The Dukester

Duke's House

2010-07-22T18:21:00.005-04:00

Living in and maintaining a home and a full time job is alot of work! Unfortunately I don't have as much free time as I used to, but fortunately my husband and I have a beautiful home with a yard for Duke!

We lucked out and own 1/2 an acre of property. We have a 1600 square foot house which has turned into our project house. Our neighbors are really nice. One neighbor helps with rescue dogs and always has an ever changing population of new friends for Duke. We are also much closer to Triton and Dinoco (like 5 blocks!) so play dates happen more often. Also way closer to all the fun dog parks!

Duker meets some dogs at the local dog park (including a puggle puppy!).

Duke takes a walk over to visit Triton and Dinoco.

Keeping guard at the front door. Ruff!

Duke takes a stroll through the spring flowers... and takes his time marking them too!

It's been awhile

2010-04-04T19:01:00.005-04:00

Gosh, I can't even remember the last time I updated Duke's blog. So much has happened!

The biggest news is that we've bought a house, and we've moved into that house. Duke loves it because it has stairs, and Duke can't resist playing on the stairs. We have a big yard which we're working on getting fenced or a run for Duke.

Before it gets too far into the spring, I'll post two photos from the giant snow storm we got a week before we moved! These photos were taking in the beginning of February when we got about two feet of snow (Duke's other favorite thing!).

Maya meets Duke

2009-12-07T18:54:00.001-05:00

Our niece came to visit back in October. Duke made a new friend. She loved his tail!

I think he's a little uncertain about this blossoming friendship.

Duke and his ball.

2009-10-26T19:26:00.002-04:00

I love this picture of Duke. It's pretty accurate. He loves playing ball.

Some Fav's from the Dog Park in Phoenixville

2009-10-08T22:08:00.003-04:00

I know it's been awhile, but here are some pictures from one of Duke's recent visits to the dog park! (I've worked like, 90 hours in the past 10 days.... no days off... I'm tired!) Still had time to take him to the dog park though. Spoiled dog!

All strapped in and ready to roll.

Chillaxin' with some new friends.

(the one on the right was a puggle puppy named Hershey)

Even if we don't bring a tennis ball... he finds one.

Duker! It seems you've worn all of them out!

Oops! Missed that one. Good try though.

What a face! Only a mother could love....

It's a dog's world

2009-08-21T10:34:00.004-04:00

Haha, it's a dogs world. I love crawling around on the floor with my puppy! He seems to be looking at me going, "what ARE you doing mommy?"

Back from being away

2009-08-11T12:14:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile. With the wedding, everything has kind of fallen by the wayside.

While we were in Maine getting married, Duker stayed at the Brown Dog Inn. It made the wedding weekend go easy. I called it his Puppy day / overnight camp. I think he was even upset that we picked him, totally not excited to see us at all.

Here's Duker in Maine after we picked him up. Not even interested in his ring.

"Can I go back now, Mommy?"

Poor Neglected Dukie

2009-06-24T19:54:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile since I've updated poor Dukie's Blog. Fiance and I are getting married next Saturday, so wedding plans have seriously gotten way out of hand, and poor Duke feels as if he is being neglected. See?

This is a common Duke expression when we are at the apartment.

He likes to climb on my lap when I am working on my laptop. See him sneering at me? (I'm working on the wedding program on my laptop, haha)

Another cute attention getting ploy.

We didn't even put him in the back, I held him when we visited fiancé's parents this weekend because he was whining in the back.

Again, he pushes his head in between my legs when I'm sitting on the couch working on wedding stuff.

There is fiance working on wedding stuff on his laptop. Poor neglected Duke is vying for his attention with a toy next to him (if you look closely you can see him sneering again!)

Wedding will be over soon. We are boarding him during the wedding so he doesn't get lost in all the guests. We found this really awesome place in Maine to take him. It reminds me alot of like a doggy day & night camp (I'll post pix later). He isn't going to want to come home! Then when we are on our honeymoon he is staying with Fiancé's parents and their dogs, Triton and Dinoco... again he isn't going to want to come home!

It'll be over soon bud, I promise.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T22:23:00.003-04:00

Duke's Memorial Day Story

BBQ at Fiancé's parent's house, of course Duke came and alll he wanted to do was play ball!

"Daddy, can we play some ball?"

He's fast when he wants to be. It wasn't that hot outside when we started to play.

Duke can change direction in the snap of a finger, but is not very good at stopping on a dime.

"Got it!"

This just isn't doing it for him. After he gets so heated up he climbs into the water dish and "bobs" for the tennis ball (can you see the drool of water hitting the bowl?).

"Are you sure this is safe?" (notice the life vest)

He was a strong swimmer! Fiance held on for the first go with swimming.

Duke swims all by himself! He looks like he is smiling in the picture, but it turns out he really doesn't like the water, at least when he is completely submerged.

This is the method he uses to dry himself. He throws himself at whatever absorbent surface he can find... head first and rolls around.

Happy Memorial Day!

May Philadelphia Puggle Meetup

2009-05-12T09:03:00.003-04:00

Pictures from the May Philadelphia Puggle meetup!

Duke is pretty fast, and obsessed with tennis balls.

"Catch me if you can!"

"Throw it daddy throw it!"

Duke thought this puppy looked like the right size to chase.

Oh Duke. We love you.

Belated Birthday Wishes to the Mysterhead.

2009-04-28T09:37:00.004-04:00

April 25th is Duke's birthday. We missed blogging it because we were driving out to Rochester, New York to visit my brother and such. So here is his birthday wishes, my baby is a year old already! We've even started mixing adult dog food with his puppy food.

Duke and I in the car.

Duke attempting to sleep on the back seat!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Unflattering... Medical question though

2009-04-24T19:10:00.005-04:00

I apologize for the ever-so-flattering photos of Duke...

Duke played outside all day today. I just gave him a bath and noticed these red marks. There are between 5 and 6 of them and they are about the size of a nickel, maybe a quarter. All of them are around his genital area. The two prominent ones are real easy to see in the photo. It looks like a pin prick in the middle, a ring of skin color, then a big ring of red.

Anyone know what this is?

____________________________________________________

EDIT NOTE: Saturday we checked the spots and they were less red and smaller. Sunday we checked the spots and all that was left was the red spot that was in the middle. We figured after playing in the backyard at Fiancé's parent's house, because it is Spring a small swamp has kind of developed. So, that being said, I believe it was a minor reaction to black fly bites.

It would make sense figuring the black flies would only be able to bite him in the fleshy parts were there is no fur (near his genitals). He was playing in a swamp. When we get bit by them our skin turns red too and there is a part in the middle where the black flies have to bite on!

Enjoying the Day

2009-04-19T21:52:00.003-04:00

Dukester enjoys the warm sunshine.

His thing is climbing on the back of the couch to sit and bark out the window. He was so exhausted from playing with Triton and Dinoco yesterday that he fell asleep. I sort of woke him up when I grabbed my cell phone to snap a picture.

Yay Spring!

Catching up

2009-04-14T08:51:00.004-04:00

We were going to take the Dukester to the dog park this weekend for another puggle meetup, but it RAINED all day! Quite lame, poor puppy.

In other news, it's almost Duke's birthday (end of April, before the 28th), not his gotcha day (June 16), but his actual birthday. I can't believe he is almost a year old. It's funny how much a creature can really change your life.

Ugh, work as well as wedding plans have been keeping me busy and the poor Dukester is feeling it. It will get better.

Here are some tidbits from last month that never made it onto the blog before.

Duke and Triton have a collision over the ball.

Meet Duke's meaty tongue. It's HUGE.

March Puggle Meet-Up

2009-04-05T21:13:00.004-04:00

Working can really take a toll on blogging! Here are some photos I took of the puggles from the Philadelphia March Puggle Meet-up.

What's better than one puggle? MANY PUGGLES!!!!

Where did March go?

Duke has no idea where March went.

Duke and the Remote Car

2009-03-14T17:25:00.003-04:00

During spring cleaning we found fiancé's mini remote controlled car. We introduced it to Duke.

Set it down carefully. Show the dog.

Bark Bark Bark. Run some... Bark more. Clearly not a fan.

We even held poor little Dukemister tight and showed him the car. Not a fan of it.

Posts are going to be a little more few and far between. I went back to work, which takes up a lot of time.

Nothing to do with Duke, but here is an awesome photo fiance took of me doing one of my jobs! I'm a volunteer diver at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey.

10 Honest Things About Duke

2009-03-02T16:41:00.009-05:00

Duke was tagged by Lola the Puggle.

Here are the instructions:

"When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog”. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

Duke's not very good at following directions, and it appears the nifty icon has been lost. So I'll just write 10 honest things about the Dukemister.

We only feed Duke kibble. He gets spoiled when he visit's fiancé's parents because they feed him kibble, cheese, chicken, potato, etc etc etc.
Duke always tries to sleep on a pillow! He's like a little person.
He lets fiancé carry him around like he is a toddler.
Duke absolutely loves to ride in the car. Like adores it.
He has a zig-zag pattern hair part that goes down his back. We call it his zipper.
He can't get enough of snow! He kind of bounds like a bunny rabbit through it. He also tries to eat it at the same time he's running through it.
Duke isn't allowed to have any stuffed toys anymore. He is limited to his Kong, a rubber ball, hooves, and a smoked bone.
His farts are so stinky because he eats his food too fast. (he gulps air when he eats... so it has to go somewhere!)
The breeder referred to Duke as the "talkative one." He has lived up to that name because he is always making little noises to get our attention.
Whenever he chews on a hoof he will jump in your lap, put both his paws on your shoulders, and put the hoof about an inch from your face. He's not giving it to you, just showing you he has it. He will then go to everyone in the room and do the same thing. Don't take it, he'll get really grumpy.

Here's some pictures of Duke enjoying his snow day... from inside on the couch. What a bum.

Here's an example of Duke sleeping on one of our pillows....

*STRETCH* "Can we go play in the snow now?!"

Baby Duke

2009-02-18T10:05:00.007-05:00

I was contacted by Duke's breeder the other day because we had mentioned we wanted to get a second puppy. We really wanted to get another puppy from the same mother (River Run Tape, AKA Brownie) and father (There's Basil in My Coffee <-- I love his call name!). Unfortunately the litter would be born and ready to be picked up right before our wedding. We decided it would be unfair for a new puppy to throw him/her into a wedding mess, so we're going to wait until next year when they breed again.

So it got me thinking about when we first got Duke and decided to put our deposit down, etc etc, so I went back and found his "baby" photos that the breeder sent us.

First photo EVER of the Dukemister. Not a very good picture, we were uncertain so we asked her to send us some more.

Oh Dukey, clearly camera shy. His poor tail down turned.

He looks like a clown! This is when I fell in love with him. He's a charmer.

If you look closely, he's sticking his tongue out.

Here's one I took with my cell phone. He was so tiny! Only seven weeks old. What a babe.

Here is him in my lap in the car. He just wanted to cuddle.

Pshh, what a LONG day. He mostly slept in the car, right in my lap.

Oaks Dog Park

2009-02-09T10:37:00.004-05:00

Took Mr. Duke to the dog park over the weekend to tire him out. Fiance and I decided we wanted to go dancing Saturday night, and the only way to do that is to make sure we have one tired pup so he doesn't bark at night in the apartment. Success!

Anyway, we took him to the Oaks Dog Park. We figured it would end up somewhat messy and dirty because the weather went from the 20's up to the mid 50's in two days. We arrived to find a giant fenced in mud pit. Since we already drove there, and we had towels in the trunk, we decided to let Duke play.

Fiance says that Duke is the first dog he's ever owned that plays fetch! And Duke does, he really runs after it and brings it back, no questions asked.

Here he is fetching. Notice the shinny ground and his wet chest. This was only the beginning of the mess.

We met a JUG at the dog park. His name was Jack and he was about 6 months old. His legs were SO much shorter than Dukes so when they'd chase after the tennis ball, Jack couldn't even begin to keep up.

I think this is the only picture where Duke paid any attention to Jack. Poor little Jack, all he wanted to do was play and Duke acted like he wasn't even there.

Here is a somewhat close up of Duke COVERED in mud. See it flying off his butt?

This is my favorite photo from the dog park. Not sure why, but I think it's because Duke looks so happy... or the fact he completely missed the ball. Or his tail is so curled and sticking out. Or he only has like, one foot on the ground....

Duke Meets the Toddler

2009-02-01T19:43:00.002-05:00

Duke met his first toddler today.

This is Vincent. He is 16 months. It was really cute because he could say "Duke," but he said it more like, "Dooooooke." It was really cute.

Duke investigates Vincent. He was quite uncertain about a very small person at first, but got used to him quickly and followed him around.

Vincent put himself in the dog cage. I swear he was smiling in this photo and reaching for the camera even if you can't really see his face. I swear.

Duke was concerned the Vincent was in Dinoco's house. He kept running circles around the cage. Vincent wouldn't let anyone in the cage with him.

And since Duke didn't really know what to think so he came to see me! He was super concerned.

He ended up being really really really good even when Vincent took his purple ball. He played fetch with Vincent and was super gentle. it was cute.

Dad is away so the Pup can play

2009-01-26T23:04:00.003-05:00

So fiance is away for a few days at a work conference so it's just the Dukemister and myself. He threw a temper tantrum when he left too and misbehaved for the rest of the afternoon. I had to give him a butt whoopin' before we went to bed because he was just being a brat.

It seemed to do the trick because he was all cuddly with me this morning. I think he hates being cooped in the apartment and gets upset when his dad doesn't come home at night. It's been super cold outside here (20's and low 30's) so it's hard to take him for a walk because the concrete sidewalks hurt his feet when it's cold. I took him over to the future in-laws so he could run around and play in their backyard (it's all grass and a lot softer on his feet even if it is cold).

We've taken away most of his toys because he destroys them. He managed to sneak and grab a toy we were giving to my future sister-in-law's baby. Not anymore after Duke got a hold of it!

When you roll it along the floor it makes noises and he barks at it. It's pretty funny to watch. Or it was until all he wanted to do was chew it's head off. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

The only other news since fiance left is Duke has had horrible horrible gas. Stinky, room clearing, nastiness. Oh boy Duke. I wish there was something we could do about that.

Happy Home

2009-01-19T10:03:00.001-05:00

Do you think he's happy we're home?

Squish Face

2009-01-16T00:13:00.002-05:00

He is too cute for his own good! Cell phone pictures don't do him justice though. (He's sleeping in my spot on the bed, he'll be in for a rude awakening when I get back!)

Still away from my Family (Florida is a mighty good reason though)

2009-01-15T00:12:00.005-05:00

More cell phone pictures from my hunny and Duke. Apparently he was bad today and chewed a hole through Triton's bed. Future mother-in-law was not impressed. She said she'd patch that one as well as patch his bed that he chewed a hole in last week.

Fiance and Mr. Duke. He really wanted nothing to do with the idea of taking a photo.

Puppies don't hold still for cell phone cameras.

"Have you seen my mommy? I'll be a better puppy, I promise!"

More tired puppy.

Oh family. Two days. Just two days.

Love at first sight

2009-01-13T00:29:00.002-05:00

'Twas love at first sight. - June 2008

Dear Squish Face,

I will be home soon from vacation (Friday). I miss you.

Love, Mommy

P.S.

Daddy just got home so he should send me a few photos with his cell phone.

Chewing

2009-01-07T09:40:00.005-05:00

Duke is having a chewing problem. Like major chewage. Not on the furniture or anything important. But he does not have one toy left in our apartment! He keeps eating them! He also put a very big hole in his brand new LL Bean Bed (which he hasn't used yet accept to chew).

He has a kong which he doesn't chew. He has a kong bone which he sometimes chews. He has 6 million hooves (which stink like, well, not real good). Other than that he destroys everything he can.

*sigh* SO frustrated with this dog. It must be teenage angst.

Here's him in his snazzy new $2 sweater though.

And here is a half focused / half unfocused picture of Duke playing with the one toy he cannot destroy: THE LASER POINTER.

Duke's going to be visiting Triton and Dinoco for a few days while we are on vacation in sunny Florida! I think he likes it over there better than his home here!

Duke's First Snow

2008-12-30T23:39:00.004-05:00

It's so good to be reunited with my family again!!! I met them in Massachusetts for an extended family Christmas. Have to say, he didn't forget me! As soon as he saw me he ran over to me and peed all over the place (lucky we were outside because it was my Uncle's house). He didn't take his eyes off me the whole time we were visiting.

Anyhow, we stayed with my Uncle Ray who lives in the middle of NOWHERE, Massachusetts (Western Mass to be exact). He was a huge backyard which overlooks mountains, yadda yadda yadda. It's really cool because we can let Duke run around with no fear of cars or whatever.

There was about a foot of hard crunchy snow on the ground and though Duke is weary of ice, he LOVED the snow. Love love love. He couldn't get enough of it. He played outside until he started to shiver uncontrollably and STILL refused to come in. He decided his favorite game was chasing snowballs up a very very steep bank. I didn't get any photos of that game, but here are some of him just playing in the snow in general. It's a shame Pennsylvania doesn't get BIG snows! (okay, so I say that now as I sit inside with my k-cup coffee maker... I really am not a huge fan of snow, which is fine because I got my share, I grew up in Maine).

He would run as fast as he could until he'd get caught in the snow.

Steep hill! (It was actually steeper than this, but you get the idea)

Duke loved the snow, pink ball did not. Usually it is very squishy and squeaks, but the snow prevented it from doing that, it would eventually freeze in a shape and stay like that until we brought it inside.

Caught him with his tongue out!

Duke, the snow bunny?

Christmas Wishes

2008-12-25T23:08:00.002-05:00

You know what Christmas means in my family?

Pie. Lots and lots of pie. Interesting day. I miss Fiance and Duke, but I spent the day with my parents and my extended family. My Grandmother cooked Christmas lunch/dinner which was amazing. So Christmas means pie in my family.

Mmmmmm Pie. Pecan, Squash, Lemon, Strawberry rhubarb, Chocolate, Boston Cream, Apple, oh yum yum yum (and yes, we really did have at least one of each on the table!)

Here is the Dukemister after his long hard day. He and the other dogs were left to play outside while fiancé and his family exchanged gifts. My gifts have been placed in a plastic bag and put up high so they don't get marked.

Duke's big gift! An L.L. Bean doggie bed! Cuteness and awesomeness. If you don't have one of these, you are totally missing out. It also totally has his name on it.

Aw, family. Clearly Duke is distracted.

Merry Christmas!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the Santa Claus massacres that happened in Southern California last night. What a horrible, horrible, tragedy.

Twas the Night Before Christmas!

2008-12-24T21:27:00.003-05:00

So, it's the night before Christmas and I'm still like 600 miles from my hunny and Duke. The countdown is... Thursday, Friday, DUKE & HUNNY day! So excited. They've forgotten ALL about me I swear!

More cell pictures to easy my worries.

"Is mommy EVER coming home?"

I think they are using the computer. Duke has alot of wrinkles. It means he's really super worried.

So worried all he does is sleep! He's spending so much time with Triton and Dinoco that he sleeps in all of his spare time.

Duke got a smart new collar while I was away. It looks pretty sharp from the pictures.

Last one isn't Duke at all, it's my hunny telling me he loves me and misses me! How did I get so lucky to have such a nice family? I hope Santa brings everyone something good whether they were naughty or nice!

2008-12-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810022085/video/11129352

Here is a trailer for a movie that has a puggle in it! No sound here at work on the computer, so not 100% sure what the movie is about... just that if you watch the trailer there is a puggle!

After being away for 10+ days

2008-12-18T23:00:00.005-05:00

Here is the view of another plane (like the one I was on) that took me away from my family for Christmas! I left my fiancé and the Dukemister in Philadelphia to fend for themselves.

Here's some picks that fiance sent me using his cell phone camera.

"Mommy, when are you coming home?"

"Well, if you're not going to be here I'll take your spot"

"It's so much work missing you!"

"Have you seen my mommy?" Apparently when he gets home from visiting Tritan and Dinoco he still runs around the apartment and looks for me in all the rooms. I feel horrible knowing he can't find me and he's still looking!

He's spent alot of time sleeping

And sleeping some more.

Sad puppy!!!

The countdown is 8 days until I see them again! Fiance says Duke is now climbing under the covers in the bed. Hmmm. He is just like a little person. For real real.

Away from my Duke! (and hunny)

2008-12-08T20:33:00.005-05:00

So the very sad news is my desktop's (aka ZEUS) hard dive crashed at the beginning of the week. Like complete utter failure, completely gonezoed. It was a 500 gig drive, and it was about 430 gigs full. All my pictures were backed up, which is good, and some other stuff, but I lost a ton of documents and who knows what else. *sigh* Warranties are nice (brand spankin' new hard drive for free) and holiday sales are also nice because I've now purchased a terabyte and a half of backup space so this will never happen again, or when it does happen again I don't lost ANYTHING.

So that being the first tragedy, the second is I will not see my puppy again until after December 27th! Because it is the holidays, I have flown home to Maine until after Christmas. The problem with that is my fiancee and my Duke are left in Philadelphia without me! Duke will be spending alot of time with his Uncles, Triton and Dinoco. When he goes over to their house, he does much running and not much sleeping so he is very very tired when he finally makes it back to the apartment.

Originally they were going to come up and visit me while I'm in Maine, but work things happen and it is undetermined if they will be making the trip up here. That is A TON of days without my family!!!

So unless my fiancee sends me mucho photos of my puppy, the updates will be somewhat limited or dedicated to photos and memories of before Duke's blog (and before the hard drive crash, hrmph).

I picture my boys doing a lot of this together while I'm gone.

(if you could see my finacee's face, he'd be asleep too)

Duke is a Turkey!

2008-11-27T17:29:00.004-05:00

It's a bird, it's a plane.... no it's just a flying Duke! He is such a turkey! But just like turkeys, Duke can't really fly.

Finally gave him a bath last night. We couldn't bathe him because of his surgery (had to wait 2 weeks), but we decided that he really needed a bath before Thanksgiving. It was so gross. He was so oily and dirty the water just beaded off him. We scrubbed him though so the Dukester is extremely clean now.

Duke isn't a huge fan of baths, so I didn't dare bring the camera in the bathroom! I got some stuff from before and after his bath though (hense the image above).

He's drying himself on my carpet.

He uses his nails like fingers and grips the carpet to drag himself across it.

At least he smells good now!

Happy to Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful for my family, my wonderful fiance and our puppy, both bring so much joy to my life!

Happy Turkey Day!

Duke & Work

2008-11-25T19:14:00.004-05:00

When we first got Mr. Duke, he used to come to work with me because he was too little to stay at the apartment for so many hours. He used to be really really good when he came, but as he got older he got braver and would sneak around behind my back. This led to trouble with my little puggle!

Last time I brought him to work I tied him up out front so he wouldn't sneak off. Wouldn't you know it, but I went in the back of the shop to do something and I turned around and Duke was right at my heels. He had chewed right through his leash. Great.

He also discovered his voice one day at work with me and barked at everyone who came through the door. His separation anxiety didn't help much either, I couldn't step out for a moment without him yipping and panicking at the door. Our shop is also located right next to a couple restaurants... so perhaps other angry shop owners might make Duke the lunch special.

It is nice having him here. I don't like to be alone at night (or during the dark hours) so he's a friend at those times. Plus it's cute to watch him sit in the window and watch people walk by. Everyone usually kneels down to say hello to him on the other side of the window. People think they are super funny when they peak their heads in and ask, "how much is that doggy in the window?!?!?!" Ha... ha.... It's okay though, I like it when the customers ask me where the Dukester is and how he is doing.

It's been about a month since Duke has come to work with me. I'm hoping neutering will help his problems because it's not everyday that your bosses allow you to bring your dog to work. If only he'd behave!

Here's a shot of him in his bed at work when he was behaving (though I'm sure the expression on his face indicates he just did something bad!).

The Magical Unmaking of the Bed

2008-11-24T09:37:00.004-05:00

This is the saga of how Duke cannot stand it when I make our bed. He usually starts by playing with his toys on the bed, then he'll dig and spin and twirl until he's managed to raise the covers some. He then goes head first under them and does the same thing until the whole bed is a mess.

"Who, me?"

Under the covers.

Dig dig dig dig dig....

"What?"

"You think a face like this would do something like that?!"

In other news, his neutering incision is healing extremely well. Hopefully it finishes healing soon because Duke really really really needs a bath. The beagle is definitely coming out!

In the beginning...

2008-11-19T22:11:00.004-05:00

Here are some relics! Haha. Day one of Duke!

So the story goes that we got Duke, but we were also recruited to bring Duke's brother to his owner's too. Duke's brother's name is Max.

Fiance and the Dukester. He was the first one we picked up to test his chip!

Max's family says Hello!

Duke smelled like farm, so we gave him a bath in the sink... That may have been the only time we did that.

Duke is the one on the right chewing on his brother.

Doesn't he already look like mischief at 7 weeks?

He only gets bigger from here...

This entry is a tad crude, but amusing.

2008-11-15T17:59:00.005-05:00

Duke went to the vet yesterday and got neutered. Everything went better than textbook and he came home yesterday. It's kind of cool because they don't use stitches anymore to close animals back up (humans too apparently according to Dr. Future-Sister-in-Law). The vet actually just glued his incision back together!

He's pretty drowsy, like last night all he wanted to do was cuddle and sleep. This morning he woke up and started to push his ball around then decided he wasn't quite ready to play.

Here are some pictures to, eh, tribute to Duke's bits and pieces that are no longer.

Playin' with the dogs

Diggin' under the couch

Dozin'

Came home from work today to see him. He looked at me with his big brown eyes. And I felt really really bad we put him through this.

Then he rolled over and started playing with his toys and licked me.

He'll be allll good in a couple days. Then it's onto exploring dog parks and making more friends.

NOTE: We took Duke to a friend's apartment tonight, thinking he'd sleep because he was on medicine... nope, ran around like a monkey the whole time, but I'm glad to see it took less than a day for him to get back to his normal self.

Puppy Graduation!!!

2008-11-11T09:03:00.005-05:00

Last night was puppy graduation from PetSmart! Duke did really really well.

He just learned how to shake. *Paw*

This was not a required move, but Duke walks on two feet!

Puppy in a hat! He didn't really know what was going on accept for the hat was too big and kept falling over his eyes. Fiance had to hold him so he didn't squirm and eat the hat.

We got a magnetic bumper sticker to show our pride. I think it's kind of like "my honors kid can beat up your high honors kid." Or something like that.

King of the Bed!

2008-11-08T07:42:00.005-05:00

Fiance is away this weekend. Which means.... Duke gets to cuddle in bed! Or own the bed. He's funny because when I get up in the morning, he usually stays in bed for another hour or so.

He was totally sleeping on the pillows before I woke him up!

Laser Time

2008-11-06T08:32:00.006-05:00

This post is all about Duke's love for the laser.

"Is it time to play?"

Go Duke Go!!!

Left!

Right!

Have your ever heard your dog tongue before? This was a new one for me. The first couple times we'd play laser with him, Duke would start "kind of" barking at it when we'd whooosh the laser near us. It's very high pitched and a constant noise. Fiance's parent said it is called "tonguing." I tried looking it up and couldn't find anything so it might have a different name, but it's a hunting term!

It's the beagle coming out in him really. He's making a constant noise so we (the hunters) can see the laser (rabbit) and can shoot it or catch it. Our puppy is providing for us!!! Haha. Fiance's Mom says he also does it when he chases Triton and Dinco, but I've never heard him do it around them.

Time to feed the pooch.

Selling books

2008-11-03T13:54:00.002-05:00

"Oops, did I step in your shot? Why are you taking pictures of ugly books and not me?!"

Duke tries to help me sell my old textbooks on ebay!!! He just wanted to be in the picture.

Halloween Tidbits

2008-11-02T09:28:00.006-05:00

Duke's First Halloween!

"Do I really have to go out there?"

"MOM! I think I look silly."

"If I do a trick will you give me candy too?"

"Okay, I'll settle for some lovin's"

"This makes me the happiest!!!"

Happy post Halloween! Now onto November which brings neutering and graduation from puppy class!

Visiting the Boys!

2008-11-01T08:12:00.005-04:00

While Fiance cleans the car out for our trip to his parents (a whole 15 minutes down the road), Duke is cowering on my lap waiting for him to return. He'll be okay because he is going to play with his Uncles today, Triton and Dinoco. They are both show dogs, and Triton has just become a champion! Well, Duke can never be a champion, but the other two dogs love him anyway.

We spent Halloween at their house. Triton and Dinoco didn't dress up, but Duke wore his purple monkey costume for most of the night! I left my camera there, but when I bring it back there will be a good show!

Laser Time?

2008-10-30T09:35:00.001-04:00

"I wanna play more!!!! LASER? Pllleaseee?"

Duke knows we keep the laser in that little green dish on the table next to the couch. He likes to sit on the arm of the couch and whine when he wants to play.

Puppy Training

2008-10-28T17:48:00.006-04:00

At the beginning of September, Fiance and I signed the Dukester up for puppy training classes at PETCO. I think we have two more classes to go before we're done with the Puppy Class.

So far, trick wise, we've learned:

Name recognition
Sit
Stay
Walk nicely on a leash!
Down (as in lay down)
Off
Leave it
Take it
Drop it

I want to take him all the way! This little pup is so food motivated that he can learn a trick in an afternoon. Mostly. We're having a problem with "down." He doesn't understand the word when we speak it, but if we put the treat on the ground he will lay down. From this position, we've also taught him "crawl," which is funny because he likes to climb under the couches, coffee table, bed, and end tables.

The problem I'm having with this class is it isn't helping at all with his behavior. Duke still doesn't listen very well to me (even though I swear I'm following the directions too!). Fiance says that Duke thinks he owns me, which sucks because I've tried a lot of things to get dominance over him. It also has not addressed his separation anxiety. Not one bit, like maybe even made it worse (well probably not, but it's still bad). The trainer has tried to help, but she really hasn't said much about it accept, "This is what happens when you get him SO young!" Well, I can't help the fact that the breeder was going to charge us a boarding fee per week if we left Duke there after seven weeks.

Well, he graduates from Puppy class in 2 weeks. I'm thinking I want to sign him up for the Intermediate class because he really enjoys the training. Fiance wants to sign him up for the Clicker Training which would be cool too. This dog will do anything for food.

Separaton Anxiety

2008-10-25T16:35:00.004-04:00

Duke does not like to be away from my fiance or myself. He just completely freaks out. Everyone tells me it will calm down when he gets older, but it seems to just be getting worse. He whines like someone is beating him, then he is so excited to see you that he pees all over you.

We've managed to figure out the "kong trick" which works when we are leaving him home by himself. You fill his Kong full of peanut butter and dog food, chuck it in his house and duck for cover. God forbid you forget something in the apartment. If you time it right, he is content enough to not notice you've gone missing. I don't know about the long term effects of this method. I suppose when he's done licking all the yummy out of the Kong he might break down then, but then again maybe he falls asleep. I'm tempted to set a camera up one of these days while I go to work and tape his daily routine, but I haven't gotten up the nerve to set the camera up. One of these days.

On a side note: Are the elections and/or Halloween over yet? This is getting ridiculous.

We made Duke into a Monkey!!!

2008-10-24T09:20:00.002-04:00

Oh Duke! My college roommate came to visit this weekend and we couldn't resist!!!!!

Duke is a purple monkey! He didn't mind the costume itself, he just continued to play with his ball.

Halloweeen & Duke

2008-10-22T13:30:00.006-04:00

So I'd like to mention that I work next to a costume store. Okay, so I've never lived in a city before, but I didn't know how BIG Halloween could be. There is no parking in the parking lot here! AND to top that, my co-worker just informed me that starting this weekend there will be VALET parking available for people shopping there.

Um. Our parking lot isn't really all that big so I'm not sure valet parking is really justified that way. So I didn't believe him when he told me. So last Saturday when I was working I peeked outside to see 3 people standing there in yellow jackets parking cars for people!

I have to admit I have never actually gone into the Halloween store, but I've tried to peer in. They've darkened the windows because apparently according to my co-worker there is an adult section upstairs at the store. I really don't have the money to spend on a Halloween costume so I figured I'd stay out of there until at least next year when I have no good reason to go in there and see what's up.

It's just like the temptation of spending money. My finance and I are just passing candy out this year, it's not like we're going trick-or-treating (hello, tacky for anyone 9th grade+) or to any Halloween parties considering I don't know anyone in the area! But I went to their websites anyway and they have super cute dog costumes. Dog costumes?! Fiance would kill me if I dressed up Duke. He's told me on numerous occations that there would be no dressing up of the dog if he bought me a small dog. I agreed then, but... but they make a JOKER costume! and BATMAN! and... and... well, they have alot of clothes for dogs.

Not that Duke really needs a costume either, it's not like he's going to any parties or going trick-or-treating either. He can't eat candy though I'm sure he'd like it if he tried it. He can't even pick between the Joker or Batman, so does it really matter? He'd probably chew it anyway. He doesn't chew the sweatshirt I bought him (not that he didn't try for an hour the first time I put it on).

I guess Halloween is still like 10 days away, I still have time to sneak over and get him something. Maybe they'll have a last minute sale or something.

I Used to Blog When I was in High School

2008-10-22T13:15:00.003-04:00

I used to blog when I was in high school. I'd try to write a post every night, but it was weird because people I knew read my blog and I really really cared what they thought and how they would judge me. I guess this is my attempt to start over and observe some other things in my life that don't matter much.

Or I can just write about my dog because well, as much as I love him, he can't read so he can't get mad at me (unless I don't feed him, than he can judge me all he wants)!