Goodbye to 2010

This has been a very difficult year as I lost my very dear bullie Elmo at the age of 26 months old due to health issues.  He was such a good dog; he loved everyone and everyone loved him.

But, with Elmo's passing along came Zoe and her blog LivinginZoesworld.

So, to each and everyone and their Bullies have a safe, healthy and very Happy New Year!

I just wanted to share a few pictures of my very special friend Elmo taken in 2008:

Talking on Facetime

The two oldest grandchildren received iPod touches Gen 4 for Christmas and they now have Facetime on them.  They can talk to us on and see us from our Mac computer and we can talk to them AND see them at the same time.  The picture and voice is clear as a bell.

Well, Zoe thinks Facetime is the greatest as she can hear and see the boys and thinks they are right in our kitchen!  She's figured out that they're on the computer screen and tries to jump up at the table to see them and we turn the camera on her so that the boys can see her.

Here's Zoe sitting on the kitchen chair checking in on Facetime!

Christmas is over

Zoe had such a good Christmas...Santa brought her everything she asked for except for the Bob-A-Lot; which has to be ordered since it isn't carried in any pet store here locally.

Her favorite thing was the Bully Sticks...it keeps her busy for a very long time.

We hope that everyone and their beautiful Bullies had a great Christmas and received all the gifts they asked for from Santa.

Merry Christmas to All

Zoe has completed her wish list for Santa that she started several weeks ago.

I already gave her the new water bottle for her crate and she had no problem learning to drink from it.  I didn't even have to put peanut butter on the nozzle to entice her...she does not like peanut butter anyway.

But, she wanted to add to her list:  Bullie Sticks and a Bob-A-Lot.  All the bullies on the Yahoo board are getting one and they sound like a great learning toy to keep her busy for hours.

How do you like Zoe's Christmas tree?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Puppy School Graduation

Zoe passed Puppy School with all A's!  She really has come a long way from six weeks ago.  Going to class gives her the opportunity to socialize with many different dogs and people.  Zoe will not be able to attend the beginner class next month, as the class has already filled up to my dismay; so we will have to wait until February 2011.  Here's her official graduation photo and few pics from class playing with her classmate on the agility equipment.

A Visit to the Office

Zoe has been begging me to take her to work, so I gave in.  She is so rambunctious and gets into EVERYTHING I really had second thoughts about taking her.  Zoe's such a good girl (most of the time) and she's only 5-1/2 months old; so I need to cut her some slack.  She chewed the big cardboard box under my cube that's been there before my time...I really don't know what's in it, but it must be something important.  I just turned it around so no one could see the tape ripped off of it and the chew marks she made.  Zoe's learned to run to the glass door in the hallway that's the signal to "take me out now!".  Here's Zoe hanging out at the office with all her toys:

After a full morning of running around the office and greeting everyone it was time to take a nap.  But, not before she discovered the box of scrap computer paper she had to empty out and spread all over the floor.  It was a busy day!

First Snowfall

Zoe got to experience her first snow fall today.  It's wet and slushy and not too much of it.  She thought it would be fun to scoop it up and eat it all along the way; kind of like a snow cone.  Not realizing it was REALLY cold.
 

Then she decided she had been out in the snow way too long and wanted back in.  I think she's a fair weather Bullie!

More Puppy School

Zoe just loves going to puppy school and socializing with all her classmates.  Her best friend, if she could chose one is Louie a Portuguese Water Dog; the same breed that President Obama and family owns.  They run all over the class until Zoe does a gentle body slam and lands on Louie, rolls over, lets him go and then it starts all over again.

Zoe is getting so much better with performing the normal obedience routines like sit/stay and heeling without pulling on the leash.  But, she definitely has her own agenda about what puppy school is for her; and that is socializing with everyone and their dogs.  What else does a Bullie do? 
Our instructor has now set up a mini obstacle course and Zoe has learned to jump up on the yellow platform on command and go through the tunnel to find all the treats the other dogs left inside the tunnel.  Next week is our last class and Zoe's homework is to keep a treat sitting on her paw without taking it.   That will be a miracle if it happens.

Zoe Visits Santa Claus

Zoe's been a really good puppy this year, so she made a list to give to Santa when she went to see him;

1. A Martha Stewart Snuggler bed with a fluffy dog bone pillow

2. Nylabone Healthy Edibles-as many as you can fit in your pouch

3. A new Kong Wubba – I’m tired of getting Elmo’s hand-me-downs

4. A doggie water bottle for my crate, so I can quit spilling my water

I'll have more later Santa...

SENSE-ible Dog Harness

Zoe's teacher asked me to try out a different harness for her when we were at puppy class last week.  She had one in stock so I thought we would try it out.  The concept is that you have more control over the dog if they are pulling when walking as the leash is hooked into the front of the harness (leash hooks into the O ring in front) instead of over the back.  But, the problem I had was that it allows your playful pup to grab the leash in the front and chew on it.  Or, decide that the leash is a tug toy and now it's time to play.    

In my opinion, this particular style appears to be too thin for Zoe as this is the 1/2" webbing and I think she would be better suited to the 1" size webbing. Also, this harness has the closing clasp that hooks underneath the dog so you have to be very careful not to pinch any of the pups' flesh/fur or possibly your own finger while you are clipping it together. 
We're heading off to puppy class tonight to get a better idea as to how this fits.  

Big Girl Crate & Feeding Station

Sorry that I've left my blogging duties get behind, as I have been under the weather lately.  Speaking of the weather it is really winter here now as last night it got down to 28 degrees and we have had a slight dusting of snow.  Anyway, I weighed Zoe over the weekend and at 5 months old she now weighs 35 pounds.  I decided Zoe needed to graduate from the puppy crate to the big girl crate and she just loves it...an extra large hotel room.  I have a crate pad on the bottom that has a removable fleece cover for easy washing; and a small cotton blanket on the top of that. 

Zoe has now graduated to using Elmo's feeding station that elevates the food and water bowls on a metal stand at shoulder height.  I am using velcro straps that I wind around the metal legs to anchor it to the butcher block table next to it so that it doesn't move around while she's eating.   Zoe was previously using a large set of yellow pages to elevate her doggie food bowl... this system is much more efficient and cleaner.  She's still using the ceramic puppy bowl so I'm just setting it inside the stainless steel one.

                                                Can you let me outta here!?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey day is finally here, so I thought I would share with everyone my very own "Butterball".  Since my husband and I are vegetarians, there's no turkey in our house except for the picture below which belongs to guess who?

Is your answer
a) Tom Turkey
b) Bobby Butterball or
c) Zoe
If you answered (c) you are correct!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving everyone.

P.S.  Just in case you are wondering or overly concerned Zoe has not committed to being a vegetarian.

Monkey Mann

Here's Zoe's new BFF and his name is "Monkey Mann".  Don't you just love it?  Our assignment for next week's puppy class is to bring a toy that has some sort of tug thing hanging down for our dogs to play with.  We are to teach our dog to fetch, bring it back to us without playing tug of war with the toy and then releasing it on command.  Oh yeah, I'm all over that one.  Good luck with a bullie trying to do that.  Thank goodness we don't have any retrievers in our class to show everyone up.  :o)

Road trip to the Cyclocross Race

Zoe loves to ride in the car and go some place where she can socialize with everyone and every dog she sees.  It's something about the Cyclocross people; they're always super friendly and everybody, well almost, brings their dogs along to see the race.   She was such a good dog today and with all the walking around in her new harness you would not have even known that this was her first time wearing it.

Trying on Zoe's First Harness

I had a harness that belonged to my other bullie Elmo and it fit him pretty snug when he was at his heaviest at 53 pounds.  So, I figured that I would try and see if I could adjust it to make it small enough to fit Zoe, as she is about 33 pounds now.  We are planning on going to take a road trip tomorrow and go to the last Cyclocross race of the season and it would make it a lot more comfortable for her to walk around since she pulls so much when she gets excited.  The harness is made by Lupine and it is adjustable on both of the shoulder straps and the sternum strap.  It's the best harness on the market in my book, because it has a guarantee for LIFE, even if your dog chews it.    
Here's Zoe in her Mud Puppy design harness.  How do you like it?  I think she looks marvelous!

Dear God

Dear God:  Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.

1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.

2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.

3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.

4. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.

5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.

6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.

7.  Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.

8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table

9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.

10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the carpet.

11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.

12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

 

Have a great weekend!

Asleep In Dad's Leather Chair

Zoe has discovered the famous La-Z-Boy leather chair which is exclusively my husband's.  No one is allowed to sit in it or even sniff it :o), but Zoe can.  She's not big enough to jump into it by herself, so the only way she can get up into the chair is if she has assistance.  Zoe's little back legs just don't have enough oomph to get her up into the comfy chair. We have an African Grey parrot named Bilbo (his real name is Bilbo Baggins of the Hobbit) that has this saying when he sees one of us sitting in the family room in our chairs:  "sleepin' in the chair?", which is what is usually happening in front of the TV.  Bilbo says the phrase in his perfect voice that mimics my husband's. 

So now comes Zoe sitting in the King's chair.
Calling it her own as if she was the Queen.










And then slowly, very slowly Zoe's getting sleepy.  The power of the comfy leather chair begins to take over.











Zoe lays down and makes herself more comfortable...












And then it happens, the spell of The Chair takes over and Zoe falls fast to sleep.

Good Night Everyone, Goodnight Elmo. 

Let's do Laundry

One of the Sunday morning rituals at our house is to get the laundry done for the week.  Zoe decided this morning to help out by jumping into the laundry basket to sort through the towels.  It seems that her best task is assisting with pulling them out of the basket and then plopping her butt on top of the fluffy one she chose to leave there for her personal comfort. Ahh, just right!

 

It's Friday again Yeh!!

My mom and I love Fridays 'cause it's almost the weekend when we get to go out and play all day long.

    

                                                                  R.O.F.L.