My Dogs and a Giveaway

My two toy poodles are my babies. Madeline and Cole bring so much joy and laughter into our home. I received Madeline when I was a junior in college; she lived with me in my tiny apartment in West Texas, moved with me into my tiny apartment in Austin and finally moved with me into my house. She was so happy to get a doggie door and access to a huge backyard.

It was a year or two after I bought the house that I thought Madeline needed a play mate, so I found Cole. He was nothing more than a tiny black cotton ball that I could hold in one hand. Madeline was curious about him, but not too interested when he began to play with her. She was used to being an only child, and now there is this BOY in the house!

They have a true brother-sister relationship. She likes to play chase sometimes, but most of the time would rather be left alone.

The two of them play together well, but Cole has so much energy he wears us all out.

I used to make their dog food {recipe here} because I liked knowing exactly what they were eating and could alter the recipe to give them more of what they needed at the moment and control their intake of fatty foods. In her old age, Madeline developed an allergy to most proteins forcing us to purchase a limited ingredient can food with duck and potato. Luckily, they both love it and Madeline’s health has improved immensely while on this new food.

For treats, they get baby carrots. I was surprised how much they like carrots, and I don’t feel guilty treating them SEVERAL times a day vs. counting how many treats they are allowed to eat per day with regular processed dog treats. Don’t get me wrong, I give them the bad stuff every now and then. They absolutely love the Purina Busy Chewnola Treats which keeps them occupied for hours. When I’m at the dollar store, I buy discounted cans of sardines for the dogs.

They both go NUTS over the fish. I mash it up in their dog bowl and even though it makes their breath stink, I love to watch them eat the oily fish and then beg for more. Fish oils are a beneficial treat good for healthy coats.

I suspect that some of you, like me, have pets that have no idea they are not people. I saw this morning that Whole Foods is having a competition on their blog about our pets and what we like to treat them with. They are generously giving away two care packages of healthy treats — one to a randomly selected dog owner and the other to a randomly selected cat owner — just go to their blog and enter your pet’s favorite healthy treat by July 21st. Even if you don’t give them a healthy treat, you can still enter. Hey, I’d like to know what you feed your pets too, so leave me a comment below (it won’t help your chances of winning in the Whole Foods giveaway, but it would put a smile on my face.)

Speaking of giveaways, I think it’s time to have one of my own! Check back on Monday, July 19th for a special cookbook giveaway. (Hint, it’s a local Austin cookbook and it’s pretty amazing.)

I found this post on Serious Eats today and it put me in a good mood. Video of dogs eating ice cream. What a hoot. I love it.