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.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
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. =)
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.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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.
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.
EDIT: 4/2 - Now his right eye is having the same symptoms... =( Poor Q.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Kennel Cough
What a tough last few weeks Q had. We had boarded him at a location near the SouthCenter mall in Tukwila, WA, while we went to the Jake Shimabukuro concert in Bremerton on 3/13. Quigley seemed to have had a great time, with great reports from the staff there as well. Afterwards, Q visited his friend Hass, and they had a great time playing together.
It wasn't until later that night that he started coughing. It may amount to nothing more than a dog-version of a common cold, but experiencing it for the first time was somewhat terrifying. I took him to the vet on Monday, where he got checked up and put on antibiotics.
The first time I tried to give it to him, I put it in with his kibble. He found it, chewed it a few times, then spit it out. Then I wrapped it in his Gooberlicious treats, and he had no problem eating it then.
"Lucky" dog got 2 nice spoonfuls of peanut butter each day for the next 10 days. What was really tough though, was not letting him play with any other dogs. =( Poor guy. All he ever really wants to do is play and have fun. (and eat, of course)
Anyways, Quigley has been doing fine since last week when he finished his meds. His first day back at "school" was last night, and he got to see all of his classmates again, and even got to play with his friend Ripley a little bit before class. He was so happy to see and play with her.
I hope that his little bout with Kennel Cough has made him a more hearty dog, and hopefully he won't get too many more infections while growing up. Thankfully, this went fairly easily, and he's as happy as can be now!
It wasn't until later that night that he started coughing. It may amount to nothing more than a dog-version of a common cold, but experiencing it for the first time was somewhat terrifying. I took him to the vet on Monday, where he got checked up and put on antibiotics.
The first time I tried to give it to him, I put it in with his kibble. He found it, chewed it a few times, then spit it out. Then I wrapped it in his Gooberlicious treats, and he had no problem eating it then.
"Lucky" dog got 2 nice spoonfuls of peanut butter each day for the next 10 days. What was really tough though, was not letting him play with any other dogs. =( Poor guy. All he ever really wants to do is play and have fun. (and eat, of course)
Anyways, Quigley has been doing fine since last week when he finished his meds. His first day back at "school" was last night, and he got to see all of his classmates again, and even got to play with his friend Ripley a little bit before class. He was so happy to see and play with her.
I hope that his little bout with Kennel Cough has made him a more hearty dog, and hopefully he won't get too many more infections while growing up. Thankfully, this went fairly easily, and he's as happy as can be now!
Friday, March 12, 2010
New I.D. Tag!
When we adopted Quigley, I noticed that the humane society had an OSU Beavers dog tag in the shape of a bone with a little flashy orange accents on one side of the bone. I wasn't too sure how much I liked it, since I wanted his tag to be a little more simple. After some searhing around, I found a nice simple round OSU Beavers tag from CustomTagStore.com. They were great at responding to my emails and had a quick turnaround time. I ordered the tag, with engraving on Tuesday morning, and it was shipped to me the following day!
We were very pleased with the quality of the item and the engraving. It also matched well with his other 2 tags, and the color of Q's fur. Check out my pup stylin' in his new bling. LOL! Finally, a tag with your actual name on it, Quigley. =)
Big thanks to Jim at customtagstore.com. Click HERE to get your tag too!
Go Beavs! =)
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