Here's what I did today...

Here are some pictures from us decorating the Christmas tree tonight:

This morning I woke up early and headed out to the local Care-A-Lot Pets store.  They were giving out goodie bags to the first 50 customers.  My sister and I got there at about 8:40 (the store opened at 9:00) and got in a line of about 20 people.  These bags were worth waiting 20 minutes out in the cold!  I mean, they even included fake dog poop from Dogipot.  What could get better than that?  Here's a picture of all the goodies that were in the reusable shopping bag.  They'll be doing it again tomorrow morning, so if you're local, you may want to check it out.  They open at 10:00 AM tomorrow.

Today I am thankful for my furry little heart (as I like to call her...), Riley.  She came into my life at a time I needed her love the most and hasn't disappointed me with all that love since.  She was one of four puppies to survive in her litter after her mom had a C-section.  I had last pick of the females and almost waited for the next litter so I could have first pick.  If I would've done that, I would've ended up with a different dog that maybe wouldn't have impacted my life so much.  I also might have gotten a dog without hip dysplasia, but I have my problems, so she can definitely have hers.  Riley is the first and only dog with hip dysplasia from her parents and after the breeder found out, she pulled her parents from her breeding program.  Funny how genetics and environment work out.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  And now a throwback fat puppy picture:

Riley and I went to class last night.  We had gone to the advanced finishing school class twice, but I felt like we didn't know some of the stuff they were doing in that class, so we went to the Canine Good Citizen prep class last night.  Even though Riley already has her CGC and her Therapy Dogs International certification, we still learned some good things and it was good to have a refresher.  There were only two other dogs there, so that was good.  One of the dogs that was there was a reactive male and he had his own half of the training room sectioned off, so that was nice.  The other dog that was there got away from her owner once during class and rushed right up into Riley's face.  Riley did not like that...so she told her to back off in no uncertain terms.  It was all good, I was able to get the two apart before anything escalated.

Riley got to play fetch with her Chuckit launcher outside in the backyard today because it was 75 degrees outside!  She definitely enjoyed that.  Then after I ate dinner I played fetch with her in the living room and she played until she finally pooped out on me...

This year I paid off my car...and last night I hit, GULP, 100,000 miles.  I hope this doesn't mean it's dying on me anytime soon.  I have a 2004 Pontiac Vibe and I love it!

Today is a lazy day...


I'm off to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One...don't judge!

This is what I get for bragging about Riley catching so well the other day...  Here's a video of her "not in the mood."  She was pouting because she wanted me to throw it so she could run after it and not throw it right to her to catch it.  And this also shows you that Riley only wants to play 23 hours out of the day, not 24 like you previously believed!

I finally got Riley's portrait that my Aunt Nancy drew of her hung up in my bedroom.  I must say, it's a spitting image of Riley!


I say she looks fabulous!  What do you think?

And don't forget to check out our friend Noah's Cash for Comments post on his blog!!

The newest thing we've discovered Riley can do is catch treats really well!  I don't know why it never occurred to me that she could catch treats since she can catch anything else you toss her way.  In this video she only misses one but that was because her thrower--me--gave her a lousy toss.

Riley got a good run in the backyard this afternoon.  It's 68 degrees out today and such a nice day.  It's supposed to rain soon though.  Riley got to go play with her new Chuck It ball launcher.  I don't quite have the hang of it yet but towards the end I was getting a little better at it.  She's worn out and happy as a clam.  I call Riley the "Riled Child" instead of "Wild Child" (which is certainly fitting of her...).  Her AKC name is "All Riled Up" and I didn't know when I named her how well she was going to live up to her name...!  My next dog's name is going to be "Calm Air" or "Relaxing Mist."  Something soothing and calm!  Nah, I wouldn't change a thing about Riley except maybe have her hips and knees healthy!

Okay, so I lied.  I am still up.  Studying microbiology...ugh.  Riley has gone to bed on me a long time ago...



The winner of the giveaway was chosen by Random.org.  I will get in touch with the winner about receiving their prize.  The winner is:

Kristin G. who said:

Congrats!! Your bandanas are so cute! My little Zoe wants to throw her name in the hat for the prize. ;)

Hey everyone, by sure to check out the Personalized Santa Dog Bandana Giveaway that is ending tonight (11/14) at midnight Eastern time!

My mom (Riley's Grandma) and I went over to Aunt Baddy's house today to take a Christmas picture of Baddy, Jimmy (Uncle Jimmy that Riley's in love with...) and the dog cousins Daisy and Highway.  They wanted a good picture of all four of them for their Christmas card.  Daisy and Highway didn't feel like cooperating...!  We finally managed to get one good picture, but it wasn't even that great!  Daisy and Highway kept trying to play with each other.  Then Daisy wouldn't sit down by her Daddy.  Then when Daisy finally sat down, Highway decided he wanted to sprawl out all over the floor and sleep.  It was quite a trying picture taking session for this photographer...!  Here's some of the outtakes (unfortunately I didn't get any with Baddy and Jimmy in the picture because we used Aunt Baddy's camera for that.  These are some pictures from my camera...):

In my first post, I forgot to mention that I'm running on Eastern time, so the giveaway is ending Sunday night (November 14th) at 12:00 PM (midnight) Eastern time.  Whew, I feel better now!  :)

Here's the link to the giveaway post: Santa Bandana Giveaway.

To enter you must be a follower of this blog and you have to comment on my giveaway post so we know to enter you in the contest.  I'll post the winner on Monday morning, because frankly, I don't stay up late enough to post it in the wee hours of the night!

Here's an attempt at a Christmas card picture we took outside...  Riley's wearing her bandana.  We scrapped this one and went with another picture instead though.  A better one.

I told myself that when I got 50 followers, I would do a giveaway.  I now have 50 followers, yay!  Aren't these Christmas bandanas the cutest thing?  They have velcro to keep them on your dog and come in sizes small, medium, and large (small fits neck sizes 12-14", medium sizes 15-19", and large sizes 20-26").  Medium fits Riley and Chloe, and large fits the Boxer cousins Daisy and Highway.  They also come embroidered with your dog's name or nickname on them.  They have faux fur and a jingle bell on them...which could get annoying after a while, but you can always take it off.  I will be giving one away.  If you have more than one dog, I'll see what I can do.  Check out these pictures:



This giveaway will be open until midnight on Sunday, November 14th.  To enter:

1.  You must be a follower of this blog.
2.  Leave a comment on this post simply saying that you want to be entered into the contest!

We got our first blog reward from Nova the Great Dane.  Thanks, Nova!  It's the "Doggie Bloggie Award."

2.  Another food one...  Riley likes to eat Shredded Wheat as a healthy snack.  It's cheap and has practically zero sugar and it lasts a really long time.

3.  Riley is in love with my sister's husband, Jimmy.  She gives him moon eyes and has even stroked his arm a few times with her paw.

4.  Riley is very picky about what dogs she gets along with.  Her latest dog friend is a male Golden Retriever named Duncan that she met at class.  She also likes a male Rottweiler mix named Kapua.

5.  Riley loves to play!  All the time...she settles down at oh-dark-thirty at night.

6.  7:30 AM is the latest Riley likes to sleep.  We go to bed around 9:00 or 10:00 and she's raring to go by 7:00.  When she was a puppy she got up at dawn and used to yip for about an hour until we finally got up with her.

7.  Riley does occasionally nap...actually she naps most of the day but likes to get her play time in there too.

8.  Riley is my first dog of my own.

9.  Riley caught and ate the head of a bunny when she was 3 months old.  She's trying ever so hard to catch a squirrel but hasn't managed to snag one yet.  If you have a pest problem, you might want to seek out Riley's services!

10.  Riley's best friend in the world is my parents' 12 year old dog, Chloe.  Riley also happens to be Chloe's best friend in the world.

We're supposed to give 15 other bloggers this award, but we know most of you have already gotten it before, so whoever wants it is welcome to have it!

I'm going to try to remember to post the giveaway tomorrow...I'm sure someone will remind me if not.  Things have been crazy as far as school and working have gone!  I think my brain's gone south on me.

Well, Riley wasn't the worst dog in class tonight but she definitely wasn't the best one there.  There were 6 dogs there including Riley.  4 of them were better than her.  1 was worse than her.  Sigh.  This is exactly why we're going back to class!  I'll have a real blog post tomorrow!

Riley will (finally) be getting to go back to her new school tomorrow night.  She's been pretty good at home while I've been studying but I know she's itching to get out of the house and get some 1 on 1 time alone with me.  She's passed out here on the love seat right now.  I'm working tomorrow so I'm sure she'll be all hyped up to go to class tomorrow night after being home with Grandma all day!!  :)

Whew, I have been busy this week with school and working some too.  Then I babysat for some friends of mine last night.  I'm glad to finally get to sit down and post a blog.  I told myself that when I got 50 followers I would do a giveaway.  I don't know what exactly I'm going to give away (I do know of a certain 52 pound female Australian Cattle Dog that would LOVE to come visit you...!  Just kidding), but I will be giving away something in the next week, so stay tuned for that.

Riley decided she would eat my mom's flip flop this morning while I was asleep.  Usually she just comes back to bed with me but she decided to be a trouble maker this morning.  She also uncovered Chloe, so she also "unmade" my parents' bed...

We (well, I) did!

Last night I went over to my sister's house with the rest of my family and we had a little Halloween get together.  Riley and Chloe stayed home and kept an eye on the home front.  They made sure our house was not egged or toilet papered!!  And successful they were!

Here are some pictures from the Halloween get together: