Countdown to Christmas

Woof Fur friends,

How are you ? Are you getting excited for Christmas ? I am although Mom says I got all my gifts for Hanukkah so she is not sure if I will get something for Christmas. I call that unfair and discrimination BOL. What do you think ?

We have been busy as always although it was raining I decided to stay indoors unless I had to do my business and watched Mom run around doing errands and getting wet.

My new game is when I hear the leash I go hide in my box and refuse to move which makes Mom mad sometimes as she says she has no time for all my games like that as she has things to do. Too bad, I do not want my paws wet.

I also made sure on the errand list was my favorite bones and warned her that if she did not come home with them I would bark at her.  Guess what she listened to my orders so I am one happy girl here.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we went on an adventure to Pier 33 as we were planning to go to Alcatraz. The weather was great and warm although Mom, being Jewish bundled me up in a hoodie just in case. Grrrrr I hate clothing. This was an organized fun day out by PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) and when we got there although they had been told that dogs could go, they said no when we wanted to board. There was another dog also who was turned away. So we just spent time wandering around the pier and then came home. It is very interesting as Federal places do not allow Assistance Dogs even with all the legal paperwork but service dogs yes. State Parks allow dogs, so a lesson was learned and as Mom said if Layla cannot go neither would she. So bang went the idea of seeing Alcatraz.

Our plans for the coming days is Mom is working and I am just bossing her around when I want to go out or to the park and she has promised me as soon as the weather is nice again she will take me somewhere. I cannot wait as I love riding on the trams and smelling and seeing other places plus of course getting lots of pets from strangers. Best of all BOL of course is Mom carries me in the backpack part of the way, ohhhhhh I am a lady of luxury.

As we mentioned in our last blog and reminding everyone again, this is a happy time for some but a miserable time for others. So many pets are being dumped at shelters and I am noticing more and more how many seniors which is even more upsetting. I have been staying up late at nights with others cross posting everywhere to try save as many as possible. I am slowly giving up on people and their cruelty. A pet is for life, not for how you feel, and I question all the time how many  of them dump their senior family at different places as they are too lazy to be responsible and care for them. It just makes me sick.

Mom also wants to add in memory of my sister which we do every year is the Christmas Tree in the dog park my sister used to go to. What they do is decorate one of the trees and put all the photos up of all the dogs, I think it a great idea and there are times like this that I wish I had had the opportunity to meet her.

NOW before I forget I want to wish all my fur friends Happy Holidays, may you have a wonderful time with your families who you are blessed to have, and I cannot wait to hear what you found under the Christmas Tree.

Woofing lots of love,
Layla

PS. A reminder of the Christmas hazards for our pets which we must not forget

Holiday after Holiday

Good Morning friends from rainy San Francisco,

Mom has come to the conclusion that the next month is all about holidays, we just finished Thanksgiving and Hanukkah will be starting this weekend.

What is Hanukkah – it is the festival of lights when a miracle happened and the oil that the Maccabees found to last for one night lasted eight nights so we celebrate this by lighting a candle every night and eat lots of oily foods. Very good for the diet and cholesterol LOL.

What are these foods – Latkes which are like fried hash browns and are yumm, Donuts or what we call them Sufganiyot – in Israel they make them with the jelly in the middle and are delicious. I remember when living in Tel Aviv there was a bakery that made the best I have ever eaten and you had to order in advance to get them as if you went randomly there was a line around the corner waiting. Hmm those were the days.
Chocolate Coins which we give to the kids and are called Hanukkah Geld.
We also play a game with a dreidel – it is a four sided top with Hebrew Letters on and you win when it falls on one of the letters.

Another tradition for Hanukkah is we exchange gifts and Layla was lucky to get a wonderful gift from Purebites of different treats. They are her favorite as they are freeze dried treats made with only 1 – 3 ingredients and I call them Layla’s crack LOL, the flavors she got are chicken breasts lamb liver and beef liver. PLUS I think for her the cherry on the cake was their Chicken & Sweet Potato Jerky, she is now set for the holidays with healthy treats made in the USA and I am so grateful for Purebites sending them to us as their treats is one of the few companies I really trust.

For our cat friends we want to share so you are aware that they make awesome cat treats also. To read more about them you can go to their website :

Purebites

Mom says I cannot eat most of the Hanukkah foods but she will be making me my own doggy latkes and we are sharing the recipe here plus sharing with you the recipe for the Hooman ones for those that want to try.

Doggy Latkes
Ingredients and Method
One sweet potato grated
One egg
Flour to bind it all together
Mix all in a bowl, spoon on to a baking sheet which is covered with parchment paper, bake on 350 Deg till brown on top, flip over and carry on baking till ready (golden brown) Cool and serve it to them with sour cream or cottage cheese.
This recipe makes about 5 or 6 depending on the size of the sweet potato.

Human Latkes recipe

Ingredients and Method
5 Russet Potatoes peeled (you can do unpeeled also)
2 Eggs
Breadcrumbs or Matza meal to bind it all together
NOW to make life easier and tastier instead of crying while grating onions I use a packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix.
Squeeze all the water out of the potatoes, add the rest of the ingredients and mix together.
Heat up oil in a frying pan, I use Canola oil, drop a table spoon of the mixture into the hot oil, flattening them a bit, fry till golden brown on each side, drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with either sour cream or apple sauce. Bon Appetit.

Please make sure you keep your pets safe during Hanukkah.

Now I am going to hibernate as it is cold and raining, to all those that celebrate Hanukkah – Hanukkah Sameach, have a wonderful holiday and do not over eat.

With a woof and love from
Layla

Woof it is Me

Woof to all my friends,

October being Domestic Violence Month and a month that brings back so many sad memories for Mom we decided last weekend to enjoy life and freedom instead.

It is not that we are ignoring the sad fact of the abuse of women, kids and pets but it has been a long journey for Mom and having that freedom and sunny weather Mom decided to take advantage of it.

We are though going to include the Power and Control Wheel of Animal Abuse in Domestic Violence as this is an issue close to us and they do not have a voice but we do so we need to speak up. You are welcome to share this on your pages or websites and be there voices too, it would be much appreciated.

Last weekend was a long weekend, so much to do all around San Francisco as there are always free events. Mom sat and worked out what we would do and the adventures started. BOL the only time I ever let her be boss is when making those decisions. It was also Fleet Week weekend and I do not like the jets flying over us plus Mom thinks that money should be used for better causes.

On Saturday they had in our Dog Park an event called Bark at the Park. This event honors our K-9 Heroes and their human friends during San Francisco Fleet Week. Lots of dogs, fun, and loads to learn on how to keep our pets safe during disasters. A really great noisy event, plus I love supporting these organizations that do so much for us.

On Sunday was the annual Castro Street Fair – this is just a fun fair with lots of booths, food and dancing. We, of course went although I carried Madam in her backpack as it is chaotic the best was popping into one of the booths called Pet Wants, Layla woofs best treats in town and she got utterly spoiled.


On the way home from the fair we stopped in the park, hung out with friends and just relaxed. The weather was perfect.

On Monday I decided that was it, no events, no nothing and instead relaxed in the park with all our friends. It was just a relaxing day.

So as you can see our life is always busy and I love it especially as I can take Layla with me although I must admit I do base a lot on Pet Events as they are fun and I really enjoy them.

On this note we going to end our weekly adventure blog as Layla is waiting for dinner and I must make mine too. I have a big pot of veggie soup simmering also – yummmm.

Have a wonderful weekend and everyone please be safe.

Woof with love from Layla