"Hey, Mom, is our yard all safe for us to play in?" March is Poison Awareness Month, with the third week being Poison Awareness Week (Happy 50th Anniversary to the Poison Prevention Week Council !) While this is the end of the month, Poison Awareness is something we all need to be vigilant about every single day of every month throughout the entire year.  So let's use this annual reminder to double-check our pets' surroundings and keep them safe and healthy. First and foremost, keep your vet's, veterinarian emergency hospital's, and poison control numbers up-to-date and readily posted by our landline phones and in our cell phones. And...Pet Poison Helpline now also has a "Pet Poison Help" iPhone app for just 99 cents! With Easter just around the corner, please keep children's Easter baskets that are filled with yummy things for kids high up out of reach of the family pets. Chocolate, little plastic toys, button batteries in talking book...

Today is an important day - it's Purple Day - a day to spread awareness for Epilepsy for humans and canines. As many of you know, this is a cause near and dear to my heart as my six-year-old wooly Siberian Husky, Gibson, was diagnosed with Canine Epilepsy when he just turned three.  I have just been received exciting news from the Purple Day Partnership Executive, Michelle Caplan, than I have been named "Purple Day Ambassador" in my city and will be listing the FiveSibes™ blog in the media contacts! Gibson and I are very excited and proud to be part of Purple Day! We are joining paws with Team Epilepsy to continue our campaign of awareness and thank all you who have supported Gibson, our book and Blog Book Tour, Canine Epilepsy Resources , and I every step of the way! Our hope is that one day, there will be a cure! Until then, it is important to share awareness and stay connected to offer each other support and information. Please be sure to search "K-9 Epileps...

Here's our boy Wolf keeping good company with his shadow! Me and My Shadow "...Like the wallpaper sticks to the wall Like the seashore clings to the sea Like you'll never get rid of your shadow ...you'll never get rid of me Let all the others fight and fuss Whatever happens, we've got us. Me and my shadow We're closer than pages that stick in a book We're closer than ripples that play in a brook Strolling down the avenue..." ~D. Dreyer, A. Jolson, B. Rose; Recorded by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. 1962 And to keep the shadowy fun going, here's a little "Winnie the Pooh" video featuring non other than Piglet and his shadow...and check out Eeyore...if our Gibson could talk, this would so be his voice!  Happy Shadow Shot Sunday! Visit Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Gibson is so happy his book is helping others! Today, we are so excited to bring you to our next two stops on our FiveSibes™ Tale: What's Wrong With Gibson? Learning About K-9 Epilepsy Book Release Blog Tour! First stop is the Don't Mess With My TuTu: Two Doggy Divas Journey Through Life . We are so honored to be part of their "Thorsday," which is held in honor of the late Thor, a "gentledog giant" (you can read all about him in the blog)...what a sweet way to pay tribute to a furpal and we are happy to be part of his special weekly day.   We are also so happy to be part of Gretchen and Sissy's mama's blog - our second stop is over at Chan Knits, where she also talks about how Canine Epilepsy has touched their lives.   Gretchen, today's Book Tour hostess! We had so much fun answering their questions and are so pleased they joined us in spreading awareness of Canine Epilepsy. A special "woo" and "thank you" goes out to ...

Today, March 20th, marks the first day of spring, and Gibson is enjoying a nice run, welcoming in the spring season...which, translated for our Sibe kids, this is pretty much how the warmer days' schedule goes: Breakfast Time. Play Time. Pool Time. Naps in the Air Conditioned House. Snack Time. Snuggle Time. Pool Time. Early Morning Run Time. Pool Time. Snack Time. Naps in the Air Conditioned House. Snuggle Time. Late Evening Walks. Dinner Time. Pool Time. Play Time. Snuggle and TV Time. Bed Time in the Air Conditioned House. Sure sounds good to me. Happy Spring!

The FiveMcSibes! ☘   ☘  ☘   ☘   ☘   ☘  ☘   What's St. Patty's Day without some food and drink? Well, the FiveMcSibes are ready for some fun, that's for sure! And to celebrate the "Wearin' o' the Green" day, here's a special recipe for homemade shamrock patties for our furkids to enjoy that look so good, I want one! The recipe is from a reader on DogTipper.com, so be sure to stop over to see a great pictorial of this recipe and others: ☘   ☘  ☘   ☘   ☘   ☘  ☘ St. Patty's Day Patties ☘   ☘  ☘   ☘   ☘   ☘  ☘ 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 4 strips bacon, cut into small pieces 4 cups green peas, drained (about two cans) 2 tablespoons water Wolf is ready to "Sham Rock" and taste test this recipe! So here we go! Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Fry bacon and reserve drippings; cool. Put pea...

Our Harley's 7th birthday party was a fun time! There were games, and presents, and of course, fresh ice cream from our local dairy!  It's so hard to believe that Harley joined our family as a mere eight week old pupster seven years ago! I still remember our hour-long car ride in the pouring rain with my daughter very excited in the back seat waiting to meet her baby. Someone mentioned to me the other day that they did not realize she was "that old." Hmmmm...better not let our girl hear that! She still has so much energy and loves to play rough, run, give attitude, and body slam as much as she did as a young pup! Our "Queen" and her royal subjects enjoyed her day tremendously and her Royal Huskiness was so happy to share her day with all of you! Thanks for stopping by and visiting us and for all the warm birthday wishes! We are also very happy to announce the winner of our Birthday Book Giveaway of a personalized copy of my FiveSibes™ Tale, What's Wr...

Wolf of the FiveSibes™ Salutes all K-9 Heroes T oday, March 13, marks K9 Veterans Day in honor of our four-legged heroes of the past, present, and future. We salute you. March 13, 1942 marks the official birthday of the United States K9 Corps when more than 10,000 dogs were recruited and went through eight weeks of basic training. We don't often think of Siberian Huskies as being war dogs. But they were one of the seven breeds of the K-9 Corps. According to History.com, "The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian sheep dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Collies, Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, and Eskimo dogs....After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or mine-detection dogs. In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach o...

Wolf joins in the worldwide "Howl." April 23.  A very important date. It is the anniversary date of the vigil for the slain Whistler 100 sled dogs. Whenever we hear of them, our hearts break and tears fill our eyes. Last year, I, along with the rest of the world, heard the news reports about the shocking slaughter of a reported 100 healthy, hard-working, innocent sled dogs in British Columbia that came to light. Not only were they slaughtered, but some who were badly wounded were allegedly chased down and murdered in front of the other dogs just waiting for their turn to be killed. Last February, in a blog post titled, We Must Never Lose Our Humanity , I wrote about this horrific story and tried to understand how this could have happened. I still do not understand. The old adage says "Out of something bad, something good always comes." While nothing can erase the abominable visions I have in my own head of these dogs,..and while it chills me to think of what ...

T oday is a very special day...it is our beautiful alpha queen Harley's 7th Birthday! Harley is our first Siberian Husky and is my daughter's #1 girl! She knows she is the leader of the pack and enjoys "girl talk" time with my daughter and I, just hanging out on the chair or couch and giving us the occasional nod or mouth movement as we discuss everything from the day's events to movies to just how beautiful Harley is (she knows when we say "beautiful!")  H arley is amazing...even though she was the first Husky to rule our household, she welcomed Gibson in a year later with open paws, and then when the three Pupsters came, she took them all under her wing and became a wonderful surrogate momma to them. She loves her ratty blue Peep stuffed animal and her treasured pink ball, and gets so excited to play Fetch! and Tug-o-War, and loves to "polar bear" and body slam us and the other Sibes while playing! She can run like the wind, and smiles so b...

There's excitement in the air today as the 2012 Iditarod kicks off! It was as if our kids sensed it in the air...they ran their own race all around our yard kicking up snow (and dirt) zooming left, zooming right, jumping over each other in a great practice play for the great race! In our version, Harley would be our lead dog, challenged (and in the lead for this lap) closely by our alpha wanna-be, Bandit. And wherever Bandit is, Chloe is close behind! Wolf and Gibson were running their own race on the other side of the yard, pausing to jump up and knock snow off the tree branches, stopping to get a good nose full of the fluffy white stuff, before joining the other three in their energetic snow games! I think they were just so excited to have some significant snowfall...even if it is, sadly, starting to melt. If you are a fan of the Iditarod, there's some interesting places to check out and follow what's happening. For starters, there is the Iditarod: Last Great Race on Ear...