Tag Archives: K9 Kamp

#K9Kamp: Having a ball… with rope

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It’s time for another K9 Kamp update. Today, we’re talking about the second challenge, which was named (drum roll, please)… Play with Your Balls. (In case you’re not as amused as I am – which would make me question our friendship – perhaps the fact that I received an email beginning with “How’d you all do playing with your balls?” yesterday will do the trick. Best email ever.)

Anyway, as you know, Bella and I have been battling against various health issues during this year’s K9 Kamp. (We’re still on the DL, but we’re on the mend.) This week, we also had an additional challenge – the fact that Bella will not play with balls. I guess she doesn’t get the joke.

Read on to find out how we did… Continue reading →

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Cat’s all, folks…

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Before we get into today’s links, I have some fun news to share. I recently learned that this blog was nominated for eCollegeFinder’s Top Pet Blogs Award. The winners were announced this week, and we made the list of the Top 107 Pet Blogs! (I don’t know why it’s 107, but I kind of dig it.) Pretty cool, huh? Even cooler, some of our blogging friends made the list too. Check out the winners here.

Now, to the linkage. Last week, I featured some otters. This week, I’m feline like featuring some cats. (I blame this list of strange cat facts I encountered a few days ago.) Let’s get to it…

  1. Your punny pet name for this week: Terrence Meoward.
  2. Cheetah cub overload! You’re welcome.
  3. I have a feeling that Kristine from Rescued Insanity will like this next one. A cat trained to hug… could the video be any cuter? (On a related note, Kristine is working on an awesome project to show the world just how awesome cats can be. Swing by to find out more and submit your own story!)
  4. The cats in this video give a new meaning to the term copycat.
  5. By no means am I endorsing this brand (I’m no expert on cat food) – that being said, I have to admit that this ad made me laugh. For Pete’s sake, it has Chris Parnell in it. I’m not immune to the charms of Dr. Spaceman.

Finally, I give you this week’s video. I need to hire this guy to do the music for my punny production company. (I’ve got tons of characters, after all.) Wonder if he could do the same thing with plush dogs?

I know… it’s a weird video, but it just felt right. I’m a weird gal.

What are you up to this weekend? Don’t forget to check out Peggy’s Pet Place and Kol’s Notes for this week’s K9 Kamp challenge. Also, you have until Tuesday to enter the two Happy Tails Spa giveaways I announced last week, so why not do it this weekend?

 

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Why I’m returning to K9 Kamp

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I participated as a featured blogger in the inaugural K9 Kamp last year, and had a great time. Needless to say, I was thrilled when Peggy & Jodi asked me to participate again! (In preparation for this year’s event, I revisited my posts from last year – and now I can’t stop singing “shopping is our greatest thrill” from Troop Beverly Hills. You’ve been warned.)

What is K9 Kamp, you might ask? It’s a series of fitness challenged designed to encourage you to get fit while spending time with your dog. Our fearless leaders/Kamp counselors are Peggy and Jodi from Peggy’s Pet Place and Kol’s Notes, respectively. Read on to find out why I’m participating, and how you can join us!

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What I learned at K9 Kamp

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PhotobucketWell, this week’s challenge was a fun one – though in order to get Bella to chase me around, I had to rely on the rope bone.  I suppose it was only fitting.  It’s the common thread that connects each of our weekly challenges, after all.   

I’m sad that K9 Kamp has come to an end… I had a lot of fun.  What did I learn?  Well, I definitely learned that Bella is motivated primarily by rope bones (although, I wasn’t too surprised by that revelation). 

I also learned that I need to work on her obedience and listening skills.  I’ve been kind of lax on that front – when you have a dog that’s as low key and easy to handle as Bella, it’s easy to let things slip.  However, that’s no excuse…   

Anyway, I plan to continue to play lots of tug with my little furball.  I hope we’ll be using some of the K9 Kamp exercises in the future too.

Thanks again to Peggy’s Pet Place and Kol’s Notes for inviting us to be part of this awesome challenge!

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Cleared for takeoff

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Bella has big ears.  I like to think of it as her wingspan.  I’m lucky she can’t understand me… when I call her “big ears,” she just wags and goes back to whatever she was doing.

Also, as usual, it’s time for another K9 Kamp update!  This week’s challenge was called Jump Around – it was definitely more complicated than any of the earlier ones.  How did we do?

PhotobucketThis week, I hang my head in shame.  (Bella, however, feels just fine
about the whole thing.)  We tried to do the jumping challenge, but Bella
wasn’t having any of it.

It just wasn’t her thing, I guess – and it
was a good reminder that I really need to work on obedience stuff with
her.

So, after trying (and failing) to get her to jump over stuff, we
ended up reverting to an old standby.  That’s right… it was rope bone
time. We repeated the Tug & Tone challenge, and I tried to convince
her to jump to get the rope bone while we were doing it.

Also, as if to
mock me, last week she also jumped over one of the baby gates while I
wasn’t home so she could go upstairs instead of being confined to her
usual area.  Apparently she’s happy to jump, just not when I want her to
do so.  (Although in the past, I’ve noticed that she often
miscalculates when jumping and doesn’t always make it.  She’s an odd
pup.)

Be sure to check out Peggy’s Pet Place and Kol’s Notes today for more updates, and visit them tomorrow for information on Challenge #5.


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Snappy wordplay and a K9 Kamp giveaway!

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It’s Friday… thank goodness!  (Now I know why it’s always said the other way. IF…TG is not really as catchy as TGIF.)

As always, it’s time for some fun links to send you into the weekend.  As a bonus, today’s post includes information about a K9 Kamp giveaway!  Read on, friend…

  1. This week’s punny net name: William Snakespeare. (Bonus puns: Mount Ruffmore and “Is it tea you’re looking for?”  That second link will show you my new favorite thing. I want one. Seriously.  It’s possible I wrote a few verses of that song this week… you know I can’t fight the music.)
  2. It’s been a big week for punny songs over here.  Newly added to my catalog?  “Hakuna Manatee” (it means no worries, in the inlets and bays) and “Hakuna Fritatta” (I was at a work brunch and couldn’t stop humming it to myself).  
  3. Also, here’s a special one for you Days of Our Lives fans – “Hakuna Marlena.”  (It does, in fact, involve references to that time she was possessed.  Now she has a “Satan-free… philosophy… Hakuna Marlena.”)
  4. Moving on… here’s Hero, the dog-shaped hot dog steamer.  There are no words.
  5. There are, however, words for these cake pops that look like my favorite cartoon character. Those words? Awesome and adorable. 
  6. Speaking of cake, I finally posted a new recipe on my long-neglected cupcake blog.
  7. I have a friend who has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Snoop Dogg.  I have a feeling she would appreciate this next link.
  8. Looking for a pet-friendly hotel?  How about a hotel that has dogs on staff and helps pets get adopted?  As you wish.
  9. If you got the Princess Bride reference in that last item, then you’ll love this (fictional) version of Monopoly.  (If it were real, it would be currently fighting that Lionel Richie teapot for the title of my favorite thing.)
  10. This photo just made me smile.  However, this one led to a fit of giggles that I still haven’t quite gotten over. Wordplay!

Photobucket As you know, I’ve been participating in K9 Kamp for the last few weeks.  Today, I’m the featured blogger at Peggy’s Pet Place – swing by to check it out.  In addition, K9 Kamp is giving away a set of hand-crafted, eco-friendly Fetching Sticks from Molly Products. You can enter by heading over to Peggy’s Pet Place or on this blog after the jump…



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Caption this photo: Are you watching?

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While I was visiting my dad, Roscoe decided to wrestle with Emmy (another of my dad’s dogs).  Think you can beat my caption?  Give it a shot in the comments.

Speaking of getting a workout… it’s time for another K9 Kamp update!  This week’s challenge was called Tug & Tone – it involved doing lunges, squats, and other exercises while playing a game of tug, as well as racing your dog.

PhotobucketThis week’s challenge was a bit of a mixed bag… Bella’s
favorite game is tug, so that part of the challenge was a piece of cake. 

Racing her was
moderately successful – she tends to get distracted easily, but I was able to
regain her focus by reminding her we had a good tug game going. 

Part of the challenge did involve getting in push up position; however, I have wrist issues and had to make a modification. I did some extra lunges instead – Bella didn’t seem to notice my substitutions.

Be sure to check out Peggy’s Pet Place and Kol’s Notes today for more updates, and visit them tomorrow for information on Challenge #4.


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Sleeping Dog #1 & K9 Kamp Challenge #2

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You may remember my dad’s dog, Roscoe.  His cuteness has been documented on the blog before.  I went to visit my dad this weekend (sans Bella – she and the hub stayed home).  On the technology front, it was a recipe for blogger withdrawal – dial-up Internet and a crappy cell signal.  Regardless, it was nice to spend some time with my family, and I still had puppies for entertainment!  One of those puppies was Roscoe, who managed to be insanely cute while taking a nap:

I’ll share more photos from my trip another day – I think this photo stands on its own.  Do you ever find your dogs sleeping in funny positions?

Oh, and I also wanted to update you on this week’s K9 Kamp challenge. This week, we were supposed to incorporate fetch into our workout.  However, there was a twist – after throwing the toy, Bella and I raced to get it!  (As you know, Bella and I already broke out the rope toy in order to
complete last week’s challenge.  So, of course that’s the toy we used
for the fetch challenge as well.)

Photobucket This week’s challenge was definitely more intense than
our walking from last week.  Bella’s pretty fast when she’s got her eye
on a rope toy.  However, she also tires out relatively quickly, so we
broke it up into several chunks of 10 minutes or so each.  (Also,
probably a good thing it wasn’t me asking her to fetch the rope bone and
bring it to me… she’s never quite mastered that game.  She always
takes the toys back to Toy Corner instead.  She’s like a homing pigeon.)  It was a fun challenge!

Be sure to check out Peggy’s Pet Place and Kol’s Notes today for more updates, and swing by tomorrow for information on Challenge #3.

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K9 Kamp Challenge #1: Make it work

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PhotobucketThis week’s challenge?  Walk it off.

The first K9 Kamp task was to walk for 60 minutes this week.  Given the fact that it feels like it’s been raining here for a month, I had a feeling that completing this challenge would be… well, a challenge.

We did manage to get in two good walks outside.  For the first walk, we had some company.  Bella had a play date with our friends’ new dog, Dozer.  (Photos below.)  It was the first time the two had met, so we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood together before letting them run around in the backyard.  (In addition to our walk, Bella got plenty of running and romping in that day as well.  She was one sleepy pup that evening!)

For our second walk, we managed to get out during one of the rare sunny spells.  However, to complete our final minutes for the week, I had to get creative.  Things here have felt sort of like a monsoon – going outside was not a great option, so I decided to improvise.  Bella and I did some laps around the house instead.  I’m sure anyone looking through my windows would think I’d finally gone insane.  In any event, I convinced Bella to follow me around the first floor by carrying her favorite rope bone.  It ultimately became a walk/tug hybrid, but I think we did the best we could given the circumstances.

Be sure to check in with Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Pet Place today to read more recaps of the first challenge, and then check them out tomorrow for Challenge #2.  To tide you over until then, I leave you with a few photos from Bella’s play date…

I’m not sure what’s up with Bella’s face in that last photo… she
managed to get stuff stuck to her face during the course of the play
date.  I removed it, of course – but not without taking a quick photo
first!

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K9 Kamp begins – will you join us?

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Photobucket

I thought about using a quote from Troop Beverly Hills as the title of this post, but somehow “shopping is our greatest thrill” didn’t really seem on point.  Not that the lack of relevance has stopped me from singing it to myself and looking up more quotes.  Ah, the Internet… waster of time and enabler of nostalgia.  What did I ever do without it?  


Anyway, welcome to K9 Kamp! As I mentioned last week, I’m a featured blogger in this great challenge sponsored by Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Pet Place. You may be wondering what this is all about, why I’m participating, and what’s in it for you. Allow me to explain…

K9 Kamp is designed to encourage getting fit while spending time with your dog.  I agreed to be a featured blogger for a few reasons: (1) Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Pet Place are awesome blogs; (2) I was extremely flattered to be invited to participate; (3) although I started jogging in the spring and do yoga from time to time, I allowed myself to be a bit lazy over the summer (it was so hot out… and stuff); (4) Bella tends to be a lazy pup herself, and is more likely to nap than go for a run; (5) even if I could convince Bella to go for a run, she has a tendency to run in a zigzag pattern rather than a straight line, making things somewhat difficult; (7) the challenges take approximately an hour per week, which seems right up Bella’s alley; (7) K9 Kamp sounded like a great opportunity to get some new fitness ideas for both me and Bella; and (8) it wouldn’t hurt Bella to practice some obedience skills either.

So… that’s all well and good, but what’s in it for you?  In a word… prizes!  There are over $1000 in prizes up for grabs in a series of weekly giveaways, as well as a grand prize (go visit our Kamp counselors for the details – there are lots of ways to enter – and to check out some of the sponsors).  Getting fit, hanging out with your pup, and possibly winning some swag?  Sounds like a win-win to me.  I’ll be updating you from time to time on my progress here – we’ll see if I can convince Bella to get out of her cave and get into my car… er, into some workout gear.

Will you be participating?  Let me know in the comments, and then join in today’s blog hop and tell everyone why you’re heading to K9 Kamp.  You can also follow the #K9Kamp hashtag on Twitter for additional updates.

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