Owney the Postal Dog

 This is one of my favorite historical hounds stories.  I've posted it before but I wanted to share it again
Owney was an adorable Heinze 57 mutt,


link

like our own dear Norbert.  The legend is that Albany postal workers found a puppy asleep in the mail bags in 1897. The historical accuracy of this is subject to some question though, as another version of the story is that Owney was owned by a postal worker who then moved away and left him with the railway mail clerks.  Whatever his origins, one thing is clear, Owney loved the mail.  He traveled the country on railway mail trains acquiring a large collection of tags, badges, and medals along the way that he wore on a vest.   In fact he had such a large collection of tags that according to Bark Magazine he has become the mascot of the International Society of Animal License Collecting, who knew there is such a thing! I am sure Owney would be very flattered.

At the time he rode the rails, train travel was dangerous and wrecks where not infrequent.   Since no train Owney traveled on ever  had an accident he became known as a good luck charm and workers where always pleased to see him and have him accompany them on trips. 




Owney even voyaged around the world on trains and barges leaving from Tacoma Washington and traveling through Asia before returning to Albany. 

Owney was retried in 1897 purportedly due to poor eyesight and old age.  Poor Owney did not take to retirement well and the story is that he snuck onto a train again and while being mistreated, bit a postal worker.    His death was very tragic, the result of a gun shot wound on July 11, 1897.  The circumstances are unknown, possibly he bit someone else.   After Owney's death postal workers raised money to have his body preserved by a taxidermist so he could be displayed at the Post Office head quarters in Washington, D.C.  In 1911 his body was moved to the Smithsonian Postal museum and can be seen there to this day:

 

Owney's stamp 




was issues on July 27, 2011 and makes a great collectible stamp purchase for dog and history lovers alike.

Wordless Wednesday-Pug Bulldog Smackdown

Easy Beefy Bites

Did you know June is national beef steak month?  Well apparently it is and that makes a perfect time to make these treats from the Whole Dog Journal.  

They have an exhaustive ingredient sure to make any dog drool: Beef Steak.
We used london broil since its reasonably price. 

All you do is trim any large pieces of fat from the meat and then cut it into smallish cubes with a sharp knife.  Put those cubes on a foil lined baking sheet and put in a 175 degree oven.   Leave the meat in the oven for about 6 hours, or even longer, stirring them around with a spatula periodically.  The goal is to make the beef chunks completely dry.   I turn of my oven and leave them in over night to really cement the drying process.  Of course if you have a food dehydrator you can make these in a jiffy with that.   Serve the treats to any dogs in the vicinity and June is sure to become their favorite month.

Don't worry Norbert and Bob got beef treats too, but mom liked the pugs beef expectant faces.

We Met Finn!

On Saturday the pugs were so lucky to meet our blogging buddy Finn in the fur.  We met Finn and her momma at the Martha Clara Vineyard.   Mom has always wanted to take us to a dog friendly winery and this one fit the bill for sure.   Dogs were allowed all over the property and even in the air conditioned cafe and tasting room, which was nice because it was a hot day.  The winery had some nice farm animals and we had a great time meeting them.

We all got along really well.

Weasley wasn't shy about meeting the goats

or the pigs.

Exploring the farm was fun.

Our Dad, Finn, Finn's momma, and us pugs.

We really liked the air conditioned cafe.

Our Dad even got the honor of holding Finn's leash.

We are so thankful to Finn and her momma for joining us on this fun outing.

Bob Has a Cold One

The June bark box had some really cute edible treats, our favorite was the Beefy Ale.  Bob can't wait to take a swig.

Fight Like a Frenchie!

Yesterday, Ping went into her wardrobe and got out one of her accessories, her beret.  She was thinking of her dear friend Benny who is fighting liver cancer.   Please join us in wishing Benny and his family well and in helping them raise some of those little green papers for his treatment.

Wagatha's Biscuits

Today we are reviewing one of our old standard treats, Wagatha's.  

 We might not have written about Wagatha's before but we love them!   They are one treat that every single one of us gulps down with enthusiasm, plus they come in a nice easy to feed biscuit form and they are nice and healthy.  The ingredients list is filled with things mom can pronounce:

 Wagatha's are made in Vermont.  The company founder Norm Levitz started baking dog biscuits in the 70s and later decided to bring them to dogs all around the world.   The biscuits are made in a human grade bakery from healthy, tasty ingredients.   On the website you can read where the ingredients come from, nothing from China thank goodness.  All the biscuits are wheat free, and most are corn, and soy free.  There are are jerky treats for dogs that need a grain free option.   While I feed my dogs a grain free kibble, I do feed them the regular Wagatha biscuits, as I think a few grains can be healthy, and even Norbert who has some grain intolerances handles them very well.

Wagatha's also has some really cute gift set options on their website.   There are biscuit and doggie shampoo combos (so your peeps can give you a treat after you suffer a bath).

 They also have some adorable options for seniors.  Mom is eying this senior gift set for Norbert's upcoming 11th  birthday:

Do yourself a favor and get your peeps on the Wagatha's website today so they can start ordering you some goodies!

Number 1 Dad

No doubt about it, we have the best dad!

Wordless Wednesday Day-Stay Cool

Remember be careful not to let your dog overheat, if you have a flat faced breed anything over 80 degrees is risky.   Check out this article about dogs and heat.

Pupsickles and Popsickles (and a product review).

Credit for this recipe goes to Kolchak Puggles mama who came up with this delicious idea for Pina Colada inspired Taste of the Tropics Kong stuffing.  Sadly the hounds really don't like eating out of Kongs, I know weird.  I agree with Kolchak Puggle that Kongs are a great way to keep a dogs brain busy, and I used to stuff a kong with pb and banana (too ingredients they love) freeze and leave for work, Id come home to the very top licked and melting PB and banana on the kitchen floor.   Now they are left with some other chews and toys, they love chewing on the Bad Kong balls, and everyone is happy.

Kolchak's mama mentioned the famed song:

If You Like Pina-Coladas

And Walks in The Rain...

It put a smile on my face for this reason.  My late father who was a very funny person, was something of a connoisseur of goofy pop music (apologies to anyone who really likes the Pina Colada song).  He used to play the record for my friends and I when we are in junior high until we laughed ourselves silly.   Enough of memory lane.  Here is the recipe for the pina colada pupsicles.

Pina Colada Pupsicles

1 cup pineapple chunks

1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt

2 ripe bananas, sliced

1/2 cup pineapple juice

3 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes

Puree all the ingredients in a blender and pour into the Popsicle molds.  This should make four or five large pupsicles.

As you can see from the pictures below the pupsickles where a big hit, my husband was swamped  with eager pina colada mad patrons like the most popular bar tender at a beachfront tiki bar.

 Rather then leave all the fun to the hounds, I wanted to make some Popsicles for my husband and my self, particularly since I wanted to try my new  Tovolo Groovy Icepop Molds.   So I made these peaches and cream ones from epicurious and they where delicious.

Peaches and Cream Popsickles

4 ripe peaches, diced, no need to peel

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup greek yogurt, preferably full fat

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp Amaretto

Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and our into molds and freeze overnight.  If you don't have Amaretto you can easily substitute almond or vanilla extract.

 

Now for the review part of this post.  I absolutely love my Tovolo ice pop molds.   They are $12.99 on amazon, free shipping if you have prime like I do, and they are the best popsicle molds I've tried, and I've had several.  For one things they are made of strong but flexible BPA free plastic and they are designed to stand up easily in the freeze.  The molds fit comfortable into the base.   Some reviewers on amazon complained that the pop sickles where a bit large, but perhaps due to my piggish appetite I liked this aspect.    With a quick run under some hot water I was able to remove the popsicles easily, many other molds I've tried left the Popsicle behind in the mold and the stick in your hand.  If  you are planning on making any popsicles this summer either for yourself or your dogs I thoroughly recommend this product.

Piermont New York

On Sunday we took a little trip to Piermont, New York I had read it was one of the nicest places to dogs just outside New York City, and I was not disappointed.  Its a picturesque town with a lovely pier front path along the Hudson river.  It also seems to be a haven for cyclists, I've never seen so many bicycles.  Since we are a large dog family we like to give all of the dogs a little one on one time with solo trips.   We decided to take Weasley this time as he is the youngest and bursting with energy for long walks.  We went very early in the morning to avoid the heat of the day, even so it got warm towards the end.  Luckily we  walked past some sprinklers that Weasley had a great time cooling in.   I'm sure we will be back in the future.  Here are some of pictures we took on the walk.