Spring Pictures

After the winter that would never end, it is finally Springtime in Minnesota.

Here are a few shots of Olivia and Griffin.

So tired...

Snuggling

Olivia thinks Nate is the butler. 

Griffin is so tired...

"Seriously?"

Hanging out together

Griffin found a fort that the neighbor
kids had built at the park.

After 10 minutes, I was afraid he
might be trapped.

Olivia and her ball in the mud.

Text From Dog

If you are a bulldog lover, you need to go to the website Text From Dog- http://textfromdog.tumblr.com/.

The author makes up text message conversations between himself and his bulldog. Almost every single entry reminds me of either Griffin or Olivia (especially Olivia because his dog is apparently pretty sassy). It is hilarious and you need to check it out!

This is so very Olivia, I actually
laughed out loud when I read it!

Sharing Ice Cream

Last night, Nate and I were having ice cream. Dogs aren't supposed to have ice cream, but I have given Olivia some in the past (just a lick or two... I know I shouldn't!), so she knows she likes it.

I wasn't sharing last night, but Olivia was practically on top of me, drooling all over my arm (and nearly in the cup). This is a video of her attempts. Apparently we have the tv volume on high... sorry about that.

**And yes, I eventually gave in (which is, of course, why she does this sort of thing) and she ended up getting a few spoonfuls. I am a terrible dog owner.

Bulldog Torture

At least one day each weekend, I spend several hours cooking. Today was no different, except that instead of just laying on the couch, ignoring me, the bullies took an interest.

At first they just sat in the middle of the kitchen, right in the path between the sink and the stove. I stepped over them....... and over them.... and over them. I was patient for a REALLY long time.

At one point, I had a big pile of carrots that I accidentally bumped into and one dropped to the floor. In a flash- as if she was STARVING and DESPERATE for food, Olivia had the carrot and ran to her bed, devouring it before I blinked an eye. For the record- she'd already had dinner, so, NO, I am not starving her. It was pretty cute watching her eat a whole carrot though.

Eventually they moved from the middle of the floor to right next to me. After I'd bumped into them a few times, they started bumping into me, except that they were doing it on purpose. As in, "HEY, we NEED a taste of that!" Then they started whining- loudly.

That was the point that they got exiled from the kitchen. When bulldogs aren't close enough in proximity to physically touch their mama, the crying begins...

Start to finish, I'd say the screeching lasted about 25 minutes until I gave up, gave them each a plate of chicken and put away the step-stool barrier. Nate tells me that they freak out because they know I will give in... and that's true. I am a terrible dog owner, there's no doubt about that, but seriously, how cute are these dogs??!?!?

Just A Little Vomit

When I got home this afternoon, there was a big pile of vomit by the back door and Grif was looking pretty sad. I cooked some chicken and rice, but he wasn't even interested in that. I sat with him on the couch and was snuggling my sick little baby. 

He looked at me with big eyes and then leaned forward and vomited down my chest. It wasn't the first time and so I let him finish gagging and then calmly stripped off all of my clothes to avoid making a mess as I went to get a new outfit.

Walgreens didn't have unflavored pedialyte, but did have a freezer pop version. Griffin likes popsicles and convincing him to eat one of these was much easier than trying to get him to drink it. And after his freezie, he ate some chicken and rice, which was an improvement.

He's resting now and looking much better.

We're happen to already have a vet appointment set up for tomorrow because I want him to be tested for allergies, so we'll talk about the vomiting too.

 Griffin is a little delicate and sometimes he just vomits for no reason.... Sometimes he has to go to the emergency vet for thousands of dollars, but I'm not worried yet.

Snow Dogs

Griffin has been coming with me to the office 2-3 times per week all winter. He alternates between sleeping under my desk, going across the hall to Abby's office (she has a rug that he enjoys more than my cold floor), wandering the hallways and chewing on one of the 15 or so bones that are all over my office.

When he is at home, he can make it though the whole day without a break, but both of us need to stretch our legs and get some fresh air, so every few hours, we take a potty break outside.

I took two short videos today because every time we go out, he makes me laugh. Griffin gets distracted easily and sometimes doesn't actually go to the bathroom at all. And every now and then he gets distracted, doesn't go to the bathroom and then when we ome back inside, he uses the hallway instead.

Today, as he rolled in the snow, a man driving through the parking lot pulled over and watched him. He rolled down his window and said, "I've never seen a dog do that." I smiled and said, "yep, he loves the snow" to which he replied, "what a special dog."

Special indeed...

And a bonus video from last week of Olivia in the snow after chasing the ball at the park.

Statue

A few weeks ago, I was walking though Macy's and nearly fell over from shock when I saw the display for the Thomas Pink Collection. A full sized, pink bulldog statue.

I am not exaggerating- I gasped, clutched my chest and nearly fell over.

I turned to the people I was with and whispered, "I NEED this."

And so began my quest...

First I called that Macy's location and asked for a manager. I explained that I had just been in the store and that I NEEDED to purchase the display bulldog and asked how I could do that. "You're not the first person to call about this" was their response. No doubt! Look at that glorious thing.

She explained that she could take my name, which would get passed onto corporate and when they were done with it, they would call if the statue was available. I gave her my name, but I didn't feel confident that anything was going to happen with that.

I tend to be pretty frugal with my money (unless it involves my dogs and then I throw cash around like a rap star making it rain in the club). I don't buy things I don't need. I don't collect things. I don't have debt. I am reasonable, I budget, I save.  However, I do all of those things so that I can afford to splurge every now and then when I find something I really want (or for when a certain someone has to go to the vet). The pink bulldog statue was the perfect example of that.

My next step was to do some intense googling. I managed to track down the company that makes the statues. It didn't show the price because you had to create an account to log into their site. However, you had to have a business tax ID to create an account because they only sell to businesses. I was desperate to see the price to know if I could just buy one or if I was going to have to try to track down a number to corporate Macy's to plead my case. I put in my camp's tax ID number and created an account. I was in! And the statue was only $120!

Except that the minimum order for anything on their site was $500. I didn't need a case of bulldog statues. So I emailed the owner and explained that I LOVED the statue and NEEDED to own one. I asked if they could tell me where I could buy one retail, if they had any damaged ones that couldn't be sold or what my other options were so that I could buy one. My email was friendly and complimentary (perhaps a little crazy-dog-lady-ish), but I wasn't going to back down and I was prepared to be as obnoxious as necessary.

My resolve wasn't necessary. The owner emailed me back right away and said it was no big deal, they could sell me just one.

And so, just a few weeks later, my beautiful pink ceramic bulldog arrived!

I smile every time I look at it. I am very satisfied with my purchase!

Grif- checking out his new officemate