Happy Dog

This was back in March.  Had to share!

Dogs' life

 

Well, we did it.  We are the official owners of a second dog, adopted from the animal shelter here on Tuesday, neutered and then straight to our house on Wednesday.  We had a long list of names we were thinking about--Chewie, Rex, Tex, Chip, Jett, and Samson, for starters.  Samson won in the end, mainly because I couldn't resist Rhiannon and Wade's puppy dog eyes! 

 

This morning I was out taking both dogs for a walk and had to laugh at the drivers swiveling in their cars to check out the odd pair.  You've got Oscar, a lean, mean machine, tall and white, and then you've got Samson with his cone of shame, 5-10 pounds overweight, short and black.  Or maybe people were just laughing at the short little woman out trying to walk them at the same time! 

 

I have slept on the couch the last three nights to be near the dogs downstairs.  Oscar is in his crate, and Samson is in an exercise pen right next to Oscar.  Samson can't fit in his crate yet because of the e-collar, and I imagine it's going to take a while for him to be comfortable in the crate.  I'm not really excited about bringing crates and dog beds up to our rooms, but I did read that shelter dogs in particular have abandonment issues and can get freaked out at night until they've adjusted and know for sure that you'll always come back.  Samson whined a TON the first night.  Seems silly, but it makes a lot of sense because when I came home from errands and carpool several times the past few days, Samson was beside himself when I walked in the door, SO EXCITED!

 

 

 

 

Oscar is doing pretty well with the new addition.  He wants to play with Samson so badly, but Samson lets him know when enough is enough.  I'm grateful for this, especially since Samson just had surgery!   We're trying to establish Oscar as the top dog, feeding him first, not letting Samson into his crate or play with his toys, etc., but sometimes it's a little unclear who the natural top dog is!   Oscar gets one-on-one time each day playing fetch, but otherwise we try to give the dogs equal amounts of attention.

 

Knock on wood, there have been NO accidents, just lots of little surprises and glimpses into Samson's personality and past.  I think he's been trained (good on a leash, dances for treats, potty-trained), and it's pretty clear he's been spoiled (overweight, jumps right into your lap when you're on the couch, loves to snuggle).  He's scared us a couple times with his jumping feats.  He scaled some chairs I had set up as a barrier because he wanted to be RIGHT next to me in the other room, and then the next day he jumped from the top of the couch.  I think we're pretty lucky that he didn't open his surgical incision!!!  

 

 

It'll be great to get Jason home tomorrow night from his high school reunion so that he can experience all the fun we've had with two dogs, ha-ha!  So far things are going great!  We're all a little in awe.  Wade put it best when he said, "I just can't believe that we met this dog for the first time on Saturday and now he's ours!"

Since the cruise...BIG recap

Whew!  Can you believe it's MAY already?  I love getting closer to summer break, but it's a little scary how quickly time moves, too!

I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about all I want to say about the last three weeks; it's been crazy busy and crazy fun.  Guess I'll just plunge in and take a lunch break when I need it!

Starting youngest to oldest:

Oscar:  is a good teenage dog.  He is still uber-protective, occasionally very feisty when he wants to play, and loved by every member of our family.  He loves his dog chew toys; he also loves grass, much to our chagrin.  This dog will literally mow the grass if we're not paying attention.  He is still Mom's constant shadow, the perfect companion for an afternoon nap, and a great "walker."  I love how he perks up when he sees me going for his leash!

Wade:  is only 45+ objectives away from completing SIXTH GRADE math objectives.  I don't know if he'll get it done before school ends on the 30th, but he's super close.  He loves playing outside with all his neighbor friends, too.  Last week Wade and I played basketball at the park every school morning after we'd dropped Rhiannon off.  It was fun trying to shoot hoops together!  He's practicing for a piano recital this weekend, has a big history project all spread out on the dining room table (log cabin), and he's looking forward to a Fathers/Sons camp out with his dad on Friday.  No, he hasn't been to Iron Man 3 yet, and it's KILLING him.  He's probably got the meanest parents ever, seeing as how he's willing to pay for his own ticket! :)

As far as baseball, well, it's play-off time and Wade's team is in last place.  The only game they've won was against a team from out of town, and it doesn't count. Can you imagine what that must feel like for 9- and 10-year-old boys? 

 

I think the head coach put it best after a very messy practice last week  To put it gently, the boys are talented, but, man, they don't listen, they argue, and they don't work as a team.  I can't tell you how many times we've started out looking like we're going to win and end up losing.  After a 16-13 loss at last week's game, the coaches gathered Wade's team together again, and Wade got a huge compliment.   Coach Tony pointed to Wade and two other boys and said, "These boys are the best examples on our team.  They NEVER argue, they listen, and they play hard."  Wade came back to the dugout, beaming.  I'm thankful to the coach for recognizing Wade's efforts, because, I'm not gonna lie, it's been hard showing up practice after practice, game after game.  Lots of life lessons learned, we hope!  Wish the Tigers good luck in the play-offs!  :)

 

Rhiannon:  stayed pretty busy the last two weeks with state testing and was really happy when that was all over.  She is NOT looking forward to school ending for a couple reasons.  The last day of school is on her birthday, it's a minimum day, and she loves seeing her friends at school.  We'll try to do a better job helping her get with friends this summer than we did last year.  In her free time, she's either:

 

a) on the piano

b) on the computer, writing stories and fan fiction on Goodreads

c) sitting on the couch watching Dr. Who on Netflix

d) reading up in her bedroom  (she recently went through her own "library" and realized there were books of her own that she hadn't read yet, so she's trying to go through those.)

e) sending emails to her friend Leslie in Virginia

f) online surfing for funny YouTube videos or Piano Guys' music, OR finding cute clothes and sending links for them to me via email!  Both Rhiannon and Wade have got this video almost completely memorized, NO LIE: 

 

 

This weekend Rhiannon "made" over $60 with her allowance, money from a Saturday night babysitting job, and $35 of mystery money she found in a bag in her room.  Lucky!

She also performed in her first Honors Recital yesterday with other 7th thru 12th graders.  She did a great job on El Diablo! :)

 

 

 

Me:  after a quick 5 months working with the Young Women at church, I'm now working as a Webelos leader with the 10-year-old Cub Scouts.  I jumped right in to the new calling this week with a pack meeting and an all-day day hike on Saturday (which was a blast.)  Probably the greatest thing about this new "job" is that I get to work with my longtime Ridgecrest friend Judith.  She is AMAZING! 

 

Sub jobs have been almost non-existent due to state testing, and that's okay.  I've gotten lots of decluttering done around the house and even went out in the garden and pulled weeds because I WANTED to. :)  I've enjoyed watching "Call the Midwife" on Netflix, too--look it up, Downton Abbey lovers!  It's g-o-o-o-o-d.

 

I'm really looking forward to summer break, Cub Scout day camp (I'm helping with crafts this year), lots of down-time, and a Sheen Reunion over the 4th of July!

 

 

 

Jason:  completed another one of these last month...

 

 

 

with his "How the West was Run" team.  They did great!!!

 

 

And he started this yesterday...

 





 

 

He's amazing and motivated!   He's planning on getting the workouts done in the mornings.  The past 2 days Jason has gotten up at 4:45am; maybe I'll "join" him by taking Oscar on some early-morning walks, but doing weights/hard-core routines that early in the morning takes way more willpower than I've got! :)

 

It's been nice having Jason home more; less federal budget money means less travel.  It makes his job harder, but it's been GREAT having him home.  He's been wonderful about covering Wade's baseball games when we've had conflicting schedules, for just one example!

 

 

ALL:  last night we enjoyed a Cinco de Mayo dinner at our friends' home across the street, the Hawkins family.  We had a great time, ate delicious food, and enjoyed visiting.  It was a great way to start another busy week of May!

Running circles

I didn't get a walk in with Oscar today, but I didn't feel TOO bad about it because I took him for a long walk yesterday morning and to Wade's flag football practice last night (Oscar LOVES going for walks at night, too.)

The poor dog figured out a coping mechanism and did his own exercise in the house just now.   He literally raced from one end of the hall to the other, back and forth, crazy fast, until he'd finally had enough.   We call it his "puppy crazies."  Thankfully he doesn't do it in the house too much, or we wouldn't have any carpet left.

It's loud.  I imagine it sounds a lot like this would:

Life is good.  Tonight our family is attending Rhiannon's Christmas band concert.  She says it's going to be "bossome"--Boss + Awesome = Bossome.  Tomorrow night is the Christmas dinner at our church, and then Saturday is Wade's 2nd flag football game. 

I'm about ready to work on Christmas cards--this is a good sign.  Last year I was so busy with a brand-new puppy that I could hardly think straight.  Things are almost "back to normal" from what they were then--now we just have a very large teenage dog who runs circles around the house!

Family Camping Trip

We had a FANTASTIC time this weekend on our family camping trip. Jason and I packed up for it on Friday while the kids were in school, and then we jumped in the truck as soon as the kids were both home that afternoon. I'll add details to this post tomorrow, but for now, enjoy the digital scrapbook of our fun times!

Free scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

More Oscar pictures

Wade took some cute pictures of Oscar last week that I had to share.  Oscar's haircut is already starting to grow out--my favorite part is the hair sticking straight up from his ears.

We love this dog, even when he's driving us bonkers!  It's interesting how he has a different relationship with each one of us and we've all connected to him in our own way.  He's Mommy's shadow and follows me around all day long, but his tail wags the fastest for Jason.  Jason is also the one who can get him riled up the fastest and calmed down in an instant.  Rhiannon loves hugging on Oscar and having him hang out in her bedroom, and Wade is the only one who can get Oscar to hold still for his daily face cleaning check (cleaning the drainage from his eyes that gets goopy sometimes).  Hard to believe he'll be a year old next month!!  Where has the time gone?

Surprises are fun!

As new dog owners, we're learning a lot.  We're learning that it's okay if the bottom half of the back patio door is covered in dog slobber for a while.  We've gotten used to stray dog hairs.  Our floor is littered here and there with misc dog toys, and we know where to look for tennis balls (they're always under the couches).  We're getting used to squeaky toys. We're learning that we've been blessed with a really sweet Labradoodle who loves people, loves to spaz out occasionally and run circles in the backyard or up and down the stairs, and LOVES being around us.  He is my c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t companion, not in my face but just near me at all times.  It's mostly wonderful and only occasionally annoying (like when I need to take a shower!)  And Oscar is super easy to please--just give him food, water, a walk, a little lovin' and some tennis ball fetch action, and he's good!

We're also learning a lot about the grooming experience.  I don't trust myself to do it, so we take him to a place called Ladybugs here in town about every 3 months, and they do a good job.  The first two times we followed the directions from Oscar's "grandma," who said to get a "teddy bear face".  It was okay, but I think our brains saw something like this when he came out:

OK, maybe it wasn't that bad, but we weren't big fans of the end result.  So today we asked simply that Oscar look more like a Labrador than a poodle.  And we got this:





Holy smokes, I love it!  We've got one handsome little boy!  And the best part is that I think Oscar is pretty happy with his haircut, too. 

Oscar and the girls

Rhiannon and I were being goofy on her birthday and took some fun pictures with Oscar.  It's a pretty fair presentation of how much love this dog gets!  (and how much he enjoys being on the couch with us!  It's the one place in the house we're okay with--most other places are OFF LIMITS.)

Many people ask me how "the dog thing" is going.  Well, it's going great.  Oscar does keep us on our toes and keeps us guessing.  He drives us crazy but we love him so much! 

Rewind: Polar Bear Club 2012

Time for blog catch-up! 

Jason opened up the pool at the beginning of May--the solar cover makes this possible and "heats" the water up really well!   

Both Rhiannon and Wade had a good time doing the Polar Bear challenge, but Oscar was content just circling the pool and trying to sneak drinks.  We did throw him in after a couple days, and he was NOT amused.  At least we know he can swim now--he just doesn't know how to get out, which is a little scary.   We'll work on it!

Enjoy the pictures!

Hmmmm...do you think the water is cold?

Dunk your head, Rhiannon!

Catching Rhiannon's jump on camera--cool!

Love these kids! :)

I thought we'd moved past this...

Ready for another Oscar story or two? 

Be forewarned, it's full of TMI (too much information).

I finally took Oscar to the vet last week because he'd had runny dog doo for a LONG time, it wasn't getting better, and it had finally gotten so that he couldn't hold it in. 

The night before I took him into the vet, he'd been rustling and making noises in his crate about 10:30pm so I let him outside to do his business.

It took me SIXTY minutes to get the dog to come inside. 

This was weird--he wouldn't even come in after I'd tried EVERYTHING, even made a trail of hot dog pieces for him to follow, sort of Hansel-and-Gretel style.  Finally at 11:30pm I grabbed him, put him in his crate, and took another 30 minutes to cool down emotionally.  I was SO MAD!

Well, when I came downstairs the next morning, he'd messed all over his bedding in the crate.  I was still pretty ticked, but I slowly realized that Oscar had probably wanted to spend the night outdoors so that he WOULDN'T mess in his crate because of his upset tummy.

He got tested for parasites and other "bugs" at the vet, and the results were negative.  The vet was stumped, but he did some research and wanted us to try adding more fiber to Oscar's diet.  He gave us some

REALLY, REALLY, REALLY

expensive prescription dog food to try plus a fiber powder to add to his food once a day. 

After one meal of the special food and powder, Oscar's issue was fixed.  This was miraculous to me after all the messy piles of dog doo I'd been picking up for weeks.  I'll be honest, it was the prettiest pile of dog doo I'd ever seen since we'd gotten Oscar back in December!  How's that for an image, ha-ha!

Fast-forward a few days to Sunday night.  We'd had a wonderful day and enjoyed some time with friends in the evening for a couple hours.  When we came home, the first thing we noticed was one of Rhiannon's shirts on the kitchen floor.  We inspected it and Oscar had torn a little hole into it.  Well, we told Rhiannon, that's what you get for leaving clothes on your floor.  But she insisted that her floor had been picked up.  We walked upstairs and found a path of destruction left by Oscar.

Here's the list of things he'd chewed through:

A whole pencil--there were slivers of wood and pencil lead/graphite in Rhiannon's carpet

A chaptick

A strap off of Wade's favorite watch

A pen

Several important papers of Rhiannon's, including her Girls Camp supply list and a special paper she'd gotten from our bishop that day for turning 12 this week

A container of Vaseline jelly

Some of Wade's stuffed animals

Part of Jason's running sock

Part of the sole of Rhiannon's running shoe

HALF of one of Jason's thick wool hiking socks

Some mystery plastic container--maybe the Vaseline one?


Oscar had definitely had a PAR-TAY in our absence!  He'd just had dinner, so he wasn't starving.  It was almost like he was throwing a tantrum since we'd been gone a lot that day to church and our friends' home after dinner. 

The crazy part was that he was so excited and happy to see us when we got home, his tail was wagging, but when he saw our faces looking at the mess he'd created, he seriously turned around and walked himself into his crate, sad face and everything.  He knew he was in trouble.

It's now been about 36 hours--he's had normal bowel movements, is eating and drinking and sleeping just fine, but we are on the lookout for weird stuff he passes the next few days!  Please keep him (and us) in your prayers!

Oh, and he now stays in the crate if we're not home.  We've got to keep him safe from the house, and keep the HOUSE safe from HIM!

Flying leaps and tender mercies

When I came home from my morning sub job yesterday, Oscar was not in his ex-pen.  And the ex-pen was still intact.  Meaning the 16-ft fenced area attached to his crate was still up and fastened together in one piece.  I DID notice, however, that the fenced area had been stretched out into a rectangle shape, almost like Oscar had made his very own runway.

Using my impressive Sherlock Holmes deduction skills, I knew right away that

a)  Oscar had not been abducted by aliens.
b)  Oscar was not (yet) able to undo the metal locks attaching the fence to his crate and then fasten them again so we were non the wiser.
c)  Oscar did not have "beam me up Scotty" Star Trek powers.
d)  Oscar did not (yet) know how to open doors.

which led me to believe our 5-month-old, 40-pound dog had used his own powers of deduction to figure out how to jump over  the 30-inch fence.

Just seconds after that I heard the "tinkle-tinkle" of Oscar's collar and then found him upstairs!  Nothing looked like it had been disturbed in the whole house, so here's hoping all he did was enjoy a little freedom memorizing all the scents in the house.

That afternoon I barricaded Oscar the best I could in the downstairs kitchen/living room area because I had to leave again.  I dog-proofed the very best I could and then said a prayer that all would be okay.

Everything was fine.  Even better, I finally got over my phobia of shutting Oscar up in his crate and secured him in it this morning while I was out carpooling and running errands.  He did just fine!  Happy puppy and HAPPY owners!

Now here's the interesting thing, and it's just another example of how I know there is a loving Heavenly Father who knows every tiny detail of our lives.

I hadn't told anyone, but I was feeling really guilty that I hadn't crate-trained Oscar yet.

I was secretly very worried about how he was going to do for his "grandma" Cheryl next week while we're away during Spring Break.  

I'd been traumatized about shutting Oscar in the crate for long periods of time because of an experience with it the first week we got him (just picture a huge poopy mess).

And then today, because of Oscar's flying leap, I simply had to bite the bullet and make a choice between what I thought was the lesser evil--either keeping the house safe from Oscar and dealing with whatever I found in the crate OR letting him roam free while I hoped for the best.

I feel so much better!

2 trips to the vet this week, for starters

This week was one of those "blacked out" kind of weeks, where you look at the family calendar hanging in the kitchen and can't find space to write anything else.  It had its fair share of drama, too.

Monday:
Wade stayed home from school.  He'd been sick the day before but seemed fine the next day.  (I'm starting to wonder if he accidentally ate something with peanuts, though he won't own up to it.)  That afternoon he had an orthodontic appointment and got the thumbs up for doing a good job with his palate expander.  He's going to have that thing for several more months, but he's doing great with it.  He's excited to change the band color on his brackets at the next visit.  Right now he's sporting yellow.


Tuesday:
Rhiannon went on a field trip in the morning at a lab here on base and absolutely loved it.  She loved the chemistry lab and seeing different experiments.  (Ask her about the liquid nitrogen popcorn!)



I finally got Oscar into the vet that day after a week of his diarrhea--poor doggy, we just kept thinking it would clear up, but it turns out he had giardia, a water-born illness that is VERY common in Ridgecrest.  Came home with some medicine for him, and the very next day he was better, as though it had never happened.  Hurray!  The bad part is that he HATED being there at the vet and barked like crazy.  He doesn't have a yippy bark--when he's at the vet he has a cover-your-ears-and-hope-the-building-doesn't-come-crashing-down-on-us-earthquake bark.  At least, that's what it felt like to me!





Wednesday:
Drama Day.
I volunteered at both Rhiannon and Wade's schools that day, and then that afternoon the kids helped me give Oscar a bath, the first one since his neutering.  It was so fun, and he was such a happy, clean puppy!  10 minutes later was a different story.  Long story short, he found one of Rhiannon's anklet socks and swallowed it whole.  I didn't even know it was in his mouth until he went out to the middle of the yard, turned around and looked at me, and opened his mouth.  I guess he knew he was in trouble because he WOULD NOT come to us, no matter how we encouraged and enticed him. 



By the time we caught him, the sock was gone.  (An overnight visit to the vet, more earthquake barking, lots of tears, x-rays, catheter, IVs, and $500 later, I picked him up from the vet the next day and no sock had shown up yet.)  I called Jason to ask for his help getting Wade to his baseball scrimmage, and then Oscar and I hung out at the vet for a few hours.  Wade did well at his game, and we survived the cold, too.  It was weird and depressing to come home though after the game to a quiet house and no tail wagging--we all felt really bad and scared for Oscar.

Thursday:
Went visiting teaching in the morning and picked up Oscar in the afternoon.  Still no sock.  They'd tried to fill him with fluids to help him pass it, with no luck.  I asked to take him home, and they said to watch for vomiting or diarrhea and to bring him back asap if that happened.  Oscar has a nice bare patch on one of his front legs from where they shaved him for the IV, but otherwise he was jumping and happy and completely oblivious to the horror and sadness he'd caused his owners!  The vet techs guessed that he was barking so badly because he was being protective of me--they said he'd calmed down and had been a dream patient for them, thank goodness!  I took him home, threw some pillows on the floor, and took a long nap with the puppy--we were both worn out.  That night Jason played raquetball with the young men from church, Rhiannon learned some first aid in preparation for Girls Camp this summer, and Wade and I stood outside in the dark for 90 minutes waiting for his baseball team pictures to get taken.  It was a weird set-up, but the weather was nice!


Friday:
I helped out at Wade's school book fair for a bit.  That afternoon Oscar and I were running around in the yard when all of a sudden he froze, bent over, and threw up the sock!  I think that's got to be the weirdest thing in my whole life to see, and weirder still that I was so happy about it!  Check out this news story about another dog with a laundry problem.  It's something I came across when I was scouring the Internet with worry:

Turns out it wasn't a tumor after all...




That night we all sat back and put our feet up.  We needed it!

Saturday:

Today we all



Rhiannon went to her Expanding Your Horizons science/math conference at 8am.  She got a t-shirt, a fun bag, made interesting projects, and enjoyed being with friends.  She says she will DEFINITELY do it again next year!  Ask her about the forensics class and others she went to!

After that Wade and I went to his baseball Opening Day festivities, then home again so I could quickly change and go to our stake Women's Conference.  The theme was President Uchtdorf's Forget-Me-Not talk, and I loved every minute of it.  The last class was my favorite, on being happy.  The presenter, one of my favorite people Sister Foster, asked everyone to close their eyes and think of something that made them happy today or yesterday.  I raised my hand and said in a loud voice, "I had a rough week with our puppy.  He swallowed a sock, and yesterday it finally issued forth!"  That got a pretty good laugh from the whole room.   Sister Foster made the point that if you think you're supposed to be happy all the time, you're delusional.  But you do need to find things to be happy about!  She shared a wonderful quote that we all appreciated:


 


How awesome is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the conference I raced home again, changed, and joined Jason at Wade's first official baseball game of the season.  His Red Sox team won, thanks to Wade's game-winning run!  His hitting was awesome, definitely a huge improvement already from last year.

That night Jason had about 10 young men over for another pizza/planning/Playstation 3 evening.  The boys were great--it's nice having a house full of young men who are fun, funny, and well-mannered!  Oh, and Oscar LOVED having that many people in the house!  He hardly made a peep and loved walking around sniffing everybody, tail wagging!  The boys were good sports about it!

Sorry for the long post, but it's been a long week!  This upcoming week will include 2 sub jobs, more baseball, a barbecue with our new neighbors, and preparation for our Spring Break getaway to Utah.  Hope everyone has a great week, too!

Dog Drama

Oscar's Cone of Shame lasted a whopping 2 days.  I don't know what I was thinking when I said I wanted one of those for him after he got neutered on Thursday.  He's supposed to keep it on for 2 WEEKS, but after spraying the dumb thing with bitter spray, then duct taping it, then taking it off, then putting it on again, then finding it chewed again, repeat, repeat, repeat...I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, and I bet the poor puppy couldn't either! 

On top of getting fixed, we discovered this morning that Oscar is teething in a major way--the clue was the blood all over his chew toys.  Man.   I cleaned up his mouth and gums and saw probably 3 or 4 BIG teeth trying to push through--YOWCH!  

Poor puppy!  I think we've reached the dreaded 5-month stage, otherwise known as the "WHY did we get a dog?" phase.  Don't worry, we still love him and will make it through!

Noise maker

It's been a good day so far.  Wade had a friend over followed by baseball practice.  Rhiannon has enjoyed time reading, relaxing, and computer-ing--she's going babysitting in a few minutes.  I got a ton of laundry done and cleaned up the messy kitchen.  Jason got home from the campout mid-afternoon--we had a good time watching Top Gear's "Big Rigs" episode with him.  Oscar got not one but two walks and has been a pretty good boy today.  He got a new toy from WalMart:

Think of the most annoying squeaky dog toy + oinks + Whoopie cushion and you've got the pig--Oscar growled at his at first, but quickly fell in love with it. 

Rhiannon and Wade made noises with it the entire time we were shopping at WalMart--they were in love with it, too!

I'd rather stay inside, thank you very much!

It's REALLY windy here.  I had to push Oscar out the door to go to the bathroom, and then I had to walk around with him til he went because he kept heading for the door--he did NOT want to be outside.  This is NOT typical for him, poor puppy!

Rhiannon has stayed home from school today.  She came down with a sudden fever over the weekend and is finally acting a little more like herself today, definitely happier now that the fever is gone, but she's got a hefty cough.  I begged her to watch last night's two-hour Downton Abbey episode with me.  She wasn't too excited about it but admitted it was pretty good after we'd watched it!

Just make yourself comfortable

 

This was how I found Oscar when I turned around in the computer chair.   I guess the sound of typing put him to sleep!  Right now I don't dare move because he keeps moving in his sleep and putting his head right next to the wheels of the chair. 

We love this dog.

The End.

Errand buddy

Today was a big day for Oscar.  He dropped kids off at school AND went to the car wash place. 


I guess the excitement was a little too much for him because when we got home he threw himself down in the middle of the tile floor and went to sleep!

I learned some things, too:

1.  As long as I give Oscar lots of time outside before we get in the van, he will likely be accident-free.  He did GREAT today.

2.  Oscar likes to put his front paws on the console next to me most of the time I'm driving.  So EVERYONE can see that I've got a dog in the van with me.

3.  Oscar makes people smile.

4.  The only time Oscar barked and whined was right after I dropped off Wade and our friend Halle at school.  He was very bummed that he couldn't go with them and was stuck with me.  Thankfully for me he snapped out of it pretty quick.

5.  Wade and Halle REALLY like having Oscar along for the ride.

6.  I can still drive well AND have a dog right next to me.  That's nice!

You're not tired of hearing about the dog, are you?

Oscar's Favorite Things, in no particular order:

Jason

Rhiannon

Wade

Verity

Cuddling with Jason in the morning before he goes to work

Taking a nap with Rhiannon

Getting hugs and kisses from Wade

Sneakily tugging on blankets when he thinks we're not watching

Basking in the sun outside

Sitting on Rhiannon's couch pillow when she's sitting on the floor watching TV

Playing Doggy in the Middle when Mom and Wade play catch outside

Trying to catch Mom's feather duster when she's trying so hard to dust the miscellaneous dog hairs away!

The vacuum and the swiffer--but as soon as he goes for the electric cord, he loses the privilege to roam free and follow them!

Little pieces of Rhiannon's cheesestick, when she'll share--as far as I know, that's the only "people food" we let him eat

His doggie treats!!!  When he sees us going for the box, he'll immediately sit and then "down."  We don't have to say anything!  Looks like we need to start working on some more "tricks" so he can earn more "treats!"

Curling up in various "favorite" spots for a good nap, especially next to the fireplace and right under my feet when I'm doing dishes at the sink

Absolute favorite toy--heavy empty plastic containers, like juice bottles.  He is positively JOYFUL when we throw some out in the yard for him to run after!

THE DISHWASHER!  Okay, I guess he does get a few tiny scraps of human food when we're loading up dirty dishes.  He is SO SAD when I put him in his ex-pen and don't let him "help" load the dishes!

Running up the stairs!  We rarely let him upstairs and there have been a few times over the weekend when we've forgotten to close the French doors to the kitchen--he'll bust out and climb the stairs like it's the best thing since dishwasher leftovers!  Yesterday he managed to clear 3 or 4 stairs at a time.  Good cardio, right?

People!




Favorite items that we won't let him have, or occasionally have to remove from his mouth:

SOCKS!

Dirty washcloths or hand towels

Any tiny item of trash that's accidentally left on the ground, outside or inside; we're getting a lot better at cleaning up after ourselves!

Darts from Jason and Wade's Nerf guns

The mat outside the porch door--it was on its way to the trash can after he peed on it, but then he sealed its death when he started tearing the edges off of it.  I consider us VERY LUCKY that he hasn't felt inclined to do that indoors too much!



Things Oscar tolerates well but obviously aren't his favorite things:

Baths

The blow dryer

Being brushed

Going to the vet

Walks--he gets really stubborn initially, but a few treats and persistence from the dog walker, and we're off!


We're crossing our fingers...

It has been several days since Oscar had a potty accident in the house, even overnight.  What a good puppy!

Birthday fun + Oscar at 3 1/2 months



I LOVED my new sleeping bag and thoroughly enjoyed the Baskin Robbins ice cream cake--yummmmmmmy!

Poor, lonely Oscar--he doesn't look like he's getting enough love, does he? :)

Last day of stay-cation

Tomorrow we get back to reality, and I'm sad.  It has been WONDERFUL having Jason, Rhiannon, and Wade home the past two weeks.  We've watched tons of movies, spent time together, worked hard and played hard.  Many of my friends are READY to send their kids back to school, but I'm definitely going to miss their company.  On the upside, I'll have Oscar to keep me busy and I'll hopefully be able to focus on that messy desk of mine.

This morning Wade had his first orthodontic appointment--he took pictures and x-rays and had some molds made of his mouth.  (Thankfully that process has gotten much quicker--I still have nightmares of the mold-making process when I got braces.  I remember having my mouth FULL of gunk for several minutes--it felt like someone was holding my head underwater--it was AWFUL.)  Wade took it like a champ, though--he didn't have any complaints.  The next phase will be in a couple weeks after the orthodontist has evaluated him and put together the final treatment plan.  Wish us luck!

Many thanks to Jason and Rhiannon who took down the Christmas tree and all the lights while Wade and I were gone this morning--there's just a little bit of stuff left, and I'll get to it tomorrow!

I just got back from taking Oscar for a walk and his first impromptu playdate with our friends' puppy Sona.  What a workout those two got!  They played and rough-housed for what felt like an eternity--Oscar was one happy, dog-tired pup!

We're off to dinner at the Nations' home tonight--they wanted to get to know us better, and we sure appreciate the invite!