May The Wind at Your Back Always Be Your Own

From the Lapdog household to yours,

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

We hope everyone gets to enjoy their favorite treat today... adult beverages for the humans and yummy treats for the furbabies!

Lola and Tut were debating which treat was for theirs, the Banana Bread Beer (Mama's favorite) or the Peanut Butter Banana treats from Casey Jones Bones.

Zeus, my resident booze hound, would love to try both...

While my little hound girl looks like she and Mr. Pumpkin Man have already been indulging in all of the St Pattys Day fun. 

Remember to share, enjoy responsibly and have a wonderful day!

 

May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door." - Irish Blessing

Black & White Sunday: Wipe Your Paws

Whether it's snow or mud, don't forget to wipe your paws...

Pudgy, Plump Pets? #HillsPet GIVEAWAY!

Is your furbaby looking like he or she is carrying around a few extra pounds these days?  Perhaps you've written it off as "winter weight" or just decided that Fido isn't really fat, he's "pleasantly plump?"  While the media keeps reminding us that Americans are overweight, so are our pets.  In fact, over half the population of dogs and cats in the US are overweight.  That's right, 53% of dogs and 55% of cats in the US are overweight.  A staggering number, isn't it?  Although, it's no wonder when so many of us mistake food and treats for love, and don't even try to tell me that you can resist those big eyes staring up at you!

With a lack of awareness about dog weight loss, many pet parents don't even realize their beloved 4-legged friend is overweight.  Diets for dogs just have not been a priority.  Even for the pet parents who have admitted their babies are a bit pudgy, trying to help your dog or cat loose weight is often frustrating.  Decreasing food portions and limiting treats is no fun - you feel like you're depriving your baby of food.  And when it comes to exercise, pets often have a, shall we say, great lack of cooperation.

I'm quite sure that at least 90% of my fellow pet parents can relate to this hilarious, but oh so true, video "One Big Kitty."  Whether your love is canine or feline, we've all experienced one or more of these moments...

Perhaps you're really not sure whether or not your pet is overweight.  You're not alone.  If you've asked yourself "Is my pet not at their ideal, healthy weight?," you have already taken the first - and hardest - step.  The next step is to have a simple discussion with your veterinarian about your pet's weight. If it turns out Fido is indeed "pleasantly plump," step three is to put him on a diet for dogs.

If you're looking for a way to help your overweight dogs or cats, please allow me to introduce you to Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution.  It works by activating metabolism to regulate appetite and burn fat.  Hill's reports, "In real life, normal conditions, 88% of dogs and cats that participated in our feeding trial lost weight without having to greatly change their life style."  (Someone tell me where can I snag the human version?! ha ha)

"8 out of 10 pet parents told us they would recommend Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution to a friend with an overweight pet."

Available for both dogs and cats, Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution has been designed to transform your pet's weight by changing what you feed, not how you feed.  As a pet parent who enjoys showering my dogs with love - and treats - I know this is a huge component in a successful weight loss program for pets.  The special formula is safe, effective and fast - Hill's says you will see a leaner and more playful pet in just 60 days!

Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution features a complete line of dry food, canned food and treats - all of which are designed to work together for an easy, flexible weight loss program without deprivation or pushing your pet to exercise more than they may be comfortable with.  Hill's has truly made it as simple as possible for pet parents to successfully keep their dogs and cats on the program!

So... is your dog or cat pudgy?  Do you think Hill's can help? 

The Giveaway...

For your pet’s opportunity to try Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution for free we’re giving away 10 Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution trial kits with your veterinarian’s authorization. It’s a $70 value!  Each kit contains:



Canine Metabolic Starter Kit

• 1 Weight Loss Success Tote Bag
• 1 Weight Loss Success Guide
• 1 6lb bag of Metabolic dry dog food
• 2 (13oz) Metabolic cans
• 1 (16oz) Metabolic treats
• (2) $25 coupons

Feline Metabolic Starter Kit

• 1 Weight Loss Success Tote Bag
• 1 Weight Loss Success Guide
• 1 4lb bag of Metabolic dry cat food
• 2 (5.5oz) Metabolic cans
• 1 (2.5oz) Metabolic treats
• (2) $25 coupons

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment and tell us about your pet who can benefit from Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution. Be sure to include all of the required information below:

1. What is your pet: dog or cat
2. Pet’s age
3. Pet’s current weight or close guess
4. Your name
5. Your email address

Just like us, before starting a weight loss program a doctor should be consulted. Your veterinarian’s authorization is required before starting Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution food.
This giveaway is limited to one winner per household and is for U.S. residents only. Be sure to use a valid email when leaving your comment so we can contact if you are chosen as a winner.  ***I am leaving the giveaway open until March 31, 2014***

This is an amazing opportunity to try a
wonderful product for free - good luck!

This post is sponsored on behalf of the BlogPaws Blogger Network for Hill’s. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s Prescription Diet Metabolic Food, but Lapdog Creations only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.

Fostering Makes My Heart Melt

Happy Doggy Thursday! As I mentioned last week (and probably 1,000,001 times over the years), I love nothing more than getting updates from our fosters' adoptive families!  I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to get photos, emails, videos, etc.  Really, you should see the ear-to-ear grin they put on my face.  A couple days after I posted that updated pic of Maverick, his human sister posted this on Facebook...

That post truly melted my heart and had me smiling for days!  Here's a bigger shot of the pictures so you can really see how he's grown.  The shot on the right shows teeny-tiny Mavie when they first adopted him, and the one on the left shows how he has outgrown his big brother Zac.  They are just the cutest little pair...

I was going to share Zeus' 13th birthday "party" pics with you today, but I haven't had a chance to download them yet (story of my life).  I will post them next week... really, I will!  And on that note, I'll leave you with a single shot of his cake.



What Does The Fox Say?

Is it really Wednesday already?  My week has been a bit of a blur thus far and after a muddy lovely 54 degree day yesterday, we're back in the 30's and expecting snow tonight. Oy.  On that note, let's get wordless... 

The fox says, "Winter Ain't Over Yet!"

REVIEW: The Field Guide to Fleece

The Field Guide to Fleece

by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius

Paperback: 232 Pages

Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (August 27, 2013)

Ever wondered just where the skein of wool you're knitting with came from, or rather who... as in the adorable sheep the fleece came off of?

With The Field Guide to Fleece, knitters, spinners and weavers can learn about the fleece from 100 different sheep breeds - including origin, fleece weights, staple lengths, fiber diameter, natural colors, effects of dye and best uses.  At a mere 5" x 7" and just half an inch thick, the little guide book is packed full of useful information and it's portable!  Toss a copy in your bag and head off to the fiber festival or yarn shop!

Sheep are listed alphabetically, making it easy to put your finger on what you're looking for.  The information is exactly what you need - not too much, not too little - and the photographs throughout are beautiful.  Not only will you get adorable sheep photos, but close ups of their fiber as well. 

In addition to the sheep and fleece specific information, The Field Guide to Fleece also includes a few pages to teach you how to use that information.  Additionally, they've left us some blank space on each profile to track our own "Field Notes."

While I do not spin, I do love to knit with handspun yarns and good quality wools.  Sure, we can all find great wool that is mass produced, but there's something extra special about those hanks I can pick up at my local Sheep & Wool Festival or one of the many farms in New England.  The Field Guide to Fleece is an excellent resource for me as a knitter and lover of wool, and an indispensable resource for those of you who spin. 

About the Authors:
Deborah Robson is coauthor of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook and Knitting in the Old Way.  She is a former editor of Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot and Spin-Off magazines.  Deborah is also an artist, working in textiles, printmaking, and oils.  She lives in Colorado.
Carol Ekarius is coauthor of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook and the author of several books including Small-Scale Livestock Farming and two of Storey's Illustrated Guides - Poultry Breeds and Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs.  Carol lives in Colorado with her four-legged and winged family.

Disclaimer: Storey Publishing, LLC sent a complimentary copy of The Field Guide to Fleece to Lapdog Creations for review purposes. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions expressed in the review are my own.

Black & White Sunday: Put a Name on It

Happy Sun-Nap-day!

Yes, I even put my name on my seat and she still steals it!