We are not engineers here in the Walton household, but we do have a dog who would love this smart design. Belle loves to fetch a tennis ball, that is her favorite game. I was watching this video, laughing with glee, and Blue Belle noticed. She immediately brought me a ball.
Have you ever tried to learn a second or third language? If you are not living in a country where you are completely surrounded by the new language, with people speaking to you, seeing signs everywhere, it can be quite a challenge to learn a new language.
My hubby and I are learning to speak mandarin chinese, but we are here in the U.S. We are not surrounded by people speaking chinese. We do have friends from Taiwan who have returned to their part of the world. We will keep in touch with them and look forward to visiting Taiwan in the future. We have a favorite chinese restaurant and enjoy our attempts to use our mandarin when visiting.
We decided to begin our education by using the same books that are utilized by the foreign language class at our local university, so we will learn pinyin and also learn to write chinese characters. In addition to a weekly study group we have with friends and a private tutor, we are also using online resources. I have found many resources on YouTube and some websites with free basic chinese lessons. Today I found the site LearnChineseEZ. They show you words and phrases in english and then in pinyin with a sound link so you can hear the pronunciation. I listen and repeat, it has come in quite handy. And of course google translate is very helpful, but you have to make sure of the accuracy. I think one of my favorite tools is an online learning tool, Quizlet, which provides study tools and games which can be used for learning anything, but is especially fantastic for learning languages. Using Quizlet, I made up my own set of words and phrases and use the flashcard feature, the scatter game and the tests. I have found many useful apps for my iphone, including an app for quizlet so I can practice my sets while on the go.
One advantage for us is that we are doing this as a family. Our dog, Blue Belle, will become a part of the learning process. We can speak to each other in chinese and we can speak to Belle. How long do you think it will take for Blue Belle to comprehend our new speech? She is such a smart dog, I think she will pick up on the new lingo rather quickly.
How about you guys? Have any of you taught your dogs a new language?
Our new family member Blue Belle, the rescue dog, is happy to review her first pet product. A package arrived from Chewy.com. “How exciting a box just for me. Let me get my paws at it! ” In the box is a dog treat – Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats Chicken Jerky.
We have heard of Blue Buffalo dog and cat products, but never tried them. Before making the decision to review this product for our precious pup, I wanted to make sure it was safe. Upon investigation I was reassured to realize that Blue Buffalo is made in the USA. Our beloved dog, Maggie, recently died from something she ate, so you can understand our concern.
Blue Belle absolutely loved these tasty treats. Of course she did, she’s a dog! We loved the details and information about the Wilderness Trail Treats. The treats are made with the finest natural ingredients. According to Blue Buffalo, Wilderness Jerky is a wholesome treat that will help support your dog’s strength, health and vitality. Again, something that this dog loving family is very concerned about. We find ourselves reading all the details on the packages, to make sure our dog gets the best of everything. There are no by-products or artificial anything in Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats Chicken Jerky.
For those of you who need grain-free products, Blue Buffalo tells us that this is a perfect grain-free treat. “High-quality poultry makes BLUE Wilderness Jerky the perfect treat for dogs who are fed a grain-free or raw diet. It’s jerky with a wild side!”
The jerky is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only. Ingredients listed include chicken, dried cane molasses and salt. For maximum freshness Blue Buffalo instructs you to be sure to store BLUE Wilderness Jerky Treats in a cool, dry place. To keep them as fresh as possible, they recommend refrigerating after opening.
Because the product is not cheap, it might be good to use some scissors to cut the jerky up into smaller pieces to make it last longer. We think your dog would still be satisfied with a smaller piece.
We found this to be an excellent product and Blue Belle approved.
By: Murry and Julie Walton – Boise, Idaho
December 7, 2012
Imagine yourself in our situation. The wife goes through two thyroid surgeries and cancer diagnosis. After being home from the hospital for just one week, your beloved 5 year old dog dies. This was our sad circumstance in the fall of 2012.
Having lost our treasured pet Maggie to sudden sickness and death, we were both devastated. Life was a struggle. Oh how we missed our early morning puppy play before going off to work. There was no longer a loyal companion to greet us when we entered our home. No longer a best friend to play fetch, find the hidden squeaky squirrel, sit up, roll over and to give praise with a treat. Our routine dog walking workout came to an abrupt halt. Our tail wagging puppy had filled our home with smiles and laughter. Our happy feelings were replaced with grief, a strange emptiness and a great big hole in our hearts.
Together we soon decided that we needed to look for another dog as our home was not the same without a canine companion. We wanted a young beautiful really smart dog (preferably one that would never die) We both realized the responsible thing to do was adopt another rescue dog. We started to camp out on the Petfinder.com web site to find a dog that we felt might best fit our family situation. We preferred a female dog of the herding breed, since that was the type of dog we were most familiar with. Murry found a nice female border collie named Misty that was in Thayne, Wyoming at the Animal Humane Association of Star Valley, also known as Lucky’s Place. Julie really liked the look of Misty so she contacted Mary Ann Ahrens, the President and Director of the animal shelter. It looked like Misty was already going to be adopted, but Mary Ann thought we should look at a dog named Bella.
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Maggie – The Best Dog
A Dog’s Eye View Dog Blog and the BestDogBlog.com are sad to report that our beloved dog, Maggie, became terribly sick and died suddenly. Even though our veterinarian and the emergency animal hospital tried their best with numerous tests and medical support, Maggie could not be saved.
For those of you who have lost a dog to death, I know you can relate. The loss is like grieving a family member. Five and a half year old Maggie was our only living pet, and truly a member of our family. She was always with us in the house. When we came through the door, she was there to greet us. When strangers knocked at door, she alerted us. When one of us was home alone, we weren’t really alone, she was our loyal companion.
We have been through the death of a pet before. Our adopted Australian Shepherd, Scout, died at age 14. We survived that loss by searching and finding our rescue dog, Maggie. She wasn’t a replacement for Scout, but she filled a hole in our family, and in our hearts. We are definitely dog people, we need a dog in our house. Our house is just not a home without a dog.
It was so painful to see our dog get sick. Not knowing what made her so ill was driving us crazy. We were questioning everything – how did she get so sick so quickly? This made us paranoid and nervous to get another dog. We couldn’t stand to go through this again – losing a dog to death. It was just too agonizing. But we needed to fill that void, that paw print on our heart was digging deeper and deeper.
So once again we began a search. We knew it would be best to find another rescue dog, but we did want to make sure we would be the best match for a dog in need of a forever home. We now have a one year old granddaughter which required we find a dog that would be gentle. We searched around locally, but the dog that was the perfect fit for our family was not to be found. Maybe the loss of Maggie was too fresh on our minds.
We continued to search. We even played with some dogs, which brought a temporary smile to our face. I will always remember while visiting our vet after Maggie died, everyone was very comforting. I told them about our search and said that we just were not finding the perfect fit for our family. One of the staff, Margaret, said to us “your perfect dog will find you”. She was so right. We have found the perfect match for our family. We call her our miracle dog. We will soon introduce to you our adopted rescue dog, and the newest member of our family and dog blog canine contributor Blue Belle. Stay tuned. She is an amazing dog.
We still have moments of sadness, missing our best friend Maggie. But we have once again found a way to heal our broken hearts, and move forward with our life one paw print at a time.
The 2012 Winner of Britain’s Got Talent is of course a very intelligent and talented dog.
The audience and the judges fell in love with this adorable dog act.