Here comes the sun...or is it?

Hello all my furr guardians, how are you staying afloat with all of this rainy weather? I lucked out today and found a break in the rain for me to visit my daily dog walks...phew, it was a close one! I wanted to first wish my friend Sidney a heartfelt "get well soon", and I'm looking forward to starting up our walks again very soon! I also wanted to wish Nanny Katy a very wonderful Birthday today, (I'm blowing an imaginary party horn).

You know, sometimes I read about things that I just can't believe and recently I read a HORRIBLE story about a 14 year old Boy who was filmed, (by his Brother) abusing his own family cat "Dusty". He set up the "scene" by appearing with a covered face, and as he walked into his bathroom said "the topic of the day is animal abuse". The video was posted on YouTube and thankfully taken down almost immediately. www.kenny-glenn.net And as I glanced over at my beloved Blackjack sitting on his very own office chair, (see photo) it got me thinking about how absolutely important it is to educate young people, (really from birth) to be kind to our fellow earth roamers, and came across an educational opportunity offered by the WONDERFUL Silicon Valley Humane Society. They offer a variety of programs for children, teens and adults which are highly interactive, student-centered and age-appropriate. They also have a "Compassion in Action" program which allows middle and high school students to explore animal welfare subjects impacting their community, and the "Animal Pals Club" allows 8 to 13 year olds the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of animals. On top of this, they also offer "Caring Communities" classes to Santa Clara County teachers, and K-12 education presentations are also available by request. So, even if you do not have children you should pass this information on to any family members, or even teachers that you think may be interested in this. We really must take an active interest as a community to ensure that our furr friends are respected and well taken care of.

On the topic of the Silicon Valley Humane Society, I also wanted to make sure you all knew that the 2009 "Fur Ball" is being held on Saturday, April 25th. This is a great event that benefits the Humane Society, and yes...it's black tie...and YES...you can bring your canine furr kid!!!! The tickets are $250.00 which includes dinner, desert and some other fun surprises. You can also sponsor a "Top Dog" Table of 10 for $5,000.00. This includes VIP parking, table sponsor name included in the program and The Fur Ball 2009 web site and your table guests receive a special gift! Last years event grossed more than $400,000 for the shelters animals!!! How totally awesome is that! Not to mention that there is a fabulous silent auction that goes on throughout the night. You may just see a great gift package from your friends at SVPN.

The pet sitter NEMESIS is back!!!! Yes my furr guardians, your loyal pet sitters do have a nemesis...no, it's not fleas, no, it's not the squirrels that run in front of us when we walk your pups...it's ANTS! Each year we do battle with these pesky little work horses, and sometimes they win! Ants are one of those inevitable things that none of us can effectively prevent...they live in our walls, in the ground outside, pretty much everywhere and BOY-OH-BOY do they LOVE pet food! It really helps your loyal pet sitters to make sure you have some type of ant bait, spray, etc around just in case as well as either a swiffer wet jet or paper towels for us to clean up their little carcases. If you find yourself doing battle with these little dudes a great tip that your loyal pet sitters us is to place your pets food dishes in a shallow pan of water. The ants cannot swim, so they cannot get into your pets food. Another good thing to do is to make sure your pet food is in a sealed container so they can't get into extra food. I had one situation where one of my clients had a 50 pound bag of dog food left out in the open and I am not kidding...ants were EVERYWHERE even at the bottom of this huge bag...it was the most ants I have ever seen in one setting and took nearly 2 hours to clean up. Your furr kids do not like ant appetizers so they may go a full day without food...a little prevention goes a long way. Don't worry...your loyal pet sitters are always ready to do battle and will fight off these pesky little dudes with all the gusto we have!

Well, I guess that's it for now...I hope you all have a wonderful evening and hopefully enjoy some sun for a change. Give all your furr kids a big kiss from their beloved pet sitters!

Walking doggies in the rain!

Hello all my furr guardians, how is this rainy weather treating you? As the title of this post says, we had quite the walking dogs in the rain type of day. Yes, that and picking up poop are the two downsides to this position, but that's not too bad is it. Just like your nanny friends, most of the dogs we walk HATE being out in the rain, and sometimes it's quite the struggle to get them into the wet weather...and they just don't seem to understand that it's potty time. Like most of you know, if it's REALLY raining we do not actually walk your pups, but they do need to go out and potty. Here is a quick account of my day with four wet doggies.

11:53am - Get to Sake's house just as it starts to pour! Get in to the house, and as soon as he saw my umbrella he got that "oh no, you're not getting ME out in that rain". He was quite hesitant to go out, but after a bribe of a treat or two, or three he finally gave in. Let me tell you, that was the quickest pee I have ever seen and then ZOOM ran right back up to the front door. When we got back inside he looked at me like I had dropped him in the ocean, and he was only a bit wet. Me on the other hand was well on the way to a very soaked pair of shoes and socks.

12:16pm - Pull up to Smush's house, (he lives right around the corner from Sake) and of course, it's raining even harder now! I get my already soaked umbrella out and walk up to the front door. I decided to leave my umbrella out on their stoop instead of getting their floor wet, which in retrospect didn't work out too well. I went upstairs and there was my cute Smush boy all smiles and wags. I thought to myself, "this isn't going to last too long" because Smush HATES being in the rain! I put his harness on, and out we went...or, out we eventually went. First off, my umbrella was whisked up by the wind and there it sat upside down acting like a bucket to catch the rain, and then Smush saw that rain and put on his puppy breaks. I finally got him to go out and we walked under the eaves in front of the garages. Smush stayed bone dry...me on the other hand...not so much. Here is a little video of my Smush Boy just in case you want to see a darling pup.



12:35pm - Get to Sidney's house, and then the anticipation of getting the dog who hates the rain more than any other dog I have ever watched, (well, except for Tuna) started to worry me. I got up to his home and he was thrilled to see me as usual, (he is such a sweet Boy) and I purposely left my umbrella outside the front door so he wouldn't get the chance to dart back upstairs. Once we got out the front door I saw the "OH NO" look on his sweet face...I tried to play it off by telling him that it's just to keep the SUN off of me, but I don't think he bought it. We get to the front door of his building and by now it's not just raining...it's a DOWNPOUR. I had to coax him out the front door, but he would not take a step into the rain, which of course I do understand considering I was nursing a pair of very wet shoes and socks. With a little encouragement he finally went potty, but it was tough!

12:50pm - I get to my "baby's" place, and finally my fear of the rain struggle disappeared. You see, Bolt is a puppy, and basically puppies don't hate much of anything including the rain. I came in and there was my sweet baby dog looking at me with a "yeah, you're here" look. We went out in the rain, he pottied, attacked my shoe, then tried to pick up any goodies he could find on the ground. Unfortunately for him, I have become the QUEEN of stopping puppies from eating things, so he wasn't very successful in his quest.

So, that was my day of potty breaks in the rain...I'm sure the other nannies had very similar days, and nursing wet socks and shoes.

I stumbled upon another wonderful story about a little dog named Babe who was born with only two legs. I always think that we, (humans) can learn a lot from animals, and thought you may be interested in learning about this sweet little girl



Wasn't that the sweetest story!

Does everyone have plans for Valentines day? Have you all bought your furr kids a valentines day treat? I came across this recipe for "Red Velvet PUPCAKES", and I thought maybe this would be a fun treat for your furr pups.

Not only is beet juice the secret behind these pupcake's crimson hue, it is also a source of the ideal fiber dogs need to maintain healthy digestion. Iced with low-lactose cottage cheese, these trendy treats are also a balanced meal.

1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup light brown sugar
1 Cup applesauce
1/3 Cup beet puree or fresh beet juice
1 1/2 Cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Cup low-fat cottage cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 6 cup muffin tin with muffin cups.
In a large bowl whisk together oil and sugar, stir in applesauce and beet puree.
In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Slowly stir flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
Spoon batter into muffin cups to three-quarters full and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a pupcake comes out clean.
Remove pupcakes from the pan and cool on a rack.
In the bowl of a food processor, puree cottage cheese until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Keep frosting refrigerated until pupcakes are completely cool.
Frost and serve.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Now, we all know that kitties are notoriously picky eaters...especially Blackjack...but I found this fun recipe and thought this could be a fun valentines treat for your kitty.

Catnip Cookies for Cats

1 Cup all-purpose flour
1/4 Cup of whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons of wheat germ
2 to 4 Tablespoons of catnip
1/3 Cup of milk
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl
Combine the wet ingredients in separate bowl
Mix the dry and wet ingredients together and work it into a dough
Lightly flour the counter or other work surface
Remove a portion of dough and use a rolling pin to uniformly flatten the dough to a thickness between 1/8 of an inch and 1/4 of an inch
Cut the dough into 1-inch squares using a rolling pizza cutter or a cookie cutter of your choice, (heart shaped maybe).
Place the cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies are crisp and lightly browned.

This recipe will make approximately 50 medium sized cat treats.

Since these treats are preservative free, they will not last forever, so to extend the life of these treats, store them inside the freezer in several small freezer bags. As needed remove a bag from the freezer and leave it out for several hours to thaw. Once the treats are thawed, transfer into a Tupperware container for easy access and store the treats inside the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Let me know if your furr kids enjoy these treats! I think Blackjack will be enjoying a saucer full of tuna juice as a Valentines day treat.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and please give your furr kids a big hug from their nannies.