I love chili!

After visiting Chad's uncle in Salt Lake City and trying a bowl or two of his super secret chili recipe, I was inspired to try something different with my "off the box" chili recipe. Here are a couple of recipes I gathered from different places on the internet.

They all tend to have a few common ingredients, including beef, beans, onion, garlic and bacon. To spice them up, they use various ingredients such as cayenne pepper and habanero peppers. Try them out, or make your own using these recipes as a guide!

Arcadian Eight Bean Chili
Texas Style Beef Chili
Chili the Geezer Way

How to know your dog is in heat

I debated putting up this post. Pacey is spade now, and Bob Barker would be smiling from his easy chair. I really don't need to keep this information for my own future use -- unless we get another dog, or a friend is maybe going through the same thing we went through with Pacey. Maybe it's my inner pack rat -- I can't beat the urge to delete this file I created on my desktop named inheat.txt without saving the information for future generations.

For whatever reason, I'm going to fight my common sense and share with the world the knowledge I've collected on signs that my dog was in heat. I hope you all enjoy this revelation as much as I did! And finally, my desktop is one file cleaner.

Without further delay, here they are. The signs that your dog is in heat, and what step in the process she's in:

"Proestrus" (duration, 4-15 days)

• begins to lick her self a lot
• swelling of vulva
• increased restlessness
• frequent urination
• fatigue
• blood color will also change from dark red to salmon color
• will not accept male
• male dogs begin to hang around/notice female

"Estrus" (duration, 4-8 days)

• dog can get pregnant
• will accept male/willingness to stand for the male
• she will hold her tail off to the side called "flagging"
• she will often back her butt up to your leg as well
• sometimes spayed during this time
• shouldn't breed until 3rd heat
• fertile 12 days after the bleeding starts

From PetBitsForYou.com:

You can avoid blood spots in the house by putting little boy's jockey type underwear with a fly on her. Or purchase commercial pad holder, available at most larger Pet Stores. Initially place a Light Days pad into the shorts (or pad holder) and then put the pants on backwards, so that the tail comes out the fly. Most 30 lb. dog can use a size 6 or 6x jockey underwear. This method can also be used to avoid unwanted pregnancy, for obvious physical reasons. Disposable children’s pull-up diapers can also be used, but they are expensive, than commercial dog pad holders. Change the mini-pad regularly as needed through the day, and give the female dog time to clean herself periodically when she comes back into the house from doing her natural duties before you put the pants or pad holder back on her. Remember to remove the pants or diaper when you let her outside to relieve her self!

If the dog becomes pregnant the gestation time is 58-63 days.

"Diestrus" (duration, 6-10 weeks)

• dogs may moan/howl
• teats get bigger, may produce milk

"Anestrus" (duration, 15 weeks)

• no hormonal activity

Pacey's first birthday!

Pacey turned one on March 31. To celebrate the occasion, we invited all of her friends from the neighborhood over yesterday. First we went to a nearby park and ran around and played with the dogs. Pacey's neighbor Keslie down the street, a 5-year old Vizsla made it to the party, as did Molly, the chocolate lab that lives across the street and Wilson, her 3-month old mentee.

When we finished at the park, we invited the dog parents back for a barbeque and some cake. Thanks to Tom and Sue across the street for making the best homemade chocolate cake (with homemade frosting!) I've ever tasted!

What fun!