Wordless Wednesday 10

...and Happy New Year!

Tug-a-Jug

We got Meiby a Tug-a-Jug for Xmas and I think she hates it!

Orange... bread?

This weekend I wanted to make some cookies. My husband and I decided that sugar cookies sounded good and I remembered these lime sugar cookies being excellent. I had a bunch of oranges, but no limes so I thought I'd try it with oranges. But before I started, I decided to look through a magazine of holiday cookies that I had picked up last year.

I found a recipe for Orange Cookies that was pretty simple and I had everything I needed for it. The process seemed strange from the beginning. The dough was thin and sticky. I ended up with this (after tasting a couple of course):

It was one big fluffy, cakey cookie. So I poured the rest of the "dough" into a baking pan and it became Orange Sweet Bread:

It tasted good but the texture was strange... almost like cornbread. I won't make it again but luckily my husband likes it so it's getting eaten. I'm sticking to my well-known recipe next time.

A New Level of Cold

This weekend I don't think the temperature ever got higher than 8 degrees F. We stayed home pretty much all weekend, watched movies, stayed warm on the couch ;)

We'd take Meiby outside when she needed to pee and she'd do it right away, then walk in a couple circles and sit down, picking up her little frozen paws. I didn't want to risk her getting frostbite in zero-degree weather so I'd pick her up and take her inside and she'd finish her business on her designated puppy pad. No problems all weekend! I think she finally gets it! Of course it helps that we were home to supervise her all weekend.

I had to go back to work today and my poor (brand new) car didn't want to start this morning. It's still only zero degrees right now with a whopping high of 11 degrees today. It hurts to breathe out there!

Someone's Been Naughty...

I told Meiby that she needs to be good so Santa will bring her treats... but she doesn't get it. It fact, I think she's grounded after yesterday. We've been leaving her loose while we're gone for short periods of time for several weeks now without incident. We'll leave a puppy pad out for her in case she needs it. We also close off the bedroom door (because, for some reason, she thinks the bedroom is a big litter box) and, generally she's very good on her own. She doesn't get into anything she shouldn't, etc.
Well, yesterday she pushed the pad upside-down and then pooped on the kitchen rug while we ran out to get some lunch. Then later, while I was at work, Nick left her loose for a couple hours while he went out to get some gifts. When he returned she had shredded the puppy pad and somehow gotten into the bedroom (must not have been properly latched and she pushed it open), pooped and peed on the carpet and then got into the garbage and shredded used kleenex all over the room. When Nick got home she was making a bunch of noise because she couldn't get out of the bedroom (the door shuts by itself and she has no nose to pry it open with.) I'm glad I wasn't there when he discovered what she had done. So after Nick cleaned up her mess he started wrapping presents and of course she's got to walk all over the paper and chase the scissors... but she's "helping" ...
I'm not at all surprised about any of this, though, except for the puppy pad shredding. I know she'll get into the bedroom garbage and poop in there any chance she gets, especially if she gets stuck in there, but she's never destroyed anything in the living room. I guess it's back to the crate for Meiby when we're gone... at least until after Xmas.

Chubby Puggy

Originally uploaded by ameetek16

Sure, the camera adds 10 pounds and the sweater probably adds a few too but I weighed Meiby this morning and she has put on some weight!. She's now 17 pounds at just 2 weeks shy of 1 year old (OK, maybe not "chubby" but she was around 15 pounds about 2 months ago). She's certainly not getting the same amount of exercise now that it's cold and snowy outside. She still looks healthy though, just a little broader in the chest and a little "foldier" if you know what I mean. She's a big girl now, nearly an adult! They grow up so fast :p

Wordless Wednesday 9

Tuesday Review: Pug Ornament

As I said I would, I ordered an ornament from Pugnotes.com with some super cute black pug artwork. The site says to allow 2-3 weeks for delivery but this got to my house in about 4 days (so you probably still have time to get one before Xmas.) Thank you Melissa and Emmitt ;)

Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale and Cowboy Jack's Beer Bread

We acquired a six-pack of Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale this weekend. I haven't tasted it for a proper review yet but it's a Michelob product so I'm not expecting much. However, I thought it would make a good addition to some beer bread so I whipped some up last night to go with dinner. I used this recipe because it was simple, quick, used few ingredients. It had mixed reviews but I figured I'd give it a try. I have to say I'm not impressed. I've made beer bread several times before (this recipe is good) and it's always come out really tasty and moist (it's one of my husband's favorite foods.) This time it was super dense, dry and rock hard. I added some chopped walnuts and I think that was a good idea(compliments the pumpkin spice and brown sugar flavors) but I'll have to try it with a different base recipe next time because this one was awful. Anyone have any good beer bread recommendations?

Coincidence?

This is the hook I used to make Meiby's sweater:

It's the one and only hook (out of probably 15) that she chose to destroy... I guess it's time to buy metal hooks :)

Turtleneck Sweater

turtleneck sweater
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I modified Meiby's sweater because it kept creeping down over her "shoulders". I made it longer and skinnier at the neck so it now looks like a turtleneck. We left it on her all night one night last week and she had somehow gotten one "arm" out through the neck hole... We take it off of her before bed now :)

Wordless Wednesday 8

It's a bit late but here it is:

What do you want for Xmas, Meiby?

Food

Treats

Snacks

Toys

Cookies

Warmth

... did I say Treats?

I put up our tree this past weekend, for the first time in our new house and, obviously, the first time since we've had Meiby. She seems pretty unphased by it. She did try to eat the fur off the top of a stocking though. We just have a small fake tree with fiber optic lights and it's lifted off the ground so there's nothing for Meiby to get into trouble with. We only have about 8 ornaments but I'll probably get a few more this year (like this one.)

So Cold!

It was barely 16 degrees outside this morning with a fresh coat of ice and snow. Poor Meiby peed immediately but after a few minutes outside she started getting so cold that she laid down in the snow to keep her little princess paws out of the snow. I took her inside after a while and let her warm up while I got ready for work. Then I took her out again and she did the same thing, refused to poop. Nick got her to do it later but it got us thinking about alternatives. I've heard of people having litter-trained their pugs. I think Meiby could get it without much trouble because she already looks for an absorbent spot in the house (like a towel) whenever she does happen to pee or poop in the house. Yea, we might be supporting her wuss behavior but this might also be a good solution for whenever Nick finds a full time outside-the-house job (he's home all day with her for now). Obviously pugs are not cats and won't cover their business with litter when finished and I'm not sure Meiby wouldn't try to eat the litter... I was thinking more along the lines of washable junk towels in a tray (or even newspaper) that would be cleaned up as soon as possible after her use. I'm back and forth on the idea of teaching her that it's ever OK to pee/poop in the house but I have a feeling that she's going to do it on occasion anyway. I think it might be more important to stress to her that it's never OK to pee on the carpet!

The Stylish Pug

Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I made Meiby a new sweater this weekend. I used the same crochet pattern as last time but used a much thinner yarn and smaller hook. She doesn't seem to mind wearing it but it keeps slipping down since she doesn't have much "shoulder" to hold it up.

I had to try it on her a few times while making it to see where I needed to increase/decrease to make sure it would fit... and she ran away with the yarn still attached (notice the yarn is not only still attached to the sweater but it's also hooked around Meiby's tail):

I'd like to add that I'm not generally the type of person to dress up an animal... but since I like to crochet and it's getting colder outside, I thought I'd try my hand at making a warm sweater for my pup...

...don't judge me ;)

Wordless Wednesday 7

More snow!

This is the first part of Meiby's first snow video. It was too cute not to post!

Too Busy Licking!

Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I'm a mean mom... I put this towel over Meiby just to bug her... but she doesn't even care! The towel got clamped on between her body and tail and she continued to walk around and lick the floor for at least 20 minutes before deciding to take notice of it. She's so funny :)

Wordless Wednesday 6

Meiby's first snow

We got our first snow last night and it was a big one. There's about 6-8 inches of fluff all over. I'm not sure that she likes it much but she's so cute bounding around in it. I personally hate snow but laughing at Meiby outside makes it more enjoyable for sure! ;)

I like popcorn

"Maybe if I stare at it long enough it will hop into my mouth..."

New Address! New Tricks!

As of 11-11-08 you can find Meiby's blog at www.meibythepug.com (but you can still get here via maxwellpup.blogspot.com too.)
Also, Meiby learned some new tricks this week. We're working on targeting, leave it, and stay. Some commands she gets very quickly so we keep at them (reinforcing the easy ones) but there are a few we've tried (and plan to come back to) that she just doesn't understand like "shake" and "roll over" but I think "targeting" will help with all of these. I'll try to get a video within the next few days.

Wordless Wednesday 5

Grump Pug

grump pug
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

As Meiby gets older and more comfortable she is developing some attitude! She gets visibly and audibly annoyed sometimes, especially at night. If we are not in bed when she wants to go to bed, she makes a nest out of my lap (or the couch arm if no lap is available.) Then, when we finally do decide to go to sleep, she gets grumpy and refuses to get off the couch and get into her bed in our room. She'll just sit there and look at us with her entitled pug stare. ...and we just laugh because it's so cute!

Meiby's Nightly Licking

Meiby's nightly licking
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

Meiby attacks Nick with furious licking every night. She gets his head all the way around, adjusting her position as necessary... neck, ears, face, head... It doesn't matter what else is going on or if she's getting in the way of something. She has a job to do! She'll even hold or move his head around with her claws when necessary. She gets very antsy when Nick's not around at the Licking Hour.

VOTE!

Find out where to vote...

Halloween Weekend

We had a little Halloween party this weekend. I chose not to put the Meiby in a costume (because she's already a monster ;P) but I was dressed up as Lydia from Beetlejuice. Meiby, of course, was loved and fawned over by all of our guests. She looked a little overwhelmed because everyone was standing and she couldn't see what was going on or climb into a lap and get comfortable...



So we took turns holding her:

Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday 4

Crazy Meiby

I was trying to videotape (I know it's not tape anymore... video record?) a game of fetch with Meiby when she had one of her energy bursts in the middle of a retrieval and spontaneously ran crazy laps around the living room. I was lucky enough to capture most of it including some of her famous drifting (sliding around on the wood floor). She's been having more energy spurts the past week. Several in a day sometimes. I think we need to get her out more...

Clicker Training Videos

Meiby has learned "sit" and "lay down" pretty well at this point. "Dance" is coming along nicely too...






p.s. It's hard to hold a camera, clicker, and treats plus do hand signals at the same time so sorry the videos are a little shakey ;)

Pumpkin Treats

pumpkin treats
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I finally found some small halloween cookie cutters and made these pumpkin dog treats. Pumpkin is very good for pups (lots of vitamins, fiber and anti-oxidents) so I had been wanting to make these for a while. They turned out pretty hard but that's good in a way... Meiby actually has to sit down and chew on it for a few minutes instead of just gulping it down. Also, when making homemade dog treats, you know exactly what's in them (I even tasted one... it's like a pumpkin cracker).

Pug Tricks

We have been working with clicker training to teach Meiby tricks and basic obedience for a few weeks now and we're starting to see real results! She picked up "sit" very quickly because it's sort of natural so we moved on to "lay down". She did not get it for a long time. We'd try to place her into a lay down position to help her get the idea but it didn't help. Finally, a couple days ago I was following her around with a video camera trying to catch something cute (see previous post) and while on the kitchen tile she got bored with me and slid into a lay down. That's when I got the idea to start training her to "lay down" in the kitchen where it's easy to get into that position and within just a few minutes of guiding and clicking and rewarding, she got it! I showed Nick when he got home and we were both ecstatic to finally see some real progress. We've been practicing with her constantly since then and trying out some "stay" and "come" commands. We feel like parents who just witnessed first steps :) We're so proud! I'll try to get some video of Meiby's training within the next few days. Until then, check out this awesome pug trick video featuring Tucker the Pug... maybe someday Meiby will be this cool :)

The Pug Head Tilt

Have you ever wondered why some dogs do the head tilt? This is our theory: According to Pugs for Dummies a pug's eardrum is "located far down his neck", not right inside his/her ear. That's why we think they tilt their head when you talk to them. Pugs can't really perk up their ears so tilting their neck toward you is their way of trying to hear you better!

We're back

and Meiby was just fine while we were gone. Her eye cleared up right away so we stopped giving her the pills (painkillers) but we're still administering the eye drops 3X daily. It's amazing how well she takes it. The first day or so she resisted and squirmed alot but now she's very still and we can get both eyes in a matter of seconds. ...she knows she'll get a treat when it's over.

Anyway, we still don't know what happened to her eye but we're glad it's fine now :)

My parents had a little party this weekend and I took Meiby over there with me. She fully gets along with my parents dog (a big-ish pitbull-(we think)-mix) and cat now. She loved all the attention of the guests and managed not to poop in my parents' house! Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me... but I'll try to get some new photos or video up soon...

First Overnight Away...

Meiby's parents (us) are leaving her overnight for the first time since we've had her. We're going down to Indianapolis tonight for Nick's Indiana Bar Admission Ceremony(!) tomorrow and we're not bringing the pup with us. I've arranged to have a friend stay the night at our house tonight so Meiby won't be alone all night. We won't even be gone 24 hours but we'll miss her. Of course today, of all days, Meiby woke up with a swollen, red, gooey eye. Nick is at the vet with her right now. Hopefully it's no big deal but if it is I'll probably stay home with her and Nick will go to Indy without me. We'll see...

...well, I think the eye will be OK. The doctor didn't see any scratches or anything but they gave her 10 days worth of eye drops and pills and we'll take Meiby back in after 10 days. It doesn't seem to bother her much but she's certainly not a fan of the drops. We're still going to go to Indy tonight and just get back as early as possible tomorrow to take care of her.

Wordless Wednesday 3

3M Dental Treats review

yum
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I had been looking for a good, safe dental chew for Meiby... something that would clean her teeth, improve her breath and not choke her. I had been recommended to check out Greenies but there seems to be a lot of bad press regarding them being dangerous (although they've since changed their formula). I decided to try it and bought a small bag of them for Meiby. I gave her one and monitored her the whole time. Even though I was watching closely, she still gulped down a huge chunk of it and I was worried for a little bit. It turned out fine but I haven't given her any more of them.
Last week at Target I came across a new product: 3M Dental Treats. They have 3 "prongs" to keep your dog from swallowing them too quickly. The ones I bought were white though (not brown like the one pictured in the link) and smelled minty. I gave one to Meiby and she loved it, ate it slowly while holding on to the prongs with her little raccoon claws, and had nice breath when she was finished! I definitely recommend these over Greenies. She really takes her time and chews on them, getting the full benefit of plaque removal that's intended, and they definitely smell better (not that Greenies smell bad, they just don't smell much like anything.) They are a bit expensive but I certainly don't give her two every day as the package suggests. I think one a week is plenty. (There's another good review of these at epinions.) Anyone else tried these?

The Pug in the Mirror

Meiby barking at her reflection and generally being weird...

Meiby has a zit!

zit!
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I've heard that this happens with adolescent pugs. Meiby is 9 months old now and she's got her first pimple. So far it seems like no big deal. We'll keep an eye on it until it goes away. There are lots of stories about pug pimples on Bam Bam the Pug's blog. We do clean her face often (at least every other day) and she has metal food and water bowls which should keep the breakouts to a minimum but she does always have her face buried in the rugs or the yard...