Why I love my husband

I thought she was checking the oil under there...

Clementine was up under the coffee table for a good minute or so just squirming around. So I started the camera. Very soon after she pulled Ellie out from under the coffee table. (Yes, she's a Republican!) I tried to get her attention by whistling then snapping but she was a little too busy with her elephant.

More on Clemmie...

We don't know much about her yet. She's only 7 weeks old tomorrow. But she's adorable and that gets you very far in our house.

She seems to be smart... like REALLY smart. She went through the dog door on her own 3 times today. She also seems to be pretty sassy - she will sit behind Bluebonnet and chew on her tail with increasing vigor until Blue runs her off. She is by no means potty trained but if you bring her outside to the grass she will conduct some business.

We realize that with Bluebonnet as her old sister that we run the risk of having two spoiled Basset Hounds with bad attitudes and selective hearing but you really can't put a price on cuteness and willingness to cuddle at any time. These days it's crate - quality time - back to the crate but in just 6 short months she'll have free reign of the house during the day just like Bluebonnet. With any luck, we will come home to two very tired dogs everyday. I can dream, can't I?

Introducing Clementine

We went and picked up Little Clementine this morning. She sure is a cutie pie! But my goodness is she a big girl. Since she was one of only two in the litter neither had to fight too hard to get their mommy's milk, so they bulked up.

Here are a whole bunch of pics of our new baby. She and her big sis', Bluebonnet, are getting along great.

On the floor of the car on the way home

Meeting Lulu for the first time

getting pets from Cousin Madeleine

roaming the yard at Frank & Lulu's

meeting her big sister Bluebonnet

they seem to like each other

they started wrestling in no time

smooth paws means no traction on the parquet floors

big yawn for a little puppers

Clemmie has the slanty face just like Blue

Clemmie comes through doggie door with daddy's help

Blue shows Clemmie how to drink from the bird bath

The girls chillaxin' in the ivy

Clemmie's home!

Here is the new addition to the D Family! For more pics, you'll have to go to the Hound Dawg Blog...

Her last days of peace and quiet

I probably have hundreds (no exaggeration) of pictures of Bluebonnet just laying down or sleeping. That is because this dog is sometimes so picky about what she's laying on that it's downright hilarious. This picture is an example of how she creates her own comfort. Kris and I sat and watched her manipulate these pillows with her little shorty front legs to get them just right for her 4th evening nap.

We just looked at her and smiled because we know in just a few short weeks her little sister is probably going to be annoying the crap out of her. And at that we will just look at each other and smile because she so deserves it.

I'm counting down the minutes

It's a very good Friday. I have been looking forward to tomorrow for 6 weeks now. In less than 24 hours we are picking up the new puppy in Lexington!

Kris and I have been stressed out trying to figure out how to best introduce Blue to the new puppy. Blue has been an only dog for 2.5 years; she is spoiled rotten and she most certainly rules the D Family roost. She's our first priority. We want to make sure she not only minds this puppy in the house but that she loves the puppy.

I have made it more than evident how much Blue means to me. She is my best friend in the world, my #1 girl. She tolerates me (with the brushing, nail clipping and bear hugs) as much as I tolerate her (sock-stealing, general sassy attitude). I still wonder if I can love another dog as much as I love her. With Basset puppies being the cutest thing on the planet it shouldn't be too hard, though.

Blue has brought us so much happiness on a daily basis that we knew adding another Basset to our little family at this time was the right thing to do. Even last night we paused the tv to watch and listen to her eat a pizza crust. It's the cutest thing and it never gets old. We especially get a kick out of her very unlady-like belches afterward. And then there are patented moves:
• Twirly get closer - when she was allowed on the bed, she'd twirl and twirl to get in as close to us as possible
• Twirly get comfy - she will get up on the pile of pillows on her couch and twirl around until they are just right to plop down on
• Back it up - When she's next to me on the reclining couch she backs up as far as she can into the right angle my body makes with the couch
• Pathetic - whether she's just come in from a walk or she's trying to escape the heat she will find a cool spot on the floor and lie there in the way of all foot traffic looking as pathetic as possible
• Can I tell you something! - if you've ever entered the front door to our house, you've seen this one; she jumps on your legs and gives a look as though she is just bursting to tell you about the latest mistreatment by Kris and me

We can only hope that the new puppy has half the personality that Blue does. We will consider ourselves very lucky if that is how it turns out.

Round Rock Dog Park

Yesterday, we took Bluebonnet to the dog park in Round Rock instead of going to the Burnett Jones Band at C-Hunt's. Blue had been to the vet the day before and in a week she's no longer going to be an only child so I felt the need to spoil her a bit. Here are some pictures from her outing.

on the balance equipment

she climbed the logs to get a treat

she makes friends where ever she goes

she found this guy that liked to pet her...

and then she tried to leave with him

Owwie!

Blue looking for Dr. Bob's feet at the door

Today Little Bluebonnet went to the vet to get her ears and the bump on her back checked out. Bluebonnet has the best vet and vet techs in the world. The way they talk to my dog makes my heart melt. Chris and Aaron are so sweet to Bluebonnet and I can tell that they genuinely like her. Today they cleaned her ears with Novasal and they gave her an allergy shot. She didn't even wimper. When Dr. Bob gives her the once over he says "Oh, you've got a good heart, yes you do" it's so sweet. Luckily she doesn't have an ear infection just a build up of yeast because not enough air gets up in those floopy floppy ears to dry them out. The bump on the back is another story - it could be a benign fatty tumor or it could be an insect stinger. The allergy shot will answer a lot of questions - if the bump goes down, it's a stinger, if not then it's probably a tumor. She'll have to have her teeth cleaned in the near future so we can just have it removed if it is a tumor. But the good news is that since it hasn't grown bigger it's not a big deal.

Bluebonnet is now exhausted from her outing to the vet and is sleeping comfortably on her hallway rug.

I kissed a hound and I liked it!

 

Blue mugging down with Rocky, the youngest of all her suitors.

Bluebonnet is...

Just another 14-year old that loves to go to the lake, wearing as little clothing as possible.

5 lbs lighter and hopefully 10 degrees cooler

After seeing first hand Cody's results of using a Furbuster on Rocky, I decided to get one for Bluebonnet. Please believe me when I say that Bluebonnet sheds more than any other dog on the planet. We have to keep 3 pet hair rollers in the house just to be able to keep up with the amount of hair she loses. Last weekend a friend came to the house and had to practically use an entire roller on himself so I decided enough was enough. I spent about an hour yesterday brushing Bluebonnet with the Furbuster, which is very similar to the Furminator, but made by Bamboo Care and is slightly cheaper.

The Furbuster

After the first 15 minutes all the hair that came loose

A sample of what comes out

About 30 minutes worth of brushing - all of this could be loose in my house

Her coat is visibly thinner and I'm sure she feels cooler

The puppy we don't even have yet gets a name change

It's very possible this could happen again, but as of today the new puppy's name is being changed to Clementine. While I love the name Miss Texas, as previously posted, I think that Clementine is a better choice. Like every other impulsive thing I do, I have not cleared this with Kris, who is out of town for 2 days, but I sent him a text message letting him know about my preference. We'll just have to see how this shakes out.

I really wanted to name the new puppy in the same vain as Bluebonnet... after a character in one of my favorite movies. Bluebonnet was named after Bluebonnet Spearman in Open Range. Clementine is going to be named after Clementine Kruczynski from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I also figured that since one of Blue's many nicknames is BBQ Chicken Festival Queen that Miss Texas can be Clem's nickname.

BTW, Clementine turned 3 weeks old this past Monday and the breeder is going to try to get some new pics out to us this week.

The first pictures of our new addition

Here are the first pictures of Miss Texas. She was born on Monday, June 30th and the dog breeder emailed these pics to us on Thursday along with pics of her mom, Daisy and her dad, Oliver. We originally were told that her dad was Leroy who happens to be Blue's dad, but the breeder was mistaken. While we think that would have been very cool, we weren't too disappointed about the news.

She will be 6 weeks old on August 11th so the following Saturday we are going to drive up to Lexington to pick her up and bring her home. She's a Lemon & White Basset so she'll be quite a contrast to her big sister who is Tri-Colored, we hope that the differences between them stop at their outward appearance and can only wish that she will have half the personality that Bluebonnet does. With Bluebonnet doing most of the rearing after Miss Texas is 6 months old and no longer spending her days in a crate that is pretty likely to happen.

The first video of Bluebonnet

This was taken on January 31, 2006. We had her exactly 3 days when this was taken. She was almost 7 weeks old. It's pretty short but all of the others I have of her are quite long. This one is one of my favorites... she had just noticed her reflection and I guess the glass tasted good.

Bluebonnet is gross

I'm almost positive that this blog is changing direction and will be nothing but a Bluebonnet video blog now that I know how to upload the numerous videos I have of her. Today, I finally caught one of her burps on video. Normally, I would think this is gross behavior but in the case of my perfect little angel dog, it's just freakin' cute.

It's right at the 23 second mark and I wasn't as close as I wanted to be so you may have to turn the volume up.

It is impossible not to love this dog

Bluebonnet and Aunt Karen

Bluebonnet's godmother, Aunt Karen, came over for dinner last week and per usual brought Bluebonnet two containers of gourmet doggie treats. The excitement between animal and human at seeing each other is unsurpassed by any others. I always wanted Bluebonnet to use her cuteness for good and in this case she goes above and beyond - you see Aunt Karen has a Basset of her own, Walter, but he lives in Canada. So Blue helps Aunt Karen get through the pain of missing Walter.

always treats for Blue

always lot and lots of hugs and kisses for Blue

always lots and lots of hugs and kisses returned to Aunt Karen

sweet, little Bluebonnet giving Aunt Karen some hugs

always a chase scene after dinner

It's the Rocky & Blue Show

Yesterday, Blue's buddy Rocky came over for a play day. Rocky lives about 2 minutes away so I went and picked him up from his backyard at around 10 in the morning. Rocky's dad (Cody) and I were talking on our work IM and I said I wish I had a webcam to capture the Blue & Rocky Show - it's a cycle of wrestling, fighting over a toy, chasing each other and then crashing into power naps.


taking a pause before heading outside to chase each other


getting water together (and I think stealing kisses)


resting after a good chase


back to wrestling


more wrestling


power nap

Why I love my husband - Super Chicken edition

I love Kris because he brings home things like this for Bluebonnet. It's Super Chicken - you can grab his feet and gullet and shoot him across the room. When you do that he makes a sound like a rooster... I still can't figure that one out.

Cuddle time

Caring for Bluebonnet

Bluebonnet gets utterly excited about three things:

1. company coming over

2. anytime I pick up her leash

3. when I say the word "treat"

She also loves riding in the car. She's a very good passenger. But that wasn't always the case. Back when I first started taking to her puppy day care she was a little uneasy in the car. On one occasion, I hit a pot hole pretty hard and it scared her so much that she jumped under my legs making it difficult for me to push the pedals. I couldn't coax her out from under my legs and I actually made the situation worse when I started banging on my steering wheel and screaming "What are you doing?" Somehow I was able to make it to daycare without getting a wreck or driving us off the side of the road.

Today I took her nibs to the vet where she got two shots, her ears cleaned, her temperature checked and a fecal exam - oh, and we also discovered that she has taken off over 10 lbs (she once weighed 52 lbs and is now at a svelte 41.8 lbs). I must say that she handled it better than I would have - one guy restraining your torso and another putting foreign objects up your bum... so not my idea of a party. However, my girl was a trooper today, a real trooper. She was whisked away from the vet's office for her 10:30 appointment with the groomers. The pictures above where taken during her car rides today.

Now she's exhausted... but more importantly she's tri-colored again, her nails are short, about 5 lbs of fur is gone and she doesn't smell liked dried mud on the bottom of shoes. The second we got in the house, she ran outside, peed, pooped, came right back and passed out on a pile of decorative pillows - she's taking a well deserved rest. Even though she looks so peaceful and content right now, all I want to do is mess with her and poke her in the belly and pull her ears. Sometimes I can be annoying. I'd say that's a taste of her own medicine.