Dunkin' Damon

Winter arrived this week, bringing snow and my mild seasonal depression.  I am now pining for April and will be counting the days til nicer weather returns.  The daily dog walks are now an unpleasant chore, instead a nice way to unwind and chat with my husband after work.  Sunday night's walk (in the snow!) was quite tenuous, with each of us slipping and nearly falling on ice multiple times during the walk. We're taking bets on which of us gets a ice-related-dog-walk injury first (fingers crossed it's one of us and NOT one of the dogs!).

I will be scheduling another appointment for Damon to go swimming this week at Dunkin' Dawgs. He's gone once so far, and I've been short on time and unable to get him back.  Daisy likes swimming. Jezebel likes swimming but not in the doggy pool.  Damon--he lives to swim. On his first appointment, I had no idea how he would react to the pool. I had taken him swimming in the lake, but not in a pool. It became clear once we got into the facility, that he had been in a pool before. He charged right up the steps to the platform and leaped in, before I even made it up to the top. He spent the entire time fetching the squeaky toy I threw and bringing it back. We made him get out for a brief break, so his friend, Lily could take a turn without his giant self in the way, he whined and pulled, and it took two of us holding him with all our strength to keep him from jumping back in the pool.  He cried the whole time he was out. It's great for his arthritis, and he loves it so much, we will set up a regular appointment schedule for him. It was awesome to see him so happy!  His arthritis has improved quite a bit now that he's been on FlexPet for a couple of months. That has really made a difference in our dogs' health.

I've been feeling really guilty for quite some time now about the dogs' food. They get a high-quality vegan kibble, but it's always the same. Nobody likes to eat the same thing for every meal of their life--not any species, not any meal. I can tell by the quantities of salivation, that my dogs prefer some food over others, and almost any food over their standard kibble. I do try to mix it up a bit by adding different things in--a little veggie broth, a spoon of pumpkin, a little tomato sauce--anything to make it more interesting for them. I've wanted to make my own dog food for quite some time now but finally got around to it this weekend. I'm so happy I did it!  I am planning to feed them one meal of kibble (morning) and their evening meal of homemade "hot" food.  I followed this recipe:  Healthy, easy dog food recipe, and they loved it!  It was quick and simple.  I had some extra squash, green beans, and carrots I wanted to use up, so I threw those in as well.  All three dogs ate it with such vigor and obvious enjoyment, that we had a blast watching them.  It's fairly inexpensive, quick--just basically throw a bunch of ingredients in a big pot and stir from time to time, and I wish I hadn't put it off this long. I feel so much better giving my dogs a healthy meal that brings them so much joy and will continue to make it for them.

This week I didn't get as much done in the kitchen as I had hoped. I spent a good chunk of time cleaning the refrigerator. What started out as a five-minute clean up from a minor spill on a shelf of the fridge, turned into me taking everything out and wiping it all down. Glad it's done, but it really cut down my food production. Throwing the dog food prep in the mix also took up some of my cooking time, so I have to pull one of my pre-made freezer meals. This week's Sunday prep-meals:  

• Coconut curry red lentil soup
• Stir fry veggies (broc., cauli., carrots, water chestnuts, red peppers) & quinoa with peanut sauce (I made the sauce up last week and planned to have the meal on Friday, but we had so many leftovers I pushed it off to this week.)
• Lasagna
• Chocolate-peanut butter smoothies (from this vegan chocolate cookbook) -- They were so, so good!

Tica

Petey

I won this gorgeous cat bed (it could be a dog bed, but my dogs are too big for it) from the raffle at the AFAE Chili cookoff last month.  I was shocked, because I am incredibly unlucky and never win things. My husband is the opposite, and I was lamenting that I should have had him enter instead, when they called my name. It's such a pretty bed.  The cats love it, and it's frequently in use. Tica spends a lot of time on it, which is extra cute, because she's so tiny, and she looks even tinier in her palatial bed.  The bed was donated by MadCat, and they even threw in an extra cushion cover, which is great, since I've already cleaned several hairballs off the bed.  Mounds and MadCat are my favorite pet stores and the only ones I patronize.  Neither of them sells animals (disgusting!), and they both give/donate so much back to the animal community.