Cold dog snuggles.

I love my dogs. :)

Since it has been FREEZING COLD lately, they've been extra cuddley too.

Daisy is even wearing sweaters regularly because her little naked belly and thin fur make her extra vulnerable to the chill.

Naked dogs.

As the holiday season approaches, Teagan is dreading the annual costuming of the dogs. Tis the season of sweaters, jackets and various other doggie decor. This year, she'll be sporting a fluffy red down jacket, complete with fur-rimmed hood, on her last trip to the frozen Artic, aka- Chicago in winter.

Last year, her hatred of sweaters was solidified. She was forced to wear a sweater while sitting on Santa's lap and I think it traumatized her.

Daisy has no idea what is coming next...yup...that's right...the Mrs. Claus costume she will be forced to wear throughout the holiday season. Enjoy your costume free Thanksgiving Daisy because you'll be wearing that little dandy the day after.

Daisy looks frozen with fear and but I suspect Teagan is filled with glee. Or she's just sleeping upright. I can't tell.

Oh Teagan, sweet sweet revenge for having to wear the Bears bandana throughout football season. Except you don't know, I got reindeer antlers for you...haha! Oh please, quit giving me that death stare. I'm not afraid of you.

So enjoy your naked time now dogs, for the clothing cometh.

Stage Mom Part 2

I was kind of freaking out about taking Teagan to dog school since she's lately developed a penchant for being crabby with other dogs on her leash. She has gotten too excited and even growled and snapped at a couple dogs on the trail. I have bought books, treats, and spent hours of time working on behavior modification with her for weeks.

And when I say freaking out, I merely mean it was consuming most of my daily thoughts. Ok, slight exaggeration. Probably about 70% of my daily thoughts. My husband patiently sat through me reading him aloud all my dog training documents, poor man. I have lost sleep worrying that she would freak out so bad that we'd get kicked out of class or that she'd attack someone or their dog. And then I'd get sued and they'd take her away from me and put her to sleep and I would die of grief. So, a little melodramatic but I was CONVINCED.

So we went to dog school last night. I brought the husband for back up. I forewarned the instructors. I ran her until she was exhausted and then I made her play fetch for 30 minutes.

When we got in the car- her eyes were as big as saucers and she began whining when we turned onto the highway because she knew we were going somewhere different.

And she was fine.

Apparently, all I need is hotdogs, and she could care less about any dog or person.

I was so relieved.

And my mother has banned me from having children. I'm ok with that. Teagan isn't fond of them anyways. :)

My dogs hate Halloween.

OK, as promised, here are the girls in their Halloween costumes:

Daisy is giving me the dirtiest look.

Teagan just looks embarrassed.

Slobber city.

Halloween costume pics coming soon... this years theme is winged insects. So far, they hate their hats. Daisy also tries to eat Teagan's costume. Chaos ensues. You understand. Hence, I haven't attempted photos.

In other news:

Teagan began her second level dog obedience class and she performed wildly beyond my expectations (which were considerably lower since she has decided to become crabby on her leash) and I'm super proud of her. My plan: work on her behavior modification on the leash and get through her training before the winter holidays in hopes that she'll be a nice, well-behaved dog when we visit people's homes. She's already pretty well-behaved but a little refresher course ( mostly for me) does help!

Look at those perfectly well-behaved dogs!!

I have to admit, this week I've had a reminder on how good I've got it with my dogs. We're watching our neighbor's bull mastiff, Brunson. He weighs more than me and my husband. And because he is super-sized- just imagine that his slobber, farts, snores and grunts are also larger than life. SO Gross. I've decided I can never complain about my dogs being dirty again. He's very sweet though and the girls love him, especially Daisy. Odd couple huh?!

If you're not familiar with the breed- I've put up a couple pics- one complete with slobber so you can witness the insanity that is bull mastiff owners:

Daisy's pointy eared twin is funny.

This is so funny to me because the dog sort of looks like Daisy.

Open Letter to Teagan and Daisy.

Dear Teagan and Daisy,

I've got a couple things to say:

Daisy- you KNOW that if you don't go potty before bed- you have to hold it until we get up the next morning. Those are the rules. I don't appreciate you waking me up at 4:30am when you know we get up at 5:30am . I know you had to go but you're telling me you couldn't tough it out for one MORE hour? Your bladder is small but it should have been empty. Was that really necessary?

Teagan- you KNOW that you're not supposed to eat the stuffing from your blue koala or pink elephant. So that is why I was kind of grumpy when you decided to throw up whatever that horrible stuff was on your blanket right after I got back in bed at 4:40am. Let's be sensible here. You're not a cat- you don't do hairballs.

And this goes for both of you- toilet paper is not a toy and is not to be shredded all over the bathroom and bedroom floor while I'm in the shower. Teagan- don't even try to tell me it was all Daisy's idea, I saw a bit of tp in your mouth. You're just as guilty. You guys are SOOOOOO in the dog house.

...but I still love you. And yes, you're right, we did have a nice walk in between the super early bathroom break/vomit and the toilet paper fiasco. But still...

Love,
The Hand That Feeds You