Message 21: Live In the Moment

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34

One of the hardest things for me is to be present. To live in the moment, not dwelling on the past or worrying about what lies ahead.

But dogs have no trouble with this at all. They’re a fabulous example of how to be present. Things that they find extremely upsetting—like not getting a treat when another does, or suitcases being packed—are gone and forgotten as soon as the reminders fade away. If a dog could talk, and you asked him, “Remember yesterday when you got mad because…” he would say, “Huh? When what happened?”

Likewise, dogs don’t worry about the future. They might worry about the very immediate future (like with the suitcase packing), but they don’t think very far ahead. They live in the moment. What they feel is based on what’s happening right that moment. What they want to do at any given time. That's their focus.

If I want to learn to be present, I have to think like a dog.

Message 20: Serve Us!

There’s an old joke that if aliens were to invade the planet, they would think dogs ruled over humans because we clean up their waste, feed them, give them water, and seemingly get nothing in return. So, aliens would assume humans were servants to dogs.

Peanut definitely has me trained as her servant. When her water is empty, she nudges the cup against the wall so I hear it and refill it. And if I don’t do it promptly, she just keeps on nudging it. When she wants to go outside, she rings the bell as she was trained, and she’s pretty incessant about it until I respond to her wish. She knows exactly how to communicate what she needs, and she expects me to drop everything and do it.

Biscuit has me trained in his own way. He has this one specific face he makes when he has finished his dinner, because after dinner he gets his homemade blueberry treat. It's his blueberry face. And he knows that if he wants attention for whatever reason, he can just hit me in the face and I'll give it to him.

The funny thing is, no matter how much I serve them...making homemade dinners and treats, cleaning up their poop...they don't really appreciate it. I mean sure, they love me and turn to me for care, but they don't appreciate the individual actions of service. In fact, when it comes to that homemade food, they wonder what's taking me so long. When I stop a walk to clean up their poop, they want me to keep going! My service is just too slow!

Despite this lack of appreciation, I take great joy in serving them. And I wonder...what if I had the same view of serving other people?

Message 19: Own Your Beliefs

When Biscuit and Peanut play fetch with me, he usually tires before her. But, not wanting to be left out, he continues to play. Since he has a hard time outrunning her even at his best, he devises a new strategy: he cheats.

How does one cheat at fetch, you might ask? He doesn’t even try to chase the ball or toy. He stands in front of me, blocking Peanut’s path to me, and waits for her to return so he can steal it from her. And he usually succeeds.

If you grew up in a Christian home like I did, there’s a time in childhood when your faith is largely just copying your parents’ faith. They take you to church. They encourage you to read your Bible. Maybe they lead you in family devotions. That’s all well and good when you’re a child. But when you get into your teen and adult years, there comes a point where you can’t leech off of your parents’ faith anymore. You can’t be like Biscuit, letting someone else do all the work while you get the credit. You have to make the decision: are you in the game, or not? And if you’re in it, you’re in it all the way.

Message 18: Take Care of Our Cat!

10 months ago, I got a cat. My dogs were thrilled! But I had a lot to learn. I'd only had dogs before, and I'd learned a lot about how to best care for them and give them the best nutrition. I wanted to show the same care for my cat.

So I looked into how to make homemade cat food. Taurine is a really important part of a cat's diet. It's an amino acid that helps metabolize fats, and cats need it for their hearts, kidneys, and eyes. So you can't just cook up some meat and call it good.

Here's the recipe I use to make a balanced meal for my cat. She's about 9 pounds, so you may need bigger or smaller meals depending on the size of your cat.

Put in casserole dish:

- 1 lb of chicken gizzards, livers, and hearts

- a little bit of vegetables (some good options include: spinach, beans, peas, zucchini, yellow squash) (you want about 85% meat, 15% vegetables)

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Dump contents into food processor. Add 8 tsp corn oil and 14 scoops of Cat Mix (this has the taurine). Process until it resembles canned wet food.

Feed 1 oz per meal, 2 meals per day (so this ends up making 1 week's worth of food).

It's really much more affordable than the homemade dog food. That little jar of Cat Mix costs $10 and lasted me about 3-4 months. The chicken runs about $1.25 a pound here. It's hard to even factor in the cost of corn oil, it's so cheap and lasts a long time. And for vegetables, I usually have something that I wasn't going to be able to use up and would've tossed anyway, so I consider that free. 

That means that per month (4 weeks) your costs are:

Cat Mix: $3.33 (or less)

Chicken: $5

Corn Oil: I guess we can say 50 cents

Vegetables: n/a

Total cost per month: $8.83

Total cost per week: $2.20

Total cost per meal: 16 cents!

Message 17: Generosity

One day when I was stuck in bed with a bad cold, Peanut spent a good deal of time digging through her toy big for a specific Nylabone. Normally I help her with that kind of thing, but since I was sick I told her I couldn’t help her get it.

So after a couple minutes of work, she got the Nylabone, jumped onto the bed, and dropped the Nylabone by my hand.

Did I need a Nylabone? No. Did it help my stuffy nose? No. But I was remarkably touched by her gift nonetheless. Selflessness certainly does not come naturally to a dog. But here was Peanut, who saw I was sick and did the best thing she could think of to help. In her mind, this treasured Nylabone was a great offering. And because I knew that, the gift meant the world to me.

Peanut gave me the best thing she could give, and she gave it sacrificially. She gave generously out of what she had to give. And even though it didn't cure my cold, it cheered me up.

I don't think I give as generously as Peanut did that day.

Message 16: You Reap What you Sow

When Biscuit goes to a dog park with dirt instead of grass or gravel, nothing gives him quite as much joy as rolling in that dirt. He especially likes to rub his head in it, even though he gets dirt in his eyes. He rolls and rolls until my white dog is brownish-gray.

What Biscuit has failed to realize is that the bath he gets when he gets home is a direct result of his rolling in dirt. Sure, we’re at the dog park so I give him the freedom to do what he wants. But ultimately, I have to clean up his mess for him. And he does not like that part of the deal.

In life, we make choices. Sometimes, our choices make us a little dirty. And after we’ve had our “fun,” we find out the consequences. And that process never seems to be worth getting dirty in the first place.

It's great to have choices. But just remember with the choices that you make, that bath time might be waiting. Rolling in the dirt may just not worth it. In the end, the fun fades away and we’re left drenched in a tub.

When have you regretted a choice you made?

Message 15: Don't Give Up

Biscuit loves mornings. Absolutely adores them. I think for him, it’s an exciting new day to play and chew and run around. 

So when it's time to get up, despite my desire to hit snooze, Biscuit is reared up and ready to go. Since his day needs to start with a business trip outside and a good breakfast, he needs me to be just as eager to jump out of bed. But of course, I’m not.

So my day typically starts off with a lot of face and hand licking, some pawing at my face, nudging at my head or digging on my head…pretty much anything a dog can do to get someone’s attention.

The thing is, my desire to sleep in is pretty strong. (Though it has gotten less so thanks to Biscuit's persistence!) So Biscuit has to keep trying and trying until I finally give in and get up. But he always wins. I always give up before him. Why? Because that dude is persistent. He wants his potty and breakfast, and he won’t stop until he gets it.

I think of myself as someone with a lot of drive. But I still have a lot to learn from Biscuit's persistence!

Message 14: Don't Worry

Sometimes I give myself little pep talks without realizing it until after the fact. One car ride, when I was taking the dogs to stay at a friend’s house while I went out of town for one night, I found myself doing that very thing. 

As soon as the dogs saw packing begin, they were worried. Their worry grew by the time we got in the car, and both Peanut and Biscuit were expressing their angst with panicked whining.

So I said, “I’m not worried, guys. And if I’m not worried, and I’m the one with the plan, then you don’t need to be worried. After all, you know I’ll always do what’s best for you.”

It was one of those things that has an obvious God connection, but I didn’t catch it until I finished saying the words. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh… I thought and kind of prayed. So you’re saying I don’t have to worry either, because you have a good plan and you’re not worried about it?

When I said it to the dogs, it sounded so simple. Trust Mom. Mom’s got your back, so there’s no need to worry. But when I realized what I was asking, I realized it’s a whole lot more challenging than it sounds.

Are you a worrier?

Message 13: Don't Live In the Past

Biscuit has one thing he hates above all else: being left out. He will do anything—even other things he hates—if it means being part of the gang. He’ll barge right into the middle of things if he feels he’s being left out.

My theory is that it’s related to his past. Biscuit was in the pet store for 9 weeks before I adopted him. That’s a long time to be cooped up in a cage. It’s a long time to see people come in and choose someone else. It’s probably a lot of people who played with him, then put him back and left him there. In his formative third and fourth month of life, Biscuit learned over and over again that he didn’t want to be left out.

But I wish he would understand that now and for the rest of his life, he’s one of the family. Sure, Peanut and I may do our own thing from time to time, but it’s not a statement of rejection. It’s sad for me to leave him every day when Peanut and I go for our run, only to have him act like he’s coming along and then whine when we leave without him. If only he knew he wasn’t facing rejection!

I had a college professor who warned us not to let the scars of the past dictate future behavior. We all have our baggage. The experiences that made us a little more sensitive to certain things. Biscuit’s is obviously being left out. Mine is risking humiliation in sports. 

Whatever these wounds, they only become deeper when we focus on them and let them dictate the way we behave now. Were Biscuit to understand how much a part of this family he is, he’d be able to just play and enjoy himself while Peanut and I go for runs. Instead, he wallows in misery, pouring salt in his own wound.

How do you move on from your past?

Message 12: Avoid Temptation

I threw a tissue in the garbage can from across the room. I missed. Biscuit, who happens to have a taste for dirty tissues, watched the failed attempt and stared at the tissue in its resting spot right next to the trash can.

“Biscuit, don’t eat that,” I said. So he laid down, right where he was five or so feet away, put his head down on the floor between his paws, and stared at it longingly. But he didn’t move closer.

Until a few minutes went by and he decided to “get more comfortable” by spinning around three times and laying back down. I’m confident this was a ploy from the beginning, as he ended up laying back down only about three or so feet from the tissue. Again, he put his head down and stared longingly, unaware that I was keeping a keen eye on him.

Finally, unable to withstand the temptation any longer, he just stood up and started walking unashamedly toward the tissue. There was no sneaking, no ploy. He was just blatantly succumbing to his urge to eat the tissue. Until he heard me say, “Biscuit…”

He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and walked all the way to the other side of the room, where he laid facing away from the tissue. And from then on until I got up and actually put the tissue away, he forgot all about it.

You see, when temptation lingers around us, the worst thing we can do is focus on it and see how close we can get without actually falling for it. Like Biscuit, we’ll eventually realize we just really want that dirty tissue. But if we can flee it, listen to the correcting voice of our Master, get as far away as we can, and turn the other way, we’ll soon forget all about the temptation.

When I did throw out the tissue, I saw Biscuit looking at it with a look of recognition. Like, “Oh yeah! I wanted that tissue!” Indeed, he’d forgotten it, and now the temptation would be forever removed. When someday you’re reminded of a temptation you’d forgotten was even there, and you realize it’s no longer tempting you—you know you’ve fled well.

What helps you refocus when temptation is in your face?

Message 11: Listen to God

One year, I took Peanut and Biscuit to their first ever dog Easter egg hunt at a local pet store. They had to find treat-filled plastic eggs, and once they touched them with their noses, I could pick them up and put them in a bag.

After the Easter egg hunt, I saved some of the plastic eggs so I could use this as a challenge all year. At first I just hid them in fairly noticeable places. But as Peanut began to excel at the game, I started hiding them behind and under things so she’d really have to sniff them out.

One day, I hid the egg behind my CD player. Peanut searched and searched, but couldn’t find it. So it stayed there while I went to work and she got locked in the kitchen. Then when I got home, she started searching again. At one point, she got so close to it that I thought she had it, but then she kept on sniffing.

As she started to walk away from the right spot, I said, “No Peanut, you were so close! Turn back around and look where you just were.” These were complicated sentences for a dog to understand. But Peanut looked at me, turned around, and sniffed behind the CD player, finding the egg immediately. I was so impressed that she understood me and followed my directions!

If anyone else had given instructions like that to Peanut, there’s no way she would’ve followed them. The truth is, I don’t think she understood all the words exactly. She understood the sentiment behind them because she knows my voice, my commands, so intimately.

That’s the way we can listen to God. The more we listen and obey, the more we understand him. Even when his commands seem confusing or over our heads, when our ears are trained to listen and obey our master, we’ll know what to do.

When have you heard God speaking to you?

Message 10: Enjoy the Ride

Peanut and Biscuit love car rides. Just say the words and they’ll drop what they’re doing to dance around with excitement. As soon as the door opens, they’ll race out to the car with complete exuberance. But sometimes, not long into the car ride, one of them starts to whine. And not long after, the other one joins in. My theory is that they’re worried the destination will leave them trapped in the car.

One Easter Saturday, a pet store nearby was having an Easter egg hunt for dogs. It sounded like fun, so I loaded up the dogs in the car and headed to the pet store. But about halfway there, the whining began. I tried to soothe them, telling them they were going to have fun and that I had a plan. It didn’t help.

But I couldn’t really blame them. I often forget to enjoy the journey because I focus too much on the destination. And in those moments of worry, I forget to trust that God might just have a plan for that destination. A good plan. As fun as an Easter egg hunt for treats.

Life’s too short to focus on the destinations God has for us. Stick your head out the window and enjoy the journey. Leave your worries behind and trust that wherever you’re going, God will get you there.

What's one way you need to slow down and enjoy the ride?

Message 9: Be Patient

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” – Romans 8:25

Peanut is about the most impatient creature I have ever met. Pretty soon after we started running, she learned the word run. So if I told her we were going on a run, she had no patience for the time it took me to change, stretch, do my hair, and put shoes on. I solved the problem for a bit by waiting to tell her about the run until I was all ready to go. But it wasn’t long until she learned which pants were my running pants. So I started stretching and doing my hair first, and waiting until the end to change. But now she’s at the point where she just knows whether or not we’re running before I even start anything. I’m not sure how, but she just knows.

And so for the ten minutes or so it takes me to do all my pre-running tasks, she whines. She jumps at me. She runs to the door and back. She makes no effort to hide the fact that she thinks I am so slow.

And sometimes I’ve said to her, “Peanut! It’s ten minutes! Stop being so impatient!”

At one point, I was dealing with a few big could-be possibilities in my life. I was wondering what God had in store for me and when the things I was expecting would happen. And although I wasn’t literally running around frantically, my thoughts were doing all the same things Peanut does when she is ready to run.

That ten minutes to Peanut probably feels like a lot longer than it feels to me. (Perhaps 70 minutes?) Likewise, a few days, a few months, a few years is a blip on the radar for God…yet it can feel like such a long wait!

At the same time as all this was going on, I was working on memorizing Psalm 40. I often reminded myself of verse 1, “I waited patiently for the Lord.” But another verse really struck me was verse 5: “The things you have planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” God has so many great things planned for me and you. Far better than a run around the neighborhood. We can have great hope in these things—but we wait for them patiently.

On a scale of 1-10, how patient are you and why?

Message 8: Stop Comparing

Biscuit gets jealous pretty easily. Usually because whatever Peanut has is obviously better than whatever he has (he thinks). So if they each have a toy, a dental chew, or a Nylabone, it isn’t long before Biscuit decides Peanut’s must be better than his, so he wants hers. Even if they have two Nylabones that are identical.

So he abandons his bone and steals hers. Peanut, who seems to recognize they are the same, doesn’t mind and just picks up the one he abandons. Then Biscuit, who is happily chewing on his prize, sees that Peanut has his original, and decides that one must be better. And on and on the cycle goes, Peanut picking up the abandoned item and Biscuit always vying for what he perceives as the best one.

The thing is that it doesn’t just inconvenience Peanut. It makes for a less pleasant experience for Biscuit. As long as Peanut is playing or chewing, he is constantly trading off, trying to get the better item, and not enjoying his treat. In fact, on one occasion when I accidentally dropped three pieces of cheese, Peanut ended up getting all three pieces because Biscuit refused to look at the ones I was pointing out to him, focusing instead on trying (and failing) to take each piece after Peanut had gotten it.

Sometimes we aspire to more wealth, more fame, more status. Usually this is because we’ve seen someone with it and we want what they have. It must be better than what we have. But the problem is we end up in a cycle just like Biscuit. Always seeing something better, and never appreciating what we already have.

What about you? What comparison games keep you from enjoying what you have?

Message 7: Don't Go Too Far

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”—Jeremiah 29:13

Peanut loves to play a version of hide and seek where I throw a toy down the stairs, then quickly hide while she fetches the toy. Given the fact that I have about three seconds to hide, she is very good at finding me and quickly learned the possible hiding spots I have. It’s a lot of fun, and I think it helped build our relationship quickly when I first got her.

But usually after a few rounds—sometimes ten, sometimes two—Peanut is sick of me being hidden. She wants to keep playing fetch down the stairs, but she doesn’t want me to hide anymore. Sometimes when we set out to play a game of stairs fetch, she is concerned right off the bat that I’ll hide.

She expresses this concern by boycotting fetching altogether (even though she looks after the toy longingly) or by looking behind her every couple of steps to make sure I haven’t left my spot. And I know I can usually boost her confidence by talking to her as she runs.

There are times when we’re so confident in our faith that it’s OK that we can’t see or feel God in our lives. It’s OK when it feels like he’s hiding for a while, because we know he’s not hard to find. There are other times when we feel like we need to check every couple of steps and make sure he’s still there.

I think God knows the difference. Just as I do my best to help Peanut know I’m there, and I never play hide and seek when she’s acting like she doesn’t want me to hide, I think God reaches out to show us he’s there when we need him the most. He also knows that it’s good for our faith when sometimes, he’s just behind the bedroom door. Not far, not hard to find, but it takes a little faith to know he’s still an active part of our lives.

What helps you know God is there in your life? Do you feel more like he is hiding or present right now?

Message 6: Slow Down

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’”—Psalm 46:10

There’s something about stillness that's very hard for me. Even when I’m sitting around doing nothing, my mind is racing with a million jumbled, incoherent thoughts. It is very difficult for me to just sit and enjoy my surroundings.

Peanut, despite all her crazy energy and frantic run-around-the-house mode, knows how to be still. She often just sits outside in the sun or on a cool night, enjoying creation. It’s different than when she’s in guard mode, barking and growling at the oh-so-suspicious eight year olds riding their bikes past our house. When she’s in stillness mode, she doesn’t bark at all. She just enjoys life.

One gorgeous starry night, I caught Peanut doing this. She just sat calmly in the grass as Biscuit sniffed around. The temperature couldn’t have been more perfect. A light breeze was just the perfect amount to feel soft on my skin. The sky was so clear, you could see as many stars as you’ll ever see in the suburbs. And as I watched Peanut soak it all in, I realized she had caught something I was missing.

So I sat down in the grass next to her. She was so caught up in enjoying our setting that she hardly even noticed me. And we just sat together, looking up at the stars, enjoying the breeze, and sniffing the warm breeze (I’m sure she caught a million more smells than I did).

It took a crazy, high energy dog to get me to be still. Even for just a few minutes. But if that crazy girl can find it in her to sit and enjoy God’s creation, maybe I can take a page from her book.

How about you - what helps you slow down and enjoy the moment?

Message 5: Spend Time With Me

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” – Psalm 51:16-17

I love a good puppy snuggle. Sometimes I initiate them. I’ll see one of my dogs sleeping and scoop them up for a snuggle, or curl up next to them. And I love those snuggles.

But the snuggles I love the most are the ones they initiate. When I’ll all settled in and they come up and lay right on my lap, or find a crook in my arm to cuddle in. 

I love either kind of snuggle because I enjoy being close to my dogs. But feeling close to them and knowing they wanted to be close to me? Those are the times that fill me with delight. Those are the times I feel the most loved, the most special.

God is in our lives whether or not we’re making an effort. He’s everywhere. And if you’ve committed your life to him, he’s there in your heart. He’s walking with you every step of every day.

But the times when you intentionally focus on him…well, I imagine those bring him so much more delight than just being a passenger of our hearts. The times when we curl up on his lap or take refuge in his arms must be so precious to him.

God loves you. He delights in you. And he delights when you take the initiative to make him a forethought, not an afterthought.

What is it that motivates you to put your focus on God?

Message 4: Confess

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” – Psalm 51:3-4

One day, I was sitting in bed when Biscuit crept into the room. He had a guilty look on his face and appeared to have something in his mouth.

“Biscuit? Why do you look guilty?” I asked. He came up to me (I’d stood up), and dropped three kibbles at my feet. Peanut’s kibbles, from her bowl, I realized.

Biscuit knew he’d done something he wasn’t allowed to do. And he felt guilty. So guilty he just couldn’t go through with it. When he dropped the kibbles, it was clear he was giving them back to me, and he looked at me with sorry eyes.

We all have those Biscuit moments, when we realized we’ve started on a course we shouldn’t have gone down. We can keep going, knowing God will forgive us eventually, or we can make it right with him right away, laying our transgressions at his feet in surrender.

Biscuit could’ve enjoyed those kibbles. But he would’ve felt a rift between us. He would’ve missed out on the accolades I gave him for returning the kibbles. I loved his repentance, his sweet little heart that just couldn’t disobey me. And God loves that in us, too.

How does your conscience measure up to Biscuit's? What do you typically do when you've done something wrong?

Message 3: Accept Help

When Peanut was new to our home, she wasn't big enough to get onto the couch by herself. So she'd let us know that she wanted to be on the couch by dancing in front of it, pacing back and forth, or attempting to jump and failing. But whenever we'd bend down to pick her up, she'd back away from the arms that could get her where she wanted to be. Then as soon as we'd return to normal, she'd start asking for help again.

Peanut was asking for what she wanted, but she was so resistant to our help. It's easy to get that way with God. After all, his answers aren't always what we expect them to be. Maybe Peanut wanted us to grant her the ability to get on the couch, or make the couch lower. Maybe our answer wasn't what she was hoping for either. And yet it would have gotten her where she needed to be - with us.

What makes it hard for you to accept help from others or from God?

Do you believe God answers prayers, even if it's not how you wanted?

Message 2: We Want Good Treats!

A few months ago I blogged about my recommendation for what to feed your dog. My dogs have been eating Dr. Harvey's Canine Health now since March - and not one of them has thrown up. I'd heard that dogs just throw up more than humans - that that's normal and acceptable. But now I realize it's not - it's a sign they're not eating food that's good for them.

Since March, I've also taken a harder look at what treats I give my dogs. I was already starting from a good place - my dogs get "Jackie treats" every day, which are homemade by a co-worker. But sometimes I would supplement with other treats, and some of them were sourced from China. I also gave my dogs rawhide bones.

Treats

These are the treats I've introduced in the past several months (all made in the USA):

• Max & Ruffy's. Max Ruffy's come in a variety of flavors. They're small round treats great for training. Some (but not all) of the flavors are available at amazon. Peanut loves them, but Biscuit doesn't seem to be a big fan. He only eats his when he sees that Peanut has finished hers and might take his away. He may not like them, but he doesn't want HER to get extra treats. 
• Merrick Power Bites. Now THESE are a big hit. Also small and great for training or games, but these are chewier and meat-based instead of fruit/veggie flavors. And my pups LOVE them. Merrick WAS recently bought out by Purina, so I'm going to keep an eye on things. For now it seems Merrick has remained a natural, US-made treat.
• Fruits & Veggies: There are a number of fruits & veggies that are good for dogs. Mostly I've begun incorporating them more in MY diet, and giving my dogs scraps as treats. Just make sure they have no added sugar or sulfites.
• Apples
• Bananas
• Carrots
• Strawberries
• Watermelon
• Spinach
• Cucumbers
• Coconut flakes
• Others I don't use much but are good for dogs: Zucchini, blueberries, bell peppers.
• NEVER FEED YOUR DOG GRAPES.
• Healthy Dogma Banana Chips. The pups love these, but I don't buy them a lot since they already get pieces of my banana every day.
• Yogurt. The probiotics in yogurt make it a great treat. I give my dogs each a spoonful a day. And, so that I can use most of a carton before it goes bad, I got two mini-ice cube trays and I freeze some in there. So sometimes they get it in frozen chunks instead of soft yogurt.
• Homemade Blueberry Banana treats. These are Biscuit's absolute favorites. If they don't get them immediately after dinner I'm in big trouble. Here's the recipe:
• Preheat oven to 375.
• Blend 1 1/3 cups washed blueberries and 1 peeled banana with 1 cup water in a blender.
• In large bowl, mix blueberry mixture with 3 2/3 cups whole-wheat flour to form a dough.
• Spoon the dough onto a cookie sheet in about 1-inch spheres, or make fun pawprint ones by putting the dough in a pawprint tray!
• Cook for 8 minutes, flip or take out of tray and put upside down on cookie sheet, cook for 8 more minutes
• Makes about 70-75 treats. Freeze half and store the other half in the fridge.
• Also check out your area for local mom & pop dog bakeries. Here in Loveland Doggy Dips & Chips is a great place to get fresh homemade dog treats, if you don't have a Jackie. :)

Rawhide Bones

I started seeing a lot of articles about the disgusting bleaching process of rawhide bones, and it was moving me toward cutting them from my dogs' diet. But when I saw that China was serving 40-year old meat for HUMAN consumption, I decided no more ANYTHING edible unless it was made in the USA. And that meant (very covertly) throwing out their rawhide bones.

I wanted to find a USA-made substitute that would be a good chew for the dogs. Their Dingo rawhide sticks usually lasted 5-10 minutes, so that's what I was hoping to find. But so many of the sticks I found were over $1 per stick! So this is what I've tried at a more affordable cost:

• Merrick Jerky Strips. These only lasted about 30 seconds. They are so soft that they're more of a big treat than a chew. The dogs loved them, but it's not the durability I was hoping for.
• Get Naked Chew Sticks. These last about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Not the durability I was hoping for, but far longer than the jerky strips. Long enough that I felt I could get away with calling them "bones" and the pups wouldn't feel ripped off. And, they have varieties for different healthy functions, like joint health and antioxidants. One bag has 18 sticks and is $4-5, so it's pretty comparable in price to the rawhides I was getting, but they are so much better and made in the USA.