oooh Please make some more pizza for dogs!!!!

Step by step Recipe for making a pizza for your dog! Perfect for dog parties!

Recipe for Friggin Crazy Dog Pizza!

Recommended by four picky siberian huskies, just kidding! They'll eat anything!

Vote for Quinn until May 28th!

Help us win a gift certificate at Harris Teeter, you can vote every 24 hours!

Vote Here

I used a photo of our little angel from his first trip to the beach in Wilmington, NC.

As Dawn Goldsmith says:

"Quinn looks like a mess in pretty packaging!"

The Birds... the whole Hitchcock cast!

the new home for the mailbox bird whether she likes it or not!

There is a cardinal who peers at me through my office window and taps on the glass. He wants birdseed. I keep forgetting but honestly, there are many bugs to eat! Birds are very funny and amazing to watch. I have learned much from them and had quite a lot of interaction! I have had birds knock themselves out cold flying into a window. I will gently hold them in my hands and more often than not they will wake up look at me and fly away screaming! Others get buried. Hummingbirds are very bossy! They quickly get addicted to sugar water and buzz me if they run out! I also can not put up a hanging plant without someone making a nest in it! Last year I realized a hanging plant was not getting any sun or rain under the eaves, so I put it on the deck bench. I then went into the screen room to work. As I wrote on my laptop, a little bossy willful brown Carolina wren kept flying by the screen and screaming at me. i finally went outside and looked into the flower pot and saw the nest and eggs! So, I sacrificed the plant and returned the pot to its original location! But, the worst of them all is the Carolina wren who nests each year in the newspaper slot of our mailbox! It gives me and the woman delivering the mail a heart attack when it flies out at anyone who dares open the mailbox! I put up a condo behind the mailbox and we are changing the mailbox to one without a newspaper slot -so we'll see how next year works for Ms. Dive Bomber!

Siberian Husky Jewelry

Siberian Art Jewelry (and other breeds!)

My wonderful husband R, the quiet man puts up with a lot: a demanding job, a demanding wife, 4 demanding spoiled siberian huskies, a spoiled cat and a gaggle of goldfish. Add to the mix a Mustang that refuses to cooperate, a high maintenance sports car, a home in constant need of one repair or crisis after another! It's a miracle he gets anything done, let alone remember my birthday. We got married the day after my birthday, as he figured it would help remember both days. Ha ha ha.

So, along comes my birthday and he claimed he ordered my gift but it hadn't arrived yet. Since, we both use this lame excuse with others I didn't believe him. And since he also didn't get K a gift yet, I got angry. Two weeks later, my beautiful siberian necklace arrived from Israel... I am so embarrassed, I am humbled. I have loved Amit Eshel's work for years, I first loved his drawings, they reminded me of the stylized work of the Northwest Indians (the guys who do totem poles). He recently started doing jewelry of different dog breeds, they are like none other. You become accustomed to a crappy craft quality to a lot of breed-specific art. They assume that people just want their breed and damn the quality. Not so with Amit's work, he thoroughly knows and captures each breed in a playful, whimsical manner but also beautifully, you can only marvel at his highly skilled talent. Bravo! I LOVE IT and will treasure it forever!

Web Interuptus

You just don't realize how dependent your life is on the Internet until it goes down. On Wednesday night I noticed that our network connection seemed slow and Netflix kept rebuffering but there was a new format and we wondered if perhaps it was Netflix that was messed up. Thursday morning I discovered that Netflix was fine and our router was dead.

My first reaction was to switch gears, accept the change and go with the flow. I'd do some yoga, hop on the treadmill and clean house rather than do what I'd planned –to write or do my CSS classes. That worked until I finished my coffee. I seriously started suffering from withdrawal.

I got cranky, blamed R for not heading my warnings of doom. I bemoaned the fact I lived isolated from reality and relied upon my digital world for connection and safety. No cable, no phone, no ability to call if another rabid animal or an axe murderer shows up. No way to get help for the dogs if they need to be run to the vet and what if I fall?

When R called the cable company, they scheduled a repair call for 7am Sunday morning. WTF? I then remembered that when we moved here they also scheduled a Sunday repair time and the repairman never showed up. We called and they had no record of a repair ticket... nice! But then R learned from K that you can buy your own router and the cable company will talk you through hooking it up! So, off he ran during lunch to buy a router and set it up. So, alls well that ends with me back online.

But, I do need to seriously settle that addiction problem.

Know your Enemy: Rabies!

Today, we had a rabid raccoon in the yard!
Animal control came out and shot the poor guy, then took it away. Sadly, they are not going to test it. The Officer said they only test if the animal came in contact with a person or animal! So, while I am 90% sure it had rabies (I studied the virus in University, it was my senior thesis project), we'll never know for sure. Why am I disappointed that the county will not test the raccoon? Because, it will not be recorded in the statistics.
How will we know if we have an epidemic?
We need to test all animals that are exhibiting behaviour that is odd enough to pose a threat.
Why is this my pet peeve? I have a great deal of respect for viruses, I love them! They thrive, survive and are quite brilliant for an organism that has no brain! At one time in my life, my job was to grow live AIDS virus! I grew it and harvested it in high concentrations... I knew how to treat the virus with respect -as it deserves respect.
BUT, I can honestly say I am much more terrified of the rabies virus, than I am of concentrated live AIDS virus!
Why? Because people have no respect or understanding of the lethal virus vectors hiding under their porch, in their attics or in their garden!
I decided that I will spend the day writing about why this is a really scary virus and hope you will realize that it's in your community! You may never know how many rabid animals are disposed or how bad the problem is locally, so it is a good idea to respect this enemy!


The Enemy: Rabies

• Death from rabies occurs within days or weeks of infection!
• Any mammal animal can become infected, even cattle and sheep!
• The virus evades the immune system by hiding in the nervous system, it can enter any type of nerve and then rapidly moves to the CNS, central nervous system where it multiplies.
• Once the virus enters a nerve, any treatment like vaccine is pointless and chance of death 100%
• After being exposed to the virus, a vaccine can kill the virus; but, only if the virus has not made it into the nervous system. If the bite tears open and exposes a nerve, the virus can enter the nervous system immediately and death would be inevitable.
• All warm blooded vertebrates can be infected, but only mammals pose a viable threat to humans.
• A rabies infected cow can pass the virus through milk and raw milk has been known to infect humans who drink it! 
• There is a documented case of an early-stage, infected human mother passing the virus to her baby!
• The only rodent who lives with the infection long enough to infect is the groundhog. But, a dog or cat could become infected by catching an infected rodent, thus becoming vectors.
• The virus' action is neurotoxic rather than causing direct damage. So, research aimed at interrupting binding mechanisms hold a real promise of a cure.
• You do not need to be bitten! If you get infected saliva on your hand and rub your eyes, put your finger in mouth or nose. You are delivering virus to the mucous membrane and worse, eyes deliver straight to brain!
• Animals like infected  bats, monkeys, raccoons, foxes, skunks, cattle, wolves, dogs and cats are the biggest risk to humans.
• Vaccines are available for humans and people working with animals like vets or their assistants are required to stay up to date.
• A bat can infect you without your knowledge! If you have slept in a space where a bat was present, you will be advised to take the vaccine! A bat has an numbing substance in it's saliva, so it can land on your hand and quietly take a drink of blood without waking you! So, if you can't catch the bat and test it you will need treatment.
• In the past, rabies treatment required 23 to 30 shots into the abdomen and were very painful.  Treatment now is usually 5 shots, spread out over a period of time. The first shot shot is injected at the bite site, with the rest of the shots injected into the shoulder muscle, but children may get injected in the thigh. The shots hurt like tetanus shots on discomfort.

Sun Tsu said in The Art of War: "If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous (literally, "a hundred") battles without jeopardy." Think of rabies as your enemy, think of how well you know this enemy. The battle is life, we should all want to live a healthy happy life and certainly, never jeapardize another person's life through our own actions! 
Rabies is a neurotropic virus and a neuroinvasive virus; in fact, it has both high neuroinvasiveness and high neurovirulence. Meaning it infects the CNS fast and once infected, it becomes extremely deadly! Lot's of big scary words huh? 
Why Rabies is so deadly is actually quite simple: our bodies have a wonderful defense system called the immune response. Flowing through our blood is one of the best military fighting forces around, our immune system! The immune system attacks, fights and defeats almost everything that we come in contact -viruses, bacterias, etc! And it gets smarter and better as we grow older and get more exposures. Where there is no immune system? In our nervous system, that's where! The is a barrier between the blood and the brain, our spinal cord, nerves etc. But, the CNS is a very well protected area. We have a very good blood/brain barrier, very little can get past it! Sadly, a few very smart viruses like rabies and Encephilitis learned that if they can get past the blood brain barrier, they are invincible! They grow, live and replicate without fear of an attack from the immune system. The infected brain makes the host crazy and it's behavior is perfectly tuned to maximize the hosts opportunity to infect others!

Imagine a game: where the goal is for the enemy to make it to a safe zone as fast as they can. Then, they can build and plan a huge attack without fear of getting caught all from within their victim's territory. They kill from within. 


Some Interesting facts:

• Groundhogs are the only rodent in the United States that can carry rabies long enough to infect humans. Squirrels, chipmunks, rats, mice, and rabbits usually die before being able to transmit rabies virus to humans, and human disease has not been documented from these mammals. But, that does not rule out the possibility of infection by hunters or taxidermists.
• Due to a remarkable slow metabolism, opossums are highly resistant to rabies; although, never say never! This maybe because they are marsupials. An opossum is a safer pet to humans than cats or dogs! But, a possum will not fetch a stick or curl up in your lap! They are really cute though!
• The rabies virus has a cylindrical shape, while most human viruses have a cube shape, cylindrical shaped viruses are widely typical in plant and insect viruses. The rabies virus has a P protein that acts like interferon and suppresses the immune system.

Interesting, scary anecdotes:

• A delivery man told me one of the 'other' drivers found a raccoon on the road and took it for 'something' and they were afraid it was rabid and he was infected. I asked, did he have series of shots? The driver said, Oh no! He heard they were painful and he didn't want to miss work, so he decided to just wait and see what happens. -really? OMG! If he did have rabies, his whole family would be at risk, not to mention the other drivers on the road! Given the choice I would choose a few shots over death!
• Our vet has a Pet of the Month feature on their web site. Last month it was a dog who'd been bitten by a wild animal. The owner had let the rabies vaccine lapse, so they were given a choice: board the dog in an approved facility for six months or euthanize it. They chose to board their dog for six months. I would think that avoiding the cost of 6 months of boarding would be enough to get people to vaccinate their animals!

Good Resources for further reading:

• Rabies Virus on Wikipedia
• Rabies an article from British Columbia
• Rabies, a Medscape reference
• Frequently asked questions about rabies

Mukki's Favorite Liver Dog Cookies!

Rolls of liver dough baked and being sliced

My oven is still broken. But, since it's grill season, I'm in no rush to fix it! It has given a new perspective to my baking.

I thought I'd perfect a dog treat in the grill!
Here are detailed instructions for making Mukki's favorite cookies!

Mukki's Liver Treats

You can use liver but it's a pain and messy. I have discovered that Liver Pudding packs the same punch and the dogs love it! It's located in the hot dog section of you local supermarket. Look for a square block of Liver Pudding, it's near the Scrapple... Here is all you need to know...
You can probably use any of their products for this recipe. You will be adding flour and water, so it won't be as salty. Also, the ingredients aren't too weird compared to commercial dog food! When we were raw feeding our dogs, we'd give them each a 1/4 piece to amend their lack of organ meats. So, once you have the liver, pudding or scrapple, you are ready to cook!

Mukky's liver cookies

1 lb. Liver Pudding

2-3 Tablespoons Oil, they like peanut oil but any will do

2-3 cups All Purpose flour

1 cup Whole Wheat flour

2 teaspoons yeast

1/4 cup wheat germ

brewer's yeast (optional -high in Vitamin B)

garlic powder (optional)

1 egg, with crushed shell (optional)

enough water or broth to form dough

I use a Kitchen Aide mixer but you can use a food processor or mix and knead by hand. If you mix by hand you might. If you do mix by hand, I'd suggest using a potato masher on the liver pudding. Basically, you mix all ingredients until it forms a ball of dough, then knead it like bread, 2 minutes at speed 2 or 10 minutes by hand. Next, allow to rise covered for an hour. Cut into pieces and role into long ropes. Bake at 350 degrees, 15-20 minutes until browned. Use a long knife and slice into pieces, leave in warm oven until dry through... may take all night. If these aren't completely dry, they might get moldy. But, if you have 4 siberian huskies, they will never be around long enough to get moldy. You can give them to your dogs early but cool first!

Are you using your backyard grill? Warm grill with pizza stone and use a teflon sheet, close top and bake until golden. Use a sharp knife or pastry cutter, then leave in warm grill after turning off to dry the cookies. Don't worry about the burnt bottoms, your dogs will find them more tasty!

A Sad Chore... updating a rainbow bridge!

After we adopted our two snuggly huskies, Tala and Mukki, we noticed that the Southern Siberian Rescue's web site needed some TLC. I offered to help out. It's been a big job and often takes time away from paying clients but that's what charity is, right? Southern Siberian Rescue has been a rewarding challenge. Many designer's shy away from pro bono web sites and Lord knows I've never felt appreciated but I also understand. Usually, the people running non-profits sacrifice so much of their lives and resources, they tenaciously depend on the help of others. Fortunately, the rescue has found someone who is more skilled than I am and eager to take over! :-) I hope I am able to still contribute.

Needless to say, it's been a labor of love. The hardest and saddest chore on the site is updating the rainbow bridge. SSR's Rainbow Bridge I created an image of an angelic musher racing through a heavenly snowstorm! There are snowflake stars associate with a dearly missed dog. Each dog gets a page as a memorial. It's a big job and even though the owners want a listing, they are often too grieved to find pictures and send text. I'll try to find posts online, in archives or on FaceBook -it's not a safe thing to do as I am using things without approval and I've been bit in the ass doing this but whatever. R accuses me of doing too much work that others are supposed to do and he's right but that doesn't seem to stop me.

Today, I activated several dogs who were awaiting photos or text and added a few new ones. It's so sad and it is heartbreaking! But my  husband is taking me out to lunch, so that should cheer me up!

Why I Sometimes Find Ticks in my Bed!

Quinn and Mukki in bed

Ah, my biggest pet peeve! When I get up in the morning, Quinn and Mukki replace me. They love to sleep with R! When he gets up in the morning, R hates waking the boys -I think it's a guy thing! So, Quinn gets to sleep with his nose pushed into my pillow and if he's been digging in the dirt, he leaves muddy nose prints on my pillow!

As hard as I try to fight the onslaught of ticks on our property, there are always a few hitching a ride on the dogs into the house! AND INTO MY BED!

My mind is preconditioned to monitor my body for that creepy crawling movement on my skin. Ticks will climb patiently towards your head, they'd prefer to burrow into your scalp to remain hidden in the hair. I wake immediately from the deepest sleep and send the creepy crawly bloodsucker down the toilet to a burial in the septic cemetery! Then I am up all night with itchy skin, imagining ticks crawling everywhere! grrrrrr! So, I am not happy when R let's them on the sheets or my pillow!

Quinn, nose in my pillow!

The look of comfortable!

Worse? We have an expensive bed cover that keeps the dogs away from the bedding and amazingly it works! It is called PawsOff Bed cover. I got mine reduced as a Woot deal but they are worth every penny of full price! They can not get to pillows or sheets or mattress -which they love to destroy! We've been using this for awhile. We weren't sure whether it was actually working or if the dogs had outgrown the destruction of bedding. On Monday, we learned that it is the excellent cover not the maturity of our dogs!

The rule is: the last one to get up covers the bed. The rule did not take into account R doesn't wake up when he gets up, so he can not be counted on. We found the sheets shredded, the mattress pad destroyed and a few mouthfuls of mattress topper removed... sigh! I am tired of buying bedding but at least the pillows survived. The only other time a pillow survived was when I caught Quinn wedged into the doggy door with a pillow! He was crying and struggling -he was also upset that he didn't get the pillow after I freed him!

Little Rascal, Mukki, Escapes!

first, I see a hole!

If you didn't know, you do now, Siberian Huskies are the worst kind of escape artists. They can dig a hole to China in less time than it takes you to sneeze. They can climb a chain-link fence and can jump a 6 foot-fence (they usually don't know that they can do it but if they ever figure it out...). It is very common to meet people who say: "Oh, I used to have a siberian husky but he ran away!" Usually these are the misguided idiots who think a dog needs to be free or they say: "I don't need a leash, my sweetie has been trained!"

later, I see that one of the
the three dogs is outside!

So, if you are like me, the worst sight you can have is the sight of your dog running loose. Usually mine will rush the door or open the door or chew through their leashes. This morning, the first thing I saw was Lulu trying to squeeze herself under the fence -lucky for me her collar got caught on the bottom of the fence. Then a few minutes later I looked over the top of my coffee mug and saw there was something wrong with the three dogs by the fence, and I was right. One dog, Mukki, was outside the fence. He had caught something and was casually eating it in front Quinn and Lulu, who were not taking it well at all! I immediately ran into the house and burst in on my R who was in the tub bathing. I yelled, "Hurry! Mukki is out!" He said: "%&**^&#%!!!!"

Mukki eating a critter

Then I ran outside and acted casual, complementing Mukki on his treat! "Good boy, Mukki! Mukki has a cookie!" Mukki looked over at me and wagged his tail, he was very proud of himself! Then I saw Rich walking along the fence. He asked Mukki: "What do you have there, Mukki?" Again, Mukki wagged his tail. He was eager to show Rich that he was perfectly capable of catching a bird, rabbit, possum, snake or any other treat! Rich leaned over to look and casually grabbed the big ring on the dog collar. He also tossed the rest of the critter over the fence, since we can't leave them with an excuse to get out for that last mouthful!

Checkmate!

Sigh! Poor Rich was half wet and soapy. He still had to move something heavy to block the hole. Usually, I get to block holes while they are still in progress. Mukki will bow to my victory and abandon the hole. Also, he can't move the big heavy rock I dumped into the hole ;-)  Rich carried two very large logs and dropped them onto the hole. After he went to work I found Mukki sitting on the top log while Quinn was trying to roll the little one. I grabbed the broken rake handle and a sledge hammer and pounded it into the ground. We all agreed I won, 'checkmate'! The boys then went behind the doghouse to eat some grass. It's the perfect vegetable side-dish to eat after raw critter! The boys later went inside to sleep and are still sleeping. I guess the adventure was tiring!

eating grass snack

I guess, if there is any advantage to having more than one siberian, it is that when they get out they hang around to taunt the ones who are still inside! Tala is the only one who will leave, but she waits until I try to catch her. Luckily, she is addicted to dog treats. When Lulu got loose, she ran up on the deck and tried to get back inside! She is a good mother and wasn't about to leave her son with me! The funniest escape was Mukki rushing the door when he saw the cat on the deck; he chased her up a tree and stayed under it waiting for KitKit to come down! Of course, that wasn't going to happen! Then there was the first time Quinn escaped, the door didn't latch and he pushed it open as I was carrying in groceries. I just took a can of sardines and sat in the middle of the driveway. He ran over and we had a little driveway picnic, then we went inside!

My only advice is to never chase a runaway dog! They think it is a game and will run. Stay calm and bribe them with something they can not resist. I use the word 'cookie' for any treat, whether it is a dog cookie or a piece of meat. This way, when they hear cookie, they come running from where ever they are! I do have a problem with Mukki, he could care less about treats, he often takes them and drops them on the floor for Quinn! He does love his Daddy, so he usually waits for R to walk up to him. Men! they always stick together!

Talent and Experience meet Me... sigh!

I dream of a garden like this!

This is a tiny portion of the gardens at the art and antique fair we went to this weekend!

The problem with this garden is I want my yard to look as beautiful! But, this took years and I'm impatient. It took talent, of which I lack in the garden realm. Finally, it took experience, which I would have –had I not daydreamed away the last 56 years!

I spoke to Rick, the owner about our screen room and my dreams of having a place we can call ours to paint and entertain. He is going to come out and look at our mess and discuss the potential. His property is chock full of rescued treasures and antiques, he is enthusiastic and eager. Even Rich was onboard, which was a nice surprise!

the front corner with Mukki

I should have taken pictures of his restored Tobacco Drying cabin, which he's made into a comfy den with wonderful wide, old floor boards. I was told that it originally belonged to RJReynolds and he had it moved to his home. Rich and I envision our screenroom becoming a beautiful useable sunroom space that feeds our creativity. A wood stove to take off the chill on a winter morning, with two overstuffed chairs to curl up in and drink coffee. A corner studio with a couple of easels and an encaustics work space. Finally, a large farm table for family meals and parties.

The dogs seem to be calming down and not as destructive. I hope they allow us a space to call our own!

Morning in the Gulag

My mornings in the Gulag require serious cafeine. My husband could sleep until noon and would if he could but usually curls up with our alpha dog until the very last minute. He has a great job that he loves in a town 15 miles north of us, believe it or not, in Mayberry! We lived there for five years until we found our dream home in Pilot Mountain.

Mukki and Quinn on bed protected by dog-proof cover!

Our dogs are Siberian Huskies, hence the name of the blog. They have systematically destroyed almost everything we hold dear, except our love for them. My life is a constant battle of wits with the destructors. Cleaning is like standing in the surf, each wave pulls sand from under your feet and you can never feel secure if you stand still.

If you want to share our pain: We got our dogs from Southern Siberian Rescue, run by a woman named Dawne, in Raleigh, NC. People don't usually think of the south when they think of these dogs and it's not a great summer place for them but that hasn't stopped people from buying and discarding "Snow Dogs". Dawne pulls nearly 100 a year from local pounds, many more are put down. Some are so sick or damaged, Dawne has to have them put to sleep and it breaks her heart. I could never do what Dawne does and I thank God she is here and working tirelessly saving the few she can. Dawne also earned the award for most serious siberian husky destruction, when she came home to find three new doggy hole/doors chewed through the wall of her house!!!

I have had huskies, siberians, malamutes, and a crazy wolf-hybrid in the past but nothing even Gracie, the wolf, could have prepared me for life with four! The precious puppy you see above at the end of the bed, Quinn, who is now 3.5 years old has done more destruction on his own than all the dogs past and present combined and has reduced me to tears many times. And yet, I held him seconds after he was born, I call him my little splat. My husband may argue that he was the first to 'touch' Quinn but that is only because his mother dropped him on R's size 13 barefoot! Which grossed him out so thoroughly we thought he'd need therapy.

The Mighty Quinn may look innocent and can be very sweet but don't let his looks fool you. When he was 6 months, I went into the basement to start a load of laundry, I walked through the family room where all four dogs were lounging. An hour later when I returned to put clothes in the dryer, Quinn was busy removing the last bits of foam and fabric from the wooden frame of the sofa! The other dogs were calmly sleeping on piles of fabric and foam! Nothing was larger than a few inches, nothing was even repairable!

He went on to destroy pillows, comforters, a mattress, a sleep sofa, the list goes on and on... Now that he is almost 4, he is starting to calm down and I am slowly starting to think of him as my Little Splat and not the Little Sh!t

So, if you are amused or entertained by cute or funny animal tales, make this blog you go-to place. Also, visit our web site at Monkey Junction, where you will also find more stories, recipes for man and beast, crafts, decorating, gardening and other tidbits of life, because I am determined to have a life, in spite of Quinn, who will not defeat me and as God is my witness, I will create a siberian-proof home!