1st Halloween without Old Furbro

by Jackie Nippers Corgi

Grrreat pumpkin monster looks sad this Howloween season 2014.

Meezer kitty luvin Mum's pumpkin soup. But our 1st Howloween without Tilin Corgi be kind o' solemn. Everybuddy missing old furbro.

Tilin always confurronted scary pumpkin monsters and kept us safe on Howloween. 'Ere is brave Tilin confurrontin' pumpkin monster in October 2013, hiswoofself's last Howloween with us.

Myself has got to be brrrave corgi now!

Put ta bitey on scary monsters!

Ooooops. . . . Turns out ta scary alien invaders twere not dangerous. Ackchewlly just cookie monsters wot Mum made spawcifically as Halloween dog treat for mywoofself.

Furry simple recipe, Mum sez:

ALIEN INVADER DOG TREATS
Preparation time 10 - 15 minutes. No cooking involved. Recommended for slim, healthy dogs.

12 Pretzel Rods - allowing one or two rods per dog
(Use fresh pretzels, and preferably organic, e.g. Newman's Own Organics brand.)

6 oz. tub freshly ground, pure Peanut Butter 
(Grind your own PB at local gourmet grocer or food co-op!)

12 pairs Candy Eyeballs
(Look for Wilton brand candy eyeball decorations, which are approx. 0.43 inch diameter.)

Jars or cups - sufficient size and number to hold finished Alien Invaders without touching each other.

• Scrape salt crystals off pretzel rods. Try using fingernail as a scraper. Don't worry about removing every last salt crystal. (A dog should get a bit of salt in her diet -- unless the dog is on a no-salt diet for health reasons.)
• Coat about half the length of each pretzel rod with peanut butter: The coated end will become the alien's head. Dip rod into peanut butter and twirl to coat surface. Or use a tablespoon, dipping it into the PB and spreading it on the rod. Cover the pretzel surface, but don't create a thick PB coat. 
• Press two candy eyeballs into the peanut butter "head" of each pretzel rod.
• Stand finished Alien Invader "head up" in jar so as not to touch other treats. 
• Refrigerate jars of treats right away if not serving immediately. Should be eaten same day.

Paw note: Dogs usually insist that Alien Invaders be attacked and nommed immediately!

Great Pumpkin celebrating Hallowine

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Mywoofself met a strange Halloween pumpkin fella who got lost leaving vineyard. Himself smells like wine . . . Hallowine.

Wondering howl da Great Pumpkin got good taste in wine. Look, his big orange self has bottle of Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Gewürztraminer and also bottle of Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Zinfandel.

Now ere is a really pawsonal question for Great Pumpkin: Wot keeps da wine from pouring out da holes?

Even scarier question: Wot was mywoofself thinking, talking to a pumpkin? BOL!

It's pumpkin time!

by pawlitico

You probably think that pumpkin time means we're celebrating the "pumpkin month" of October.


Yes, we love pumpkins. But what I mean by "pumpkin time" is our diet: My buddy Tilin Corgi and I started eating cooked pumpkin this past week 'cuz we've had a bit of . . . well, a touch of gastroenteritis — a nice big human term for the poopies.

I feel sheepish to admit that I swallowed some apricot pits. I know I warned everybuddy else not to do this in my piece "Confessions of a plum eater." But I lost track of what I was swallowing, and, oh howl, those pits carved their names all the way down my insides.

So one of our favorite veterinarians, Jona Jordan DVM, told us to eat 1/4 cup of cooked pumpkin and fast for 12 hours. Then we continued having pumpkin with our regular meals.

Before we could say "Corgis look great in Halloween costumes," our problem was solved. Now we're having pumpkin at practically every meal. Pumpkin is nutritious and has lots of fiber. Fiber helps push bad stuff out of the digestive tract and also makes a better stool.

Pumpkin is a funny word. According to "Pumpkins and More" at University of Illinois Extension, references to pumpkins go way back. The word pumpkin comes from the Greek word for "large melon," which is "pepon." The French turned it into "pompon." Then the English changed it to "pumpion." American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." Woof? I dunno why.

If you're in our area, I hope you'll get to visit Petaluma Pumpkin Patch. There are gazillions of big and little pumpkins. There's also a giant four-acre corn maze, which is redesigned every year by Farmer Jim and then cut down right after Halloween to turn the stalks into silage for cattle.