Ivy Valentine's Day Treats

I am a sucker for themes and anything that requires gift making!  So of course I love Valentine's Day who doesn't want to spoil a special someone, friend or their pet!  Valentine's Day gives us the perfect excuse to make something fun and tasty!

After some testing, perfecting and sampling by Ivy we bring you:  Ivy's Heart of Peanut Butter

This is such a simple recipe with ingredients you most likely have in your own house.  No one likes to make extra trips to the grocery store!

Ingredients:

- 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup apple sauce (we started with 1/2 and increased as needed)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- dried cranberries (if desired)

Combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

At this time preheat oven to 350 degrees 

Be aware once you start making these treats friendly visitors will stop by to see if you dropped anything.

Mix all ingredients together - we started with 1/2 cup of applesauce and added until all dry ingredients were combined.  If your dough is still too wet feel free to add more flour.

Once combined sprinkle whole wheat flour onto a flat surface.  Roll dough into a ball and use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough.  You can make the dough as thin or as thick as your pup would prefer.  

We made some of the treats with dried cranberries and some without.  You can also combine the dried cranberries into the dough so they are throughout the treat.  

Once the oven is preheated bake the treats for 25-30 minutes.  Let them cool on a cooling rack until cool to touch and then they are ready to be served! 

This batch will make you 20+ treats (depending on the size cookie cutter you use) definitely enough to send to friends! 

Your pup's are sure to love it!  Hope you enjoy!

Puppy Bath

How often do you give your Frenchie a bath?  We bathed Ivy much more frequently when she was a puppy as she would sometimes have accidents or make a bigger mess when she was younger.  We now bring her to the groomer once a month and give her baths as needed (as we don't want her skin to dry out).  One thing I have struggled to find is a good brush/comb for brushing her between baths and grooming appointments.  Have any of you found a good brush that works well to pull out the dead hairs? The one I am using doesn't seem to be doing the job. 

Ivy always thinks she likes baths until she is actually in it... 

Everything is a little pink hued due to the 1950's pink tiled bathroom! 

A love for local - Dogwood Barkery

We are big fans of local shops and home grown businesses. One of Ivy's favorites places to go is Dogwood Barkery located in Grandville, MI.  This is where We take Ivy for her spa days (they take care of anal glands agh something we are thankful for)  and she absolutely loves it!  They do a fantastic job and have very reasonable prices and the owners are just the sweetest.  Not only do they have a great grooming service they also have the most adorable treats in their bakery.  You should definitely check them out!  I mean how cute is this heart treat! Stay tuned for some upcoming Valentine's Day treat recipes we are dying to share.

They are also very involved and supportive of the local shelters.  Throughout the year they have adoption events.  Ivy and I always like to stop by and are tempted when Dad is on work trips... surprise new pet?! :) 

We also get Ivy's dog food here.  We struggled to find the right diet for Ivy but Dr. Gary's grain free salmon has been ideal!  We looked and you can order it online as well -worth trying if none of your local vendors sell it.  So far we have been happy with it, Ivy has better skin and less gas!  Hopefully she can stay on this for quite some time.  We often read that Frenchie diets/allergies can change, we are just thankful we have found something that works well!

Golden Globes 2015

Hope you all had a faboosh weekend!  We celebrated the Golden Globes by eating peanut butter and crashing at Granny's to watch some fashion!  Let's just say I (Ivy) found a winner.

 Heating up the carpet with our plunging necklines.  (oh my gursh my arrow is getting squished!)

Friday

It's Friday!  What are all of you up to this weekend?!  We had a massive snow storm come through last night so we will be most likely stuck inside.  Ivy is hoping to get some extra heater time and maybe we will build her a maze in the backyard... seriously there is enough snow for that!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Winter Paws

Hello friends!

Winter has hit hard here and the windchill has been too low for us to go on our walks.  Last year we purchased rubber booties for our walks which have worked well but we were wondering what all of you wear (if anything)?  Is there a brand or style you would recommend?

Thanks for all your help and stay warm!

Ivy

Staying Toasty

Congratulations you made it through Monday!  Ivy made it through Monday by laying by the heater and beating her potty break record due to the freezing temperatures, snow, and the hawk she saw fly past her mid squat (no worries it was small and wouldn't pose a threat).  I mean seriously she was back inside within seconds I didn't even need to bribe her by calling out "peanut butter" which means "come" in Ivy's mind.... we will work on that before the second puppy arrives we promise.

(what all of us want to do on a Monday)

Since it is so cold out we haven't been able to take Ivy for her walks outside (even with a sweater and boots it's too cold).  We did a good run around the yard and that was about it.  So the days have been filled with back scratches and sipping coffee out of this little gem!

(this came in my stocking)

I'll continue to drink copious amounts of coffee while Ivy scouts squirrels from within our toasty warm house! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

             And yes that is still our Christmas Tree I can't bear to take it down yet... 

How to enjoy traveling with your dog - Hotel Edition

Since Ivy and I get to tag along with her Dad on some of his trips we are often on the search for pet friendly hotels.  We are currently looking into accommodations for a trip to the east coast.  We used to Google dog friendly hotels but often the hotels websites aren't up to date and who really wants to call and ask!  Our best discovery last year was the website Bring Fido.  This site helps compile a list of pet friendly hotels in or around the city you are staying at.  While it isn't always totally complete it is a great spot to quickly see your options, pet fees if any and customer reviews.

The site also includes a list of pet friendly restaurants, stores and parks you and your furry pal can visit!

Our most recent stay was at the Westin hotel in Memphis which provided Ivy with her own bed.  We have also enjoyed staying at Kimpton in downtown Baltimore.  They treated Ivy with treats, a welcome packet with dog friendly stores, nearby dog parks and a poop bag (haha).  We have heard great things about the W but haven't visited with Ivy.

One thing to make sure you check before booking is if you can leave the dog kenneled in the room.  Depending on the season some restaurants allow dogs to eat with you on their patio.  However if you are traveling in the winter you want to make sure you can leave your dog at the hotel when you go to get a bite to eat.

Have any of you stayed at a hotel that you thought went over and above for your pet?  We would love to hear your recommendations and add them to our list!

*none of these companies have paid us to write this post. We just love to share our experiences and would love to hear yours!

Travel Bag

We will be doing a lot of traveling this upcoming year for work and Ivy usually tags along (depending on if there are dog friendly accommodations)!  One thing we had been looking for was a sturdy and fashionable dog carrier for Ivy.  We found many brands of carriers but none of them looked like they were durable and they were definitely not stylish.  Ivy currently weighs around 25 pounds (holiday treats anyone??) so we needed something big enough to fit her!   Some of our trips bring us out to the East Coast and we have always talked about taking the train into New York City but could never do so with Ivy.  That was until I stumbled upon Love Thy Beast.  We loved the structure of the bags and the adorable colors and they are made in the USA - win win!  The price is definitely worth it, we were lucky to get ours on sale and are super excited to use it this year!

I was even more impressed with the bag when we received it. They have a built in clip that secures your dog inside the bag, a greatly appreciated addition.  We ordered the large size which was perfect for Ivy's height.  The bag zips snugly around her and she has enough room to lay down.  While I don't think I would shop till I dropped with Ivy in the bag - 25 pounds is a bit much for a long shopping day.  It is ideal for traveling by train, or carrying your dog into a store for a quick trip!  There are also great pockets on the outside of the bag which are great for carrying treats, leashes and poo bags! :)

It was supposed to be a Christmas gift for Ivy but we were too eager to use it!  For a dog that hadn't traveled in a dog carrier before she LOVED it! This post wasn't sponsored by Love Thy Beast, we just wanted to share our experiences with a great brand after searching for such a long time!

Here is a link to the bag which is STILL ON SALE (woot woot) who doesn't love a great deal!
http://www.lovethybeast.com/collections/carry/products/industrial-voyager-pet-tote-natural-pink-grey

Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a glitter filled festive night!  Or lets be real a night in sweats with snacks (we are totally cool with either)!

Ivy chose to ring in her new year by yawning, taking naps and drooling by the heater!

Here's to scouting more squirrels out the window in 2015!