Target Christmas Clearance Haul

This is from like two weeks ago, but better late than never! I had to go to Target for something and while I was there I decided to check out the Christmas clearance. Since I went there in the first few days of January, I honestly wasn't expecting there to be much left. But I managed to find a few goodies!

My dog is in the picture because she has to be a part of everything. :P Also, not sure why I took the picture with the face of the cute penguin plates covered.

As you can see, I found:

A super cute light-up penguin that will be an adorable addition to my porch next year. ($5.00)

Two reindeer ornaments that I had actually pinned as wishes while they were full price. <3 ($1.50 each)

Two adorable penguin plates. I found the picture from Target.com so you can see it's whole face. Isn't it freaking adorable? Great for serving Christmas cookies! ($1.00 each)

And then of course I had to grab some Hershey's kisses. Not as clearanced as everything else, but still delicious. ($2.58)

Have you gotten anything fun from Target lately? I usually buy most of my holiday decorations (for any holiday) after each season so I can have cheap ones for next year. :) Every year I pick up a few fun finds and my collection grows just a little bit more. <3

Week In Review January 16, 2021

No blog posts this week, but hopefully that will improve. :) Blogging gives me motivation to, you know, do things.

Current faves:

Oreos and milk. A classic, but oh so delicious.

Current TV shows/movies:

Community (I've watched a zillion times, currently my 'comfort' show)

Quantico (I'm actively watching this one)

Duck Tales (Great for in the background)

New YouTube faves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxY-iosNs4&list=LL&index=1

This one is just adorable and made me laugh. I especially love the part where the dog is in the bathtub and looks very disgruntled. :D If you need an adorable pick-me-up, choose this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93Hvb9LwFFw

I found this one hilarious mostly because he has no idea what he's getting into. As the owner of a dog who hates baths, this was a lot of fun to watch.

Adorable Animals YouTube Playlist

Stuck at home all day? Not sure what to watch? I've put together some YouTube playlists and I'll share one each day. Not all the videos will be the best of all time, but hopefully the mix will help you find YouTubers you like who makes videos about thing you're interested in.

Today's playlist is "Adorable Animals". So if you just need some cuteness of dogs, cats, guinea pigs, penguins, and other adorable animals, this playlist is for you.

You can find the playlist here. Enjoy!

Schoodle Sunday: Things That Helped My Anxious Dog

I’ve had my dog, Daisy, for over a year now! And boy, have I learned a lot in that year! She’s also chilled out quite a bit, so I wanted to share what helped with this. Some are things that you can control, some are not. And some may not work for your dog, even if they worked for mine.

When I first got my dog, she was super anxious. She would never ever sit still and spend hours walking in circles and whining. She was super clingy and on-edge. Because I hadn’t had a dog before I didn’t know if this was normal or not. Thankfully, my vet noticed her anxious behavior and stepped in. Two of my friends (who are very good dog owners and have more experience than I did) also helped me in the first couple of weeks. Thanks to the things outlined in this post, my dog is much less anxious and much happier than when I first got her. 

Look at the pictures – she's like a completely different dog. Notice how tense she is in the first two pictures, from when I first got her. Then look at her newer pictures where she looks more relaxed and happy. <3 span=""> 

 

  

1. Age/time Its only been one year and already my dog seems less teenager-y. (I adopted her just before her second birthday, now she’s approaching her third.) Like everyone has told me, dogs mellow out with age.
   

2. Medicine This was a decision made with my dog’s veterinarian – because of her extreme level of anxiety, medicine was a good solution for her. It took a while to kick in and there were plenty of other factors that contributed to her current demeanor, but this helped a lot!
   

3. Living in One Place
4. When I adopted my dog, I was her third owner and it was her fourth physical home. Because of our move earlier this year, our current apartment is her sixth physical home – and all of those changes happened within a six month period of her life! Even a human would be pretty anxious if they had been through so much. Now that we’ve been in the same place for almost a year, she’s relaxed a lot. She knows where “home” is and who her owner is. I’m not going to leave her and if I do (for work or whatever) I’ll be back soon enough!
   

4. Routine
5. It took a while before Daisy and I got into a groove. We still adjust daily schedules slightly for every season, but for the most part, each day is the same: 

1. Owner wakes up and takes shower/gets ready for work 

2. Owner takes Daisy outside to do her business 

3. Owner preps room for the day (she stays in my room during the day and I try to make it “dog-proof”. Every day I open the blinds, give her her food, make sure her water bowl is full, give her her medicine with a scoop of peanut butter, move all my bedding into my closet, put a sheet [set aside just for her] on my bed, and then move anything off of my nightstand into my closet as well. I take off her leash and give her some pets goodbye. [Unless she’s absorbed in her food and could really care less if I was leaving. 😛]
   

5. Dog Park If you’re a dog lover, you’re probably well aware that a tired/exercised dog is a happy dog. My new apartment complex has a dog park and it has made a WORLD of difference. I will write a separate post on how me and my dog got used to the dog park, but now it’s fantastic. My dog can run at a much faster pace than if she were attached to me via a leash. Plus, there are other dogs for her to play with, and them chasing each other definitely wears her out! There are lots of sniffs for her (which is mentally stimulating, I think), and she gets to socialize with other dogs. I was afraid to take her at first since she barks and jumps on dogs when she meets them – but she’s only high strung for thirty seconds or so. Then she goes and does her own thing or plays with the dog – depending on that dog’s signals. Anyways, my dog seems much happier now that she can play with friends of her own species and now that she gets a lot of excercise. (We would go on a lot of walks before we discovered the dog park, but these just didn’t wear her out as much.) Plus, it’s great for my mental health because I get to socialize with people too. 🙂

Schnoodle Sunday - A Day with Daisy Dog

(Note - I wrote this post about six months ago but didn't post it. A lot of this info is still great, which is why I'm sharing it. Thankfully, Daisy has gotten a lot less hyperactive and anxious now that we're settled into our apartment.)

Don't judge me too much, but sometimes staying home all day with Daisy drives me a little... crazy. She has a lot of energy and I'm very much a couch potato. Here's how one of our more successful days went - I discovered that frequent (but short) training sessions, as well as distracting toys, helped a lot.

Distracting Toys Ideas:
Frozen Kong filled with peanut butter
Frozen Kong bone filled with peanut butter
Kong stuffed with beef treats
Kong bone stuffed with training treats
Webbed ball stuffed with training treats (or kibble)
Webbed "drumstick" filled with crunchy treats
Rawhide roll
Bull stick
Beef Knee Cap
Infinite Bento Ball

6:00 Wake up and go for 45 minute walk
6:45 Feed Daisy, give medicine
8:00 Five minute training session (I like this book for teaching the basics and this website for other ideas)
8:05 Give distracting toy (And if neccessary, prepare/freeze another one)
Repeat every hour :P
12:00 Take outside to potty
4:00 Go on a 30 minute walk

Schnoodle Sunday - Doggie Comics

I just discovered Off the Leash comics, and they're adorable! Linked below are two comics that I think best personify my doggo.

http://offtheleashdogcartoons.com/off-the-leash-dog-cartoons/the-belly-scratch/#.W3iLYOhKjIU

http://offtheleashdogcartoons.com/off-the-leash-dog-cartoons/the-cling-on/#.W3iSfehKjIU

What comics (from any strip) best describe your dog? I'd love to read them!

Watch It Wednesday - Week 1

Hi all! Sorry for the inconsistent posting - I've been focusing on my book blog (akbookworm.com, if you want to check it out). Since "Reading Wednesday" has been moved to AKBookworm, here's "Watch It Wednesday" to take its place. Here are random YouTube videos I discovered and enjoyed. They're not necessarily new, but they were new to me. I hope you enjoy!

Some really awesome nail art:


I just discovered these mashups, and they're great! This one is my favorite so far:


Apparently pumpkin spice is already back? Here's why we like it so much:


This YouTube channel is in Spanish! I find it a good way to practice my listening, since I've seen similar videos on English channels... so I have some context as to what's going on!



Blast from the Past
(The oldest video on my "Liked Videos" list)

This is a really, really, stupid video. But I've never been able to watch it without laughing!