Furry Friday: Toy Explosion

It's no secret that after a period of time dog toys start to stink. I decided to wash our fur child's basket of toys and believe it or not there were enough there to constitute a whole load of laundry! Well now that Riley's toys are all fresh smelling he couldn't decide which one to play with first, so he decided they all needed to be strewn about the floor.  How nice, right?

Furry Friday: Pretty Boy Snacking

It's no secret that Riley loves to eat, or hang out in Jayson's room, or do both at the same time.  We do limit snacks in the baby's room however, we're not a huge fan of food upstairs on the carpet.  With that being said, here are some recent shots of Riley sitting pretty in Jayson's room, drawn to something out the window.  I'm also sharing a video of Riley and his best bud sharing snacks after daycare.   It started when Jayson was using a walker. Jayson would purposely drop food down for Riley and Riley, stupidly, would be willing to risk being run over for the snack.  It progressed to feeding him from his high chair (Riley puts his front paws on the bottom rung to reach whatever treat Jayson is dangling over the side).  Now that Jayson is walking, Jayson realizes Riley will follow him all over the house for a treat and will occasionally stop to sit down and hand feed him whatever goodies are in his snack cup. This has become a daily ritual. Too cute.

Furry Friday: Looking Fabulous

Yesterday both Riley and I had a few appointments that afforded me the ability to work half day and spend the other half of my day driving around with my number one fur-child.  The old man had a check up, a bordatella shot, and a grooming.  I had a follow up doctor's appointment, six vials of blood work processed, and an x-ray.  Fun fun.  But at least he looks fabulous.

Number Nine

Nine has always been my lucky number.  It was my varsity soccer jersey number, Justin and I started dating on the ninth of February in 1999, my first dorm room was 309, and Justin and I got married in 2009.  It also just so happens that Jayson was born on the ninth of May, which means that this past Sunday (the ninth of February) he became 9 months old.  Yeah... nine whole months.  Which means I have three months until his first birthday.  I don't know whether to be happy about that fact or if I should start bawling.  What I do know is that month nine for Jayson has brought a lot of changes and this by far has become my favorite age of his.  He's just so much fun right now!

Furry Friday: A Boy & His Dog

It's been way too long since I've done a Furry Friday post.  Since becoming a mother, my posts have been more infrequent to begin with but I don't want you to think that Riley has been forgotten about altogether.  We still have plenty of snuggle time.  He still sleeps by me.  We snuggle on the couch after Jayson's gone to bed.  He is always within arms length.

Furry Friday: Tidbits

It has been forever and a day since I posted a Furry Friday post.  Since I don't have any cute stories to share, I'll do a quick update on how Riley's been.  So far he's been pretty good with Jayson.  He's a little much with the kisses to the face, but I guess it's better than biting.  However, speaking of

Furry Friday: Tub Buddies

What's Happening?

Well we have survived to Friday yet again.  Before I become a "once a month" blogger, let me catch you up on the goings on around the Krueger household lately.

Furry Friday: A Great Big Brother

MAN'S BEST FRIEND

They do not ask for all your love,

But give you all of theirs.

The good and bad times in your life,

They willingly will share.

No friend you have could be as true,

And love you without measure,

Yet bring into your daily life,

Such multitudes of pleasure.

They have a way about them,

That's sure to win your heart,

And then before you know it,

You cannot be apart.

Such a blessing when our Lord above,

Puts the puppy dog on earth,

Man's best friend, he is indeed,

That will always show his worth.

~Albert N. Theel

Furry Friday: Collages

For the month of April I have been one heck of a busy pregnant lady so my apologies ahead of time for the lack of posts.  My mother-in-law surprised me with a baby shower on April 5th, my sister-in-law's bachelorette weekend was the weekend of the 13th, my surprise family baby shower was on April 20th, a baby reception was held for me at work on April 24th, and this weekend is my sister-in-law's bridal shower!  Not to mention I've been trying to wrap things up at work in preparation for my impending time off.  Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day and only so much of my energy to go around.  For those of you missing out on Furry Friday posts, Riley is still very much his self and our little love bug.  He gives everything the sniff check in the baby's room and the downstairs playroom.  Here's hoping he's a great big brother!  So let's kick off this Furry Friday post with a new photo of our Rye-guy followed by photos from each of the events that have been keeping me so busy (click to enlarge):

Furry Friday: Grandpa's Bud

It's no secret that Riley and his Grandpa are buddies.  Grandpa comes over every work day to walk him at lunchtime and even just the mention of Grandpa's name makes Riley do an excited little tap-dance.  In case your wondering what a dachshund tap-dancing is like, just imagine Riley jumping around on his little 3 inch legs clickety-clacking his little toe nails all the while.  It's cute, really.  He also does this when he can't decide if he should sit/stay or run for the back door when we're getting ready for a car-ride.  So as you can see, Grandpa ranks right up there with car-rides.

The Bonsai Run

Top o' the morning to ya!  How are we feeling today?  Tired?  Hung over?  Imbibed a little too much in the green drink yesterday?  Ah, I remember those days.  The most I "imbibed" in was an extra scoop of rice pudding.  Oh so good, but I digress.  This holiday weekend was jam packed full of a little bit of everything.  Guess I might as well just get to it.

The great majority of Saturday was spent in the first of two "Prepared Birthing" classes the hubs and I are signed up for.  Our instructor Judy has way too much energy for a Saturday and the class instructions of "bring a yoga mat and a snack" for a 10a-2p class should have been translated to "if you need to eat lunch, bring freaking lunch."  Now I know for next week.  Anyways, the class so far has been pretty informative and I can honestly say we at least feel comfortable asking questions and participating in the class dialogue.   We also realized we need to get going on writing up a birthing plan/wish list.  I guess you really shouldn't just wing it.  We followed up our class with a great lunch at Panera, a tux fitting at Men's Wearhouse, a trip to Macy's for some nursing bras (ahhhh! sizing is such a headache!!),  Lowes for some supplies for the future playroom, Harbor Freight for tools, and lastly Walmart for some last minute grocery items including the fixings for homemade Irish Soda Bread.

Furry Friday: Bonding

It feels like ages ago that I've written a blog post about my little buddy Riley.  He's still alive and well.  Since I last wrote about him in February, he's been enjoying his Busy Buddy Bouncy Bone and snuggling up with his mama.  I swear that bone was the best investment we made at Christmas time for him.  Even when its out of rawhide refills, he loves to sit and chew with this for hours.  It must be because he can get a better grip on it with the ball.  

At any rate, you might recall that we prematurely got him groomed in February on the same day as my dreaded Glucose Test. I love how he feels after he's groomed though.  His fur is so soft like a little teddy bear.  However, even though he really needed it, his new short haircut doesn't make him too fond of the great outdoors especially on days like today when the weatherman continues to forecast snow.  So we spend a lot of our time bundled up together on the couch in the evenings.  As I'd mentioned in my ESP post, this is the time that he just loves hugging up to my belly.  I finally got some shots of it to share on here.  I hope this is a good sign that he's already bonding with his brother.

Any pet experiences to share?  Particularly how your pet was during the pregnancy and once the little bundle of joy arrived?

Furry Friday: ESP

For a while now, I've been convinced that Riley knows what's up.  By that, I mean, he knows I'm expecting.  I've always considered him extremely intelligent (what mother doesn't think her furbaby is brilliant??) but I'm really convinced he has ESP.  I know that dogs are really good at picking up on mood changes and all that jazz, but from very early on he was extra lovey with me.  When we first found out we were pregnant he would walk by me and lick my leg, which was entirely unusual.  He's always been a snuggler but a fly-by dog kiss wasn't his thing ever before.  As for sleeping arrangements, he is usually all over the bed (up by our heads, down by our feet, snuggled between the pillows, etc) but since I've become pregnant he wants to sleep by my stomach for as long as his little body can stand the heat.  This is true for our couch time together in the evenings as well.  He has taken to laying across my lap in such a fashion that one of his ears is propped right up against my belly.  I'm curious if he can hear our little guy in there. 

Furry Friday: Muttluks

About a week ago I went to bed in Upstate New York and woke up in Antartica.  I kid you not.  All week long each day has started out below zero and only reached a high of eight degrees midday.  Insanity!  This of course leads to a number of things - the hubs is upset that it's too cold to snow any sort of accumulation for snowmobiling (we have had some crappy years for that) and I intake more calories than normal in the mornings by packing a hot cocoa for the ride to work.  Not to mention the dog has decided he's striking on anything related to going outside, and that includes bathroom breaks.  I swear he thinks he can cross his legs until springtime. 

Furry Friday: Prep your pup

Seeing as how I'm half-baked, well the baby is anyway, I am getting more and more nervous about how well my other little man is going to handle the new addition.  Riley has been our baby for the last five years and 1.) I don't want him to feel less loved, 2.) I don't want him to become a monster either.  A lot of different parenting and baby magazines have tips and tricks for prepping your pup for the arrival of a baby, however they all seem very "fluff."  

• Practice walking your pooch with your stroller prior to the baby's birth
• Download sounds of a baby crying and play it sporatically through the day/night.
• Carry around a baby doll
• Have your husband bring a receiving blanket home one night while you are still at the hospital to familiarize the dog with the scent
• Have your husband bring the baby in when you come home

Furry Friday: Holiday Excitement

This time of year my Rye-guy goes gaga for presents.  He's a like a little kid.  If you bring any packages into the house without allowing him to inspect them, he immediately thinks it must be a present for him and will sit and whine at the spare bedroom's closet door (assuming that's where you hide your presents) because he knows its in there.

Trying to wrap gifts with Riley around is also a feat.  He's only a foot tall, so keeping things out of his reach isn't really the issue.  The issue is that he cries as if you are hurting him the entire time you are wrapping something outside of his reach.  He's mister impatient when it comes to Christmas.  He wants a present and he wants it now.  If you even say the word "present" he gets all anxious and trots off to stand guard outside the spare bedroom's closet door.  Yep, he's one smart cookie and a real pain in the you-know-where sometimes.  But I love him and watching him open presents is worth the aggravation.  Here's a video from last year:

Anyone else have a dog, cat, ferret, etc that loves to open presents?

Furry Friday: Think Fast

I know in the past I've commented on how Riley was a great little time keeper (Like Clockwork) but this morning he must have been on break.  Justin and I had forgotten to set the alarm and had to scramble to get ready for work this morning in a half hour time frame.  I said to Riley "Oh man, you were supposed to wake us up!" and he just looked at me like I had three heads and rolled over.  Yeah, it was already starting out to be a rough morning considering we had to get two of us through the shower, the dog walked and fed, and I had to eat a little something before running out of the house (pregnancy will do that to you.) 

Furry Friday: Faux Hawk

As you can see, during his Furry Friday hiatus Riley has been very busy growing out his hair for the upcoming winter months.  His wire hair certainly lends itself to some super styles.  Who else do you know that can rock a faux hawk sans hair product??  This guy right here.

Furry Friday: In Good Taste

It's hard to find things our little Rye-guy doesn't have a taste for.  He will beg for a taste of whatever you are eating, even if it's celery sticks.  In trying to keep in mind that his waist line doesn't exactly love snacks as much as Riley does, we have been purchasing what are purported to be "healthier" versions of his usuals.  For Milkbones, we've been buying the granola based ones.  Rachel Ray offers her "Just Six" snacks, which I've mentioned before, and now we've tried out Beneful's baked versions called "Baked Delights".  He loves their Quacks and their Hugs.  We're now testing out the Snackers.  They're veggie/fruit shaped but are a peanut butter based product.  So far he seems to like them.