Do you like dogs? Do you LOVE dogs? I will admit that I’m a sucker for a fuzzy dog or any dog thats friendly. I visited Lizzie Moult up at her place in Hunchy this week and fell in love with her chickens and gazed over the fence at the 5 big white goats. While I get carried away with most animals, my heart will always be soft for a dog. When Charlie licks his lips, I know I’m going to give in.
We’ve had Charlie nearly 4 years now and I can’t imagine life without him. Until he drops his toy in the pool one more time! Look at me, look at the pool, look at me, look at the pool. Who says dogs can’t communicate?
Even you could see that “baby” is at the bottom of the pool, right?
Charlie is a swimmy dog. He swims in the pool every day of the year, winter or summer but his BEST thing to do is to go to the beach. We can’t even spell the word any more or he gets all excited and runs for the front door.
The boats in the distance are waiting for a pilot to guide them in to the Port of Brisbane. After a bit of swimming and ball chasing, we head home. Take a look at this and see why we had to buy a cheap car to take the dog to the beach. I could build castles in the car after one shake. Yes, that’s sand all over the seat.
I know there’s no food in this post yet, so to rectify that and keep with the theme, here’s a photo of our dog biscuits. Charlie recommends this recipe for the best homemade dog biscuits, if you need one.
Stephanie Weaver of Recipe Renovator, has written a lovely book about pet love and loss, called Golden Angels, about their first dog, Buddy Girl. They lost her when she was 11 to cancer. Daisy May is their new dog and she’s 1 1/2.
Stephanie has undertaken a Kickstarter campaign to get her book into print and to help spread the word through a book tour. If you’re a dog lover, check it out and lend her a hand. When we all help one another, the load is always lighter. And we all know good things come back to us when we help someone else.
If you are a pet lover, please check out her campaign. She is offering goodie thank you gifts for people who donate to get her book in print.
I’m a bit late in spreading the news about Stephanie’s Kickstarter campaign. It ends on August 18th, so hurry and my apologies. I’ve been busy with family issues. This week John’s mum’s best friend of 40 years died. We’ve been really concerned about her as she’s 88 and the day her friend died, she was waiting for him to arrive for lunch. We’ve still got John’s dad and he’s worried about her too.
G’day! What a great cause and campaign Maureen, true!
We lost the dog of all dogs a couple of years ago and KNOW he always around us and makes his presence known to us in MANY ways still too!
Condolences for your friends loss…
Cheers! Joanne
Aww. I know what you mean. We lost our beloved Sam who got killed chasing a kangaroo years ago.
Lovely post, Maureen and an important campaign. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been without canine best friend. Feels strange. Love your pooch!
There have been times I didn’t have a dog but when we first moved away from Melbourne, John wanted a dog. He’s John’s dog but he’s Mummy’s boy.
Oooh cute! I’m most definitely a dog person myself and Charlie is gorgeous.
Sorry to hear about John’s mum’s bestie 🙁
Gorgeous isn’t anything I’d say about Charlie or most fuzzy dogs but his personality makes up for it. We call ALL meat and poultry chicken so when we have scraps for him it’s “Charlie, want some chicken?” That way he only had to learn one word. 🙂
Such cute images of Charlie 🙂
so sorry to hear about John’s mums friend… how sad 🙁
Thanks, Julie. It’s tough to lose your best friend.
I love that Charlie recommended the biscuit recipe! Cute!
I adore dogs but since we live in an apartment and I’m away so much, we don’t have one. I love dogs with big personalities! 🙂
I love dogs and I love Charlie here. He is so lucky his mommy bakes him doggie biscuit treats. I never did for my Wizzy (Wizard) & I wish Wizard liked the water but he doesn’t. He even hates baths this beagle of ours. Love your post! BTW love this kickstart campaign.
I’ve always had friends with dogs and my brother’s family has always had a dog or 2 (right now with the 10 puppies they have 13) but have never been tempted to have my own. I have thought about baking dog treats to give my friends and I may very well give the biscuit recipe a try. Would commercial peanut butter with all that sugar be bad for them, I wonder? I rarely eat the stuff though I have a jar in the fridge.
Charlie’s day of visiting the beach reminds me of Sandy, a golden lab that my brother used to have (before the Shar-pei, Jack Russel Terrier, and the current crop of Bouviers) who loved the water as well and used to jump off the edge of their property into the lake below rather than walking around to the gently sloping area that led to the water’s edge.
Hope John’s mom does OK – it’s always difficult to lose a best friend, but at that age it’s much harder, or at least it seems so to me. Great cause! I like dogs, but given my druthers, I prefer cats — I just love their independence. Though Charlie is a real sweetheart — no wonder you’re nuts about him!
We have two cats or they have us, not sure. The only person (?) they love is Charlie.
It’s tough losing your best friend even when it is just a 6 ounce ball of fluff, a parakeet named Sparky. Pet’s, be they a dog as cute as Charlie, o r any other animal enrich our lives in untold ways.
Sparky loved peanut butter, so I bet he would try these dog biscuits too. I mean he ate all manner of human foods including pizza. 🙂
He is so precious. I am honestly not so much of a dog person. Or I should say I wasn’t until we got Tucker. Tucker and I bonded from day one even though he was quite a rascal. He made all of us smile and laugh every day and I miss him every day since he died about 7 years ago. If you ever need a sitter I’d take your Charlie in a heartbeat. He reminds me of my Tucker. (Tucker could spell too, there were certain words that I started just using the initials for and then he figured that out!!!)
I love dogs, Charlie is a cutie!
Charlie is just too cute. What a gorgeous and expressive face. I love how you can’t even spell the word, ‘beach’ anymore. What a smart dog. Here we can’t even spell ‘liver treat’ any more. They’ve learned not only the word but the spelling of the word. I do hope John’s mother is doing okay xx
I think Charlie just thinks if we’re spelling then it is about something good. 🙂
I love dogs too Maureen; I’m a total sucker for the sweet face and pleading eyes. I so love my dog Abbie even though she is getting old and not so infatuated with me as much as she is food; I kid about the freedom I’ll have when she’s gone and as quickly tear up at the thought of it.
Your dog is adorable…and all my best in your friends campaign!
Yeah, that’s the problem with pets. We outlive them all. I’d rather suffer the loss and savor the memories though.
Another huge dog lover here and have had them from 55 kg white Alsations to miniature dachshunds 🙂 ! Found Pembroke Corgis hard to beat from the personality angle: they know what they want and they will get it!! Charlie’s face does talk!!!!
a 55 kg dog is a mighty big eater. I’m only 5′ tall and that dog would be taller than me when it stood up! 🙂
[big smile] Vahti [champagne rather than white!] could top me and I am about 5′ 4 🙂 ! My inlaws oft fed him and they could afford it 😀 ! We lived tog the first 6 mts of our marriage and I was in final year Med School – my MIL would open our bedroom door at 5.30 am, Vahti would march in, gently shift the doona, put his fangs around my wrist and go put me under the shower!! Growl if I protested!! Brandnew husband dear never ever woke up!!! Anyways Vahti weighed in at just 120 lbs, that should make my kilos about right?
Great post Maureen. Dogs can absolutely communicate and yours is very cute.
Being a vet I see people dealing with grief over losing their pets daily….its tough!
I have never had dogs – we had cats in my family growing up and we don’t have pets at present – so I can’t fully understand the bond people describe with them. However, I have heard enough people talk about it to believe it is strong!
That must just about be the happiest dog I’ve ever seen sitting on a back seat! We currently have two dogs, but have had – and lost – others and it’s never easy. In fact we still have the ashes from our last wolfhound in the garage. Although we have another wolfhound now, I still miss that last one.
Nobody likes the beach better than old Chucko. He sees his mates there nearly every day and they run and play. They pee on the same branch 2-40 million times and if a big dog comes, Charlie races into the ocean. Those big dogs won’t chase him there. 🙂
Dogs are the best pets – I couldn’t imagine life without them. Small backyards and rental properties was why we chose our fabulous non-shedding oodles, but when I get my farm(!) I’m desperate to add a Hungarian Viszla and a Doberman to our pack (along with the chickens, additional horses, alpacas and goats that I want as well… yeah… thank goodness I have hubby to temper my animal-loving madness!).
I love your puppy Maureen. I’ve never been a dog girl, but since having Kasha the Jack Russell in our house (she is almost 2), I can’t imagine life without her either. We always laugh abou the fact that she turns every frown upside down – no matter what! She did run away a couple of weeks ago during a big storm and we were desperately looking for her but some good soul found her and took her to the local vet’s. God bless that person to the end of earth and back. Our thoughts are with you and your family… loss is not an easy thing to bear.
Love dogs! Absolutely LOVE the photo of Charlie all wet on your car seat, it’s like he’s posing!
Your dog is adorable Maureen – what a fun loving face he has! Our Riley is a huge pain in the butt [a rescue dog and he has some major issues], we love him anyway. I can’t imagine life without a dog!
So sorry about your mother in law’s friend – I hope she will be ok.
Dear Maureen, I love animals but my heart belongs to dogs.
Your Charlie reminds me soooooo much of my Inka! They even look a little alike!
I will check out the book and the recipe.
Thank you.
Blessings dear. Catherine xo
Dogs are great. I also love goats. No animal is baaaaaad 🙂
Yours is the second blog I’ve read today featuring this book. It sounds like such a healing thing for those who’ve lost their beloved pets. I love my dogs too, very much. 🙂
I absolutely adore this post, Maureen! I thought I would never have another dog after my 11 year old Pomeranian left our house never to return again. She was really ill for some time, and just like in “Marley and Me” we all think she knew her time was coming to an end and did not want us to be there to see her take her last breath. However, part of me still believes that someone kindly took her home and healed her.
Now I’m a mother to my 5 year old miniature schnauzer, Kona a.k.a Kones buddy, black shadow, personal vacuum cleaner…He was a gift to me from my husband to help cope with my depression. Kona eased my loneliness and brought smile back to my face. He means everything to me. I like to bake him meatballs once a month, and I can’t wait to check out the recipe for the biscuit. He is quite the eater so I’m sure he will love it! I can’t wait to check out the campaign as well.
I love dogs and I LOVE your Charlie! Such an adorable face. We’ve had Lambeau for nearly 14 years…and I can’t imagine our home without her wagging her tail and her greeting us with her sweet smile 🙂
Charlie is gorgeous and obviously very clever. I am going to take Charlie’s recommendation and make my dog some home made dog biscuits. I have to say I didn’t think there could be a cuter picture than Charlie in a Christmas hat but yes there was.. Charlie looking ready to eat the biscuit dough was brilliant!
Love your beautiful spoilt Charlie. You are a lovely mother. I am so completely and utterly in love with dogs and monkeys and cats and meercats and otters and sloths and…………. I have one that is just as spoilt. Heres a video of my darling. I will try and support Stephanies book.
http://youtu.be/PVgNA-dxdQo
Your dog is a really cute one I must concede and you have really documented everything beautifully. I have a Labrador named Droopy and he is as much of a family member to me as my 6-year-old son. Which is why, I understand how you feel.
Great post for a beautiful cause. I am a dog lover too..or should I say animal lovcr 🙂
I know what you mean. We have a dog and I love him to bits but we also have two girly cats that vie for my affection.
So cute! We travel too much to have a dog at the moment – it wouldn’t be fair to have one and put him in a kennel so often. But one day I think I’d like to. At the moment we have a gerbil, at least with little creatures it’s easy to hand them over (cage and all) to friends for a weekend here and there 🙂
I know what you mean, Rachel. When we traveled we always had a housekeeper staying to take care of them but now that we’re poor, we stay at home. 🙂
Rizzo’s 15 and we had a scare earlier this year with her that brought us to our knees. All’s well now but we dread the day.
Charlie’s adorable. I can’t get ours to go near the water. Days at dog beach were spent running in the sand and chasing the sea gulls until they went over the water…then the brakes went on. LOL
When they get 15 you know the writing is on the wall. I don’t know how I’ll handle it with this one. He’s always by my side.
I love dogs! Grew up with dogs and have dogs of my own now. It feels weird for me not to have a dog around. Love the photos of Charlie. He’s a cutie. Will have to try out the doggy biscuit recipe. Sounds like a great campaign. 🙂
Your pooch sure looks beautiful. Love your post. I can’t imagine how hard it must be but I do understand that they become a part of us and cannot live without them. My husband promised my little one that he would get him dog if he watered the plants regularly, and boy oh boy, the kid did and now my hubby’s gotto keep his promise and who gets to do all the work, mou…not too happy with that.. But I’m sure it would be a lot of fun.
I hope you’ll share the dog news with us!
I used to have a dog hammock in the back of my car for beach visits – it looped over the front head rests and then I think it fixed into the back seat belts somehow. I can’t remember for sure – but it was perfect for a wet & sandy dog and easy to clean out. I will know we are finally ‘home’ when we can have a dog in our lives again – I miss the unconditional love and the friendship and the guaranteed smile when you walk in the door!
I hope John’s Mum & Dad are doing OK x
I think I’d like one of those hammock things. I might see if I can make one. I’m always vacuuming the sand out of the car. Charlie just knows to come in the house and head for the bathtub.
What a very fun post! We had a dog 35 years ago, then switched to cats. I do remember putting a wet dog in the back seat and cringing when he shakes. 🙂
What a cute pup, I love dogs. We have 4 at the moment. One inside and 3 outside. The one inside is a little diva, named Angel. While the 3 outside are big dogs that eat us out of house and home. They would love these dog biscuits but would devour them in a instant!
I adore dogs……I have lived without them for years on end, but they always leave me feeling empty. I adore your pooch. I will surely check out your campaign. I hope John’s Mum feels OK….it must feel scary to loose friends just like that forever….
Charlie is so cute and I wish I have a dog! My husband knows he’ll end up taking care of the dog once we have one…and he’s reluctant to have one despite the rest of us really want one. I seriously thought of getting one while he was on business trip last time. We don’t have family around so we worry about traveling to Asia for a long time twice a year…otherwise I’d probably get one right away! I’ll enjoy looking at your photos meanwhile…
Charlie is available for visits 🙂
Maureen, thank you so much for this lovely post and for helping to spread the word. I truly appreciate how many dog lovers, from all over the world, have gotten in touch and support this book. Daisy says hi to Charlie. She is a sand monster too.
We had a picnic at the park along the river today. Sand monster is mild for what he looked like. Thankfully before I could rinse him off he’d hopped in the pool and poof, he was sand free. Of course he was all dripping wet! Good luck with the book.
🙁 I’m sorry about John’s mom’s loss. I hope she’s coping. <3