On 20 June I was lucky to received wonderful awards from I Adopted A Dog – Now What? and 
Dear Kitty. Some Blog and Lulu Belle was nice enough to answer them and say thank you while I was away. Thank you from the human for acknowledging us. We so appreciate your support.
So now that I am catching up, the following bloggers get to pick one of the above awards for their very own, as well as proudly display that you are the DogDaz PICK OF THE LITTER!
Thank you all for wonderful reading – here is the current DOGDAZ PICK OF THE LITTER:
Long Life Cats Dogs
The Pawsitive Thinker
Clowie’s Corner
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tags: Animal, animals, Blog, dog, DogDaz, DogDaz Pick of the Litter, Dogs, postaday, Site Awards
Lulu likes the Cherry tree. I worry that the dogs will eat the cherries and choke on the pits, but they don’t. She likes to sniff the cherry tree and also sniffs the grape leaves a lot. Not sure what she is smelling but whatever it is, she really likes it. The little cherry tree is home to most of our bird houses. It is the only tree in the yard with branches low enough for us to hang the little houses on. Cherry tree gives us some really tart little berries, but they get sweeter the longer they last on the tree. That is a problem however, since once they get ripe, in fly all the birds in the neighborhood, and “Puff,” the cherries are gone. We are so lucky because we have cherries (for a moment) and raspberries (for about 2 weeks) and grapes (all summer but they are really sour). 
The raspberries are so wonderful and every morning when I take the dogs out back I pick a handful of berries and slowly taste the sweetness of each one, since they are a rare gift and they only last a short time.
We also got our first tomato the other day. That was such a nice surprise. That was the ‘early girl’ which ripens sooner than the others. The dogs don’t seem to care much about the vegetables, which is funny because they really like to play with the compost. Veggies must only be fun when they are mushy and rotten. The box turtles like to hide under the tomato bushes and always seem to help themselves to the bottom crop. One plant for us and one for the animals, I always say.
Thank you ‘Cosmic Whatever,’ for giving me the fruits on the vine and Louise the Cherry Tree to sniff.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animals, Cherry Tree, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, Pet, pets, postaday
While I was gone, V bought the dogs a giant green Carrot toy. They just love it. We are always looking for fun toys that last more than one day and are hard for two dogs to rip apart in a matter of seconds. I think it is so cute when they both hold on to the same toy and run along side each other. This has become the toy of the moment for sure. It is here in my office now and Sofie is sleeping on it. Earlier today Louise kept bringing it to me and squeeking it: Pull it Mommy, Pull it! New toys are always a novelty. I never know which toys are going to really make the dogs happy, but when I find one, maybe I should run out and get another one immediately because of the inevitable end – stuffing everywhere. I wonder where V bought it?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Post Script: Just found fluff all over the floor of the living room – you know what that means – now it is a flat carrot.
Tags: Animal, animals, cute dogs, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, Pet, pets, postaday, Toy
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Walks are a really important thing at our house. Not only because they provide much needed exercise for me and the dogs, but because of the solace and peace they provide us. My daily dog walks give me an opportunity to focus just on them, as well as be alone with my thoughts. I work a very hectic schedule, so my time with the dogs is sacred. I work 10 to 12 hours or more almost every week day and many weekends. This does not leave a lot of time for me to be with the animals or my other humans. I make sure to carve the 1 mile dog walk every morning out of my schedule. This is how we all stay in balance. When I don’t do that the dogs and I both go crazy. Rain or shine. Many days Mojo and his humans joins us for our walk, those days are a little more social than reflective, but that is nice too. The walking bond is very special between me and the girls. Louise is the kind of dog that really needs her walk daily. She likes to run around in the yard, but she looks forward to the walk with me and saves her ‘personal business’ for that endeavor. When I am not around, it is really hard for her. Sofie just comes along for the ride. She enjoys the sniffing and exploring, but I am not sure she would miss it that much if she did not have it for a while. Taking time to reflect, smell the flowers, and commune with my animals, keeps me whole. Do you have a special routine with your fuzzy?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animals, Dog People, DogDaz, Dogs, Pet, pets, postaday, walking
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Istanbul, Turkey is a beautiful city. The city is actually where the European and Asia continents meet and is divided by the
Bosphorus Strait. A fishing town, you would expect to see cats. But there were
feral cats everywhere. In all the outside spaces and many of the indoor also. The street dogs, though I did not get to take many pictures because mostly I was being whizzed by in the Taxis that go way to fast, seemed to be of Shepard, working dog, type bodies, with brown and black short fur. “One estimate is that in Istanbul, a city of 11.3 million people, there are at least 150,000 free-roaming dogs. Rabies is endemic in Turkish dogs and every year there are a small number of people who die from the bites of rabid dogs. The Turkish federal government passed a law a few years ago requiring cities to control the roaming dogs. But as in America, few cities have all the resources they need to effectively control the loose animals.”
(Managing-street-dogs-cats-turkey)
I was really glad to see stray dogs with ear tags. It made me realize that the city may have a “trap and release” program to spay/neuter/vaccinate strays. I checked and it does and I think that is a great step in the right direction, especially after reading about some of the shelter tragedies in Turkey. Unlike Americans, the Turkish people appear to tolerant the free-roaming animals. I assume that has a cultural basis due to religious heritage and current beliefs. Until this trip, and I travel a lot, I never really thought about another countries challenges with animal control, this is a huge problem worldwide. In Istanbul there appeared to be a calm coexistence (I did not see even one cat/dog fight). Lessons from the street animals of Istanbul.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Tags: Animal, animal awareness, Animal welfare, animals, Bosphorus, Cat, cats, dog, DogDaz, Dogs, feral cats, Istanbul, Pet, pets, postaday, shelter dog, street dogs, Turkey
On 20 June I was lucky to received wonderful awards from I Adopted A Dog – Now What? and 
Dear Kitty. Some Blog and Lulu Belle was nice enough to answer them and say thank you while I was away. Thank you from the human for acknowledging us. We so appreciate your support.
DogDaz Zoo 