Valentine's Day

Astrid is really getting excited about Valentine's Day. It's one of our faves. Maybe it is yours too? We got Astrid's assortment of Valentine bandanas up in her Etsy shop a couple of weeks ago. This week, even though it is still January, Astrid wanted to get a little decorating done. Astrid's best friends, Sugar, Brody and Logan, gave her a tree a little while ago. Standing 3 feet tall,  we decorate it year around for seasons and holidays. Strung with purple lights which seem to glow with a nice pinkish tint, we added crochet hearts, plastic fairies, and a bright red tree skirt on which not one, but two, fairy princesses stand.

We'd like to share the easiest crochet heart pattern we have. It is all done in the very first stitch (away from the crochet hook). The picture marks the fourth stitch where all the stitches are done. This pattern is so easy, you can whip up as many as you want while enjoying your favorite TV show.

Crochet Heart Pattern

1 H/8 5mm crochet hook
Small supply of worsted weight yarn in desired colors. This project is a great stash buster as each heart only requires a small amount.

Chain 4.
Work 3 triple crochet in first chain. (That would be the first chain away from your crochet hook, not counting the on on your hook.)
Work 3 double crochet in first chain.
Chain 1.
Work 1 triple crochet in first chain.
Chain 1.
Work 3 double crochet in first chain.
Work 3 triple crochet in first chain.
Chain 3.
Slip stitch into center hole in heart, pull through leaving as much of a 'hanger' as you like, snip off yarn leaving a few inches.
Gently tie the two loose ends of yarn together two or three times, snip close.
Have fun!

Misfit or Movie Star

A widely held misconception is that dogs in shelters are misfits. The unfortunate truth is that many....maybe even most...are the casualty of humans who didn't have the time, patience or know how to help them to become well behaved members of the family. That's Astrid on the left in 2006, still in the shelter. And that is Astrid on the right. Neither a misfit nor a movie star (except for staring in her own movies) there are thousands just like her in shelter's across the nation. Looking for a specific breed? There are shelters that are specific to breeds or try a mixed up dog like Astrid. German Shepherd, Mastiff, Border Collie? Yes, you can have it all...it's in there.

Graying With Grace

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011. One of the things that means is before all of us see the last day of 2012, we will be a year older. If we are in the second half of our lives, we may be discovering some gray hair, stiff joints or other age related characteristic. Here's Astrid, peering out of her big brown eyes through rings of gray. Astrid just turned approximately age 7 a couple of days ago. She's aging gracefully, aging well. And how is Astrid's mom doing? I'm aging with gratitude that I have Astrid.

Dogs Can Get Diabetes Too

November is the month to join in the campaign to raise awareness for and help stop diabetes. Whether you know someone who has the disease or you are interested in helping you and your family avoid getting it, the American Diabetes Association website is a valuable resource. A member of our family that we don't often associate with diabetes but is as vulnerable is our dogs. The website A Dog Owner's Guide lists the causes, symptoms and lots of ideas to help keep your dog from developing diabetes.

Suddenly Senior

Look who has turned all 'senior' on us! Or maybe not. Astrid should be in the neighborhood of being 7 years old. She came to live with us in 2006 at the approximate age of two. Being a large mixed up breed, some put her into her senior years around 7 to 9 years. This is 'Adopt A Senior Pet' month. Astrid...she's mine but the shelters are full of senior dogs that would make perfect pets. There's lots of good reasons to pick a senior dog....here's 10. 

5 Fun Things You Can Do For FREE To Help Shelter Dogs

1) Play 'Pet Trivia'. Purina will donate 25c to adopt-a-pet.com for each right answer.

http://www.pureloveforpets.com/

2) Play ' let's pretend' with 'Twitter A Critter'. Pretend you are picking out a new dog. Pick size, color, etc. Click on fetch. Up will come a multitude of dogs to choose from. First, reassure the three dogs sitting next to you that this has nothing to do with them. Next, pick your favorite dog on the screen. Don't fret over your choice because you can come back and do this over and over again all day. Twittering a critter will bring to the attention of thousands dogs that are waiting for their forever homes. A Twitter account is required, but you've been meaning to start one for your own dogs anyway, right?

http://www.adoptapet.com/twitteracritter/

3) Answer the daily trivia question (right or wrong!) at Free Kibble's 'Bow Wow Trivia' and 10 pieces of kibble will go to feed a hungry pet in a shelter. 10 pieces won't go far, you say? Over 64 million pieces of kibble have been donated so far…that's a lot of kibble.

http://www.freekibble.com/

4) Put a free downloadable widget on your website from Petfinder. The picture of a needy pet will change constantly and bring the clickee directly to the Petfinder page.

http://www.petfinder.com/widgets-banners/

5) Help kids find ways they can promote kindness to animals.

http://www.pleasebekind.com/candotohelp.html

Fido's Manners Matter

That expression says it all! Miss Sugar Cookie has just read in the book Miss Fido Manners that she isn't supposed to bark out the window all the time. Your dog doesn't have to be a graduate of Miss Fido Manners school of charm to become a welcome member of the community.

Astrid is about to study her own copy of the book. She (and we!) know that learning a few 'meet and greet' skills for when she is out in public makes a big difference. Learning is a never ending fun experience.

Here, Astrid enjoys music on the patio of a very dog friendly Earth Fare store. We are lucky here in North Carolina. Restaurants with patios allow pets to dine along with their people, at the discretion of the restaurant owner of course. If the issue of dogs on patios ever comes up in your community, let your local officials know that a 'yes' vote is important to you and that you plan to vote in the next election.

Freeze

We don't think of Astrid's concentration skills as a 'trick' but I guess in many ways it is. If our dogs won't pay attention to us, how can we ever teach them the fun stuff? This one...that we call 'freeze'...is something we play anytime and anywhere, even when out on a walk. Today, Astrid was having trouble with the number 5.

A Passion For Purple

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Big Black and Brown Dogs Rock, ya know....

Today we introduce our blog, Big Black and Brown Dog. Sounds more like the title of a children's book, but hopefully with more insight into what a big black dog is and can be. Today will also be the only time we will make the following statement. From here on in, it'll be all good news. Promise. A big black and brown dog is the very last to be picked in an animal shelter as a pet. Why? Don't know exactly but conjectures abound. Our goal will not be to try to convince our readers to adopt big black and brown dogs because they are best. They are, but that's not going to be the point of our blog. Our main desire with this blog is to make it a fun read about Astrid. I'll use the adjective 'our' all the time . 'Our' consists of me, Astrid's mom, who was blessed with being human this time around and having thumbs so I can hit the space bar and type this blog, and Astrid, the big black and brown dog.

Astrid was a guest at a shelter when we got her. We found her in the Santa Cruz Co. Human Society in Nogales, AZ. I don't know what would have happened to Astrid if we hadn't taken her. She may have lived out her entire life there as it is a 'no kill' shelter. The Santa Cruz Co. Humane Society in Nogales struggles financially all of the time. The last time we visited was towards the end of last year, 2007. Conditions at the shelter were probably tolerable when we found Astrid but her spirit helped her thrive. However, when we visited last, the conditions, through a generous donation, had gone from tolerable to a facility the staff, board of directors, volunteers and guests could be proud of.

That's just a little background of Astrid, the big black and brown dog. If I had started this blog when we first got her, I could have documented how she attended Petsmart's Basic training course, beginning just two weeks after we got her. I could have blogged about how we thought she had agression issues with other dogs and how we found out it was purely a 'leash issues'. She now attends doggie day camp, an indoor camp where 25 dogs freely interact all day long. We would have blogged about trying to use a harness on a dog that had been taught to walk by ones side, loose leash but we didn't know. That would have been a really good read because Astrid in a harness was nothing short of comical! Silly humans. We've missed a lot of fun to blog about but we will start right now. Astrid will have her second anniversary with us December 28. Because we don't know her exact birthday, we designate December 28th her birthday, also. We were told she was two when we got her, but some gray popping up around her mouth and few gray strays on her head leads us to wonder if she may be a little older. We don't care. Astrid is pure black and brown canine joy.