Anatomy of a Sam + Av Pic

If you follow me on Instagram its no secret my dog and baby are the stars of the show. But that's what happens when you're a stay at home mom and spend 90% of your waking hours with the two of them. Who runs the world? Sam + Av, that's who. Or at least my household. Deeeeefinitely running my household.

Completely convinced being a bookworm runs in one's DNA because my whole crew is, like, deep in that reading game. 📚🤓🙌🏻 #samanthaandaveryshenanigans #avysjacket

A post shared by Lorri | The Pretty + The Brave (@theprettyandthebrave) on Feb 26, 2017 at 9:10am PST

I receive numerous questions on how I get my pup (I use that term loosely, she's almost four) to cooperate for their notorious Sam + Av photos. So I'm here today with the not-so-secret secret.

Truth be told, its the baby that requires the most work. The dog is just there for the treats, no lie. We got her as an eight week old puppy and began training her immediately. We've always used treats as her rewards so I think because of that she's very food motivated - she will do nearly anything for a treat. She already knew basic commands of "sit", "stay", "down" (lay), "paw" (shake), "come", "leave it", etc before the thought even crossed my mind to dress these two up and take their photo, so those basic commands definitely come in handy when taking these photos.

Like I said, the baby is the wildcard so I alway, always, always get Sam in position and dressed first. Then I give her the stay command and she hangs tight while I bribe the baby to participate. Okay, its not that bad, usually its not a bribe but sometimes it truly is. While other times she will put something on Sammy and herself and request to "CHEEEEEEESE!"

If something covers Sam's ears she typically wants to shake it off so I just give her a "leave it" and she sits still, I snap the pic, give her a snack, and release her. Honestly she's a brilliant dog and after just three or so of these photos she seemed to know what the routine was going to be the moment she saw me pull out my camera so that's helpful as well.

The whole Sam + Av series started as an accident. The baby wanted to play with some sunnies, I had another pair and put them on Sam and she just walked over to the baby with them on and I died laughing and snapped a pic.

I shared it on my personal Facebook page and people got a huge kick out of it so I started doing them weekly and posting them to my Instagram as well as a tab on this blog of mine. I've since removed quite a few of them because I've decided I don't want a million photos on the internet of my kids' faces, but there are a few still up. I'm definitely not anti-posting-pics-of-my-kids, but I just don't want every photo to be of their face, if that makes sense. So if you look at my Instagram you will see that there will be side-profile pics, or a photo from behind, or a photo where the kids have something covering a portion of their face, and every once in a while you will see their entire face. It gives them some privacy and the photographer in me has actually had fun trying to see certain shots from a different perspective so I feel like I'm forced to be a bit more creative with the shots due to trying to keep their whole face out of the photo. Sometimes its simple cropping like so:

Not spoiled at all.

A post shared by Lorri | The Pretty + The Brave (@theprettyandthebrave) on Apr 2, 2017 at 4:12pm PDT

and other times its snapping the pic mid-bite like so:

It's the freakin' weekend! 🍦

A post shared by Lorri | The Pretty + The Brave (@theprettyandthebrave) on Mar 31, 2017 at 4:13pm PDT

Getting back to the Sam + Av pics, I plan to bring them back with a little twist now that I have somewhat explained why I took many of them down. I'm sure you've guessed that they will likely have props to cover their faces and you'd be right! So go take a peek at some of the older ones that are still up here and check out my Instagram here and search the hashtag #SamanthaandAveryShenanigans to find loads of photos of those two getting into everyday mischief. And check back in a few weeks for their newest photo with a twist! Its sure to please.

Happy Tuesday, ya'll!

Homemade Dog Treats

My cool cat Sam loooooooves rawhide bones. Each time I would go grocery shopping I'd buy her one. On grocery day she'd delicately sniff around the bags of groceries littering the kitchen floor as I put everything away and when she'd find the one with her bone in it she'd pull it out of the bag and bring it to me to open. Then she'd demolish it in a matter of days. She loved them and I thought nothing of the process in which they were made. 

A few months ago I bought her some treats to use when I train her and they gave her a terrible belly ache. So I read the ingredient list to see what may have been upsetting her stomach. I didn't know what half the ingredients were which got me thinking about what else I feed her. Which is when I found this article and many others that spell out how raw hides are made. 

After some quick research, Sam doesn't get rawhide anymore, and while some store bought treats still work for us I have also begun making her homemade treats from natural ingredients. 

Now before you go rolling your eyes that I bake my dog homemade treats they really are so simple and quick to make. Seriously. I make them all while the baby throws around eats lunch and I clean the kitchen, so simple. 

I use oats, coconut oil, and dog-friendly veggies. That's it!

I didn't start Avery on solids until she was almost seven months old. And when I did she loved homemade purees and a select few store bought ones as well. That lasted like a month and then she was like can I get some real food?! So her sudden dislike of purees left me with a cabinet/freezer full of baby food. So rather than have those go to waste I mixed them with the oats and Sammy's dog treats were born. 

Here's what you need:

1 Cup Oats

8oz of Pureed dog-safe fruits and/or veggies

1 TBSP Coconut Oil

Mix everything well. You don't need to pull out the mixer, I did it by hand with no trouble. You want the consistency of oatmeal cookies. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop mixture by the tablespoon full onto parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Cool and serve. 

This makes enough to last me the week as I don't give her loads of treats each day.

In honour of Valentines Day I made them in heart shapes this week. Mainly because I have heart cookie cutters that I had been using for everything every since January because basically the Christmas tree gets put away and the hearts, pink, and red come out in full force over here.  

Sammy absolutely loves her treats! And I feel good that I'm no longer giving my pup some over-processed, bleached raw hides. 

If you give it a try let me know! And if you add other things to the treats do tell! I think eggs or peanut butter would be great additions as well. I did mix a batch that included peanut butter in the mix but she ate it directly out of the bowl while I was in the living room changing the baby. Welcome to my life people.

Happy puppy treat baking!

My Cat, the Hero

Jersey is my precious kitten that Seth adopted for me when we first moved to Pensacola a year and a half ago. He’s super cute and slightly sassy.

Bear is my monster puppy whom we purchased from a breeder 2 ½ years ago. He’s undeniably gorgeous and slightly clumsy.

Salt and Pepper are our two goldfish that the kids won at their school carnival when we first moved to Pensacola – A YEAR AND A HALF AGO! They are obviously part ninja considering how long they’ve lived.

I tease Seth about Bear being completely ‘special’ with his goofy, brain-cell-lacking ways. I gawk at the fish and their unusual and borderline disturbing ability to live so long (in an unfiltered bowl at that). But I rarely talk trash about my lovely kitten - although he has been known to sleep in a non-gentlemanly position and keep himself entertained with his own tail for hours. Seriously, he will jump around as if a snake is after him and all he is really doing is playing with his tail.

But last night I knew.  I knew that Jersey was just as ‘special’ as our other pets when my sweet little kitten sat, frozen like a statue, eyes glued to my wine glass for a solid five minutes. I called his name, nothing. I snapped my fingers in front of his face, nothing. I did everything I could think of to get his attention but he never winced, he just stared down the glass.

And is the tail thing really that unusual? I mean, if I had a tail I’m pretty sure I’d be fascinated by it too. Jus' sayin'

Xo,

Lor