Unfortunately, they cannot eat what is probably my most favorite appetizer dish, my cocktail hot dogs. Its simple and quick and delicious and always a huge hit, however, these dogs, are not for my dogs.

Here it is: Spicy Cocktail Weiners

1lb package of all beef weiners (or little smokies)

2/3 cup of Frenchs Spicy Brown Mustard (or Dijon)

1 1/2 cups of Apple Jelly

1 Chopped up small onion

Dash of garlic powder

Cut each hot dog into 5 or 6 pieces. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the hot dogs. Heat until the sauce has thickened a bit and the hot dogs are cooked. Serve in a fondue part of small warming crock pot to keep warm.

For more great recipes, be sure to check out the Frenchs Cook Off 2009 and be sure to enter also. You could win a $100.00 gift certificate to the grocery store of your choice.

Happy eating, but remember, its just for you, not your pets.

Then, two years later, I boarded a Rottweiler at my kennels that wasn’t wanted by its owner anymore. The boy had moved to Florida and taken the sister to the rottie, but couldn’t take them both and dumped him on his parents. His parents not seeing any humor in that boarded him with me. Eventually, they didn’t want to have that bill anymore so they wanted to get rid of him. Over his time of stay he became very close to me and my family, but we just weren’t sure how well this unneutered massive rottie would get along with our German Shepherd who had already been through so much. But, I was talked into taking Zeus home, and the rest is history.

They immediately became the best of friends. Playing together, eating together, getting in trouble together. They were inseparable. They were quite a duo, Zeus and Kaiser, a combined weight of 240 pounds of love and sweetness.

At the age of 7 Zeus had to have disc surgery. He couldn’t walk, and the doctors were not sure if he ever would. Some encouraged us to put him down, others said to give it a try. Putting him down was never an option. As a surgical vet tech, I knew I could get him through this, and with vigorous therapy and exercise for weeks on end, he eventually began to walk, albeit a funny gait and a little hard to get up on the tile floor, but he managed. Through his entire recovery, Kaiser was there. Laying right against him at night, and standing by his said all day.

Then horror struck for Kaiser, he developed prostate cancer. I knew his time was very limited, and he made it only 5 months till we had to put him down. A very sad day for all of us, especially Zeus who had lost his best friend.

Being an animal lover and rescuer, I knew that I had to get Zeus another buddy, and also open up room for the rescue to take in another dog. I told them I wanted one that was a bit older and that had special needs. They had the perfect dog for me. He was rescued from death row in Nashville, you couldn’t really get a hand on him, his face showed the signs of battle with his scars. But, he would come live with me, and never have to battle again. At first Zeus was stand offish with him. He was certainly an odd one. After much prodding from me and my family, they became friends and Thor relished that he had a buddy that didn’t bite him or fight him, but one he could play with, well sort of play with. Zeus limited ability to move made it difficult, but Thor seemed to understand his handicap. After a bit, we came to realize that Thor was probably only about 18 months old. He blew an entire coat becoming a different color, and took on more of an adult look instead of a puppy over the months.

Alas, Zeus was stricken with cancer in his toe, and we had it removed. The report came back showing clean margins, but guarded condition. We were told if he went 6 months clean, it had been taken out with his toe. We counted every month, chest x-rays and daily lymph node checks. No cancer, it was looking good. Five months down the road, still looking good, but a choking and gagging spell one day led to something completely different, and Zeus began to seizure. He never came out of it, and had to be euthanized. Most certainly one of the saddest days of my life, and hardest to accept. Not only for me, but for my family and of Thor, who had lost the only other dog he trusted. With nose to the floor, he constantly went from room to room looking for his buddy. He was no where to be found.

Our vet had told us he had been the recipient of a 10 month old black German Shepherd that was dumped in his pasture. He couldn’t keep it. With a pregnant wife and three other dogs, they just couldn’t do it, but they couldn’t give it to just anyone. They were working diligently with this dog, which was scared of everything, thin and ragged looking and unneutered temporarily. He begged us to take him saying he thought we would be the perfect home, so, we decided to let the dogs meet and see what happened.

Nothing much happened. They sort of looked at each other, walked around together, got along fine, but not an instant attachment. Of course, Thor, still grieving for Zeus and suspicious of other dogs, is biding his time. It’s just been a couple days but we are hoping that we have the next era of Thor and Jove, like our beloved Zeus and Kaiser era. Maybe that happens just once in a lifetime.

However it turns out, we know that Zeus and Kaiser are once again together in doggie heaven, playing, laughing, and probably making fun of “those obsessive humans” they had.

Kaiser

Zeus

Thor

Jove

Eddie Lama of "The Witness" is certainly someone that reconized the potential danger it was to his cat, Moo Moo, everytime he lit up a cigarette. Determined to do what was best for his precious cats health, he gave up his near chain smoking habit.

It has been shown that dogs and cats subjected to second hand smoke are at a greater risk for oral cancer and lymphoma in cats to lung cancer in dogs. Even your pet birds are at risk for eye, skin and heart problems.

A survey taken by the Tobacco Control journal,  showed that 1 out of every 3 pet owners that smoke would quit to help keep their pets healthy.  The survey was taken by 3300 pet owners and the results were released this week.  

As a responsible pet owner, you need to decide, your pets health, or your habit.

After 101 Dalmatians was released, thousands of people were rushing out to buy these cute spotted creatures. Breeders were going crazy over breeding their poor females and couldn’t keep up with the demand. Then, the puppies grew up into not so cute spotted little puppies anymore, and the rescues were overrun with Dalmatians. California alone reported that their shelters took in close to 3000 Dalmatians alone in 1999, which was approximately a 200% increase of Dalmatians passing through those shelters from years before.

Much the same happened after the release of the Air Bud movie, however, since Golden Retrievers have a disposition that’s a little easier to handle then Dalmatians or Jack Russell’s or other breeds that have shown up on the big screen or in your living room they didn’t overwhelm the shelters quite as much, but, the poor breeding quality did become a problem.

So, let’s examine this. Having been a yellow lab owner in my life, and having worked with labs just about my entire adult life, I can tell you that while these dogs are very sweet by nature, they are also strong, stubborn and extremely playful and not necessarily the sharpest tack in the box. This may or may not be the dog for you, but please, do not go out and get it just because it was so cute in the movie. Before you decide on any breed of dog, study it well and access what your needs and limitations are for your standard of living, don’t add to the Marley and Me dog buying impulse.

Normally my blogs are general in nature, but todays blog is going to be more personal, sort of a little bit of memories, which I’m sure a lot of you will unfortunately be able to relate to.

A little background about my German Shephard Kaiser to set the premise. Kaiser was born on a farm in Kentucky with 11 siblings to a man that didn’t want them. For all practical purposes they had no human contact. Food was thrown at them, and that was about it. A friend of mine came to know of their plight, and took the entire litter. Kaiser of all of them was the most bashful and would need a lot of human touch and companionship. Since I was a dog groomer and had my own business, I could take the dog to work with me daily and introduce him to a lot of new people, so she asked me to take him, which I gladly did.

The first couple months were very hard for both Kaiser and me. He was so scared, he would hide under the end tables and not want to come out, and I would lie on the floor beside him and talk and talk and extend my hand in friendly gestures. I would take him to work with me everyday, and he would hide in the corner of the car the entire way, often soiling himself or throwing up. We worked through this, and eventually he enjoyed his car rides and even came to like going to work with me. He wasn’t over friendly with the customers, but he loved their dogs. Much to humans chagrin, dogs will always pick another dog over a human, they are pack animals, and other dogs are their preferred pack.

When he was two years old, we adopted a companion for him, an abandoned Rottweiler named Zeus. They became instant friends and best buddies. They played together, ate together and slept against each other, they were inseparable. When Zeus had to have disc surgery and couldn’t walk for months, another blog in itself, Kaiser laid with him and took care of him, and gave him comfort.

But alas, in August of 2007, Kaiser was diagnosed with bladder cancer. While there is no cure for this cancer, and no surgical procedure to be done on him, all we could do was treat the symptoms from it, not the cause. He was put on antibiotics and I also had him on a plethora of holistic medicines as well as Knox gelatin for his nose bleeds. He would be asymptomatic for a bit and then show symptoms of this killer disease again  The house was adorned with plastic table cloths because he would frequently urinate everywhere. Eventually, we put a belly band on him which held a pad for accidents and dripping. I would highly recommend this for anyone who is experiencing any type of urinary problems with their dogs.

Christmas was approaching and we were all holding our breaths that he would make it through. I couldn’t bare the thought of losing him yet, and especially at what is to be such a joyous time of the year. My daughter who lives in Indiana with her family decided to visit us in Florida for the Holidays, to see Kaiser one last time, and say their goodbyes. He was fading rapidly, but when they arrived it was like they brought a miracle with them.

Their stay was going to be short, just 4 days, but long enough to accomplish what they came for. Upon their arrival I noticed Kaiser perked up. He ate and played and played and ate everything from pizza to donuts. His ball was never more then a couple feet from him, and he enjoyed every minute that he had left. He was a sight to behold, the Kaiser of yester years. A bittersweet moment for all of us, none the less, he brought us through the holidays with joy.

The morning they were leaving, he lay in the bedroom doorway watching them, lifting his head occasionally for a kiss or pat, but nothing more. From then on, the disease took its final toll, and Kaiser would not be spreading anymore holiday cheer. It was back to reality, his last hurrah was gone. Unable to even get up, or wanting to get up for a drink of water or go outside, he had given it his all, and gave us our Christmas miracle. He was euthanized at home the following day.

1. Make a donation to your favorite Animal Rescue group in the receivers name or ask that your Christmas gift be a donation to that rescue.
2. Donate some time at your local shelter. Just walking the dogs and cleaning the litter box is a huge help.
3. Purchase some items for you local shelter or Rescue Group or give them a gift card to Target or Wal-Mart.
4. Sponsor a pet. Many Shelters and Rescue groups have pets that cannot be placed in homes, or are in need of expensive surgeries the rescue can’t afford, but you can sponsor that pet and give them the gift of a healthy life.
5. Look through your stack of blankets and towels and rugs at home, many of these can be used at your local shelter or Rescue group. They go through a lot of these items and are expensive to purchase.
6. Check with your local shelter or rescue to see what kinds of foods and treats they feed, if nothing in particular, take them a couple 50lb bags of food and treats. Some shelters and rescues use the same food all the time, so be sure to check with them before purchasing any.

These so remind me of the old leg warmers I wore during my "flash dance" days. I haven’t received them in the mail yet, hopefully I will within a day or so because the weather here is turning cold. I’m really hoping that these will help keep his hocks warm and we won’t have any repeat of last winter. I know I could keep him on Bute, or even do the steriod shots again, but I really don’t want to, if I don’t have to. Hes such a good old guy, and so lively and still so full of himself, that I can’t even think about something like this having to end his life. 

So, heres to hoping that the Whinny Boots do their job, and Scatman is saved from the cold of Winter, well, the moderate cold of winter, as cold as it gets in Florida.

The best place to get your 5.11 Tactical Pants is online at Operator Tactical pants. They have 10 pockets, are fade resistant,cargo pockets with organizations system and so much more. Over 3,000 pair have been sold in just 15 days. With 20 years of experience in the industry, its no wonder they are such a top seller. 

If you are looking for tactical pants, now is the time to buy them as they are selling quickly, and with the cinch waist system, you can order your regular size with confidence.

I’ll post more deals as I find them. Saving gas is important too. The price on gas has dropped, but, if we start using it again like crazy people, it will go back up, and that certainly affects the price of our pet supplies.