Goodbye Mickey

I forgot to mention in the whirlwind that was my last few weeks that Mickey, Husband and his parent's dog, was put to sleep. We don't know exactly how old he was because he was a rescue, but Husband thinks he was at least fourteen. He had a gray muzzle and his paws were pretty gray as well. He was definitely an old man of a dog. In the years that I knew Mickey, he was a happy dog that loved life. Husband's parents held off on putting him to sleep for months. First his pancreas started to go, and then he started having horrible indigestion. Husband's parents altered his diet to be friendlier on his system, and watched his health closely. Then his legs started to go. The last time I saw him, his back legs were so frail, he couldn't even sit down. He just kind of squatted when you pet him. His parents tried to make him comfortable, including buying him a ramp for getting in and out of their car. Finally, poor Mickey completely lost control of his bowels and had a few other problems. Surprisingly, Husband's parents didn't let go of him for another few weeks. Throughout this ordeal, Mickey was his normal happy self. Sure, he couldn't sit down while you pet him, but he would still wag his tail, stick his tongue out, and enjoy himself. He had discomfort, but he wasn't in pain, which is why Husband's parents waited so long to put him to sleep. They felt that as long as they could keep him comfortable, he deserved to be around as long as possible. Unfortunately, the time came when he was no longer experiencing just "a little discomfort" and it was time to end it.

Husband's parents are visiting for the holidays, and it still hasn't sunk in that Mickey won't be with them. Goodbye Mickey. You were the best companion anyone could want, and you are already missed.

Tub-O-Puppy Mama

I talked to my breeder last week and she sent me this pic of my tubby-looking puppy mama. I'm no pregnant dog expert, but according to her, this is how a pregnant dog looks.

What do y'all think? I also don't know when this picture was taken. She's supposed to be due the middle of December. Why isn't it December yet?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This year I'm thankful for my husband agreeing to finally get a dog. I'm thankful we decided on a great breed, and I was able to find a breeder. I'm thankful that my puppy mama is pregnant and will be having her puppies next month. I'm thankful that there are other Corgi owners out there who read my little blog and give me some great advice. I hope you all have a good holiday, and as a cashier at Stein Mart told me yesterday, don't drink and drive!

Video Of The Week 9

I know, I know, I missed last week. Shame on me! Well this week's video is just the cutest:



Little Darla likes to try and find her daddy under the blanket! So cute! And since I didn't post a video last week, here's Darla's YouTube page so you can view her videos to your heart's content.

Everything In A Name: Continued

I think this is an interesting subject, I've given it some more thought, so I thought I'd do a second post.

First, I disagree that the dog's name has to be influenced by his/her personality. There's nothing wrong with doing it, I just don't think I need to be limited by that. I wasn't named for my personality. I was named for my great grandmother. Heck, most dog's names are probably more representative of their owner's personalities than their dogs. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's a great idea to choose a name based on something that's reflective of you.

So in that spirit, I've come up with categories I think it'd be fun to choose a name from:

The first category is actually from another person's suggestion: video games. I love video games, my husband loves video games. The names are unusual but still known, but not too overused (usually). But which name? Hmm. Well I'm mostly a Nintendo fan. Probably the game I've ever played the most of is Super Mario Smash Bros. Great game. Let's see...there's Kirby. That's cute, though definitely a boy name. And I don't think every dog could pull off being a Kirby. Hehe. I won't choose Jiggly Puff (I'd kill myself before I named my dog after a Pokemon), but I think I'll tease my husband with it for awhile! ;) Yoshi is kinda cute as well. Oh, I'd be tempted to use Bowser if the puppy I get ends up being like Ranger, that puppy from the last litter that was described as a "tank". Hehe. What about Ness? Those are all boy names though. Are there any good girl names? There's Samus, but since I thought Samus was a boy for the first year of playing the game (I never played Metroid), I don't really associate that with a girl's name. Zelda is a good girl name for a dog, but I've seen it before. It's something to consider.

The next category would be something ancient Greek or Roman. I have a Classical Studies degree, and I've always loved Greek and Roman culture. Hmm. I don't know any good names off the top of my head. I wouldn't want anything too cliche, like Caesar, Augustus, Odysseus, Zeus, etc.

And lastly, I was a child of the 80s. I was thinking it could be fun to pick a name from an 80s cartoon from my childhood. Let's see. There's Boober and Wembley from Fraggle Rock. There's Zummi and Tummi from the Gummi Bears. My favorite show as a child was She-Ra, but unfortunately the names on that show were too ridiculous to name a dog after. Example: the sorceress on the show was named Castaspella. Hehe, I never said I had good taste! I also loved the Care Bears, but they had names like Funshine Bear and Love-A-Lot Bear. No thanks. Again, girl names, I've got nothing.

Let me know if you think of any fun names in these categories (or just in general)!

Update: Well I ran some names past Husband, and he agreed that Bowser would be a cute name if we end up with a monster of a Corgi. He also liked Kirby and Yoshi for the reason that in their games they eat everything...and Corgis eat everything...so it's perfect! I'm liking the video game names.

Everything In A Name

One subject I've been avoiding for the last 10 months has been a name. When my husband and I originally decided we wanted a Corgi, we decided that we'd go with Ein, in recognition of the dog that got us looking into the breed (well that was all my husband, I knew about Corgis before Cowboy Bebop). Well now that it's months later and I've been out in the dog world a bit, I now know that like 1/3 of all PWCs out there are named Ein, which has completely put me off the name. It's too bad because it's a great dog name. It's easy, yet distinct, and according to my husband dogs do well with having one syllable names. But I feel like that would be naming my son John. Sure, it's great name, but everyone else has it, which for some reason makes me a lot less excited about it. Plus, somewhere along the way my husband conceded that Ein would only be suitable if our puppy is a male. We've got no ideas if we get a female.

So what I'm wondering is, what's a good name (male or female)?? I know that I don't like just normal people names (like George or Maggie), or cliche dog names (like Bear or Buster), or names that sound like they came from a 5 year old (like Sparkle, Sprinkle, Star, etc). No offense if your dog is named any of these. There's nothing wrong with them, they're just not for me and my first puppy!

If you guys have any ideas for a good dog name, please leave me a comment!

Behind On The Times

So I've been a bit behind lately on my beloved dog-blog. Shame on me. My first offense is that last week I had to return all the books I'd had checked out because I had reached my max number of renewals. Of course, I hadn't finished reading any of them, so I'm not going to be able to write any reviews really until I can check them out again. Arg! I can write a review for one or two of the books, since I read through them somewhat, to give me general impressions, but that's it. I'm disappointed that I've been so busy because a few of them I was really looking forward to reading!

Next, I know I didn't do a Breed of the Month in October. I was too busy to research. I'll try and get one out this month. I've been bored enough with work to welcome the distraction. :p

And lastly, I don't have a Video of the Week for last week either. That's because I was here at work all week and they block YouTube and other streaming video sites here. Bastards. Hopefully I'll be able to get one up today or tomorrow, but that's totally dependent on my willingness to anything other than zone out on the couch once I get home. Usually when I work a long day, I'm not so willing.

So basically, please bare with me while I get my sh*t together here. It may take awhile, but I'm still here. :)

Rate Your Kibble

While we're on the subject of food, I also found this post on the GoCorgi forum. I think it's really interesting because it's finally a way to quantify all the stuff you read about what's good and bad in dog food. I would also add that the score would be an instant zero for companies that don't use human-grade food as well. By using this system it's not just about good food and bad food, it's also about the gray area. How bad or good is the food exactly? I think it's pretty neat stuff!

Just Say No To Puppy Food

GoCorgi Forums has a very interesting article posted on why you shouldn't feed a puppy "puppy food". I've heard this from numerous other sources before, but I think this person sums up the reasons quite nicely.

We May Be Pregnant

Apparently my breeder is all about the low tech. When I asked about the puppy mama and if her pregnancy took, she said that she was "getting tubby", so she thought yes. When I asked about an ultrasound or some kind of equivalent, she said her vet didn't have one, and we would just had to "wait for her tummy to grow". I don't know if that's normal or if my breeder is just behind on the times, but I think it kinda stinks.

Plan B Out, Back To Plan A

So my breeder was able to find homes for her two remaining puppies, Taylor and Ranger. As I stated earlier, I figured she'd be able to find homes for them before the end of the month. I tried not to get my hopes up about it, but I did find myself entertaining the idea of having a puppy in as soon as just a month! So I guess now I'm a little disappointed. But I think it's also for the best. I was on the fence a bit, and I never got all the information I wanted about them. And I hadn't done any shopping yet. This way I'll have more time and when I'm bringing a puppy home shouldn't be a question.

So the original plan is still in place. My litter of puppies should be born around mid-December, and I'll be able to take one home in February. Sure, that's only 4 months away, but after a full year of waiting, the final months have definitely been the worst. I hope this holiday season just flies by!

Now all I have to do between now and December is wait for my puppy to be born. Though there's still one more possible obstacle. I believe it's been long enough to find out if the pregnancy took. I sent an email to the breeder this morning asking about it. I'll let you know as soon as I hear!

Video Of The Week 8

This week's video star is Sully the corgi. Why this video? While the spin at the end is very cute, if you observe his tail nub in the first 15 seconds of the video, I think you'll see why I've posted it.



Look at how he wags that nub! It's adorable! Nubs are officially cuter than full tails!