Wordless Wednesday - Long Day of Chasing Frisbee; Where am I Gonna Sleep?

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Wordless Wednesday - Hunter's Lazy Day

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Wordless Wednesday - Hunter Meets Santa Klaus at Petco

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Gratuitous Puppy Pics - Hunter at 10 Months

The "puppy".
Who is NOT suppose to be in the chair... and knows it.  So I took a picture..  LOL

He is 10 months old now, 26 inches at the shoulder, and weighs in at 60 lbs.

Only 8 more months of growing....

Whew!
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Totally Gratuitous Puppy Pictures - That's all

They say, though I have no idea who "they" are, that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  While this kernel of "wisdom" usually pertains to the weather , I have decided to celebrate the sheepish retreat of March by posting a plethora of pictures of my own little "lamb", who has been growing at an alarming rate.  Thus rendering him not so "little" anymore.  In hindsight, I guess raising a Miniature Schnauzer is not a good determination of Standard Poodle puppy growth.  LOL  Especially since Hunter is already bigger than Otto was.

This brings up another thing...  His name.

The last time I posted anything regarding his name, I was still toying with Reese/Riesling and Einstein.  Well, puppy decided to pick his own name.  He would not respond to Reese, Riesling, Einstein or even Spot, thus he was simply being referred to as "hey you" and "come here puppy".  One day I was making a joke about training him to Hunt for truffles.  For poodles are used fairly often in Italy for such purposes.  And lord knows Oregon has Truffles.  Upon hearing the word "Truffle Hunter", he came running over and sat down.  So I settled on "Hunter".  Cause I had no intention of calling him "Truffles"  ;)

The Big Day... January 17th, the Pick up in Hillsboro...

The first night.... after arriving home and checking out his new digs....

Puppy Heaven =  Sock + Sofa....

First Collar.....  It only took 2 weeks for him to out grow it.

Playing with my Niece.....  as puppies are want to do.

Relaxing in the tub....

Waiting patiently for his dog biscuits to come out of the oven....

Posing for the camera...  You know, they have red-eye reduction, but no doggy-eye reduction.

Running in his sleep.  He actually "Ran" off of his bed (It's hard to show that when it's a photo and not a video)

So tired from playing, that he missed his bed all together...

I decided I would go ahead and do a comparison.....

This was the first week after bringing him home... So he was about 9 weeks old.

This was taken this last weekend (3/21) now that he is 4 months old.

Either he has grown significantly, or someone let the air out of the ball... LOL

In about 2 more month he will be about 2/3 his adult size.  Ooooh Boy!  Cause he already weighs 26 pounds.

True, he doesn't really look all curly like a lamb or an adult poodle, cause he is still sporting his puppy coat.  His curly adult coat will start to grow in once he reaches 6 months.


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OK, That is the end of the Proud Puppy Pappa pictures.... We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog-cast.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Snoopy! - Pumpkin Puppy Puffs

It's time again for a puppy treat.  Mainly because I had to figure out something else that I could feed multiple treats in a day for obedience training. Nothing too major, he is only 3 months old after all.  But I am teaching him to wipe his paws on the door mat, and he is a good boy and allows me to file down his nails (he's still a little small for actual toenail clippers).  The other treats were just a bit too big, and if feed him more than 2 a day, they can cause some irregularity issues from the flax seeds.  Like I said, he is only a 3 month old puppy.  LOL

So keeping in the spirit of delicious treats that contain NO junk.  I present a little pumpkin "meringue" treat that can be piped as small as you like.  (I got 68 treats)  The Gelatin in this recipe serves two purposes.  Not only is it great for your dogs coat and nails (just like humans) but it helps to stabilize the "merignue" since it contains absolutely NO sugar.  The lemon juice is important for this reason as well.  Normally one can use Cream of Tarter to acidify the egg whites, allowing for a more stable meringue and greater height.  The only problem is that Cream of Tarter is a "Grape" product, from the wine industry... NEVER EVER feed Grapes, Raisins or Grape Seed oil to your dog.  They are all poisonous.

Why Pumpkin?  Well, pumpkin can stave of certain cancers, it's loaded with fiber and Beta-Carotene which promotes healthy eyes but also assists in fighting off infections. Pumpkin can foster "regularity" due to soluble fiber content.  It's also high in potassium to regular blood pressure. Pretty cool, huh?

I was a little bummed though, I really wanted to add ground Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) to the mix, but all I had were salted ones.  So I left them out.  (sigh)  Oh well, next time.

Pumpkin Puppy Puffs

3 TB Water or Chicken Stock
1 pkg Knox Gelatin (2 1/4 tsp)
2 large Egg Whites
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
optional 3 TB Unsalted Roasted Pepitas, ground finely

Place Chicken Stock in a small ramekin, then sprinkle Gelatin over the Stock and allow it to bloom.

Separate eggs and save the yolks for something else; place the whites in a bowl.
After gelatin has bloomed sufficiently (about 5 minutes),

Place the ramekin in a small saucepan of simmering water.

Once the gelatin has melted and become clear, remove from the water bath and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat Egg Whites until foamy, then add the reserved 1 tsp of Lemon Juice. (Never use Cream of Tarter)

Continue beating the Egg Whites till they reach stiff peaks.

Fold in the Pumpkin Puree in 2 additions. (and the ground Pepitas if you are using them)

Grab a whisk and whisk in the cooled Gelatin. (I know this sounds counter productive, after carefully folding in the puree, but trust me; the Gelatin will begin to set as soon as it hits the Pumpkin meringue, so a whisk is fine)

Place the mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a Star or Rosette tip.

Pipe the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 225 degrees for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and continue to dry them out for an additional hour.

Store in an airtight container on the counter (no refrigerator for these or you'll have a container full of goo)

Mangia!!
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The Sleeping Leviathan

Since I have not had a puppy since 1998, I find myself a little taken aback by the amount of energy it takes to keep up with a 9 week old canine.  Going "out" every 3 hours, in between the feeding 4 times a day, and the playing, and the leash & crate training as well as the occasional car ride, and a visit to the Veterinarian for his "Puppy Wellness" checkup...  Whew!

Needless to say, I have not had a warm meal in over a week, nor have I been able to actually SIT down and concentrate on writing a post let alone edit any photos.  Thus it was that it took me so long to finally publish the post on my Nephew's Birthday cake.

But occasionally, "the Leviathan" sleeps......

And Sleeps....

And Sleeps....

Ah, a moment of quiet.  The calm before the storm....

Shhhhh   Don't wake him up  LOL
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Pitter Patter of Puppy Paws - A Bouncing Baby Boy!

Nothin cookin this morning, just some pictures of the newest addition to my family.

A bouncing baby boy!

The perfect dog, he's been here for less than 24 hours and he's already picked up the whole "potty outside" thing.

So smart and just a mush. 

He will be about 25-28 inches tall at the shoulder when he is full grown.  Definitely NOT a small dog by any stretch of the imagination.   But right now, he's still a puffy white fluff ball.  LOL

As far as names, I am leaning towards a good German name.  "Riesling" is on the table right now... "Reese" for short.  But the jury is still out.  I am kind of waiting a little to get a good picture of his personality, besides the fact that he is an angelic little mush.   ;)

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UPDATE -- 01/18/2011 5:30PM:  I have decided that his name shall be Hunter, short for Truffle Hunter.   If I can ever afford to buy one, I will train him the way the Italians do. (For the poodle makes an excellent truffle dog)

He seems to like it.   :)

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