The Puppy

Rufus and Hooda

Our neighbors (who don’t care for Rufus due to his noise level) brought home a puppy at Christmas.  Rufus has issues with anyone or anything being near the gate and has spent the last several weeks having a meltdown if the puppy is outside.  The puppy is quite loud so at least they can’t give me “evil eye” about Rufus.  I know it is just shocking to all of our readers that people don’t like Rufus!  What is not to love about someone that stands outside of your bedroom window howling like a madman?

The puppy is obsessed with Rufus and has been trying to be his best friend.  Today Rufus caved and decided that he is going to allow the puppy to be his friend and be near the fence.  It occurred to him that he can bark in sync with the puppy and really set our neighbors over the edge…The two spent the afternoon checking each other out and kissing through the fence.  The puppy is pretty excited that all three of the four legged are now his buddies!

I thought it would be about 3 months until Rufus accepted the fact that the dog lived next door.  He doesn’t trust quickly, but apparently we are making progress.

#Rescue #AdoptDontShop #Puppy

 

He Bills By the Hour

Uncle Eddie and Aunt Jackie are in Orlando visiting Aunt KK, Uncle Blake, and my newest nephew!  I must need to buy them a calendar…Pirate season doesn’t start until January!

Rufus is watching Uncle Eddie’s house while they are away and he is starting to understand why Uncle Eddie doesn’t like dogs.  There are some scary dogs on his side of the neighborhood!  Rufus and I walked to Uncle Eddie’s house to pick-up his mail and a dog snuck up on Rufus causing him to jump a mile.  He was shocked that this dog would have the audacity to bark at him.  Just as he recovered 2 hound dogs came bursting out the door raising hell.  Before he could even turn around a green bag came flying down the street and tried to attack him.  Rufus grabbed the mail and headed for home!  Uncle Eddie’s street is too stressful!  He plans to bill him for “hazard pay.”

Rufus is recovering on the couch.  I have a ham in the oven for another Meal Train tonight.  While it is baking Riley helped make M&M cookies and of course had to taste a few.  He wouldn’t want to serve someone a bad dessert!  Bailey did not get a walk yet so she will help deliver the Meal Train to the family in need and then walk.  I am going to attempt to have a Ham and Bailey in the truck at the same time…say a Prayer for me!

#Rescue #MealTrain #HouseSitting

My Credit Card

I am on the phone with Thunder Mountain Campground booking my spot for the upcoming Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Races and I lost my credit card.  I had it when I started the call…where could it have gone?  This house is not that big! I am desperately searching when my eye catches Bailey!  I look over and she is sitting on my reservation email and chewing on my MasterCard.  Who eats credit cards?  Clearly the new diet from the vet is not working!

She needed attention so I put work on hold and took her for a walk.  It is a nice 24 degrees in Pittsburgh, but we bundled up and clocked 2 miles.  I offered the boys a walk, but Rufus stuck his nose outside and went back to the couch!  Now they are all cuddled on the couch while I catch back up on the computer.  Just another Thursday with the Four Legged!

#Rescue #CreditCards #Bristol

Riley’s Coat Drive

Friends of ours are hosting donation drives for coats & shoes.  I can’t stand when the closets are stuffed with things we don’t use so the boys pulled donations over winter break.  I am just now sorting and getting ready to drop-off.  While sorting Riley pulled their jackets out of the bag and was cuddling with them.  We have blankets everywhere in this house and Riley cuddles in coats…he must be missing his Two Legged Buddies!

Snow is moving back into Pittsburgh so Bailey and I walked early this morning.  She is so much easier to walk when the mailman is not in the neighborhood.  Rufus has been under the weather, but I decided he could go for a short walk too.  He smiled the entire time and now is curled on the couch unhappy that the temperature is dropping! Rufus is definitely on the mend, but his face is still a little swollen.

Since Riley doesn’t like to go for walks and the Big Dogs had an outing Riley is in charge of picking dinner.  He has decided we should make his favorite Meatloaf with Mushrooms.  It is the perfect recipe for a cold day and quick to assemble.  One of my favorite cookbooks has been handed down in our family and is called “The Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Jars.”  It includes recipes that were more common back in the day.  Their meatloaf recipe featuring Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup is one of our favorites! I found the second edition of the book at a church yard sale and if you love playing around with recipes either edition is a must!

#Rescue #Meatloaf #ComfortFood

 

Fly Eagles Fly

Eddie & Jackie 2015

It’s Happening…

My brother is a HUGE Philadelphia Eagles Fan. I bought him tickets to a November game in 2002 at the old stadium as his High School Graduation gift. He had already signed his Marine Corp enlistment papers and my normal gift of a Bed Bath & Beyond gift card to graduating seniors didn’t seem like a good fit. I wasn’t sure if Parris Island ran a shuttle for the recruits to the local Bed, Bath & Beyond!

This was back before online ticket sales so I had to call a guy who knew a guy who told me to bring cash and meet him in an alley behind a gym in Oakland. Being the awesome sister that I am…I did it and came home with 2 Eagles Tickets.

My brother and my dad headed to the game after Thanksgiving dinner and when they arrived back in Pittsburgh Eddie said it was the best day of his life. Being from Pittsburgh you don’t meet many Eagles Fans so having the opportunity to watch the game with an entire stadium of people chanting “Fly Eagles Fly” was awesome!

I seem to jinx teams when I watch their games so I just checked the score periodically last night and could not believe the score in the 3^rd quarter. In the 4^th quarter I started getting texts from Jackie, my brother’s wife, and I knew it must be good. The Eagles are going to the Super Bowl!

#FlyEaglesFly #Philadelphia #Eagles #Rescue #SuperBowl #UnderDogs

 

Meal Train

Their day just keeps going from bad to worse!  The neighbors spent the morning hauling Birthday balloons, cakes, and party supplies into their home.  Rufus was shocked that he was not invited!  How can you have a party without him?  Don’t they know he loves a good ice cream cake??

I had to go into work for a few hours which resulted in more sad faces!  I will spend 22 hours with them, but apparently that is just not enough.  After getting home I started baking butterscotch brownies.  They are just out of the oven, but they are not for the Four Legged.  Bailey may be creating a hostage situation…I see her trying to organize the others as I type.

I belong to a charitable women’s group and when someone has a family issue we do a “Meal Train.”  There is an online calendar and if you want to drop-off a meal you sign up.  I love it because as a past recipient of a Meal Train you don’t receive 10 days worth of chicken noodle soup.  (although I do love chicken noodle soup!) We each know what is being cooked the day before so you can give the family a variety.  There are two Meal Trains this coming week and since the Four Legged and I love to cook we signed up for both families.

I have the brownies on top of the fridge far from the Four Legged’s Reach.  I better get dinner started before they start using the chairs to climb!

#Rescue #MealTrain #Dinner

Exhausted

 

Rufus is on the mend, but Riley and Bailey are exhausted from taking care of him!  Riley had food stuck on his head this morning.  He looked like a first time dad that was up all night with a sick kid!  After a quick bath he is looking like a new man.  We had to change our Steeler Bandanas to generic Footballs since the Black and Gold are out of the play-offs.  Rufus is trying to get on Uncle Eddie’s good side so he is cheering for the Eagles tomorrow! #FlyEaglesFly

Rufus basically spends his day looking out the window or curled up on the couch, but in true pit bull fashion he is whining/ crying if left alone.  As soon as he starts to cry one of the other dogs has a meltdown until I sit with him.  There is nothing wrong…he just wants to cuddle!  He has about 8 more days of meds and the swelling in his face is almost gone.  Once he is 100% we have to adjust his diet because the vet feels he is eating too much.  He was underweight when I adopted him, but they were not thrilled with a 19 pound weight gain in 6 months.  Rufus peed on the vet the last time he was mad…not sure I am going to tell him it was the vet’s idea to cut back on food!

The Four Legged don’t know it, but Grammie and Big Ed will be over to hang out with the boys so that Bailey and I can finally get a walk in!  Temperatures are soaring into the 40s today and the sun is shining so we have to get outside.  In Pittsburgh in January 40 degrees feels like a day at the beach!

#Rescue #Walking #Rufus

And We Peed on the Vet

Our vet deserves a Gold Medal and probably a good drink for having Rufus as a patient!  Rufus did not want to go to the vet today and had “saddy sam” eyes all morning.  While trying to leave the house Bailey grabbed him around the collar and did not want me to take him.  I told everyone that Rufus would be right back.  “We Always Come Home.”  As I was leaving Bailey was throwing herself against the backdoor.  Lovely…

Rufus started having anxiety as soon as we approached the vet’s door.  He tried hiding behind me.  I was actually pretty excited about this.  When I first got him he would not come to me for help, so the fact that he wanted me to protect him means we are making progress!  Rufus started to grumble at the Vet Techs.  It was more huffing and puffing, but they wanted him to wear a soft muzzle since they would be so close to his face.  I did not think he needed it, but I put it on him because I want them to be comfortable and Rufus needs to work on his manners when we greet Vet Techs.

Rufus did not feel that he needed the muzzle or that he needs to work on his manners.  He did not like the muzzle and this caused him to have more anxiety and he went into shutdown mode.  No matter what I said to him I could not comfort him.  I wish they could see the fun side of Rufus.  Rufus loves playing with his toys and is so inquisitive.  He is an amazing big brother and so loveable, but they only get to see “anxiety boy.”

After a quick weigh-in, which Rufus does not want to talk about, he decided that if the muzzle was staying on he would just pee on the Vet.  Oh My…our poor Vet.  He was not expecting that.  I didn’t even know what to say.  After the exam I took the muzzle off and Rufus immediately started licking my face and trying to sit behind me.  He is still running a temperature and has some kind of infection so he is on a new antibiotic. (I’m so glad he was licking my face) The face swelling has come down, but he is not himself.  Fingers crossed he does not have to go back to the vet’s office…Fingers crossed our Vet continues to welcome us!

#Rescue #AdoptDontShop #Vet #Peeing

Sleeping

I started the day with a photo text from my sister–Mila was sleeping on Katlyn’s pregnancy pillow instead of the expensive dog bed they bought for her.  In her defense the new rule at their house is “If it is on the floor it is Mila’s.  If it is not on the floor it is Baby Keith’s and Mila can’t take it.”  Her photo prompted memories of all of the crazy places my dogs have slept.

Bingo (not pictured…I had him before phones had cameras) was an S.O.S. rescue (Save Our Seniors).  He would sleep on the hardwood floor next to the dog bed.  I ended up installing carpet in the bedroom because he was not 100% steady on the wood floors and I felt bad he was sleeping on the floor.  On the first day that the carpet was installed he ran from room to room with excitement.  I put his dog bed on the carpet and he moved it into the hallway and slept on the carpet.

When I adopted Bella her paperwork said that she slept in a dog crate.  I am not a crate person, but set up her crate in the dining room.  She walked into the house slammed the crate into my wall and jumped into my bed.  Bella always slept on her dog bed, BUT you had to put the dog bed on top of my bed in order for her to sleep.  She would never sleep on the floor!  She ran a tight ship around here.  I know I will always have a home filled with dogs, but Bella will always be one of my favorites.  I have never lost an argument to a dog until I met her!  She would mumble under her breath when she was mad at you and always had to have the last word.  I would have loved to see her and Rufus interact.

Renee the beagle was a “hospice rescue.”  The shelter said she “just needed a place to live until she passed away.”  Within hours of bringing her home she got out and let me tell you that “dying dog” was the fastest dog I have ever owned.  Due to her cancer and heart issues my mom bought a ridiculously priced orthopedic bed for her.  She never touched it.  Her favorite place to sleep was curled up under my desk on top of a doormat and my Christmas wrapping paper!  Renee was only with us for 6 months, but she helped create a lot of memories.

Rufus and Bailey both have dog beds.  I bought dog beds in hopes of keeping them off of my bed, but that was a fail.  At night they sleep in bed with me and Riley, but during the day Rufus’ favorite place to sleep is the upstairs closet.  When it is warm out Bailey likes to sleep on the doormat on the deck.  When it is cold she sleeps on my desk which makes working from home so interesting!

And then there is my Riley!  Riley will never sleep on a dog bed, but he will sleep everywhere else.  He loves my bed, the couch, and anywhere with carpet!  He is currently using Renee’s orthopedic dog bed to hold toys that are “too good” for the toy box, but not couch worthy.  3 Dog Beds in this house and the only one being used is holding toys…

#Rescue #Seniors #DogBeds

The Cable Guy

Just when you thought the Christmas movie season was over the cable company emailed and is giving the Four Legged free HBO until April.  While working this morning I tuned in and “Almost Christmas” was showing.  I have never seen this film and it was hilarious!  I love big families coming together for awkward holiday celebrations.  You know the dinner scene is going to be classic!

After the movie I felt Christmas was complete and took down the Christmas tree.  Since I only decorated with non-breakable ornaments take-down was a breeze.  The Four Legged can now run through the dining room without having to slow down near the tree.

After cleaning up pine needles the Four Legged went outside to play in the snow.  Another few inches have fallen and I love the look of fresh snow blanketing the yard, but it doesn’t last long once these three head out!  While I was shoveling a cable sales guy approached and the Four Legged had a meltdown.  He was thrown off by their sudden barking and fell on the street.  I swear to you Rufus & Riley were laughing. To make matters worse we definitely aren’t interested in changing carriers since we are enjoying Free HBO!

#Rescue #HBO #SnowDay #ChristmasMovies