eating out | Mozart's

Dorothy and me love it when mom and dad kick our weekend off with a trip to Mozart's!  It's our favorite cafe in Austin.

Actually, it's our favorite cafe out of anywhere we've lived because usually eating out with the parents stinks! We are expected to just sit under the table and aren't allowed to explore, say hello to other people or go anywhere! Dorothy gives up trying after a few minutes and goes to sleep, while I become restless and annoyed!  

But at Mozart's we always have fun because we're allowed up on the seats beside mom and dad (as long as we watch our table manners) and there are always other dogs to play with, birds to chase or turtles in the lake to tease!  Annnnd, if we're really good and don't run off or bark: mom and dad give us some of their leftovers as treats!  For a dog in Austin, there's
no better place to eat out than Mozart's.

birthday boy

Yesterday was my birthday, I turned four!  In doggy years that means I'm 28 but mommy says that - even though that makes me older than her - I'll always be her baby.  I was a little lonely without grandma, grandpa, Aunt Amy and Uncle Sean to celebrate with me, but mommy and daddy still gave me a really great day. 

Mommy made my favorite meat-jelly cupcakes and both Dorothy and me got those yummy smoked bones with the meat still on them!  Then I enjoyed unwrapping my present by tearing open the paper and spreading it all around the living room, that's is always fun!  My present turned out to be the perfect combination of my two favorite things: ropes and balls... a rope ball! I didn't even know something so awesome existed!

 Then, in the early evening, I got the best present I could ever ask for: some alone time with mommy and daddy who took me to the park for a run without Dorothy so I could have some decent ball chasing without her chasing me!  All in all, a great day :)

learning I can swim

Mommy has always been overprotective and doesn't let us swim in the lakes or creeks that we come across during our hikes, like the other dogs do.  She's always been afraid that we'd end up with an ear, skin or some other type of infection - so Dorothy and I usually just watch other dogs jumping in the water, swimming and fetching sticks from the sidelines.  Only very recently (since the weather's become hot) mom's started letting us run across the shallow parts of the creeks where the trails weave in and out of them, but for the longest time, her and daddy would carry us over the water and we didn't get the tiniest bit wet.  

Then something incredible happened... On Wednesday, during one of our afternoon hikes at Bull Creek, I was running across the creek when I accidentally fell into a deep part and got completely immersed in water!  I got myself back to the shallow, crossed the creek and turned around to mommy to see if I was in trouble or not,  but other than being worried for my ears... she was totally ok with it!  I overheard her and daddy saying things like 'well, it is super hot,' 'should be ok since it's running water,' 'at least it'll cool him down' and 'heaps of other dogs get in this water all the time so it should be fine.'

I made super sure it was ok one more time by pretending to fall in again at the next crossing, and when neither parent said anything, I took off down the middle of the creek barking at my splashes and chasing fish.  Dorothy followed but her legs are so short that she could hardly reach the bottom! Luckily she knew how to swim straight away but she didn't like being out there in the water and returned to the bank where mommy and daddy stood, watching me.

D coming to check up

Before long the real began because daddy got a stick and threw it for me to chase!  I was ok in the shallow where I could reach the bottom, but when he threw the stick out further, I didn't know what to do!  I tried jumping up and down, springing myself from the bottom - but this filled my nose with water, so I kept trying different things until eventually, I SWAM!  I didn't even know I knew how to!  It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done - and it was all caught on video:

Not a bad place for a dog to learn how to swim!  Here are some more photos mommy took that afternoon:

I loved my stick!

I wanted to take it home with me

I even had a spectator (see the dragonfly?)

this was when I first got in (when I thought mom would be mad)

And here's a video is of my first attempt to swim - when I was just jumping: 

l is for liver treats

Years ago, when mommy was still living in that other country with my other grandparents that have those funny accents, they had a doberman who used to love treats made from liver.  Grandma used to make these treats herself - she'd gotten the recipe from the doberman breeder and when I came along, she passed it along to mommy to see if I would enjoy them as well.  Well did I ever!  

I was a 10 wk old pup when mommy made the first batch and training could not have gone smoother.  I learnt all my first commands for these treats and so did Dorothy.  Now we hardly ever get these special treats because liver isn't something you see at the grocery store on a regular basis in Austin.  But for this letter 'L' post, daddy bought some especially! 

I'll hand the keyboard to mommy for instructions on how to make them, just in case anyone else wants to make them for their dogs - trust me, they'll love them!  You'll just have to mind her spelling and measuring - she is Australian after all. 

Ingredients:

- 1lb (500g) liver pieces cut into small cubes

- 3 medium sized garlic cloves

Utensils:

- a garlic press (if you don't one you can use a knife to chop garlic into small pieces)

- mixing bowl

- non-stick cookie baking tray (I line mine with wax paper so there's less to clean up)

- air tight Tupperware container

Method:

- preheat oven to 350f/ 180c

- place liver cubes into mixing bowl and press the garlic cloves over the top

- mix all together until garlic appears evenly distributed

- place treats a little distance apart on baking tray (to avoid them baking on to each other) 

- bake for approx. 20 mins / until liver appears firm and has a dark brown colour

- remove from oven and allow to cool before placing treats into airtight container and refrigerating

 ... Thanks mommy! Now all the doggy-parents who read my blog can give their good dogs special treats too!  

BTW: Mommy's read articles that say garlic is "toxic" to dogs but that's probably only when it's raw because Dorothy and me get cooked garlic in a few dishes and we've never had any problems.  

k is for Kong

A kong is a toy that every dog should have.  Me and Dorothy love our kongs and since Dorothy isn't a crated-when-the-parents-go-out dog anymore, mommy likes giving them to us stuffed with treats when ever she goes anywhere.  What kind of dog wouldn't enjoy that?

Kongs come in lots of different shapes but we have the bone shaped ones made for small dogs.  Mommy says kongs are better than bones when we're unsupervised because she says a shard could break off a bone, gets caught in a throat and ... well you know!  But she doesn't have to worry about anything with a kong full of treats.  She knows we'll be safe and busy for hours! 

Although I thoroughly enjoy my kong and the variety of different treats that mommy pack inside it; I want to say... just for the record, that I used to do ok without any such diversions before Dorothy came along.  Mommy and daddy both know, in full confidence, that they can leave me any time and I'll do well on my own without needing anything to keep me busy.  I've never once chewed anything, broken anything, dropped anything or even misplaced anything I wasn't supposed to.  Nor have I ever had a bladder malfunction.  Mommy puts a puppy-pad down for me and I was trained long ago to just go on that if I needed to.  I also want it known that when mommy gives me my kong, she always tells me that it's my extra-special treat for keeping an eye on Dorothy while they're out.  Hmpf, Dorothy!  Who's sure to rip up a coaster or a shoe without it her kong! 

e is for elephant

Mommy and I struggled coming up with a good topic for letter 'E'.  I like to eat eggs... raw, hard boiled or scrambled but that's rather boring.  Besides, who doesn't?  In the end we decided it would be a great idea, and allow me to demonstrate how smart I am, if mommy bought a brand new toy starting with the letter E and we showed you how quickly I learn the names of all my toys!

Firstly, I just want to say, I always know when mommy's brought home a new toy. She thinks it's because I can smell them but she doesn't realize the truth is I've learnt to recognize the way she acts whenever she brings one home!  Hehe.  Here are some photos of me raiding the bag as soon as she got home and fishing out the new toy (Dorothy still doesn't get it):

Then within the next 3 or 4 minutes I learnt his name.  I know the names of all my toys (unlike Dorothy) and whenever mommy or daddy say 'go get (any name of any toy)...' I know exactly which toy they mean so I grab it out of the toy box and bring it straight over! Sometimes mommy gives me a treat but mostly us playing with the toy together is the treat :)