Saturday, October 29, 2011

Halloween DUCK Tape Ideas

Having no opposable thumbs makes carving an awesome Halloween pumpkin nearly impossible!  We think Wyatt & Stanzie had some, um, professional help with their cute pumpkin :)  But, never fear, our furry furiends - DUCK TAPE is HERE!




Isn't that fangtastic?!  Plus, you don't have to worry about what to do with the pumpkin's guts if you have peeps like ours that don't cook!

And, if you still need a trick or treat bag for all those yummy TREATS you're sure to get on Halloween, how about this DUCK TAPE candy corn bag!




And a Halloween just isn't complete without some spooky BATS, made from DUCK TAPE, of course!
Still looking for the perfect costume?  We think this would work well for you and your peeps.  You could be the BACON and they could be the EGG(S)! BOL!

BACON AND EGGS!

or how about
LIFESAVERS

OR

PIZZA - YUMMMM...

Go to Art Duck-O to see how-to's for these costumes and other cool projects!  We totally think some of these costumes could work for pups, too!


If you're STUCK (BOL!) on what to make for the DUCK TAPE CONTEST, check out the links above for more cool inspiration! 

Don't forget to send in your entries by November 4! 

DUCK TAPE IN ACTION Photos - email to Mayor Frankie at frankiefurter (AT) wildblue (DOT) net.

DUCK TAPE ART Photos - email to The Road Dogs at roaddog (AT) road-dog-tales (DOT) com or just click on our "EMAIL US" link at the top of the blog.

The Road Dogs

Thursday, October 27, 2011

All About Neem

You may have heard of Neem, but in the event somebody reading this hasn't, we thought we would mention it.  Now we're sure not experts or medical professionals, so don't take this as medical advice!  But we've had some good results from products containing Neem oil.  We started seeing flea shampoos with Neem a few years ago, but didn't really know what it was and thought it was just a new "gimmick" ingredient.  But NO!  We think it's the real deal.

A few years ago, Aspen started getting a skin condition that we referred to as the "creeping crud."  Don't worry, we don't have pictures of it.  It started in her ears, then showed up under her neck and then her elbows as kind of black and crusty - YUK!  There was never a definitive answer to what exactly it was, but probably some yeasty thing.  It was treated with traditional medications and seemed to pretty much disappear last year when we went "Out West" on our road trip.  Yay!  We figured the dryer climate didn't hurt either.  We were able to stop her meds and she's been looking good.  Then, in the late summer we started to see a bit of the creeping crud in her ears again.  We started putting prescription drops on it, then it moved to her neck and Mom decided there must be something else to use. 

So Mom went to Earth Fare and started asking the guys in the herb/vitamin section what they would recommend.  They mentioned Neem so she picked up a booklet they had and read about it. 



Seems this stuff is pretty amazing.  It is widely used as a natural herbicide and the cashier at Earth Fare said he uses it on his tomato plants.  Here's a bit from Wikipedia:

Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of the neem (Azadirachta indica), an evergreen tree which is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and has been introduced to many other areas in the tropics. It is, perhaps, the most important of the commercially available products of neem for organic farming and medicines.
Neem oil is generally red as blood, and has a rather strong odour that is said to combine the odours of peanut and garlic. It comprises mainly triglycerides and large amounts of triterpenoid compounds, which are responsible for the bitter taste. It is hydrophobic in nature and in order to emulsify it in water for application purposes, it must be formulated with appropriate surfactants.
Neem oil also contains steroids (campesterol, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol) and many triterpenoids of which azadirachtin is the most well known and studied. The azadirachtin content of neem oil varies from 300ppm to over 2500ppm depending on the extraction technology and quality of the neem seeds crushed.

Mom bought a bottle of Neem Oil and a bar of soap. 



She used a couple of drops on Aspen's ears and washed her neck with the soap.  Within a couple of days, the creeping crud was clearing up and she stopped using it.  Aspen's ears and neck still look good.  She was so impressed that she started reading more about Neem and discovered Neem Leaf capsules so she got some of those, too.  Now, we're all taking Neem Leaf as it is supposed to be good for skin and digestion, among other things.



Again, we're not medical professionals and you should always check with your vet before using anything as there could be contraindications!  But we wanted to share our experience with you in case you might benefit from using Neem.

Has anyone else used Neem?  

The Road Dogs 

Monday, October 24, 2011

More DUCK Tape

Hey boys and girls!  Are you getting your DUCK TAPE pics ready for the DUCT TAPE FESTIVAL?  Do you need some inspiration?  Here are a couple of ideas for you musicians out there :)



And here's a little tune by Eskimo Tailor to get you in the mood ~ CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Wanna see more musical uses for duck tape?  Check out www.octanecreative.com


So, don't forget to send in your DUCK TAPE IN ACTION photos to Frankie at  frankiefurter (AT) wildblue (DOT) net
And your DUCK TAPE ARTSY FARTSY photos to US, The Road Dogs at roaddog (AT) road-dog-tales (DOT) com

by Friday ~ November 4

C'mon - you know you want to!  DUCK TAPE RULES!

The Road Dogs

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

THE ALL-KAYLA MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

Kayla is a "Daddy's Girl" through and through!  Even though Mom is the one who adopted Kayla and got to know her first, it was love at first sight between Dad and Kayla and she gets really bummed when he's out of town, which is WAY TOO MUCH lately, as far as we're concerned. BUT, somebody's gotta pay for the treats, right?

SO, Mom decided to take Kayla all by herself on a Magical Mystery Tour to try to help get her out of her "I MISS MY DAD" funk. 

First stop - WAFFLE HOUSE for BACON!

Oh, this day is already starting out great!



Then - on to PetSmart for treats and toys and whatever Kayla wants!

No surprise here - Kayla goes right for the TREATS!  She's got kinda short legs, so she's stuck with whatever's on the bottom shelf.  Fortunately, there was a pretty good selection and she tore into some right there in the store!

Hmmm, guess Mom's buying those! BOL

Hey, it said BIG BITE - so Kayla took one! hehe

She took a bite out of this one, too! 
Can you spot the hole in the bag?


So this is the treat haul they came home with. 
Something for all of us :)


Now that Kayla has her snacks, Mom decided she needs some of those educational interactive toys to keep her from being so bored.  Kayla is a very smart girl and isn't satisfied with the repetitious games of fetch and fetch and fetch some more that most of us love so much. She doesn't see the point if there's not a treat involved and after 2 or 3 fetches, she just lays down and starts gnawing on whatever she's supposed to be fetching - stick, tennis ball, pine cone, whatever. We have to say, though, that she's got some very clean teeth!

We've got lots of those "roll it around and the treat falls out" kind of toys.  But Mom thought she should get something not food related for a change.  She had read about some of you liking the Hide-A-Squirrel toy, so she got one of those. 






None of us have figured out what the heck to do with this yet.

They brought home our own squeaky toy Pumpkin' Patch and creepy crawler spider, too!  You know, in case we couldn't figure out that squirrel thingymajig.


NEXT STOP - a new collar . . .


We don't get many new collars around here.  Cooper and Aspen swim so much that they had to get those NO-STINK collars which are very sturdy and don't wear out.  And, well, to be honest, nobody here thinks much about collars until we see all of YOUR awesome collars.  Then, we kinda get in the mood to change it up a bit.  And now that we look at it, Kayla had really done a number on the old one.

So, a new collar was in order -



haha Mom's not very original, eh?  Same theme, different colors.  Well, Kayla DOES love her treats so bones totally suit her! 
And speaking of BONES . . .


NEXT STOP - the grocery store for raw meaty bones!

Our peeps aren't as industrious as Frankie's peeps, so they have to BUY our meaty bones.  But, you know something?  We don't mind too much!




Cooper got one, too, but he took it to the backyard to hide it :)

All in all, Kayla thought it was a pretty spectacular day and wonders why EVERY day isn't an ALL-KAYLA MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR!

The Road Dogs

Saturday, October 15, 2011

BLOG THE CHANGE

Blog the Change

We usually Blog the Change about canine issues, but today we're mixing it up and Blogging the Change for Carriage Horses.  We've gotten up close and personal with this issue since we live near Charleston, SC and seen the horses here working under intense heat conditions. 


Heat isn't the only danger to the carriage horses as well as people when a horse slipped its bridle in Charleston


A couple of years ago, Mom got upset enough about the matter to buy a thermometer and walk around the downtown horse carriage route taking photos of the temperatures soaring to well over 100 degrees fahrenheit.  Then she called the local newspaper and they did a story about it.  Turns out that the location of the "official thermometer" used for determining if it was too hot for the horses to be working was located THREE STORIES ABOVE the city streets where the air is much cooler than the steaming asphalt streets where the horses work!  The city code states that the horses are to be taken off the streets when the "official" temperature reads 98 degrees.  So, while the street temperature might read 120 degrees, the "official temperature" was much less, which technically allowed the horses to remain working. 

After about three years of complaints by local residents, the City finally agreed to install additional thermometers at street level for a three-month trial "evaluation" period of time to see if the temperatures taken at street level and the temperature taken three stories in the air differed significantly enough to warrant installing additional thermometers at street level.  They brought in a scientific thermometer company, Rees Scientific, to install the thermometers and had several public meetings about this issue.  Of course, the horse carriage companies were up-in-arms about the change and spoke out loudly about it.  The new thermometers were set to be installed no later than August 15, catching the tail end of the hottest part of Charleston's summer. 

Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the thermometer company pulled out of the project days before the new thermometers were set to be installed.  No one is saying why.  But the carriage companies got their full summer in without interference from the soaring temperatures.

Thanks for reading!

The Road Dogs' Mom

Friday, October 14, 2011

DUCK TAPE FESTIVAL - NOV 7-11

Who doesn't think DUCK TAPE (or DUCT TAPE, if you prefer) is AWESOME?!  It's probably one of the coolest things ever invented.  It's SO cool that Avon, Ohio holds a DUCT TAPE FESTIVAL every year in its honor.  SO, we thought it would be super cool to hold our very own DUCK TAPE FESTIVAL here in Blogville, with our Mayor Frankie Furter presiding over the festivities and we'll be co-hosting.

To get you in a duck tape frame of mind, we're gonna share some little known facts about duck tape -

Did you know that duck tape was originally invented to help ducklings stay close to their moms, like so -

Can you see the duck tape?

Wha-?  Huh?  Mom's telling us that is NOT the reason duck tape was invented.  Hmmmm, well how about this -

Duct tape (the WWII military version) was first created and manufactured in 1942 (approximate date) by the Johnson and Johnson Permacel Division. Its closest predecessor was medical tape. 

The original use was to keep moisture out of the ammunition cases. Because it was waterproof, people referred to the tape as "Duck Tape." Also, the tape was made using cotton duck - similar to what was used in their cloth medical tapes. Military personnel quickly discovered that the tape was very versatile and used it to fix their guns, jeeps, aircraft, etc. After the war, the tape was used in the booming housing industry to connect heating and air conditioning duct work together.

Soon, the color was changed from Army green to silver to match the duct work and people started to refer to duck tape as "Duct Tape." Things changed during the 1970s, when the partners at Manco, Inc. placed rolls of duct tape in shrink wrap, making it easier for retailers to stack the sticky rolls. Different grades and colors of duct tape weren´t far behind. Soon, duct tape became the most versatile tool in the household.

Okay, that works, too. 

So, on with the celebration.  We thought we'd do this in TWO parts and you can enter EITHER or BOTH. 

One part will be a DUCK TAPE IN ACTION contest.  What we'll be looking for here are random sitings of duck tape used in more of a practical or functional way.  The sitings can be at your own house or somewhere out in the world.   Say, for instance, you use duck tape to keep your leash in one piece 'cause SOMEBODY chewed it apart.  That would be a good entry for DUCK TAPE IN ACTION.  Or if you happen to see something like this in your travels away from home -

An excellent example of DUCK TAPE IN ACTION



PART DEUX - DUCK TAPE ART will be a contest of your ARTISTIC skills using DUCK TAPE as your medium.  We want you to create something using ONLY DUCK TAPE (or duct tape).  You can use any or every color you want. It can be functional and serve a purpose like this -


OR this . . .


OR it can be purely decorative, like this -



We don't have many rules, but we think this one probably bears mentioning - DO NOT USE LIVE THINGS in your entries.  Like this, for example -

THIS IS A NO NO!

SO, are you psyched yet?  Got your DUCK TAPE ideas all ready to go? 

Here's where you send 'em in by Friday, November 4-

DUCK TAPE IN ACTION Photos - email to Mayor Frankie at  frankiefurter (AT) wildblue (DOT) net

DUCK TAPE ART Photos - email to The Road Dogs at roaddog (AT) road-dog-tales (DOT) com or just click on our "EMAIL US" link at the top of the blog.

We'll keep you posted with details as we think of them.  But, you can start sending in your pics anytime!

The Road Ducks, um, DOGS!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011

A SMILE, A PARADE AND A SUPER TRANSPORT

Well, we sure did have a super fun and informative SAFETY WEEK here in Blogville.  We can say for certain that we learned LOTS of important safety tips from everyone - Deputy BertClerk Mona, Chief Investigator PipFire Chief Bucky, Nurse Maggie Mae Deputy Zona and Sarge - for sharing all their AWESOME safety tips with us.  

And a special HUGE thanks to Sarge for organizing this SUPER event.

We also want to thank all of you for letting us serve your TRANSPORT needs during the week and hope everyone enjoyed the rides and that you got to ride in your fave. 

Don't forget to stop by Bucky's for a Super 'Safety Week' Parade!


And, NOW, we have a special FINAL TRANSPORT to wrap up the week in an AWESOME way.  Our pal ROO put in a request for this ride and we weren't quite sure if we would be able to get it.  Turns out the military was more than happy to accomodate our request and then it was just a matter of getting the lettering right and NOW we're ready to unveil it. 
This is gonna make your trip home from SAFETY WEEK super fast and super safe and we're sure it will make you SMILE, which is cool 'cause this is also World SMILE Day hosted by Sugar, Maggie Mae & Dory





Um, Mom was too lazy to find smiley photos of US :)



Now, everyone hop aboard, fasten your safety harnesses and we guarantee you'll be home before dinnertime!

How COOL is this!??


Psssst, Roo, we hope you were talking about a plane when you asked for a "harrier" and not this kind of "harrier" - BOL!!!



Thanks again, efurryone, for a SUPER FUN and INFORMATIVE SAFETY WEEK and hope everyone finds LOTS of things to smile about today!

The Road Dogs (zoom, zoom, zoom)



Tuesday, October 4, 2011

JAZZI'S NATIONAL TACO DAY


It's FINALLY here! The day so many have been waiting for - JAZZI'S NATIONAL TACO DAY! And we're thrilled to be celebrating it with her!  Mom made us some super special BACON soft tacos!  Do you think we like 'em?  We think these pics show how we feel about BACON TACOS!










Mmmmmmmmmmm, BACON TACOS!  Can we PLEEEEEEASE have some now???  Thanks JAZZI for hosting NATIONAL TACO DAY!


The Road Dogs