes us sit in near total darkness "just in case" someone wants to bus into our remote area and try their luck....

Have a great Sunday,