Some more sewing for the dog ... sort of. We are doing obedience classes with Abby. If you've ever trained a dog you'll know it involves a lot of treats. For the first class I was just keeping them in my jeans' pocket but they were difficult to get to quickly, especially if I was bending over or anything. Our instructor has a nifty little treat bag that clips right onto her belt and I thought I could probably make something similar.


I did a few mock-ups with freezer paper before moving on to fabric. The first couple looked alright on paper but were way too small when I tried to put my hand inside to grab an imaginary treat. Once I was satisfied with the size and shape of the freezer paper mock-up I went into my sewing room and got out some fabric: the outside is a home dec weight cotton I got from Goodness last spring; the lining is left over from a Regency dress I made for Samera a couple of years ago; and the rick-rack was hanging out in my tools drawer when I went looking for my scissors. I've always wanted to add rick rack into a seam like that; wouldn't it be fun around the edge of a quilt?

I was originally going to make a belt loop for my little pouch to hang from but then I though "What if I'm not wearing a belt?" and came up with another idea. I used a hair clip. You know those big spring clips. I sewed one right into the back of my pouch and now I can clip it onto whatever I'm wearing wherever it is most convenient.


I've used my clip-on pocket twice now and it works really well (except for that time I jumped to distract Abby and dropped treats everywhere in front of my otherwise distraction-ignoring dog ... lesson learned).


The weather has been awful here today. Yesterday was sunny and warm (+5!) but this morning we woke up to rain that gradually turned into snow. Everything was so wet and dreary. The snow started to stick a couple of hours ago and the world is slowly being transformed into her pretty winter self. Abby has been staring out the family room window for nearly an hour now watching for our squirrel. She's so excited she's quivering and if you touch her she makes funny little squeaks.

The flu is in our house. Rob was home for the first three days of this week; we traded places Thursday morning. I didn't even manage to get out of bed this morning until my sister called and I had to answer the phone. When I did finally get up I realized that we were having a sunny day (and it was almost lunch time). It seamed a shame not to enjoy the sun when it was the only one in the forecast for the next week so after lunch I set up a couple of chairs and blankets on the deck outside, moved Abby's outdoor lead to a nearby railing and settled in for a sunny afternoon.


Abby got her lunch and then spent some time exploring her (slightly) new surroundings.


I enjoyed tea and a good book along with some hand knit and home quilted warmth, getting up only when required to untangle the dog from the house (she got stuck around a piling).


Eventually Abby was ready for some napping in the sun.

We stayed outside until the sun left the backyard.

A year ago last week a litter of pups was welcomed into the world and one of those pups became our Abby.

I am constantly amazed how different our lives and household are with Abby around. We seam to be in a constant state of happy chaos with lots of tail wags, barks, ear rubs and rolls on the floor. We teach Abby commands and tricks and she teaches us a whole new routine and a variety of essential but noiseless signals. We take her for walks and she reminds us how wonderful the place we live really is and we have a new way to watch it change with the seasons. I really can't picture our lives without her.

Walks are not enough to wear out our pup though and there are plenty of indoor games to take up the slack. Top of the list is Eat The Cat closely followed by Hey, That's My Tail. If you happen to be sitting down sooner or later you are going to be roped into a game of Fetch.

Our house is good for playing Fetch. The family room and kitchen run together and create a reasonable fairway for Abby-sized dogs. The laminate floor in the kitchen provides the additional obstacle of uncertain traction and there is always the under-the-fridge trap to be cautious of. One of Abby's toys is particularly good for this game: it's a foot long stuffed dog (complete with squeaker) that Abby got as a Christmas present. It is easy to throw, flies well, wont break things it hits and is easy to pick up and carry - just for the record, it was christened Ralph and Abby knows that. The only problem is that Abby doesn't always want to give Ralph back when she brings him to you.


Enter the Dog Bone for Indoor Fetch. These fly as well as Ralph and are just as easy to pick up and carry (in fact Abby can even get two of them at once). I made three and usually play with two. I keep one in reserve while the first is in the field; when Abby comes back I throw the reserve toy and she drops the first one right at my feet. A perfect recipe for endless fetch - at least until I get tired. They don't stand up to Tug Of War but that isn't so much of an issue when I'm not trying to wrestle the toy back in order to throw it again.


As you can see they also work well in the back yard (we had some incredible weather this weekend).


I thought there might be others out there who would find this sort of thing handy for a puppy or small dog so I'm offering my very first pdf sewing pattern. It's over there on the sidebar under the new "Patterns" heading. Just download the file, print it off (without scaling) and start sewing. Feel free to ask questions and have fun.