Snow Day!

Today me 'n' my folks are having a snow day.  Mom and Dad both finished work yesterday for the weekend and the storm had already started!  Mom didn't feel so good and it was real cold outside so I made do with running around the yard a few times instead of my usual long walk.  I didn't mind too much even though I really like snow I figured Mom takes me every morning and every evening so if she was feelin' poorly it wouldn't hurt to miss a walk just this once.  So mom went to bed and I kept Dad company, we watched some TV, ate some cookies... you know, boy's stuff.

Me watching the shoveling!

Anyhow this morning mom got up and said she felt much better.  I was allowed to go outside on my long leash and watch them shovel snow ... Oh my gosh it took like FOREVER!  I figured if I helped out then we would get it done so much quicker.

Me helping to dig the snow

Me digging more snow!

Well, guess what?  It worked!  With a bit of digging here and a bit of digging there we got it done in no time and then they took me for a walk!  The wind was howling and it was real slippery under all that snow... poor dad landed on his butt one time!  After that we came home and mom made my favorite liver cake to put in the freezer for next week!

Me 'n' dad going for a nice walk!

My favorite treats

Mmmmm!  Well like I said something smelled good in mom's kitchen last night, when I finished my diary I followed my nose and sure enough mom had made my very favorite treats.  They are called Liver Cake Treats.  Usually mom makes a big tray and cuts them up while they are still warm (she says they cut easier) then she puts them in little plastic boxes in layers divided by wax paper and puts them in the freezer.  Then she takes out just enough to last a few days and keeps them in the fridge.

Lucky's Yummy Liver Cake Treats

The treats helped me to learn lots of things already, like when I picked up something yukky in the street I could swap it for one.  Soon I figured out that if I didn't pick up a yukky thing but walked straight past it I would get a treat AND a big fuss!  I learned that if I walk nicely and sit down when we stop moving I get the same thing!  Sometimes when I do these things now I don't always get a treat but I always get a fuss made.  I still do it though cos you never know when you might get one.  I also learned that when I am off the leash and mom calls me I'll get one too, if I walk past another dog nicely that also gets me one!  Boy oh boy I love learnin' all this stuff cos these treats are really yummy! 

So just for you I snuck a look at the recipe...if you copy it down and leave it on the floor somewhere maybe your human parents will make you some too...but remember even if they make it you still have to earn it!

Me doing a bit of 'quality control'   Mmmm, yum!

Lucky's Extra Yummy Liver Cake

1lb raw liver chopped up
4 whole eggs (mum usually breaks the eggs into the blender and then crushes the shells real well with a rolling pin before adding them too)
8oz wholewheat flour

put the chopped liver and eggs in a blender and blend until it looks like a smoothie
put the flour in a bowl (mom uses her kitchen aid here) and then mix the smoothie into the flour.
Line a 13 x 8 baking tin with baking parchment and pour the 'cake' mix in and spread it level.
Bake for around 30 minutes at 350 F.

When set remove from tin and cut into small pieces, cool completely and store in the freezer until needed.  They will last in the fridge for 2-3 days.

My Uneventful Week!

Well nothin' much happened this week.  Unless you count my new dad disappearing for nearly a WHOLE WEEK!  At first I didn't notice, mom carried on like nothing happened and I got my walks.  But after two nights I started to worry a bit even though mom still carried on like it was normal!  I decided I better sleep by the kitchen door and keep one eye open just in case he came home.  On Wednesday mom went out for a little while...I knew she would be gone for a bit because she left me in the kitchen with my Kong stuffed full of treats and peanut butter!  That's my treat for when I have to be on my own for a while.  Well this time it got me into a bit of bother.  You see I discovered a few weeks ago that if you throw the kong hard on the floor it bounces and when it does some of the treats inside fly out!  It makes a jolly good game and I also get my treats out much quicker than simply chewing the toy and sticking my tongue in it!  I think dogs that do that are not as smart as me!  Anyhow that day I threw it down the steps real hard and it bounced...but it bounced underneath the stairs and went through a hole in the wall.  Well I tried so hard to get it back!  I scratched and pulled and all this itchy pink fluff came out and right in the middle was my kong still full of treats!  I tried to get it with my mouth but the pink stuff made my lips real itchy and I really didn't like it.  So then I scrabbled with my paws and I got it but all the nasty itchy stuff was stuck to it.  It was so yukky I left it till mom came back.  Mom was just so worried when she got back and saw what I did, she said I was very good not to eat it cos it would have made me real sick.

Itchy Pink Stuff

So now mom has gotten rid of it all and she has made it so my toys can't get lost again by accident!  I guess it must be really bad stuff cos mom even phoned my friend Rachael, she's a nice lady that comes to look after me sometimes and she's a Veterinary Assistant which is a bit like my dad being a nurse but she knows all about animals.  Rachael agreed that I had been very good, and very lucky not to get sick.  Well the day after that my dad came back!  Oh my goodness I was so pleased to see him!  I gave him my bone and fetched him all my toys and he put his pj's on... we snuggled lots.  I think he was just as pleased to see me as I was to see him!  I learned a lot this week.  I learned that sometimes Mom and Dad have to leave me but that they will always come back and I learned that sometimes if things are itchy or yukky I should leave them alone!

Me 'n' my dad having snuggles

 Well I'm going to go see what mom is doing...somethin' smells real good in the kitchen, I think she is making my favorite Liver Cake.  She says that stuff is amazing cos it makes me do all sorts of clever stuff, if you come back tomorrow I will tell you how to make it then you can make it for your bestest doggie friend too!

My First Camp Trip Part II

After the longest walk I ever did we arrived at this 'new' home.  Seemed like it either belonged to us or someone we knew cos we all just walked it and dad started bringing all the food and stuff in.  Mom started playing this new game of hide the rubbish and bits of wood in this big black box thing, I've no idea how she had the energy to start playing a new game but she did.  Anyhow she must've decided she'd had enough cos all of a sudden she lit a long match, set fire to it all and shut the door on the box!

I was busy sniffing around, the floor was cold and slippery... so cold the snow that came off our paws and feet stayed like snow on the floor!  Mom did a lot of cursing cos she said she nearly did the splits...not sure what they are I just saw her scoot along the kitchen waving her arms about!  I just thought it was another new game she wanted to play.  Next she went in to a room and came back with a pile of blankets and made me a bed in front of the box thing that was now well on fire inside and it was starting to get nice and warm.

It was nice there, we went outside and played in the snow.  I watched while they pulled the snowmobile out of the snow bank... there was a lot of huffing and puffing!  At night we had nice suppers and treats, mom kept putting even more wood in that box thing and it roared and crackled and got very hot.  I tried to get a good look but mom and dad got a bit ansty about that and said I would have a very sore nose...they said something about a vet too so I figured maybe I should listen.

After two days this man arrived on another snow mobile.  I'd seen him before at our house.  Mom fed him lots of food and then we packed everything up again and mom and I had to sit on this sled thing behind the man's snow machine.  Wow!  that was different!  Bits of snow flying everywhere and mom held on to me real tight...I guess she was scared or something!  I wasn't really sure if I liked it...I admit I did whimper a bit but mom said that was ok cos she said she screamed her head off all the way to the car when she was on dad's snow mobile.  I guess after that dad must've have fixed her or something cos her head seemed to be well stuck on now!  He must be so clever cos I had a good look and you can't even see where he stuck it back on!

Anyhow next thing I know we are back at the truck and we all get in that and come home.  We haven't been back there since but mom says when all the snow is gone we can go again!  She says there is a lake there and I can learn to swim!  She says she used to swim in the sea with Jake and now we can swim together.... I wonder what a lake is?  And what is this swimming thing?  I wonder if I get it right I'll get treats?  Usually if I learn something new I get really good treats, and now when I learn stuff that mom says is harder for me to get she gives me really special ones she made herself with REAL liver!

Oh and they say I have a very important job to do...I have to tell them when there's a bear around and make sure it doesn't get them, 'specially mom cos she's a scaredy cat!  Jeez I do hope not to many come around cos I'm not very big and I was sorta assuming that mom and dad where supposed to look after ME!