Definition of B. I. G.

You know you are big when you require two extra large dog beds.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Does posting pictures of these two together ever get old? Perhaps, but not in this house. We love this duo. I know I have stated previously that these two critters are only 3 days apart. There are a lot of reasons these two make for such great friends, however, by comparison perhaps it is the differences that bring them together because they have very little in common. Let's take a look.

Africa                                                       The Boy
150 lbs                                                      35 lbs
Potty Trained                                            Still has accidents, but working on it
Sleeps all day on her bed                          Never sits still, even when asleep
Barks (speaks) only when visitors arrive  Never stops speaking even when asleep
Eats two meals a day                                 Seems to eat 15.5 meals a day
Has eaten all her stuffed animals               Has one "lovie" from the beginning that goes everywhere
Only kind of likes me                                 Loves me
Dreams of being sent to time- out              Does not like time-out



Similarities:
drools                                                          drools
loves to catch balls                                      loves to catch and throw balls
Loves the man of the house                        REALLY loves the man of the house
Is loved by us                                               Is really LOVED by us

So you see there are tons of differences, but none of that matters when there is so much love between a boy and a dog.

Mr. Chewy On My Door Step

Is there anything better than getting your dog's food delivered to your door? I think not. This busy mom of two loves any help I can get when it comes to shopping and convenience. I recently tried out Mr Chewy's website to get dog treats and dog food for Africa. It is the best kind of shopping there is. Not only does this site offer Africa's favorite treats and dog food, but it also has free shipping on orders over $49.
Here's the scoop on my new favorite online pet store:

-70+ Brands – Mr. Chewy offers a wide selection and adding new in demand
brands regularly.
-Subscription based ordering for hassle free delivery of your favorite
products.
-Prompt shipping throughout the United States.
-Free Shipping for any order over $49

I'm not sure who got the better treat, Africa with her bag of dog goodies, or me with this new great website. Check them out at : http://www.mrchewy.com/

Naughty and Nice

It is easy to see how adorable this is. I am especially pleased that the little one went to Africa instead of waking me up at 5 a.m. as usual. There is nothing like a quick little snooze with your favorite horse on her comfortable bed. However, can you spot the naughty in this picture? It seems that one of the subjects in the photo is house broken, the other is not...yet.

Happy New Year! We've Been Busy!

By "we", I mean everyone but the lovely beast you see here. The toddler is in charge around here doing everything just shy of starting the house on fire. The baby is 10 months old and army crawling like crazy. The wife (hey that's me!) is trying to stick to her new year resolution of complaining less and loving more, and the boss/husband/ Africa's lover, is working is tail off like the rest of society for a better future and a little less "pay check to pay check".

What is Africa doing? What she does best. Guarding and sleeping. It isn't a bad gig. She has a new fluffy dog bed not shown here and has given up entirely on laying by our feet on the second class carpet. I don't blame her. Her bed is nicer than mine. She continues to be the best dog ever to our kids and therefore I love her.

I apologize for the repeat tacky plug of our business but we need all the help we can get. Besides being a firefighter, carpenter, and reserve firefighter for another company, my husband has started a longboard manufacturing company in my garage. Gasp! It is as small and wonderful as it sounds. He has been like a mad scientist coming off shift from being up 24 hours running calls to staying up until midnight creating and calculating how to make the best longboard skateboard.

I will spare you the long amazing story that has taken place in the last 3 years (hence my absence), but let's just say we are about 3 years too late getting into the gig because suddenly longboarding became really popular with lots of new companies while we were still in our garage coming up with what we thought would put the rest to shame.

So with lots of pleading and humility I come to you my blogging friends asking if you could spare a link on your link list.. The way to compete with the rest is to move up in the "googling" world (not yet a word). If someone adds a link -http://www.blacklongboards.com with the title or name being : skateboards longboard that would help us tremendously. NO worries if you like to keep your blog clean, but if you see this as no big deal and do help us, we can't thank you enough. Every link helps and makes it possible for people to find our site. If you do this and think it was no big deal or hard to do, I hope you know that just helped make a huge leap in our business venture. Thank you so very much just for your support all this time and for loving your pets in common with us. WE love and appreciate you!

Special thanks to Norwood Unleashed for the huge plug on your blog to our business and for the twitter follow. If I ever do get rich, I am buying you a house.

Sleepy Africa
and Kasha

After Christmas

After Christmas is always a bummer isn't it? Maybe not so much for Africa. She was sharing a house with 3 other dogs and competing for all of the comfy spots. Fortunately Santa brought a new dog bed and a new toy to make Africa's year. She probably won't move from this spot for the next 10 days. How was your Christmas?

Confessions of an Elephant owner

I am the author and owner of a dog blog, and yet out of everyone in my household, I am the least in love with our dog.  It's true. It's crazy, but it's true. I became a mom at the exact same time I became a dog owner and so my loyalty and frustration was not shared, but skewed and misplaced at times. The house breaking and crate training almost did me in on top of caring for a newborn.

When I am most humble, most grateful to my husband for all that he does, and most kind, I confess that I like her a lot. I wish I carried this attitude with me all of the time as I should, but alas I do not. I like having a clean house and true cream colored carpet. When you have a horse living in your house, the clean house prospect disappears. Thus you see my selfish frustration.

However, today I had a moment of enlightenment as we hurried out the door to run various errands as a family. I observed as Africa anxiously saw us all to the door, obviously concerned that we were leaving. She would inevitably go back to her bed and sleep while we were away, but as soon as she heard us return, she waited by the door as she always does excited for us to come back in.

We are EVERYTHING to her. Even me! She wants to be a part of our lives in every way. She is there to protect, to watch out, and to wait. When I put myself aside, I am pretty impressed with not just my dog, but all dogs in general. While I am pretty selfish, it is clear that they are the most unselfish creatures.  I don't deserve a dog like Africa. My husband surely does and thank goodness for him. Love is selfish, love is blind, but when it comes to dogs, they freely give it to whomever is willing to feel. I feel it today, and I am most grateful.

My name is Kasha. I own a dog blog that is all about our dog, Africa, and yet sometimes don't like her. I complain a lot about the business of owning an elephant for a dog, but today... I love her. The end.