Lets Play: Guess The Breed!

At the end of August, I adopted a sweet little black dog that I wound up naming "Macy" as a companion for Ranger and I. She fit the bill for everything I was looking for: gentle, sweet, easy to handle, even-tempered, great with Ranger, good with other animals (cats and dogs included), good with kids (we were actually able to "kid test" her the day I adopted her since a little girl was having her birthday party there at the Humane Society), and the list goes on and on...

When I adopted Macy, I knew that she had some major health issues going on with her heart thanks to the consultation with the humane society staff & vets. I immediately had a soft spot for her because I have some heart issues too! When I took Macy to my vet, he said that he had only seen one other dog make it past the first week of life with all of those heart issues; the other dog was a 16 yr old Poodle! So, even though some vets have put her life expectancy around 1-2 more years, you just never know! Hopefully, she will turn out to be like that 16 yr old Poodle and have a long, happy life. Macy is around 4 years old now and is now on daily meds, has gained a healthy amount of weight since being adopted, and is excelling in training!

One of the big questions surrounding Macy when I first adopted her was, "what is she"? Every friend and family member seemed to have a guess as to what she was mixed with: Lab, Chow Chow, Doberman, Border Collie, Rottie, Pit/American Staffordshire Terrier....the lists went on and on! I decided to have Macy tested with the Wisdom Panel Insights Dog DNA test. My reasons for having Macy tested were:

1. I wanted to have a better idea of what breeds she may be mixed with so that the vets and I can specifically taylor a medical treatment plan that will best suite her needs from a breed perspective (different breeds/mixes do better with different treatment options).

2. I wanted to know what breeds Macy was mixed with out of sheer curiosity! Now when people ask me "what kind of dog is that?", I can give them an answer!

3. I wanted to know what she was mixed with so that I could custom taylor my training techniques with her as well. Both of my dogs are in training and it  is much easier to train a dog when you know their genetic background/breed and how you need to work with that animal. Different breeds respond differently to training techniques. For instance, you typically wouldn't train a Chihuahua the same way you would train a German Shepherd. One is a companion, the other a herding dog; different dogs benefit from different techinques!

Well ladies and gentlemen, I finally have a conclusive answer thanks to the Wisdom Panel Insights test! The results are as follows:

Macy is: American Staffordshire Terrier (slang term for that would be "Pit Bull"), Rottweiler, and Chow Chow!

Some people might think those combinations must make her some sort of "Cujo", but that couldn't be further from the truth!  Macy is a gentle as they come and I would trust that dog with my life. In my experience, it's not the breed so much that necessarily determines if you have a "good dog", it's the owners and the environment. I use positive reinforcement training with both of my dogs and both of them are lovely! :)

Random Act of Culture

This is quite possibly one of the most cool things that I've seen in ages! Jack sent me an email with this recently and I thought it would be great to share with my lovely blog readers!  (The video is only a few minutes long so make time to watch it today!) Enjoy!!! :)

                              Opera meets Macy's!

Funny Moments

I caught Kojak mid-yawn the other day and thought it was too funny not to share! He looks like a grumpy ole' man in this one haha...

"You hooligans keep away from my cat tree!!!!!!"



Where Are My Keys?!?!?!?!

Don't you hate that feeling of panic that strikes you when you realize you've can't find your keys? I had a little surprise on Friday when I took my dogs to the dog park. Since it's literally attached to the back of my apartment, it's no big deal to take my dogs seperately and spend time training each of them, so I took them one at a time that day. Lets just say I learned my lesson the first time around with Ranger! While him and I were in the field training on his long lead, I had left his short leash and my treat/ball bag (which had my car/apartment keys in it) on one of the picnic tables nearby like a lot of other people do. Ranger and I were soo distracted with his training that I didn't notice the stelth white Labradoodle run off with not only the treat bag, but my attached car keys! What a smart little buggar!! When Ranger and I started walking back toward the table I panicked a little when I didn't see my keys! I walked from my apartment to the dog park, so even though I didn't need my car keys, I still needed my house key to get back into my apartment, so I was defintiely concerned for a brief moment there. Thankfully my "freak out" was brief when I saw the klepto pup nearby making a meal out of the treats in the treat bag lol! The Labradoodle's owner realized what happened at the same time as I did and immediately ran over and gave me my treat bag & car keys back while Ranger made friends with the new dog and tried to herd him haha
Lesson learned; Never leave a treat bag with your house key unattended at the dog park, keep it cliped on your pants!


(In a side note....I still think that mix has the funniest name: "Labradoodle"...just sounds goofy everytime I say it lol!)
 

10 Things Thursday

Just ten random thoughts floating through my head at the moment...

1. My dogs sound like little Chewbaccas when they play

2. I need to learn how to use power tools so that things in my apartment can get hung without having to wait around on the guys in my life to hang them for me.

3. Apparently the shopping gods didn't want me to go shopping today- when I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some design pieces, the entire store had no power....so I walked over to Bed Bath & Beyond to get some drinking glasses...and they had no power eithor- the entire strip mall was wiped out. *sigh*

4. I had a yummy lunch with the bestie today. I also felt like I was pregnant with a food baby afterwards haha...I love dairy, but dairy doesn't love me!

5. This morning I caught my cat Isabella drinking out of one of the betta bowls...she didn't want the fish, just the fishbowl water. Ick! (no worries, the fish was ok!)

6. I am SOO happy the elections are over! Buh-bye obnixious tv, phone, and flyer adds! If I hear one more canidate bash another one I will scream!

7. I hate doing laundry. There, I said it...it's the one chore I despise! (I don't mind washing/drying laundry...just folding & hanging up!)

8. I've had my nights/days mixed up for almost a week now because of these lovely breathing issues (tough time sleeping at night). I'm going to try and get back on schedule tonight....we'll see how that goes!

9. George W. Bush is a dumbass! Seriously, I am stunned that he said the all time low of  his presidency was when Kanye West criticized him. Seriously? Seriously? What a moron! What about 9-11? What about Hurricane Katrina? What about the Iraq/Afghanistan wars? What about the economy? Ugg idiot!! (for the record, this has nothing to do with my political persuasion (I'm very conservative on some things and a little liberal on others), just my disdain for idiots- be they presidents or rappers).

10. Ranger has class tonight...I can't wait until he's CGC and Therapy Dog International certified! :) 

Lydia's Apple Cider Recipe!

Here's the recipe for my apple cider! It's yummy and great for the fall/winter months! Try it out and let me know what you think! (I didn't add alcohol to mine this time, but it can definitely be spiked for those of you who like a stronger drink in your cup!)

Ingredients:

-3 cinnamon sticks

-3/4 jug of Apple Cider (I only used 3/4 because I wasn't making a ton. If you have a big crowd, use more)

-2 bags of Twinings Chai tea (sit the tea bags into the pot so they simmer)

1 honey crisp apple sliced

-1 orange- first grate the orange zest directly into the pot, then use a juicer and add the juice from the orange to the pot

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp nutmeg

-1 tsp apple pie spice (optional)

(Mini Strainer)

Directions:

Stir ingredients in pot slowly as you allow it to reach a slow boil. Once you have a slow boil going (the cider should be "rolling" in the pot, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes before serving. When you serve it, it's best to use a mini strainer like the picture of  the one I posted below (Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond-should all sell them pretty cheap). Sit the mini strainer in a coffee mug and then ladle the cider into the cup. :) (The apple cider keeps well for about a week if you have leftovers you want to refridgerate! (You can also take out the apple slices and coat them in a pinch of honey and brown sugar for a yummy treat!)

Oh the things little ones say....

This morning my dad picked me up so that we could run some errands. While I was waiting my turn in line, a little boy and his mom stood in line behind me. The little boy looked like he was around 3-4 years old and was adorable (dark curly hair, eyes that make you want to melt, and a t-shirt that said "rockstar")! While I was waiting in line, I felt a tug on my coat; it was the little boy. I knew he was about to tell me something really important based on how huge his eyes got! That's when he blurted out, "I have a penis!". After the initial shock of his unexpected decleration hit me, I bit my cheeks and fought back tears of laughter. His poor momma looked mortified (The entire office was staring at him and trying not to laugh!). I wasn't really sure what to say to that statement, so I just said, "Congratulations little buddy, I'm happy for you." (I REALLY wanted to say, "Congratulations! I have a vagina!" but I figured that was 1. incredably inappropriate  2. would thoroughly confuse him, and 3. would leave his poor mom answering an untold number of questions in her already embaressed state.) When I turned back around in line, I heard the little boy's mom behind me scolded the little fella about telling strangers of his nether-region. (Once again, I had to fight back laughter and tears hahaha!) Ahh I love little kids and the funny things they say! That little guy totally made my day! (I also have a new found respect for my mom. There is no telling what sorts of embaressing things my sisters and I must have said when we were little!)

October Snapshots

Wow, time has flown; I can't believe that it's already November! I'm a little behind on my blog...ok a LOT behind on my blog! Time to catch everyone up to speed. After my heart surgery in August I had some pretty nasty complications (Phrenic Nerve Palsy and a collasped right lung- both complications from August's heart surgery). I spent most of September/October pretty darn sick. I'm just now starting to feel a little bettter, but still have a long way to go. I started pulmonary rehab Monday, I have a feeling that it will help a lot! I was also thrilled to see that one of my sweet preceptors at the hospital where I did my clinical rotation was one of my RT's; it was great to catch up a little! My doctors have said that if I heal up  it can take up to a year (there's a chance that it won't heal as well...it's just a "hurry up and wait" deal at this point. If I don't heal up on my own, there's a few things they can do at Vanderbilt to get me back on track breathing wise, so I'm just going to take it a day at a time and be positive. Eithor way, I know God has a plan and things will work out. In the man time, I'm enjoying spending time at home training the dogs, reading, cooking, and catching up on some guitar tabs and design work. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon so I can get back to my old crazy schedule of school/clinicals and life! :)


Anways, onto more exciting things! Here a quick snapshots from October's festivities!



    The pumpkins Jack and I carved with my nephew Cooper!

Savory Roasted Pumpkin Seeds- they didn't last a day before everyone ate them up lol

(ready to go into the oven)

(yummy finished product!)

Me and my nephew, Cooper

Jack and Cooper....goofy boys!

Jack and Me

On Halloween, I made brownies and homemade apple cider for Jack & I and we had a blast watching, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

Homemade Apple Cider (I'll post the recipe soon!)

Brownies fresh out of the oven

And just in time for Thanksgiving...

"Tom the Turkey"

(more decoration pics to come!)