Jealousy

Theo can get very jealous. Sometimes he can be kind of a brat about it. But mostly he's just hopelessly adorable. Unfortunately for Husband, Theo's jealousy never fails to flare up whenever we give each other affection, or really any kind of hands-on attention. Get your mind out of the gutter people! He can be fast asleep upstairs, but if he gets an inkling that Husband is giving me a hug in the kitchen, he comes running downstairs, toy in tow. Because obviously if I have time to give Husband my full attention, I have time to throw a toy for Theo. That's how his adorably puppy mind works, and really, it makes sense to me!

The latest occurance of his jealousy was yesterday. Husband had a rather exhausting weekend that involved trying to lift an entire 32" CRT television by himself because his "buff" wife just isn't as buff as we hoped she would be. Anyway, I was trying to massage the huge knots out of his shoulders when Theo jumped up next to me on the couch and gave me the most hilarious indignant Corgi face you've ever seen. You know the one I mean. Ears up, eyes wide and expectant, practically shaking from the concentration of trying to communicate telepathically with you. I heard the message loud and clear. "Mommy, how dare you give physical attention to Daddy when you could be giving attention to me!" A few seconds later he jumped off the couch and a few seconds after that a toy was at my feet, sitting next to an expectant puppy. Oh, if only I had had my camera! It was classic!

What do you do when you're torn between giving attention to your husband and your puppy? It's not a fair place to put a woman in, that's for sure.

You know who else is a jealous pup? This guy:

(See what I did there? That's called a segue people.)

This would be Rex, or Reindeer Rex to be specific. And his tag is showing! How embarrassing! Just pretend you don't see it, will you? Anyway, I think I mentioned it, but when we were staying on Rex's turf over Christmas, it was pretty much on par of what we experienced their last visit. Namely, Theo strutting around like he owned the place, and Rex biding his time and being more methodical on the best things to do to really piss Theo off, while maintaining his exterior cool. I gotta say, that's one sneaky dog.

Mostly he just stole Theo's toys a lot. Only the ones Theo wanted to play fetch with, and only after I had thrown it for Theo. And he wouldn't want to play fetch too. He would just steal the toy and go sit on it for awhile. And Theo's ears would fall and he would go pout in the corner. It was so sad, but kind of deserved after Theo did things like growling every time Rex came near me. One morning I made the mistake of letting Theo out of his crate before Rex. Rex was so excited to be let out, he kept charging the door. Even though Theo totally does the same thing, he viewed Rex's actions as a hostile attack against me, so when I finally got the door open, Theo ran in and tried to take a swipe at Rex. Ok, no swiping was involved, but lots of ferocious growling and teeth baring was. Eep! No dogs were hurt in the making of this Christmas. Theo is all talk, and Rex is all mellowness, thank goodness! But man! Juggling those two was like juggling warring toddlers. Seriously!

Also, Theo's arrival prompted nothing but polite behavior from Rex...except the part where he marked his own house! Yup! We were all just hanging out, and Rex ever so calmly walked over to the couch, sniffed it, and peed! I was just glad it wasn't Theo, which sounds terrible, but really Theo knows better than to mark inside, and I would have been mortified. Thankfully it was just that one incident.

I think my favorite, ok not favorite, but most entertaining bout between the two troublemakers was when I was laying on the couch reading. Theo jumped up and fell asleep in the crook of my legs, with his head on my knees, as he tends to do once every blue moon. Rex slowly approached, looking for some love and attention from me (I love him so!), I looked at Theo, knowing he would never allow it. Sure enough, while Theo was totally silent, I could see his nose wrinkling where he was baring his teeth to poor Rex, who took the hint and walked away.

I think both of them deserved timeout time in the reindeer antlers, don't you?

Giving Thanks

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I went from holding a puppy to holding my one month old nephew. It was an excellent week. I'm not even going to lie, I full on hogged him. Other family members be damned! He was so adorable and wonderful, it just felt good holding him. Puppies, babies, kittens, chicks, whatever! If it's a baby, it belongs in my arms.

There are no current plans to expand the household. Just saying.

Unfortunately, Theo's second Thanksgiving was not so momentous. We had to board him while we were gone for 5 whole days. I felt a tug at my heart strings every time I saw another dog. I missed my troublemaker terribly.

On the plus side, he wasn't the least bit mad at us for leaving him for so long. He was overjoyed when Husband and I picked him up together. His pack was reunited, everything was right in the world.

And then we gave him a bath.

Yup, I think we had a good strategy. We got him home and immediately threw him in the tub (because he was stinky before we left, when we picked him up...just ew.), after shedding him good because all the stresses of the day were causing his fur to fly, and of course, since his nails were nice and soft from the bath we went ahead and ground them down as well. And then we brushed his teeth. You get the idea. It was a doggy spa day. I think he was so unhappy with us for torturing him, he forgot all about being mad at us for boarding him. Worked like a charm.

Theo is almost 2 years old now. Can you believe it?! I can still remember when we first flew to Oklahoma to collect him. I remember the rambunctious puppy who introduced himself to me by tugging on my braids. I remember Theo and his siblings attempting to corner their mom to try and get at her milk (she was too smart for the 3 of them, it was pretty hilarious to watch). And I remember being so happy to take this tiny bundle of fur home with me!

I love him to pieces.

I know it's after the fact, but here's a list of things I'm thankful for when it comes to my furkid:

Dear Theo,

1. I am thankful for the way you sit on people's feet when you first say hello to them.
2. I am thankful that you give me space in the kitchen, yet are always close by when I clumsily spill something that needs to be cleaned up (I really missed this while I was cooking in my sister's kitchen...I spill a lot).
3. I am thankful for the way you give one small lick to the inside corner of my eye when you want to tell me good morning.
4. I am thankful for our evening snuggles, in which you fall asleep curled up in the blanket on the couch between me and Husband.
5. I am thankful for the way you inform me it's high time I put you to bed (an exasperated whine, of course).
6. I am thankful that you still haven't outgrown jumping on my head and biting my ears. I love it so.
7. I am thankful that you wait patiently every morning for me to come back from working out before I let you out of your crate, and the way you enthusiastically run downstairs knowing you'll be getting a nice long fetch session outside.
8. I am thankful that you've always been so well behaved and never destructive. I count my blessings every day. And I try to reward that good behavior with lots of off-leash time.
9. I am thankful for every cry, whine, yip, bark, woof, groan, grunt, growl, and wail. Those Corgi noises are a source of endless entertainment.
10. I am thankful for your big satellite dish ears and the look on your face whenever I give them a good rub.

I should probably say in there something about being thankful Theo is in my life, but I just can't type that without barfing all over the keyboard. And anyway, it's implied.

What are you thankful for when it comes to your furry ones?

Puppy Breath

I held a Corgi puppy on Sunday. Brian. A 13 week black headed tri. Named after the talking dog on Family Guy. One of my favorite shows. He was...*clears heart out of throat*...precious. That seems to be my go-to word for all things infantile, but he truly was.

We were at the dog park for a mini-meetup and there he was. Sitting on the bench with his mama because he didn't quite have all of his shots. She was good enough to bring Brian to the meetup just so we could fawn over him. Ok, actually it was for much better reasons, like socialization! Brian was all aflutter about the doggy commotion going on around him! He was so calm, so quite, so mellow! All in all, the complete antithesis of Theo when he was a puppy. Exhibit A: he sat in my lap quietly, content even, while I pet him for minutes upon minutes! Theo couldn't sit within 2 feet of me without trying to nip my face off when he was a puppy. Not to mention he didn't sit still unless it was to sleep.

But nevermind Theo as a puppy, we're talking about Brian here! I, of course, snagged the prime seat right next to little Brian on the bench as soon as I saw him. A few minutes later he wandered out of him mama's lap and into mine. My heart melted right then and there. He didn't seem frightened or anxious. He just chilled out, watching all the dogs play around him while I gently pet him and cooed how adorable he was. He didn't mind any of it. What a great pup!

My status as Brian's cushion made me quite popular with the other Corgis. Every few minutes one of them would run by, pop up on my legs or the bench, and give Brian a quick sniff hello. They all wanted to welcome him to our close-knit group. I ended up with a Corgi or two on my feet, and Theo, predictably, trying to compete for mommy's attention. At one point I was literally covered in sweet, adorable, goofy Corgis. I may have mentioned something about it being my vision of heaven. I came home from the dog park positively glowing. Tears might have welled up when I recounted the affair to Husband. They might be welling up as I type this. I'll never admit it, though. I am still thinking of Brian and how completely calm, adorable, and tiny he was. Puppies are dangerous, people.

But I learned something that day. Theo, from all experiences so far, which admittedly are very limited, likes Corgi puppies. Theo doesn't like puppies. They're whipper snappers! They jump all over you and nip and don't mind their doggy manners! They need to be told the ways of the world the same way Theo was told when he was a puppy. Like this:

That's how Theo usually acts around puppies. Except when it comes to Corgi puppies. Theo was so calm with Brian, and responded to him with an aloofness that bordered on friendliness! *gasp!* He let Brian sniff his ears! Crazier still, Theo pitched not a single fit to my giving all my love and attention to Brian. Whenever I love on another dog at the dog park, Theo always runs up, growls and barks at me, then gives me a look like he's been betrayed. He's not satisfied until the other dog is gone and I am patting Theo reassuringly that he is my one and only. When Brian was in my lap, Theo jumped up onto the bench, wedged himself between Brian's mama and myself, and calmly laid there. He just laid there! Every few minutes he would sniff Brian's ears, or his nose, or his you-know-what. Then he would stop and just chill out next to him, like there was no place he'd rather be than chilling with this puppy and me. My Theo. The non-chiller.

Crazier still, he seemed to get a bit protective of Brian. When other dogs would come up to say hello (ok, it was mostly Philip), Theo would chase them off! He would snap and bark at them, sometimes even jumping down to the ground to convey his point, until they ran off. He definitely seemed to be saying "look, don't touch you fur-truders!" If he hadn't started acting normal again once Brian was out of my lap, I would have suspected alien abduction and body snatching.

What else is there to conclude except that Theo was enamored of Brian. I was too. Not that I would consider anything but a Corgi for a second dog at this point, but this really drove home the point that Corgis just really love Corgis. There's definitely a camaraderie there that I've never seen him express with another breed. If we were to bring home a puppy, it would have to be a Corgi.

Not that I'm bringing home a puppy anytime soon.

But man do I want to bring home a puppy. Or just steal Brian. I think Theo would be ok with that too.

Oh, and Philip was definitely getting Theo back for his rude behavior last month. Theo might be louder and crabbier, but Philip is definitely faster! He kept giving Theo a challenging look bob of the head and then bolting with a "you're never gonna caaaaaaatch me!" look on his face. Mwhahaha! Payback is a female you, Theo! Also, Philip's owner's commentary during the whole thing was hilarious. All the Corgis were in quite a hilarious mood that day. By far the most fun I've had at a meetup!

So it's that time of year. Thanksgiving! While I wish I could say I'm getting ready to enjoy Theo's second Thanksgiving, I'm actually getting ready to drop him off at the boarding facility. I know. I'm a horrible person. But see, my only sister just had her first baby. She lives on the East Coast. I live on the West Coast. She can't travel with a newborn. I still haven't met my nephew. So guess how this ends? Yep, I'm going to Virginia for Thanksgiving to meet my nephew who is the cutest baby in the whole world! And yes, he's also extremely precious. There will definitely be more tear wellage this week. I hope she's stocked up on tissue. I am such a softy! Unfortunately, since Theo isn't small enough to fit under an airline seat. Or rather, since airline seats haven't been made to take Corgi cabin travel into account (can I write my local representative about this travesty?), that means Theo has to stay behind. He'll be boarded for five whole days. I am trying not to dwell. He'll be fine. We'll miss each other terribly. I just hope he's not too mad at me when I finally pick him up. I'm not completely depriving him of a festive good time. I think I'll try to host a holiday dinner of some kind in the next few weeks. Chanukah perhaps? Get my latke on?

The Theo random acts of cuddlage (I might just have to coin it TRACs if this keeps up!) have continued. Usually it involves snuggling on the couch on top of my favorite blanket (it's Husband's super old, threadbare, and thus super-soft comforter from college. I've promised him a divorce if ever he tries to throw it out behind my back (he's threatened!).), with a full belly, wedged between me and Husband. Now when I try to work out in the mornings, Theo is right there distracting me with wet nose sniffs and exposed soft bellies. How is a girl supposed to whip her butt into shape with that kind of a distraction? I've moved that portion of my morning routine to the gym.

Have a safe and happy holiday everyone! Moderation is our friend, for both human and canine alike! And remember to be thankful for your furkids: adorable, troublesome goofballs that they are!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Love,
JuLo, Husband, and Theo the reindeer

Happy Birthday Theo!!!

I know I'm a day late, but that's just what engineers do. That's right, yesterday was my boy's birthday! He's one year old! Can you believe it's been a year already? I remember last Christmas obsessively checking my breeder's website to see if she had posted any more new born pictures of Theo. I remember instantly seeing Theo's picture and thinking, this is definitely the best dog of the litter.

And since this has always been one of my favorite posts, here's another list of 10 things I love about my furbaby:

Dear Theo,

1. I love the way you sigh when you toss and turn while you're sleeping.
2. I love how excited you get when you meet a new person or dog.
3. I love the way you try and catch the toy when we're playing fetch.
4. I love how you sound so ferocious when the doorbell rings, but when I open the door, you're a friendly little kitten.
5. I love the way you use the wii fit board as a platform to chew your antler chew.
   
6. I love how you can be sound asleep, but as soon as I get up to go to bed, you're awake and bolting to your crate.
7. I love the way you sit next to me on the couch when I'm eating dinner (most people would probably not approve of this, but it's one of the few times Theo violates his 2 feet rule, and he never tries to take food from my plate).
8. I love how pathetic you look when you hang your head in unhappiness (i.e. because of something on his head he doesn't like (see reindeer antlers), or because he's trying to get food out of me).
9. I love the way you look at me when I do something that violates our routine (for example, this morning I had the nerve to walk upstairs without first stopping to get you a lamb cookie, even though you were laying on your bed so nicely, just like I always ask).
10. I love how you wait outside the bedroom door for me, no matter how long I'm in there.

(See item 8)

Thanks for being a great dog. As Husband puts it, I wouldn't want a dog that's too well behaved or too snugly, or I would get bored with it. I like my dogs like I like my men, troublemakers!

These are Theo's holiday antlers. I got them way back in November. I can't wait to try and make Theo wear them all day on Christmas. Mwhahaha!

Giveaway Winners

And the winners of a set of awesomely adorable light up pet reindeer antlers are...

Betty and AJ!  Congrats you two!  Wow, it's a lucky time for Southern Californians!  Hehe.  

Alright you two, please email me (imperfectcomplainer@gmail.com) with your full name, address, and phone number, and I'll place the order ASAP.  Remember that to get the antlers by Christmas eve, I have to place the order by midnight tonight.  So I'll be keeping an eye out for your emails. 

Happy holidays everyone!

PS: While it wasn't a condition of winning, Betty and AJ, I really hope you will send me a picture of Koda and Ein in their antlers so I can post them in all their adorable glory.

Holiday Giveaway!

I'm so excited for my first giveaway!  I think it's just what I need to cheer me up (the gloomy weather is keeping me down today).  The majority was by far for the holiday reindeer antlers.  Good choice!  I have some for Theo as well.  In fact, I was planning to post pictures tonight, so stay tuned.  Anyway, I'm sure you're much more interested in the details of the giveaway, so here they are:

First, I'll be giving away two sets of these Pet Holiday Lighted Antlers from Petsmart.  That means there will be two winners. If you have two dogs, I'm sorry, they will just have to share. ;) These are pretty darn cute. 

Second, in order to get the antlers to you by Christmas eve I have to place the order before midnight tomorrow, so this giveaway is going to close in just one short day!  Sorry folks, you snooze you lose.  The giveaway will close tomorrow, December 18th, at 1pm (pst).

Third, how to enter of course!  Just leave a comment here in this post or send me an email (imperfectcomplainer@gmail.com).  If you email me, leave your email address in your comment, or if there is an email address listed on your blog or blogger profile, I'll send you an email notifying you as the winner.  Otherwise, I'll just post the winner here, and hopefully you'll see it and then send me an email with the information listed below.

Fourth, since I have to place the order by 9:00pm my time, the winners will have between 1pm and 8:30pm pacific time to email me their shipping information (full name, address, and phone number).  If you don't get it to me in time, that's ok.  You're still a winner.  It just means you won't get your antlers in time for Christmas. :)

Sorry for the short notice on this guys.  If this goes well, my next giveaway I'll leave much more time to enter.  Good luck!  

My Gloomy June

While we're all agonizing over whether or now our little balls of fur made it into the mycorgi.com calendar this year, the admins are keeping us on pins and needles!  Apparently they not only have who will be in the calendar, but have already shipped it off to the printer!  Here's the last we've heard:

Sorry folks, the results are in, but we're still waiting on the printer's confirmation.  Sorry to keep y'all waiting. What I can tell you now are the following:

1. 100% profit will go to Corgi rescue.

2. The calendars will be $14 each, lower price than last year's.

3. Calendar will be printed professionally, higher quality on premium paper.

As soon as we get the news, we will post the result and ordering information.

I don't know what printer confirmation means, but I assume it relates to the printer's confirmation of the design and readiness to print.  I understand that they want to wait until it's all ready for ordering, but I'm impatient dagnabit!   That said, I'm excited that this year's calendar will be better quality while lower in price and supporting charity.  Score, score, and score!  I'll definitely order one, no matter the outcome.  The question is how many will I order if Theo makes it in.  I know at least my mom will want one.

So while I wait, I've been thinking about what month would be the best to have your Corgi featured?  It's sad, I know.  But it's more interesting than doing my yearly performance assessment...what a snoozefest.  Right off the bat I wouldn't want January.  I usually spend the first half of January forgetting to even put up my new calendar, so that's out.  I usually spend the last half of December out of the office (I only use calendars at work), so that's out too.  April and June are big vacation months, so we'll skip those.  May would be good since it's my birthday month, and doesn't everyone always skip to their birthday month when they get a new calendar?  I know I do.  October and November are big holiday months and should have more festive pictures than mine.  February is a short month, which means less Theo time.  So that leaves March, May, July, August, and September.  I think May or September would be ideal months.

Now that I've probably put you to sleep.  How many calendars are you planning to buy this year?  What month are you hoping for if your pup was in the running?  How cute is that picture of Theo sleeping?

Theo's First Christmas

1. Theo is keeping his nickname of "big fat chicken".  We got our tree on Saturday.  We had it on its side in the backyard and when we went to pick it upright Theo freaked and bolted.  Poor thing.
2. He seems used to it now, but he's not really going near it.  I'm ok with that.  I'd rather have a dog that is scared of the tree than a dog that tries to knock all the ornaments off.
3. Theo got his own ornament.  You can sorta see it below, circled in teal
4. 
5. It's poop!  Sprinkled in snow of course (and it's ceramic of course!).  I got it at the place we take Theo for doggy daycare.  Apparently they're selling like hotcakes.  I had to wait until their second batch came in because the first batch sold out in a day.  
6. I'm still going to do a giveaway with something I buy at Petsmart.  I didn't have time to go this weekend (the closest one is still around 15 miles away, so it's not easy to get to on a busy weekend), but I'm going to look into buying online.
7. Ivy had some issues with Bryson drinking the water in their Christmas tree stand and getting sick (full story here).  Poor guy.  It sounds like he's still having some problems from it.  I hope he's ok!
8. I ended up buying the same tree preservative, and I was pretty nervous about it.  But when I looked at the stand we have, there's no way Theo could drink out of it.  I can't recommend this tree stand enough!  We bought ours at Home Depot a few years ago.  We liked it because we never have to worry about screwing the stand on straight (because it swivels!), and that little cap you screw on is so much easier than trying to maneuver the whole stand (you screw the little cap on and then put the cap into the stand, two pieces are better than one!).  And now there's a whole new reason for loving it.  It's built in such a way that there's no way Theo could drink out of it.  I had to wiggle my finger between the grooves just to feel the water level in the first place.  And it's so tall that I think Theo would have a hard time positioning himself to even try.  Anyone with a dog should check one of these out!
9. I got some great pictures of Theo this weekend. He was being adorable yesterday, very snugly.  I felt like I was getting sick so I decided to take it easy and just sleep most of yesterday.  According to Husband Theo slept right along with me.  Have I mentioned I have the best dog ever?  I almost want to get sick just so I can spend a few days with him. Hehe.
10. 

Back To Normal

1. We started up our agility class again last night.  The trainer kept asking Theo to use the new equipment first (not exactly as a demo, since she has a helper use her own dog as a demo, but I think she wanted the group to always start off on the right foot).  In obedience class she would never use Theo as a demo dog, but I guess for agility he really shines.  He really loves all the equipment, especially the tunnel, which we used last night!  We also tried the dog walk, which was the one thing I was nervous about Theo liking.  The trainer was smart and lined the top with dog treats, so Theo was of course fine with it!  He kept trying to run back up and look for more treats. 
2. He hates waiting his turn in class.  When he sees another dog struggling he gets antsy and starts barking.  You can see him thinking "stop making a fool of yourself and let me show you how it's done!".  I think this is definitely the sport for Theo right now.
3. I'm having a hard time getting used to not having all the blogs I read having new posts everyday.  I really enjoyed having that last month.
4. I used "having" way too many times in No. 3, but I don't feel like changing it.
5. Today we are experimenting.  We didn't take Theo to doggy daycare.  The remodel is basically done (I say basically because they never really finished, but we got tired of waiting, so we took the lockbox off the door and decided to just keep our money), and we can't really afford to take him everyday anymore ($400/month is a lot!). The most we usually keep him home alone on the weekends is about 4 hours.  Today is all day.  We'll see how he does.  I'm expecting to take a very long walk tonight.
6. I don't think we'll totally stop doing doggy daycare, just cut back to a few days a week.
7. I want to buy our Christmas tree this weekend.  Hopefully we have a better time of it than Ivy and Bryson did.  Poor guy.  What should I get Theo for his very first Christmas?  I may have already invested in some red fuzzy antlers...pictures to may be come.
8. The picture?  Just felt like it.

Closing Out

Well it's the 30th: the last day of the month, the last day of NaBloPoMo. Did you have fun reading my blog everyday? I hope so! Since I have trouble finishing things (and remembering things), I'm so proud of myself for never missing a day! Thanks so much to everyone who NaBloPoMoed with me! It was so much fun reading everyone's blogs. I hope we all do it again next year.

Ok, so back to Theo talk. The family is all gone and it's just us again. We spent the day dealing with lots of problems with Theo. First off, he's become unhousetrained all of a sudden. The last 3 days we left him at home alone for a period of time, and each time he peed in the house. He won't go outside because it's wet, and I'm not sure what to do about it. I guess I just have to take him for more walks? Anyway, it caused some frustration to say the least. After getting whatever he wanted all weekend because my family is a bunch of suckers, he was acting like a bit of a brat. Thankfully it was nothing a little obedience work couldn't fix. Have I mentioned I can't stress obedience training enough? Hehe.

I'll end my NaBloPoMo posting on a good note and talk about Theo's first Thanksgiving a little more. It really was a great time. He started off with some chewing by himself while we were all cooking.


He took breaks periodically to smell the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.


Little did we know we had out own little turkey closeby.


He had his own play squad assigned to him for the night. I don't think Theo has ever played so much fetch, much to his delight, I'm sure.

Oh by the way, his newest thing is catching the toy, rather than fetching it.

My mom had the furry socks to prove the fur was flying!


At the end of dinner Theo was treated with the platter full of turkey drippings. Yum!

And don't worry, it went straight into the dishwasher after this little "pre-rinse".

After all the exercise and delicious food, there was only one thing left to do...

Totally collapse into a coma.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I think Theo's was a success.

PS: More pictures of the herding to come tomorrow. Right now the WiiFit calls...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, this post is going to be short, sweet, and not a little bit lame.  It was my first Thanksgiving, and a house full of parental units.  I'm happy to say everything turned out well, delicious even!  And Theo was happy to have so much attention, and such a delicious dinner!  I won't be able to post a picture until later, but Husband's dad gave Theo the tray full of turkey juices after dinner to lick up.  Hehe.  Theo was very confused with what to do with such a gigantic food bowl.

This was Theo's first Thanksgiving, and I think it was a good one!  How was yours?

Here We Go

Well the family is all here (minus my sister and her husband who are coming tomorrow), and Theo is in heaven. He absolutely loves his grandfurparents. I'm like the new mother who loves it when people come over to hold her baby so she gets a break. I'm loving having people over so they can play fetch with him and give me a break. Hehe.

Theo got to experience something new today: intruders! My parents left for a few hours to go check into their hotel and we left the door open for them, since they don't have a key. I realized later this was a bad idea because Theo has never had someone just walk into the house without Husband or I letting them in first. I didn't think about that. Theo always loves it when people come over. He acts like they're his personal play dates. Well Theo was sleeping when my parents walked through the door. He instantly popped up and screamed out a bark like I have never heard before. It was a bark that said there were intruders in the house and he wanted them gone. As soon as he saw it was my parents he calmed down, but for that instant he was my protector. It startled the heck out of me! Hehe. But it was nice to know that Theo does not view people randomly walking into our house the same as guests who we let in.

Merry cooking to everyone tomorrow! Remember, not too many fatty foods for the pups.

Theo's First Halloween

I still can't believe that Theo isn't even a year old yet. I feel like I've had him forever (in a good way). Apparently the neighbors agree because I had one woman say that she remembered Theo from Halloween last year. He just sticks in your mind I guess. I'm so glad that it's finally the holiday season! Experiencing Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/Chanukah with Theo for the first time is going to make it even more special.

This was the most fun I've had on Halloween for a long time. Theo had a great time. I don't know how well other people's dogs do, but Theo was not the most well behaved dog that night...not that I was surprised, or blame him. I could not keep him in the house! Whenever a pack of trick or treaters (that's right, they travel in packs in my neighborhood) would show up at the door, Theo would go running out and personally greet each child. Thankfully I have some brave children in my neighborhood because there were no tears, only "awwww"s.

He gave me a couple of heart attacks though. We always keep our front gate closed to keep Theo in, but even when it's open he knows he's not supposed to cross it without permission. Well obviously the gate was left open all night because of the comings and goings of the treaters, so a couple of times Theo bolted out of the gate. Thankfully he stayed on the sidewalk because he was only interested in greeting the passing dogs out on their evening walk, but I still was none too happy about it. Something to work on for next year.

Overall I think Theo's first Halloween was a resounding success! Can't wait for it to come again next year!

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about this mornings trip to the dog beach. It was fun, but man am I tired!

Happy Halloween!

Well happy of happy days, Theo finally took a break from wanting to play fetch. Unfortunately, it was because he had turned into a zombie and shifted all that intense energy into trying to eat my brains. It's ok though. I distracted him with one of my neighbors who never picks up his dog's poop and was able to get away.

Happy Halloween, everyone, from julo and Zombie Officer Theo!

Officer Theo says: Remember folks, keep all that delicious chocolate candy well away from my furkind. Safety first!

Officer Theo Is On The Prowl

My fellow citizens, this Halloween your children will be safe to roam the neighborhood. With Officer Theo on patrol, the streets of [redacted] will be safe for one night from evil.


Beware on this night those who would do harm. Officer Theo will be there to lay the smack down...

...you got a problem with that?

But since October 31st is still a month away, Officer Theo will put his uniform to use by moonlighting with the Hot Cops in the mean time.

PS: If you couldn't tell, this is Theo's Halloween costume! Apparently I'm not the only one who calls him Officer Theo. I just found out last week that that's what they call him at doggy daycare!

PPS: My mom just called me deranged and abusive for these pictures. D:

Officer Theodore

If you watch Theo play with other dogs you pretty much get the sense that he's like the bossy kid on the playground who tries to tell all the other kids what to do. One on one he plays normally, but when there's a group playing together he usually circles around the outside of the crowd and barks a lot. I know it's just his herding nature coming out, but I like to say he's policing them.

So when I saw this costume on the Petco website, it was love at first sight.

Say hello to Theo's Halloween costume! At least, this is the one I would like if they have it. I am so excited for Theo's first Halloween! I wish it were October already!

Update: After I posted this I had discussions with my friend Scot and my sister about this outfit and they both agreed that were this a human costume, it would look like something a stripper would wear. After a couple of hours, I came back to the picture and the first thing I thought of was...stripper! Arg! Apparently for Halloween Theo is going to be a slut*.

* That's not to say all strippers are sluts. Hey some girls just like dancing and lots of easy money. But that's the connotation that comes with wearing a vinyl police uniform.

Leaving Tomorrow

Tomorrow we leave for that trip to Reno I mentioned before. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for what a task it will most likely be. I made my list of things I need to make sure to do/bring tomorrow, and checked it twice.

Pack:
toys
treats
food
crate
.
.
.
To Do:
move car seat cover to Prius
make Theo's breakfast and lunch
.
.
.

It's all there. I couldn't believe how long the list ended up being! I hope it all fits into our Prius (they have tiny trunks, ya know)! Puppies really are like babies in the sense that there's just a lot of "stuff" you have to bring everywhere.

Theo's record of enjoying car rides is not great. It usually involves squirming (pictured), crying, panicking, and a whole lot of barking. Deafening barking. I've learned over the last few weeks that it's not being in the car that bothers him per se. At first I thought his problem was with being banished to the back seat, away from his humans and away from their attention. But now I think his main problem is with the restraint. If we don't buckle him into the harness, he's fine in the back seat. Hehe. But safety is first, so he'll just have to get over it. The plan is to shove his crate into the back seat, so he can chill in his crate unrestrained, but he'll still be safe. Of course, since his crate is huge (I'm still bitter they don't make crates for long-backed, short-legged dogs), that will depend entirely on whether it'll fit in the car. Cross your fingers!

This is going to be an all day car ride, so obviously the trip will go better for all parties the shorter it is. In that spirit, I'm going to try and get us all packed and ready to leave by 4am tomorrow morning so we can get past the areas that tend to be more congested during the later morning hours. Also, my mom made mention of possibly making some macaroni salad for dinner tomorrow night (one of my all time favorite *mom* foods, it's delish), so I want to make sure we're there in time for dinner. You know you're leaving too early when Starbucks won't even be open yet. Oiy.

I'm pretty nervous about the trip, just because the longest car ride we've had with Theo so far has been about 30 minutes. I'm *hoping* he'll end up sleeping most of the way, but if he's unhappy and in the mood to bark, it's going to get very hellish, very fast.

Cross your fingers for me, feel free to leave me any tips you might have for the journey, and I hope everyone has a happy passover! I may not blog much (if at all) while I'm gone, but hopefully when I get back my camera will be full of cute pictures of Theo!

Happy National Dress Up Your Pet Day

According to my 2008 Petsmart calendar, today is National Dress Up Your Pet Day. Had I a pet would I be partaking in this festivity? Probably not, unless I had a Halloween costume handy (or a Bowser costume). But since I currently have no pets, I'm not faced with the dilemma. I perused the calendar for the next few months, and all the other holidays listed are normal ones, so I guess that means this holiday is (somewhat) legit. Anyone partaking?

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!