Chili's Theatrical Debut

It's not surprising for you all to know I LOVE my dog Chili! She's my little baby, I treat her like a child, and Jim and I are totally obsessed with her! So the clip above is her cute little behind in the Christmas Play at Pilgrim Chapel. Check her out at the 5 minute mark, she's the first dog and the donkey!

For a puppy I think she did pretty well. It took lots of treats and lots of love but her first theatrical debut was amazing! I know, I'm weird.

Dog Park Days

Having a dog means you scout out good dog parks. Here in Cincinnati, we have quite a few. The new upscale Wags out in Batavia, Otto Armleder near Lunken and then other smaller parks scattered across the city. I have not been to Wags yet, but with an annual fee over $300 and being more than a 30 minutes drive from my house odds are I may never make it. I frequent the Otto Armleder park, it's free, clean, big and about 10 minutes from my house.

With the weather warming the dog park has been jumping (no pun intended). I've begun to notice common trends each time I go there that I find funny. So here you go, things to be aware of if you go to a dog park:

1. Make sure I get plastic at the grocery store. These are free pooper scoopers which in the end makes it earth friendly! In the summer the “supply” provided is always empty. I don’t want to be the as$h%le that doesn’t pick up her dogs’s biz and casually looks the other way as if engaged in the birds flying overhead. Nothing is worse than running through dog poop or even worse, your dog rolling in it.
   


2. Create an escape plan from the single men that go there purely to hit on women.You know who you are. Every time you encourage your dog to play with mine or another woman standing alone and then walk over and strike up a conversation. This without fail turns into “you live around here” sort of situation. If you know me, I’m nice, I don’t like to be rude and I tend to fall into this trap. Two hours later I’m the girl faking a phone call to escape. I need to have a plan.



3. Prepare an avoidance plan from #2 when you see them immediately upon your next entrance (because you have for sure disclosed when you come to the dog park and they now have your schedule).



4. Remember dog names better. Every time I go the same dogs are there with the same owners and Chili, like me, appreciates a friendly face. She will run up to the dog, chase them around and off they go. Which leads to conversation with the owner and they always remember Chili’s name…and I am the jerk saying, what’s your dog’s name again?



5. KNEES BENT I’ve seen people be taken out on stretchers and knocked on their butts. Chili has a really bad habit of running into the back of people’s legs – which has caused quite a stir when she took out some chick once, I felt bad, but it’s a dog park – KNEES BENT and be alert.



6. Let dogs be dogs. They growl, bite, drool, wrestle and much more…it’s all part of the game. It’s like a bar, if a real fight is brewing, other dogs will circle and then you know to pull your buddy away. I don’t like people who are too concerned when their dog growls or wrestle and immediately pulls their dog away and gives you a mean look. Clearly rookies!

So, to my long afternoons where a strong wind blows in the scent of overheated dog poop, dog drool on my pants is the norm and strategically avoiding people is my M.O.

Oh To Be 21 Again

I spent Labor Day Weekend in Gigglemoor with Jim’s sister Mary Jesse and 9 of her friends! I knew we were in for a lot of partying and fun and the weekend didn’t let us down. In addition to going down to spend time with Jesse and her friends, it was also going to be Chili’s first plane ride, time at the lake, boat ride and swimming lesson at the lake- so we had a big weekend ahead of us.

The weekend was a lot of fun even though the weather didn’t really cooperate with us. MJ’s friends were great, it just reminds me how crazy living a college lifestyle is and how quickly it all changes in just a few years. You go from carefree and up late drinking and eating whatever you want to early mornings, bad hangovers and not even considering buying the glazed donuts for breakfast.

They invented this game they called CICATA that might have been the worst idea ever. Basically, you put a bottle of liquor in front of everyone and you try to spell CICATA and then you take a shot and everyone yells CICATA. It keeps going and going until the bottle runs out or someone loses their dinner. It is the worst game ever and I don’t ever suggest playing it unless you want someone to end up in the hospital eventually- but college is about figuring these things out right?

While the weekend consisted of lots of partying and good times I was really excited to spend some time with Jim and Chili at the lake. This was a big weekend for Chili – she had her first plane ride with Jim, boat ride, first lake experience, weekend sleeping out of her crate, first jet ski ride, first time outside not leashed and her first experience with the shore. I think just hearing all these things she had in store wore her out.

However, she couldn’t have been any better! She was so so on the plane ride, I think the levels might have given her some gas…and believe me folks, being trapped in a small space with a dog fart is no fun! But she absolutely loved the freedom. She ran around the yard, snuggled with Lucy and didn’t get too far out of our sights. This was a big win for Chili because we honestly didn’t know what to expect…for all we knew she might run off and never come back. But she stayed close to our side most of the time and came instantly when called.

Next big step, boat ride! She was a little hesitant of the boat at first. It took a lot of persuasion to get her on it. But once she was on it, smooth sailing. Check out the video clip of her below soaking up the wind. She loved running around the boat and just taking it all in. Her little nose up and Queen of the Sail. She was a little confused by the booze cruise we took at night, I think the loud music and dancing wasn’t her scene, and she also wondered why Mom was booty popping like they do on the Animal Planet when she’s home alone.

She still hadn’t jumped in the lake, so we were a little worried she isn’t a water dog. But Jim and I decided to take her on a jet ski and let her walk in on a sandy shore. So off we rode, she loved the jet ski even more than the boat! We ran it on shore and the next thing you knew, after a little bit of persuasion, she was jumping through the water and swimming after sticks like her mentor Lucy. She loved it….we played chase, fetch, swim back and forth between Jim and me and then hung out for a little. It was a cold jet ski ride back since she was wet, but that didn’t bother her much at all.

All this playing made her really tired. So night time and sleepy time was the best for her. She sacked up in her favorite blue chair and was out. She would even go in without me in there, which never happens at home. Then the next day we took her out on the boat, and she jumped off the back in the middle of the lake! At first Jim thought he’d have to save her, but she swam right back to the boat. I think she was just cooling off. So we took a plane ride home and she snoozed the night away.

It was a great weekend! Mj’s friends were great, it was a great end to the summer and Chili time was amazing. I really love my little puppy and as much work as she is I can’t imagine life without her. We did give her one bad habit though, we let her on the bed in Gigglemoor and now she thinks she can do it at home!

Obessed, I Think So?

I just saw this and cracked up!!! It's totally me right now, but that's because my whole life is my dog!

So, Chili has been cleared by the vet and has gotten her Rabies and other vaccinations to interact with the real world. She's gone to dog parties and even swimming at the Gilday's pool parties on Sunday!

But, poor little Chili couldn't be on any other medications because of the pneumonia that she got a case of tapeworms :( It's like one thing after another for the little pup! But we've got her on medication and started her flea treatments so she's on her way to perfection!

Tonight is her first obedience class so hopefully soon enough she'll be the perfect little pup. But honestly, she is so good without the obedience I can't complain. She's sweet, doesn't potty in the house, usually only chews her toys but sometimes still gets snippy so we have to nip that in the butt ASAP (no pun intended).

Chili Update

Hurray for Chili!! We had our vet appointment this morning and the vet said she seems to be improving!!! YAY!!

Well I think she is improving because last night I saw the first glimpse of her puppy life coming out. When we adopted her she was very calm and sweet and didn't want to do anything wrong. Well, last night that all changed! She was jumping around the house, barking, chewing and not listening to a thing her mom was telling her!

I took her for a long walk, out on the hour every hour to "go potty" and she still took a poop in the house. To make matters worse she has had diarrhea and did it on the carpet! I caught her in the act and yelled "NO!" which immediately prompted her to run through the poop, around the house, on the ivory couch and lay down. It was a mess to clean up and I was annoyed!

But that's all part of being a puppy and I'm so glad she is going to be ok so today we are beginning to crate train and do all the stuff we felt bad doing to her when she was sick. We still have one more appointment on Friday for X-Rays but the sun is shining and Chili was soaking it up!

Our New Girl

We finally got a dog!!! After many debates and votes we landed on the name "Chili"! We like this name for several reasons: We live in Cincinnati and Chili is a big deal (we are the "Chili Capitol of America", she is brown and as soon as we said the name her ears perked up and we both agreed on the two syllable word and think this is unique to Cincinnati dogs:)

I am sure I will write a ton of blogs about her as time goes on, but I'm going to tell the story about how we got her first.

So, we had gone to several websites and a few shelters looking for a great dog to adopt. We finally ended up at the SPCA and had lots of dogs to choose from. Jim really fell in love with this beagle, but he was unavailable and already had someone interested in providing him a good home. So we kept testing out dogs, some were too wild, too shaggy, mean and then their was Chili. She was cute, playful and pretty calm. It was a big scary decision, but we took the leap and adopted her.

So home she came but as the night went on she started to develop a pretty bad cough! We kept her through the night Saturday but it got much worse come Sunday morning and she was beginning to leak mucus out her nose. Being that it is a Sunday, we had to make an emergency visit to the Pet ER.

I originally went alone, thinking it was not going to be a big deal and we'd get meds and be on our way. Well, I was sorely mistaken. The vet encouraged me to get X-Rays and test for pneumonia and worms. She warned me it was pricey, but I felt it was worth the investment.

Sure enough, the poor little girl has severe pneumonia. Her lungs a completely filled with fluid and that is why she is hacking up mucus and having trouble breathing. The vet also encouraged us to test for Parvo, cause with both her chances of survival are small and would most likely need to be put down (yes, I immediately was crying and called Jim and made him come up)! Luckily, she did not have Parvo and we developed a treatment plan.

We walked out of the ER with a $500 pet bill for a dog we had less than 24 hours. I am taking her to the vet today to figure out our next steps and hopefully get her back to normal. I am so excited to see her grow and what her personality is like. Right now, I think she's acting a little different than normal due to the infection.

She is just too cute and I hope we make good parents!