"Brudder Dog"

Sam and Brimley are inseparable. Well, at least Sam won't separate from Brim. He follows the poor dog everywhere, trying to get him to play, cuddle or lick him.

Brimley puts up with it, occasionally enjoying a game of tug of war or chase, but mostly he just allows Sam to climb all over him. He's a good dog and mostly enjoys the attention.

Sam calls Brim his "brudder dog" (translation: brother dog) and when people ask him if he has any brothers or sisters he says "I have two brothers!" It's possible that when Sam was a baby, Sam believed himself to be  dog. Since he barked at the door bell and all….

It's fun to see these two together, and I can see that Miles is following in his brothers dog loving ways. His biggest laugh to date? When Brimley licked his face. ;)

Pretty, pretty, Princess

Yesterday morning, our "clockwork kitty" wasn't at the door asking for food. This was very out of the ordinary for her, and I knew that something was wrong.  

I started to get ready for the day, expecting her to start crying for breakfast. When it didn't happen after a few hours, I walked outside to try and find her.

I stood at the side yard and called her name. Immediately I heard her cry out from under a tree. I climbed under to her, and noticed that she was too weak and in pain to move.

I checked her over, found no injuries and started to fear the worst. I packed her up and took her into the Emergency vet.

Right away the Doctor knew it was critical that we do something. We started with X-Rays that only showed that there was something "off" with her intestines. The Vet wanted to run more tests, but informed me that even after spending thousands to find out why my kitty was dying, she was still going to be dying.

I made the extremely hard decision, to put her down, and help her get out of her painful body. 

 Not knowing what was wrong was really hard, but by the time they brought her into the room to sit a while with me, she was too weak and sick to even lift her head. It was heartbreaking.

 She will be so missed. Although we cursed her every day for waking us up too early, scratching the carpet, peeing on the laundry or asking to go outside just as we got comfortable on the couch, we will miss her presence.

 She loved food. Mac and Cheese, chicken, french fries and mashed potatoes. She sat next to me at every meal waiting for a little scrap of food.

 She was such a lazy lady and had a few favorite spots in the house, most of them being over the heating vents.

 Princess loved being out in the yard but preferred to be indoors where it is warm and quiet.

 I hate that I had to make the decision, but I am thankful for the little memories I have of her. She had a great life, and lived 12 years with warm blankets, sunny spots, balls to chase and lots of attention.

Hippo McDonalds

A year ago we got Sam some hermit crabs in the hope of instilling some responsibility in a kid who I'm sure will grow up surrounded by animals. Little did we know that crabs require ZERO care. The silly things would burry themselves under the sand and we would go weeks at a time without seeing them. Not once did we witness them eating. Somehow they survived and when we took them back to the pet store yesterday, the employee said that they looked really healthy and active. What?

Lamest pets ever. 

So anyway, we were at the pet store dropping off the dogs at the groomer when we noticed a very happy guinea pig during our rounds. 

She came out of her igloo to see us and Sam asked an employee if he could hold her.

We instantly fell in love and it melted my heart to see Sam so happy. 

After sort of talking Daddy into the idea we got all that we needed to take her home!

She is a year old and apparently came from a family of 3 little girls who moved out of he country. So she is very tame and super social. 

Sam didn't hesitate when I asked what we should name her. 

Hippo McDonalds. 

I have NO idea where this came from, but Hippo it is :) By the way, she is as obese as her name would suggest. She's currently on a diet.

Hippo's previous home must have included dogs because she has no fear of the pups. They are pretty intrigued with her but once they get a good sniffing, they leave her alone. 

 We have only had her for 24 hours now, but Sam is constantly holding and playing with her. She doesn't seem to mind the attention at all.

 He introduced her to all of his toys and oddly she seemed interested. She's the perfect little pet for the perfect little pet owner! I am so thrilled to have accidentally found her :)

Neither Matt nor I have ever owned a Guinea Pig so if you have any tips or facts for us, please share!

Ten

Our sweet girl Brisbane turned 10 years old today. Isn't that like 70 in dog years!? Geez, geriatric!

(For those of you who are NOT dog people, go ahead and skip this post because its about to get really mushy and crazy. As a matter of fact, probably best that you just ignore this blog entirely because I post a lot about my puppies.) 

Now that the weirdo dog haters are gone, back to the good stuff. ;)

I can not imagine our family without Bizy. She is such a loving and loyal dog. From day one, we were attached at the hip and although it can be pretty annoying at times to always have a dog at my feet, Im glad to have such a great companion. 

She has surprised us with how much she loves Sam. She isn't the most social dog and is not the biggest fan of children but she is so patient with him.  

 Briz is one nervous dog! She is very high strung and afraid of the weirdest things. But, she has really calmed down in the last few years. It may just be from her old age, but I think that she has picked up a few good habits from her best friend, Brimley. 

They are so close. Brimley and Brisbane are good pals. They wrestle and play every morning and sleep near each other every night. It's so sweet to see them together. 

 Brisbane, despite her age is a very healthy, energetic dog. We are so lucky that she hasn't had any major health issues. It's hard to see them age and it breaks my heart that she can no longer make it up on the bed to cuddle with me at night, but Happy Birthday to Bizy anyway!!!

Outside

We went outside today to watch a storm come in.
We sat with the dogs.
One of them is ashamed after a minor scolding.
"Don't eat poop!" is what I had to yell.
Sam looks handsome in his new digs.

Sam makes this face after I ask him to show me a smile.
I show the image to him and he laughs.
I laugh too.
What a goofy kid.

I take pictures of Dotty to document her comb growth.
Our friend Colton thinks her gender should be questioned.
I hope that our pretty pullet is not a roo.
My dad says if she is a he, we should plump him up and name him "Dinner."
That will not happen.

We watch the clouds roll in and feed the chickens corn.
They devour most of the can.

Sam eats the leftovers and states, "My corn, nan-icks."
He can't say "chicken" yet.

We all head inside when the rain drops start to fall.

"Doots"

Please welcome, "Doots" the fish. 

When we were coming up with names we landed on the name "Bruce" after the shark in Finding Nemo (one of Sam's favorite movies). When we ran this idea by Sam, he smiled and proclaimed, "Yeah, DOOTS!"

And so he shall be known as just that.

Puppies!

Jan, Matt's mom, shows Brussles Griffons. I think I have mentioned this before. But did I mention SHE BREEDS THEM! The youngest female, Dara, just had 3 puppies! Sadly only 2 survived but they are doing just fine and they are very cute little things.

Both of them opened their eyes for the first time this week. Just in time for me to snap some photos :)
Yawn...

Sam has been so good with them. He can say "puppy" and is very gentle when he gets to pet them.

Every winter...

...these two get mighty itchy. Poor puppies.

Last year we tried treating them with some vet-prescribed steroids that ended up making them drip pee all day long. Not a good solution. We prefer clumps of hair over puddles on our carpet any day.

This year, I don't know what I am to do. Move to a more humid climate? Okay.

Reasons why I love this photo:
1. Brizzy never looks at the camera. NEVER. So funny. We have to trick her every time.
2. When I bought a down comforter I swore the rule was "no dogs allowed." That lasted about a week. I love cuddling with the dogs over pure-white duvets.
3. Brimley. He is so happy and peppy all the time. Cant you tell he's smiling in this pic? Best doggy ever.

Best in Show

Have you seen that movie? Its one of the BEST.

You know how it makes fun of dog show people in all of their craziness?

Yeah, you remember?

Well, on Sunday I tried my hand at being one of those crazies.

And luckily, I failed.

As I have mentioned before, Matt's mom Jan shows Brussles Griffons. She has 2 males that are showing right now, and because she wanted to enter both of them into the Sammamish Kennel Club dog show, she needed another handler. I was ecstatic to volunteer.

On Sunday we loaded up the suv with all the gear, and headed into Marymoor park to groom and ready Murphy and Beckett. Then we received our numbers and waited for our names to be called. The arm band made me feel pretty official.

I was prepared to watch Jan and then repeat her steps at my turn in the ring. I missed out on about 1/2 of her routine when the lady calling out the numbers started asking me a bunch of questions. So, when it was my turn to walk Murphy through the ring, I was unprepared. My hope was that the judge would give me a little more instruction since he knew it was my first time, but he didn't have a heart.

So I did my best. My parents stood on the side lines with Sam and watched me make a fool out of myself. When he said "walk him again" I thought he meant around the circle again. When I returned to the judges side he said "Dont ever do that again. Now walk him to the fence and then back to me."
Sorry dude. Im not one of your kind.

When it came time for results, the judge awarded Beckett and Jan with "Best in Breed" and told me he "wanted to see Murphys tail up. Excitement to show is something we look for in a dog." Murph just wasnt happy to be with me. As a matter of fact he kept turning around in the ring to look for Jan and Beckett.Oh well. He did recieve a point and a ribbon because the judge recognized what a good looking Brussles he is. So we didnt FAIL, we just didn't win.All in all I had fun. It was the best people watching I have done in a long time, and I did love seeing all the pretty show dogs.

But, I don't think Im nutty enough to do it again. Plus, any activity that requires you to wear panty hose is not my cup of tea.

August 1st

We started out the day with a Jiu-Jitsu picnic at a really nice farm owned by a fellow classmate of Matts. They train and breed horses and their property is incredible.

Sam enjoyed all the little things there were to do and eat. He found it especially awesome to eat the olives off of his fingers.He also really liked to play/cheat with the ladder golf set, and pet the giant Leonburger puppy, "Ruben".

Not to mention yell at mommy for informing him that he should find something else to play with. Great, he's already talking back.

Before we left we went into the stables to check out some of the 30 horses that live on the farm.Sam, even after a few previous exposures, is still a little weary of them. Can you blame him? They are pretty large animals compared to his tiny self.

After the picnic we drove over to Matt's parents to take a nap and chow down on more grilled meat.

Sam loves Grandpa's chair. It has a recline button.

Sam and Grandma played outside with all the dogs. Sam is so ecstatic when he gets to play with dogs, and Grandma and Grandpa have 6 of them to chose from.

Jeffrey, Bailey and Daphne. (not pictured is Murphy who wouldnt sit still for a picture.)

The new kids. Dara and Beckett.He loved throwing the ball for Bailey and when Grandma showed him how to use the "chuck-it" it became even more exciting.Jan shows and breeds Brussels Griffons and has 5 of them right now. They each have very different personalities, and are so much fun. Its a miracle that I got this picture.

Dinner was amazing (as always) and Sam enjoyed the after-meal cuddle sessions with some of his favorite people.