The Real Challenge: Training Mama

January was Train Your Dog Month. 

What a stupid name for a month. The Mama didn't train me on a single woofing thing. Not one thing. The least she could have done, in the spirit of the occasion, would have been to teach me even a single little trick. I mean really, Kristine at Rescued Insanity decided to tackle the impossible and make Shiva and the Cat into a performance duo. That's impressive. Honey and Pamela at Something Wagging are trying to embrace the Doggyride Cart. Solid goal. Parker & Skye learned abut off leash skills. Elka learned to treat the snowy steps with some decorum and the Mama did nothing. She should be ashamed.

A better name would be Train Your Mama Month.

That's what we did at Casa de Kolchak. When I realized that the Mama had nothing planned, I took matters into my own paws. You guys are going to be so woofing proud of me. For real. You'll never believe what I taught the Mama this month. 

I taught her how to play K9 Nose Work games. 

An example of K9 Nose work. 

I tend to scent with the same vibrant enthusiasm as Moshi the Boston Terrier.

(You can hold you applause, please.) She keeps telling people that she was teaching me K9 Nose work, but that is absolutely ridiculous. You see, I already knew how to play scent games.  I already knew how to smell. When I smelled something I wanted, I found it. It was simple really. I have a Class A sniffer. 

The problem was training the Mama to hide tasty morsels for me to find.

Four Paws Up: Worst in Show

Confession time at Casa de Kolchak.

You know those "Ugly Naked Dogs"? The ones that look like they have some sort of weird skin condition?
You know, these ones??

SOURCE: LA Times

Rascal, one of the World's Ugliest Dogs

Yeah. Shocking, I know. The Mama likes the Cresteds.

Movie Mayhem at Casa de Kolchak

You know what's fun?


Watching a movie with the Mama and Felix. We snuggled up last night to watch a great one and I can't help but reflect fondly on the whole experience. There's something so darn...cozy...about it, isn't there.

I don't know why the Mama was so disgruntled about it.


That lady is a crank pot. I mean, there the Felix and I are, all ready to enjoy this fun film and she is just downright uptight! I don't really get what her issues were, but she seemed to throwing out those exasperated sighs a whole lot and she kept snapping at me. What do you think? Was I being a "pest", as she insisted I was?

Things overheard at Casa de Kolchak while watching a movie:

Tasty Tuesday: Bananarama

The Mama did it again.


She bought bananas. I honestly don't know why she even bothers. OK, she wants a banana. I get it. Those things are darn Tasty, but why does she have to get three bananas? She doesn't want three bananas. She's going to eat one and then the other two are going to end up like this:

No one is going to eat a gross brown banana, Mama.

No one. Those things look gross. (And frankly, the pear has seen better days too.) The Mama always claims that she is going to make banana bread, but let's face it. If you're a human around here and you're expecting the Mama to cook for you, you might be waiting a long time. It's mostly canine cuisine crafted 'round these parts.

Good thing I love bananas too.

Seriously. Those little suckers are delicious. I don't care for the mushy ones. I'm a picky puggle. I like a nice firm banana or nothing. That's why the Mama had to turn these into banana chips.

Peanut butter and banana chips.

2 bananas

Optional: 2 tbsp. Lemon juice.

2 tbsp. natural peanut butter

Preheat oven to 250F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice bananas as thin as possible and brush with lemon juice (optional: to prevent discolouration). Spread a very very  thin layer of peanut butter on one side. Lay out on the baking sheet, peanut butter side up.

Bake for 90 minutes. Then flip over and bake for additional 90 minutes or until crispy.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

This is a blog hop!

Every week, we invite you to link up your Tastiest Post and Hop On to discover all sorts of new treats, great giveaways and all things snack and treat related! 

To take part, follow your hosts, Kol's Notes  & Sugar the Golden Retriever, grab the badge above,  get the InLinkz code  for your post, and add your link to this week's inLinkz tool!

the Kol's Notes Weekly Woof: Jan.29

It's time for your weekly woof: bits and barks from all over the interweb. 

Do you have a woof-worthy post that you'd like to see featured here? E-mail us the link at kolchakpuggle (at) gmail (dot) com. Now, with no further ado...

Kickin' it with Koly 

what we've been up to at Kol's Notes this week

I took excellent care of Mama the Blowfish. Need help taking care of your whiny human? Kol's got your back with these helpful hints.

We're giving away COOKIES!

Who knew International Peanut Butter Lover's Day was even a THING? We celebrated. Oh yes. We. Celebrated. (So did our friend Georgia, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. We tried her bikkie recipe and it was divine. Just as good as the ones Mama made.)

In other news, Felix claims I'm not a very good little brother and Gabby, the sweet little girl puggle I woofed about a few days ago is ADOPTED!

Where's Koly?

things I woofed when I wasn't here

Over at Two Little Cavalier's we're Cooking with Dogs! This week Mama indulged her zucchini stick craving with an easy to make dog-friendly baked version!

Mama's pinning obsession isn't getting any better. It doesn't help that y'all are encouraging her! 

We discovered some of our fab friends on Pinterest this week! Check out cool doggy pinboards from Affurmation, Lulu & Wally, Alfie Entlebucher, and Bailey Be Good. If that wasn't Pinterest/Obsessed enough, Two Little Cavaliers is hosting a weekly Pinhop.

You know that 365 Project we started? We added all sorts of cute stuff to our Pet Project 365 board. Lots of great friends have got in the action, including our close personal friends the Boyzles, who have started their very own blog! Please go give them a woof, OK?

Over on that Facebook place, the Mama learned that Halo is developing a VEGAN dog food. She's not impressed with this and doesn't that it's species appropriate at all, what do you think?

We keep forgetting that Twitter exists. WHOOPS! Woof at us occasionally and we'll hopefully start remembering!

Woofs from the Web

woof worthy posts from all over the interwebs

K9 Kamp is coming! Will you join us?

What do you do when you see a dog that might need your help? The wise and wonderful Love and a 6-Foot Leash shares their thoughts what they do when they don't see eye to eye with some one's doggy philosophy. This awesome post is a must read. 

Speaking of wise rescue posts, Peace, Love and Fostering wants to know if those sob stories we pin on our rescue dogs are really helping? Maybe we should be embracing the power of being positive??

Doggy Fortune Cookies? We're in awe of this ridiculously cute idea! I want a fortune!!  Check out the recipe from Doggy Dessert Chef and then head over to Life with Arie to see how theirs turned out. SO COOL!

We loved this post from Dawg Business. I think it perfectly sums up why we here at Casa de Kolchak choose to feed a whole food diet, rather than a kibble sprayed with vitamin supplements. A good read for anyone questioning is whether kibble is the healthiest option for their dog (or really, even if vitamin supplements are healthiest for you!)

Mama? I wants these toys, please. If Bailey and Nala like them, I'm sure I will too. Thanks a heap!

Does being a "dog person" make you a good person? Thought provoking and well written post from Something Wagging. Don't miss it.

And last, we just can't resist Zumba dog!

This week's woof is brought to you by the fabulous artist who created our beautiful logo and who draws our awesome even badges, the very talented Connie Gross! Look for even more of Connie's fabulous work coming soon to Kol's Notes.

A Letter to Kolchak ~ by Felix

Alright Koly. That's enough.


All in all, I think I am a pretty darn good brother. I AM. I let you hog the Mama's lap. I don't interfere when you wrestle the Daddy.

I let you have the last bite of my breakfast.


The Nana likes to over serve me, so I'm already full and I know you want it. I'm really great that way. You might have the best big brother in the whole world.

So why are you such a JERK?!


You put forth this awesome snout here on our blog. "Lookit at Koly.", "Isn't Koly cute?", "Koly is such a nice dog." Let's let the nice folks see how you really are, eh?

Sideways Stories from Wayside Waifs

I wonder if the shelter director at Wayside Waifs' name is Miss Jewls?


That would be awesome. I wonder if they have a green ball that bounces better than any of the other balls? Or if they have three Erics or a boy named Nancy? I wonder if they are on the 30th floor? Do they ever throw computers out the window to learn about gravity? Do they have rats that wear raincoats?

Does anyone other than the Mama have any idea what we are woofing about?

Pet Project 365: Week 1/52

Wow Y'all! I can't believe it's only been ONE WEEK of Project Koly & Fe.





I'm not going to lie. I was more than a little concerned when I took this project on. When I saw Lu & Wally woof about their Pet Project, I thought it was pretty darn cool. I thought it would be a fabulous way to capture a year in the life and I thought there was NO WAY, I could do it.

For realz.


But this is the year of YES! here at Casa de Kolchak, so when they asked if I wanted to jump in, start a Pet Project of my own and co-host this blog hop, I said yes. I mean really, what a great way to celebrate my life with dogs.


It's surprisingly a whole  lot easier than I expected. 


It helps that Kolchak and Felix are super cute and they give me a lot of good material to work with.I always have the camera out for special occasions, but in the business of every day life, I often fail to capture those everyday moments. The ones that mean the most.

the One Where the Mama Goes Back to Work

It's been one for the books here at Casa de Kolchak.


One week ago, the Mama puffed up like a blow fish and broke out into polka dots. The dogtors were baffled. They said it was a virus, then an allergy, then her kidneys or her thyroid and now, they're saying it's an allergy. While they figured it out, the Mama was told to stay home. First, they didn't want anyone to catch what she had and then the medicine they gave her made it really easy for her to catch something from someone else. She wasn't really sick, but she wasn't well enough to go anywhere either. She was trapped.

What does a Mama do when she's on house arrest for a week?

K is for K9 Kamp

We're getting excited for the next installment of Koly & Kelly's K9 Kamp?

Are you a returning kamper? A new friend who would like to have fun and get fit with your dog? Head over to visit my K9 Kamp co-hosts Peggy & Kelly from Peggy's Pet Place for the latest K9 Kamp announcement!

Click here to check it out!

Wordless Wednesday: It's a Tough Job

It's a tough job, but some doggy has got to do it.


This dog has a job, yo. I am a full time taste tester and quality assurance manager at Kolchak's Kitchen. It is my job to test every single batch of treats for optimal flavour and quality. I am a fabulous taste tester.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jodi on Pinterest

The crazy eyes mean the treat has passed quality control - 

and that the Mama could lose a finger if she isn't careful.

Felix is the Assisant to the Quality Assurance Manager.

He is full of his own self importance (not unlike another Assistant to the Manager). He takes his job very seriously and refuses to get even a little crazy when he find a treat he loves.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jodi on Pinterest

He politely takes the test sample and chews it carefully, 

savouring every flavour to ensure it is just right.

The only way you'll know that he liked something is if he comes back and asks for more. He sounds like Oliver Twist, he's so darn quiet and polite. "Woof sir, may I have some more?"

LIGHTEN UP FE! It's not bad work - if you can get it!

Tasty Tuesday: Happy International Peanut Butter Lover's Day

Holy Woof you guys!


The Mama almost missed this momentous occasion!

We could not let this pass with out celebration!