I’ve been sick since Thursday afternoon, so the dogs are just hanging out at home with not much to do.  Fortunately the weather is nice, and Sport in particular has spent much of the weekend sunbathing.   I did some of that myself, just to get some extra Vitamin D!

sigh… sport has taken to bringing (unused) poop bags to me while i’m sitting at the computer. one at a time, a bag of bags, blue ones, brown ones, yellow ones… i have a pile of poop bags sitting on the table next to the computer.   i put them back at the end of the evening, and the next day it happens all over again.

think she’s trying to tell me something?

I was very excited to receive the Orbee eggplant toy today referenced in my previous post.  It is like a big, lighter-weight Kong toy and you can put a treat inside it for extra interest.  The girls all enjoyed playing with it this evening.  Sporty now knows the word “eggplant” and will bring the toy.   I love it!!  Silly, I know.

Most people that I’ve shared meals with know that I’m crazy about eggplant.  OK, I don’t like ALL eggplant dishes, but I *love* most Chinese/Indian food that contains eggplant.   In fact, writing this post is making me very hungry.  I have all sorts of eggplant-related items.  Imagine my surprise when I received an advertisement for an Orbee Tuff Eggplant dog toy today.  What?!!!!!   You’ve got to be kidding me!

Of course I had to order it.  Hope the dogs like eggplant too.  :-)  Click on the eggplant to buy one for yourself.

I just re-discovered this poem:

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible;
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.

- by Dawna Markova

Don surprised me with these videos.  They are hilarious, and will only be on-line for a few more weeks.

Dancing disco and Dancing country

This is what Lola and Sport were doing during all the pre-Thanksgiving preparations (Cooper and K’Ehleyr were so bored they didn’t even bother hanging around):

Dreaming of fetching balls… or turkey…

Meigs (with River and Reilly) and Corina (with Jackson) joined me and Don (with Cooper and Lola) for a hike at Sunol Regional Park.  (Sporty couldn’t go because she’s in season.)   The dogs were in heaven, swimming and romping together, and doing some gourmet poop tasting (they couldn’t understand why we kept stopping them–  Yuck!).   We took what we thought was a shortcut but turned out to be a muddy cow trail so part of our hike was a bit of an adventure.

Click on our group picture to see a slideshow of the afternoon. (Be sure to turn on captions and titles if they don’t show up).

This Amazon.com targeted promotion came through in email today.   Buy 4 dog products for the price of 3 sale

The sale is actually good for any of their Home & Garden items, but they actually have a lot of dog products.  If I were to pick 4 dog-related items, it would be these:

Chuckit Ball Launcher	I love using this ball launcher. Besides just doing free throw, I use this to help with Sport’s marking ability and steadiness. I tell her to heel, sit, and stay while I launch the ball out as high and as far as I can. After it lands, I wait a second or two, then say “Sport!” which sends her out to get it. You can make it harder by having it land in tall grass or cover.
Canine Hardware Chuckit! Ultra Ball, 2 Pack	Some hard rubber balls to use in the Chuck-it
Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff 8 Ball	This 8-ball has a hole running all the way through it which makes a whistling sound as the ball flies through the air. What’s great is if you’re playing at dawn or dusk, so the dog can track the sound even if they can’t see it.
Premier Busy Buddy Tug-a-Jug	I’ve never tried this jug, but others that have it say their dogs like it a LOT. The only thing I’m worried about is having it flung into walls, furniture, etc…

I didn’t go through all their pet items, but these 4 things were immediately interesting.