Chubbs

WARNING: DO NOT READ WHILE EATING unless you have a strong stomach.

Chubbs came to us because a family who was renting a home had to move out due to the recent flooding in Wisconsin. He is a poorly bred guy, and around 4 years old. He is named Chubbs from his previous owners for a reason. He is pretty fat! All he does is pant like crazy. I guess that it doesn’t help that it has been pretty warm and humid outside lately and conveniently something is wrong with our air conditioner. Well, according to the previous owners, Chubbs have never been crated. To not complicate matters, we have to keep Chubbs gated in the hallway while we are at work. Well, he came to us on a Friday night. All weekend was fine – no big worries. He growled at Sadie a few times, and maybe once at Bert. Then Monday rolled around, the first long workday where he had to be kept in the hallway. I got home from work before A, usually he gets home first but he had a long day at work. I walked in the house, looked for Chubbs, he greeted me in the hallway, but I saw our bedroom door open. Well, apparently I had not closed the door good enough and he pushed it open. He laid on our bed all day. If that isn’t bad enough, I noticed blood all over the white sheets and drops of blood on the floor. I looked all over Chubbs and didn’t see anything wrong with him – and then I saw blood on his butt. Ick! He wouldn’t really let me get close enough to look. So I called the vet. It was going to be tough for me to take him in that night, I had a work dinner to attend in just a few hours from when I got home. But, I was worried about him, so I took him in. And am I glad that I did. He has an anal gland abscess. It is pretty icky. It is a hole, pretty big one, where his anal glad is and it is infected and bleeding. It is due to lack of expression – it could also be due to lack of cleaning, as he is a portly fellow and cannot get back there to clean up. Mmmm, just what you wanted to read, right? So we got home with our various ointments, antibiotics and pain meds and I made it to the work dinner on time. It is a slow road to recovery for him and if it doesn’t heal with what we have now, he may have to go under and have his glands cleaned out and medicine infused in the glands. I mean, this infection could lead to some serious issues if not taken care of properly. I will keep you posted. I hope that Chubbs gets down to a healthy weight and finds his forever home. He is a sweet guy. Pics to follow!

Have a great life Lancer Dancer

So, I placed Lancer this weekend in Milwaukee. It was a nice drive there, and a great visit. Lancer played and played with his new brother and cousin. He is in a great home. I will really miss him though. Even though he HATED being crated, he is a terrible counter surfer, he destroyed all toys, he would never come inside from the yard because he loves it out there, he barked at all the neighbors... the list can go on and on, but I love him nonetheless. I mean, none of us is perfect, right? There is on thing about him that I will never forget. I may have mentioned this before, but he always had the cutest look on his face looking out of the window. Whatever mood I was in, it always made me smile or giggle.




The way home from placing Lancer was a different story. The interstate back form Milwaukee was closed due to the bad storms that we had the week before. So I had to detour south west. Conveniently the detour took me right past my mom's summer house. I had lunch with her and we went shopping. Then I came home. Overall it was a good trip, but a really long day.

Here are more pictures of Lancer - he is so photogenic!

Skittish Sam

So, I have to rant a bit here. I got most of it off my chest yesterday by sending an e-mail my great friend Alabaster Mom. So the humane society called me. They have a 9 month old male boxer named Sam that they asked if we could take. Of course I said, what's wrong with him. I mean if he was perfect, they would adopt him out. So, he needs some TLC, which we can give him over the stinky cold shelter. His previous owner is in jail, for animal abuse. The guy held the dog up by the throat and punched and kicked him for peeing in the house. UGH UGH! That just really pisses me off. I mean, a poor defenseless dog, well - I guess the dog could have bit him, but then it would have been the dog's fault. Catch 22. So, the sister (thank goodness she doesn't have the same a-hole genes) called the cops who arrested this guy and threw him in jail. When I was at the shelter, there was practically no punishment for animal cruelty, and that was a few years ago. So, this guy had the dog for 3 months. I hope this was the first and only time the dog was beat. I doubt it, but I like to think as positively as I can about this stomach churning incident.

So today I went to the humane society and picked up the little guy - and I mean little! He is only 20lbs, skin and bones. He wouldn't come near me until I gave him 3 treats covered in cheese whiz. Then he just started warming up to me. I took him to meet another volunteer who is going to hold him until he goes to his foster home. He is soooo skittish. I know he will be Ok eventually, maybe he will always be afraid of strangers. We will find him a great home that will cater to his special needs.

Good Luck sweet Sam, the skittish guy who covered me in kisses and leaned his whole 20lbs on me after a few treats and some reassurance. I will think of you often.

For the love of MONA!

Mona was our first foster. She was a good dog, though she barked, ALOT. She was previously a rescue and was being returned due to the owner having to move into senior housing and Mona exceeded the weight limit. So we got Mona in August 2004. Mona got along great with all dogs. She was sweet, loved attention. One time I was out in the yard with the dogs and the neighbor was out with her dog and Mona felt compelled to meet the neighbor dog so she scaled the 4 ft chain link fence. Did I mention that she was 7-8 yrs old? Anyway the activity was so strenuous on her that as soon as she got to the neighbor's yard, she had to go no. 2. I felt kind of bad, so I ran over to clean up the mess. Well, I believe not too long after that she scaled the fence again looking for the neighbor dog.



So, we had Mona for a total of 8 months before she went to her forever home. The adopter's daughter came to pick her up, as he only lived a few miles from me, and I said, "bye Mona, I will miss you" and she didn't even turn and look at me. If she could talk she would say "Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub and smell ya later!" A wonderful retired man adopted Mona. They were 2 peas in a pod. Mona would protect him, sleep with him him in bed, play soccer in the yard while he coached her, she would step on his oxygen tube. They were meant to be together. Well, I think less than a year later I got a phone call from the adopter's daughter. She had to put Mona to sleep. Mona had Lymphoma and was not doing well. I was so sad, but very glad that Mona was able to be in her true forever home, enjoying the retired life before it was her time. Her adopter was devastated - he loved Mona so much, I completely understood. He wanted another senior Boxer from us - eventually he adopted Bryn. She came into rescue and gave birth to 8 puppies, Bryn was a senior girl - we were glad for her that this was it - no more puppies for her. He teats were all wrung out from all the litters. She went to join the retired life as well. Then, in year or so, I got an e-mail that her adopter was not doing well and we all hoped he would pull through. He did not and passed away shortly after. I was very, very sad. He was such a wonderful man and so generous, his daughter is such a wonderful woman as well. the apple does not fall far from the tree. Bryn now lives with his daughter. She is a lucky dog, though I am sure she misses him all the time.



In other news, the fosters are doing well. Lancer is as sweet as ever, no breaking out of the crate at all lately. Bert is really doing well. He is feeling better, less itchy, less drinking, more wiggling. I think, actually I know, that everyone is enjoying the weather. Today it is absolutely beautiful outside! Last night I was a little scared, there were tornado warnings and I was at a friend's house watching their dogs, as they had to travel out of town unexpectedly. I wasn't watching the news, I was watching all season 1 and 2 episodes of Dexter. the storm was loud and windy, but it blew over pretty quick. Also, A and I are watching Riley, another friend's dog, while they are out of town for the weekend. Riley LOVES hanging out here, he is an only dog. He and Lancer have been playing non-stop. He also engages Sadie in lots of play and even Bert likes him; Bert gives him kisses all the time.



I am quite worried about tomorrow. We are having alot of work done on the house in the next few months and tomorrow the demo for all the new siding begins. A and I both have to work, so we are thinking that we have to crate the dogs in the basement tomorrow. I mean, then they won't go nuts, well, will be less likely to go nuts all day while the crew is here removing all the old siding.

Well, its been a weekend about dogs, dogs and more dogs. I am beat - lots of naps helped. Wish up luck for the siding tomorrow! :)

Loooong Time!

So, its been a few weeks since I blogged. Not to make excuses, but I have been pretty busy. I started a new job the day I got back from vacation. Then I started SoftBall on Monday and VolleyBall on Tuesday. I have also been dog sitting for the neighbors for a few days.

But anyway, enough making excuses. So, things have been the same around the house with the fosters. Lancer is doing good. Y'know, he is so cute sometimes, well, most of the time. But when I leave the house, like when I am going across the street to dog sit, he looks out the window and watches me. He is a little too short for the window, so he rests his head on the ledge and all you see is the top of his white head, with these eyes looking all around. Every time I see him in the window, it makes me giggle.

Then there is Bert. He was losing all his hair, so we went to see Dr. Barb at the vet. He has a yeast infection on his skin. So, I am wondering how in the world he is getting all these skin infections. I mean, he was treated a few months ago for a skin yeast infection. The doc said that it is because his immune system is down. Well, since he has been on the anti-yeast meds, he has been looking much better. I also gave him a bath. I am GLAD I did, he was pretty icky. I think he liked it, but I couldn't really tell.
He is also on some medicine to help him with his skin - the doc thinks he is a mange dog. I do not know if it is helping or not, I guess that we will re-evaluate in a few weeks. He has been sooo happy lately, though. He loves to jump up and hug me. He only does that when he is happy. And he has been wiggling alot too - which is great. He is still leaking urine, and on meds for that, but thats not so severe.

No other news really to report. We got back our pics from the professional photography session and they are so great. We haven't made a decision regarding which ones to purchase, but we will soon!

I am including some pictures of our friends Boxers that we took on vacation in NC a few weeks ago, only b/c they are really cute! :)

The Vacation

So, after the puppy has gone to his forever home, A and I are taking a much needed vacation. We are going to Wilmington, NC for a few days. I think for foster homes, it is much more work to go on a vacation than 'normal' homes. Or, I guess just even homes with multiple pets. So, I had to drop Lancer off at another foster home 45 minutes away yesterday morning. Then, A, Sadie and I went to Chicago to have professional family pictures taken by a photographer that specializes in pet photography. We received a very generous gift certificate for our wedding from some great friends. This photographer is amazing. I am so excited to see the pics. Then we got home and I had to drop Bert off at a foster home 15 minutes away. Then, our girl Sadie went to stay with some friends of ours and their Viszla Riley (he's in love with Sadie but she just likes to boss him around, but he is fine with that).

But, alas, there us more to our adventure than just dropping off the pups with the WONDERFUL friends and foster homes who volunteers for us (it really means ALOT). We left Madison at 6am for a 9:33 flight. Then, 30 minutes from O'Hare, we hit traffic, stopped completed on the interstate. Then we had to exit because we HAD to go to the bathroom - I mean my bladder hurt after I went, it was that bad. I almost peed in the car. Well, we made it to the ticket counter by 9:30 - so we had to take a later flight, which in turn cased a later connecting flight, which was full. BUT, it wouldn't have mattered, because out 9:33 flight had a maintenance issue and didn't leave until 11am. But they wouldn't let us on the flight, which was fine because we were going to get to Charlotte at the same time. So, we are currently sitting at the Charlotte, NC airport waiting for the 6pm flight. But we don't even have it bad. Apparently the airline canceled a few more flights to Wilmington and people are stuck here. All the remaining flights for the day are completely full.

The NC Wedding

We are visiting our friends in Wilmington. They are expecting. I have been to Wilm for their wedding a few years ago. A has never been to NC. He has actually not been to alot of places. But, hopefully I will change that. Anyway, they have 2 boxers, Diesel and Dixie. I will post later and add pics of them. I have met Diesel, he is 6, but I have never met Dixie. She is a young'un. I am excited to have a fire at the beach and chill for a few days. Its sunny and 70-80s all weekend :) I am very happy.

More cleaning but less puppy

So, it has been quiet here without the puppy. Parker went to his beautiful new home a few miles from my house. Such a convenient placement for me. He has 2 furless sisters and a furless brother. He is pretty loved there, I am glad that it is everything a puppy could want. A room of his own and a great family. I am going over to visit him today.

Currently I am taking a break from cleaning and decided to update the dog situation. Having a puppy destroyed our carpet. I am cleaning it because I cannot stand the smell and stains. Also, I am not sure if all the spots are from Parker or Lancer. So now is a good time to figure that out. I mean, since Parker has left I have figured out that Lancer has not been the one pooping in the house, as we were wondering. I think Lancer is peeing though, because there was a concentrated area of pee stains around Lancer's crate when I moved it. I think he is mad that we crate him and he pees outside the crate when we are at work. The carpet cleaned up pretty well, but it desperately needs to be replaced. We are going to get carpet squares, hopefully that will help with the replacement of hard to get out staining. I think that will be after all the other stuff going on with our home remodeling. We are getting new windows, including in the basement, new siding, a new water softener, new hardwood floor in the hallway, refinishing the old hardwood floors, new window treatments in some rooms, a 6ft privacy fence, and possibly some landscaping. I have to re-evaluate the financial situation once the siding and windows are completed. Hopefully that will be in June-July.



In other news, Bert is doing pretty well. We do have the once a day pee clean up. He leaks alot. He needs to go outside alot. He doesn't particularly like to though. So I have to make my big voice come out an tell him to go potty. So, I am proud of him though. He somehow escaped from his crate Thursday. I cam home from work first and he greeted me at the door. Well, to my HUGE surprise, water was still left in the bowl and there was NO pee, anywhere. I was SOOOO proud of my Bert!!! But then - yesterday, there was a disaster. Lancer escaped from his kennel and he did the following things: Pooped on the hardwood floor, peed on the couch, peed on the stove, peed in the hallway, broke a ceramic dog cookie jar, ate a whole bag of dog treats, chewed up some important papers for my new job, peed on the living room area rug (I have been working on that stain for 12 hours now), I think that's it. I was so upset. A went out of town this weekend and so it is just me. And I had to do all that cleaning after having a really bad day at work (thank goodness - only 1 more week). Well, I still love Lancer, he can't help it if he is naughty. He did feel bad, I could tell. He has been trying to cuddle with me ever since.

Well, I better get back to cleaning. I have alot to do. Unfortunately, cleaning doesn't get done by itself, even living with another person. Hmmm... maybe I should have married a professional maid.



Oh well - enjoy the windows open this weekend. Sadie, Lancer, Bert and I are!! :)

The yard, the mud and the bunny

I am so excited about the spring, but wish my yard wasn't a mud pit. It is so gross. Every time the dogs come in, my floor gets even more filthy. I wonder, should I clean it again, NAH it will just get dirty in an hour or so. But Lancer sure does love to play out there. And they all love the sun when it come shining through the patio doors in the afternoon. I wish they could enjoy it everyday, but it would seem like a tease if I left the curtains open while they were all crated for 8 hours.



So, a few weeks ago, the dogs were having a great time outside on a Sunday afternoon. Sadie, Bert and Parker all came in the house, but no Lancer. Well, this is pretty normal, so I went outside and saw Lancer shaking a dead bunny. I had treats in my hand already so I showed the treats to him and got him to drop the bunny and run in the house. I thought, How Lucky!! I was so worried that I would be chasing him and the dead bunny around the yard for hours. Well, then I made A go outside and clean up the parts. I feel kinds bad, as he is a vegan, but hey I am a vegetarian! So, we had a rescue meeting recently and a rescue supporter donated 3 huge bags of toys for the fosters. I took a bunch for the three fosters and brought them home. One of the toys was a stuffed bunny. Hmm, that's funny. I gave it to Lancers. It only took 2.5 minutes and the bunny was destroyed. De ja vu?

I know - its been awhile

So, its been awhile since I have blogged. There are many new exciting things and, well some things that were not very good.



First - I have not blogged because Bert was sick - really sick. He was acting out-of-it and peeing all over the house. So I took him to the vet on March 27, and he had a 105ºF temperature and was severely dehydrated. So, of course I blamed myself for the dehydration, as I try to limit the amount of water that he drinks due to the frequency. Well, he stayed at the vet for 2 nights to see what was up. I was convinced that he was in pain and needed to be escorted to the rainbow bridge because we have been trying to make him better for weeks, maybe even months. But, he pulled through and he is doing pretty good. The past week has been stressful. We are going to continue the antibiotics for quite a few weeks to see if this is just a really nasty kidney infection. He is such a great guy - he has been wiggling and playing lately which makes me feel good.

In other Boxer related news, Parker's family, who was going to adopt him, is now not going to adopt him. So, that means that he is available. Well, we were hoping he would go soon, as we are over our limit by 1 boxer. Well, the great news is that a family is coming to meet him this afternoon. YEAH! Hopefully they will fall in love with him and want him - soon. A and I have been pretty stressed lately, with Bert being sick, the puppy pooing in the house, Sadie eating the puppy poop so all we find is a skid mark on the floor, Lancer not wanting to come in the house for a chance that there might be more dead wildlife in the yard to shake. Nights have been stressful as well. Parker needs to go out at night at least once, so everyone wakes up and goes outside. Then everyone goes back to bed, except that Parker and Lancer want to play so we cannot sleep. Its hard to get Lancer to stop playing in the dark in the middle of the night, unless we get out of bed. Then everyone gets up again. It is a vicious cycle.

Well - in non-related Boxer news, other exciting things are on the horizon. I got a new job and I start on May 5th. I am VERY excited. We re-finance and now we are getting a TON of work done to our house. A's b-day was yesterday and we went to a Peruvian restaurant. It was pretty neat. We booked a trip to North Carolina the last week in April - that is exciting! We can't wait to go and see our Friends who are "with child".

Well, that's all for now. I am going to try and blog more, as so much FUN Boxer stuff happens on a day to day basis.....



PS The Boxers and I are LOVING this weather!!!!!!

Sadie asks... Is it really Spring?

So, March 20th was the first day of spring. Sadie is upset because Fri - Sat we received 6 more inches of snow. It has been pretty warm lately, so this came as a shock to all Madison. Well, thank goodness Lancer likes the snow. He want to go out every ten minutes and play. Which is fine by me.... then he will stop counter surfing for paper towels and tupperware containers. It is a little frustrating with 4 dogs, trying to keep the house clean, working 40+ hours a week, re-doing the office, getting quotes for a new fence, windows and siding. But, I guess this is part of the excitement that I have been craving lately.



We re-decorated/organized our office this weekend. We painted, put up a new light fixture, put up shelves and containers for organization. I must say now that it is finished, it looks really great! I am very happy with it....A is too. The dogs were not very happy though. While we were working in the office, they destroyed a dog bed, a few paper towels, ate a bag of dog treats and finished off a bag a dog food that was sitting on the counter. Well, I guess it was mostly Lancer with his trusty sidekick Parker.



Speaking of Parker, he gets snipped on Wednesday and then off to his new home a week later! :) We are happy, as he is getting increasing naughty. He is 14 weeks old. There have also been inquiries about Lancer and Bert, but no visits yet. They are both great dogs. Bert just needs some TLC and no younger dogs - they annoy him, especially Lancer. And Lancer needs some other dogs to exercises with him. Don't get me wrong, Lancer and Parker are like two peas in a pod, but as soon as Parker goes home, I take it that Lancer may need more things to do around here.



Happy Spring!

Not by the hair of my footie, foot, foot

So, I think that I keep a pretty clean house, most of the time. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the clutter and the mess. Right now I have 4 dogs and my house isn't that big. And most of my house is hardwood and ceramic tile. So.... my floors tend to collect alot of boxer hair bunnies in the corners and under furniture. So, the other day I was walking around and my foot was bothering me. I looked in my slipper - nothing. I looked in my sock - nothing. So I looked at my foot - a HAIR! Again!?! I had a hair stuck in the bottom of my foot like a sliver. This has happened before where I had to get the tweezers to get a boxer hair out of the heel of me foot. Isn't that skin supposed to be really rough? Well, it is but somehow I still manage to step on that hair that is partially sticking up and it hurts.

In other news, yesterday Parker got squished. Lancer was playing a little rough and pounced on Parker and hurt him pretty bad. Parker whined and whined and couldn't be moved without a series of OWWW! squeaks. He was panting, lethargic and he slept for 3 hours straight after the incident. So I got all scared and decided to take him to the Emergency Vet. Well, I feel really bad before I even take him knowing that it could be nothing, but spend big bucks because it is after hours. So we get ready to leave and I scoop up Parker and no squeaks. I put him in the car, no squeaks. Then we go to the vet - no sueaks, he is so happy to see everyone - making me look like an extra big dufus because he doesn't look hurt at all. BUT, then he started limping. So, ok, at least I dodn't overreact TOO much. The Dr. checked him out and he does have a sprain/bruising on his left shoulder and possibly left hip. The Dr. prescribed some pain meds. Parker is doing just fine now, but I would have never been able to forgive myself if I went to bed last night w/o the trip to the vet and Parker would have really been injured.

Then today - Lancer broke out of the room were were keeping him while at work. We tried crating him but he broke out of the Varikennel 3 times in 5 minutes. So we gated him in the hallway with 2 baby gates and a large crate. He broke out, pooped, knocked Sadie's doggie dish off the counter and ate what was left of her breakfast. We are really hoping that he didn't eat any peices of broken glass! I will have to keep an eye on him. Tonight I went out and bought some zip ties to try and repair our largest crate which is a little beat up. Hopefully we can try crating Lancer in the big crate tomorrow. I know that his last foster mom said that he can't be crated, but I have had luck in the past crating some dogs who escaped for about 1 week, then were fine. I hope I make it through this time!!

Busy Rescue Week for Me!

So, this has been a pretty exciting week. Wednesday I took off work and headed up to a fundraiser in Appleotn for rescue. My friend and her Boxer LadyBug accompanied me. I am so happy they were able to come, as I very much enjoy their company. On the way we stopped and picked up Lucy, a 4 1/2 month old white deaf Boxer puppy to bring with us to the event, and my friend will be fostering Lucy as well to help out another friend. Everyone at the event LOVED miss Lucy and all the Boxers, we all had a great time. It was really worth it to go up to Appleton, as the company which hosted the event was able to raise quite a bit if money for us. But, it was a long day!

I took Parker to the Vet on Thursday to get his distemper booster. He was a great puppy at the vet. He has been getting SOOO big. I can't believe that I will be taking him to get neutered a week from Wed. Poor guy - he is cyptorchid. Oh well - one cute little nut is better that 2, I guess. Then, hopefully a week after the neuter he will go to his new home. I will miss him, but I will be glad, as he is only going to get more naughty as he gets older.

Then Saturday morning I drove to OshKosh and closed down our rescue booth at the Oshkosh Family Pet Expo. We had a nice turn out and hopefully the very cute Rhett will have some inquiries, as he was a VERY well behaved Boxer and really represented the breed at the event. Instead of driving back to Madison, my friend Alabaster mom invited me to crash at her place. It was great, I got dinner, cookies, breakfast, a bed with 2 awesome Boxers and a nice night to spend quality time with my friend. Then, driving home today I picked up Lancer (shown above). He is a young deaf male Boxer who was being fostered by a friend who was having a rough week. So we are maxed out here. We have our girl Sadie, Bert, Parker and Lancer. Just about an hour ago, FINALLY, we were able to introduce Lancer and Bert. They were the last to meet and so far it is going OK. I am happy - I was worried for a little bit.

I think all they do at home when I am gone is sleep!

Between a few weekends ago in Chicago, last weekend in Door County, Wed in Appleton and this weekend in Oshkosh and GB, I am burnt out on driving! I can't wait to spend a weekend at home. I am going to work on some house projects and I am excited to have Friday off work. A has tomorrow off for some other house projects that we are working on, so it will be nice to have Lancer hang out with the other dogs for a whole day before we both have to go back to work and leave him for 8 hours.

What fun!

So I had a really great weekend. I got a break from the puppy, I drank a few bottles of wine, I got to have lunch at Red Robin, twice, I bought a really awesome purse and I was able to spend quality time with some of my GABR friends. Oh and I took a picture of my friend touching her tongue to her nose.
We drove up to Door County on Friday afternoon, did some shopping, saw a movie, went in the hot tub and then relax. We met more friends on Sat and had lunch, hung out and did lots of eating and more hot tubbing and stayed up real late, for me anyway. I got home at 6pm on Sunday - it was a long weekend, but I had alot of fun. I bought a purse - a purse that I have had my eye on for 3 years. I love it.... I am very glad I bought it.

So, when I came home, I cleaned up and found like 3 puppy pee spots in the house. I guess A just didn't take notice of Parker peeing all over the place. So much for the house training here.

I didn't want to go to work today, But it wasn't so bad. I am looking forward to Wednesday, My friend and I are driving to GB for a GABR fundraiser for the day, It will be fun.

I have been tagged!

My great friend Alabaster mom tagged me, so here goes....

10 years ago:
I was in my sophomore year of college living in an apartment in downtown Chicago with 3 friends. I was half way through graduating with a major in biological sciences with a minor in Chemistry. The three most beloved people in my life were still alive, my grandpa, great-grandma and my Dad.

5 Things on my to do list today were:
1) Go to the vet and pick up Panacur for Bert - he has hookworms. The guy can't catch a break.
2) Hit the ATM for the weekend
3) Wash my car
4) Go shopping at Trader Joes
5) Pick up a crate for the pooper at my friend's house

Everything was accomplished except the car wash.

Things I would do if I were suddenly a Billionaire:
1) Pay off all my bills and all my mom's and brother's bills
2) Donate lots of money to animal related non-profits
3) Adopt many children
4) Take care of my family
5) Give back to my community financially

3 of my bad habits:
1) Not folding or putting clothes away after they are washed
2) Not eating leftovers if it is more that 2 days old
3) Biting my cuticles

Jobs I've had:
1) Ticket booth girl at the local movie theater
2) Teller at a bank
3) Waitress at Bakers Square
4) Hostess, fountain girl and waitress at Ed Debevic's
5) Cocktail waitress saturday nights a a downtown Chicago Bar
6) Administrative assistant at the department of Neuro surgery at the University of IL at Chicago
7) Microbiologist at a shampoo manufacturer and a contract testing lab
8) Microbiology Manager at a Pharmaceutical Company
9) Camel Cigarette girl at Chicago NightClubs

5 Things people don't know about me:
1) I am applying to grad school to get my MBA
2) I love pilates, but hate working out - except biking outdoors
3) I hate driving, even though my volunteer work requires alot of driving
4) I have a hard time staying up past 10pm most days
5) I miss living near my family in Chicago

I do not have anyone to tag....

Spring? I am ready for you! (So are the Boxers)

Puppy Paws are so cute

I am very happy that it is slowly getting warmer. This weekend is daylight savings time - Spring Forward, if you will. I am very excited to go outside with the dogs, instead of watching from the sliding doors. So, I am sure you are dying to know what's going on in the life of Parker the puppy. Well, he had a busy weekend. In the past 2 weeks he has met 20+ people (including a few kids) and about 8 dogs, besides the dogs here and at his birth home. He has been one very busy puppy. I also found out on a few car trips that he gets car sick. He puked 3 times in one car ride. That was pleasant. Well, I did some experimenting and figured out that he doesn't get sick when the heat is not on, or low. When the heat is jacked up he barfs. I don't really blame him, except that I thought he was cold, thats why the heat was always on full blast. Well, now I have another thing to add to the information form for the new family.


Also - Parker the puppy has been increasingly more annoying at night. We used to keep him on the floor in our bedroom and he would do OK. We would have to get up 2-3 times a night to let him outside to potty, or else we would have to clean it up on the floor. Well, I sleep on the side of the bed where the dogs have their beds, so he never potties on my side :) only on A's. That's funny - well it was for awhile until he got really frustrated, as did I, so we started crating him at night. That was not very pleasant. Have you recently heard a puppy scream his head off, bloody murder?!? I was surprised the cops didn't show up. So we went back to having him sleep on the floor. He did OK. We are still working with him, thats for sure. We did start crating him during the day while we are at work. Well, the crate does not have a bottom right now (Humphrey destroyed it) and so I placed a plastic bag under the crate and then as the liner a thick throw rug (half destroyed by Humphrey). Well, that was a huge mistake as we came home to plastic bag pieces all over the place. I won't do that again. The carpet is pretty much destroyed in the dog room anyway.

In other news, I am looking forward to placing him, then I can do some spring cleaning around the house. New carpet in the dog room, some fresh paint and some other stuff. We are going to ride the wave and re-finance so that we can get $$ to get all new windows, a 6ft privacy fence, more insulation, new siding, a new water softener, and some other stuff, if we do not run out of $$. I think we are planing on staying here a good long time, whatever life has in store, we are ready.

Pictures for my friend Miss Leslie

So, I take most my pictures for my blog on my Mac laptop. There is a web camera and all sorts of special effects can be done with this program on the Mac called photo booth. So, for my friend Miss Leslie, I am dedicating this blog to her and to my amazing photos (nothing has been going on lately with the boxers, just pee and poop. Yes, this last creepy one is of me.....).

Long week of vet visits and puppy poop

My favorite thing is a sleeping puppy.

So, it has been a long week. My foster Bert started to leak urine constantly on Sunday. So I moved up my vet appt from Wed to Mon. They took a urine sample, a blood sample and skin samples to try and figure out what was going on. Well, an hour later we knew it wasn't diabetes or a urinary tract infection. But he did have a staph skin infection and a yeast infection. He got some strong antibiotics (which cause diarrhea) but are working on his skin. I switched his food, but he has not been gaining wait. So, the blood work came back and no huge signs of any disease. So, we decided to check him for Cushing's disease. Well, the results came back last night and he does not have Cushing's. So, I am monitoring his water intake for the whole weekend. The next thing is diabetes insipidis. I could have sworn I asked about this right away and was told, No, but maybe they thought I just meant plain old diabetes. Well, anyway, I feel bad for him because he looks so sad all the time.

So in other news, the puppy likes to poop and pee everywhere. We thought we were doing a good job of potty training, but now I am not so sure. I think A and I are so used to potty training for a few days and then we are done, cause they are mostly adult dogs that we re-train when they come to live with us. But not a puppy. It is going to take quite a long time to train him, I think we have realized. Parker has had quite a few visits this week. Its fun to visit a puppy and then go home and sleep all through the night. After 7 more weeks I will be very happy when I will place Parker in his new home. The living room is a constant disaster, I mean the puppy has only a 3 second attention span. At least he likes the toys, otherwise I would have a chewed up couch, shoes, blankets, etc.

Parker, the puppy

So, Friday night I picked up Parker the boxer mix foster puppy. He is a sweetie, and we knew it would be hard, but actually it has been easier than we thought. I guess I am jinxing myself, though. We have less than 8 weeks to go before he is placed. I think the older he gets the more naughty he is going to get. So, we are in for some rough times I think.

It has been 15 years since I have lived with a puppy this little, I forget how cute and fun it is, sometimes. Its so funny because he play bows to Sadie and then she runs after him to play and he gets really scared and hides. He loves toys and he is such a good dog. We are working on potty training. He is doing ok, except it is cold, and this morning, wet, outside. Not to get off topic of the dogs, but it is sleeting and flooding all over Madison. A ran to the store to get eggs to make me french toast this morning and he said that many streets are flooding. We are supposed to get 7-10 inches in Madison today, but know I really doubt it, as it is too warm for snow.

Anyway, I think Sadie is tolerating Parker, and Bert is as well. I do not think either of them are really excited or happy to have Parker here. However, I think A secretly likes Parker. I mean he doesn't deny that he likes Parker, but it is very cute and sweet to see Parker cuddle up to A and having A laugh at all Parker's antics. I think we are really enjoying ourselves having Parker here. I am not interested in fostering another puppy anytime soon, but it is nice. Especially since he already has a home in Elkhorn with a mom and dad, 3 furless brothers (two 2yr olds and one 3 yr old), a boston terrier and a weird looking little dog. The weird looking dog reminds me of the creature that rides the fluffy white dog in Labyrinth. Anyway - its helpful to know that we are placing him after 16 weeks. More fun Parker posts to come....

Good-Bye Humphrey, Hello sleepless nights

So, Humphrey is leaving on Saturday morning. I am really excited for him but very sad. Well, anyway, I had to take him to the vet today. I could have sworn he was micro chipped, but alas, he was not. So I brought him in and he was a hit. All the ladies loved him. He was such a good boy. He sat patiently for treats and did not make a sound when they stuck the huge needle into his shoulder skin to insert the chip. He was very happy to get out of the house and ride in the car. But he annoys the heck out of me in the car, so I am a bit worried about the 2.5 hour ride to GB Sat morning. He wants to sit in my lap and does not settle down. Well, we will see how that goes. I am excited though, as after I place him I get to eat lunch at a really cool place with 2 of my favorite g-friends. Then I am coming back to Madison and will be attending a Wine/Chocolate tasting at a locate Wine-Coffee shop.

Well, the other part of my blog is the worry of me not getting any more sleep after tomorrow night. We are getting an 8 week old puppy to foster. His name is Parker and he is a sweetie. He already has a new home, but since they are new adopters, I will be fostering him until he is 16 weeks, neutered and up to date. I imagine it will be very stressful for A and I for quite a few weeks, as we have alot of stuff going on. We are going to Chicago at least 2 weekends, as it is my brothers B-day one weekend and the next we are helping him paint his new house that he bought. Then in March there are a few rescue things going on: the Oshkosh Pet Expo and the Ladies weekend in Door Cty. I am really excited for that weekend.

Well, enough about all that. I got into work SO early this morning, due to workload that I need to get to bed, like NOW! We went out with some friends for a Valentines Dinner and it was really nice. Happy Valentines Day! :)

Snow is not good for me or the Boxers

So, I have not blogged in awhile. This week has been crazy. First, another family inquired about Humphrey on Monday. Then the first family came to visit him Tuesday during my lunch hour. She brought her GABR adoptee Ollie and she and Humphrey got along SO great. Her only concern was that if Humpy jumps on her elderly mom, he could knock her over and cause her to break something. So, I wasn't sure of she was going to adopt him. However, she e-mailed a few days later and let me know that she wanted to adopt him. YEA! I cried, I will miss him alot. He is my special guy. But, he needs a home where he doesn't have to be crated and where there is another dog for him to play with all the time. He does not get that here. I will be sad when I place him next week, I will be very sad, but know that he is in the best home.

So beside the foster dog stuff, Madison got 13+ inches of snow on Tues-Wed. I hate snow. We had a half day of work. We could barely make it home. This has been the worst winter in Madison history. We are pushing 80" of snow since Nov. Ick. And now, it is snowing like crazy, again. The snowflakes are the size of pomeranians. Plus, the dogs do not really like the snow. Bert is constantly peeing on the first stair once he steps out the door. Humphrey's entire tongue is constantly covered in snow. I am always worried that his tongue is going to get frost bitten. Currently our patio is yellow and brown. Its really pretty. I am supposed to go wine tasting tonight. I hope I make it - I do not like to miss wine tastings.

Pet Expo, Puppies and Poop

It was a crazy weekend. I picked up a Boxer named Billy at the Dane county shelter on Thursday night. I call him B2, as I have previously had a foster named Billy. B2 spent Thursday night with us, and then I was going to transfer him to another foster home, via a friend, on Friday. Well, he got along well with Sadie and Humphrey, and OK with Bert. But Friday afternoon Bert and B2 had a tiff.

There was a Pet expo in Milwaukee this weekend and I was scheduled to set up, as I had most of our exhibition stuff. So, my friends invited me and B2 to stay at their place Friday night, along with another friend who was setting up the booth at the expo as well as transport B2 up north for me. We had a great time! I played some Wii bowling, and I threw a little too hard a few times and I think I pulled a muscle in the arm/shoulder. It still hurts. It was awesome staying over, I love their house and my friend made us a really great breakfast in the morning. I am so thankful to have great friends like them. Then it was a long day at the Expo. I got there at 8am to set up and stayed until about 2pm. I came home and then had a holiday party to attend. I was exhausted this morning!

Today I went to another friends to help with some visits for a foster, Jazzi, and 2 of her puppies, Parker and Miles. Jazzi is about a year old and her pups are about 6 weeks old (in the pic above, puppies are much younger). I played with alot of puppies today and cleaned up a fair amount or puppy pee and poop. It was so much fun hanging out with my friend, Jazzi and the pups. But, I am VERY tired. It was a 'go go go' weekend and I may watch some of the Superbowl (for the commercials) and the head to bed early.

My Dad, Frosty and Kito

Today is my Dad's B-day. He was a dog lover and a WONDERFUL father. He passed away 4 years ago last October and not a day goes by that I do not think of him. I miss him very much. Anyway, how does my dad relate to dogs - specifically Boxers? As a child, we always had a dog. One time my dad brought home a toy poodle form his work, and we had her for a long time, her name was Sheila and she bit everyone in the house, multiple times. Anyway, pictured above is Frosty, Sadie and Kito. Frosty is about 11 yrs old in the picture. We only had Sadie 3 months at that point. Kito was my brother's Boxer (7 yrs in the picture). Kito was given up by a girl who no longer could care for him, a daughter of a friend of my Uncle's.

Here is the story about how we got Frosty and how she picked her own name. A brother of my mom's best friend was breeding Boxers (ick!) and his female Tasha gave birth to 3 boxers, a fawn and 2 white females. One of the white females died right away. The fawn was given to the stud owner and the other white one was left and available for purchase. My brother and I begged and begged to get her. So, finally they gave in and we got to bring her home. We had no idea what to name her. She was so cute and white! She looked like a little bunny. She was so small compared to our other dog, at the time, Maggie. Maggie was a 130 lb bullmastiff. Anyway, we had the white puppy at home and we were wondering what to name her. So, my dad had the idea that we all pick a name, write it on a little piece of paper and have the puppy pick her own name out. Well, I picked nieve, which means snow in spanish. My brother picked spider, my mom picked Frosty and my dad picked Samantha. So we placed all the pieces of paper on the floor and we let her go and she ran, picked up a piece of paper and ran. We caught her and then took the name out of her mouth. It was FROSTY! :) She was definitely a Frosty and she loved her name.

They say that death comes in 3's. For my family it did. My Dad died in October 2003. Frosty died of heart failure at the ripe old age of 11 in Feb 2004. Then 1 week later, Kito, my brother's Boxer, died of heart failure at the too young age of 7. We were all very heartbroken at all the death. It was a very hard time for all of us. But, I have pictures and memories of all the dogs that I have love in my life and I thank my dad for teaching me to be kind to dogs and always having them around while I was growing up.

Petey - he was a good foster

Petey - he was a good foster, but we had some difficult times with Petey. I drove all the way to Tomah to pick Petey up. Some volunteers in Chippewa Falls sprung him from the shelter up there and transported him down to Tomah to meet me. I brought my friend with to keep me company for the ride. Well, Petey decided to crap all over the back of my Jeep Cherokee. It smelled SO bad, like a dead animal. And of course, he didn't crap near Madison, but one exit after we jumped on 90 right outside Tomah. We had to drive almost 2 hours with the windows down, in cold weather, smelling bad shelter dog crap. I will never forget that day. Neither will my friend. She hasn't gone on a GABR road trip with me since.

Well, Petey had a nickname, or 2. His first nickname was Petey Houdini. This was because I crated him before I left for work in a wire crate and threw a blanket on the top of the crate for darkness and warmth. When I came home for lunch to check on Petey, I walked over to the crate, lifted the balnket and Petey was gone. GONE! Where is the world was he. My heart stated to beat fast, I was in shock. I turned around, and there was Petey, sitting behind me wagging his tail. It was amazing to me that he could escape the crate and the blanket, and leave it all in tact. I think somehow he squeezed through the corner opening. It must have hurt.

Petey's other nickname was , Space Petey. This is an unforgettable story about Petey. Well, my other foster at the time was Beau. Beau and Petey were playing pretty hard in the living room. All of a sudden I was splattered with a little bit of blood. I was like, what?!? Beau had caught the end of Petey's ear and spilt it. There was blood everywhere. I called the vet and got him in right away. He got 5 stitches on his ear. Then they wrapped his ear in medical gauze and tape. Well, he kept itching his ear and skaing it and the tape and gauze did not stay. So, because I had no other choice, I duct taped his ear down to his head, so that it would heal faster, without him shaking it all the time. The duct tape was silver, hence, "Space Petey" (see the pic below). After a week, I was supposed to check his ear to see if it had healed. I was sure that Petey was going to bite me as I pulled the tape off. I mean I ripped off half his fur with the tape. But, no he just wiggled and gave out alot of kisses.

I do miss Petey. He was beautiful, reverse brindle. He currently lives in Depere with a mom, dad and 4 fur-less brothers who love him very much.