what we're looking forward to.

So. After doing a lot of thinking and planning and talking things through, I have decided that Claire and I are going to go home to Cape Cod for a few weeks this summer. Like... for a whole five of them. It'll take two days to drive there and two days to drive back, but Claire did great on the trip home in 2011, so I think she'll be great this time too. I'll be working remotely, so I won't have to use any vacation days or anything. And when I'm not working, I plan on taking Claire for lots of early morning and twilight runs at the beach, lunch time swimming breaks down at the pond by my house, weekend walks on the bike path in Woods Hole, and play dates for Claire with my brother's dog Lexie (and maybe Brianna and Asya if she's lucky!). And a whole lot of quality time with family. I think it's going to be really good rest for my soul, and it'll all just be so exciting for Claire. I'm really really looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I've been creating a wish list of things to buy before we head up north. I'm sure that there's a whole bunch of things that I haven't even thought of, so share your suggestions in the comments section if I need to add things! As for what I have so far...

This dog bed and bed cover by Boots&Barkley

which is perfect for lounging while I'm busy working.

This life jacket from Ruffwear

to keep Claire safe while treading salt water.

This 30-foot leash so Claire can roam in the yard
while I enjoy some quiet time in the mornings on the porch.

An extra set of elevated dog bowls by Popware;
they're so great that I think I need to keep a set back home too for future visits.

Any other ideas of things to buy for our trip home?

the mess of a monday morning.

Sorry about our unexpected hiatus from the blogging world - I've been sick for the past few weeks (so typical) and so Little One spent a bit more time at Bark-O-Lounge than usual. I'd like to think that I'm on the mend now, however, so we're getting back into our groove. And of course we had to come back with a bang...

I was running late for work this morning, so while I rushed around the kitchen throwing together breakfast and lunch, I let Claire into the backyard for a few minutes. I was keeping an eye on her out the kitchen window, and I saw her start digging by the shed. It's rained for the past million days, so I ran outside to tell her to stop playing in the mud and come inside so I could clean her up before I left for work. As I ran outside, however, I saw Claire wagging her tail like crazy and puppy-bow at something. I looked around the corner to see who/what she had befriended juuuust in time to see her get sprayed by a skunk. She yelped and then began rolling around in the mud - possibly to get the smell off? or to get it further embedded in her fur? I'm not sure what the purpose of that was, but she was a hot mess.

When I finally managed to wrangle her inside, I put her in the bathroom while I tried to find some tomato sauce. Does anyone even own plain boring tomato sauce? I mean, I had a variety of name-brand options. Four cheese, sweet basil marinara, vodka sauce, spicy red pepper, etc. I grabbed a jar of the sweet basil and dumped it all over her. For a girl who isn't a fan of the bath in general, why would she like getting scrubbed with tomato sauce? Before I knew it, she leapt into me, covering me with marinara, and then started running around the house. I ran after her and tried to grab her, but she thought we were playing a game of chase, so she took off just as I got close enough to catch her. Then she stopped in the dead center of the kitchen and shook sauce and mud all over the place. I managed to get ahold of her mid-shake and carried her back to the tub so I could finish giving her a bath.

At this point, I was ridiculously late for work but I was a disaster - as was my house. I managed to take a quick shower, change clothes, clean up the kitchen, throw all of the towels into the washing machine, and run out the door in less than 15 minutes. Claire was sulking on the couch when I left, likely for ruining her fun with a bath, but hey, at least she was clean and smelling like an Italian side dish.

   

claire-friendly peach muffins.

Okay, so I'm about 3.5 months into this vegan thing, and so far so good. Interestingly enough, I've found that Claire and I now have a similar diet which is excellent for my grocery budget! Winning, all around!

I made some fantastic vegan peach muffins last weekend - for both of us - and they were so delicious that it's worth sharing with you all [and your dogs, of course]. Let me know how you like them!

Claire-Friendly Peach Muffins

1-1/2 cups all-purpose rice flour

(or whole wheat flour if your dog can have gluten)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil

3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/3 cup of organic peach jam

Preheat the oven to 400*F.

Coat muffin tin with non-stick spray, or use liners.

Scoop batter into muffin tins.

There should be enough for 12 muffins.

Bake for about 24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool and enjoy!

Do you have a favorite recipe that both you and your dog love?

Share it in the comments section below!

praying for boston and planning for the just-in-case's.

I had a very different post planned for this evening.

That changed when I was at the gym after work and saw the news about the explosions at the Boston Marathon. Thankfully my family and friends are all okay. Obviously shaken, but safe at home now. I am absolutely stunned by today's tragedy. I can't even put how I'm feeling into words. I had to turn off the news because they don't have any new information, and they are replaying video clips over and over again. Watching that on repeat isn't good for anyone.

As many of you know, I'm from Cape Cod, went to college on the North Shore of Massachusetts, and went to grad school at Boston University. I moved to Colorado for a few years before settling down here in Nashville [4 years ago this June - crazy how time flies]. My family still lives on the Cape and most of my friends still live in New England. Because of that, my family and I have put an unofficial emergency plan in place. I got to thinking about how that's really great for information purposes, but if there was any kind of emergency in Nashville (whether it be weather-related, a national crisis, etc), they are a bit too far away to really be of any immediate help, you know?

It's just me and Claire here in the south, so my emergency plan for the past four years has been somewhat vague and really simple: (1) get to Claire, (2) get us both in a safe place, then (3) call and update the family. But then I thought this terrible thing: what if I couldn't physically get to Claire? [Of course I laughed after I thought of that because - let's be honest - I'd walk on a bed of nails to get to Claire]. After compiling a list of things that I hadn't yet considered in my quest to be prepared, I found this site, which is a great resource in pointing out some key things to think about when putting together an emergency plan that includes your pets.

1. Put together a kit of pet emergency supplies - at least 3 days worth of food and water, medications, medical records, a first aid kit, collar with ID tag and harness/leash, a picture of you with your pet with detailed information about them (breed, color, age, sex, distinguishing characteristics, etc), and favorite treats/toys/bedding.
2. Make a plan for what you will do in an emergency [and no, "freaking out" is not on that list]. Plan where you and your pet will go if you need to evacuate. Develop a buddy system so that if you can't get to your pets, someone you trust can help you. Talk to your vet about emergency planning. Gather contact information for emergency animal treatment.
3. Be prepared for what might happen. Stay informed about what types of emergencies are likely to affect your region. Be prepared to adapt this information to your circumstances.

And hey, while you and your family are making your emergency plan, do me a favor and pray for Boston, okay? They could really use it right about now.

happy 4th birthday to claire!

My sweet girl turned four today - making the next six months the only time in our lives that we will be the same age (if you're counting her age in dog years, that is).

She could feel the excitement in the air, which was evident at 730am when she forced me to wake up to begin the celebration! We started the day by going for an early morning hike at a new place, and we will definitely be going there again! It was a perfect day for a perfect hike that included a dip in the creek, a run through some cornfields, and a romp with some horses. We both loved it and will be hiking this trail a lot over the next few months!

On our way back home, we stopped by my dear friend Shannon's house and Claire had a great time hanging out with Shannon's adorable kids! Lindsay Miller and Brooke played fetch with her and chased her around their backyard - two of her favorite games. Claire couldn't get enough of the kids and would've been quite content to follow them around for the whole day.

Next, we went to See Spot Eat to get Claire some special birthday treats. Her day wouldn't be complete without some fresh salmon ice cream! Of course, it didn't make it out the door, so we grabbed some other snacks for the next few days too!

Claire was completely exhausted at that point, so we went back home for a little nap. Because it was such a beautiful day, I opened all the doors to get some fresh air in the house while we napped, and it was nothing short of amazing!

When we woke up, Claire was ready to go back outside, so we went on another long walk and stopped by Rebel's house so she could see him and play for a bit before we continued on our way. He is such a good boy, and he was just as excited as she was to get a chance to play. He is so sweet to her and kept kissing her baby face. It just melted my heart!

Once we got home, Claire was just about ready for bed. So much excitement will do that to a girl, you know. But she had to have "cake" first, so I made her one that was made of dog food and mashed pumpkin, and topped with a pumpkin and rice flour biscotti dipped in carob and yogurt. And after that? Well, she's been fast asleep for the past few hours already, which can only mean that her birthday was a success!

Enjoy some Instagram pics from Claire's 4th birthday!

saved by mr. chewy.

Want to know what really sucks? When one of the only kinds of food that your dog isn't allergic to has a massive nationwide recall juuuust after you received a 30-pound shipment of it that was special-ordered. AHHH. California Naturals, get it together!!

I spent most of Saturday researching different kinds of limited-ingredient high-quality dog food in the hope that there might be something out there that Claire could eat in place of California Naturals. Hope (and patience) was fading so I went to a local pet boutique to discuss the situation with them. They suggested Natural Balance - which is actually what I fed Claire for awhile when she was a puppy, though not the limited ingredient line. Unfortunately, they didn't have any in stock, but they said they could order it for me. The problem was that I needed to find something to give her immediately since I only had 30 pounds of potentially contaminated dog food sitting in my kitchen. The boutique did have a medium-quality brand available that would suffice in the meantime (which is basically like taking someone to Uno's while waiting for a table to open up at Lou Malnati's - but hey, it's better than the options at Pizza Hut).

As I drove home, I called my pals at Mr. Chewy's, which is where I had ordered the recalled food from. I have never had such an amazing experience with customer service before. I had the most wonderful representative in the history of customer service (her name was Andrea, so if you call to place an order, you must request her assistance). I explained my situation and she was so understanding. I listed Claire's many allergies and asked her opinion on the best food to try, and Andrea also suggested Natural Balance. She helped me place the order, gave me a discount, and fully refunded the cost of the bag of California Naturals. Oh, and my order arrived today, making Mr. Chewy the fastest delivering company in history. And hey, they did not ask me to post this or compensate me in any way for this informal review of their services. I'm telling y'all about this because I was stressing out and they were a HUGE help for me and my sweet special-needs pup, so take it for what it's worth!

I am going to try giving Claire the Natural Balance tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how she likes it! She can hardly stand to be picky with the few options out there, but she obviously doesn't realize that - nor does she care! ;)

Also, I sincerely hope that all of your pets are okay and didn't get sick on any food made by the Evo company before the recall.

why my neighbor hates me.

It only started the other day when I was walking Claire. He was leaving for work and happened to come outside while she was peeing in his front yard. He just lit into me and started railing about how dog owners need to pick up the poop and all that, and every time I tried to interject that IT WAS PEE, he just got louder and louder! I have this bad habit of being sarcastic when I get upset (seriously, sometimes it's just the wrong timing), so when he took a breath to continue his diatribe, I said, "I'm sorry sir, but I haven't been instructed on how to adequately pick up dog pee." He got really quiet and then said, "Oh. It was just pee?" Right.

Then on Tuesday, we went for a walk when I got home from work. All of a sudden, I had this horrible tickle in my throat (maybe I inhaled a bug?) that was just at that spot where you can't exactly breathe but if you cough, you're going to gag. Well. I just happen to be unfortunate enough to have an extremely sensitive gag reflex. I didn't have a choice but to cough, but when I did, I immediately started gagging - and it was so awful that tears actually started running down my face as I sputtered and choked. Of course, it wasn't long before I was actually throwing up. In the midst of all this, I looked over at Claire and she was just sitting there on the sidewalk watching birds and pretending that she didn't know me. Then I heard someone yell, and I realized that I was puking in Angry Man's front yard. And he was home. And he saw me. And he was pissed. I offered to borrow his garden hose and spray down his yard, but nope, that didn't help the situation...

But thaaaaat's not all. On today's walk, As we passed Angry Man's house, Claire saw an Angry Cat in his yard. So she spent a solid 15 minutes planted on the sidewalk in front of his house having a staring contest with Angry Cat. Believe me, I tried to move her along (though halfheartedly because it was a gorgeous day and I really didn't mind stopping for a bit). But then I noticed that Angry Man was peeking through the blinds watching as Claire tried to befriend/eat/play (I'm not really sure about her motives when it comes to cats) with Angry Cat. So when I caught his eye, adrenaline kicked in and I half carried and half dragged Claire away.

I think we need to change our walking route.