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Most of the country is suffering from the abysmal cold. It's difficult to stay outside with your dog long enough to accomplish even the briefest of bathroom breaks, let alone play games outside. SDU thinks you'll like this list of ideas to help you keep your dog active indoors, where you'll both be warm and toasty. And in the spirit of living a greener life, many of these ideas call for things that are in your trash or recycle bin already. So they're not only green, but they're also inexpensive!

Here's what I came up with today, with an empty McDonald's drink cup, a paper lunch sack, and a rawhide.

Start with an empty paper soda cup.

Then grab a rawhide, stuffed food toy, or anything your dog likes (that's safe for him to have, of course).

 

Put the rawhide in a paper lunch sack.

 

Wrap the bag up tightly around the rawhide.

 

Put the rawhide inside and put the lid on the cup.

 

Put the cup on the floor for the dog. 

Sit back and watch the dog enjoy opening the cup, shredding the paper bag, and finding the rawhide inside!

Yes, indeedy, I started the New Year out right. I had dog biscuits for breakfast. Yum-my! No, not dog dog biscuits. People biscuits in the shape of a dog! A Labrador to be exact. 

I don't have much need for cookie cutters in the house – I rarely bake cookies that require rolling. I'm more a slop-it-on-the-cookie-sheet and bake it kinda girl – nothing fancy for me.

So when my biscuit recipe called for a biscuit cutter, I had nothing. Enterprising, adaptive chef that I am (oh dear, almost choked on my breakfast there), I used a cookie cutter. And seeing as I'm a crazy dog lady, the only kind of cookie cutters in this house are dog-related.

So dog biscuits were for breakfast. And were extra-special delicious with real butter and a little honey drizzled on top. I think they tasted even better because they were dogs.

  Ask me why I have half a pack of el cheapo hot dogs sitting in my sink right now.

Go ahead, ask me.

I'll tell you as soon as the adrenaline stops and I can peel myself off the ceiling.

See that cutie-pie of a face there on the left? That oh-so-handsome Great Dane I talk about all the time?

He escaped the yard. Ran right out the gate behind me.

Stopped about 15 feet away and gave me "The Look." The Look that says catch me if you can, I dare you.

This is what went through my mind, literally:

no collar, same color as snow, will look like a deer, freezing, tennis shoes – wet – cold, need food, don't panic.

I arranged those thoughts into reasonable action and called to him excitedly as I ran the other way with the GOOD DOGS into the house. I didn't hear thundering paws behind me, so I peeked around the corner. He was peeing in a big drift of snow, completely unconcerned that we'd all left him.

This was not going well.

I ripped the door off the fridge and grabbed a pack of hot dogs, then grabbed a squeaky toy as I ran back out the door – the remaining three GOOD DOGS in tow. The squeaker grabbed Talos' attention, but he was nowhere near ready to come inside. He was still looking to be chased.

Still inside the yard, I threw the hot dog over the fence so he didn't have to worry I'd dart after him. I had good aim (for once) and the hot dog didn't land in a snow bank, but rather on the driveway. He ate it.

Still inside the yard, I walked a smidge closer and tossed another. At this point, I stopped feeding him and began feeding the GOOD DOGS lots of pieces of hot dog. Tons of hot dogs were going to them. None to him. Talos took a step closer.

With my back to Talos, I opened the gate and continued to feed the others. Before I could turn around to see if he was intrigued, his head was in my face.

I gave him an entire hot dog, and closed the gate. All the while acting as if I was the most unconcerned person in the world, as if this happens everyday.

I continued feeding all the dogs bits of hot dogs as we went back inside.

The morals of this story:

1. Keep an eye on your dog – slipping through the gate (or door) happens in an instant.
2. Don't chase! (If I would have ran toward Talos it would have made his day! And would have made him impossible to catch.)
3. Reward your dog heavily when he comes back.
4. Teach a rock-solid recall and practice it everywhere.

If you've ever loved a dog, this video will touch you. An ex-con found love in the form of a dog. You WILL cry.

Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

December's a time of celebration and a time of remembrance here at SDU. First, it's Nemo's birthday month! Who doesn't like birthdays? This is the little squirt when we brought him home in February of 2006. When we thought he was a Labrador mix.

And this is our big guy now. What a love. Two years ago, we went through some really rough times with Nemo. We didn't think he was going to live. It was hell. He had a usually-fatal fungus called pythiosis. It was a bad few months. He went through the holiday season with several surgeries. Healthy as a horse now, we're thankful to have Nemo with us.

December is also the anniversary of the loss of Lucky, my Australian shepherd. It's been just a year since he died of a heart attack. The dog who taught me so much about dog behavior has been gone a year…it's hard to believe. While his behavior problems were quite plentiful, oh the lessons I learned from him. I'm thankful to have crossed paths with this dog. He's buried at Lake Anna (he's enjoying the Lake in the picture above).

While not good with people, Lucky was a very good leader in his dog-world. We relied on him to raise the service pups we brought in. He'd tolerate but so much of their silliness, then would firmly – but gently – tell them when they'd crossed the line. I never knew how much work he did for us, raising puppies, until he was gone. Talos could use some "Lucky lessons," long about now.

Our annual Christmas tradition includes cutting our Christmas tree. We always take some dogs with us, of course. It's just not Christmas if the dogs aren't included!

 

We found one of Talos' relatives when we were at the Christmas tree farm! A cow!

It was a cold and windy day, threatening rain, but we all had a fine time.

Christmases spent with dogs are my favorite memories.