Not that Toby is always hungry or anything.
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If you think chickens are adorable (or delicious. Your pick.), then consider adding this Chicken and Egg Cross Stitched Bread Cloth to your table. Homemade, warm, crusty breads (or breads you claim are homemade!) presented on a beautifully decorated bread cloth will taste even better when served to guests.
Chicken and Egg Cross Stitched Bread Cloth is available from my shop.
I was always tempted to get those for my dogs so they would have to carry their own stuff. (See how they like hauling around bags of poop for hours!)
Dear Ladies’ Clothing Designers: they’re not really “cargo shorts” if you can’t fit anything in the pockets!
Here is a sketch I did of Toby’s girlfriend from the previous post.
(I’m guessing she’s a half-Malt.)
Is it hotter than blazes outside, but you’re stuck inside with arctic air conditioning? The solution might be a hand knit tweed cardigan! This Olive Green Tweed Cardigan is as cozy as a hug. It is silky soft and is hand knit of a fine merino wool/alpaca/Donnegal tweed yarn. There is no scratchiness or coarseness to this sweater. The mid-weight fabric has a wonderful drape and a comfortable, broken-in look to it already. There is no stiffness as there are with some knits. The sweater is also generously sized to fit comfortably.
Olive Green Tweed Cardigan is available form my shop.
Aaah! The “hydra” in hydrangea stands for “hydrate”.
Well, here is Toby’s hydrangea. As you can see he was very creative with his colors making his flowers everything from white to purple. My little boy does enjoy his work.
Actually mom I cheated. I used these!
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Add some colorful flowers to your day with this lovely Floral Tote Bag. The floral bag can also be used as a gift presentation bag instead of disposable paper or plastic ones. Floral Gift Presentation Bag can be used over and over. In fact, the bag itself can be part of the gift!
Floral Gift Presentation Bag is available form my shop.
Wednesday night was not a good night.
Figuring out what has been going on with Toby has turned out to be a painful adventure. For months, my otherwise happy puppy has been attacking me. Every resource I encountered mentioned checking the dog’s thyroid levels because low thyroid in dogs can lead to erratic behaviors. I had Toby checked; no low thyroid.
During the attacks, it were as if Toby were asleep. Sometimes he would “wake up” in the middle and looked confused or embarrassed about what was going on.
I think I may have finally figured out what is happening with Toby: Sleep Startle Reflex. Older dogs, deaf dogs – and for some reason greyhounds – tend to have this most often, but any dog can. Basically it is an old survival instinct where if anything – any little thing – happens near the sleeping dog it will attack instantly without even waking up. I don’t even need to touch Toby but make a noise near him and he will come running to growl at and bite me.
What made the condition even harder to pinpoint was that the attacks only happened in the evening or at night not during the day even though Toby sleeps at all of those times. Turns out that the SSR is only triggered during REM sleep. In the afternoons, Toby is merely napping, so he doesn’t dream then.
It felt good to find out that nothing is really “wrong” with my boy; he is just a sleepwalker…..er, sleep attacker. Experts recommend not punishing or yelling at your dog because he is unaware of what he is doing. To him, he just wakes up and everyone is mad at him. It is recommended that you put your furry attacker in a quiet room at night and block it off so that no one disturbs him. Little Toby’s heart has been breaking because I have been having him sleep in his kennel and not in the laundry. I feel awful that he can’t sleep in the bedroom with me, but this room is so small I can’t fit his kennel inside.
Maybe this will be incentive to get rid of some stuff so my puppy can toot contentedly beside me in his sleep.
I hate this kennel. I wanna come back and sleep in the laundry.
Dirty laundry – the bed of the gods.
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Come see what Bitey and Super Sleep-Bitey (otherwise known as Toby) have been up to, pick up a copy of Bitey Dog and Toby in Dream Our World! Inside the boys view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World is available from my shop.
What? Did I do something I wasn’t supposed to?
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For your very own lovely (pee-free) flowers, consider adding these embroidered pillow cases to your decor! The scallops and posies will bring an old-fashioned touch to your home.
Flowers and Scallops Embroidered Pillow Cases are available from my shop.
Yes, we like Uncle and Auntie better than you? Are you so surprised?
Once again company came to town, and once again my “faithful companion” deserted me. Both of my dogs preferred to hang around with my brother’s family, even if they were ignoring my pups in favor of their phones.
Really, I find it sweet that my dogs are so loving toward others, but boys….save the last dance for me. (Auntie and Uncle aren’t going to clean poop off your fur, after all.)
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Looking for a gift for someone special? These hand-stitched Calico Heart Coasters would be a great way to keep a loved one’s tables safe from glasses of icy lemonade. This set of coasters (and many other gifts) are available from my shop.
Ba-dum-bum.
Seriously, don’t drag me into these things.
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Come see what Bitey and Toby have been up to in Dream Our World. Inside, they visit the museum of their dreams and view the world of art from a canine perspective. (The even have their own Starry Night encounter!) Dream Our World is available from my shop.
Beware. Mommy’s tan can be blinding.
Despite being very fair and coming from a family strong with red heads, for most of my life I was unable to either tan or burn. I could go out for an entire day in the hot sun and come home just as pale as when I started. I didn’t believe such a thing was possible. I thought that even if you didn’t tan, you couldn’t help but burn. Nope. I asked a doctor about it once. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me and mumbled something about my body chemistry not being right for tanning or burning. It never made sense, but I didn’t know how to argue the point.
A few years ago I did finally regain/develop the ability to burn. Guess how I found out.
Do I smell bacon?
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Soon it will be the season for weddings! If you are planning to attend an in-person affair and need something nice for your young man, consider shopping at L Bowman Studios. There you will find an assortment of dress shirts, handmade ties, vests and knitwear in the Boys’ section.
Make sure your boy is dressed in the style he deserves!
And if it weren’t for me, there would be nothing funny about this situation at all.
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While there aren’t any T-Rexes in Dream Our World, there are plenty of other scary things! Come with the boys to The Museum of the Imagination and view the world of art from their canine perspective.
Dream Our World is available from my shop.
You know I’m just going to eat those, right?
In Slovak, the word for dog is “pes” and the word for crayon is “pestelka”. This product practically invented itself. Add a few fangs on the box, and how could it help but be “Preferred by Puppies”?
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The deaf community has been receiving a lot more attention recently. Characters on TV shows and spokespersons in commercials are all highlighting the challenges and rewards of being other-abled.
If you would like the opportunity to start teaching your child Sign Language early, this handmade ASL quilt would be a perfect place to start.
Educational and a work of art, two qualities you will find to inspire your child in this heirloom-quality, handmade ASL/American Sign Language Alphabet Quilt.
ASL/American Sign Language Quilt is available from my shop.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 