Deep in the HEART OF TEXAS - still in Deer Park - the Birthplace of Texas

I know what you are thinking - 2 posts in one night....Well to be honest I wrote the other post several days ago, but just now got the pictures from Robert's camera :(. As you can see we had a play date for Angus....We are now trying to teach him how to 'Approach a Woman' because unfortunately Miss Katie (his cousin the Chihuahua) was not at all interested in getting to know him. He however, was very interested in playing with Katie. Angus also has to learn that 'No' (or a growl with teeth showing in this case) means 'No' and not 'Come get me I am ready to play.'

Katie spent the entire day hiding from Angus, either up behind Robert, in Tony's lap, upstairs where Angus is not allowed to go, or as close to Julie as she could get. We tried a few times to throw them together, but Angus was too quick to try and pounce on her. We learned something really quickly about Angus the next day, and that was that he has bad approach regardless of the sex of the dog. We took him over to Robert's parents to play with Ben & Jerry as well as go swimming (if he wouldn't sink). For those of you who don't know - Ben & Jerry are Miniature Schnauzers and brothers. Ben is the sweet, easy going one, and Jerry is the standoffish, opinionated one. Unfortunately Angus didn't care what they thought he just wanted someone to play with him. He began by trying to bite Jerry's whiskers (We tried introducing them separately so that they wouldn't gang up on him) and when Ben came to say hello the same thing occurred. So needless to say Angus needs to learn manners and I think I have Robert on board with the fact that he needs a friend to play with and learn how to interact with other dogs. We both like the idea of another English Bulldog, so they will be the same speed, but we also both don't want to spend that kind of money again on another dog. :(


So here you can see Angus's attempt at swimming. Robert held him for awhile at which time Angus just chilled. Didn't freak out and get upset, nor did he just overly react to the pool itself. He did however enjoy drinking lots of pool water. I was a little worried about that, but what can you do, a dog sees water - he is going to drink it. Once he got in the float he was pretty much done. As you can see he looks a little bit miserable. I rescued him :) and then had to chase him all over the back yard in order to insure that he didn't get into anything he wasn't supposed to (yeah right like I can keep him from doing that).

I had forgotten what it was like to deal with a puppy, and now that I have been reminded, I think I am crazy for wanting to add another one to the household. The good news is that Angus is pretty much potty trained. The biggest deal is for me to pay close attention to him in order to catch the signs. I hope that if we do become serious about adding another puppy to the household that they will keep each other entertained while we are at work. My biggest concern is that Angus is going to get too lonely because of our work schedules.


Anyways - on the note above I am going to call it a night here - I have a release that I am about to dial into, so wanted to make sure I got a chance to post on here again....here are some more pictures of Angus

Deer Park, Deer Park, I love Deer Park

Here is something fun from Thursday 9/3/2009. Angus has gotten so that he loves to run around in circles. I took him out yesterday after my work day was over and just sat down while he rolled around in the grass and ran in circles in the backyard.

My backyard is set up like this:

The grey extension shown above is our chimney and Angus decided he would run and slide to hide next to the chimney, which he did several times without issue, on both sides of the chimney. But for some reason he got really crazy and ran towards the fence, well the blue square there is a bucket that is filled with water (directly under our water spiket) and he went head first into the bucket that has got mud and all kinds of stuff in it……Of course he hit the white side of his face into the bucket and his entire right side. Don’t get me wrong Thursday’s are his bath nights, but I had no intention of giving him a bath that early in the evening. Usually we do bath time right before bed time, it calms him down. It was a rather amusing and upsetting time for us. Poor guy was scared half to death, and I couldn’t stop laughing. You should have seen the tub after I finished bathing him…The good news is that he smells really good, like his citrus scented shampoo, and his fur is shiny and silky. :)

On other non related topics…Something other than Angus – I know you are amazed, so am I…So as many of you know I am a chicken when it comes to scary movies, stories, thoughts, dreams, whatever…..Well also as you know I got caught up in the Twilight thing, and from Twilight I started reading every YOUNG ADULT Vampire book I could get my hands on….Then I noticed that there was a series on HBO last year called Tru Blood, and wouldn’t you know it was based on a set of books by Charlaine Harris…And sure enough I had to read every last one of them….Well Robert isn’t too keen on Vampire stories, nor was he interested in a Soap Opera on them, so I didn’t keep up this year with the new season. However, Saturday night (Robert was in San Antonio for a day of football at the Alamo dome) Julie came over and we were talking about Tru Blood and what was going on….We decided we would catch up on the shows – Julie agreed to watch them with me – THANK YOU JULIE – Wouldn’t you know iControl wasn’t working, so we called Comcast and had them fix that – took a little while but they were able to get it working – and we began with Season 2 Episode 1, and we watched them all the way through until we finished the last one at 6:30 Sunday AM. I have to say I really like the show, but the books are so much better. I know that is the way it always is, but I am upset with the ways they are changing the story line. The other thing that really makes me mad is that now that I am caught up (I watched the new one on Sunday evening) I have to wait 2 weeks to see the next one – and wouldn’t you know the next one is the season finale – can you believe that? I waited that long to get caught up on it and now I am going to miss it horribly.

Other things that I am looking forward to is that CW is going to do a series on The Vampire Diaries, it starts 9/10 which is another series that I read during my Vampire obsession. It was a pretty good series – I can’t wait to see what they do with it. And then that means that they are going to have to pick up the other 2 surely, Vampire Academy ( A sad turn on this one in one of the books that I really didn’t expect, and upset me greatly) and then House of Night (haven’t read the newest one yet for this – I had kind of gotten over my obsession, but will go back and get caught up of course) the pictures are all book 1’s of the series so don’t be fooled…they have multiples and I just read that Vampire Academy has another one coming out this month J and I will be behind 2 on House of Night in October if I don’t read the latest one soon.


OK let me say for sure that I am OVERLY ANXIOUS for the NEW MOON movie (11/20/2009) – I can’t wait to see what they do with that
– I know, I know the series is supposed to be for little teenage girls, but I have to say that I believe the audience is much older than that – almost everyone I know that is in their 20’s and 30’s has read all of the books and is following the movies very closely. Can you imagine having a dream, getting up and writing it down, publishing it and then making movies out of it? I don’t think anyone would pay that kind of money for my dreams. Although I might start keeping a dream diary just in case. My dreams are never so sweet and they really don’t make sense.

Right now I have gone back to my thoughtless reading – I am reading Historical Romance novels. I am on a kick to read everything by Mary Balogh right now….I read all of her series, well all of them that are available on the Kindle anyways – and am working on the independent ones now.

I have to say that I have tendency to run towards, I know this is going to shock some people, obsessive compulsive on things, now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I am really OCD, but I do have these things that I just get so obsessed about that I can’t stop…Like the fact that I pick a subject and read every thing I can on that subject…or I have this thing about the way things are arranged – there is this wall at the office that has canvases on it, well there are 2 round canvases and 4 square ones – it bothers me that the round ones are not spaced evenly – they should either be on the ends, in the middle, just evenly distributed on the wall….I can get obsessed about being obsessed L The other thing that I do is make sure that my food doesn’t touch, that when I eat my food I eat it separately, and the final thing that really gets everyone is I DO NOT EAT CHICKEN ON THE BONE.

Still in Deer Park :)

I have been really remiss in blogging :( I thought there for awhile I was doing well, but of course when something is new you are very consistent, and then when you get used to it, lets say a day later, you stop messing with it. Kind of like a new toy.

I am going to strive to do better. As you can see in the picture to the left we have become those people. The people who believe that their dog that was made with enough fur to keep him warm needs to wear clothes. This is Angus's first shirt, THANK YOU CONNIE, and he isn't really sure about it. I can get it on him and as you can see in the pictures he will pose for the camera, but he just isn't too excited about wearing it. Robert is really funny about shirts and how they should fit, so we have coined this one Angus's first 'PULSE Shirt' If you have ever put on a shirt that was too tight, or if you have seen someone who has a shirt on that is too tight, you know exactly what I am talking about. The shirts fits in such a way that you can see the heartbeat, aka pulse of the person wearing it.

Angus hasn't learned yet how to tuck his fat rolls into his shirt, but we are teaching him. :) honestly it doesn't fit that tightly, and he can probably wear it for another week, but we will definitely have to get him some bigger clothes.

Angus and I took a trip today to take Robert the tags for his truck (they expired on 8/31) and Robert, Melody, and Tony came out to see Angus. He has grown a good deal since they Tony and Melody saw him last. He is getting bigger every day.

He has started this new thing this week where he will go outside and use the bathroom and then lay down on the grass. Even though he knows when he comes inside he will get a treat he just lays there in the sun. Today I sat outside waiting for him to decide he was ready to go inside, with the heat it didn't take him very long at all to decide it was time to get in the Air Conditioning.

He is still in PUPPY BITING Mode - we are hoping that he will grow out of it. He continues to bite our feet and hands no matter what we do, tell him NO sternly, pop his little nose, or push him away he just comes running back for more bites. What is really interesting is how he sneaks up on you....he will be biting and playing with one of his toys (his favorite right now is the Nylabone Teething keys, and he is working on his 2nd set now) and the next thing you know he has lunged at your face, your feet, or hands and taken a big bite. Let me tell you the teeth are like razors. He has bitten my lip twice, my ear once, and he enjoys biting my hair. :( I don't know what the draw is for him but he climbs up on my pillow above my head and starts chewing on my hair. At first he is really gentle and you think oh he is just rooting, and I try to move him away, next thing you know he takes his paw, pushes down on my head, and with a mouth full of hair jerks his head back...Talking about a massive headache and hurting like crazy.

I have some more pictures that I took today - when I went to go get the tags for Robert's truck I locked him up in his crate, which of course doesn't have his dog bed in it, because he had an accident in it and it is being washed, so I put a pillow in his crate for him to sleep on, sure enough when I got back to let him out he was sleeping soundly on the pillow. I took him outside, and then to see Robert, as mentioned above, and when we got back he decided he was exhausted, so he went back to his crate to take a nap. I snuck in there and got a picture of him in his jail cell on his pillow, when I tried to get around and take a picture of him actually on the pillow without the bars in front of him, he decided to come get me. So that didn't work. He went back to sleep, and when I made lunch he came out to smell the good food, whine, and bark at me because he wanted it. Then he decided he was going to take a nap on the couch, so I have a couple of pictures of him doing that too. :)

Alright I need to stop typing, because I am saying way too much about him on a day where all he has done is eat, sleep, go outside, bite, and sleep.....Oh well that is what he does.....So what other kind of day could we have. :)

Hope you are having a great day wherever here is for you.......

I am back in Deer Park....After being 841 miles away in Nashville

I returned from Nashville Wednesday night, and had a homecoming with Angus and Robert. I was so excited to see both of them...Angus looked like he gained 12 pounds since I had left.

We hadn't ever seen him wag his tail, but let me tell you he wagged his whole back end when I got home. :) He had plenty of kisses for me and didn't want to leave me a lone for a while.

Then when it was bed time, he choose Robert again :( for some reason he really likes to sleep next to Robert. Today I worked from home and we had lots of fun. He spent a good deal of time sitting on the couch while I worked.

I am working on a release tonight and instead of going to bed with Robert Angus was wide awake and wanting to play. I thought he was going to take over the phone call tonight. Each time I unmuted I was afraid that Angus was going to be growling, barking, or grunting. Connie got Angus a laser toy and he LOVES it. We probably enjoy it more than he does because I laugh non stop as he chases it across the room, watches it on the ceiling, or growls at it on his paw.

Robert did a good job with him while I was gone, he fed him (every 12 hours), brushed his teeth every night, and put medicine in his ear. He did however, decide to tear up his pee pad :( two days in a row, and he tee-teed in his bed yesterday. We washed the bed today, it didn't really work out very well, the bed is all lumpy now. He still appears to like it so that is great. Pet beds are SO EXPENSIVE....But you know he actually uses his so it isn't a waste of money.

He is so sweet when he is sleeping, but down right crazy when he is riled up....He has started this new thing where he gets all hyper and starts running around the living room. And just when you think he is going to keep going he slides under the ottoman...Usually hits his head as he goes in looks like it would hurt....then looks out at your feet, growls, and barks, and then......ATTACK

His teeth are horribly sharp....and he has not yet been broken of biting feet, hands, and pant legs...Or if he can't get pant legs then just legs.

Still in Deer Park

So it is 12:30 in the morning, I am participating in a software release for work, and thought I would provide more information on what I learned about Angus today.

Here are a few things:

1. VERY STRONG TEETH


2. VERY STUBBORN


3. VERY CUTE


4. Did I mention VERY STRONG TEETH

Today was all about chewing on my feet. When we went outside to go potty, he chewed on my feet, when I was fixing his dinner, he chewed on my feet, when it was nap time, he chewed on my feet, I think you get the picture. I tried telling him NO sternly, I tried spanking him with a tap, I tried distracting him with toys, and although it appeared to work at that very second, he would come right back to chewing on my feet.

I did find that he does respond to picking him up and getting directly in his face to tell him no. Although he forgets about it a few minutes later, he does at least give you a little reprieve. Right now while I am worrying about my release he is in bed with Robert, and although it sounds peaceful now a few moments ago all I heard was 'Owwwww, why did you go directly to biting my face' definitely not something you expect to hear when the lights are all turned off and everyone is supposed to be going to sleep.

He is so adorable, and sometimes it is so funny the way he attacks things that it is hard to be stern with him and not laugh while you are getting on to him. We are trying our hardest to teach him that biting people is bad, but I am not sure we will be able to get it across to him. I am going to start looking at resources on how to train him not to do that, since everything I am trying is not working. By the way we tried the little Puppy Trainer tool (a clicker) and the first time it stopped him, now he just wants to attack the Puppy Trainer tool to eat it.

If anyone knows other wise to discipline stubborn, bull headed dogs, please let me know.

Overall though - we adore him. I think we finally have the bathroom stuff down. When I came downstairs to let him out of his crate after his 4 hours of solitary, he had used his pee pad like he was supposed to, and when he went outside he used the bathroom. He only used the potty inside once today. :) So definitely progressing.

I also found it odd that he is no longer scarfing down all of his food like he was. He left 1 of his 4 ounces in the bowl after meal time. I was worried about him, but he appears to have plenty of energy at least enough to make my feet look like I walked over the Popsicles at the Shards of Glass Popsicle factory. His bathroom issue seems to be clearing up, so hopefully I won't have to call the vet tomorrow.

OK I am going to pay attention to the software release that I am supposed to be attending right now - I am sure I will have plenty to say tomorrow, when we go to 6 hrs of solitary confinement.

Hope you are having fun wherever here is for you!

Still in Houston today - actually Deer Park

So yesterday was a fluke....When Angus was put in his crate this morning he started to whine. I am real sucker for whining puppies, but I stayed strong. I walked off and left him unhappy in his crate. He has to stay in for 4 hours today, and I am sure I am the one that is taking it the hardest. I am working upstairs today, where as yesterday I worked in the living room and he could still hear me. Maybe being so far away will allow him to be calm and not whine. We will see....

He slept all night last night, so that was fabulous. He did have some wild dreams. He hasn't really barked much at all, but in his dreams he was really getting something. He was barking like crazy, and of course running as fast as his stubby little legs could take him. He is getting more and more independent, which is good, but it is also a little upsetting for me. I know I should be happy that he can entertain himself, and wants to spend time away from me, but it is so nice when he wants to snuggle with me. Good news is he still has those moments, I just hope they don't all go away.

Last night he decided it would be a good idea to bite Robert as much as possible. He kept lunging at Robert's face and trying to bite him anywhere he could get. He was in rare form and boy when he gets his mind set to have something he is going to do everything he can to get it. You think he has moved on to something else, but he is just lulling you into a sense of security. Next thing you know he has snuck around to get a hold of it again. He is a smart little guy and extremely quick when he wants to be. (of course only when he wants to be, if you want him to hurry up he takes a step and rests)

Well I need to get back to work, I will check back in after we figure out how Angus really did with the 4 hours of solitary confinement.

Here today is Houston - and home with Angus

Well I am at home with my new puppy today. He has decided that he likes to eat toes, feet, fingers, and anything electronic. It is amazing how puppies don't want to chew on the things they are supposed to and chew on every thing they aren't. No matter how many toys we give Angus he continually goes for your feet or hands.

He is only 10 weeks old as of last Friday, and already has us trained well. He had his first visit to the vet yesterday, where he did well, only got really upset once because they gave him a shot, but overall he was the star of the clinic. Everyone wanted to hold him and pet him. I was amazed he ended up coming home with me.

This is our first English Bulldog, so we are learning. The amazing things I have learned thus far are:

1. You must clean out their wrinkles EVERY day


2. You must brush their teeth EVER day


3. You must brush them EVERY day


4. You must bath them VERY regularly (because of an allergy issue Angus is required to have 2 baths a week)


5. You must clean out their ears EVERY day


6. You have to choose a vet that specializes in Bulldogs because they have specific needs due to their breathing issues. (for example Anesthesia is dangerous for them)

Even after all of that I wouldn't trade him for anything. He is the sweetest puppy, he grunts all the time, hardly ever barks (except at feeding time, where he becomes very vocal about what he wants), is almost potty trained (we need to learn his signals), and loves to snuggle when it is time to go to sleep.

I have also learned that I don't do well with Crate training. Although Angus has taken to it very well, and is dealing today with being left in the crate with the door closed in a room all by himself for a couple of hours during a thunderstorm, I am anxious and want to get him out. :( But he is going to have to learn to stay in his crate for extended periods of time and now is the best time to teach him, I suppose.

Going to Nashville is going to be difficult now that he is at home. Robert has already complained that he misses me when I run to the store, and I find myself wanting to call and check on him, even though I am only gone for a few hours at a time at most. Not that I don't think that Robert can't take care of him, but it is amazing at how much I think I need to do. For those of you that know me, maybe not so amazing.

There are still moments when I feel guilty because we got a new dog, even though I said over and over again I wouldn't after all we went through with Buttons. We miss her horribly and we know that he is not replacing her, it is just hard to deal with.

Well that is enough for my first post. Hopefully I get good at this and can blog on a regular basis about absolutely nothing. :)

Have a great day wherever Here is for you.