Happy Howl-O-Ween!!!

Happy This 'N That Thursday HALLOWEEN EDITION! And a huge happy Howl-O-Ween in the dog way of saying it! 

We are going to show you how to make a pawsome dog-faced pumpkin, carved entirely by hand!

Be scared in a great way!!

Dog-faced pumpkin:

1. Buy a pumpkin and get it out ready...

2. Dry it off...

3. Cut its 'head' around the top (for putting the candle in)...

4. Lift the head...

5. Scoop the innards...

6. Place them somewhere, in a pan if you want to make soup...

7. Make some doggily face designs and choose your favourite...

8. Draw it on...

9. Cut it out...

10. Add a candle and place the lid back on...

TADA!!! There is our woofing-great dog-faced pumpkin!

Happy Howl-O-Ween!!

Earl and I.

We hopped Heart Like a Dog

Thank you to our hosts 2 Brown Dawgs and Ruckus the Eskie for hosting this hop.

Tasty Tuesday - Homemade Healthy Honey Biscuits

Earl loves homemade treats! And the healthy honey biscuits seemed to really fit his bill! So I splashed out on some more ingredients, preheated the oven and got baking!

Here's how you do it...

Ingredients you will need:

5 oz (150 g) whole wheat flour
5 oz (150 g) porridge oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 oz (30 g) butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
3 fl oz (100 ml) milk
Flour for dusting (you already have this if you have the above!)

1. First, mix the flour, oats and baking powder together thoroughly....

Adding the flour...

...And oats...

...Now baking powder...

...And mixing them well together.

2. Next, add the butter in small flakes, plus the honey, eggs and milk...

Breaking the butter into small flakes then adding...

...Drizzling the honey into the mixture...

...And now the milk, and the eggs. (Sorry, you can only see one egg in this photo, you need TWO to do the full recipe!)

 3. Now, knead the mixture together thoroughly... 

3. Then preheat the oven to 400degreesF (200degreesC, sorry my keyboard has no degrees sign), and cover a baking sheet with baking parchment so you are ready for baking your biscuits...

4. Now roll the dough out about 1/2 an inch (1 cm) thick on a floured surface...

Ta-da!

5. And for the fun part, cut out your choice of shape using your choice of cookie cutter!...

We used dog bone shaped cutters!

6. And then place these of a baking sheet, leaving some space between each one to prevent them linking together as they expand in the oven...

Ready for the oven...

...About to make their grand entrance...

7. Then bake in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes...

...Tick tock....

...Tock...

Tick...

Earl's Tip!: Woof! If your baking sheet overflows, make sure you use another one so your mixture doesn't go to waste! We used just a simple buttered china plate for our second batch. Just put there on the bottom shelf in the oven to your first batch!

Tick Tock....

Tock.... Tick... Tock... Tick... To-

DING!

8. Right, now you can take them out of the oven and leave them to cool. The recipe says to turn the heat off the oven and leave the biscuits in there for a following 2 hours to cool and dry (in other words, if you did this, they would just be more crunchy and hard), however we just left them out of the oven until we thought they were ready. No need for such a heavy amount of time unless you want crunchier biscuits.

Them cooling and drying out of the oven for a few minuets...

9. Decorate them and do what you wish! We wrapped one in ribbon, for Earl to give to one of his best doggie friends :)

...A beautiful result and such a fun time had!

10. FINALLY! Serve these up, break them up to use as treats or training treats, and let your dog(s) enjoy. Earl is just all over them!

Earl says: WOOF! Get your humans to make these NOW - They are sooo scrummy!

Waiting for his healthy homemade biscuit in a anticipation!

Crunch!

NOM UP.

Mine... I still want the crumbs, says Earl!

Oh, and we shan't forget step 11... have fun with your leftover mixture if you have any! I made a mixture-dog out of mine, but unfortunately, he burnt as I forgot about him in the oven :(

Before the oven!

So have a go at these wonderful biscuits and see how your dogs love 'em!

Earl's review on these, are how fantastic they taste!

I say they are healthy, and fairly easy to make. However if your dog is allergic to grain or you prefer grain-free treats and food, these may not be your sort of thing.

Enjoy!

Earl and I.

Thank you to Sugar the Golden Retriever and Kol's Notes for hosting the TT hop today.

We hopped off Urban Hounds

Black and White Sunday - Running once more

On 26/10/13, Earl could finally go out to run and play after a week of having Kennel Cough. He is so much better, its wonderful to see.

Sorry there are no action photos, but I was so engrossed in playing with Earl, I didn't take any until we'd done!

Here he is, resting pleasantly after a wonderful time.

I LOVE this one... you can see the water rippling! 

Hope everyone has a woofin' good Sunday!

Earl and I.

Thank you to Dachshund Nola and Ruckus the Eskie for hosting the hop.

We hopped off Dachshund Nola

Poll 6 - winning vote - opening to poll 7

Our Poll 6 question posed was: 'What dog activity do you think is best, for beneficial reasons and beyond?'

We had an overwhelming 7 votes from people this Poll, so to those voters, thank you!!

Our winning vote was: Agility (4 - 57%)

So here we go with the information.

Agility as a dog sport

Agility is a much loved dog sport by many dog owners where the handler has to guide a dog through an obstacle course. But trust me (and take my word for it, as I am a competitor in this sport myself!), its not as easy as it sounds. You may be picturing your own four-legged friend jumping on hoops and below tables but that is not what agility is about! Agility includes things like jumps, tyres (hoops), weaves, long jumps, A-Frames, dog walks, tunnels, flat tunnels, bending tunnels, see-saws etc. There are many dog agility training classes to attend and competitions out there to try your paw at that you'll want to get going straight away! But be aware, dogs under 1 year old are strictly banned from agility due to growing joints. And once your dog is old and maybe looks to be struggling a bit, maybe its time youn slow down and retire him or her.

What are the details of agility?

In most competitions, your dog is expected to correctly hit his/her contact points. These are the coloured sections at the end of an A-Frame, dog walk, or see-saw. Your dog must place at least one paw on this area of 5 faults you have! Teaching your dog a running contact in training classes would be very beneficial, especially if you have a speedy dog. Teach your dog to have his back feet on the contact and front feet on the floor. Teach a wait on the contact then you can make it flow a bit better.

More on agility...

If your dog loves agility, you may think its right for you. But always make sure your dog does not have any joint or movement problems that agility could easily worsen if you take part in the sport. Agility is highly beneficial also - obedience skills are normally required before one and their dog are allowed to take part in the sport. Agility gives dogs great exercise.

What should you do?

Make sure you know your dogs fitness and health before taking part. Then source a good training class and talk to people about the sport further. People usually say Border collies do best at agility, but any breed can take part and do well! (Take my Border Terrier Earl for an example of this) Now see our agility page for more info.

The other votes were:

3. Obedience (1- 15%)
4. Heelwork (0 - 0%)
4. Heelwork to music (0 - 0%)
2. Rally Obedience (2 - 28%)
4. Grooming (0 - 0%)
4. Other? (0 - 0%)

The number. that is placed before the vote is where the vote is placed altogether.

Well done and thank you for voting! If you voted, you managed to get your opinion out there to the world of what you think should be in place in the dog world! Your making one of those minor differences that counts.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Poll 7 will be opening NOW! It will have 2 weeks as usual until it closes and information is given about the winning vote after the closing date. Remember to share what you think should be in place in the dog world!

Our Poll 7 is on the subject of doggie collars. The question posed is: 'What collar do you think is the best?'

Let's get voting! Thanks.

REMEBER, POLLS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG PAGE!

Earl and I.

The Saturday Pet Blogger Hop - Funny positions

Earl does some great funny positions, and Saturday seems like the perfect day to show their photos!

The miminking-a-human-in-a-chair position:

The completely-cool-traveller position:

The on-a-real-roll position:

The totally-normal-bed-stretch position:

The I'm-a-little-tired-out-but-still-wanna-play position:

The not-sure-which-way-to-go position:

The really-a-frog position:

The tucked-away-dawg position:

The just-lying-there position:

The fat-face position:

The eyeful-are-you-sure-its-not-my-go-yet position:

Hope everyone has a happy Saturday and these photos have helped to make it more laughable!

Earl and I.

We hopped off Life With Dogs