Wellness Poultry Lovers Variety Pack from Chewy.com

This month, our friends at Chewy.com offered an entire case of canned Wellness Poultry Lovers Variety Pack. 

Who could turn that down? 

You may remember that I am blessed with at least one dog who is a picky eater and turns up his substantial nose at many foods. 

Usually, I'll set down his food and he'll eye it warily, pace around a bit, sniff it, wander away, and then only eat it when Dahlia comes close and says Hey, are you gonna eat that?

But he seemed to love this food! I set it down and he dug right in.

Seems like a good product too, with wholesome ingredients like meaty snacks, grains, sweet potatoes, and vitamin supplements.

I always get a little uneasy when I do a dog food product review and talk about the ingredients, because I can say wholesome and hearty all I want--the meaty parts were once living breathing animals I would have loved to know. 

Not eating meat myself has never been difficult, and I haven't missed it all these 27 years. But I think my pups would miss it. So I get all our kibble from the Petsmart dumpster so we're not supporting those industries (it ends up in there when the packaging is slightly damaged but the contents are perfect), and mix it up with canned food from Chewy, or sometimes scrambled free-range eggs and cheese, or sometimes tuna or veggies or whatever I'm eating. 

Its a funny place we're in, as animal lovers who especially love our dogs! But we do the best we can. 

Dahlia sure felt good about the canned food, and I can only assume she said a prayer for the chickens silently to herself. 

But then, Dahlia feels good about most things. Tomorrow maybe we'll share some broccoli and oatmeal. 

Thanks again Chewy for the high-quality deliciousness--and for offering a large selection of vegetarian options, which we'll be checking out!

A few more days of summer staycation

Well I forgot to post this post in September, when it was timely! It's a little cooler now, but not much else has changed. 

Vermont was a tough act to follow with respect to outdoor fun with the dogs, but we've been giving it our best shot.

On these hot late summer days humans are not much different than dogs. Both species like nothing more than to find a body of water and just roll around in it.

Good time to scope out a new swimming hole. 

This one is on Seneca Creek very close to where it joins the Potomac. Mostly shallow, but deep enough that the dogs had to swim 

when as always, Florian insisted on going back a different way than we came. 



I'm not complaining; it was actually quite magical walking through the water as the sky darkened and it started to rain, and then thunder. 

The dogs got very tired and a little anxious, especially Dahlia as she is so short and had to do a lot of swimming. 

Seems to me that it takes dogs years after they learn how to swim, to actually have confidence in their abilities. 















Fozzie, by this time, loves it. 

Dahlia enjoys getting in the water but feels safer on land, so was trying to find a path through the woods for most of our watery way back. 





Poor little things.










After that exhausting day we didn't feel bad leaving them home for a dog-free date day. Right where Seneca Creek joins it, the Potomac is very wide and perfect for kayaking.

We spent the day just paddling all the way up, past dozens of great blue herons and blooming riverside shrubs, and back down under the bright blue sky. So relaxing. 

After letting them rest for a day, time to get the dogs out again. This time to the Patuxent Research Refuge, a great place close to home for walking,

viewing wildlife, cooling off

and just enjoying being outdoors, in a beautiful place, with my favorite people.

We'll just keep doing this as long as the weather's good. And then we'll do it even more once its not!