Antler Chew Update

As many of you remember form my March 12 post, The Antler Chew Bandit, Winnie recently got a new deer antler to chew on.  We like this for sever reasons outlined in my previous post but the real test on chew toys is of course... How long to they last???  Well, just to give you an update Winnie started chomping away on March 12 when the antler looked like this:

March 12, 2011:  New

Today on April 6 it looks like this:

April 6, 2011:  Nice rounded tips

23 days and the antler chew lives to fight on!  :-)  The tips have been worn away but the bulk of the chew is still there and I can honestly say no funny smell, no staining on the carpet, no gooey ends.  Yup... the antler chew delivers. 

The Antler Chew Bandent

The CRIME... tampering with mail from the United States Postal Service.

This was clearly not addressed to Winnie.

The DEFENDANT... Winnie Boadicea Petunia Matilda Gizmo Simons.

Who?  Me? 

Yes, you.  This is exactly how it happened.  I was expecting several small packages one of which was one of those tasty antler chews that Kelly from Corgi Butts told us about.  This morning, I went to fetch yesterdays mail from the box and two of the packages arrived.  Without much care I tossed the mail onto the kitchen table and when upstairs to shower and start the day.  When I step out of the bathroom what do I see?  THIS...

Nice!

You got it.  Did you hear me say anything about opening the package?  Nope.  Winnie did it herself.  That little stinker got on my table, picked out the package with the antler chew in it and helped herself.  Are you kidding me?  She has never done anything like that before.  I was totally dumbfounded.  Do you punish that somehow?  I have no idea.  So I just cleaned up the packaging still on the floor and left it alone. 

On the other hand the antler looks REALLY cool. 

Peak Antler Company: 10 inch Large Dog Chew

No slimy goo.  What's not to love?

Winnie's Birthday!

It's Winnie's second birthday today!  I've been feeling a little under the weather so we didn't celebrate as much as we may have liked to BUT we managed a fun trip to the pet store and gifts! 

First we decided to go to Pet Supplies Plus because they sent us a birthday present.

Thank you Pet Supplies Plus.

Winnie picked out some fantastic things...

We got some Zuke's, All Natural moist training treats (great for stuffing in treat toys and something she's never had before), a can of Venison Natural Balance Dog Food (for a special dinner tonight, who wants dry kibble on your birthday?), and a Extra-large Jolly Ball!

The Jolly ball was actually a recommendation from Taryn (A Tale of Two Cardis) in a comment she left in a September post titled Unlikely Toys.  In Unlikely Toys, Winnie loved herding a big kickball around our back yard but popped it in a few days and the fun was over.  THIS one looks extra sturdy.  They have Jolly Balls with a handle for easy carrying but I thought that handle-less might be easier to "herd."

Here's a pic of Winnie rounding the bend with her new present...

I'm going to get you!

And apparently trying to ride it like a circus elephant...

If this were just a little BIGGER!

I think this will be a winner.  :-)  Happy Birthday, Puppers!  I think 2 is going to be a good year!

Throwing Balls in the House

There has been lots of talk lately on the dog-blog circuit about how to burn energy in the Winter when it's too cold to play outside.  Winnie and I make our contribution to the conversation with this wonderfully armature (a.k.a. of poor quality and somewhat goofy) video of us playing with one of our favorite toys... The Hole-ee Roller!  Enjoy!

PS I just got the Flip video recorder and it's awesome!  You'll love it.

A Kong Defeated

Last August I got Winnie the Kong Wobbler.  I blogged about smart dogs needing smart toys and posted a video of my little hair-ball trying to figure this thing out. 

Today, she did. 

Uh, oops. Did I break it or beat it?

This little fluff-nugget actually unscrewed the darn thing!  (In her defense I DID put a treat in there that was too big to get out but she was so fast! It's not like they were ALL to big.)  Has anyone else had this problem?

(Sorry for the grainy photo... my phone was the only thing handy and I just couldn't believe it!)

Paw It Forward

Winnie and I received our Paw It Forward package full of great things from our fellow dog blogger Jenny and her pup Stanley over at Corgi On My Mind.

The package came on Monday but we've been so busy this week that poor Winnie had to wait till today to open it.  I know, how do you deny a dog a package that smells of treats?  I was a mean dog mom.  But it was worth the wait!

Listen Ma, it's addressed to ME!  I'll decide when we open it!

The first thing I saw was a card featuring a very cool illustrated rendering of Stanley on the cover and a wonderful personalized book mark with Winnie's picture! 

Finally, someone that knows what I'm talking about here!

Of course, Winnie went right for the treats. 

This one!  Open this one!

About one second after I took this picture Winnie pushed her nose in the bag and helped herself.  These were some pretty fancy treats.  Real chicken jerky wrapped around a real dried apple slice.  Gourmet! 

I don't know French, but I know delicious.

All in all we received a portable water bowl, two bags of gourmet treats, the Kong stick toy, a Natural Balance food roll, and a festive Halloween bat squeaky toy. 

Wait, is it my birthday?

Here's a close up of some of the other treats.  The squirrel cracks me up.  And the cookie looks like it should have been for me!  Ha!

The smallest bone is what Winnie normally gets... there's some perspective for you. 

Natural Balance is actually what I feed Winnie all the time.  Well, the kibble version not the food roll version but this stuff makes the BEST training food.  You can cut it up small and it's irresistible.  Try it. 

Get some. 

The other hot favorite was the squeaky bat toy.  What fun getting it so close to Halloween!  I think it sort of even looked like Winnie.  (It's the ears)

This doesn't seriously look like me, does it?

Thanks Jenny and Stanley!  We've really enjoyed our Paw it Forward package and we got to try a few things we don't have around here in our own pet stores.  What a treat!

In the Paw It Forward tradition Winnie and I will take our turn assembling a goodie box full of our favorite things to pass along to someone new.  If you haven't been the recipient of a Paw It Forward box yet and have a dog blog be the first to leave a comment on this blog with your email address and you'll be the next in line!  (Tip:  type "at" instead of using the @ symbol to avoid getting spammed.  Like this: name(at)email.com)

Here's a clip of Winnie playing with her Bat Toy.  She's a happy dog. 

Sharing Toys

Guilty.  I didn't find some golden nugget of information about how to teach our dogs to share their toys with other dogs.  But I did just add a gadget that will help Winnie and I share our favorite toys with you!  I've finally collected some of the books and dog stuff I've talked about for months in one place... Sharing Toys.  Just under the blog archive to your right.  

It has my name on it!  How great is THAT?

Speaking of new toys... here is a photo of a new dog bed my mom made for Winnie.  She was so happy to get it but thought it was a huge chew toy instead of a bed.  Needless to say it didn't last long and has thus become a big push for the famous stuffing less Skinneeez!

Bed?  What do you mean bed?  I sleep on the couch.  This must be a chew toy/canopy. 

Smart Dogs Need Smart Toys

So one of the down sides to having a smart pup is convincing them to use their smarts for good rather than evil all day.  Chewing bones is good.  Chewing trash is evil.  Chasing balls is good.  Chasing cats is evil... and so on.  Needless to say I'm always looking for new ways to help Winnie use her brain for good.  We get lots of exercise, go new places, see new people, learn new tricks, and best of all play with new (or rotated) toys! 

About a month ago our fellow corgi blogger Kelly from Corgi Butts reviewed a new toy called the Kong Wobbler.  I liked the look of it because it's bigger than most toys we have for the win-monster and dispenses food in a completely different way than her other toys.  (I like to be tricky and put a little less food in her dish so she can work at getting the rest of it out of a toy... it keeps her problem solving for good, not evil.) 

I decided to try it and here are the results:

Like, Gibson, Winnie at first was a little scared of the wobbler.  She guessed it was going to be fun but wasn't sure how it worked.  After I swatted at it myself for a minute she got the idea.

(Sorry for the shaky camera and kinda long video... this was my first time doing all of this.  I'll get better, promise.)

It's easy to use (the top and the bottom unscrew so it's easy to fill and clean) and both Winnie and I like it.  We've been playing with it for a few days now and I'll likely put it away for a week so she doesn't get bored but at the end of the day it gets two paws up.  :-)

And as far a "food" toys go we also like the Premier Pet Busy Buddy Twist-N-Trea and the Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball.  For a plain-jane puzzle toy the Kyjen I-Qube Puzzle Plush Interactive Dog Toy was a big hit!

Unlikely Toys

Isn't it funny that we can take special trips to the pet store... lavish car rides and new toys on our furry friends... and while that's all fine and dandy their favorite toys are still things like ice cubes and near-empty peanut butter jars???  It cracks me up.  And keeps me guessing. 

"It's not Halloween?  Then what am I doing with this clown nose?"

A few months ago I picked up this big red ball on a whim at the local home improvement store.  It's the sort of ball you played kickball or foursquare with in elementary school.  I knew it was way too big for Winnie but since it was a whopping investment of $3 I brought it home anyway. 

"It wasn't me, promise.  The chipmunk popped it."

She has since spent hours pushing it around the yard (as fast as she can keep control of the darn thing) and popped it so she could carry it around.  What do you think?  Maybe next time a basketball?  What are some of your pups "ad-lib" toys?

"Ok, it was me."

"But now we can do THIS!"

Corgi Agility...Step One, Read The Book

I celebrated my 28th birthday not so long ago and my mom gifted me The Beginner's Guide to Dog Agility and the Kyjen Dog-Agility Starter Kit.  I'm pretty excited about it and wish I wasn't traveling these next few weeks so Winnie and I could start playing with it.  Personally, I think it's pretty cool I still get toys for my birthday.  My brother, thinks it's a sign that I'll never get something for myself again.  That this year my birthday gift was really a gift for mom's 'grand-puppy' and without a doubt future birthday gifts will be for "the two of you", the family", "the house", or whatever applies at the moment.  He may be right but for now I don't mind. 

Neither Winnie or I have tried Dog Agility before.  To be completely honest, I'd be thrilled if she just came every time I called her but perhaps something more stimulating to focus on will bring her around.  (It's not that she doesn't come because she doesn't understand... she doesn't come because I'm not offering anything better than what she has at the moment... jerk) 

The book outlines traits that could indicate a dog would be successful in the sport such as:

• High Energy Level (check)
• Willingness to Run (check)
• Interested in Working with You (hum... checkish)
• Pray Drive (check)
• Confidence (check)
• Trust of People (check)
• Positive with other Dogs (check)
• Good Health (double check)

Some might see this list and think "Great, let's rock and roll!" I see this list and think... "Crap, if this doesn't work it's pretty much my fault. (If we were to evaluate this list based on my own characteristics I would rank... well, below average. I'm a home-body, I run because it's less frustrating that putting on weight, I DO like working with my pup but have no prey drive to speak of, so there.)

One of the book reviews on Amazon when something like "My 12 year-old loves it" so my confidence is restored.  It is full of pictures and bulleted lists for easy/fun reading.  Wish me luck.  I'll be sure to post frequent updates.  :-)