Early to bed...

How is Tuesday night going in our household, you ask?  It's going like this: one passed out boyfriend, one snoring puppy, and me catching up on TV from last week on Hulu.

Tonight I met Sam at the dog park after work and we let Hunter run around for about an hour before Puppy Class.  Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be doing that again because he wasn't super attentive in class.  Lesson learned.  We did meet a new friend at the dog park, Tiffany, who lives across the street and down a block from Sam and I.  Her dog, Lily, is about a year and a half old and a corgi & yellow lab mix.  Lily loves playing fetch, so maybe she'll help Hunter learn.  :-)  

I am SUPER stressed about my final paper in my class due on March 8th.  I haven't started working on it yet, and I really should have done some of the reading (at least) over this past weekend.  Never enough time in the day!  I have really cool news about work, but I'll save that for tomorrow night because I need to get these boys to bed!

The Dog Park

Hunter had a very big day today... he went to Petsmart for his first "grooming".  I say the term in quotes because he was really only washed, blow dried, and had his nails trimmed.  We wanted to make sure that he got accustomed to service handing- such a fancy term right?  The whole she-bang was only $11.00 and Hunter was a champion.  As horrible as I feel saying this, it was kind of nice to have some time to ourselves.

I went to the grocery store without feeling guilty about not spending time with him.  I made Sam a BOMB omelet and bacon for breakfast.  We picked up the house and vacuumed without having to work around the little guy.  And you know what, we were all a LOT more relaxed this afternoon.  Sam's patience for Hunter's teething has been restored, which is good, because I think he was getting a bit short-fused. 

After we picked Hunter up at Petsmart, and by the way he looks SO freaking precious now that he's clean and brushed, we took him to the dog park in Irvine.  True to most things in Irvine, the dog park has an official name- Central Bark.  Our neighbor, Matt, suggested we take Hunter there after his encounter with a Great Dane on Tuesday.  He said there's a small dog section and it would help Hunter get acclimated and socialized.  We took Hunter for an hour yesterday and kept him on his leash the whole time, and the other dog parents assured us that he would be fine off-leash when we were all comfortable.  Today was that big day- we let him off leash.  And he was GREAT!  He actually ran around and left our sides... that is a HUGE accomplishment for him.  He is a bit of a mama's boy.  But he went for it and actually had a great time.  He was totally exhausted after an hour and a half. 

Sam and I really enjoyed interacting with the other dog parents.  There were some really nice people that came up and introduced themselves, and were able to set our minds to rest that he's going to be okay and get the hang of the whole socializing thing.  Sam and I did make the observation that while Hunter was running around there were several people who bent down to pet him.  That was not as common as I'd have thought.  It was also really interesting how many people come up to us and tell us how handsome he is.  Another example: we are pretty frequent visitors to Petsmart and some of their employees know Hunter by name and are constantly telling us what a handsome boy is he, and how well behaved he is.  So this is my question, is this normal?  Or is our dog really as awesome and special as Sam and I (in our biased way) think that he is?  Time will tell.  

We got home, Sam put him out of the car, and he immediately lay down to go to sleep.  And you can see the cute little bandana that they put on him at Petsmart.  We took it off at the dog park just in case someone tried to grab it and drag him across the yard.  :-)  As soon as we got home, he took a BIG nap while cuddling with Mom.  

And then, when we got up to start dinner, Hunter found his new bed... SUCCESS!  We bought him a bed to "grow into" that will hang out in the living room with most of his toys.  His crate stays in our bedroom, so he doesn't really have a place of his own in the main part of the house.  The hope is that this way he's got a place to relax and rest that's not the floor or the couch.  Hopefully he'll enjoy it and start using is more frequently.  For now, it seems that he would still rather cuddle in our laps.  

Puppy Teeth

Tonight, I feel like the worst Mom ever.  We went to puppy class and Kate, our incredible trainer, mentioned that we should start practicing brushing Hunter's teeth.  So Sam and I purchased a tube of Dog Toothpaste and a Finger Tip Brush-to-Toothbrush converter.  

We got home, took Hunter to the bathroom, and after we brushed our own teeth, we sat down with Hunter and the Finger Tip Brush.  I put a little toothpaste on the end and held it up for him.  He did NOT want me to put it in his mouth, probably because we had been pulling up his lips to check out an incredibly loose tooth in the front of his mouth.  The little guy handled the brush going all the way to the back of his molars, and I figured I would just brush (in one stroke) back to the front.  Unfortunately, Sam and I had not anticipated that Hunter would have any loose molars.  The little guy yelped, I pulled my finger out, and a molar popped out of his mouth and onto our bathroom rug.  Hunter cried, I got teary eyed, and Sam spent a few minutes consoling the both of us.  Dear God.

Then Hunter ran into his crate, picture below, and refused to come back out.  Cue the tugging on my heart strings.

Last of President's Day Weekend

 Both my parents and Sam's parents loved Hunter.  My mom even came in and got him out of his crate to take him potty with our family dog, Max, on Sunday morning.  After he went, he got to snuggle in bed with me for a little while before we had to pack up the car. 

 Max, my family's 11 year old Shi Tzu, and Hunter before we hopped in the car to walk the Lafayette resevoir with Sam and his folks.  They were both very good at practicing "sit" for me.

Midway through our drive back to SoCal, Hunter decided it would be more comfortable to sleep in his crate than it was on Sam's lap.  He put himself to bed back there... what a trooper!

President's Day Weekend

Sam and I took Hunter to Northstar-at-Tahoe for his first experience with snow... adorable photos were taken, which I now share with you!

Incredibly warm weather at the Ice Skating Rink

Warming up on Sam's lap, had to get out of that cold snow!

Cold weather is not Hunter's thing, we zipped him up in my coat and he was much happier

Day 2: Hunter goes sledding!

"Why aren't you climbing up the hill, Mom?"

Puppy Class Week One

Hunter's first Puppy Class was last night... Sam's soccer game was cancelled so he was able to join us.  We learned how to train Hunter using positive reinforcement and a "clicker" which makes a clicking noise (duh) and helps him to understand what he is getting his treat for.  In one hour we learned "sit" and "watch me".  Sit is something we have worked on since we brought Hunter home, and Watch Me is used to get a dog's attention when necessary.  For example, if we're walking and I want Hunter to lay down, I would say "watch me" to get his attention and then tell him what to do once I have his attention.  Kind of neat actually.  

I was making dinner after we got home from class and looked over to see how Hunter was doing (he usually sits near the entrance to the kitchen and our entryway playing with his toys or sitting and watching me.  Last night, he looked completely exhausted.  

Mom, Puppy Class was tiring, I'm ready for bedtime! 

On another note, this morning was really fun.  Hunter and I went for our morning walk at 5:45 when Sam left for work.  Unbeknownst to us, Sam locked the door on his way out and we did NOT have keys.  Here I am, in my PJs and flip flops, locked out of the apartment and the office isn't going to open until 8am- the same time I had a meeting at the office.  So what did I do?  I walked to the front gate and waived down the next car to come by and asked to borrow a cell phone so that I could call Sam.  Thank God he answered his phone (since he's on Plastic Surgery and not Ortho) and he was able to be late to work and come home to let us in.  THANKS SAM!  Lesson learned: always bring a set of keys to walk the puppy!

Meet Hunter

Sam and I took the plunge and finally added a little puppy to our family.  Meet Hunter, our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was born on Oct 1, 2011.  We brought him home on January 26th and have been loving (almost) every minute since we got him.  He's sleeping through the night, working on potty training, and has started puppy classes. What a champ!

Our first night, just after arriving at his new home

Good morning, Hunter!  First morning at home.

First day at home, napping with Mom while she works

I think we are going to be friends

Meeting the Grant family

At the beach in Santa Barbara with Dad!

Not sure about the sand

Family Photo!

Cuddling with Mom

Napping with Mom

Too much Sangria before the Super Bowl, time for a nap!