It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas

It's Tasty Tuesday time again - and I have to share with you these pictures of me investigating something very very tasty that the People Of The House brought back from a Christmas Food and Craft Fair at the weekend.

It was held at the beautiful Kedleston Hall in Derby and our friends Emma - from Impawtant Pups Rescue - and Vicki and Sarah from The Bespoke Dog Bakery were there along with lots more stall holders and craftspeople and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Christmas shoppers. I am very pleased the POTH left me at home as I'd have hated being hemmed in by all the crowds. The Lady Of The House said they had to queue to get into some rooms and when you finally got in you sometimes couldn't move because everyone was wedged so tightly!!

Anyway, they brought back one bag of goodies that smelled PARTICULARLY lovely. I wanted to investigate, but the LOTH whisked it away to photograph first.

I knew it was around here somewhere....... but where??

Ah-ha!!! There it is!!

These were delicious Christmas Tarts for dogs. I can tell you that they are made of: gram flour, minced turkey, organic rapeseed oil, dried cranberries, oats, rosemary and egg.

Will you stop messing about now, LOTH, and open the box and let me try one???

So close.....

Well, after all this waiting I wasn't going to be delicate....and before the LOTH could get another picture of me tasting it.... it was just crumbs.

Although they are tiny I am only allowed to have one now and then. The label says they will keep for four weeks in an airtight tin.

Somehow I don't think they will get a chance!

This is my entry to Kol's Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop

To add the Blog Hop code to your own post - click here.

Wordless Wednesday - winter sunshine and muddy paws

There I was - digging this hole.....

Recently, one of my friends on Facebook asked me if I had any tips on how to stop her greyhound digging holes in the garden.

I did not understand this question.

Perhaps she mis-hit the keyboard and she meant how do you START a greyhound digging holes in the garden? Why would anyone want to stop a greyhound having THIS much fun?

I find that when you feel you have dug far enough for one day you should do a few laps of honour.....

And then stand back and admire your paw-work.

The only tip I have come across is that SOME people apparently create a sand pit as a special place for their greyhounds to dig in the garden if they don't think their garden and lawn would really benefit from our novel approach to gardening.

This week, the Lady Of The House is passing on some of my best gardening tips, I believe, while she is in a production of the Tony award-winning musical The Secret Garden with Little Theatre Company. She is very tired and lying on the sofa right now. Three more shows, LOTH!!! Get up and get on with it!!!

Here's the LOTH (all in black) - who plays Mrs Medlock - with Katie Ireland who plays Mary Lennox. Katie is the LOTH's cousin's daughter and we are all very proud of her.

Here's a scene from the happy ending at the end of the show. I don't know if there are any greyhounds in it or not, but if there are it would be a very very happy ending.

Is this a Zombie Catalypse?

We are very excited about the Blogpocalypse 2011 which we heard about first on Kol's Notes.

We'll be keeping an eye on all the grueseome goings-on this weekend (once we have sussed out the difference between their PST and our GMT time zone) and hoping they raise lots of money for Lucky Dog Rescue.

The idea of a Blogpocalypse is all new to me. If it is to you.... there's some more here on the Pawcurious website.

The Blogpocalypse is on a zombie theme and our Boy Of The House is a big fan of Zombie films and Zombie-themed clothes.

But I think we may have a Zombie cat in the family. This week the Lady Of The House's mum and dad went on holiday so I had to put up with the LOTH disappearing regularly to go and look after their 20-year-old cat Mickey in their home. Don't be too sad for me because the Man Of The House took the week off work and we spent some quality time together while the LOTH waited on Mickey paw and paw.

I love Mickey from a distance - but I am not a cat-friendly greyhound in the fur so we can't be together. But she brought back some new pictures of him...... and I am a bit afraid. In fact very afraid.

DON'T LOOK INTO HIS EYES PEOPLE!!!!

Today I am again joining the Saturday Pet Blog Hop hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.

If you'd like to join in and make new pet blogger friends, please follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste this week's new Linky code into the html editor of your own blog. The list will automatically update on everyone's blogs as new sites add themselves over this weekend and we can all hop from blog to blog and find out everybody's news.

Thanks again to our three hosts for putting on the hop!

If you follow a new blog after finding them in the blog hop - please let them know that you found them on the Saturday Pet Blog Hop.

Remembrance Day

Lest we forget.......11/11/11

Today is November 11, which is Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day when all the Commonwealth countries remember those in the Armed Forces who have given their lives since World War One. 

Above is a picture of the very lovely war memorial in the village where we live. The Lady Of The House took this picture a couple of months ago when it was more sunny and green than it is now. We also saw the poppies above on one of our walks on the same day,

World War One formally ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 when the Germans signed the Armistice.

But I only found out recently that the reason we have a two-minute silence on Remembrance Day is because the first minute remembers those who died and the second minute is in honour of their families.

The LOTH recently read a new book called The Quick and The Dead which focuses on how life changed forever for the families who lost men in World War One. She found it really interesting. The author is Richard van Emden who has written some incredible books about the First World War including Tommy's Ark which was just about animals and pet mascots who helped boost the soldiers' morale.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

Mr Bo - A very Impawtant Pup

Today we are taking part in Mayzie's great Rescue Me week by spotlighting a deserving pet looking for a new home and the rescue that has saved them.

This post explains all about Rescue Me week - and Mayzie's much-loved and much-missed Grampa J who is the inspiration behind it.

Mayzie kindly said that we could take part over here in the UK - so I want to introduce you to the very lovely and very special Mr Bojangles.

Five-month-old Bo, as he's known for short, was rescued from a dog pound in Cambridge, England, where he was due to be put to sleep. He was saved by a small but wonderful dog rescue organisation called Impawtant Pups Rescue.

Bo has the skin condition Demodex mange, which had been left untreated and his sores had become badly infected. He is pictured above as he is now - wearing his favourite stylish pajama top.

His skin was very bad at first, and then he got a chest infection - but thanks to lots of tender loving care he's now lots better. He's still being treated and will be looking for a loving forever home when his condition is well under control. These pictures show Bo when Emma of Impawtant Pups first collected him.

This is Bo now cuddling up to Chanel. He gets on so well with other dogs - and they love him too - that Impawtant Pups would like to find him a home with another dog, or two.

Mr Bojangles walks beautifully on the lead and is incredibly affectionate.

Impawtant Pups have done a lot of fund-raising to pay for his treatment. Their website will be going live soon - but for now you can find out more about them at their Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/impawtantpups. You can also email Emma at impawtantpups@gmail.com

Thank you Mayzie for this great chance to highlight so many adorable pets looking for new homes.I've loved reading all the blog posts this week and I hope EVERY pet that's been featured gets the perfect home very soon.

We-Are-For-Dogs Wednesday

I can't stay wordless today because something SO lovely happened yesterday that I have to share it.

You may have seen on the right hand side of my blog that I've been promoting the 2011 Pedigree Adoption Drive which aims to raise £100,000 for UK rescues that help abandoned dogs. I know our friends Sue and Song have also posted the button which enables you to take rescue dog Ripley for a virtual walk and raise £1 every time towards the grand total.The Lady of the House also wrote about the scheme on her Lost and Fond website.

Yesterday a lovely little black box arrived in the post tied up with a yellow ribbon - and inside was a Limited Edition pet ID tag with a unique number on it. While the Man Of The House fixed it my collar, the Lady Of The House read the enclosed letter.

It said that the tag was a little thank you and that if we emailed them with the number of our tag before November 11 they would add ANOTHER £40 to the Pedigree Adoption Drive total on our behalf!! So we did.

Look how proud I am of my new tag!

You can also see me and the other dogs and owners who have helped spread the word at Pedigree's We Are For Dogs Facebook page. You can also follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/wearefordogs

There are more than 126,000 dogs abandoned in the UK every year - and remember, compared to some places we're not THAT big a country.

The Pedigree Adotpion Drive is nearly over, but you can still join in wherever you are and take Ripley for a Virtual walk to boost the total, which according to the site stands now at £92,944.

Thank you Pedigree for organising the Pedigree Adoption Drive 2011 and for my smart new tag. I will treasure it always.

WIN a fascinating new book - "Animal Grief"

I'm thrilled to see how well Peggy Frezon and Kelly's great book "Dieting With My Dog" is doing and how much support it's getting from fellow bloggers. If you've not got a copy yet you really should.

You may have seen me blog before about Hubble & Hattie - the company who have published Peggy's books and lots of other great animals books.

The company is named after two very special West Highland White Terriers called Hubble and Hattie.

The Lady Of The House has just reviewed a new Hubble & Hattie book called "Animal Grief - How Animals Mourn". 

Don't think it's a depressing read, because it isn't. The LOTH found it really fascinating. The man who has written it - David Alderton - has looked at animals in the wild, like elephants and chimpanzees and whales, as well as companion animals.

He's looked back at what people in the past thought about animals having emotions and feelings - going back to the Greek philosophers - and he comes right up to date with the latest scientific research which actually proves some stuff about animals and their emotions.  But he makes it all very easy to understand and it's liberally decorated with some beautiful colour pictures so it would make a great gift for anyone who loves the natural world as well as a pet lover.

Anyway! Hubble & Hattie have given me TWO copies of the book to give away. And me and the LOTH thought it would be nice if ALL our blogger friends could enter wherever they are in the world. So you can! We'll post it out to you whether you are in America, or Australia, or wherever if you win.

All you have to do is go to this page on the LOTH's Lost and Fond website and fill in the online form before November 12 and TWO entries picked at random after that date will win a copy. The LOTH will email you to get your address if you are a winner. We'll publish the names of the winners on this blog and on the Lost and Fond website too.

I am also going to add this give away to the great new Blogville Community Calendar which Sarge has created - such a great idea to keep up with everything that's going on. Thanks Sarge!

Tasty Tuesday - Food for the more mature dog

A big brown package that smelled divine was delivered to the house a while back.

It had to be for me – didn’t it?

Yes! It was. 

Lathams - who make natural, hypo-allergenic dog food - thought I might like to try some of their veterinarian approved food for mature dogs.

Well, I can tell you it smelled lovely and it looked lovely.

But the LOTH told me I had to be patient because with my sensitive greyhound tummy we had to introduce a new food gradually to prevent me getting stomach ache. The same is true of lots of dogs, so it is always advisable to mix a new complete food with the existing food and then gradually over a period of five day or so gradually replace more of the old food with the new food until you have switched over.

Retired greyhounds should not have food with more than 19% protein either – and this Lathams Mature (for dogs aged over 7) contains exactly that.

The LOTH was really impressed by all the extra nutrients it contains to support an older dogs’ digestion, joints, coat, thyroid and cells throughout the body. I just loved the turkey and rice I could smell.

A well-known vet worked with Lathams to come up with this special formula. He is David Helliwell and he certainly knows his stuff so we were now really keen to learn more.

David says: "Owners of older dogs frequently report problems with weight, metabolism and immunity and Lathams Mature targets these specific needs through correct balanced nutrition."

I just loved it when the LOTH started to gradually add it in to my meals.

So, here’s the science-y bit about what’s in it – it doesn’t mean anything to me, but the LOTH says there’s lots of stuff there that will help keep my joints moving smoothly and good fatty acids which will help keep my coat shiny and healthy:

Composition: Rice (26%), Oats, Turkey Meat Meal (17%), Peas, Linseed (5%), Barley, Chicken Fat, Sugar Beet Pulp (2.5%), Digest, Seaweed (1.25%), Alfalfa (0.5%), Potassium Chloride, Chicory (0.1%), Calcium Carbonate, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Yucca Schidigera Extract (0.1%).

Additives: Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Calcium Iodate Anhydrous, Sodium Selenite, Copper Sulphate, Pentahydrate, Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate, Manganese Oxide and Zinc Oxide

You can buy Lathams dog food in Tesco stores now in the UK, but it is also available through the Lathams website.