
Hanukkah and Christmas are done but Kwanza starts today.
Then on to New Year’s Eve and Day!!
Give us any reason to party at the DogDazCats2 Zoo!
Can you name all of us? 2 of us look a lot alike in black and white and one of us is still in color.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: Black and White Sunday, cute cats, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Pet, pets

May all your Catmas wishes come true. Happy Holidays!
Noel was almost 2 back then (she is 14 now).
Zack and Cuddles (our Russian Blue twins) and Miss Constance Kitty (the funniest cat ever at the zoo) have been over the bridge for many years now. But we remember every cat with great fondness. Especially at Catmas.
I cannot imagine a life without cats!
Just another CATDogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: animals, Cat, Cat People, catblog, catmas, cats, caturday, DogDaz, lorian lipton, pets

Tuesday, December 21 is the Winter Solstice if you are in the Northern Hemisphere and the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere. On the Winter Solstice, we observe a Germanic holiday that pre-dates the Christmas holiday by thousands of years – YULE. Yule celebrates the wheel of the year with bonfires, decorations of holly, mistletoe, and boughs of evergreen trees (sound like Christmas?). There are also feasts and gift-giving. This is a celebration of the rebirth of the sun and the light that it brings to the Earth (remember from here on it starts to get lighter every day until Summer Solstice in the north).
It is interesting to look at the similarities between Yule and the Christmas traditions:
- The midwinter feast lasts for 12 days
- Vikings decorated evergreen trees with gifts
- Mistletoe was believed to have healing powers (kiss kiss)
- In the Norse tradition, Old Man Winter visited homes to join the festivities. The Viking god, Odin, was described as a wanderer with a long white beard. He is considered the first Father Christmas.
- Viking children left their shoes out by the hearth on the eve of the winter solstice with sugar and hay for Odin’s 8-legged horse, Sleipnir.
Whatever you celebrate – have a wonderful time doing it!
What kind of mischief did you get into today?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: dog, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, lorian lipton, Mischief Monday, Pet, pets, solstice, Winter solstice, Yule

The sun beamed washed over Mini Cooper and diluted her already diluted tortie* coloring. When I turned it to black and white, you really see her stripping vs her coloring.
Diluted Tortie Cats
Tortie is short for “tortoiseshell”, a popular coat pattern seen on many cat breeds. In the world of cat fanciers, some coat colors elicit more curiosity than others. Tortoiseshell cats attract attention wherever they go.
Standard torties have a mix of orange and black fur, either finely interspersed (a brindle tortie), in big splodges (a patchwork tortie), or somewhere in between (just a tortoiseshell tortie!) Dilute tortie cats have a tortoiseshell coat pattern with one remarkable difference: instead of the striking, dark mix of orange and black, dilute tortoiseshell cats have a muted, almost blue and yellow color.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: black and white photography, Black and White Sunday, cats, diluted tortie, DogDaz, lorian lipton, Pet, petblog, pets

I think I will nap until the man in the red suit really arrives.
I cannot imagine a life without cats!
Just another CATDogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: animals, Cat, Cat People, catmas, cats, caturday, christmas, DogDaz, lorian lipton, pets, white cat
It always makes me sad when it is the last night of Hanukkah because I really enjoy the lights. Noel, on the other paw, isn’t sure that having this big hanukkiah (menorah) in her window, taking up a lot of space, is a good use of her favorite place.
Happy Black and White Sunday!
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: Black and White Sunday, Cat, DogDaz, Hanukkah, Pet, pets, white cat
From our Zoo to yours, may your lights burn brightly,
your latkes be crisp, and
your dreidle always land on ‘take it all.’

HAPPY HANUKKAH!
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: Blog, blog hop, Cat, cat rescue, dog, Dog People, dog rescue, DogBlog, DogDaz, Dogs, Hanukkah, lorian lipton, Pet, pets

This picture is from Thanksgiving 2014. Sofie and Louise were just young pups then.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving! Take care of your pack.

This is also our 10 year blogaversary, DogDaz started in November 2011.
How blessed we are to have made so many wonderful blog friends over the years.
Thank you all.
I especially want to shout out to those pups and kitties (you know who you are) who have kept me going year after year with a comment and a hug. That has meant more than you will know. Some of you feel like old friends even though we have never physically met. We have watched each other get new furfamily and say goodbye to many.

Squash & Me 2007
My health isn’t the best and many weeks blogging is the last thing that I have the energy to do, but I know you are out there and if DogDaz can make at least one person smile, then my day has been a good one.

May 2013
Thankful and grateful – Your friends at the DogDaz Zoo: Lorian, Louise, Sofie Bear, Charles, Noel, Nine, Stella, and Mini Cooper
This is not just another day at the DogDaz Zoo ❤

Tags: blogaversay, DogDaz, Gratitude, lorian lipton, nature, Pet, pet blog, Thanksgiving