How I stole my Ares

A year ago today, March 10, Mike, his roommate Corey, and I decided to go to really nice kind of exotic pet store that is in a nearby city. We walked around and looked at all of the crazy animals (seriously, I've taken E and K there as a makeshift free zoo on rainy days!) and then ducked into the puppy store that was a few doors down.
When we walked in, a little pug puppy walked right up to Corey, sat down and stared at him. I immediately said "Corey, he loves you! You have to get him!" Corey agreed and even jokingly said that he would buy that puppy for me. We all walked around the shop but went back to the adorable little pug puppy in the window. Within minutes, we were in a private room to play with the puppy.

Mike and I quickly went to work, telling Corey that he just HAD to buy the puppy, Mike would help pay for him and I would puppy sit when they had to leave for work. A worker overheard us and asked what would happen when Mike and Corey were no longer roommates and of course I said "then he'll be mine!"

Whatever logic that was, Corey went and filled out the paper work to bring home the puppy while Mike and I continued to play with him and take pictures.

We brought the puppy home that night. During the car ride home, Corey mentioned that all of the dogs that he had growing up where named after Greek gods and goddesses so after a small debate, we settled on naming him Ares. After we got back to Mike and Corey's apartment, I went to the local big box pet store to buy a crate to keep at my house for puppy sitting, and all of the essentials - name tag, collar, leash, SO MANY TOYS, a puppy play pen, cleaning sprays, you name it, I bought it.

Of course, all Ares wanted to play with was the brown paper bag he found in the house.

It was love. Ares slept with Mike and I that night. We tried to get him to sleep in the cage but it didn't work out so well - he was in bed with us by the time Mike (and Corey) had to get up around 3am on Sunday, March 11 to leave for 3 weeks for work.

I had thought this was the perfect arrangement - all of the fun of having a dog with none of the financial responsibility! Because Mike and Corey were gone the day after getting Ares, I was the one who took Ares for his first vet appointment and made all of his medical decisions. Within days, I was completely and utterly devoted to this little pug puppy who unexpectedly came into my life. I e-mailed Corey and told him that I had to have him. I couldn't imagine what would happen if Mike and I broke up and Ares was no longer in my life. After a few days with him, I couldn't imagine a life without him. I know I put Corey in a tough situation by asking for Ares, but he allowed it. I paid for Ares and we transferred his papers into my name. Ares was mine. And he was one expensive pup! He completely wiped my savings!

I know the horrors of buying from a pet store and we were really lucky to get a completely healthy dog who had already gotten hernia surgery as well as surgery for an elongated palate (and been microchipped). I wouldn't change my decision for the world.

One year ago today, I got my little boy and he changed my world forever.

**All photos were taken within the first 12 hours of bringing him home!

We had a small celebration while Maximus and Annabelle were still here and he got his gotcha day present: a cupcake with a candle sticking out of it. The entire cupcake is one big squeaker. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever.

Happy gotcha day, baby boy. I love you.

pugsitting

In the beginning of February, one of the lovely ladies from my pug meet up group posted on our page that she was going on a trip for her birthday and since they didn't have family around here and she'd rather not board, she was hoping someone from our group would be willing to take in her two babies for the week. She has two black pugs. Maximus, who is only a month or so older than Ares, and Annabelle,  who is the same age as Luna. I excitedly responded that I would love to watch them and after she came to check out my apartment, we decided that I would be a good fit to watch Annabelle and Maximus.
She dropped them off on Saturday, March 2, and I've been in love ever since (she comes back March 9).
I love having the other pups in the house and watching their personalities intermingle as well as watching them interact. Maximus absolutely adores Ares, which Ares isn't too sure about, and the girls have been attached to the hip.
They have me wrapped around their finger to the point where they've been insisting on sleeping in bed with Mike and me even though that's a no-no at their house.
We've also had our difficulties. Ares has been very jealous of the attention that Maximus and Annabelle have been getting and Maximus isn't desexed so he started marking my furniture and humping Ares. Ares puts a stop to the humping as soon as it starts and I went out to get a belly band to keep Maximus from ruining my furniture. As for the girls, they've had a couple of fights. Luckily, they're easily distracted and if I can't call them away from afar, they separate as soon as I walk over. Silly girls.
I'm going to be so sad to see them go.

If you're confused about which is Luna and which is Annabelle in any of the pictures, Annabelle is super model skinny and wears a collar.

sick with a housefull of pugs

I'm sick. And pugsitting. More on Annabelle and Maximus later, but for now, enjoy some pictures of me trying to eat soup with 4 hungry pugs. You should know, the one of Luna was supposed to be of Maximus. She epically photobombed my picture in her attempt to get my soup.

Ares and Annabelle

Maximus

Luna

dog park

I have a love/hate relationship with dog parks. In general, I love them and love the idea behind them. Ares was about 9 months old when we started going but I started taking Luna the day I got her. Of course, she wasn't playing with the dogs right away - in the beginning she would walk with us over and then sleep in my arms while Ares played and then when she started playing, we went to the other side of the park.
Because our dog park has two sides to it - the under 30 pounds side and the over 30 pounds side. Everyone always plays in the over 30 pounds side unless for some reason they want to separate their dog(s) from the  group, in which case they'll hang out on the other side. It's been used by me to get Luna used to all of the dogs without playing with them directly, by an Italian Mastiff owner when their dog didn't get along with a black lab, and by a woman whose dog tore his ACL and just got the okay to play but was still recovering.
The key for me is that I let them play - Ares and Luna know where I am and that I'm always going to be there for them if they need me and I will pick them up if they decide that they need a moment away from all of the dogs, but I don't hover over them and baby them. As a result, they are very independent at the park and even Luna can easily hold her own against all of the dogs.

Here are some videos of some of the dog park regulars playing with Ares and Luna. As you can see, Ares loves playing with Zooey (the black lab) and Trudy (brown and white collie mix). I can always count on those two to wear Ares out.

Unfortunately, as with anywhere where people can have strong, differing opinions, especially about their animals, there's a lot of drama at the dog park. The funny part is that I'm usually the youngest person there, especially among the regulars. I could be the child of most everyone there and I get along with all of them. But it's really easy to get on their bad side and I don't understand what people are thinking sometimes when they come to the dog park.

One person yells at any of the new people who forget to close one gate before opening another (dogs have definitely gotten lose before and it's no fun) and there's always the person who will watch their dog poop but make no move to clean it up.

The other big issue for any dog park is aggression between dogs. One of the reasons why I love my park is that you have to register and pay through the town in order to come to the dog park so people are usually really committed to coming. There's always going to be incidents that occasionally happen between the dogs but everyone always jumps in and stops their dog and checks to make sure the other dogs are okay. We know and care about each others dogs. I understand incidents happen and for the most part, people are concerned and embarrassed if their dog takes part in it.

But there's been a few things that have happened recently that actually made me reconsider bringing my dogs to the park. One is that one day when I was walking to the park in the afternoon, about 20 minutes before all of the regulars come, there was a man in with his dog, Lucky. I entered the first gate and started taking the harnesses off of my dogs while Lucky barked her head off at me. He met me at the gate and told me that I shouldn't come in the park because our dogs might fight. I pointed out that my dogs wouldn't be aggressive with his, but would his be aggressive with mine? and he stated that it was a possibility. When I stated that he shouldn't be bringing aggressive dogs to the park, he told me that when he signed up for the dog park, they told him that you enter at your own risk. I obviously didn't go into the dog park with him, but I did go into the other side until he left. I later called in a complaint against the man although nothing could be done because I didn't get his name.

The other huge issue is a woman who comes in with her Springer Spaniel. This dog is not super friendly, to the point where even she says he's a grumpy old dog. He's had several incidents with dogs and one time when another woman brought in her toddler, the dog went after and nipped at the toddler for no reason. The woman went up to the mother and made sure the girl was okay then said to the girl "Just don't mess with that grouchy old dog." The mother and I were both quick to point out that the girl did absolutely nothing except walk by him. It really bugs me that the woman knows that her dog can show aggression towards people and other dogs, yet she continues not only to bring him, but to let him do what he wants without stopping the behavior. It's gotten to the point where I usually leave shortly after she gets there because it's simply not worth it to me to risk the chance of either of my dogs getting injured by this dog.

I still love my dog park, though and for the most part, I love the dogs and people that come. It's a tight group of people AND dogs and I really appreciate the sense of family.

And now, a dog park picture dump to end this post on a happy note:

riding in cars with pugs

Ares and Luna would both much rather sit in my lap while I drive than in their own seat. When Ares was a puppy, I let him but I knew that it was dangerous and it worried me knowing that if I got into an accident and my airbag went off, it would surely kill him. My decision to stop him from sitting in my lap was solidified when Mike and I decided that we wanted to add Luna to our family. We decided to get her in July but didn't bring her home until the end of November so we had a long time to prepare Ares for her addition. The last thing that I wanted was to change his routine by adding a new puppy.
I drive a smart car so I wanted to transition him to the passenger seat of my car and make sure that he would be safe there. The first thing I did was purchase a dog car seat. I hooked it up to my passenger seat and  it was raised so that he could easily look out the window while being strapped into the car seat with his harness.

The only time he really disliked it was when I got out of the car without letting him out first. I loved it because I was able to keep my purse and other things on the seat under him without it being an issue.

If I recall correctly, it was supposed to hold up to 20 or 30 pounds, which it didn't do. Ares has weighed 17 pounds steadily but the seat started ripping in one of the corners from the weight. Overall, I really liked it and it did a great job of keeping him safe. One day when I was driving, the car in front of me slammed on their brakes and while Ares flipped right out of the car seat, the fact that he was strapped in prevented him from going straight into the dashboard or windshield. It scared the bejeesus out of both of us but definitely served its purpose of keeping him safe.

My next problem was that it wouldn't fit both Ares and Luna and because I have a two seater, I needed a way to safely transport both of them in one seat. To clarify quickly, the "trunk" of my car is so small, I have to collapse their kennels in order to transport them so that option, while the safest by far, is out of the question.

I ended up taking the carabiner off of the carseat and off of the car seat harness that Ares never used and hooked them to the buckled seat belt. This way, I can use their harnesses to attach them to the seat belt via the carabiner. (They have really awesome harnesses that allow me to do this and still give them plenty of room to move around and even jump up to stick their heads out the window if they wish.)

After I did this, they still jumped in my lap every chance they had and Luna would sit in the passenger seat and just whine at me the entire time. One day I happened to have their large dog bed in my car so I put it on the seat and they were in heaven! Now they get in the car and sit and sleep in their bed during car rides. They'd still much rather be in my lap but they don't spend all of their time trying to wiggle their way into my lap anymore.

I don't know if they harmony in the car will continue as Luna grows, but for the foreseeable future, this is really working for us.

monthly review: February Pawalla Mini!

When I signed up for BarkBox, I also heard about Pawalla. The great thing about them is that they're currently offering a mini box (for the first 200 subscribers). Their regular box comes with 6 or more goodies consisting of wet food, treats, healthy supplements, and essentials and toys. The mini box states that it comes with 1 treat, 1 toy, and 1 surprise item that will never be wet food (they must have had some complaints about people not wanting the wet food in their boxes which makes sense to me - my dogs don't get wet food unless they're sick). When you order, you give information about your pet so that they can customize your box to suit your pet's age and size. Because we are signed up for BarkBox, I decided the Pawalla Mini would work best for us and we signed up February 12th and got our first box today, just 10 days later! I'm amazed!

The best part about Pawalla? They have boxes available for dogs or cats!

They know the drill now - pose for pictures, then they get to open their box. Excuse Luna's lion imitation, there was a poop catastrophe in her cage so she's wet from her bath.

They actually got this box open! (I made it easier for them.)

And here are their yummy goodies. I know they told me that I would be getting 3 products but I'm definitely not complaining that I got 4 and somehow, I don't think Ares and Luna will complain either!

As with Bugsy's Box and BarkBox, the Pawalla Mini comes with a helpful guide to our goodies.

First up is the Wigzi Tasties Treats. As Pawalla says, "Wigzi treats should really be called limited ingredient treats because of their makeup. If a dog can eat peanut butter, duck, and/or cheese, these small treats will be perfect. They are made with pea flour, tapioca flour, and chickpea flour, all of which are being used in the most current limited antigen foods. These are grain free, preservative free, and artificial color and flavor free. This is a USA product for your dog family that should be easy and neat to carry in your pocket for treating on the go. They come in three flavors, Peanut Butter, Roasted Duck, and Wisconsin Cheddar."

They are $5.99. It states that they are training treat size but they are about twice the size of the treats that I use for training. This would be something I would use to train them to sit and stay and such, and not "potty treats." As you can see, we got the roasted duck flavor - YUM! The best part? They were right about the limited ingredients. These treats ONLY contain duck, chickpea flour, and tapioca. They also donate 2% of all profits to animal rescue groups and shelters that find temporary homes for animals that would be otherwise euthanized. You can find these treats here.

They were so excited to try their treats! And they absolutely loved them!
If I were to buy anymore treats, these would be it. I love their size and the lack of ingredients, especially ones I can't pronounce is a HUGE plus for me!

The other treat they got was Grizzly Salmon NuTreats for Dogs. Pawalla says "Crunchy, fish treats for dogs. These are made from smoked wild salmon, fish protein, fish bone powder, fish oil, alfalfa, kelp and natural preservatives. These are great training treats as they carry a strong fish scent, are small, and are healthy for your fur family member. They have low moisture and high protein. They may crumble fairly easily. Because of the high content of omega 3 (heart healthy) fatty acids, both rosemary and vitamin E have been included as natural preservatives. These score high on the list as training aids." They're about $8.50 and can be found here.
The description was definitely right about the strong scent! The good news was, I wasn't hit by the smell as soon as I opened the bag or anything - I had to put the treats near my face before I got the strong whiff (or maybe I'm just catching the cold that's been going around my area!)

Ares and Luna absolutely loved them. I could barely get Luna to sit still long enough for the picture and later, I caught Ares trying to get the treats from where I left them on top of the oven!

The next thing I looked at was the Gerrard Larriet Aromatherapy Spray. It is described as "Aromatherapy and essential oils have been shown to affect mood, stress, energy, calmness and sleep. They are being used in human therapy and now it is available for pets. Gerrard Larriett offers three essential oil blends (Happy Jasmine, Balancing Rose, and Relaxing Wildwoods). Now we can treat our fur family to the benefits we receive. We tried the Relaxing Wildwoods, which contains shampoo and conditioner, freshening & shining spray, and deodorizing soy candle. The scent is lovely and all of the ingredients are safe for dogs and cats."
I have the Happy Jasmine freshening and shining spray and while I was worried about the smell of it (I'm not a huge fan of floral scents), this smells amazing! I immediately sprayed it on both dogs. My only issue is that my dogs don't really like things sprayed at them so they looked at me like I was crazy for a second before running off. I'll use it but definitely not as much as I could because of this. Do other people have the same problem? I'm assuming because some people use a spray water bottle as a way to break up fights and such, that most dogs don't like sprays. I don't blame them either. Still it smells super yummy and I'll definitely put it to use even if I won't be purchasing it on my own. Happy Jasmine is supposed to help sensitive, dry skin though so if I notice a difference in her dandruff from using the spray, I'll definitely reconsider my stance. I definitely wouldn't mind trying the shampoos and conditioners though. A 4oz bottle is $12 and you can purchase it here.

And last but certainly not least, Ares and Luna's favorite - the toy! This is also made by Wigzi. Pawalla says "These colorful and durable toys for dogs bounce and float! They are made in the good ol' USA, and they have none of that rubber smell!" I didn't sniff the toy before relinquishing it to the dogs so I have no idea if the lack of rubber smell is true but the dogs definitely give it two paws up! The medium lock is $9.99 and can be found here.

I really like that Pawalla included two completely different items from one company. It shows me the range of things that Wigzi produces and I'm definitely eager to explore their site to see what else they have. The toy doesn't squeak and it isn't the hard plastic that Ares and Luna like chewing on so I'm not sure how long the toy will keep their interest but for now, they think it's awesome! Y'all I'm an idiot. I just realized that the "key" spot on the bottom is perfect for adding a treat in it for playing. This will definitely make them excited!

The mini boxes range from $12-14 a month depending on the subscription you sign up for and I received roughly $35 in goodies! Ares, Luna, and I are super happy campers and I definitely think that we'll stay loyal customers for quite awhile. First impressions are huge for me and this one was great.

And one more thing, I received this e-mail yesterday:

Recalls, especially ones that can affect your dog's health, are totally scary but I'm really glad that Pawalla stepped up and made sure to send an e-mail to ALL of their customers, even the ones that weren't affected by receiving the product from Pawalla. It made me really happy that they kept me in the loop.

Clickity-click here to get $5 off of your subscription to any Pawalla box.

cuddlebug flashbacks

I love looking at pictures of puppy Ares. These are from when we got him at about 9 weeks old up until he was about 6 months old. His personality hasn't changed a bit. I love my lovepug!