There is no mischief to report on this Monday, unless you want to count Mother Nature’s mischief. On Saturday the weatherman promised us warmer temps…up into the 40’s, he said. Well the temperatures did reach the 40’s, but we had no sunshine and a crisp breeze which really kept it feeling quite cool. Then for Sunday the temps plunged 20 degrees, and the breeze became a strong wind. We saw some sun which warmed up the house, but we pretty much stayed indoors. Is it just me, or is Mother Nature being particularly cruel this winter?
Field of Flowers Award
That leads me to thanking Jenna at Love is Being Owned by a Husky for giving us the Field of Flowers award. Her timing couldn’t be better because that beautiful picture of flowers is just the pick me up we’ve needed lately! These were Jenna’s words: “I am nominating you because your blog is always heartfelt, and the love for your pets really shines through your words for them. You inspire me. And for that I thank you!” How sweet is that? Well, that is just the kind of person Jenna is, and if you don’t know her blog, you should check it out. Jenna and her hubby have three beautiful huskies, three cats, and four children, and somehow she finds time to blog as well!!
What Pet Bloggers Spend Their Money On
I am proud to be a member of the BlogPaws Pet Bloggers Influence Group. It is great to be on this panel and to have our voices heard on numerous pet related topics important to all pet lovers. The group surveys each member on many topics, and they have come up with this first of many informative infographics. This data is put together to show the power and influence of pet bloggers to our loyal readers, the general public, and brands that might want to sponsor us. On this infographic you can see how we spend our money and our blogging time, and I think you will find it interesting. How does your spending compare? 
Contest Still Open
Have you seen my contest post from last Tuesday? If not, click here to take a look and see if you’d like to guess what top 3 dog breeds make up our puppy Luke’s DNA (according to Wisdom Panel). There are prizes for closest guesser (random draw if more than one closest). The contest is open until 11:59 pm on Thursday March 20th (Eastern Time). I can tell you now that no one has guessed all three breeds but that’s all I’m saying!
SPRING
We are longing for spring here, but we can’t forget that there are some things about it we don’t like. That would be FLEAS and TICKS. I don’t like using those chemical spot on treatments, and besides, with Frontline we still had to pick ticks off the dogs. Last fall we also had some problems with fleas, for our first time ever, so I can’t just ignore it this year. The ticks were horrendous last year too. They said it was because we had a mild winter, and since this winter has been the opposite, I hope that means the tick population will be much decreased, and maybe the fleas as well. But we can’t count on that. I am trying to come up with a plan of action for this spring, and I plan to blog about it. I am looking into all natural options and am particularly interested in garlic/brewer’s yeast tablets, flea/tick tags that hang off the dog’s collar, and beneficial nematodes as a yard treatment. I would love it if you wanted to leave a comment and let me know what you do for your dogs, especially if you’ve tried any of those things.
FUN VIDEO
I can’t do a post without some fun photos or videos of the dogs. I hope you enjoy this one of them having what I like to call a “bark off”. I can’t believe how noisy it gets around here sometimes, but it is so great to see them having so much fun!! Sheba sounds and looks kind of mean sometimes, but trust me, she is just playing. By the way, every time I played this video as I was working on it, the dogs started barking. You’d think they’d recognize the sounds of their own barks, wouldn’t you?
If you have trouble with the video, please let me know. I was using Vimeo for my sharing; I love that they have no advertisements on the videos, but lately I haven’t been able to upload any of my videos to their site, so I switched to YouTube for now. Happy St. Patrick’s Day and have a great week everyone!!
Well done on receiving your award! I sure wish I could award you with some nice warm weather! 🙂
I hope you’re having a fun day,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
Thank you, Snoopy! We sure wish you could too!
Oh Saturday was such a tease. It looked so much warmer than it really was, but we still spent some time outside.
For flea and tick I use bug off garlic and a natural spray. We still get a few ticks though. It’s totally frustrating. I’m interested to find out what you use and how it works.
I know, it looked so nice but then you’d go out there and get that cold breeze!
Well, since we still get ticks with the chemicals, I’d much rather be doing something natural if I still have to see a few. I’ll keep you updated on what we try and how it goes.
Congrats on your award. We had similar crappy weather too, although it was sunny Saturday…but darn cold! We use Frontline and have not had any problems with it not working. I don’t like the chemicals either, but tick born diseases are something I worry about. Luckily we have a fairly short tick season.
Thank you! We’ll get a decent day here and there and then it goes right back to being frigid again!
We have ticks from spring right through fall, though they aren’t as bad after spring. I worry about the diseases too. There’s been a lot of Lyme around here, so we can vaccinate for that one anyway.
Congratulations on your award and sorry about your weather. It has been 70s here. We are trying to trade a little spring for a little rain and snow in our mountains.
Thank you! Well, I am glad at least some people are having some warm weather, and I hope you get what you need for rain.
Congrats on your great award, very pretty picture. The weather is so sucky! I think I need to change my guess on luke to add dalmation. Can’t wait for Thurs to find out.
Thank you. We are finally starting to see some improvement in the weather today. But they’re saying we’ll get a few warmer days but more snow, maybe rain, and then the temps are going to plunge again! Unbelievable.
Oh yes, dalmation is a good guess. That black and white has to come from somewhere, right? I’m afraid I’m going to make you wait until Monday for the results though! 🙂
loved the video, Susie was sitting on my lap and her head kept going from side to side watching it
That’s so cute….I’m glad you both enjoyed it, K!
We have used Frontline but it drove my Golden Retriever crazy! He would start scratching and biting before he finally pulled large chunks of hiar out. It was horrible! We haven’t had fleas or ticks but we have a ot of squirrels and I know they have fleas. I would love to find a natural remedy. Our biggest problem is mosquitoes. Grrrr to insects! Bentley & Pierre enjoyed listening to your bark-off! Congratulations on your Field of Flowers award! You certainly deserve it! <3
Thank you! I’m so glad your boys enjoyed the video! 🙂
That’s why I would hate to switch to a new spot on flea/tick control…because I worry about reactions. We tried a new one once, and it didn’t bother the dogs but the smell of it drove ME crazy….it was so strong and cloying.a
I’m thinking those flea tags also work for mosquitoes….I will definitely be doing a post once I’ve done more research.
Aww you are so sweet! I am glad you liked your award! You deserve it and I thank you for your kind words!!! Made me have a good smile today!
I love that blog paws infographic! So neat to say the results of the surveys we have been doing!
And the barkoff…BOL that was pawsome!!!! Our huskies look mean when they play all the time, they always do the lip curl, snarly growly stuff! haha! !
Silly pups!!! Happy St. Paddy’s Day!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I am so glad I could make you smile!
It always makes me laugh at how mean the dogs can look, especially Sheba. Sometimes Luke will jump away from her like she has really scared him, it’s pretty funny.
Never had ticks, thank goodness but slugs and flea’s are gonna be rampant. We use special stuff form the vets 🙂 I have entered 🙂 🙂 Happy Paddy’s Day xxoxxx
Mollie and Alfie
Ugh, we don’t like slugs either!! Hope you had a great St. Paddy’s Day too. We did get your guess, and I think it was a pretty good one!
We use Frontline and get ticks sometimes too, frustrating! Have a great St. Paddy’s Day!
Thank you, Emma! I have heard some other brands might work better, but I just don’t know. I always hate trying anything new.