Doggie Dash 2010! - Team Carmella's Pups

Help join Team Carmella's Pups raise funds for the 2010 Doggie Dash event on May 15th! This event is to raise funds to support the Oregon Humane Society in it's mission to find homes for our fabulous furry friends. Each year, many pets are unable to find homes while staying at other shelters, and as a result are euthanized, rather than transferred when time or space runs out. OHS has no time limitations on how long an animal can stay there. As long as the animal is in good health, and it's behavior is good enough to be adopted, it can stay at OHS. OHS takes in animals from all over the Pacific Northwest, from various shelters and agencies, and also rescues animals, as you may have seen in the news recently.

Our wonderful pup, Quigley is a shelter dog. While we adopted him from Home At Last Humane Society in The Dalles, the goal is still the same: To help loving animals find their forever home. Please help in this cause. Many animals depend on this help from shelters, and we wouldn't have Quigley if it wasn't for the help of Humane Societies like Home At Last H.S. and the Oregon Humane Society.

All that I ask is that you:

A) Join Team Carmella's Pups (Carmella is Quigley's Mom, she had 11 other pups in Q's litter.)

B) Donate just $5 (I have many more fundraising events this year, though you may donate more.)

or
C) Join us in spirit. - Your support means so much!



P.S. - Carmella is still looking for a home. Call the Home At Last Shelter @ (541) 296-5189 to ask about her.

March of Dimes March for Babies 2010!

We walked in the March for Babies 10K in Salem this Saturday. It was a lot of fun joining Team R.E.L. and walking with a bunch of good friends. The weather started out iffy, but in the end was beautiful. It was a nice walk through neighborhoods and businesses, and we saw quite a bit of Salem. We walked by the Waterfront Carousel, the State Capitol, and even right by the Governor's Mansion.

At first, all Quigley wanted to do was play with the other dogs. Not long after the start, he laid down and rolled in the grass so that I couldn't pull him any further and so that the dogs behind could catch up. =) He did that a few times (to rest, maybe), so we had to run afterward just to catch up to the team. Quigley did pretty good once the walk really started going.

Together, Team R.E.L raised $765 for the March of Dimes to help fund research and programs to help mothers have full-term pregnancies. Go Team!

Teeth

So far, we've collected 5 of Quigley's teeth. The first one we found was a small, flatter tooth. Then on 4/19, we found two more teeth. Another time Quigley looked like he was chomping on something on the floor, and Kath found a tooth on the floor. Another time, he looked like he was chomping on something on the ottoman, then stopped, left, and went back to look at it twice. Turned out that he'd lost a tooth and dropped it there.

Hopefully his teething doesn't last too much longer. Teething puppy breath is stinky, I mean wonderful. =) We love you, pup.

Dog Parks x 4

What a lucky dog Quigley is. With the nice weather we took him to the equivalent of 4 dog parks this last week. On Thursday, we took him to Hazelia Field Dog Park off of Stafford Rd. This was a nice park, with bark for the dogs to run on, and a few obstacles and trees. Quigley had a blast running and playing with the dogs there. One dog in particular was a boxer who was 10-months old, I think. They enjoyed wrestling with each other, and she (the boxer) was impressive with the use of her paws and body to take Quigley down. Her owner was very nice as well, and engaged in conversation with us discussing raising a pup, and other dog parks in the area as well.

On Friday, I took Quigley to Memorial Park in Wilsonville. It was a beautiful afternoon that day, and there were a TON of dogs there. One dog in particular was a GSD/Lab(?) mix named Koda that Quigley enjoyed wrestling with. She was quite a collar-grabber, but after a few corrections from her human, she seemed to get the idea that she shouldn't do that. Another one of the many dogs he met was a 5-month old lab(mix?) pup. She was very shy and submissive, though, and didn't seem to want to play with Quigley too much. Poor girl, she must've been kinda intimidated by him, with his energy and wanting to play so much. At least he eventually understood, and went to play with other dogs after.

Saturday's dog park selection was the dog park at Mt. Tabor. This was technically "taking him to a dog park", though I didn't let him off leash there. My friend Vince and I were on a mission to get his daughter Benecia to the playground at the top of Mt. Tabor. Quigley didn't seem to mind, though. He got to play with his friend, Hass, earlier. Quigley didn't quite make it all the way up Mt. Tabor. Luckily Benecia wanted to be carried in her pack, so that freed up the stroller, which Vince offered to Quigley. One of these days you'll make it all the way up there, Q, one of these days. =)

On Sunday we took Quigley to Puppy Romp in Hillsboro. It's more of a private, indoor dog park just for puppies 6-months and under. Quigley had fun playing there, and we had fun watching all of the cute puppies. I think it's more geared towards younger pups so that they can learn how to play with other pups eventually bigger dogs. Quigley has had a bit of experience already, so I think he just thought of it as yet another playground. We saw that he had a little blood in his mouth when we left, so we got a little scared. Turned out, he knocked one of his bottom teeth loose, but it didn't get knocked out. Hopefully it isn't causing him too much paid or anything.

So that's that. 4 "parks" in 4 days. Hopefully he doesn't start demanding this from us. I think we'll be OK though. He seems pretty tired still. That walk up Mt. Tabor is tougher than you think, especially if you're a puppy that's used to flat ground.

Rest up, Q-ball. =)

Lunch on Hawthorne

On Saturday, Quigley and I met the Hale family and the Rinehart family in SE Portland, near Mt. Tabor Park.

It had been a few months since we'd all gotten together, so it was really nice to see them again. It was also nice to see how much the young ones had grown (2 girls, and Quigley).

We started off by letting the dogs play with each other for awhile. Quigley played with Hass, about the same as way as he did 2 months ago, but now he was maybe twice the size. =) After a bit of crawling, chasing, and play-biting, we drove to Hawthorne for lunch.

Our original destination was Apizza Scholls, but it turned out that it was closed. Luckily, ¿Por Qué No? was bustling with a crowd, so we decided to get in line for the taco goodness that they serve there. Turns out the wait wasn't very long, and it was pretty easy to get a table since they make you order before getting a table. I had "Bryan's Bowl" with Carne Asada and tortillas. Oh man, soooooo yummy. I definitely have to go back there. =)

When we returned to the car, Quigley and Hass were waiting patiently. It was good that they played earlier. There wasn't a whole lot of space for the two of them to really play in there. Maybe they had some interesting conversation? =) On the way back to Vince's, Quigley was exposed to yet another noise, a crying baby. Thankfully he didn't start barking or seem too worried or nervous. Hopefully he continues to do well with kids, as he's been very impressive around them for the most part. Good boy Quigley, you don't want to make kids cry, or they won't come and pet you. =)

March for Babies!

Help join Team R.E.L. raise funds for the March for Babies event on April 24th! This event is to raise funds to help moms have healthy, full-term babies. This cause is very close to me, as I was born 2-1/2 months early. My parents know firsthand how important a full-term birth is, and I want to help ensure that all babies have a good chance at a healthy life, without having to put up a fight just to live. All that I ask is that you: A) Join Team R.E.L. B) Donate just $5 (I have many more fundraising events this year, though you may donate more.) or C) Join us in spirit. - Your support means so much!

Graduation!

Quigley graduated from Puppy Class today! Yay Quigley! During the class, there was an "obstacle course" which we took the longest, sorry Quigley, that was probably more my fault. =) He impressed all with his "Puppy Pushup" (Sit, Lie Down, Sit), and then his "Sit-Stay" lasted a whole second due to his excitement with all the other dogs, and my nervousness. Lastly the "Leave It" was a piece of cake, since he has no interest in plastic cones. LOL!

Another thing Q took home was the title of "Fastest Tail Wagger". All of this was due to carrots. No, I'm not sure how much he actually likes carrots. (None were harmed in the making of this blog.) But rather, we all had to get our dogs excited by saying nothing by the word "Carrots". It was a close match, Quigley must've edged out Patchy by a wag. =)

All-in-All it was a great day, and Quigley got his cap, certificate, and even a bowl of vanilla frozen yogurt! Good job, Quigley!

Veris' Birthday!

Friday, April 9, was my birthday. The big 3-0. To celebrate, and also to introduce Quigley, we had a bunch of friends over on Saturday. Nothing big, just a gathering of good friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in a bit.

My biggest concern with throwing a party was how Quigley would do. Would he be a rascal? Would he be over protective, since he didn't know all of these people coming into the house? Would he be overly excited? Would he bark the whole time?

Fortunately, the answer to all of these was "No". At first, Q barked quite a bit when the first guests arrived, my brother Jo, and our friend Antonette. For some reason he just barked more than normal. But after that, he didn't really bark a whole lot once he realized that people would be coming in, and that it was OK.

We kept him in his crate for the most part, as I didn't want him to cause too much trouble, especially with some young children and their LEGOS in the house. He didn't seem to mind at all, though, and he seemed content to be in his crate. I let him out early in the party so he could have his dinner. He carried on as normal, and did a few of his commands with me, without seeming too distracted. After eating, he went back into his crate to relax. The next time out, was to go potty. Surprisingly, he didn't try to pickup any LEGOs or completely stop to say "Hi" to everyone. He knew exactly what I wanted him to do, and he did very, very well.

Another thing we're happy about is how well he does with kids so far. One of the kids there, Rubie, seemed very excited to see Quigley. She gave him treats, and wanted to let him out of the crate, though I didn't think it was such a good idea right away. My god-daughter, Evie, was afraid of him at first. After seeing her older sister, Rubie, taking such interest, and seeing that her younger brother Lucien was fine, I think she warmed up to him. =) She even asked me if she could say "Bye" to Quigley before she left. How cute.

After the kids left, I let Quigley out briefly. I passed out treats to everyone to give to him, and had them make him at least sit before giving it to him. I think he liked it, since he got to meet people and get food. What a better combo!

Overall, Quigley was absolutely wonderful during the party. I don't think I could've asked for a better behaved dog that day. =) Good boy, Quigley.

Home Depot 10K

We took Quigley on a nice long walk to workout some (a lot) of his energy. Since we had an item to return, we walked to Home Depot, which is about 3 miles away from our home.

During the walk, Q did fairly well. He was well behaved, and as usual, was very happy to be out and about, especially with the two of us. It must've been nice to explore a new route for him.

Home Depot is such a great place, especially since they're dog-friendly. Quigley had actually been to this location a few times before with me, but we'd always driven. It was a little different walking there. He was much more tired. =)

I returned a handheld shower attachment that I intended to use when giving Q a bath. It had an attachment that went inline to my existing showerhead, but since it was a cheaper plastic, it was not very durable.

We went back to the bath section and found a relatively inexpensive handheld shower head that had a "pause" feature, and also picked up a diverter valve. It was a pretty busy section, so it took a little bit, but Q was so pooped, he just lay down and waited patiently. He loved it there, he got a good amount of attention, especially from the workers there.

The rain had actually started on our arrival to Home Depot, and when we left, it wasn't any better. Fortunately for Kath, I'd told her to wear her rain jacket. I just had a sweatshirt, and she let me use her hat. Q didn't have a dog jacket, but he didn't complain. He's got a full body of fur!

Since we had a 3-mile walk home in the rain, we stopped every so often under some cover to temporarily escape from the rain. This made the walk home quite a bit longer than our way out. But what really made the walk longer was that Q had to bite his poop bag, and my hand just had to get poop on it. What makes you want to bite a bag of poop, Q?!? I just don't get it. Anyways, we finally got to the Bridgeport Village area, and decided to stop at the R.E.I. so that I could wash up. It also gave me a chance to take a quick gander at their dog toy selection.

When we finally arrived at home, we found that Kath's "rainjacket" wasn't so waterproof anymore. There were puddles of water in the pockets of her jacket. =( Guess we'll have to find the wash-in water treatment for her jacket.

Not long after our entry into the living room, we were all lying down, resting. Especially Q. He had quite a restful afternoon that day. =)

Sit, Quigley

Today, Kath told Quigley to sit. So he came to her, circled around, and sat..... on her leg. =) You just had to see it.

Dog Park!

After our visit to the veterinarian, we decided to take Quigley to the dog park at Memorial Park. I'd been wanting to take Quigley there, and we aren't always in the area with him, so we figured now was as good a time as any. The weather was fairly cooperative anyways, aside from it being on the chilly side.

When we arrived we read the rules, and one of the dog owners there was very friendly and encouraged us to let Q join in on the fun. We entered, and Quigley was greeted by his dog, Belle. There were a number of other dogs there, including an older Greyhound named Sadie, an English Bulldog named Omar, some labs, and a few other dogs. Later, a tiny dog (a chihuahua, I think) came around, and we were afraid she would get run over, especially by a running Quigley, but she held her own just fine.

Quigley's favorite was Omar, who had a blast playing with him. He reminded me of an American Bulldog named Ripley, from our training classes. Q loves playing with her too. Quigley was having so much fun, that we ended up the last ones to leave. We'll definitely have to bring Q back for more fun in the park.

Winky

We came home from work on Thursday to find a very winky, puppy. Q's left eye had some yellow discharge for the last day or two, and Kath saw this his eye was a little red after work. We took him to the vet, where he peed 4 times (last time was outside). They checked his eyes, and all seemed fine, so we got some eyedrops to treat his conjunctivitis. Hopefully all will be better soon, Q.

EDIT: 4/2 - Now his right eye is having the same symptoms... =( Poor Q.