Eat good in the neighborhood....

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Happy Friday! Teddy here, two days later this week. Apparently my Mama claims she has been "really busy" at work and hasn't had time to update my blog. I think she's full of crap, but it is what it is. I can't complain too much. My Mama is such a good mom. She is always buying us presents and giving us treats. She plays with us and snuggles us and gives us loving when we are sick or hurt. She even goes so far as to make special healthy food for us, which brings me to the point of my post today: food.

Live footage of Coco if she were a boy back in the 80's...

Usually we have a dog cereal that we eat. That's what my mom refers to those kibbles you can buy in a 25 pound buy and feed to your pup with little to no effort, "dog cereal". Our mom found us a reasonably priced, grain-free bag of yumminess that we really enjoy. To be fair, the three of us are little piggies and we pretty much eat anything. Especially Coco.

We call her "Mikey" because she'll eat anything! Literally ANYTHING. My mom left these "very hot peppers" (and they are VERY hot! Even daddy's Mexican friend couldn't eat them and he eats ghost peppers and the like!) mixed in with some leftover cheeseburger macaroni and Coco even ate THAT! (I think she may have pooped for a few days afterwards, but she still ate it right off the stove. That's when Coco got banished from the kitchen if there is food around.)

It was shortly after this incident that my mom realized that maybe we weren't getting enough from our dog cereal. Enough what, I have no idea. She absolutely can't stand canned dog food. It makes her sick to see that gross gel that comes out of cans. Buying a bunch of those meals that are pre-made or buying the dog food from the refrigerated section was just going to be way too costly. So that's when my Mama decided that she would make dog food for us at home!

This is what happens when you mix blueberries in to food by hand!

I love my mom's cooking. Human food or dog food. My mom can cook. What i think is really great about the food that she makes us is that she doesn't make it look yucky. It always looks like something she would put on her plate and eat. mama doesn't make us this food every day. Like I said, we usually get dog cereal. So when we see her stirring ingredients together, we get very excited. Coco even starts to drool. Fresh carrots and peas, blueberries, chicken or beef or turkey. My tummy is growling just thinking of it!

My mom is really in to this thing called "Pinterest". When she first started making our food, she used to just make it on the fly, throwing whatever looked good but wouldn't kill us to eat. Now she has a whole collection of doggie food recipes, which she has included on my personal Pinterest board: Teddy the Terrible Terrier-The Blog. There are a bunch of useful things on my board. You can check out some of her other pins while you're there. Apparently that kind of thing is fun for you humans!

She made me this birthday cake a few years ago!

Overall, I don't mind eating our dog cereal. It tastes pretty great and, as I mentioned earlier, I like to eat. Mama gets us the grain free kind because I think she heard somewhere (probably one of those TV commercials or shows) that the grains in other dog food are not so great for us. Obviously I'm not saying to rush out and buy your pup the super expensive food (unless you can afford it, in which case, by all means do and send me and my sisters some while you're at it!). We eat this $14.99 bag of Beneful. My mom approves of anything by Purina because my Aunt Ashley's daddy has worked for Purina since she can remember and my mom loves and trusts that family so much. (My aunt Ashley, on a side note, is super awesome!)

Beneful Grain Free is good stuff! Buy it Here!

In conclusion, you should definitely watch what your dog eats. Whether making your pup's food from scratch or buying pre-made "cereal", what your dog takes in to their body is extremely important. You should also watch how much they eat too. Here's a helpful guide on how much and how often to feed your doggo from dogbreedinfo.com. Don't forget to check out my Mom's Pinterest for other recipes and helpful hints on how to feed and take care of your dog (and some drink recipes in case you need a drink while dealing with your pet parent duties!). 

Do you have any favorite homemade dog treat or food recipes? Please feel free to share them in the comments or visit us on Pinterest or Facebook and leave a comment! We love to hear from our visitors!

Barks and licks,

Teddy

Little dog, little dog, let me in....

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Hey everyone, it's Teddy here again! I just wanted to bring up a subject very dear to me heart today: home security. Since I was just a wee pup, my Daddy has emphasized the fact that making sure no one breaks in to our home is my number one priority in life. Granted, I've been relegated to the basement's security when Mama and Daddy are gone. (Bella has been promoted to head of security. I don't like it, but I get it. She's a mean, scary pit bull after all!) Home security is still my number one priority however. Every morning, the first thing I do when I go outside to do my business is a perimeter check to make sure there are no unwanted beasts in our yard. I usually scare the crud out of a couple of squirrels and some birds, if I'm lucky a cat, but I have been very lucky in my life to have never had to chase a mean person from my yard.

On basement security duty, protecting everyone from the trash I ripped open.

I have probably saved my family hundreds of times throughout the years, from the UPS guy to the neighbors that walk their hideous mutts around our neighborhood, peeing on all my good pee spots. Never did I make my Daddy more proud than the time I stopped the guy who was peeking in our living room window at 3:30 in the morning.

He was a creeper, I could definitely tell from the sneaky way that he opened our front gate. Bella was sleeping in Mama and daddy's room that night and I was on patrol in the front window, laying in my favorite spot on the back of the couch. I like that spot because I can see from the north end of our block to over halfway down the south side. This guy was wearing a hoodie and I've never trusted anyone in a hoodie that wasn't my dad. I growled as he walked up our sidewalk and did his sneaky opening of the gate. But when he walked up our stairs and started peeking in the window- RIGHT BY MY FACE!- I started barking like crazy. Coco always runs back up for me and she climbed on to the couch beside me and started barking her head off too. Now my bark is pretty mighty. I definitely rank it above Bella's yippee bark. But Coco is just loud and scary when she barks. (I assume this is because she is just a massive beast. I've noticed that, generally speaking, the bigger a dog is the deeper their bark is.) All you heard is "Woof! Woof!" over and over in a thunderous boom and all you see is bright white, shiny, LONG teeth. 

Between the two of us, we managed to get Daddy out of bed. He actually went out to confront the dude and Mama showed up right behind him, clutching Daddy's pistol in her hands. My daddy does NOT take too kindly on getting woke up in the middle of the night by strangers clamoring up our porch. Mama came over to the couch and peeked through the blinds to see what was going on with Daddy. He seemed to be talking to the man in some way. Eventually Daddy came back in and the man left. Daddy gave me and Coco both pettings and kisses and we were all back to sleep.

From what I heard Mama and daddy say, the stranger was drunk and trying to find someone's house. This is no excuse to stumble up to my house in the middle of the night. I will bark at you. And if you try coming in my door, I will bite you. I might only be able to reach your ankle, calf, or (if you are lucky enough to still have them) your balls, but I will bite you. And if I get started then Coco and her huge self will come to my rescue and SHE will probably tear your throat out. And God forbid Bella be around because she maybe look sweet and snugly, but she is mean as a rattlesnake, especially if you threaten our parents. Mama lovingly calls this the "Hound Defense", as in "Release the Hounds".

NOT a picture of my Mama!

In conclusion, as a dog, I've learned that most people are scared of dogs. Even dog people can be afraid of a dog that is not their own. Especially a big dog. They underestimate us tiny dogs way too much! So my recommendation is that you run out to your nearest shelter today and adopt your own home security system. There are thousands of doggos sitting in shelters, just waiting to bite an intruder for you. I personally recommend PAWS Chicago, a shelter that my Granddaddy always supported and that my Mama continues to support. if you're back in Mama's home state of Georgia, check out Angels Among Us. My aunt Ashley has worked with them for years and has fostered many a fur baby through this organization.

If you are just not in a position to adopt right now (maybe you live in an apartment that doesn't allow dogs or you are getting ready to deploy to Iran), I recommend this awesome doggie bark doorbell. 

Rex Plus Dog Bark Doorbell- make them THINK you have the devil in your house!

And if you're more in the mood for standard, boring, everyday human security, our next door neighbor has this security system up around his place. (And two Beagles and a Shiz Tzu that may be related to me distantly.)

Zmodo Wireless Security Camera System (4 pack) Smart HD Outdoor WiFi IP Cameras with Night Vision

No matter what you do, make sure that you stay safe and secure in your home! The world is so mean out there these days that you need your home to be more secure than ever before. Make sure that you take care of your loved ones and treasure and protect them because you never know what each day will bring you. Home security is about more than protecting a house. It about protecting a home.

Barks and wags,

Teddy

New Year, New... No. Nothing's new....

***Caution! This blog post may contain affiliate leaks! (But no spoilers from "The Last Jedi". I swear!)***

Hey everyone! Teddy's back! Can you believe it's 2018 already? Sheesh! My mom certainly has been slacking on updating my blog, but no fears! I'm on top of her this New Year! (Literally. I was all up in her face, trying to lick her nose.) Every year, without fail, my Mama has all those hopes and dreams and goals in her head that she projects on to us. "I'm going to clean more!", "I'm going to blog more!", or my least favorite when it is negative balls outside, "No more peeing on the floor this year!" (Come on Mom! If I pee outside, my wiener is going to freeze to the ground!) My favorite, though, is when Mama promises to exercise more.

As a dog of a certain size, I am probably the least chill of all the dogs in my house. Coco is super lazy. She does nothing but lay around all day, always wanting someone to pet her and tell her how "pretty" she is. Yuck. I try to get her to play with me, but that usually only lasts about thirty seconds until she's done. Bella, the other icky girl dog, is NO fun to play with. She's always trying to murder me and much prefers to be alone, usually hogging Daddy. Girls are just boring. Except my Mama.

Mama does these funny stretches. She calls it yoga, I call it stretching, but tomayto tomahto right? She says this is exercising. I think she's nuts. Where's the fun in that? That's what you do to wake up after a nap. I want to run, to jump, and, most importantly to me, to bark and growl! So I go and find an empty soda or water bottle. I give the bottle to her, she throws it, I bring it back. This is a fun game to play and it's great exercise for both my body and my brain because she loves to throw the bottle in to places where I have to think about how I'm going to get it.

Bottle is a great game and my Mama loves it because it's free (mostly). We use the empty soda and water bottles that Daddy and Grammy leave around. To be really safe and to make sure that I don't cut my mouth, Mama uses old socks to cover the bottles and viola! Instant toy!

My sister and me playing with a sock toy!

Winter time has hit the Chicago-land area full force this new year and it's more important than any of the other five years of my life that my Mama find creative games and exercises for us dogs to do. I mean, Coco don't care so much, but Bella gets the Zoomies (for a great video showing you what the Pittie Zoomies are, check this clip from The Dodo out below my blog!) and I get really barky and annoying (even to myself!). We all have tendency to want to eat more and to want to fight more because we need more exercise. But when the temperature is -11 outside, you can't really stay outside to play or even go for a walk. You run out, do your business, and run back in before your wiener sticks to the ground because your mom won't let you pee on her hardwood floor. 

So how can you help keep your dogs well-exercised this winter? Here are a few ideas to keep your four-legged babies healthy and happy this year!

1. Treadmill- Now, if you are lucky enough to own one of these bad boys (and more so have a place to use it!), then you should definitely let Fido take his own walks this winter. Walking is by far the best exercise a dog can get and you might as well use that clunker for something besides holding your clothes!

2. Stairs- Some homes are blessed (or cursed in my Grammy's opinion) to have stairs in them. A great game to play: throw a ball up the stairs and have Fido fetch it back down! Great exercise for your doggo, not such exercise for you.

3. Hide and Seek- This works great if you have a big house and/or more than one person playing. Just tell your dog to stay while you hide, then call him to come find you! More people = more hiding spots = more exercise!

4. Tug of War- Another favorite use of old socks. My mom ties a knot in the end and I go to town trying to rip it away from her. I'm so strong you can even pick me up with my teeth when I grab on to a sock. (Not to brag or anything. Haha.)

5. Laser Pointer- This was an old favorite of my sister cat, Furrball's. This little red dot can have me running in circles for a long time, but because lasers can be addictive and a bit dangerous, Mama only allows us to play with them for a few minutes at a time.

6. Puzzles- Now, something my big sister is good at and does love is a good food puzzle! Anything involving food or treats automatically has Coco's attention. You can use a Kong (freezing it helps make the food harder to get out and thus more tiring for your pup) or you can get one of these nifty puzzle bowls like this.

Get your puzzle bowls here!

7. Chew toys/bones- This brings us back around to Bottle. One of my sisters' and my favorite things to do is take the top off of a bottle. So when Mama throws us our sock covered bottles, she makes sure those lids are on good and tight. We spend hours entertained by bottles. Also bones. We're a chatty bunch, naturally, so anything that keeps our mouths busy makes our Mama, daddy, and Grammy all very happy!

I hope this has helped you learn a little something about how us dogs look at exercise today. Bottom line is, we not only love to exercise, we need it. It's just the healthy thing. But when it's so cold outside that politicians put their hands in their own pockets (learned that one from Facebook), you might want to take your exercise indoors. Hopefully these suggestions help you and your best friend on your way to a healthy start to the New Year. Get creative! Let us know how you and your pets exercise during bad weather or when you just can't make it out to play!

Barks and kisses,

Teddy

P.S. Here's that link to The dodo's video on Pittie zoomies I told you about earlier!

 https://www.facebook.com/thedodosite/videos/1283692781765394/