Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  Our boys are excited to share their costumes with everyone.  Sam needed a little extra fuzz to hide a few shaved spots, and our favorite little Monster really outdid himself this year!

Happy Halloween!

We want to remind everyone to stay safe but have lots of fun!  ...and remember....

You know it is serious when the Most Interesting Dog in the World comments on Gangnam Style!

October Bark Box

Our October Bark Box has arrived!

Hurry up, Mom!

 Monty grabbed the first thing he saw and ran...

A ball?  MINE!

 We got a lot of really neat things in this months box!

Poop Packs - we can always use these!

Tropiclean Clean Teeth Gel:

Let me hide this....

A Moody Pet Humunga Stache:

Mine!  I bet I can stand in the treat line twice with this disguise!

Feelgood Turkeyk Trail Blazin' Bitz:

The boys absolutely love these!

Lollycadoodle toy made from 100% wool from Nepal:

This is the toy Monty stole....

Another great Bark Box!  We love them!

On a side note:  While our boys are not huge chewers, the mustache and the ball did not last long.  I would advise keeping an eye on your pups when they play with these toys.

A day late....

We are a day late, but wanted to give a shout out to "National Pit Bull Awareness Day". 

Logo copied from here.

Recently, my husband and  I spent time at Maricopa Animal Care & Control looking for a new best friend for my Mom.  We were amazed at the high number of pit bulls and pit bull crosses that were there.  We stopped to play with quite a few, and say a few friendly words, and hopefully give them a little love and comfort.  Despite the crowded and less than ideal conditions, we never heard a growl. 

Per the website:  "NPBAD was established to educate and foster positive communications and experiences in the communities in which we and our dogs live, and it is an initiative dedicated to restoring the image of the American Pit Bull Terrier."  

We believe there are no bad dogs.  We are against BSL and the negative image it causes for bully breeds.  After all:

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi

Show Us Your Treat Jar!

Jack and Moo, over at Cybersibes, are holding a "Show Us Your Treat Jar" event today!

Monty has asked if he could show you our treat jar.  We couldn't say no to the boy!

Dis our treat jar!

This treat jar is very special.  My Dad gave it to me when Sam was just a pup.  He thought the two silly Golden's looked like puppy Sam and my dear, sweet Cisco.

I think they look a lot like Sam & Monty!

 Of course, the boys know that this little jar is full of wonderful things! 

How do I get lid off?

We will be stopping by the Apache Junction Paws & Claws Care Center and dropping off a box of treats to share! 

A most beautiful picture and a huge thank you!

A while back JM, Bailey and Nala's Mom from Bailey Be Good let me know she had drawn a portrait of Sam.  We fell in love with it immediately and ordered it.  When it came, we rushed it off to a framer - we were so afraid something would happen to it.

We got it back today and it looks awesome!

JM really captures his eyes...

We've been walking around the house trying to decide where to hang it...

Make sure our guests can see it too!

We've decided we need a matching set - after all Monty and Sam are quite a pair!

I has a cute face! 

Thank you so much, JM - we love our picture!

The Happy Dance of Joy

I just shared these on Facebook, but thought you would all like to see them...

Poor Sam had to wear the cone collar while we were gone.  He does really well with a t-shirt on, but we want to make sure he doesn't do anything that will make his recovery longer...

...and boy, does he know how to celebrate once that collar comes off!

I love his happy grin.

Which turns very serious when he attempts a complex maneuver...

....with his little tongue poking out!

Oh, you were taking pictures?

I'm pretty sure he got all the itchy spots!

Update:  We brought Sam to the vet last night for a re-check.  His stitches are all looking good.  The seeping has stopped on the one set, and we are schedule for having them all removed on November 1st.  We sure hope Sam will be a good boy till then. 

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Guess who has a birthday today?

Me!

 It's hard to believe that my little wild pup has grown up to be such a gentleman...

Puppy Sam in his popcorn bowl.

We've had so many adventures since those days!

He was so much trouble he had to wear a bell and a leash at all times!

We got Sam a Halloween sock monkey since he has a thing for those monkeys! Monty got a crinkly ghost.

Monty is in this picture.... 

I'm not sure what his antibiotics and others meds are doing with his stomach, so I opted to give him a mild treat of scrambled eggs and Moose cookies.  I found the moose cookies at Wag N' Wash here in Phoenix.  One of our first blog posts had to do with bringing Sam a moose back from Idaho - back when we trying to figure out how to blog.  It seemed fitting to find these cookies. 

Moose & Eggs

Sam dove right in and went for dessert first!

Monty being a good boy and leaving dessert for last.

Sam is still resting and seems so much more cheerful today.  We are having an issue with a little seepage from one of his incisions and are keeping a close watch on it. 

I'm doing great!

Happy Birthday, big guy!

Sam has been resting...

Sam has spent most of his day resting and we've been keeping an eye on him.  He seems in better spirits this evening and doesn't seem to be hurting as bad.  We've been watching him closely, making sure he doesn't worry his stitches, and keeping him company.

Monty keeping Sam company.

We should get the biopsy results early next week.  We are keeping paws crossed that they come back with nothing to worry about.  We would like to thank everyone for keeping him in your thoughts - your prayers and good wishes mean a lot to us!

Update on Sam

Sam is home.  They took three of the four lumps/tumors they had identified, and even though it means he will need to go back in the future, I'm glad they made that decision, Sam is hurting badly.  They took one from under his left front leg, one from his left side near his flank/abdomen and one from his left shoulder. 

We've pulled a mattress onto the living room floor, and I'll be spending tonight with him.  We think he needs the extra comfort.

Think of Sam?

If you all wouldn't mind, could you think of Sam tomorrow?  We are bringing him to Dr Kerne to get four bumps removed.  We've had this done before, but I worry all the same. 

I don't want to go....

I don't want him to go either!

The War on Floof Continues...

Look sharp, men, it's coming!

Fire at will!

It's here, sir!

Charge!

It has Johnson!

It's trying to surround us, Sir!

For the love of Dog - it's the Mother Ship!

Sigh...  I think I'm the only normal one in this house....

Most days I feel like Johnson!

In which we finally do something exciting...

Exciting news - our boys did not get a bath for nothing!  We packed up the car, the boys, and their leashes and took them to the cool pines of northern Arizona.

I hope you don't mind a lot of pictures!

We decided to make it a little easier on ourselves and rent a cabin, which I think Monty appreciated - he isn't fond of roughing it.   

I'm not talking to you...

It was nice to get out of the heat and dust of the valley and see something green for a change!

Dad and his boys

...and wet!

You are seeing correctly - that is Sam in WATER!

He really seemed to like the creek:

Splash, splash, splash...

We even found a little dog park where we could let Monty run off leash!  This was a rare treat for our boy.

I is a wolf....

The brothers....

Playing catch...

This is great!

...and of course, there had to be a photo-bomb somewhere in all the photos.

Monty, you've got something stuck to your head...

Even Sam enjoyed the dog park!

I'm loving this!

 

 The boys enjoyed resting in our cabin in the evening.

Especially Sam, who takes begging seriously:

Don't try this at home - I'm an expert...

We spent a lot of time on the front porch listening to the wind in the trees.

It blows my butt furs something fierce too!

We had a little restaurant nearby where we could get dinner: 

We want fries with our hamburgers, Mom!

We got lot of hiking in:

...but it didn't matter where we went - it was all gorgeous!

The path to the dog park.

We took time to enjoy the scenery!

At the See Canyon Trail Head

We had two very happy boys!

Monty

Sam

...and a very happy family!

If you look closely you can see Monty between us!