Author: Tails Around the Ranch

The inspiration behind this blog is one goofy Standard Poodle named Yosemite Sam (Sam). I'm Monika, his upright. We live near downtown Denver in a 1950's style ranch house. I have a passion for big dogs and keeping them healthy through exercise and nutrition. In my copious spare time, I create all-natural organic treats. Sam is the the official 'taster' and quality control officer. Nothing leave the 'Ranch' without his official paw of approval. Our main focus of late is being part of a hospital and hospice Pet Therapy team since Sam is the sweetest fur baby around (even if he's a little ADHD). Patients, staff and visitors alike adore him as he brings the sick a few moments of happiness. So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and be prepared to BOL (bark out loud) following our adventures. Life with this goofball is a paw-some hoot. :) And don't forget to sniff or bark a comment; we'd love to hear from you.

Veterans Day Monday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 15 Comments

Veterans DayYesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I where major hostilities formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, and the Armistice with Germany went into effect. In the US, the public holiday is celebrated today allowing for a 3-day weekend. Most governmental offices, schools and banks are closed, and mail delivery will be halted. The holiday was signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower on May 26, 1954 honoring all veterans who served in the Armed Forces. Typically celebrated as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day in European countries,  Major US veteran organizations urged the day be renamed Veterans Day in 1954 and thus Congress amended the bill on June 1, 1954, replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans,” and it has been known as Veterans Day ever since. The attributive case (rather than the possessive) is the officially correct spelling “because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to veterans, but rather a day to honor all veterans. Using the apostrophe is however grammatically correct.

Today we celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans, while May’s Memorial Day honors those who died while in military service.

The Ranch hands and I tip our hats to all veterans who have served their country and hope this opportunity brings people together. As you probably heard, we had an election last week, one that has continued to further rip into the democracy that binds us. I pray we can use this day to stitch back that torn fabric through service intended to help others. Until we can accept everyone for their differences, we will never recognize the areas where we are the same. A country where we all long for safety for our families and our country. Where we all breathe the same air and enjoy the freedom provided by those who served their entire country, and not just those who agree with their political stripes. Today we pray that the process of coming together as a nation begins.

Veterans Day

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ November 9, 2018

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 46 Comments

Even though a number of you guessed various locations of where I  might be headed to, no one accurately guessed so for the inaugural of Rosy and the Boys’ Nature Friday blog hop, I thought I’d share another clue. Be sure to visit the other blogs for some terrific shots of nature.

Have a great Friday and an even better weekend.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

 

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 51 Comments

The election is over, there were some tough contests producing winners and losers. Now the hard part begins. Governing. To those who are disappointed, I urge you to continue to fight for your principles. To everyone, I urge you to be kind and definitely no gloating. We have a long way to go to heal a country that is quite fractious. That said, I will be reflecting on the various outcomes while rejuvenating my spirit by joining my family at a ‘secret location’ beginning this weekend. I can’t make promises that I will be able to stay connected next week or whether or not posts will be published but I’d love to hear where you think I’m going from this photo in the comments.

If you’ve been meaning to but haven’t gotten around to it yet, be sure to check out the E-shop. New items were recently added. Any order placed before the weekend will be shipped this week. Otherwise, orders thereafter received will go out once I return. Make sure you have a great rest of the week.

Vacation Time

Live, love, bark! 🐾

It’s that time…

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 70 Comments

Last evening Sam was scheduled for his semi-annual re-evaluation to continue participation in the pet therapy program at Lutheran Hospital. Pets in the program receive a general health check as well as an evaluation as to suitability to participate. As I prepared the paperwork questionnaire, the Knucklehead could sense sometime beyond the usual evening routine was afoot. It’s always impressive to watch dogs intuition play out and he dashed from the back door to the garage in happy bounces. He sailed into the back seat and readied himself for the adventure.

We arrived at the volunteer office located on the south end of the main hospital building. This entrance is generally locked after hours which is no problem as my badge will provide access. We were greeted by a hospital volunteer who was stationed there for those who neglected to bring their badge with them. We’ve encountered Dave many times in various locations throughout the hospital. He always has a warm grin but especially when he sees the dogs coming. Sam adores him and immediately leaned in against his leg for a good ear scratch.

While we waited, a couple of volunteers came by to sign out. One was a high schooler who was super delighted to visit with Sam after his evening shift. Sam’s tail went into overdrive. Once they left, I reflected how well Sam connects with everyone he encounters and my heart swelled with pride with this sweet pup. When our number came up, we went in to visit with Dr. Diana Roberts, one of the volunteer vets who donates her time supporting our program. We hadn’t seen Dr. Roberts at our last two evals and were thrilled to see her again.

Sam adores Dr. R and not just because she provides scrumptious treats. She’s beyond kind, smiles a lot and has a soothing touch, all ‘wagnificent’ qualities for a vet. Sam passed this latest eval with flying colors and then we spent several minutes joking about his knuckleheaded-ness. Ok, maybe that was just me. They just laughed at my stories. The volunteer who coordinates all of the evaluations  ribs me when I say Sam is a knucklehead and then, naturally he does something that proves it and we all laugh; but a sweeter dog would be difficult to find. This photo, taken just before we left for the evaluation, seems to underscore that sweetness.

Sam

We’re looking forward to our visits later this month and during this month of thankfulness, I find how truly grateful I am for this amazing dog and for the pet therapy program where he can bring smiles to others.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

 

Monday Musings ~ November 5, 2018

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 28 Comments

The weekend is over and now we wait for the endless election to be over. Sam here. But first, a smile. I’m thinking this Twitter strategy should be used for all the incessant ads. If you have not yet voted, please do so. While every election is ‘impawtant,’ this one will set the direction our country will take over the next two years. For those who have voted early, humble poodle tail wags.

And now in the it’s-not-too-late-to-think-about-the-howlidays category, we note the following post from our avian pal, Kismet regarding the card exchange. We sent our email in accordance with the instructions because Mom likes to mark things off her to-do list. So right after you vote, email Kismet, ‘kay?

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Please reblog. Not everyone follows me (that’s NOT smart)!

Posted by Kismet on November 3, 2018 in Uncategorized

The Blogville list is going live!!
To get yourself on the list and receive the entire list by email please use the following template.
Blog Name:
Blog Url:
Email address:
Snail mail address:
Animals name, type:
**************************************
For Example:
Blog Name: Kyla Scott
Blog Url: kylascott.com
Email Address: kyle.a.scott@gmail
Snail mail address: 44121 N 16th St
New River, Arizona 85087

Animals name and type
Kaci (dog)
Kali (dog)
Kismet (parrot)

These MUST be in by Nov 16th, He will start working in it on the 17th. There were stragglers last year and he wont make an effort to get those in that miss the deadline so DON’T forget NOV 16th!!!

Send them in an email to Blogvillecards@outlook.com

The subject line is very IMPORTANT!!
Email
Snail mail
Either

If you don’t specify then your email will get lost. You must put in the subject line how you want your cards to come to you! So remember Nov 16th is the deadline. If you don’t use the template, then you will get lost.

Remember, if it SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAWKS, it talks.

Flower Friday ~ November 2, 2018

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 55 Comments

Holy cow…is it really November? Where did October go? Hopefully you survived ‘Howloween.” The weather has done a couple of up’s and down’s temperature wise this week but yesterday was nice enough to visit the botanical gardens with a friend. It was nice to catch up and see some autumn beauty.

Naturally after a few hard frosts, seeing actual blooming flowers is becoming harder and harder. The good folks at Denver Botanical Gardens know how to protect plants so visitors can enjoy them. In addition to protecting, several workers were planting bulbs for spring magic and the Dead of the Dead exhibit was in full swing with a couple new offerings I had not seen before. I just love these faces!

Day of the Dead

Dead of the Dead Harvest

One of the best parts of autumn in Denver are its textures. This mum seemed aglow with beauty and texture. The light variegated ornamental cabbage is extra pretty in the golden light of autumn.

Autumn mum

Ornamental Cabbage

The morning sky morphed into moody clouds before the sun returned later. This statute looked particularly lovely with tawny colored ornamental grasses with a cloudy backdrop.

Statuary in the gardens

Don’t you just love these berries and colorful leaves? These berries will provide interest throughout winter and offer snacks for local birds.

Berries and Leaves

All in all, it was a great outing with a lovely friend. We enjoyed catching up and soaked up the beauty of the late autumn garden on a beautiful day.

Best wishes for a beautiful Friday and weekend.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday ~ October 31, 2018

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 66 Comments

From our house to yours, we wish you a “Yappy Howloween.” While Sam is totally done wearing any costumes after the weekend’s festivities, Elsa was not equally as game for a shot in the limelight. This witches hat appeared for a brief second, just long enough for the shutter to release. Then it became a ‘toy’ and we all know what happens to Elsa’s toys. 😈 We hope your celebration is full of smiles.

Happy Howloween

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Fall Festival Pet Parade

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 49 Comments

Over the weekend, Sam ‘pawticipated’ in the Lutheran Fall Festival hosted by the hospital for staff, volunteers and their families. Normally we have our own get-together but this year we decided to be a part of the hospital’s event being featured in a Pet Parade complete with ‘Howloween’ costumes.

It’s well-known that knuckleheads Standard Poodles were originally bred as waterfowl retrievers. It’s a known fact that Sam hates water. He will walk around puddles on sidewalks. Imagine my surprise when I could hardly keep him away from the ‘duck pond.’

Perhaps his DNA leans more toward ‘fishing’ than retrieving.

Sam had a good time seeing his favorite therapy friends and making new ones. One of his besties is a toy poodle, named Teddy. Teddy was a puppy mill survivor who lost an eye but has never lost his heart to make people happy whenever they see him…all six pounds of him.

Teddy

Not one to shirk his therapy duties whenever there’s a crowd, Sam got busy visiting with all the children attending. And of course, investigating all the sweet treat smells, which to Sam are just as nice as little girls.

Sam adores firemen. Always has. As soon as he spotted this guy, he couldn’t get over to him fast enough. ‘Course, seeing our newest therapy teammate Zoey there probably helped too. She’s such a cutie and is going to make a wagnificent addition to our ranks.

We love attending these kinds of events because of all the terrific people attending. Sam thought he’d try his paw at face painting because he loves little girls and is so creative. Not. But a kid’s lap is just too tempting to not try to investigate. They invariably will deliver a nice ear scratch. Maybe he’s not as dumb as I think he is??

No pet therapy event is complete without little Bindy. This tiny scene stealer with her hanging out tongue is always a therapy hit.

It was really good seeing our buddy, Oreo especially since he’s been under the weather lately with bladder stones. As you can see from his smiling face, he was glad to be back in the saddle. Oreo is also a therapy dog at Denver’s International Airport and brightens the day for DIA’s many travelers.

Two of the longest-serving pet therapists were also in attendance. Beau and Mandy compete in national dance competitions in addition to bringing smiles to patients. They dress up nicely, don’t they?

Coco, the Mountain Dog looked dashing in her pirate costume.

Coco, the Mountain Dog

It was a lovely day for a festival with a good turnout of some of the program’s favorite pooches and peeps. Even Sam tried his level best at ‘Bee-ing” good for his autumn ‘pawtrait’ taking.

Sam, "Being Good"

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ October 29, 2018

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 49 Comments

It’s Halloween week-are you ready for visits from big and little goblins? 

The neighborhood Knucklehead wasn’t too sure about posing with these seasonal decorations from the neighborhood shopping district recently and it required several attempts. Of the dozens of photos taken, this was the best one of the lot. The others were horrible photo-fails. He kept looking over his shoulder at them as if they were going to either (a) pet him or (b) scare him out of his fur.

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen some photos I posted of Sam while he  “pawticipated” at an event for hospital staff and volunteers as he strutted his stuff in the Pet Parade along with other members of the pet therapy team. We’ll share photos from that event tomorrow. Till then, have a ‘wagnificent’ Monday.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Flower Friday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 44 Comments

Woo-hoo, we made it to the end of the week! It’s Flower Friday again, hosted by our fur-iends over at LLB in our Backyard. Not much is left blooming these days but we did manage to see a spectacular specimen when we visited West Pines earlier this week. Pyracantha is a large, broadleaf evergreen shrub sometimes known as Firethorn because of its many thorns found on the branches and at the end of the leaf clusters. With narrow, deep green leaves in summer, they become tinged with burgundy in the winter.

Clusters of single, white flowers appear in late spring on the previous year’s wood but it is the pea-sized berries that make this plant exceptionally striking during this time of year. The berries last well into winter for beautiful garden interest. It thrives best in full sun but can tolerate some shade. Pyracantha is a waterwise plant that does well in Colorado’s dry climate. You won’t want to plant this baby any where near where baseball could be played as they tend to swallow up balls with absolutely no mercy, due to its extremely dense, thorny nature (note those thorns in the bottom right corner-um, no thank you to any playing near that hedge!).

Pyracantha makes for a nice backdrop though for a certain knucklehead posing while waiting to visit West Pines patients and staff. Never mind that frou frou collar. We were trying to be festive for patients but everyone thought he was sweet like candy-corn. #costumefail Hopefully we’ll find a better costume for Saturday’s Pet Parade for the therapy dogs. Sam’s not much for dressing up as you may have surmised from his pose, which seems to be channeling,  “Seriously mom, don’t take a photo with THIS stupid collar on-the other dogs will make fun of me” look.

Candy corn pooch

Wishing you a wagnificent weekend.

Flower Friday

Live, love, bark! 🐾