Ever since we brought the dog home we’ve been meeting more of our neighbors. Three of them have dogs that Orion LOVES to play with. Travis and Faith are his best doggie friends and they live a few houses down. They play together pretty much everyday and today was no exception. We usually all gather at Travis’ place since they have a private yard with GRASS! but because of all the rain we’ve had lately our dirt yard and Travis’ dirt/GRASS! yard have become mud pits. We decided to take the cleaner option and have the kiddos play at Faith’s house.
Travis looking dashing. He was recently neutered, but O still loves him.
Faith and her mom, Caroline, have a great deck in front of their place that proved to be an awesome place to sit while the dogs ran around us. There was one main fence around the perimeter of the complex but none on the inside, which meant that there was a nice concrete “track” the dogs could run around.
I'm pretty sure they're eating leaves.
You have to be quick with the camera around these dogs. They move so fast that I was clicking whenever I saw a moment. Unfortunately for Travis that meant this photo.
Faith.
This is a pretty typical scene – one dog on top of another with the third biting at the bottom dog’s face and neck. Unfortunately for Travis he was the bottom dog this time around. Faith is usually the one biting the face of the bottom dog. Even though she’s so much smaller than the other two, she is excellent at wrestling them to the floor.
This is a good photo to show the size difference between them.
They ran and played so hard that all three were panting and had their tongues hanging two feet out of their mouths. When they started to lick the dry deck I knew something had to be done. I turned the hose on and immediately the pups started drinking.
There are very few places that O is not allowed to go or be on in our apartment. One of the forbidden areas is our very nice, very fancy sofa. Orion knows this is off limits and when he was younger he would only lean on the cushions. Now that he’s bigger he’s been jumping up on the couch whenever the mood strikes him and sometimes when he’s very quiet I get suspicious. After investigation I find out the turd-face has been sitting on the couch the whole time. Grrrr.
He's been getting up on the couch a lot more lately.
I’ve never been a big fan of the clothes-on-dogs idea but lately I’ve been more enthusiastic about the whole thing. Every month I receive a catalog from an online pet supply wholesaler and this month I noticed CLOTHES! Yea CLOTHES! I cajoled Joel into allowing me to buy him a thing or two. The hoodie is still a bit big on him but I’m thinking about the future with this purchase.
New hoodie! You're not a member of the Myers' clan until you have a hoodie.
But mom, my butt feels so good sitting here on the couch.
The other night we heard Orion barking in the living room and when we investigated the situation we found him looking at the window. Apparently he’s afraid of his own reflection. Wierdo.
posted 4 months, 1 week ago at 11:46 am. 1 comment
My uncle Jim owns a sail boat and from time to time we go sailing together. I thought that as the summer dwindled to an end the perfect way to go out would be with a sail boat and awesome friends. So we packed up the pup, picked up our friends, and stocked the boat with refreshments…the rest, as they say, is history.
He's not sure about this whole sailing thing.
Chantel and Colton
At first O wanted to jump back on to the dock. I think the rocking of the boat was a bit unnerving for him but we helped him get over his boat jitters with plenty of pats and love.
A little pat pat from Jimmy
Motoring out of the Newport Beach marina. We didn’t have much time so we wanted to get out of the jetty as soon as possible. This was also Colton’s first time on a sail boat. He didn’t like the life vest but he definitely enjoyed being out on the water and the rocking from the waves.
The crew.
Liking it a little more.
Sailing dog!
Joel had to hold him back from jumping in the water.
Manning his post.
I think I caught her with a full mouth.
Aye aye Capt'n.
Colton was great on the boat! He was very steady and sure on his feet and listened so well whenever we asked him to move. He was constantly moving around the boat and he knew exactly where to hold on to in order to not fall down.
Colton loved sailing...he kept moving from the cabin to the helm.
He's at attention because of the jerky in Joel's hands.
Never too big to be a lap dog.
Precious.
What's that noise?
Sealions!
O wanted to play.
Sailing is exhausting work.
Towards the end Colton was a bit tired of the life vest. As a remedy I took him down in to the cabin and we played on the bed. It was a bit stuffy down below so I opened up some windows and propped Colton up so that he could look through them. Chantel thought this was hilarious and took pictures.
We had fun playing in the cabin.
Overall it was a very successful sailing experience – both the kid and the dog loved it. Hopefully we’ll be able to do this again and Sean will be able to join us.
posted 4 months, 1 week ago at 1:34 pm. 2 comments
Generations (our church) decided to have church at the beach during the summer. Since O is still a baby we have a hard time leaving him for more than four hours at a time (mainly because I do not like to clean up his crate after he pees in it). We decided to take Orion with us to the beach instead of leaving him at home for hours. The place was packed and I think O got a bit overwhelmed.
Orion loves sand. He at so much of it that the next day he pooped out a mountain of pure beach.
He's getting so strong that sometimes the only way to control him is to wrap the leash around ourselves.
At one point he was feverishly digging in the sand and we thought it was so cute. After a few minutes there was a nice sized ditch padded with cool wet sand. Orion promptly circled and plopped down in the newly dug bed and decided that he’d had enough of the beach and church time.
Exhausted.
Do I have anything on my nose?
posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago at 10:26 am. Add a comment
From time to time we like to get together with Orion’s sisters for a little playtime. This was our first meeting and it went very well! Orion played with his sisters Carmela and Abby. I think one of his favorite things to do is play and he does it a lot. Generally he plays with his neighborhood friends but its always nice to play with his sisters cause they are his size and play at his speed.
O and his sisters LOVED playing in the water.
Abby, Shalein’s pup, was definitely the toughest one of them all. She ran circles around Orion and Carmela and taught them some new tricks. The pups were not allowed into the flower beds and for the most part Abby was the one leading the charge into the forbidden areas.
Wrestling.
Tonka and Carmela were wrestling and the little ones wanted in on the action.
Tonka was not allowed to play with the kiddies because he is soooo much bigger than them. At one point we let Tonka into the yard and he went crazy! He started wrestling with Carmela (the mom) and pretty much took her down. Shalein (Tonka and Carmela’s owner) came out of the house at the exact moment that Tonka was jumping up and down with the pups romping behind him. Needless to say she was not pleased that we were not adequately watching the babies.
Tonka jumping around. That will be us in about 6 months. What have we done?!?
After about an hour we brought the bully sticks out so that they would stop playing. We could tell that they were getting tired and needed an incentive to just lie down. Of course they weren’t happy with their own bully sticks and for about 15 minutes the three of them swapped bully sticks and wrestled each other in an effort to get the other bully sticks.
Resting after a long playtime.
I love me some bully stick.
posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 9:15 am. Add a comment
I can officially say that I survived the CA bar. This doesn’t mean there weren’t moments when I swore my life flashed before my eyes, or other times when I could see myself as a puddle on the floor. But, overall, I survived and completed a journey I started over 4 years ago. More than graduation, finishing the bar feels like the end of a chapter in my life. I feel like I can actually move on and live life the way I want to live. Its a liberating feeling.
I took the bar in Pasadena and instead of commuting each day (because that would be bar suicide) I opted for the hotel living. And, it was fantastic! I was able to get an adjoining room with my good friend Amy which meant that I wasn’t totally alone. One of the nights we went to the spa and relaxed. The other nights we walked around the city and found great spots to eat dinner. But, the best part was a king bed all to myself with no dog or husband to wake me up.
Turns out the dog was actually completely awful while I was gone. I felt horrible for putting my friends, Jess and Shelley, in that situation. He is usually pretty good for me but apparently the turd does love me and was having some extreme separation anxiety while I was gone. How thoughtful of him.
As great as the hotel and king size bed were, I sure am glad to be home and free of the pressures of school and the bar. Joel and I watched a lot of TV last night, which is something we both love doing. Usually I have this nagging guilt in the back of my head because I know that I should be writing a paper, or memorizing something, or researching or or or…but, it was no different last night. I think my mind and body are still in “school” mode becasue it is hard for me to actually believe that I don’t have on single thing I have to be doing. This is breathtakingly huge. Even as I write these words I have a hard time believing them. I imagine it will be days, weeks, or even months before I fully realize how free I am.
Here are some pictures of Orion. He turned 12 weeks yesterday and I am guessing he is somewhere around 42 pounds.
posted 7 months, 1 week ago at 2:19 pm. 2 comments
So, you may be thinking…she promised pictures of a dog and yet there are none. And normally I would apologize profusely and post so many pictures that you would think we had adopted 200 dogs.
But not today. In exactly two weeks…14 days…I will be sitting for the first day of the California Bar Exam. I vacillate between terror and ambivalence with a healthy dose of nausea thrown in for good measure. Needless to say this has left me as a puddle on the floor and I’m not sure if you’ve ever met a puddle, but they are not great at the whole typing and forming sentences thing.
So please excuse me while I pull my hair out and try to cram one more morsel of knowledge into my already stuffed brain. Because until this over I am afraid my blogging duties will not be met.
To tide you over in the meantime, here are some pictures of Orion when he was 8 weeks old (and 6 pounds less).
posted 7 months, 4 weeks ago at 12:32 pm. Add a comment
Today’s the day…the day that our lives change…the day that we become the “white-picket” fence types. No more late nights. No more vacations. No more sleepy mornings. Yes, today is the day we bring home our puppy, and life as we know it will be obliterated.
To adjust to our new life, we’ve been preparing the household. We bought a crate and blankets. We bought toys and bones. We have a radio flyer red wagon, so that the indulged pup won’t have to walk to the park. And, most importantly, we prepared Chachi. He was NOT happy and registered his complaints multiple times.
For all my anxiety about bringing home this very expensive, very big dog, the emotion I feel the strongest is joy. We cannot wait!
I will try to post pictures tonight of the grand welcome, so check back later and see the newest addition to our household.
The aftermath of furminating.
This is the hair that we furminated (aka brushed) off of Chachi. Believe it or not, we got about as much off during the second furmating session.
Furminating the couch.
He’s tense from being brushed.
But doesn’t he look soooo good? He literally looks like he lost ten pounds. His stomach no longer protrudes from his side when he lays down. I thought maybe I was feeding him too much; turns out he only need to be groomed.
Can’t be too bad if his foot his dangling out the back of his box.
Round two. Hard to imagine that this cat has enough hair for two rounds of furminating.
I give him treats after we finish. I’m hoping that if I give him enough treats that he will eventually WANT to be furminated.
That radio flyer red wagon. For the first few months, the pup shouldn’t go on walks because its bad for his bones and joints. So we thought a wagon would be an excellent way of getting him to the nearby park.
Its luxurious.
The Foxes came over last weekend and Colton and Chantel sat in the wagon and went for a ride around the apartment. Its very comfortable.
The kennel. This thing is so big that we couldn’t fit it in our car. I had to borrow a friend’s car to transport this thing from our friend’s house in Anaheim to our place in Santa Monica.
This is the home we created for him. We bought a large comforter, sheet, and fuzzy blanket from the thrift store. That way, when he tears them all up we won’t be too upset about it.
Here are his friends, squirrel and cat.
Squirrel and cat with orange squeezy man.
Isn’t this the coolest bone? Its supposed to be good for cleaning his teeth and I’m hoping that its interesting enough that he will never want to chew any of our furniture or shoes.
This is just to give you an idea of how big this damn crate is. Its about a quarter the size of our queen bed. Again, I must ask. What the hell were we thinking?
posted 8 months, 1 week ago at 10:46 am. 2 comments
