Day 17 26 Toys

There are 26 toys in the toy box (Mom counted...and she thinks that's about 20 toys too many!) and we always want the same one. Not that we always play with the same toy, but the three of us chase one another around because we want to the one that the other one has.  Then someone gets a new one and we all want that one.

Some days the toys look like this; mostly all in the box.  The toy box is looking a bit worse for wear, but I've had this toy box since I was a little puppy and sometimes I like to chew on the sides.  Usually when I'm frustrated because I'm not getting my way.  Mom says better my toy box than the coffee table so she lets me carry on my merry way.   Mom thinks this picture was taken when Lola was still here.  I was feeling frustrated when she was here and spent a lot of time chewing on the box.

Usually the toys look more like this...and this is just one room!  Rascal, Beebee and I are pros at dragging the toys all over the house.  Beebee has also decided that she likes the kindling sticks by the fireplace (because there aren't enough toys?).  Can you see it in the middle of the floor?  They've all been put away now.  Mom says little pieces of wood aren't good for Beebee's belly.  Plus if Beebee gets to chew on sticks then we should all get to chew on sticks and Mom says she's not cleaning up our mess.




So this is what we've been keeping busy with during the cold weather.  Also, Beebee has picked up some of the house guarding duties.  She's a really louder barker when she puts her mind to it so she's good at alerting when a stranger is near.

Day 13 Rascal helps out with the Blog

Not a whole lot has been happening recently so there hasn't been much to update on.  Rascal, Beebee and I have been playing in the house because it is far too cold for us to go outside.  We can barely make a quick trip outside without our paws getting very, very cold.  Mom had to carry Rascal in once today because he couldn't make it back to the door.  The Fluffies (as Mom calls them) are still pretty excited to go outside a lot, but they obviously forget that it's cold because they just turn around and come right back inside.

Rascal has decided that he'd like to help Mom type the blog.  He's not a very good typist.  I think because all the fur on his paws gets in the way. 












Mom has been taking quite a few videos of us playing because she thinks it's hilarious how we all run around the house acting so crazy.  Here's one of Beebee and I playing tug of war.

Day 10 Rascal and Beebee Meet Some Other Dogs

Rascal, Beebee and I have been going a bit stir crazy due to not enough exercise because of the cold weather.  As you can see, there's a lot of crazy running around that's been happening.

Rascal is the one running around with Beebee and I chasing him.  Mom caught the end of this, but we were all running around from one end of the house to the other before this.  Mom decided that we should go to a meet up on Saturday to burn off some energy.  Some of us had a better time than others.  I go to the pug meet ups a lot so I'm used tot he meet ups and had a great time.  Beebee had a pretty good time and played with a lot of the dogs.  Rascal didn't have a very good time.  He was quite overwhelmed with all the dogs and spent most of the time sitting on Mom's lap.  Mom was surprised by this given his craziness around the house, but I guess he needs to warm up to other dogs before he lets his true character come out.

Today we went to the off leash park.  We had a great time!  We all got to go off leash and Rascal and Beebee are fast.  Good thing they like to check in with Mom a lot or we'd still be there trying to round everyone up.  Rascal was a bit hesitant at first around the big dogs but he stuck close to Mom when they were near and by the end he was feeling pretty confident.

Day 7 The Student becomes The Master

I have been teaching Rascal everything I know and he's an excellent student.

My most important job around the house is monitoring the neighborhood and keeping the house safe.  I spend A LOT of time doing this throughout the day.  As you can see Rascal has learned well and is excellent at following my example.

Mom would also like to say that yes, she knows the blinds are bent and look terrible.  Nanook completely disregarding closed blinds and decided to 'move' them on his own.  Unfortunately, these blind are metal and don't 'move' very well.  Fortunately, Mom doesn't like these blinds and has been looking for an excuse to replace them.

Rascal has also caught on very well to fetch.  Beebee is still a work in progress.  She has now figured out that she should chase the toy when it gets thrown, but she grabs it and runs with it to another room.  I'll continue to work with her on how this game works.

However, she has become a master at relaxation.  This is still her favorite place to sit.  Unless Mom is sitting on the other couch, then she is sitting beside her.  I wish I could get this comfortable on the couch!  Perhaps I should spend less time in front of the window and more time relaxing too.

Day 5 The 3 Musketeers

Firstly, Mom wants to say that this is the cutest picture she's ever seen!

She's right, we are pretty cute.  We all like to pose. 

And yes, there were treats coming. We all got duck jerky treats.  These are seriously the best treats I've ever had!  Rascal and Beebee think they are pretty good too.  We are all very polite when we get treats.  No jumping or grabbing from one another.















Beebee has become much more social over the past couple of days.  Now we all like to play 'who's touching Mom the most' when we sit on the couch.  Usually, I'm not the winner.  That's OK though.  I know how to share and it's good that Beebee and Rascal love my Mom as much as I do.  I'm sure they miss their Mom and need some extra snuggles. 

Rascal's new favorite spot to sit is on the vent when the furnace is on.  In the first picture you can just barely see the vent underneath him. 

Later he decided to get really comfortable...maybe a bit too comfortable.  I think he looks a bit silly.

Day 3 Settling in

Beebee and Rascal are quickly settling into our home.  Both of them ate a big diner tonight.  Beebee doesn't eat a whole lot, but she ate as much as Rascal did today.  Mom says that I need to learn that just because there are 3 bowls of food on the floor doesn't mean that they are all mine.  Beebee and Rascal were pretty hungry tonight so they didn't leave anything in their bowls.  Well Beebee did, but Rascal got to it first. 

Beebee still likes to sit back and take things in but Rascal is very playful.  One of the AARCS volunteers dropped of some supplies on Sunday morning and there were new toys in the box.  When Mom isn't looking I've been snitching toys out of the box.  Mom says the toys aren't for me, but I'm just doing quality inspection!  Tonight we played fetch and Rascal is already a pro.  The first couple of times he watched.  Then he would run to the toy but not bring it back.  After about 10 times he was getting the toy before me.  He would even drop the toy when he brought it back.  I guess he hasn't realized that the second half of fetch is tug of war.  That's the best part!  Maybe I'll teach him that tomorrow.

Day 1 BeeBee and Rascal

Today BeeBee and Rascal came to stay with us.  They both seem pretty friendly so I'm happy to have some new friends to play with.  BeeBee was spayed and Rascal was neutered so Mom is trying to keep everyone calm.  We all spent some time in the yard getting to know one another and checking things out.  BeeBee and Rascal are very quiet, but quite curious.

Mom can already tell that BeeBee and Rascal are two very different dogs.  BeeBee is much more independant; venturing off to check out the house and to find a spot to have a nap.  Don't worry, I've been checking on her...a lot.  Rascal hasn't left Mom's side.  He watched us play fetch and I can tell it won't be long before he's ready to join in the game.  Not too long ago Rascal got The Cone put on.  I never had to wear The Cone because as Mom says "pugs aren't very flexible".  I don't know what she's talking about.  I can do a downward dog better than she can.

 This is BeeBee.  She's already decided that this is her favorite spot in the house and has only left it long enough to have some diner.

And this is Rascal.  It looks like he needs a haircut, but he really doesn't.  Rascal only has one eye and with his shaggy hair you can't even tell.
 

Day 15 Goodbye Lola

Lots of things have happened around the house in the past few days including the fact that Mom had to go out of town for work for a couple of days so there haven't been any updates.

Sunday we all watched the Superbowl and Mom was super happy the Green Bay won!!  OK, that post is really more about Mom than anyone else, but sometimes she likes to get a word in as well. 















On Monday Lola went to another foster home to stay while Mom went out of town.  Lola went to a foster home that was interested in adopting her.  She is still having some heath issues so she's not ready to be adopted yet, but the foster home wanted to keep her, see her through her recovery and hopefully get to adopt her once she's healthy and happy.  Mom thought this was a good idea because it's hard to move around alot, especially when you're trying to recover from surgery and are struggling to find your place in new environments.  So Lola is going to stay with the new foster family.  They have a couple of dogs and I've been told she gets along great with them!  I'm happy that Lola has found a new home where people will treat her as special as I know she is. 

I didn't get to say good bye, so it's a good thing we had a kiss on Sunday when she was still here.  Sometimes she didn't like me all that much, but other times we were best buddies.  I will miss having Lola around.  I've been moping around all day looking sad and lonely.  Mom says not to worry, I'll have a new buddy (or two) in no time!

Day 10 Lola Visits the Vet

Lola went to the vet last night to have her stitches taken out.  She has stitches on her right ear because she had a lump removed.  She was also spayed.  The Vet took out the stitches on her stomach because they looked as though they'd been in for 10 days and the incision had healed.  He didn't take out the stitches in her ear.  The Vet didn't think they had been in for 10 days and Lola has a bit of an infection around them.  So now Lola is on antibiotics and will go back in a week to have them removed. 

Today has been a very successful house training day.  Lola went to the door, waited for Mom to come and open it then went down the steps and into the side yard all by herself.  Now this seems pretty simple to me, but up until today Lola has refused to go down the steps by herself.  This is weird because she is up and down the steps in the house a thousand times a day.  Mom has tried treats on the steps, encouraging her from the bottom of the steps, but Lola wanted nothing to do with going down those steps.  Whatever the reason for the change, Mom is happy she doesn't have to carry Lola down the steps anymore. 

Lola got weighed at the Vet and she weighs 24 lbs.  Mom was shocked.  She was figuring under 20 lbs.  I weigh about 23 pounds and the Vet says I'm fat.  OK, maybe he didn't say fat but he said I need to go on a diet.  Lola is very skinny.  This picture is a bad angle because Lola is coming up the steps, but you can see all her ribs and how she then tapers off to almost nothing.  The Vet says Lola is healthy; she's recently had puppies and now she'll gain some weight.  Lola's been eating quite a bit and there have been lots of treats so soon she'll fill out.

Day 8 Dog Park

Lola loves the dog park!  Mom was a bit concerned that she might not like the other dogs but she couldn't have been more wrong.  Lola had a great time.  She liked meeting all the other dogs, big or small.  It's a toss up whether she liked the dogs or the people more.  She most definitely isn't shy around strangers.

Given how hesitant she's been to go outside Mom was worried we'd be standing at the gate watching me run around.  Which wouldn't really have been much of a change because some visits it takes 15 mins before I've finished greeting everyone and we can move through the park.  Lola was all about the walk.  She strutted along and was quite happy to be there.  We didn't go for the full round trip but stopped about half way and turned around.  Mom noticed that Lola's paws were getting cold and she didn't want to end up at the far end and have to carry her back.  Still, we were there for about 30 mins.  Lola had a good walk and I got lots of running in. 

Day 7 Lola meets Ike

Today was car ride day!  I love going for car rides and as we found out, so does Lola.  She sat calmly in the back seat and even looked out the window a couple of times.  Today it was much warmer out so it was the first day that Lola voluntarily went outside.  Things always go better when everyone's excited to go outside.

We went to the Taylors so that Mom could see how Lola reacts to Ike the Cat.  Lola hardly gave him a second glance.  Ike was under a chair when we first got there and after a few minutes of saying hello to everyone and checking out the new surroundings Lola gave Ike a sniff.  Ike hissed and moaned and Lola left him to go see someone who would show her some love.  Lola got a little love from everyone and everyone commented on what a good dog she is.  Lola is very calm and just wants someone to snuggle with.  Unlike me, who loves going to the Taylors and runs around showing everyone how excited I am to be there. 

Lola is also doing really well during the day when Mom is at work.  Mom doesn't hear any crying or barking when she leaves or comes home from work.  As a matter of fact, Lola has only ever barked once.  She's pretty happy to see Mom when she gets home.  I am too!  I do a lot of running around after we come in from our bathroom break and today Lola was running around a bit too.  Mom says Lola is pretty timid so it's good to see her coming out of her shell, even if just a little bit.  It was a pretty exciting day for the middle of the week and it's definitely nap time.