I found these adorable pictures on the same blog as the video below and it was just too cute to pass up a repost. :) I just got a new DSLR camera and I REALLY want to try this out with Murray soon!

For her series “Shake“, pet photographer Carli Davidson photographed curious portraits of dogs shaking off water.

The above is a beautiful slow motion video (1000fps) shot of dogs jumping for dog treats flying through the air. It’s actually an advertisement for Pedigree, as you’ll see at the end. It’s interesting seeing all the little details our eyes can’t ordinarily pick up.

(via Boing Boing)

BED HOG EDITION. :)

Some photos I snapped of Murray on Saturday night… during a thunderstorm/torrential downpour— he was obviously not perturbed.

Sums up my weekend perfectly— amazingly lazy.

I took this picture this afternoon and it makes me smile, so I thought I’d share. Murray’s having a happy, hot and wonderful summer weekend. Hope you are too.

Happy birthday to the world’s best dog. It’s been an awesome two years with lots of memories:

• Bringing you home and teaching you to sit on your first day
• Explosive diarrhea for days after I gave you too many hot dogs
• The time I drove an hour home from Wilmington (bawling the whole way) when I thought you broke your leg jumping over the baby gate
• Coming up with the overused phrase “Rule #1: Never Trust Murray” after we decided to let you off-leash and ended up chasing you through the neighborhood
• Buying you a “pupcake” from a local dog bakery for your first birthday, only to bring it home and realize we left it on the counter too long and ants ate it :(
• Carefully extracting chicken wings from halfway down your throat when you tried to scarf them while we were watching the football game
• Thinking of clever Christmas card ideas with your name in them (“Eat, drink and be Murray” anyone?)
• Taking you to the dog park every weekend, leading to nicknames like “Ralph Waldo” since you spend more time sniffing trees and enjoying nature than playing with other dogs, and “Official Park Greeter” since you hang out at the entrance and lovingly attack every new (human) visitor
• Kicking you out of the bed every night, only to wake up with your hot breath in my face the next morning
• Finding out your girlfriend at Doggie Daycare (a hot little wheaten named Stella) was actually your sister and littermate… oops! Your parents are not pro-incest, we swear
• Bringing home a new houseplant only to have you sneak off in the middle of the night, eat the entire plant and puke it back up
• Naming your hair fluff “Chuckie” after Chuckie Finster on the Rugrats cartoon
• Taking you on long runs with me… best running partner ever
• Making fun of you for not being invited to be a part of the elite dog social club at the park at Lane Road Library

So here’s to you Murr-man, Murray Dog, Furry Murray, Saucy, Wheatsauce, MD, Murray Aladdin Nixon, Murr-Sauce, Murray, on your birthday. Can’t wait for many memories to be shared on this list next year.

For those of you who don’t know… I’m totally EN AMOR with my soft coated wheaten terrier, Murray. So you can imaging how excited I was when I found this amazing wheaten terrier-themed swag on Etsy. :)

Hand-drawn wheaten terrier magnet set by blennox. I want these on my fridge like whoa. :)  

I love this painting by Todd Young— it captures the whimsy and innocence and wonder that I love so much about wheatens.

Honestly, there is a lot of dog art out there that makes me cringe in fear of looking like a crazy dog lady. Weird porcelain figurines, anyone? But this greeting is so beautiful, timeless and classy I could cry. And I LOVE the quote. Made by iheartdogsstudio.

If there is one thing I love almost as much as my terrier, it’s coffee… which means it doesn’t get much better than a wheaten terrier enamel coffee mug. It is so grandma-ey, but in a way that I love. It feels homey. Made by scottieacres.

Ahhh… now if only my paycheck came sooner. :)

This is emilia-antonia’s gorgeous wheaten, Lou.

I have a very real problem with Etsy, and that is that I spend entirely TOO MUCH time and money on the site! :) Today, I was browsing around and found these great wheaten terrier items:

Moon Gazer by Todd Young.

Wheaten Terrier pillow by Alfie & Rex.

On The Bed, an original oil painting by Gary J Whitehead.

Wheaten Terrier inspirational art print by Going Places.

Wheaten Terrier Trading Company canvas artwork by Gemini Studio.

Here is my weekly roundup of all the great photos I received on Twitter and the blog this week!

This is @jaedunn’s wheaten terrier, Chanel, playing on the jungle gym!

@mustlovedogsforme chose Winston as their dog of the week— good choice!

I love this picture of Clint, courtesy of @zh3zh3n. It reminds me SO much of a picture I have of Murray, below:

My Murray.

Louie and Chanel holding hands! Sent by @willjones54.

Have a great weekend! 

Ashli

P.S. I would love to hear your comments— click here to leave a note!

When we first got our wheaten terrier, I was adamantly opposed to doggie daycare. I didn’t need to pay someone god awful amounts of money to babysit my dog in some dingy warehouse. No, no… I was going to be that amazing dog owner who walks my dog five times a day and then takes him for a four-mile run at night and to the park three times a week to socialize. Right. That lasted all of three days.

I’ve since changed my tune on doggy daycare. I learned that doggie daycares are (hopefully) not old, gross warehouses but fun, clean and big spaces with lots of natural light and fun activities and toys for dogs. Plus, I have found that even if I am very diligent about walking my dog and exercising him daily, what dog wouldn’t want to spend the rest of his time socializing and running around instead of laying home alone on the couch?

Murray on his way to The City Dog Daycare in Columbus, Ohio.

I have found that there are SO many good reasons to take your dog to daycare. Here are just a few:

1) Doggie daycares provide your wheaten terrier with the opportunity to learn social skills. Dogs are pack animals by nature, but rarely get to run around in “packs” in today’s world. This might cause some dogs to become either aggressive towards other dogs, or fearful of other dogs. Doggiy daycare allows them to play, socialize, and reconnect with their pack mentality.

2) Doggie daycare keeps your dog healthy. One of my major concerns with doggie daycare was that I was worried my wheaten would bring home fleas, ticks, or kennel cough. I found out that any good daycare is very diligent about making sure their pups are up-to-date on all vaccines, flea and tick medications, and send dogs who look like they are sick or might have any sort of infection or virus home. Plus, doggie daycare’s can actually help build up your wheaten’s immune system… much like kids, it’s good to expose your dog to “germs” so that his body can better learn how to fight them off.

3) Doggie daycare keeps your dog fit. Your dog will be running around for five to seven hours at daycare. What a great way to keep your dog in shape… and you don’t have to do a thing. A good daycare will also offer many different tpyes of activities for your wheaten (think baby pools for swimming in the summer, tubes and tunnels, running areas, balls and toys to play with, etc). Before you know it, your little wheatie will be strong and fit!

4) Your dog will be happier. Trust me. I don’t have scientific evidence to back it up, but my dog practically jumps out of the car when we get to the daycare, and he has the biggest smile on his face when we drive home at night.

5) Your wheaten will be calm and cuddly at night. One of my favorite things about daycare is that it wears my wheaten out. When he comes home, he goes straight to the couch and snuggles with me the rest of the night. It’s fabulous after a hard day’s work (for both of us) to have a little couch time together.

6) You will make new friends, too. I have met many wonderful people at our daycare who also have wheatens. It’s been a great way to meet new people, learn more about the funny little quirks of the breed, what dog foods people recommend, and share stories about our wheatens.

A few things to keep in mind when choosing a daycare:

• Make sure the facility is clean and sanitary.
• Ask the staff about their backgrounds and why they chose to work there— it’s important that they have some training on how to care for your dog and that they are dog lovers.
• Make sure that the dogs are supervised at all times.
• Ask for a tour of the facility.
• Ask what kind of procedures they have for introducing your dog to the regulars. Murray had a “test” to make sure he was not aggressive/fearful and that the other dogs responded well to him.
• Look at the flooring. Rubber or “grass” flooring is best so dogs aren’t playing and running on slippery concrete all day.
• Note that “time-out” areas are available if a fight breaks out or your dog needs a break.
• Make sure the facility is large enough for the dogs to have room to play.
• Is there air conditioning and heat?
• Affordability? Our daycare offers a half-day rate. We can drop off between 7am - 10am and pick up before 2pm. This makes the daycare super affordable for us.

Murray goes to The City Dog Daycare in Columbus. Here are some photos of their facility:

These are @hiwahiwakeiki’s gorgeous wheatens, Toby Bear and Rocco Pup.

I love the vintage look of this photo set— oh, and I am obsessed with @analeeward’s wheaten, Franklin, too!

Ugh! I hate the snow, but Louie and Chanel seem to be enjoying it. This photo was taken during a spring snowstorm in Denver by @willjones54.

I’m crooning over @analeeward’s wheaten, Franklin and his wifey wheatie! Yes, that’s right— Franklin “married” his wheaten love, Lilly Mae.

Best friends forever— Sammie the wheaten and his new brother Teddy the goldendoodle. The proud owner is @andynewman.

Check out @pilarjoy’s wheaten, Lennon, after his summer shave.

This blog has been on a bit of winter sabbatical, so to speak. I am ashamed to say my last tweet was November 30…. and a lot has happened in the world of wheaten terriers since then!

Consider this post my public declaration that I am recommitting to tweeting and blogging about wheatens! To get started, I thought I would catch you up on what’s been going on with Murray and I.

Murray the wet-nosed reindog on Christmas morning.

A cold February day in Columbus, Ohio… but the sun was shining, so it was a perfect opportunity for a run.

Family photo! Yes, it does look like I’m choking Murray, but I promise I’m not! :)

Eating his favorite treat, a peanut butter filled hoof. Not very healthy, I’m sure… but sometimes you just have to give in to the furry cuteness.

An early spring jog makes a very dirty dog.

There is a very brief recap of Murray’s winter! What has your wheaten been up to this winter? Send me photos in your reply— I would love to post them!