Put a Puggle to Work

Ever thought of having a business that involved your precious puggle?  (Or other breed I suppose...)  Here is an article about a bedbug sniffing puggle.  I warn you, there is a gross part about feeding the bedbugs... but the second half of it talks about how Cruiser the puggle works to help people with infestations.  Go Cruiser!

I'd love to have a job where I get up and go to work with Oates everyday, but I don't know if i could feed bedbugs to do it.  My boyfriend had a bedbug bite once - it was not fun for him.

A Talk on Puppy Training

I just found this this talk from a TED conference on the Friday Puppy blog i follow.  Well worth a listen for all us dog people out there.  I've always meant to check out these TED conference videos and info. 

As a side note, if you dig the furniture on the stage, it's the stuff that i get to space plan with a lot, and that chair is one of my favorites called "sidewalk."  I work for a Steelcase furniture dealership.  Steelcase provides all of the furniture for TED conferences. Pretty cool!

Friday Puppy

I read a fun blog called Friday Puppy and decided to enter Oates' picture this week.  He made the cut! So please go give him your heartfelt votes.  His fragile little ego could be damaged otherwise. You know he's just a shy little puggle, so modest...

 

Click here to check out the blog post and and vote for Oates from the poll that is listed on the right! Oates thanks you.

Pets on Furniture

 

This isn't my precious puggle, but I happened to come across her cute little face on a blog I follow called designtoinspire .  They do a Monday feature called "pets on furniture" that is usually pretty adorable, and some great design pieces in there too!  It's a great break from the typical Monday dull-drums.  Check it out and enjoy!

One Year

One year ago today, was the day we brought home our darling little puggle!  Back then, they called him Marvin... This is how Oates came to be mine...

It was a cold February as I sat at my computer researching dogs.  I'd do this often wondering what kind to get, where I'd get it from and what it'd be like to finally have a dog of my own.  Growing up I had newfoundlands, and they were outside dogs.  Too big for my small humble home, and I wanted an indoor dog.

I thought about yorkies, I thought about pugs, I thought about long haired chihuahuas, but some way or another I stumbled upon puggles.  A dream come true!  I have always said I wanted a dog that looked like a puppy forever, and I felt like a puggle was pretty much the closest thing too it.

I started researching and watching petfinder for puggles.  I also really wanted to save one from a shelter, but i worried about finding that "perfect" one.  One day at work, I got a random email from a friend saying that she knew someone who knew someone who knew someone that found a puggle without a collar roaming the streets.  They had found a foster home for him, but the person keeping him could no longer handle him in his small apartment.


I immediately emailed the guy to get a picture, and when he sent it moments later, I was smitten.  He only lived a few blocks away from me, so I made plans to go over and look at "Marvin" that night after work.  I had no idea I'd be a dog owner in a few short hours.  I had planned to wait until spring when the weather was warmer, but fate happens, right?


When my boyfriend and I get there, the door opens and Marvin greets us with a happy jump and a lick.  He was excited, but no over the top.  Shortly after we came in, he calmly laid down on the floor.  I was amazed at how fast he just chilled out with us there.  After a few questions, I politely asked Marvin if he wanted to come home with us... He promptly tilted his head and wagged his tail in typical puggle fashion.  I was immediately sold.  "Can we take him now then??" I asked.  And we did.

No kennel, no dog food, no leash, no nothing - and I was a dog owner, just like that!  One year later, I couldn't be happier!  Of course we changed his name to Oates, being that he had to have a much smoother name to be a resident of Paradise... and he loves it here.  And we love him too!  Life wouldn't be the same without him.  


As an anniversary gift, I got him his first coat for outside playtime in winter.  He managed to break it in with a good sniff into the snow, and even a good roll!

How Cute is Your Puggle?

It's been almost a year that Oates has been a part of the family.  He's been there in good times and bad.  He's been good, and he's been bad, but we love him all the same.  Shortly after I got him I entered a Snapfish pet photo contest and my photo of Oates won honorable mention out of hundreds of entries!

We really wanted to win the home stereo system and blu ray player... well... I wanted the stereo system... Oates really didn't care.  But honorable mention was awesome out of so many entries!  And I happened to win a blu ray player at my boyfriend's company party this year anyway, score!

What a handsome little puggle...

Doggie Bed Triumph

So I think this is something like round 4 or 5 with the deal of a dog bed.  At $5.99, I told myself that I wouldn't care all that much if it got chewed up, but then I changed my mind because hey, that's 6 bucks!  Might as well save however I can, right?  So I decided the dog bed would be a new addition to my junk room, which I have been slowly but surely turning into a home office.  

I've got things set up enough that I can comfortably work on my laptop and other things, and Oates definitely needed a place to chill out in here with me.

So i laid a small rug down, and then put the doggie bed on it.  He has been introduced to it a few times in here, had a treat in it, and sat in it.  One day I left the door open and he appeared in the livingroom with it in his mouth, bad dog!

So tonight I decided to work in the office some, and he needed to come with me.  I gave him a treat, and then slowly but surely, the miracle happened.  He decided it was a cozy place to sleep!  He may be a little big for it, but he looks pretty comfortable to me.

Goes to show you that patience will pay off.  He also has been going potty outside like a good boy, but it's also no longer zero degrees or negative out there...