Collar People, You'll Understand...

I'm not saying I have a collar problem...but....I have been known to do this a time or two when I am expecting a package. DON'T JUDGE ME!!

Collared Up Does It Again!

Ditto got a new Collared Up last week, and what can I say? (NOTHING! Because I am speechless!) Seriously, no words could describe the sheer awesomeness of this collar. No photos could capture the amount of sparkle and beauty that this collar is made of. In the words of Will Ferrell channeling his inner Alex Trebek, it is Simply Stunning.

But, don't take my word for it. Let me post a few not-professional photographs so you can get an idea of how glorious it is.

Even though I'm not that great of a photographer working with a not that great camera, you can still probably get an idea of just how effing magical this work of art is. And no, I don't get perks for bragging shamelessly about how awesome Collared Up is. I'm just a really REALLY satisfied customer who appreciates great customer service, expert craftsmanship, and attention to detail.

It's Meme Monday, says the Senior Mutt

It keeps dawning on me that Corvus will be 8 years old this year. EIGHT. Where has time gone? He is my eternal puppy...he can't be EIGHT.  If you saw him play, or demand my attention, or even just watched his day to day self, you would never in a million years guess him to be eight. The whitening of his muzzle betrays his exuberance, but that is the only sign my spastic Super Mutt is a day over crazy puppy status. 

While doing a search of him on Google for shits n gigs, I came across this meme on a Veterinary Association of Cape Cod blog entry. It made my heart catch for a moment, seeing him used in an advertisement for Senior Dog Vitamins. The irony though, is this photo was taken when he was a pup. So, I tried not to let it punch me in the heart too hard. After all, strangers on the internet don't know him like I do, and are only calling him "old" because of his infamous grandpa face. No one could watch this cranky little speed demon and call him old..

Anywho, without putting anyone through any more of my "But he's my forever puppy" woes, here's today's entry for Meme Monday. 

Shack's Working Dog Supplies Review

Corvus won a photo contest on the Shack's Working Dog Supplies Facebook page and the owner, Leah, sent us this gorgeous rainbow collar as a prize. My first impression of the collar was that it was built to last - sturdy and heavy duty for those of us that own land sharks. 

Exhibit A: Land Shark

It's a heavyweight collar with nice, heavy duty hardware, so it's not necessarily something  you'd want on your delicate dogs. It's thick - no flimsy collar here. There are numerous neck holes so that it fits a wide variety of neck sizes, which is nice because I can let either dog wear it. There is a little sliding fabric piece that you can tuck the excess of the collar tongue into, which I find SUPER helpful as I can't stand flyaway collar tongues flapping around.

You can tell that Leah makes the collars for durability and functionality. I don't think Corvus will be breaking this one! If you've got heavy duty dogs with heavy duty collar needs, give them a try. They make more than just collars! I plan on ordering a lead or two from them here soon, and maybe even a spring-pole to try out. 

 

It's Meme Monday!

Does your dog have a licker problem? This guy does...and he's not ashamed to admit it. 

Free Dog Toys? Yes, please!

Everyone likes free dog toys, ammiright?

Well, there is a new business launching, and with it comes the opportunity to earn free dog toys. All you have to do is go to Outward Hound , and enter your own email address. They will give you your own code to share, and then voila. Share to win. Easy peasy. You can check your progress to see if any of your friends have joined using your link, and see what you've won so far.

Fingers crossed that we can get some goodies! The dogs would have you believe that they have none!

This is a photo we call "Corvus doesn't want his nails trimmed." This was taken during his younger years when he still thought he could hide from the nail trimmers. 

The Cute Bunny and The Angry Bunny

It's Meme Monday!

Things have been sort of busy around here lately. With the weather warming up, we've been outside more which has meant not as much time to play around on the interwebs.

But, I promised Meme Mondays, so I should halfway attempt to keep up with it. Here's my attempt.

It was my birthday yesterday (BOOOO, HISSSS) and "Corvus" made me a card. Little Bastard even told every one my age. WHERE IS THE LOYALTY???

Happy Meme Monday!

Hey, Ditto...

I don't want to alarm you, but there seems to be something stuck in your teeth.

Sorry, Anti-Bully folks, it's not a small child. It's just a stuffed hedgehog! Awws.

Dude, Where's My Balls?

Dog Shaming, or Confessions of An Asshole Dog?

Corvus is pretty easy to pose, typically. But, add in that magical piece of paper that also captures the interest of the rambunctious terrier sitting nearby, and suddenly it's was like I was asking him to volunteer for a beating. Both dogs were so fixated on that stupid piece of paper, I almost gave up. By the time I got Corvus to sit still WHILE THE PIECE OF PAPER TOUCHED HIM, I was too frazzled to worry about lighting and proper camera settings. I was just trying to keep Ditto from eating the damn paper.. 

Anywho, they aren't great and my editing "skills" are laughable (bite me)... but for our first attempts, they will have to do. The more I think of it anyways, I think they are more like "Confessions of an Asshole Dog" than Dog Shaming. He has no shame!!

 

The Many Faces of Corvus

Corvus is a chameleon. But just in the face. He can seriously change expressions so fast it will make your head spin. Bottom teeth out, or just one fang. Ears pinned back, or lazy and floppy? Alert eyes, or grumpy eyes? Or, the elusive HAPPY FACE? He is a dog with a thousand faces.

Too bad dogs playing Poker isn't really a thing. 

I think he'd be a pro at it.

It's Meme Monday!

It's that time again! Time for another Meme featuring Corvus. This is another favorite of mine, and it is wildly accurate. If he were able to speak English, I'm sure this would be one of his top five most consistently used words. He is King Of The Sass, after all.

Want to submit your own Corvus meme for consideration? You can choose any photos from the blog. In the spirit of fairness, let's say Ditto is fair game too. If you can come up with something clever that fits one of my photos, feel free to email your submission to me at Paws Jaws and Wrecking Balls at gmail dot com. (You'll have to do a little decoding there so that the bots don't pick up my email address and send me icky spam.)

HAPPY  MONDAY! Grump on!

Collared Up - Review

I can't believe I haven't done this yet! 

About a month or so ago, I received a collar from Collared Up. I have come to know the owner, Holly, from a FB group for the collar obsessed, and when I was first made aware of Collared Up and Holly's awesomeness, she wasn't accepting orders. Color me sad! Well, when she opened back up for a few orders, I knew I had to get a collar from her. I had seen photos, heard all the ravings, and knew I wanted my very own Collared Up for Ditto.

SHE DID NOT DISAPPOINT. 

To say the collar is amazing would be an understatement. To say I love it would be an understatement. To put it simply, It's Amazeballs. 

Not only is the collar impeccably made (seriously, how does she get all those stones and spots SO freakin' straight and symmetrical??), but Holly is an absolute sweetheart to work with. I admit, I am a moderate (to severe..shut up) pain in the ass when I am placing an order for a collar. I am indecisive...I second guess my decisions...I ask a million questions...you get the picture. Holly tolerated me with nary a complaint. She is an angel! 

The icing on the cake? She has something for everyone. Don't want to spend $100 on a collar? She's got something for you! If you don't mind spending $100+ on a collar, she's got something for you, too. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself! She's just opened her shop back up on Etsy, so head over there and check it out: Collared Up

Seriously...isn't it magical?

Fit for a princess!

Amazing!!

SNOW!!!!

It doesn't take much snow around here to make us Southerners go White Stuff Crazy. Dogs included. So, when it snowed last week and then again this week, we went snow crazy. I went photo crazy. Nothing makes photographing black dogs more fun than a pristine white background. Even if I took the first batch with the settings all wrong because I'm not used to so much white. (Rookie....)

Corvus, for all of his heat seeking, blanket thieving, teeth chattering hatred of the cold, turns into the Abominable Snow Dog when there is snow. I literally have to trick him or physically drag him back inside if it is snowing. His tiny little chicklets can be chattering and his body shivering, and he will STILL insist that I leave him to play in his Winter Wonderland. HE WAS EVEN PANTING AT ONE POINT from the excitement of playing. 

Ditto..well, she's not as amused. Sure, she gets that same little jitterbug thing going on where when she first goes out and feels the cool, fluffy magic, it makes her boing-boing around like a newborn foal that has discovered it's legs. But the magic wears off quickly and she's just as happy to go back inside where the ground isn't some odd, frozen monster and her blankies are nearby for cuddles. Her shortened span of loving the snow may also be in part because of her aversion to wearing a coat outside when it is colder than balls. She will wear one, but she will make me pay for it, so we just typically skip that unless we're going for a long walk or it's single digits out.

I'm not sure what I would do in the snow if I didn't have dogs. I love snow days, but I think that's mostly because of how much fun I have in the snow with them. Otherwise the wet feet, frozen toes and fingers, and slush just seem like a hassle instead of a side effect of having fun.

The moral of the story: Dogs make everything better!

 

Meme Monday

It's Meme Monday!

What the hell is Meme Monday, you ask? Well, it's a new thing I'll be doing to try to get myself in the habit of posting more regularly, even when time is scarce. As it turns out, I have about 150+ memes of Corvus collected from the internet from one single photo alone. See, I was a member of a dog forum way back when posting photos of your dog seemed harmless. Little did I know, someone would steal a photo of Corvus that was posted, upload it to Cheezburger.com, and my darling little Stinkface would become an internet sensation and the inspiration behind hundreds of memes. 

So, as homage to my boy, he will be getting his own weekly entry. Drumroll please..... Meme Monday!

Let's break the seal on this package by posting our first entry. I like to call it Slingblade Stinkface. Mmmm hmmmm.

Want to submit your own Corvus meme for consideration? You can choose any photos from the blog. In the spirit of fairness, let's say Ditto is fair game too. If you can come up with something clever that fits one of my photos, feel free to email your submission to me at Paws Jaws and Wrecking Balls at gmail dot com. (You'll have to do a little decoding there so that the bots don't pick up my email address and send me icky spam.)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day. Or.....is it?

I've Been Slack

The new year has been full of chaos and work stuff. I've had little time to do much in the way of blogging and photography. Plus, our weather has been remarkably CRAPPY. So much rain. And mud. YUCK. 

I have loads of entry ideas, but I don't have the time right now to follow up on those, so for the time being I will just post some photos of the dogs and apologize for my slackery.

We're sorry for slacking!

And to prove that my absence from Blog Land is not all because of Netflix marathons and mindless self indulgence, here is a photo of my completed and hung collar racks. 

Til we meet again!

The Spoils Of Christmas

Ah, where to start? The Creeps were spoiled pretty thoroughly this year when Santa came. 

First, there were toys. SO MANY TOYS.

There were soft toys, squeaky toys, chewy toys, hard toys, tuggy toys, stuffed toys...By the time they all arrived, the house looked like a Toy Drive had happened here. They had so much fun opening their gifts though, it was worth every penny.

Their lumps of coal and Naughty & Nice toys. It was quite difficult to decide who got the Naughty one and who got the Nice one.

SO MANY  NYLABONES AND THINGS TO CHEW ON! Corvus had a field day with all the new chews.

 

A new Tuffy Lobster to replace the old one that is now a sad husk of it's former glory.

And Ditto with her new Tuffy pig. This is her new bestie.

Then there were collars and leads (some are still being made, or in transit as I type!) Here's a teaser.

It's so glorious. Ella's Lead has made magic happen. Again.

Ditto's Collar Mania BLING!

A matching Bob's Burgers set for Corvus and Ditto from Collar Mania. It took me forever to find this fabric, and Lisa from Collar Mania special ordered it for me. I am in geek heaven.

Then there were coats from Dover Saddlery. I got them for a steal at $6.99 each. They are amazingly warm and well made. Corvus won't let me take his off!  They arrived just in time for our brutal cold spell we've been having.

I'm warm now, will you throw the ball please!?!

I love the plum color of Ditto's coat.

You can see the texture of the fleece in this photo. They are thick and warm, and so soft!

But most of all, they were spoiled by having us home for two weeks for our yearly vacation. It was so hard to leave them and go back to work last week, but they are good dogs and have plenty of new things to chew on and keep them happy while we are gone. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!