Fuzzy Photo of the Day

Baby Forest in puppy jail.

This gate was more of a check-point than an actual barrier. It stopped Forest from accidently falling down the stairs, but when he really wanted to get to the other side, he just squeezed through that cavernous gap in the middle. 

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

Tough Puppy

Forest is a tough little shit. Does he freak out when the aloof, neighborhood German Shepherd bolts into our yard with a clear-cut path to my little puppy? Nope, Forest stands his ground and barks like a cranky old canine, "Get off my lawn!" Luckily, he has yet to actually engage another dog in real battle, so I've only observed his fighting skills when he's playing with other dogs. But if he's as serious about fighting as he is about playing, then man, the other dog is fucked.

Our friends Adam and Jessica have a boxer named Vinny. This dog is incredibly sweet but completely oblivious of its size. He won't think twice about lumbering onto the couch for a quick cuddle.

Sorry Vinny, but size does matter and you are not a lap dog.

Last month Adam and Jessica invited us over to their house to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes beat ass in the Orange Bowl game. I tried to be a good fan and watch the game, but I was thoroughly distracted by Vinny and Forest.

Those two went at each other practically non-stop for two hours. It was hilarious.

Forest fought dirty too. I found out he's an ankle biter!

Our friend Dave also brought over his dog Paddy, but Forest and Vinny wouldn't include him in their doggy games.

Vinny had a unique fighting strategy. Every time Forest attacked from behind, Vinny tried to sit on my puppy. 

   Forest is just a big dog who's conveniently trapped in a small dog's body.

Kinda hard to watch a football game when you got this type of ruckus between you and the TV.

"I will eat your foot."

I'm not really sure what Forest is doing in this picture, but Vinny looks concerned.

Forest went home a very happy puppy.

Tough Puppy

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

Forest snuggled in-between a couch cushion and our Hawkeye pillow.

"What? I'm comfy, leave me alone."

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

Eye Boogers

So this post will probably pass the border into Land of Too Much Detail, but it’s something I have to deal with every day so I thought I’d share.

Before we got Forest, I tried to mentally prepare myself for all the unpleasant tasks that go along with dog ownership. I knew there were going to be midnight potty breaks for awhile (which turned out to be multiple nighttime potty trips) and accidents in the house. I understood that there would be the daily chores of dog walks, meals and tummy rubs (ok that last one isn't too bad). But I never, ever imagined, nor did anyone warn me, that I'd be cleaning puppy eye gunk every day.

When Forest wakes up in the morning, it looks like small, white slugs are crawling out of the corners of his eyes. Yuck. They don’t seem to bother Forest, but it’s totally gross to look at, like eye boogers or something. Forest is a pretty relaxed puppy most of the time, but he’ll squirm and wiggle when I try to clean his eyes using toilet or tissue paper. If I don’t wipe it all away, after a few hours the remaining eye boogers will start to harden and get crusty. *gag* Then my sweet little puppy has what looks like burnt popcorn stuck under his eyes.

When he was a young puppy, Forest was a 24-hour eye gunk factory. I just couldn’t keep up. When the eye boogers solidified, I would try to wipe then away with a wet washcloth, but that just smushed it into his fur. The people at doggy day care finally explained to me that after the eye boogers dried up, the best course of action was to use your fingernails or a small comb to pry the gunk out of his hair. I keep mentally comparing this task to when parents have to stick a thermometer in their baby’s booty. Unpleasant, but necessary.

Is this grossing you out yet? If so, then don’t read any further, because I’ve only described half of the puppy eye gunk removal process. But first, a short story about dog psychology. My coworker has two dogs, and because she is much braver than I, she and her husband will cut their dogs’ hair instead of taking them to a groomer. The older dog is pretty well behaved when it’s his turn, but he barks a lot when they cut the younger dog’s hair. My coworker and her husband have a theory that the older dog thinks the younger dog is being hurt. He doesn’t understand that they’re only cutting away hair; the older dog just sees what looks like body pieces being removed from his friend and falling to the ground. I don’t know if their theory is correct, but it make sense to me.

Back to Forest. While I would describe my puppy as being unhappy when I gently wipe away his eye boogers with a tissue, I would say he definitely freaks out when I pry crusty gunk out of the fur under his eyes. The only thing that seems to calm him down (and believe me when I say I would never do this if it didn’t) is to let Forest see the gunk I just pulled out and then, well, let him eat it. Gross! *blah* Yucky yuck. I can only assume that Forest thinks that gunk is part of him, which technically it is, and he wants it back.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving when my family met Forest for the first time. Besides thinking he was adorable, and they were also surprised at how calm he was for a puppy. When Forest was taking yet another nap on the kitchen floor, I think it was my sister who asked if we drugged Forest to keep him so quiet (I didn’t understand her astonishment until I met her puppy Leo over Christmas).  

At one point during the holiday, Forest was sitting on my lap and I noticed that he had some crusty eye boogers. Lovely. So I tried to discreetly clean him up without interrupting the conversation. After a few minutes my dad looked over, noticed what I was doing and practically shouted “Calli, are you feeding those to him?” I froze up for a second, realizing how very weird the whole thing must have appeared to him, and then quickly explained the eye gunk problem.  At the end I added “It’s kind of like recycling, right?”

  

It’s odd what you can become accustomed to over time, especially when you don’t think about it (or repress it, whatever).

Eye Boogers

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

"I will hypnotize you with my puppy eyes."

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

This was a few weeks before the first snowstorm of the year. Look, you can actually see the sidewalk! Ah those were the days, back when Forest and I could take a walk without marching thru snow, ice and slush puddles.

Fuzzy Photo of the Day

Forest's Cousin

Introducing Leo, the pug-beagle mutt.

My sister adopted her puppy a week or so before we found Forest online (which sounds odd, right? Probably only a matter of time before you can order a baby online too). I finally got to meet Leo when I spent a few days in Colorado over Christmas. 

Awww, baby Leo.

My official conclusion: that dang puppy is just a ball of energy wearing a fur coat. Seriously, I didn't know little dogs could jump so high and effortlessly until I met Leo. He'll just look at a chair and suddenly he's sitting in it. Blink, and now he's on the couch. Forest looks like an arthritic, elderly dog in comparison. When our puppy is thinking about jumping up on the couch, you can practically see the gears turning in his head. He'll warily gauge the distance, arrange himself in the crouching position, sometimes even give a little butt wag as he digs his claws into the carpet, and then catapult himself onto the cushions. Most of the time he makes it.

Leo sporting his "fang". You can't really see it in these pics but sometimes his lips get stuck around his teeth, creating the impression that he's curling up one lip and is going to start singing "Hound Dog" at any moment.

One of these days we'll get the two puppies in the same state so they can play and compare stories about how silly their owners are. "They make you wear a piece of fabric around your neck too? Put you in a cage when they leave the house? Follow you around and pick up your poop? Total weirdos."

Forest's Cousin

Puppy's First Christmas – Part Three

The final round of Christmas gifts increased Forest's inventory of Iowa Hawkeye stuff from zero to four items. I know what you're thinking, we're terrible parents for not having provided Forest with Hawkeye apparel before now, and I totally agree with you. I could try to use the excuse that none of the stores around here sell Hawkeye stuff, especially Hawkeye stuff for dogs, but the fact that almost every room in our house contains a computer that could be easily used to order Hawkeye stuff online kinda screws me. 

My favorite, the Hawkeye collar. Now Forest can strut his stuff in style.

Matching Hawkeye leash.

Sometimes his hair gets so long that it hides the collar (several of the pics in my previous post illustrate how long hair can transform him into Hippie puppy) so this leash helps reaffirm that this is in fact, a Hawkeye puppy.

Portable, collapsible, waterproof Hawkeye bowl.

When traveling with the puppy, we no longer have to waste paper bowls or ask our nice hosts if Forest can drink out of their dinnerware.

And finally, the Hawkeye blanket.

Actually this was a present to me from Nick's mom, but Forest has been hogging it. Puppy needs to learn to share.

Puppy's First Christmas – Part Three

Puppy's First Christmas – Part Two

Nick and I went our separate ways over Christmas and his family got to spoil the puppy first. My family couldn't pamper Forest in person, so they gave me a special Christmas present to bring home….

Mr. Octopus!

Forest almost won the staring contest.

Puppy's First Christmas – Part Two

Puppy's First Christmas – Part One

My lack of recent activity on this blog is proof that I haven't had much success with one of my New Year's resolutions: stop procrastinating and just focus. So I finally downloaded all of the photos off my camera and now have some cute pics of Forest’s first Christmas.

While I visited my folks in Colorado, Nick and Forest visited more family in Iowa.

Forest’s first Christmas present.

Obviously he didn’t understand the concept of a wrapped present...

…or a taped box.

So while Forest remained distracted by the box, Nick finished unwrapping.

It’s a puppy cookie!

“Oh, so that’s why the box smelled so good.”

Starts with a few licks…

..then chows down.

Nom nom nom

Up next, a present imported from Colorado…

Puppy's First Christmas – Part One