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Dog-friendly Christmas Decorations for a Safe Holiday: Check out the recent Rent. article we were featured in!
Check out the recent Rent. article we were featured in: During the holiday season, providing dog-friendly Christmas decorations in your space means balancing festive cheer with safety and comfort for your four-legged companion. Just like taking your dog for a walk through a winter wonderland, the goal is to create an inviting space where they can play, relax, and enjoy Christmas with you. Whether you’re decorating your home in Austin, TX, your apartment in Denver, CO, or your rental home in Atlanta, GA, this guide will offer practical tips and ideas to help you create a festive and safe environment that both you and your dog will love. Read the…
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Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going
Where we’ve been… My lack of posting over the last few years is embarrassing. There has been a lot that I wanted to share, but I let the dramas of life get in my way. Illness in my family and myself, mental and physical exhaustion from care-giving, and dealing with the deaths of two family members has been mentally draining. Added to those stresses, was the self-doubt, the fear of failure, or doing this blogging thing “wrong.” Reading article after article of how-to’s, must-do’s, and “rules for success,” got overwhelming. So much so that I let it stop me from doing what I enjoy. I came across this quote on…
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How We Battle Fleas and Ticks Naturally Without Harmful Pesticides
I’ve never been comfortable using pesticides on my dogs. Delia has never tolerated them. As a result of using them, her skin is almost immediately red and inflamed, causing her pain and itching. A few years ago, after moving to a heavily wooded area, our vet recommended topical chemicals. Reluctantly, I followed their advice for Chewy. He had a seizure and other neurological/muscular side effects. Never again. Since then, we battle fleas and ticks naturally without harmful pesticides. We have used only pawTree flea and tick spray and diatomaceous earth dusted on our yard, and lots of checking for nasty bugs. It takes more work, but I’d rather keep them…
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Lucky G and the Melancholy Quokka Review
Even the happiest creature on Earth can get the sads! Lucky G makes a trip down under to help out a struggling quokka. Join them on their journey to better mental health. Lucky G is a big bird on a big mission: To help kids cope with their mental and physical challenges. My cousins Summer and Natalie read Lucky G’s journey and shared their thoughts: We loved the book! It’s an easy read and it really tells you who to go to when you have sad feelings. Natalie and I agreed that this book really shows you who to look for when you feel sad. I personally loved that it…
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Book Review: A Flair for Goblins-A Sadie Kramer Mystery
NEW RELEASE…. When Sadie Kramer agrees to help decorate for San Francisco’s high-society Halloween Spooktacular, she expects to find whimsical ghosts, skeletons, and jack-o-lanterns when she shows up at the Wainwright Mansion, not a body. Especially not the body of the woman in charge of the charity event. With two detectives, a paranormal investigator turned television star, and a cauldron full of Wainwright Foundation staff and family members cackling around her, Sadie and her sidekick Yorkie are determined to find out who the killer is. Will an old superstition help lead to the truth? Or will this simply become one more tale in the mansion’s haunted history? *Recipe for Butterfinger…
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Celebrating Ten Years of On Toby’s Terms!
Celebrating ten years of On Toby’s Terms! When Charmaine and her husband adopted Toby, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, they figured he might need some adjusting time, but they certainly didn’t think he’d be a holy terror, beset by severe anxiety and destructive behavior that would take a miracle to curb. Turns out, Toby routinely opened and emptied closets, turned on water taps, and pulled things from the bookshelves. Oddest of all was his penchant for locking himself in the bathroom, and then push the lid of the toilet tank onto the floor, smashing it to pieces. After a particularly disastrous encounter with the knife-block in the kitchen—and when the couple…
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Book Review: The Dog-Eared Diary-A Chrissy the Shih Tzu Mystery
In this second installment in the series, Chrissy digs up clues to help Autumn solve a historical disappearance and a modern-day murder mystery Autumn Clarke is getting her life back to normal with the help of her extraordinary shih tzu, Chrissy, when the death of a local philanthropist reveals the man’s dark family secrets, as well as unexpected ties to Autumn. When Chrissy discovers a dog-eared diary in the dead man’s family home, Autumn discovers that things in the Clarke family are not quite as they seem. Can Autumn interpret the hidden clues in the dog-eared diary to crack the most puzzling disappearance in Knollwood history? Are the recent murders…
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Calvin’s Smile
Sometimes I forget that what may seem like a simple snapshot to me, may hold a greater meaning for someone else. I snapped these shots of Calvin simply because he is adorable, and after all he has dealt with and overcome, when he looks me in the eye and wags, it melts my heart. As I was snapping, he smiled. His huge, adorable, goofy smile. My heart melted. I didn’t give the pics much more thought when I uploaded them to the A Howlin’ Good Time Facebook page. A few days later, his mom told me that the photo of his smile made her melt. I thought it was funny…
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The Nightmare Before Christmas Jack and Sally DIY Dog Costumes
We’re big fans of Tim Burton’s work in our house. The Nightmare Before Christmas is our favorite movie, and Jack Skellington and his love Sally are two of our favorite characters. I can’t be the only dog mom who would love to dress my dogs as our favorite characters, right? So, we want to share our The Nightmare Before Christmas Jack and Sally DIY dog costumes. Chewy’s big round head, dark eyes, and frowny look when his hair is longer remind me of Jack. Delia’s lankiness, and sweetness with a dash of mischief remind me of Sally. Chewy’s costume was fairly simple. I used a Garanimals 2T boys t shirt,…
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Our Pet Friendly Pumpkin Patch Adventure
Delia and Chewy joined their friends on a visit to Meert Tree Farm, a pet friendly pumpkin patch and corn maze just outside of St. Louis. Delia loves it there. She had her first pumpkin patch and corn maze adventure there a few years ago. This year, Chewy joined her for his first time. They were eager to pick out a pumpkin AND to earn their Corn Maze and Hay Ride badges for PupScouts! We were happy that our friends could join us. Delia and Chewy adore them and they were the perfect partners for a day of fun in the pumpkin patch. First, a hayride… We took a hayride…