Sixty Fireweeds

What for, you wonder? And why sixty? For the dogs, of course! :)

Normally, we chop and grind up all sorts of fresh herbs and add them to the dogs´s feed buckets, or occasionally I make an infusion. Come October, we supplement with dry herbs until May or June. 

But it´s fun to do something else once in a while and be creative. During boring hot summer days like the ones we are having now, the dogs are grateful for something "different" and I like to have more reasons to go visit with them during the day, besides changing their water and hosing down the kennel floors, platforms and dog house roofs.

So today, each dog got their own fireweed plant to munch on, shred it into pieces or do whatever their little hearts desired.
Read about the use and health benefits of fireweed in my other blog posts:

>> Herb Of The Month: Fireweed

>> Fireweed: The Multipurpose Beauty

Skittles was very gentle with her flower.

Bolt took it gratefully and ate it all at once, including all the leaves.

Comet sniffed it properly first, then took and ate it.

Music is a pro at eating plants, so he was done with his pretty quick.

Iceman. The ever-cheerful Iceman. He of course grabbed it playfully and hopped around with it on top of his house. Perhaps his idea of a use of flower was to train for a tango.

Alfa also played around with hers before eventually eating it.

It was interesting to watch how each dog reacts and what he or she does with the flower.

The most enthusiastic fireweed eaters turned out to  be the Mush girls (Aliy, Dee Dee, Sigrid, Libby and Susie) and their mom Star, Maya, Cora, Tolly, Lucky, Balto and of course the puppies - Gusty, Storm, Breezy, Bubu and Windy. Those guys are the most avid herb eaters we´ve ever had.

Sorry, I did not take a picture of everyone. But I noticed that fireweed is not on everyone´s list of favorite foods. 

A few dogs kept is as a decoration by their dog house entrance. I guess they take after me - with a little bit of feeling for esthetics :)