Dutch: On "The Daily Corgi"

My little furkid, Dutch, is featured on "The Daily Corgi" today. Check him out at:

http://thedailycorgi.blogspot.com/2009/10/dutch.html

Weddings, Fourth of July, etc.

I know, it's been almost a month since my last post. But, I can explain.

See, first I had about a trillion (that's not an exaggeration) wedding-related events. Being in weddings take up a lot of time, even when they're not your own.

On June 26, the Lumberjack was the best man when our dear friends Drew and Christine got married.

Photo by Jeff and Erin Youngren.

And then, one week later on July 3, I was the matron of honor when our dear friends Lisa and Josh got married.

Then, the day after Lisa and Josh's wedding, the Lumberjack and I spent the weekend in Orange County with our parents for the Fourth of July.

The most exciting part of that was: Dutch learned how to swim!

It's an awful lot of excitement for a corgi puppy, though you can't tell from the picture above. In fact, he looks like he's hating it, but he actually had a pretty good time. See, there he is swimming along. He kind of looks terrified there, too, but he figured out the whole swimming thing pretty quickly.

And, as long as one of us was holding him, he seemed to relax and enjoy the cool water on such a hot day.

He did occasionally look to my mom, who was taking pictures, for help. But, each time he'd swim to the steps and get out of the pool, he walk around and try to get back in. The thing is, he's a baby, so he wasn't brave enough so jump in. Plus, when he does jump/fall in, he sinks. Silly dog.

But he definitely had a fun time swimming. In the photo above, he's swimming to me. Such a good boy!

And his daddy was so proud not to have a wussy dog!

Tomorrow, he will be nine months old, and I can say, despite the mishaps, he has been a perfect addition to our little family. We love that little corgi!

The Adventures of Dutch: Episode Two

So I have to apologize for the extended week long sabbatical I've taken from updating my blog. OK, it wasn't really a sabbatical, or even a vacation, it was a crazy, sleepless, emergency-filled week. And it all started about three weeks ago.

Over Memorial Day, the Lumberjack and I went on vacation for Las Vegas. Since we couldn't bring our little furkid Dutch with us, we had a very good friend of ours stay at our house. When we returned from vacation, Dutch started throwing up in the middle of the night, every night. He seemed normal otherwise, so we didn't think much of it, though we did switch his food and started feeding him smaller meals more often.

Last Friday, he threw up at about 5 a.m. and TWO PEACH PITS came out. I immediately panicked. Not only do peach pits contain cyanide, which can kill a dog, they can also easily become lodged in their intestines and kill as well.

Turns out, over Memorial Day, my friend took Dutch over to her house and let him play in the backyard, where she has peach trees. Somehow, he ate some.

So Friday, I took Dutch to the vet for an x-ray. Two-hundred dollars later, they tell me there is something wrong, but they can't actually see the pits, so we need to wait until the pitts make him sick and then do an ultrasound.

Saturday and Sunday, Dutch was miserable. He didn't want to play or go for a walk. He just wanted to sleep, and even that was challenging. He was getting up between four and eight times each night because he was so uncomfortable. Monday night, I called the vet and told them that he was very lethargic and throwing up even more often, and we scheduled an ultrasound for Tuesday. Dutch, above, over the weekend, moping on the sofa with his duck comforting him.

Tuesday morning, he was even sicker and clearly in pain. Luckily (or not, I guess), the $700 ultrasound showed a peach pit in his stomach that was basically acting like a plug to his intestines (hence the vomiting) AND making his stomach hemorrhage because of the roughness of the pit.

That afternoon, Dutch had emergency surgery and was anesthetized. The animal internist stuck a camera down his throat into his stomach and pulled out not one, but TWO peach pits. Apparently, the going rate for peach pit removal surgery is a cool $1,000--making Dutch's peach pit ordeal cost $1,900, and all for a few mouthfuls of peaches.

Within three hours of the anesthesia wearing off, our Little Dutch was back to 100% and causing trouble as if nothing had happened to him.

Luckily, we have pet insurance, which will help with some of the ridiculous cost, but we will still owe a pretty penny for this accident. Next time we go on vacation, we're putting him in daycare!

Las Vegas, Here We Come!

In celebration of our one year wedding anniversary, the Lumberjack and I are taking a very last-minute, sexy trip to Sin City--Las Vegas. Of course, to us, it's not really Sin City. We hardly gamble (penny slots only, with a $20 limit), and we drink in moderation (mostly because I can't hold my liquor at all). To us, Las Vegas is about the food, the shows, the pools, the shopping, the nightlife and the overall extravagance of the city.

The Hotel

We booked a room at the MGM Signature, in one of the three new towers right behind the MGM Grand. The rooms are timeshares, privately-owned condos, and hotel suites. Using one of my favorite freebie/almost freebie sites, I booked a junior suite over Memorial Day weekend for $170 per night. Gotta love Vacation Rentals by Owner.

The room, as seen below, overlooks the strip, has a king-sized bed, a queen sofa pullout, a kitchenette and, the best part, the hugest marble and granite bathroom I've ever seen in a hotel suite.

The Transportation

In the past, the Lumberjack and I have driven to Vegas. From San Diego, it's only about 5 1/2 hours. The drive there is always great--snacks, music, cheesy driving games--but, the drive back is brutal. Dehydration, too much sun and exhaustion do not make good companions for a drive back through the desert. This time around, we've decided to fly.

Flying is both good, because we save 3 hours of time each way, but bad, because the first leg of our flight takes place in a 10-ROW plane. From Carlsbad to Los Angeles, we are flying in a plane that is about the length of two cars. OK, maybe three. And. That. Scares. The. Crap. Out. Of. Me.

I don't mind flying. It's the falling part I mind. Specifically, I despise taking off and landing. My poor Lumberjack nearly loses the circulation in his hand each time we fly because I am gripping it so hard during takeoffs and landings. I know it's a short flight, but I'm still nervous.

The Plan
This weekend will also be the first that we are not with Dutch. In fact, he has not had a night apart from us since we got him, over 6 months ago. Usually, he travels with us. After much debate of whether we should bring him to The Animal Keeper (where he goes for daycare), leave him with my parents or hire a house sitter, we decided to invite our dear friends Drew and Christine, more commonly known to Dutch as "Uncle Drew" and "Auntie," to spend a weekend at our place and watch over our little boy.

Clearly, he's a bit attached. And, he knows he's cute--a troublesome combination.

So, Las Vegas, here we come. My Lumberjack, I can't wait to spend the weekend with you!

The Adventures of Dutch

Last night, Dutch discovered that a world exists underneath the bed.

So, while "mommy" was working, Dutch explored under the bed and found lots of surprises--folded up boxes from my beloved KitchenAid mixer, a box from our Sonicare electric toothbrush and silverfish poison!

Being a puppy, everything MUST go into his mouth, including a packet of DEKKO silverfish poison, as seen to the left. By the time I got to him, all that was left were a few slimy balls of shredded paper.

Being the concerned mother, I immediately called the fabulous people at Poway Animal Emergency Clinic, who directed me to Poison Control.

Thank God for poison control. I was told that DEKKO contains Boric acid, which is an irritant, and that the dog would likely get sick. After feeding him and giving him plenty of ice cubes, he did, in fact, get sick. Five minutes later, all better. That dog!

Anyway, I just wanted to give a big thanks to Poway Animal Emergency Clinic and Poison Control for helping our little Dutch!

Puppy-safe Treats

I tried to find recommendations of treats to leave with Dutch while I'm away at work, and I really couldn't find anything. I thought I'd start my own list of things that I've found to be safe to leave with a puppy while I'm at work. On a normal day, I leave Dutch with:

1. One or two Nylabones. He doesn't love these, but I keep hoping on day he'll realize how neat they are.
2. A bully stick. Unlike rawhide, puppies can't really break of big chunks of a bully stick and choke. It's kind of smelly, but apparently tastes good as Dutch can't get enough.
3. A kong with a cashew in the small end (aromatic to make the dog want it more), a few bits of carrots, some peanut butter, and some puppy chow, all topped off with peanut butter. Frozen is best!
4. A hollowed out bone (like the one seen here: http://www.petco.com/product/6543/Redbarn-White-Bones.aspx) with peanut butter smeared on the inside, plus carrots and dog food.
5. A bone or two with peanut butter flavored stuffing (like seen here: http://www.petco.com/product/6066/Redbarn-Meat-Filled-Bones.aspx). Once the stuffing is gone, I normally use Natural Balance Lamb Roll (found here: http://www.petco.com/product/7133/Natural-Balance-Dog-Food-Rolls-Lamb-Formula.aspx) to restuff it. Also, I freeze this as it takes him longer to eat and is good on puppy teeth.
6. A rope for chewing, like this one: http://www.petco.com/product/100479/Booda-Fresh-N-Floss-Wintermint-2-Knot-Bone.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch. I'm not sure if he likes it that much, but it's one more thing to chew and play with.

All of these things I have personally found OK to leave with Dutch. However, make sure you supervise your dog and decide for yourself.

Dutch: The Introduction

Mr. and Mrs. Lumberjack are pleased to announce the addition of Little Dutch to their family!

On October 11, 2008 (my husband--the Lumberjack's--23rd birthday), we decided to go look at Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies. At the time, there were three litters available: one litter of four 10-week-old tri-color boys, one litter of seven 5-day-old puppies, and one litter of eight 1-day-old puppies. At the time, we weren't sure we were ready for the commitement of a furkid. But, 4 weeks later, we returned to look again.

On our second visit, the two youngest litters were now 4-ish weeks old. They were cute and soft and starting to get their little personalities. The Lumberjack picked out two boys he liked from the first litter. I, of course, liked the other two better. Since we couldn't decide, we went to look at the last litter after deciding the tri-boys, who were older, were not for us.

I saw this cute little ball of fur with perfect markings and picked him up. When I handed him to the Lumberjack , he fell right asleep in his arms. That's when we knew, he was the one.

We went and visited him at 5-weeks-old, and he kept getting cuter and cuter! Waiting for him to come home was very hard. There was one period where we didn't see him for 3 weeks and I missed him so much. Once we decided on him, we couldn't wait to bring him home to us.

Dutch came home to us on December 18, 2008. He was 9 weeks, 6 days old. We had already paid to have him crate-trained at the breeder's home (Lisa and Patrick Bigelbach), and he fell asleep in the car on the way to his new home. At the vet that day, he weighed in at 7.2 pounds.

Over the past few weeks, the Lumberjack and I have dealt with typical puppy issues: biting, potty training, barking, being destructive, not listening, running away, etc. But, he is getting better and adjusting well to life at the center of our family.

At the end of January, the Lumberjack , Dutch and I went to Puppy Kindergarten for the first time. Being the smart boy that he is, Dutch already knew most of the commands (sit, come, stay, down, etc.). We've been working on "Place" and "Watch me," so it was good. After his mini-lesson, he got to play with all the other puppies (about 14) and socialize with the adults and kids that brought them. It was great to see him playing and having such a good time. It was even better that he was exhausted the rest of the day and the Lumberjack and I had some time to spend with friends.

Since then, Dutch attended 5 more puppy kindergarten classes and graduated last Monday. He was very proud and has grown into a sweet little boy in the 11+ weeks we've had him. He now knows sit, stay, wait, come, down, watch me, leave it, drop it, go to your place, go outside, go potty, and off. He's grown a lot since we got him, and is now 22 pounds! He loves his "Daddy," the Lumberjack, all of his "Aunties" and "Uncles," his bully sticks, and his Kong Wubba. He has also proved to us how he is not a "typical" corgi as he loves snuggling and being a lap dog, and really doesn't bark much at all. What a sweet and smart boy he is! We have loved having him in our family and are looking forward to many years with him!