November Puppy Fever

I got puppy fever really badly last November. I know I always had it but last year was a hard time as I was still adjusting to life. My mom has Chugs and I had it in me that I was going to take Morningstar to fat camp. The bad thing about my mom is that she feeds her dogs like they are human--I mean they eat rib eye steaks and fried chicken pretty much every day! Plus, she feeds them all kinds of things that they shouldn't eat too. For example, onions--no amount of me telling her to stop or the vet doesn't stop the woman. I love my mom but she's stubborn. She loves her dogs a bit too much and uses them as a substitute as her children--it's bad.

As a result, her dogs are quite obese. Actually, they are heavier than Freya--which is a bad example as Freya is about 18 pounds and significantly small for her breed. It's quite bad.

So I had Morningstar for a week. She didn't get any scrap food from me, just dog food--that's it. We walked a lot and got her to lose 4 pounds or so. It was really good. She felt a lot better, moved around better...and gained all that and more after being at my mom's house. Sigh.

Currently, I miss my little buddy and want to have her for a month this time. I'm just a bit worried about how Freya will take it. Don't get me wrong, Freya has played with Morningstar and her sister Angel for a while now and though she gets on better with Angel, Morningstar is a bit different when away from my mom's house so it may work. Morningstar is a great dog. She walks really well on the leash for never doing it when growing up. She also lets me bathe her and clip her nails no problem. However, clipping of the nails doesn't go as smoothly with mom for some reason. I lull that girl to sleep with belly rubs! I wish I could do the same with Freya. Freya has somewhere she wants to be and do--she's a busy girl.

Here is Morningstar.

She is the reason I was seriously considering getting a pug for a long time. However, after much research I decided that with our current living situation it wouldn't suit a pug very well. (We don't have central heating or air and I would just worry more so with a pug, boston, or Frenchie because I know how temperature sensitive the breeds are.) One day, I would like to get a Pug or a Frenchie-- I must admit that I have fallen in love with their cute little faces and snorts, but hopefully I will be better off financially too so that I can better handle the possible medical issues the breeds can have.

So after I ruled out those breeds--I looked at dachshunds and corgis. I was initially thinking of a dachshund because I remember one of the good trips we had at the dog park and how much Cloud had fun with one running with her. But Cloud being a Weim, I knew that a hardier dog would be better and so I started to look up corgi breeders. I fell a bit short and ended up with a back yard breeder (I know, I know bad!!) as I wasn't sure how an adopted dog would fair with Cloud with his burgeoning male aggression. I can see a difference between a better developed corgi and my own but it is mainly to do with size. Freya is about the same size as Morningstar or a regular sized Pug for you pug folks.

I know for the next time I ever get a puppy, I'm going to go to a more reputable breeder and hopefully get papers. I may even go for a different kind of Corgi next time...a Cardigan. It really doesn't matter though so long as they are healthy and thriving. Either way, both Corgis and Pugs (Weims too) love to eat! So I'll always have to be on top of that and always will as I don't want my dogs to be so uncomfortable in life.

And now for the main point...I'm thinking about doing another fat camp with Morningstar. Thoughts anyone?

Birthday Pics!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Freya!

Freya turned one years old!!! I'm so excited. Unfortunately, I didn't have too much money to spare on a meat cake for her birthday so I made her an apple--cheddar cake instead. I used Debbie's Mom's idea of baby food as the decoration. I swear Freya new what was up cause she kept pacing back and forth by the barrier while I working (and watching Glee).

Unfortunately, my camera is acting weird for some reason. With the flash, it looks like every picture is super dim and without the flash it's completely black. I don't live in a cave, our lights are on but the pictures read complete dark regardless--and I just put fresh batteries in it! Sigh, it's always something.

So, the pictures I did take I'm not going to bother with as you can't see anything. But thankfully, boyfriend got a new camera and I used it, so I'll be posting pics soon.

Freya got two loofa pups: one witch and one mummy, her grandmom got her a polka dot hoodie jacket, and we are still waiting on her collar to show up from collar mania. She really liked the loofa pups! I think it's funny to see her play with something that is as long as she is. The hoodie is a bit too big but I know that the smaller size would be too small, so I get to doctor it up some.

Also, Happy Birthday to Sagira!!

Corgi+bored= Hoover

Honestly, Freya is going to keep me on my toes and not just because she's so darn cute.

Tuesday night, I was relaxing (I'm sick) and trying to sleep. I had already put the dogs up in their crates and was watching some Babylon 5 (cause that was what boyfriend was watching--I introduced it to him) and I was just wired. Well, I stood up to hug him and I smelled something awful--like poo.

Initially, I thought it was the meat juice he spilled all over the carpet. So we tried to clean it some more--then Febreeze the crap out of it. Then, on my way to the bathroom, I notice that there was pockets of the poo smell. I walk in one part and it was there then the other and it wasn't there. Finally, I decided to check up on the dogs. Cloud was having some bad gas the day before and I figured maybe something was bothering him. Oh...if only it was so easy....

The light flicks on and there is Freya eating what I smelled in the living room. It wasn't poo, it was vomit--really, really smelly vomit with these weird berry/grape like things. Honestly, where did she find it? I searched the backyard and didn't find it. Anyway, she vomited twice and I ushered her into the bathroom so I could fix her crate up.

I had to throw away her pretty red blanket I bought her as a puppy cause our washer is broken and there's no point dealing with all that mess in the middle of the night. Thankfully, I bought that on sale. I disenfected stuff--nearly got sick myself cause the smell was finally getting to me and I heard a strange sound in the bathroom.

I get to her and she's going at it again--2 more puddles. I put her in the crate in the living room so she won't eat that one and clean that up. From midnight to 2 am in the morning, she was either vomitting or heaving. I stayed up with her the entire time to make sure she was ok and not eating those nasty berries.

I figured she was ok after nothing would come up so I didn't feel the need to rush her to the emergency room. I think I can blame sleep depravation for the week on it too (I have a UTI and I've been waking up every 30 minutes.) I put a bowl of water in the crate and decided to just sleep in the living room with her so I can kind of keep watch.

This morning, she was back to normal and doing zoomies. I called the vet (which by the way, I call all doctors Vets and my doctor laughed at me when I told him how dog crazy I've become) and they wanted to see Freya. Got out of work early, drove and picked her up and she was fine--did a cursory walk in the backyard once more to see if I could find those things she ate and ended up finding her rabies tag! It was on the stoop--the one place I didn't look.

They gave her some fluids, told me to take the water up for 24 hours. Also, no food for the first 24 hours after vomitting and after that white rice or oatmeal. No temperature and she's only 18 pounds! She was a couple of ounces lighter than August when we went for her vomitting (that time was the raw hide.) So the vet trip was really for my sanity than anything else.

That girl, if I don't watch her and hold her paw...will hoover everything in sight even though I do feed her. Heaven forbid I feed her late. Currently, she is on crate quarantine just till she gets better and then she'll go back to the doggy door with her brother Cloud.

Sorta Wordless Wednesday Climbing Ladders Could Happen

This happened a couple of weeks ago--ok a month now. Freya was trying to follow her dad up the ladder as she never saw one before in her life. We thought there was something in the attic and the man went up to investigate. I stood by and took cute pictures of Freya.

Also--we're not alcoholics. We just happen to brew our own beers and mead and need bottles all the time.

Lost tag plus weekend events

This weekend my schedule worked out just right that I didn't have to go to work until the evening. Ultimately, the free afternoon meant that I was going to take Freya to another Howl-o-ween event that a local rescue was hosting. Unfortunately for me, they didn't do any kind of advertisement so when I lost my flyer that I got three weeks prior--I had to do a lot of calling around.

It was an hour away from where I lived. Freya whined the entire time and kept trying to sit with me (but thanks to the Kurgo Tru fit that wasn't too much of an issue.) But the worst part of it all was me getting lost--with a GPS, sigh. I'm not very directionally good--especially when I'm lead down a cemetery road. Who builds a park behind a cemetery and makes you take a road going through one in the first place?

Total drive time was 2 hours cause I spent the hour that I got there trying not to go down the cemetery road taking tons of u-turns. I finally got to the location after going down said read and found the stupid park. I have to say I was kind of irritated. Everything was finished by the time I arrived and it just started 2 hours ago--but I'm assuming with the lack of advertisment (tv and the internet) that it really hurt them more than anything.

The most I did was walk Freya around, had another picture taken of her, and tried to do the obstacle course with. The obstacle course was kind of fun but I had way too much on me to do it properly (see big purse and hotdog costume on purse) and they took it down after I was finished.

Freya didn't leave without treats though! They had some bacon tinis (bacon coookies shaped martini glasses), brownies (carob), and sweet potato fries. All in all, it sounded really yummy--and yes, I did try the brownies and they were quite good being dog treats and all.

Yesterday, I noticed something strange about Freya. Rather, I noticed some strange about Freya's tags. If you look up at the pic on the banner you can see that she has 3 tags on her collar. Last night, it took me a minute to realize one was missing and the ring was all screwed up. It took me another 10 minutes to realize that it wasn't her Home Again tag but her rabies tag. Sigh, what do I do if I can't find it? There's no telling where that thing could be in the backyard--especially with the amount of holes she created back there. Should I just say screw it and wait til her annual shot comes around or call the vet and see if they have something I can use for temporary purposes?

Wordless Wednesday--Freya's Costume

The cutest doxie ever! Why didn't I think of that costume?

Petsmart Howloween

Tonight was the Petsmart Howloween. I had to partake in the fun--sadly, I only got a few pics of Freya and a sweet pup as well. Freya was such a handful that between her trying to meet people and dogs and me trying to take pictures and not tripping on her leash. I gave up after a while and just enjoyed the show!

So, Freya got her Petsmart picture done in two seconds flat. I felt bad for everyone else who was waiting in line to get their photos made as they wanted perfect pictures and their dogs just weren't cooperating at all. I don't care. I'm just happy that Freya stayed still long enough for me to snap a picture half the time anyway. Of course, I have to say--Freya is a natural poser anyway.

Since she was a little pup--she has been posing for me without any real prompts. She just sit there and looks up at me and so cute doing it.


Anyway, I saw some cute dogs there. I wish I could sew or was more crafty. But hey, there's next year, right? I have ample time to learn how to sew for myself and for Freya :D.

Pictures of costumes on the next post!

Have to say Freya wasn't feeling it too much or maybe she just wanted to get it done with. I didn't stay for the parade cause I wasn't feeling good. But we did score a free treat bag which was fairly awesome--I need to take a picture of it too before it's all gone.

Updated: Go Bananas, Go, Go, Bananas!

Woot, got my cell phone camera to work!

Freya as a pumpkin puppy. She actually didn't mind this costume one bit--surprisingly. Maybe it was because she was intent on the dog in front of her that she didn't care what I was doing to her.

The Freygon! Beware, this little thing will spit fire in your direction. Surprisingly, she didn't mind this one either--such a weird dog. I suspect it may have something to do with the attention she's getting and the fact her big brother isn't anywhere near her.



Here's one of the pictures I managed to get off my camera. I also have 2 others on my cell phone but I'm having issues with that as it always downloads into an unreadable file for some reason. Electronics are not my friend this month.

So I had to take this costume back because it was too big. Freya--let me say this--really hated this costume. She was beyond humiliated. The first thing she did when I put the main piece of the costume on was hide her face in the pillows on our bed. It was quite hilarious and I laughed very hard.

She kept the costume on long enough for me to snap these two pics. I considered the mental welfare of Freya and decided against on getting this costume again in a smaller size just cause she seemed to hate it so much. Cloud also disapproved as he tried to attack her almost immediately when she jumped off the bed to get away from the embarrassment.

Edit: I'm also participating in this
Go check it out. If the button doesn't work--Brutus is on my list to the right.

Dressing up Freya

I remember before having Freya I made fun of my mom for dressing up her dogs. If you knew my mom, you would realize just how atypical it was of her to do such a thing and it would warrant the teasing. Well, since getting Freya I realize just how cute dogs are in clothes! Naturally, I was eating my words.

So Halloween is coming up and I've been through 3 costumes so far with Freya. Well, a lot more than 3 but I only have so much on camera. I have Freya as a dragon, a pumpkin, and a banana (just like Sagira--OMG that was hilarious) but ultimately I settled with a tried and true classic but I'm not going to tell you what was...you guys will have to wait. ;)

Freya's birthday is coming up soon (November 1st) and she will be one year's old! As per tradition in our house hold, I am going to bake a cake of some sort for her. I am preferring to bake a new one as I always bake the same one for Cloud. I kind of want them to have their own kind of cake--it's a weird thing to want and well, it's my attempts at baking a cake too.

Also, I want to get Freya a special collar. I'm still trying to decide if I should get the everyday collar in the colors I want first or get the fancy one first. Conundrums I say! Cloud is probably going to get one for Christmas since I was seriously broke when it was his birthday.

I'll be ordering the collar at www.collarmania.com and I got Freya a stuffie from Target--woot!

So, I'm going to try and fix my camera so I can show you Freya in her costumes. Wish me luck!