If you like Puggles 'n' Prose, you'll LOVE Paws to Toes...

New Baby New Blog?

A few months back I found myself having strong desires to blog about my experience to date with a new baby and two absolutely, positively wonderful dogs (and the occasional foster).  And so "Paws to Toes, Snout to Nose" was born (easy, all natural labor :) ).

Life with baby is spectacular, but what really was driving my desire to post is just how awesome my dogs have been with the first screaming and crying infant, now movin' and groovin' munchkin.  Watching them grow together just makes me smile... even when they join forces to execute evil (like getting food OUT of the fridge, getting in TO the dishwasher, raiding the diaper bag for munchies....)

Paws to Toes is NOT a mushy-gushy mom blog... but there is a lot of wet kisses caught on camera!

And as if that on its own isn't a good enough reason to stop on by at Paws to Toes (click on link), this video is:

How'd that Puggle Get In to the Dishwasher???:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pDxqq63H_U&feature=channel_video_title

What's That Puggle Been Doin??

How has it been over a year since my last post??  Well, our household Puggle has been quite the busy "family man" these days... he's got a new project... Teaching Toddler everything he knows....

Check out this video for a glimpse of his new fun:

Dog Park Fun with Teddy

Today in Daily Dog Walk

Brian sent me this email after the dogs' near-daily walk. The email was titled "Summary of Dog Walk."

Begin:

• Bruschi finds wrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup….RPB Cup removed from Puggle and disposed of
• Bruschi finds wrapped Three Musketeers bar…. 3M bar removed from Puggle and disposed of
• Kodi raises hind quarters to pee on lamppost….Bruschi sticks his head under Kodi’s po-po….Bruschi gets pee’d on

Nothing else to report.

End

The Sweetest Puggle...

Bruschi gets a bad rap for being a food-stealing, impatiently whining little bugger, but I gotta tell you, all that is wrapped up in one incredibly sweet, super loving dog.

I'm working late (its almost 12:30 am Eastern), and most of the house is upstairs, asleep. I walk out into the living room, and there is Bruschi, fighting the sandman on the couch while waiting for me to retire. His head delicately placed on the couch pillow, paw ever so carefully curled under his chin.

If cuddling him wasn't a good enough excuse for a work-break, nothing is. So, I sat down, leaned in, pet his super-soft head, gave him a kiss, and told him I loved him. He licked my cheek. We cuddled a bit more, I told him we'd go to bed soon, and headed back to the computer. He sighed, put his head back down, and closed his eyes.

Really, its worth the peanut butter sandwich that we "shared" earlier this evening.

(Left: Cell phone photo of Bruschi right now)

Three years of Bruschi

Bruschi's birthday is Saturday, February 21. He turns 3 this year, and it is now hard for me to remember a time when Brian and I were without Puggle. Caring for another being truly changed our lives in a profound way. Bruschi is, and I believe will always be a bit of a menace, and that makes us love him even more.

Here are my top 10 (ok 12) memories from Puppyhood.


- Realizing that a three-month old Bruschi licked my diamond earring out of my ear, then waiting 48 hours to get it back. NOTE: All diamond earrings need to come with screw-backs vs. standard posts.


- Coming home after a Yankee game to find one happy Puggle and one completely and utterly distraught-to-the-point-of-tears husband, who spent 5 hours trying to entertain a puppy.


- Bruschi Graduating "Most Improved" from Puppy Basic. (To say it was an upward climb is an understatement).


- Seeing Bruschi curl up on the couch with Kodi for the first time, snuggling.


- Watching the foster pups teach Bruschi how to take toys out of his toy box so that he did not have to whine and moan for a human to do it.


- The infamous night where Bruschi learned how to escape the crate, then came barreling into our bed.


- The second most infamous night when Bruschi learned how to hop over the extremely tall baby grate, then came barreling into our bed.


- Watching him chase his first rabbit across the back yard, until it ran under the fence, at which point he looked up at us and if he could speak, he would have said "Where'd the bunny go?"


- The day that I realized his ears were finally in closer proportion to the rest of his face.


- Him tunneling into a pillow case, then rolling all about in it until he figured how to get out.


- How he would have the zoomies one minute, launch himself onto my lap the next, and pass out.


- Putting a very sleepy puppy to bed in the crate every night (pre-houdini-ing out of it) and watching him curl up into a teeny tiny ball.