A New Sweater from Overseas Cousin

Shadowfax's British cousin Gelato sent her a lovely sweater for Christmas. Gelato happens to be a Cane Corso, and understands what it means to be a full figured gal, with the big barrel chest of bully type dog. As such the sweater fit Shadowfax perfectly.

The sweater is pink and has a bone made of sequins on it, the works. Shadowfax looks smashing in it, and it's a velvety soft sweater, perfect for our chilly winter morning walks here in Idaho.

And we have the added bonus of pictures of Gelato trying on the sweater to make sure it would fit her cousin over here in the States. Thanks Gelato!

A New Kerchief from Grandma

Shadowfax got some great Christmas presents this year. A new bed from Auntie Alma, some tasty new snacks from the Grandparents in North Dakota, and this festive new kerchief. 

It looks pretty good on her, red is definitely her color. Thank you to all our awesome friends and family, Shadowfax felt well loved this year.

Maximum Warmth on A Cold Day

When it gets chilly here in Idaho, there's lots of ways to stay warm. Shadowfax has probably mastered them all over the years. 

Shadowfax demonstrates the sunbeam on left side, space heater on the right side warming technique. This is a pretty advanced technique, not for newbies.

The Power of Cozy Laziness

Shadowfax maximizes her cozy-laziness potential, the perfect way to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She may not have a tummy full of tasty leftovers to digest, but she won't take any chances.

It's a good thing we have her in our lives to inspire us to new levels of inactivity. We would feel guilty spending a lazy day on the couch if Shadowfax had a hankering for a 5 mile hike, but she obviously does not. And that's just fine.

She's an impressive beast, sandwiched between a comfy dog bed and a blankie, with another dog bed folded in half for her pillow.

12 Year Shadowfax-Aversary

Last week was our 12 year anniversary with Shadowfax. We had to go way back through the blog archives to find our original announcement post from 2010 when we told the world "It's a Girl!"

These are the first few pictures we got of her when she was being fostered and the first pictures we posted of her here at the world famous Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes.

It's hard to believe that we've had this silly beast in our lives for 12 years. She has slowed down a bit from her initial levels of puppy craziness, but we still have bouts of racing around and needing to roughhouse.

Shadowfax Chewing on a Tasty Bone

We've gotten some comments that all of the recently posted pictures of Shadowfax are of her napping or sleeping, or even snoozing. She does do stuff, but it's sometimes hard to capture her in all her majesty. Chasing after a squirrel in the backyard is tough to catch on camera.

When we had Shaak Ti we didn't give both of the dogs bones to chew on. The dogs would get weird and start resource guarding and being prickly towards each other, so we decided that we just wouldn't give them bones. Now that Shadowfax is an only dog we can give her things to chew on - bones, bully sticks, and other tasty items.

Chewing is a good low key way for her to release some energy, when she's too tired to play but not tired enough to nap. Chewing or licking is also a good soothing mechanism and keeps her relaxed.

Shadowfax Hunkering Down

Cold weather is upon us here in Boise, Idaho. Cold rain and snow overnight led to a lovely day of gentle snow flurries throughout the afternoon.

Shadowfax is prepared though. She's got her comfy bed and fluffy blankie from Chewy.

A Trip to the Oregon Coast

We spent a few days last week at the Oregon coast, our new favorite place. John had to work most of the time, but sitting at a computer with the ocean in the background isn't the worst office environment.

The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm most days with some tastes of fog and ocean breezes.

Shadowfax accompanied us and enjoyed early morning walks on the beach. Because she's reactive to other dogs, we had to walk early in the morning. But that's OK. There was a full moon and the we had the silvery, shimmering moonlit beach to ourselves at 5:00 am.

Alycia's friends came to visit too and spent the day hanging out with us. They doted on Shadowfax and gave her love the whole time. 

Between the walks on the beach and all the extra attention, Shadowfax was exhausted by the time we got back home.