Happy Snowy Leap (Wordless Wednes)Day!!!

A Picture IS Worth a Thousand Words!

Harley & Chloe show off their portrait!

Extra! Extra! It's Newsy Tuesday...and boy, do we have some exciting news to share!

Back in  November, while reading an issue of the online newsletter, the Daily Kibble, I spotted one of their contests to win a Debby Carman original custom painting and just had to enter and have a chance at one of her wonderful, whimsical works of art (you can check out more of her enchanting creations over at her Faux Paw Productions website). 

My own FiveSibes™ Carman original!

Imagine my surprise when I was notified by Lynn at the Daily Kibble that I had won my own custom portrait! In the words of my Sibes...Wooooo!

Many thanks to the talented artist Debby Carman on her great rendition of my FiveSibes! It's so awesome that I've been going from room to room, holding it up trying to decide where I like it best since it looks so good just about everywhere in my house!

I would also like to thank Lynn and the folks at Daily Kibble, not just for publishing a pawsome E-mail newsletter, but for hosting such fabulous contests as this one! If you have not become a subscriber yet, I would recommend heading over there (and they have a Facebook page too!) and signing up for their latest news, product information, and contests...and hey, you never know...you could be their next winner!

"Come on, Mom...let's go hang it up!!!"

Stealing Sunshine

Wolf enjoying this morning's warming ray of sunshine.

 "A ray of sunshine, a balmy breeze

Are a gift from God above,

And He also gives us faithful friends

To warm our hearts with love."

~Unknown

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

A Husky's Message to Mother Nature

Our alpha queen Harley is not thrilled about 

this year's "Winter Gone Mild." 

Nope. Not thrilled one bit.

It's Our 2nd Blogiversary! To Celebrate, Let's Talk Teeth!

Today is a special day here...it's our second Blogiversary! Wow! Time sure does fly when we are having fun! First up, the kids and I want to thank all of our Bloggerville, Facebook, and Twitter friends, both two-and four-legged, who read, follow, and share our blog! You guys are great, and it is so wonderful to be part of this amazing pet community! I enjoy reading your comments and visiting your blogs and reading about your beautiful furkids as well. It's a connection I hope we will share and enjoy for many years to come! 

For today's topic, let's talk about teeth (just like I did for my very first blog post two years ago)! February is National Pet Dental Health Month and veterinarians may visit Pets Need Dental Care, Too site and order a free Pet Health Campaign Kit that includes reminder cards, oral health pet guides, and giveaways, so be sure to share the link with your vet! 

While we should tend to our pet's dental health all year long, this month is a very good time to review our pet's dental health regime. 

• Do you brush your pet's teeth?
• Do you do frequent checks of your dog's mouth?
• Do you give your dog dental treats or bones to chew on?  
• Do you have your vet check their teeth during visits?

Here is a great video from the American Veterinary Medical Association with tips on brushing pets' teeth and how to detect any signs of dental issues or gum disease.

Now, it's brushing time for the FiveSibes™! While there are several types of "brushing," including soft finger brushes (our choice), traditional pet toothbrushes, and dental cleansing pads, it's important to tend to our pet's oral health. There are also a variety of flavors of toothpaste to choose from. Our Sibes' favorite - mint!

 Ready, Kids??? Time to brush!

 

Tasting the toothpaste!

Open up and say, "ahhhhh..."

Yummy minty flavor.

 

 Don't forget to check the gums!

Sibe smiles, everypup!

Flash those pearly whites!

And keep smiling and brushing!

It's Mardis Gras Time - "Barkus" Style!

Queen Harley in her finery!

Laissez les bon temps rouler! 

Let the good times roll! 

It's Mardi Gras Time!

Well, today actually marks the closing to Mardis Gras Carnival time (which runs from the Epiphany, January 6, to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) and to celebrate, there are amazing colorful costumes complete with masks and beads, parades, lots of food (after all, it is "Fat Tuesday!")...and dogs!

The parades contains numerous "Krewes," or walking/marching clubs, and the Krewe of Barkus is just the ticket for our canine companions and their hu-families! 

The Krewe of Barkus' motto is: "Humane Treatment for All of God's Creatures."

 

Our "King" Gibson

And just what is the Krewe of Barkus? According to the Hall of Festivities Mardi Gras, the Barkus Krewe: "...was created in November of 1992 at a meeting of the Margaret Orr Fan Club (Margaret Orr being a WDSU-TV Weather Anchor). Its membership limited to canines, the Krewe of Barkus is headquartered in the vicinity of the "Flea Market" and includes such rules as: "Cats, while welcome, will not be provided security." 

Wolf was not entertained!

The first official Krewe meeting was held in January of 1993, when the members elected "Jo Jo McWood" as Queen Barkus I. "Jager Freeman" was selected as King Barkus I. This annual French Quarter event...the only Mardi Gras Parade and Krewe for and by dogs...is open to the public. A non-profit organization, it raises funds every year to benefit local animal shelters and national humane societies. It's motto is: "Humane Treatment for All of God's Creatures."

Bandit woos her congrats to the Royals!

We would like to congratulate this year's Krewe of Barkus' Mardi Gras Queen Maggie, the Labrador and King Wally Dedrick, a Golden Doodle! To read their individual stories, just click on their names, and be sure to keep an eye out in the parade videos below for the Royal Canines' entrances! 

Watching the Mardi Gras parade of dogs was a howling good time and, as you can see, the FiveSibes™ (well most!) jumped right into the spirit of things!

Chloe in her Mardi Gras "Sibe mask!"

If you and your furpals did not get the chance to go to Mardi Gras or missed out on the Krewe of Barkus parade, here are some clips to enjoy while whipping up a few snacks to share with your furkids while watching these adorable pooches all decked out in their Mardi Gras finest!

 ❤ "Woooo...mon amour...my love," 

our King Gibson 

whispers to his Queen Harley. ❤

 

 And what is a "Fat Tuesday" if not a "Tasty Tuesday?" We are joining furpal hosts Sugar, the Golden Retriever and Kol's Notes in their blog hop today as it is quite fitting to talk about food - if not taste it - during Mardi Gras! Be sure to stop over and visit their blogs for some delicious recipes and healthy and informative food tips. For our Tasty Tuesday recipe, we found this recipe for Peanut Butter Mardi Gras Dog Treats by Raising Healthy Dogs (we are opting to leave out the garlic) that sounds yummy and perfect for a party!

Happy Fat & Tasty Tuesday, Everyone!

A Bandit Waits in the Evening Shadows

"Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life." 

~Jean de La Fontaine

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 Participant

All Aboard! Today's Feature is a Blog Stop on our Book Tour!

"We're visiting Arwen's Pack today, Gib! Woo!"

Today, we are so excited to bring you to our next stop on our FiveSibes™ Tale: What's Wrong With Gibson? Learning About K-9 Epilepsy Book Release Blog Tour to our furpals' Arwen's Pack! Please be sure to pop over there and read their post and look at all of the great pics of the beautiful Arwen, Nyxie, and Fenway and stay awhile and check out the other wonderful stories, information, and photos in their blog while visiting! 

Arwen reading What's Wrong With Gibson?

We want to send our heartfelt thanks for Arwen's Pack for hosting us and helping us spread the word about Canine Epilepsy. It is our goal to unite Epi-dog parents worldwide and to let Hu-families know that while Canine Epilepsy is indeed very scary, our beloved furkids can live a happy life with help from us and our vets. We also hope that by educating children, we will eliminate some of the fear and even teach a few valuable and helpful pointers so if they ever see their pet, or even a friend, or family member having a seizure, that they will not be as frightened. A percentage of proceeds from the book sales will be donated to Canine Epilepsy Resources, a great online resource and information center for Epi-dog parents worldwide.

Thank you (with many woos, too!) to Arwen, Nyxie, Fenway, and Hu-Mom for hosting us today!

Other stops and wonderful sites along the way who are featuring  

What's Wrong With Gibson? that you may like to visit, include:

The Chronicles of Woos

Bailey Be Good!

Peggy's Pet Place 

Gimpy Dogs

SiberianNation

 Canine Epilepsy Resources

Mushing Radio by Dog Works Media

If you would like to host us as part of the book tour, please feel free to contact us at FiveSibes(at)gmail(dot)com. We'd love to have you join in and help spread the word about K-9 Epilepsy Awareness. If you would like to purchase a copy of What's Wrong With Gibson? you can do so by visiting ArcticHouse Publishing.  A percentage of proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the Canine Epilepsy Resources Center to aid them in their continued work of providing valuable information and resources to Epi-dog parents worldwide.

 

♥ Love is in the Air ♥

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥ 

A Love Story...

Love is definitely in the air here! Our resident couple, Gibson and Harley, shared a few special moments over a red heart pillow. Harley was also gifted with a few Gibbie kisses. My boy has been smitten with her since the day he arrived as a four month old pup and had a Harley smack-down welcome. It was love at first sight for him and she is his one true love!

Our "couple" stealing a kiss.

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥ 

 Young Love: A Budding Long-Distance Romance...

And one of our pupsters, Chloe, has a very special Valentine this year...Sammy from Germany! We met the handsome Fox brothers, Sammy and Buddy when we became Christmas exchange partners and have become fast friends.

Chloe's Valentine!

Sweet Sammy is smitten with Chloe and he and his Hu-Mom Anni sent her the loveliest homemade Valentine, a photo of adorable Sammy, and a very special token...a heart! Chloe was so touched, she almost blushed! In this photo of Sammy, you can see the pretty little silver heart!

Sweet dreams of Sammy, Chloe!

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥ 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

 

 Today is also the first "Hero" Day, a day to remember the little pup who has become a symbol of hope, love, and awareness of seizures, and brought together a entire community of pet advocates from across the globe. This little pup taught us that heroes really do come in all sizes.

And we are also joining our Blogville community in sending out lots of love and positive thoughts to furpal "K" of Romping & Rolling in the Rockies who is battling cancer of the paw and currently receiving treatments. You can read K's story and see the beautiful photos over on the blog. We find it fitting that today - a day of love - is also a special day of recognition for K as all of our posts are filled with love and prayers for K and family. We are all with you, K. Sending you lots of Husky hugs and love. Keep strong!

Sibling Sisters Sleeping in Siberian Swirls on a Shadow Shot Sunday

So, I hear all of this shuffling and I peek at the furkids to find Bandit with a chunk of rug in her mouth, pulling it and rearranging it to her liking all the while sister Chloe is sound asleep on part of it. Once Bandit got it just right, she settled down into the Siberian swirl for her nap. And the best part? Chloe never moved an inch and stayed napping the whole time! Ah, sisters...!

* * * * * * * * *

 "To have a loving relationship

with a sister 

is not simply to have 

a buddy or a confident, it is to 

have a soulmate for life." 

~Victoria Secunda

Chloe has a Mystery Boo-Boo!

Chloe on the way to the vet's office.

Checking out Chloe the other day, I noticed some very odd looking abrasions on her nose and mouth area. While she has a tendency for hot spots, and is currently sporting one on her leg, the issue with her face looked strange. It didn't seem painful, but it looked raw and it was red and bare above and below her lips. Plus, she did her best to hide her nose into her tail or tuck her head under trying to hide it from our view. Very suspicious!

While waiting to see the vet, Chloe sensed something was up and attached herself to my daughter! After being checked out with one of our vets, it was determined that it was not a hot spot...and her injury became a bit of an enigma! Ruling out allergies and erring on the side of caution, he took a slide culture of the affected area, and thankfully, it came back negative for any signs of bacteria, parasites, infection, etc. We are currently looking at a possible abrasion due to a rug burn. Yep, a rug burn! We have a giant rug out on our back deck for the Sibes, and it was my thought that while engaging in some rough Husky play, Chloe may have face-planted into the rug while in motion. 

The mystery boo-boo.

No shots = a happy Chloe!

We are currently treating her with some antibiotic ointment and keeping an eye on it for any changes. Hopefully, it will clear up soon...and maybe our little innocent girl will leave the rough housing to the other four!

Waiting for Snow on a Wordless Wednesday

It's the Big Game Day!!!

Today was a big fun day for so many with lots of good food...tossing of a ball...a little rough-housing among siblings and pals...and a lot of woooing and cheering...why it's none other than...

 Puppy Bowl Sunday!

Harley is pretty interested in the player lineup in this year's Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl VIII. 

 Chloe getting ready for some yummy Puppy Bowl Sunday snacks while watching the game and cool doggie commercials.

Bandit getting ready to engage in a little indoor tag football with her siblings.

Let the Husky games begin!

  Wolf scored a touchdown while Harley hit the couch safe zone.

 Gibson going in for the pass...

 

Harley knows half-time means dinner time! Wooo, that was fun!

And congrats to "Fumble" on becoming this year's MVP! Did you check out this pup's moves??!!! Well played!

We hope your Puppy Bowl Sunday was a 

fun one!