emilypuppy

Bouncy

2012-01-06T12:30:00.002+01:00

Emily's new game!

Emily at 3 years

2011-12-18T23:13:00.002+01:00

Come play with me!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

2010-11-12T16:08:00.011+01:00

My Fabulous Birthday!

I hung out in the park,

played with other dogs

and had some super yummy treats today.

It's so good to be me!

Smile!

2010-08-10T23:15:00.002+02:00

Emily is smiling at you!

Wet Bunny

2010-07-25T19:40:00.001+02:00

Post bath bunny action!

Bunny vs. Rabbit

2010-07-24T19:38:00.000+02:00

After her bath, bunny let a bit of steam out on her rabbit...

Emily tries her puppy force

2010-07-21T10:00:00.000+02:00

It is said "The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded"

Emily tries her puppy force

Emily decides the fate of the media center

2010-07-19T18:38:00.003+02:00

The new media center arrived today. Emily says Hi

Emily and the bags

2010-07-19T18:17:00.003+02:00

Emily has lots of cushions and pillows and blankets and a big mattress to sit on. So of course she claims the blue plastic bags on the floor...

Emily after bath

2010-07-17T13:11:00.004+02:00

emily with her new post-bath cleanie look!

Coffee House

2010-07-16T11:38:00.003+02:00

H. takes it all back. Coffee House (k-drama) is FABU!
After weathering the emotional shitstorm that was ep 10, it pulled out and up in ep 11 and 12, did a slingshot, and tops as the goofiest, then angstiest, keeps you guessingest thing evar... danku danku danku

Holland Boo Hoo

2010-07-12T11:41:00.006+02:00

[What? No winnies?]

Yes, the mood was glum after last night's World Cup finale, where after playing it out to 15-15 extended play, Holland lost 1:0.

To top it off, this morning, while Mommy was upstairs stuffing the sofa cover into the wash (minor chocolate emergency during excited game watching), Emily was brattily ripping up the cushion stuffing downstairs.

!!!Daddy LOVES his sofa!!!

Mommy thinks grabbing the Boo and running away from home is a viable option. Bumily's not worried. She's already checked out new parent candidates.

Footsie

2010-07-10T12:31:00.004+02:00

Emily finds the best places to hang out.

[Mmm, stinky]

[My foot~]

Emily also plants her fuzzy butt on Mommy's stomach. Yes, when your dog climbs up to sit on you, it's dominance. Mommy knows. Mommy also knows that Emily's only 10 pounds. Much good dominance will do you, shrimp.

Coffee House

2010-06-30T13:44:00.004+02:00

Oh Coffee House (K-drama), how you disappoint me. Instead of moving forward, you twist, go back, and kick in the stomach with passive aggressive as main emotional thrust? Wait, what? It's episode 10, the peak hit and miss point?

But what did I expect?!

(ARGH)

Bones

2010-06-30T11:41:00.002+02:00

Soup bones are a new treat.

[Emily with her bone]

Summer Days

2010-06-25T10:18:00.007+02:00

[Mommy should be more elated about the Korean World Cup football team making it to the 16, but honestly, H. sees it as another day of nail-biting, blood-drying, nerve-wracking frazzle, in which little will be done but refresh screen, as she doesn't have the guts to see them lose. Badly. This is not the spirit of WIN talking here.]

Emily's summer is started, now that Mommy's running after her with the buzzing clippers. Bad Puppy-cuts to follow, soon.

[Emily Contemplating Ice Cube]

H. also picked up 3 bunches of peonies that bloomed marvelously. Emily reenacts Ellen Terry:

[I Actresses]

see?:
[Choosing, G.F. Watts]

ETA: Uncle Shaggy alerts us to this DOGGY DANGER: Peonies.
Luckily, Emily's moment was brief and staged. whew!

More on Poisonous plants for dogs.

!!! WE WON !!!

2010-06-12T15:38:00.003+02:00

!!!Korea: Greece, 2:0!!!

After 4 beers, lots of screaming, lots of yelling, and swearing at the losers to just GET ON WITH IT,
we believe Mommy LET them win.

Bumily was hanging out on Uncle Ernst's knee.
hee.

Bummy (&) Mommy

2010-06-12T11:06:00.003+02:00

We've long concluded that Emily is a Cat Dog. Cog? Dat? Observe:

[Gravity? wot? This is totally normal!]

But she's also very snuggly. Always needs Mommy space. Even a bitty bit.

[I claim this back in the name of Puppy!]

***
Mommy's major disappointment in the last 1/3 of "Cinderella's Sister" has not stopped her from starting another Korean Drama. "Coffee House" is hilarious FUN. But then, all K-dramas I like are good for the first 10 eps.

You're not famous until you get a drink named after you...

2010-05-29T21:18:00.004+02:00

H&M are plotting about putting up a fence, so Emily doesn't bark down the neighborhood. Which is a bit sad. Bummy loves looking out at dogs and kids going by.

[The grass really is greener...]

To make up for it, not that it'll do her any good, Mommy will name her new drinkie after Emily. Also, because this is Emily's blog:

[The Emily]

3 ice cubes
180 ml tonic
2 strawberries, quartered
a splash of Cointreau

Add cubes, tonic, Cointreau, and strawberries in glass, then crush strawberries with fork. Tastes fresh and sweet and fun, like a funfair, but with all classy ingredients. Just like our Bumily.

Old Human News: H. runs 5K

2010-05-24T11:06:00.005+02:00

Stuff wot I been up to: Running a 5K (last week, 5/16th).

Look at the shiny square medal! H. clocked in at 24minutes and 18 seconds, which wasn't bad for someone who started running in January. Next year: 10 K!
Emily waited at home, as streets were dog-stompy, with 8000 people in the races alone, not counting the people on the sidelines.
Celebratory beer was not to be found, so went for Strawberry Juice.

Sun Puppy!

2010-05-24T11:01:00.003+02:00

[Emily, in her Throne of Stinky]

H. tried giving the little panting puppy some water, but Emily would have none of it.

Duel! Puppy vs. Mommy!

2010-05-02T21:23:00.004+02:00

[Ferocious Puppy! Hear me ROAR!]

background noise is Alias Season 3. Mommy's weapon of choice is the calcium bone from Emily's favorite chicken snack.

Emily's New Toy

2010-04-25T14:15:00.004+02:00

Where did that quack come from?

Super Puppy Super Busy

2010-04-24T19:28:00.006+02:00

Bunny's family in Maryland sent her a fluffy blue blankie. Now, Emily can be a superhero FRAPer, right out of the bath.

[Hi Gramma!]

Emily still has time to do evil, like grab the bag of cotton wipes that Mommy uses to remove her heavy duty sunscreen, tear up the bag, and nest on the rest.
[All your wipes are belongs to me]

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2010-04-19T22:04:00.002+02:00

[Yay! Kiss kiss kiss]

Bundle Bunny

2010-04-15T09:00:00.003+02:00

H&M are a bit rushed (and Emily is sitting on Mommy's lap with wet feet, leaving a damp spot on her work pants), so only a little bit of Bunny goodness for today:

[MY blankie]

Lately, Daddy's been the primary care-giver. He's been updating the blog too (as you might have noticed from the decrease in ridiculousness)
[Hello! Real puppy over here!]

Come, Sit, and Down

2010-04-07T18:20:00.005+02:00

After months of dog class, Emily follows the basic commands enthusiastically: Come, Sit, and Down

Yay! Daddy's coming home!

2010-04-02T10:13:00.003+02:00

[Ol' Underbite Em Strikes Again]

Emily's taken to throwing up hairnets (not dense enough to be hairballs), which is getting mildly worrisome. Mommy thinks you shouldn't lick the floor, Bunny.

In happy news, YAY! Daddy's coming home tomorrow!

Hello Spring, You're Looking Good.

2010-03-30T11:05:00.015+02:00

Some afternoons, Emily Puppy is the posterdog for that quote from Buffy:

Either way I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop, and my hair and fingernails still continue to grow. So really, when you think about it, what's the diff?

(BtVS Season 1, ep 01)

[What are you saying about my hair, Mommy?]

We try to keep her mat and tangle free. M. found that mink oil spray works. Emily hates it, and runs away whenever we start squirting. So, H. squirts it directly into the brush instead. As soon as it's properly warm, Bummy's getting a massive shave.

[But I'm a Natural Beauty]

Emily prefers to lick Olay Complete Moisturizer (with SPF) off my arms.

But, nothing keeps the Bumster down for long.

[You're not really done with that icecream, are you Mommy?]

* * *

In related life news, M. is at a conference in Philadelphia, so last night H. polished off a pint of Nut Explosion coffee ice-cream for dinner.

Goes to show, the ol' metabolism is firmly whipped into shape when I can still lose weight after that.

Lazy Sunday Sunny Puppy

2010-03-21T12:02:00.002+01:00

Sunday at noon, H&M are taking it easy with coffee and muffins, and Emily's over in the living room, sunning herself on the mattress.

[Li'l Patch o' Sun][What's photosynthesis, Mommy?]

Oh, Go Jump In the Lake

2010-03-18T14:27:00.008+01:00

Holland thinks it's Spring, and so does Mommy and the Bumster.
After teasing Timmy and the MinPin, H. and Emily decide it's a nice day for a free romp, without the leash. Remember the island?

While Mommy is busy picking up pieces of broken glass (%&@!!!), Emily sees DUCKS! shoots after them without warning, and jumps right into the water, and swims across to the other side.

Emily says: but that's why they call it DOGGY PADDLE, Mommy!

[I get to roll on Daddy's side of the sofa now?]

H. has to confess that only 10 minutes before this happened, she'd told Emily that little doggies wouldn't be getting any swimming lessons, as Mommy's heart just couldn't handle it.

---

In less exciting news, last night, Emily had a huge chunk of broken branch stuck in the back of her teeth, and had to be rushed to the emergency night vet in Rijnsburg.

Oi, Cujo Hours.

Pre Spring

2010-03-11T19:18:00.005+01:00

Remember our Guilermo del Torro Park?
Last weekend, we brought Bunny (aka, Emily).

[Carry me!]

[Huh, I walked just fine!]

Bunny can't wait till it's spring -- no more clothes!

Foraging on Walks

2010-03-03T09:57:00.002+01:00

Emily (aka, Bunny, short for Hunnybunsweetiepie) picks up all sorts of junk on walks. That seems (to her) the sole purpose of walks anyway.

[Bunny the Vampire Slayer]

Happy Valentine's Day Blizzard!

2010-02-14T11:59:00.005+01:00

Long time no post. Here's what we've been up to: more clothes for Emily!
We bought leopard print cloth and pink fleece for the soft inner layer. H. hand stitched it. (more on that and hand made dog thermal underwear, later)

[It's not a blankie?]

[It's not a hat?]

[Oh Yuck, Clothes]

[Happy Valentine's Day!]

Keep out of the blizzard! We'll be right back with more catch up posts.

Post Bath FRAP

2010-01-21T23:00:00.002+01:00

[That Can't be Good for You, Bunny]

Tea, chocolate, and theobromine

2010-01-14T12:59:00.006+01:00

[Emily sits for toast]

M. seriously disapproves of feeding Emily anything from the table.

H., foolishly, is taken in by that fuzzy face. Ooops.

Last night, we were drowsily digesting Thai food when Emily turned the corner of the kitchen and emerged with her nose stuck in a small paper bag.

DARJEELING BLOSSOM!!! Not tea leaves!!!

Luckily, it was mostly empty and we took the bag away. But she must have eaten a bit of dried tea leaves. Starting at midnight, and on and on all through the night, Emily FRAPPED. At 1am, at 4 am, at 7 am. Crazy dizzy running around and around and around, wanting to play play play!

Then, resume Frapping in the morning. Whew! (a dozen games of fetch down, and H. already needs a nap!)

We followed the vet guidelines, gave her lots of water, and tried to calm her down.

Funny thing was, she was so excited, she'd instantly obey commands that she'd normally balk at, even without treats.

Mini-Ice-Age Immobilizes Europe!

2010-01-11T12:32:00.011+01:00

but first, a public service announcement:

[World's Yuckiest Fruit]

Some of you may have been drawn to a spiny, bright marigold colored fruit in your grocery store and thought: Tropical? Rich and fragrant? Let's try it out!

A Few Words of Warning: Do Not EAT. If, foolishly, already purchased, use only for decoration!

Described as tasting like a banana and a lemon, the Kiwano is actually weirdly watery, sour and bitter, like cucumber seeds gone bad.

***

Now for the snow. Many of you have seen news stories on the winter that has frozen Europe. Okay, so maybe in Germany or Poland or somewhere more inner continent.

H&M went to grad school (7 long years) in the snow states of New York and Illinois, respectively, so yeah, this is a snowfall to snicker home about.

[The world is Emily's snow cone]

[What? Clothes???]

At least it's cold for the dog. Maltese are single coated, so we bundle her up in fleece underwear and the red check coat when we go out for walks. Emily hatesesss!!!

On the Second Day of 2010...

2010-01-03T02:22:00.004+01:00

Happy New Year Folks!After last year's kimchi, H. made her first pot of Ddukgook. Yums was had by all.

On the second day of 2010, H&M and Uncle Ernst finished an 11 hour Lord of the Rings Marathon. Good way to start a new year, in front of the big screen. Emily was royally bored.

Happy New Year, in 5-4-3-2--

2009-12-31T22:06:00.003+01:00

[Goodbye, 2009!]

[2010, Still All Tangled Up]

December Wrapup

2009-12-26T12:56:00.011+01:00

December Wrapup

Emily is relaxing and resting her head on my foot. It seems like a good moment to pound the keyboard and post a brief recap of the Emily universe.

- First 4 weeks of puppyhood. You should know that puppies generally do not have bladder control during their first 4 months, so you have to take them out to potty just about every hour. This means essentially no sleep for the humans.

- Spaying - for a month afterwards, you have to be extremely careful with the dog because she will try to lick at the surgery incision which could open up the wound again.

- Sickness - Emily became sick for a week. Small dogs are often finicky eaters so they don't have fat reserves to depend on when they get sick and aren't hungry. The Vet had to give Emily special liquid food to get her weight back up. Now we try to keep Emily a bit on the plumper side of life so she will have a bit of breathing room if she becomes sick again - not so easy because she is finicky.

- 12 weeks of dog class - we both have read the books on raising dogs, but it's good to see how fast the training should go by comparing to other dogs in the class. You also get a good idea of what can and can not be taught to a dog.

- Teaching Emily the critical commands: Sit, Potty, Come, Down, Stay, and No. The key is consistency in the command (both verbal and hand motion) and the reward - say the command in the exact same way each time and always give the dog a reward (i.e. a food treat) when she does the action. For me, Emily would do Potty #1, Sit, and Down on command. She would also stop whatever she was doing if I said No.

- Learning to walk correctly on a leash. This was quite an adventure. Small dogs often have weak necks for their first 6 months while they are growing up. So, most good books will suggest using a harnass or a Halti, which are devices which focus the control to other parts of the dog instead of the neck. The problem with using a harness is that it also teaches the dog that its OK (and even fun) to pull on the leash. Around month 8, Emily could correctly walk using an adult collar and leash nicely. I highly recommend Brian Kilcommons' book for help on the right technique for leash walking.

- One of the dreams of having a dog is to be able to walk with the dog (on a leash) down a crowded street or hall. This is much harder to do than one might initially think because a shopping street will have thousands of interesting smells and sounds and colors and people and in general things to get distracted by. A dog which can walk on a crowded shopping street or department store and behave in a calm manner is a very well trained dog. Around month 9, Emily was able to do this and we were very happy we could take her on shopping trips.

- Emily is also protective of the house. Anytime a stranger walks in, she will be a good little guard dog and bark up a storm until we show that we are OK with the stranger and she gets treats. Note that she doesn't bite, but she is a good alarm.

- Right now, Emily is very happy, playful, affectionate and fully potty and leash trained. She has a mixture of Orijin kibble and chicken for meals.

- For 2010, we will work on the other commands (i.e. Stay), see if there is a safe way for her to play with other dogs. Also, we'll replace the small (1 foot high) trashcans - Emily seems to think that anything within 1 foot from the floor is her domain.

The Great Snow of '09

2009-12-21T20:10:00.002+01:00

Sorry for the blackout -- M. was in the US for a week, and H. had the Internet off for work and sanity. That got to be a habit.

In luddite news, H. hand-stitched Emily's new fleece underwear (to go under her coats and cover her belly and chest). So, blackout over. Because it SNOWED. Yay!

[No Secret: The EmBunny LOVES Snow]

[She Chases Other Dogs and their Mommies]

[She Chases Kids]

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T22:07:00.005+01:00

[Scotland's answer to Gandalf?]

Also, H. got a B-day package from home (thanks, Mom& Dad!!! everything's wonderful!)

Emily's clothes were a big hit! Except with Emily, of course. She tucked her tail and hid under the coffee table.

(11/26, 10pm)

[101 reasons I love Korea: sequin trimmed faux-fur doggy clothes]

(11/27, 10 am)

[And she sulked this morning too]

[Boo! Grandma, you're related to Mommy, aren't you?]

This one is for you

2009-11-18T17:00:00.001+01:00

I can't stop smiling!

Barkety bark bark bark

2009-11-16T22:58:00.005+01:00

Emily barks ... a LOT. Half the day, I'm running down the stairs to shush her.

And barking at other dogs walking by is not an excuse. Sometimes she mistakes the ducks waddling along the road for dogs.

[Sure looked like dogs to me.]

Happy Birthday Bundley!!!

2009-11-12T09:47:00.001+01:00

[A little fuzzy, a little shaggy, Emily is a whole 1 year old today!]

--
(more to follow)

Princess Crankypants

2009-11-09T07:43:00.003+01:00

Emily, after being neglected by Mommy, runs to have quality time with Daddy:

[Yay, snuggles]

Yes, that's a 4.1kg puppy, there. Mommy laughed at how big she is now. And woke her up with the sound of the camera.

[Wah? Who? Where? Chicken?]

[Princess Crankypants]

Jailbreak Puppy

2009-11-06T14:07:00.009+01:00

As time goes on, M. and H. are learning the vicissitudes of 'dogality' -- dog personality. Emily's a right weirdo.
Example: she likes to scratch and sniff walls. (read: lick)

[Shawshank Puppy: Behind that poster of Rita Hayworth's Fuzzy Bikini is a world made of dreams....]

So, we put cardboard up against it. Nothing doing. She'll scratch and dig at the cardboard until she reaches the wall, then scratches and digs some more.

[What? This is normal!]

I don't have the heart to tell Emily that she'll only end up in our neighbor's house.

[Sleep to dig another day]

Static Puppy!

2009-10-28T22:19:00.005+01:00

[What do you mean they go up?]

Emily thinks every soft surface belongs to puppies. Even if they're winter curtains.

[Mommy, does my hair look funny?]

Rose Slips

2009-10-27T11:04:00.001+01:00

After 4 months, the second rose bloomed. I don't want to malign Canon (it's more likely my defunct photo skills) but the pictures don't do this one justice:

Perfect!

Bumily's doing fine. She's static. More later. ~~

Dog Sonar

2009-10-17T17:50:00.003+02:00

H&M are talking in the kitchen when they are interrupted by high pitched dog sonar.
So, why is the little white dog whining?

[Wah! Beary fell off the chair. Pick him up for me, Mommy!]

Energizer Puppy

2009-10-15T21:32:00.006+02:00

First, the roses. It's been over 3 months since we planted the slips, and each cutting has two huge extra shoots and a bud each.

[any day now]

Bunily also discovered napping on Daddy:

But don't let the snoozing convince you otherwise. Emily's the Energizer Puppy. Today, after two walks of 1 hour each, morning and evening, and one mini walk of 20 minutes in between (cut short because she got gooey poo all over her bum), Emily came home for a game of Crazy Fetch:

[Jump!]

Buttnaps and Books and Bread

2009-10-09T23:06:00.006+02:00

Mommy cut herself off from the Internet during the day to work, but Bumily's been a busy puppy.

Cute puppies can nap anywhere and get away with it. Guess what's my new pillow!

[Don't lose weight, Mommy. Cushy, tee hee]

And we can has three blankies.

[Good for hiding]

Emily hangs with Beary a lot 'cause he's cool.

[and he's into twine bondage]

Mommy hid the penis up on the top shelf 'cause of the yucko smell.

Emily took it out on the books.

This isn't a book, Mommy!

Oh, and Mommy made bread. Emily had some too by being really cute.

[Pretty tasty]

Just wait till you see how much the roses have grown!

Bulle Pezen & Emily, Savage Hunter

2009-09-25T11:52:00.006+02:00

H. received e-mails from friends who Googled "bully sticks." Yes, they're dried bull penises, not "tendons." Aunty Fr asked if H. would still buy them.

The only change was that for a full day (and maybe longer) H. couldn't stop saying BULL PENIS at all times.

"Emily, would you like your BULL PENIS?"
"Emily, you stink like BULL PENIS!"
"Emily, behave, or I'll take away the BULL PENIS!"

(et cetera, et cetera)

[Warning: Adult Content Humor in Euphemisms]

*
*
*
*

Uncle Shaggy thought it was too mean to make Emily engage in what he thought was a particular "grownup activity." H. wants him to know that if that's what he thinks it is: "DUDE, YOU'RE DOING IT WAY WRONG."

Caligula is not yer homeboy.

*
*
*

[/Joke Over]

The words B--- P--- are now forbidden in this household.
*kicks dirt*
Daddy's such a tyrant.

We leave you with Emily vs. the Biscuit. Watch how she teases and baits her prey (or the other way around).

The Low Down on Dog Treats

2009-09-24T15:32:00.004+02:00

H. has found out something so disturbing and nauseating about Emily's favorite chewie treat.

Go look up what "bully sticks" are made of. H. will post the answer tomorrow, when her head stops spinning.

Three Seats in Every Room

2009-09-23T13:57:00.005+02:00

This is Emily's chair. Sadly, it has a non-removable cover and we can't wash it, ergo, it's very very stinky.

[Like Good Stinky?]

Sometimes, M. claims it to wrangles her Nibs for eye-gunk cleaning. Otherwise, it's Emily's own place. (besides the mattress, three cushions, 2 boxy sofa cushions, her crate, a hidey box, and 2 blankies spread out around the house)

[Nappy Time]

Letter to Uncle Shaggy

2009-09-23T00:26:00.005+02:00

Dear Uncle Shaggy,

Mommy wanted me to tell you that I poo'ed the earplugs out, so we're out of the woods.
She wanted to take a picture and name them Uncle Shaggy's Poo Plugs, in your honor, but Daddy said no. He said, you can do without that Happy.

loves loves loves,

Emily Wemily

ps,

I also chewed up her headphone+mic, just for you.

News Flash!

2009-09-22T11:00:00.002+02:00

Emily ate H.'s earplugs again! (remember the last time?)
We're still waiting for the plug shaped poo.

Spy Dog Deluxe

2009-09-22T00:16:00.003+02:00

Weather's getting chillier, so H. laid out the blankie for Emily's spying activities.

[Water, check, Bearie, check]

[And it's Play Time!]

[Spying is Hard Work!]

Chicken Jerky for Dogs

2009-09-17T12:16:00.007+02:00

Homemade, too!
I used the recipe at Recipezaar, but had to tweak it.

First, pre-heat the oven to 100 C
- We started with 3 chicken breasts fresh out of the package, not frozen
- cut them into strips, parallel to the grain (makes them more chewy)
- lay them out on a baking sheet.
- I skipped the garlic powder, as it's on the toxic list for dogs in large quantities (but Emily's a teeny dog)
- the recipe says cook at 100 C for 2-2.5 hours
- but I had to keep it in the oven for 6.5 hours. It was just watery at 2 hours.
- that might be due to oven differences, as this one's electric (with a ceramic stovetop)

After 6.5 hours:

(No, all those strips didn't just disappear. I put away the rest.)

There was a lot of water, and it hit the oven door and dripped into a puddle down outside the oven. A dripping pan under the baking sheets would be a good idea.

500 grams of chicken breast yields 180 grams of jerky. Not too shabby, and no preservatives or coloring either. Yay! This should last her about 10 days.

[ETA] 2nd try was much easier.
An oven pan caught the dripping, and putting the fan on reduced cooking time to 4 hours.

(I hid one in a box that used to contain really nice Oolong tea -- a present from one of M.'s grad students from China. )

[Emily NEEDS Treaties!]

Dry Day

2009-09-15T14:42:00.006+02:00

Aaak!
H. and Emily come back from a long walk that included:

1) huge gloppy poo that stuck to her butt
2) wet muddy paws and legs
3) and a muddy stomach from running around in a rain drenched field,

to find that CRUD, today the building's going through a routine pipe and drainage check, and water is off until 5pm. (we'd been warned a week ago, but it was in Dutch, and I forgot. Shoot)

Drat. And I'd given Emily lots of dirty romping time, thinking she'd get a half bath afterwards. I used up a dozen diaper wipes instead, and it still feels icky, all around.

Will post on homemade chicken jerky tomorrow then.

!Hijacked!

2009-09-09T11:26:00.005+02:00

We now interrupt this Puppy Blog, to bring you sightings of THE ADVERSARY.
(tee hee. Mommy's been reading too many back-to-back issues of Fables)

H. goes running to shush Emily when she starts barking in the patio. (note: wiki says Malteses are the most dumped dog breed in Australia because of yappiness. *sads*) Usually it's other dogs, though H. is very red-facedwhen our cute puppy is barking at little kids. Sometimes it's nothing. Then again, what does Mommy know?

The tree is ten meters away from the edge of our patio. H. used the zoom lens to find out.

[Do you see what I see?]

[Nya nya, spy cats]

[That Cat's Mocking Me, Mommy!]

Honeybun and I went out to check later. No cats were left stuck in the big tree, no worries.

Rose Rustling

2009-09-07T14:48:00.014+02:00

[The lower shoots are all new]

The slips (or cutting) are 10 weeks old now, and I transplanted them into larger pots for the fall. The new shoots are coming along nicely. (I didn't shake all the dirt off to see the roots while transplanting, but what did show was pretty stable)

[Needs to grow into the pot some more]

This is before I trimmed Emily's face on Saturday:[Hairy faces fit in everything]

Puppy cut, after:
[Mommy scalped me]

Of course, after she got a bath, and we realized the sheer critical extent of her matting, I ended up shaving half the fur off her left hind leg. H. really has to sit squirmy puppy down every evening and run a brush through her, no matter how bitey Emily is.

At the tail end of today's walk, H&M spotted some other dog's dried up poo, attracting 3 dozen flies in the corner of the parking lot. We go, "Oh Yuck, some people" and walk on, not realizing for 1 whole minute that the reason Emily's not following us, is that she's stopped and EATEN IT ALL UP.

OH YUCK.
When I washed her mouth and paws in the sink, her burp smelled like farts. heh.

Favorite Toy:

2009-09-04T14:14:00.005+02:00

(besides Bunny, that is)
Anything Mommy Doesn't Want Me to Tear Up... today, it's... A Ball of Yarn!

Emily stole it out of the basket.

[Yikes! Mommy's spotted me! Maximum Carnage Ahoy!]

[Nyum Nyum Nyum Nyum!]

Favorite Sushi: Toilet Roll

2009-09-02T11:29:00.005+02:00

Pretending to bark at blackbirds, Emily tricked me by turning around and running off with fallen toilet roll (used for picking up her poo in the patio).

[Nyam Nyam Nyam! My Domain!]

Wanderlust

2009-08-29T11:58:00.005+02:00

Emily's Message to the World, Saturday Edition:

[I'm not coming out of this bag until you take me somewhere nice, not the VET]

[What? You knit a two-tone guard and then sewed it on the opening, so I couldn't jump out of the doggy-carrier, Mommy? Yum!]

Bad Bacon

2009-08-27T15:11:00.004+02:00

As we'd run out of chicken breast for breakfast, H. fried up some Dutch bacon (spek) to mix in with her kibble. (We found that Emily really likes meat grease with her Orijen, but we have to watch it, and only use the stuff without any spices)

Lured out of playing with her Kong, Emily ate a piece of bacon, and 5 minutes later, promptly threw up. Three times.

No more bacon for the dog. BOO.

Then again, Emily's developed a bad habit of jumping on the coffee table and stealing a slurp out of our drinks before we realize what's up. Coffee, Lipton Green Tea Ice, orange juice. WEIRD DOG.

Odds and Ends

2009-08-25T18:12:00.009+02:00

[Oh pooh, what's in it for me?]

On Sunday, M. finally got his wish, and we made dumplings from scratch. He even rolled out his own wrappers (and learned a lot about dough). Uncle Ernst came by later, and helped make the dumplings. Lots of interesting shapes came out.

H. made a dinosaur out of the leftover dough. Then, she baked it in the oven (which made him fatter), and painted it. M. wanted glasses.

[Grrr! Argh! Respect the Glasses! Grrr!]

Today, with the leftover cabbage (about 2/3), H. made the smallest portion of kimchi ever. From scratch, yo, and from memory (because it was too late in the day to call Mom).
This is her first kimchi ever. Hee!

*
Also, H. is mentally steeling herself to go on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage with her Mom next April. 800 km across the top of Spain. OI. She doesn't know why.

Daddy's Little Girl

2009-08-23T17:12:00.006+02:00

[I'm so cute and I'm so loveable]

[Nyah nyah, Mommy]

[And he lets me win, too]

Heat Wave Strikes Europe

2009-08-20T15:23:00.009+02:00

or so I hear. Emily and I are chilling in our living room. She's been pretty barky lately, especially late at night when she doesn't want to go to bed and is wondering why Mommy and Daddy think 1-2 am is sleepy time.

[Seriously, inquiring puppy minds want to know]

Emily's recovering nicely from her sick-time. Still, her nose is a little pinkish, instead of full black, so I let her hang out on the patio.

[Emily Puppy, Spy Dog]

[Grass, you can't let your guard down on them for a second.]

On the gardening front, our rose 'experiments' are coming along nicely. It's been 5 weeks since we planted the cuttings. At 6-8 weeks, we'll move them to roomier pots.
[Snipped and potted, June 28, 2009]
[See? New shoots]

Emily's climbing on my lap -- No! -- on the coffee table -- No! -- on the sofa -- No! -- to get a sip of my mocha cappucino. No, puppy!

Birthday Beach

2009-08-13T12:15:00.005+02:00

It was my 9 month birthday, so Mommy and Daddy took me to the beach!

[I'm the best puppy ever!]

I ran around and chased all the other puppies. They weren't that much bigger than me. Just German Shepherds and Boxers. No biggie.

[I also found all the secret Nucwear Vepons]

[And a Jellyfish!]

[Daddy needs someone to show him around. Lucky he has me]

[And I fell in a puddle]

[But it was way fun]

[And the sea was so pretty]

[You should see the other guy.]

[Then I brought home some take-out]

Daddy dropped me in the bath as soon as we got home.

[Sleepy now]

What? No Cake?

2009-08-13T11:35:00.004+02:00

Yesterday I turned 9 months. That's official teenager-hood for you. Daddy says I'm a pro at "Sit!" now. But Mommy didn't make me a cake. Boo. Chicken was good, though.

[Feed me!]

[Toast? I love toast!]

[Take a hint, Daddy]

Later, we went for a 9 month birthday walk on the beach. I herded all the other doggies because I was the best. Yay!

-tbc-

More pigging

2009-08-12T00:06:00.005+02:00

While I was upstairs for an hour, Emily jumped up on the coffee table to drag down her loot, which in this case was a bag of stroopwafels (Dutch flat treacle cookies), and ate it up.

*scowly face Mommy*

At least there were only 2 left in the bag. And nothing bad for dogs. Just not good and probably an additional 70% of her total daily calorie intake on top of everything else. She got drowsy and slept off a lot of that sugar and butter with food coma.

Then ate her dinner as if nothing happened.

Emily AKA Clifford

2009-08-11T17:45:00.009+02:00

Emily's appetite is back, and better than ever. She'll finish her Orijen even without chicken on top, in under 1 minute, then gaze soulfully at me until she gets a second helping, grilled chicken this time.

She hangs out under the table, paying rapt attention to whoever's eating, in hope that one of us will drop something.

[See how big your bum is at the wrong angle, Mommy!]

Today, she ate a stale old dog biscuit that had been lying around in my study for 3 weeks. Then she found an old Greenie (veg-based doggie teeth snack) that had been rolling around for about 3 months. GONE.

[I eat, I sleep, I stare at Mommy. Envy me]

Unfortunately, I couldn't weigh her this morning. When I picked her up from her red cushion, she growled.

[FANGS!!!]

Oh, she got the Time-out box for that one.

Better Days

2009-08-10T18:42:00.001+02:00

Emily's feeling so much better that she's even gobbling up dog biscuits, a snack she wouldn't even snort at months ago.

[No chocolate for you, Growly]

People Stuff

2009-08-09T12:54:00.005+02:00

Emily's recovering nicely, and has been perfectly wonderful for the past few days, but H. just wants to say, after 3 days of having Emily's Aunt Kat staying with us, and bumming around Amsterdam and the Hague and Leiden together, it's really kind of lonely, now. *sniff*

It was fun, we drank too much, talked too much, got lost everywhere, and I'm really missing the company something serious.

Kat's off to Paris now.

Check up

2009-08-04T12:07:00.003+02:00

In an hour, we'll take Emily to the vet to see if she's well on the road to recovery. The signs are good. During the weekend, she,

1) barked at Daddy when H&M got into a little tiff. (I thought it was funny. M. is not so sure about that)
2) barked at random people walking by and the dogs playing in front of our house
3) ate chicken three meals a day, mixed with rice and sometimes cheese.
4) even ate a whole bowl of kibble after that, the little pig.

but,

She still sleeps all day, and isn't allowed (by the vet) more than a 10 minute walk. (H. cheats by taking her out 3-4 times a day, instead).

We're trying not to call her Bumily.

Sick Days (10)

2009-07-31T15:26:00.002+02:00

Emily's back from the vet:
- no problem with bloodwork
- slight lowering of temperature (39.5)
- will eat chicken and rice/potato
- sleeps a LOT, and walks shaky.

Recovery will be very slow.
We're going back for a 5th vet visit next Tuesday to see how she's doing. I miss our crazy, barky, bossy doggie.

Sick Days

2009-07-29T13:22:00.009+02:00

Emily's been boo since late last Wednesday. She's at the vet's now.

[Feel better soon, bunbun. Mommy misses you.]

7/22 (w): boo-ish
7/23 (th): more boo, listless
7/24 (f): very boo, very listless, not very hungry
(took her to beach)
7/25 (sa): very boo, not hungry, diarrhea,
(took her to Uncle Ernst's)
7/26 (su): very boo, not hungry, ate 1 bowl of chicken, diarrhea, very hot tongue
7/27 (m): very boo, diarrhea, vomit after eating grass, ate+drank almost nothing,
1 doggie-stomach pill
7/28 (t): very boo, vomit after drinking water, ate nothing all day,
Vet: 9pm, 40C temperature, three injections, 1/3 of soft food can, 1 doggie aspirin
7/29 (w): ate nothing, drank little
Vet: 11am, back for observation

2009-07-27T12:30:00.006+02:00

Emily was feeling boo since Thursday, so we took her for a walk on the beach on Friday. She was a happy puppy, then.

[Marching Puppy]

It was seriously windy, which is why she wore the blue-t. Also, makes her more forgivable when she goes up to lick unsuspecting people's ankles.

[Brave Pilgrims]

[Wets]

[What d'you expect me to do with this?]

[A face only Mummy could love]

Oh, very funny, Mommy. I have ugly pictures of you, too!

Emily was boo all through the weekend, and still is. Did runny poos every day (and one good one every day, too), and finally threw up this morning after eating grass. She perks up for nice, interesting walks, but is listless in the mornings and won't eat even chicken.

Moody Hats

2009-07-26T12:01:00.004+02:00

Emily hit glum-puppy moodiness with a vengeance around Thursday afternoon and right now, the mood at H&M's is like a funeral home. H. has been busy looking up "dog depression." M. thinks it might be plain adolescence. Puppy-teenager goes Emo.

[Life, she sucks]

So, M. tempts her...
[With a Hat]
[Oi, Cruelty to Puppies Alert!][Daddy, I look like a dork. A French Dork]

Sulking continues.

Longing

2009-07-24T10:49:00.002+02:00

[Wake up, Daddy!]

Emily Google

2009-07-22T12:14:00.001+02:00

Emily Banner is on Google themes. Looks a lot better when you load it.

Puppy Blogging

2009-07-21T23:36:00.006+02:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/garden/pupblog.html?em

The NYT has a weekly blog following a golden retriever pup, which H. thinks will be pretty fun to read. (Will it stay real? It starts out with "arrived almost housebroken" at 9 weeks, but of course that's wobbly ground with puppies. If they have to go every 2 hours, one little mistake happens more often than you expect.)

Emily did a little poo boo-boo in the library just yesterday. It happens.
-
The grocery store had Beef Hearts in the meat section, labeled "for pets," so Emily had that with her dinner instead of chicken. New favorite foodies.

-
We went ahead and shaved Emily's feet, as they were catching little pebbles on walks. Now she has chicken legs. tee hee.

Mommy's Office

2009-07-20T12:03:00.003+02:00

What Emily gets for rolling around Mommy's Office:

[Eyepatch? Post-it!]

[What? What? Is there something on my face???]

Walk, no Walk & Pottering Around

2009-07-20T11:10:00.011+02:00

Emily hates her Halti, but it's the only way to get her to walk. She still pulls and sits in the middle of the road and behaves as if we've broken the last remnants of her free spirit, but at least it doesn't press down on her windpipe like a garrote and choke her so she makes hacking noises as she chases after a wrapper. (UGH)

We, silly putty-in-her-paws parents, are considering "the shoulder harness," decried by all dog-training manuals as "USELESS."

Looks like a well-behaved puppy, hanging out in her crate-y:

(Guess the caption for this picture)

Actually: after running away and avoiding the Halti, Emily squats in her crate and says, "walk? what is this walk you speak of?"

--

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince had a few good bits, but was overall sadly incoherent and lacked theme, drive, and most of all heart. Where was the tension and suspense, David Yates? I thought you were good at that! And the "romance" was so clunky. Sad for a past Potter fangirl to say. (Cuaron, come back!) Even Draco being all conflicted didn't make up for the overarching blah.

But the 12 minutes of 3D at the beginning was rather neat. Was that only for the IMAX theaters?

Google is so slow sometimes

2009-07-17T00:36:00.009+02:00

H. wasted a couple hours this afternoon, figuring out how to make a custom iGoogle theme (as they tell you NOTHING) with an Emily montage. It's up! but so far, I'm the only one who can use/see it. iGoogle says it'll be searchable in a few days. boo.

[ETA]
Don't trust Google's no-explanations "just upload picture" button. The banner size is roughly 1000x180 (I used 175), so prepare an image that size. Otherwise you end up with a picture enlarged and cropped and looking like a big tuft of nothing.

[5th attempt, avoiding the middle space for search-text window]

Sweet and Sour

2009-07-12T17:54:00.007+02:00

Emily's Jekyll and Hyde powers sneak up and nab you.

Here's sweetie-pie, who, after circling my feet (I was wrapping a gift at the kitchen table), decided to wait more comfy:

[ps, I love you, Mommy]

[Oh, and sleepy now]

Then, romping around all excited, thinking it was time for 'Fetch!,' decided it wasn't fun anymore when I put her old puppy coat on, and plopped down on a cushion to royally sulk:

[Boo! Hate you, hate you, all!]

Puppy Cuts in Action

2009-07-09T19:51:00.007+02:00

I could write about how, in the 10 minutes H. was getting ready to meet up with M., Emily went digging in the ivy, came in with an ant sucking on her eyeball, and H. freaked out and waved muddy doggy around, trying to pull the varmint off while Emily fought for dear life because no one touches the face, NO ONE. (I got the ant off, no big)

But hey, life as usual.

(below: Emily's fatal home-shave puppy cut, 1 week after)

[Emily, Spy Pup]

[In Daddy's Clutches]

[How, if I leave a bag open for a minute, Emily will curl up in it.]

bye bye~

Somebody Save Me!

2009-07-03T15:18:00.003+02:00

Lately, Emily's learned to come down the stairs, as well as go up. But only in the middle of the day when she's charged up and super-rompy.

When it's suspiciously quiet, I still hear a little whine coming from the hall.

[Help!]

Super hot today. We might go to for a beach walk tonight, but Emily just got her bath this morning.

Teeth Files

2009-06-30T14:14:00.007+02:00

H. is trying to fix up chapter 5 (more humor, less punishment), and Emily is scurrying to the bathroom every 10 minutes to fetch a new nail-file to chew up. The kind made of sand paper and looks like popsicle sticks.

[Who me?]

I tell her she's filing her teeth down, but nothing doing. She's on her third already. Now she's into the box of waxing strips. Must take that away.

We're off to the vet tonight to see about that tick in her chest that's not the heart.

[No vet! No vet, Mommy!]

Tick!

2009-06-26T13:00:00.004+02:00

While coaxing Emily for the first part of her walk, H. found something like a tomato seed with a black head and squirmy legs on it, half of which was EMBEDDED in Emily's chest. After panicking and pinching and tearing it up with my fingernails, later with a pair of tweezers, it was half out.

But half of it disappeared under her skin!!!

A frantic call to the vet left me with: let it pus out over the weekend, and pinch it clean on Monday.

In the meantime, H. went and shaved the dog. Close. So she'll be picking up less critters in her fur.

More regard for close-crop/less bug and not cute-fuzzy resulted in a skinny little dog with a big head and big feet.

Pictures later. I think I overdid it on her chest, though. I can see her freckles and spots.

Takes after her Mommy

2009-06-25T12:06:00.005+02:00

[It's the Magic Doorway, Mommy!]

...
in other news, Uncle Shaggy is made of win! (maybe accidental win, but win). Mommy hasn't laughed this hard about the 'economy' (*wink wink*) in, well, ever.

and also Mommy really dislikes the odor of fail! in some English departments. They seriously need more jellybeans, plus a kick in the pants.

Before and After

2009-06-23T18:17:00.006+02:00

On Sunday, I mentioned that Emily nosed around the bedroom, and ate my earplugs. We thought we'd like to show you what we found.

Those with more delicate sensibilities, please avert your eyes and come back tomorrow for sweet puppyness. The rest of you toilet-humor kids, scroll down.

.
.
.
5
.
4
.
3
.
2

.
1

BEFORE
[A Brand New Plug]

(btw, you can see two missing keys in the background)

AFTER

[What we found in her poo]

NOBODY will be doing ANY recycling here, so shush.

Emily Puppy has been busy

2009-06-21T11:44:00.007+02:00

[Happy things first]
Emily the super busy puppy's been

... picking up slack for Mommy.

Mostly she's been barking. This is what she looks like when she does that:

[I call her Ol' UnderBite Em]

Mommy's always staring at the evil flat thingy -- with squiggly things on it. So Emily wanted to do it too. It didn't taste so good.

[Whatever. It couldn't have been that bad.]

H: [Emily pulled 6 keys off my computer and ate two. We now have replaced "I" and "9" with "Alt Gr" and some key with a weird picture on it. I'm running out of useless keys fast]

She also ran into our bedroom and ate my earplugs. I know because they were gone from the bedside table. Also, two nights later, I found them in her poo.

H. has gotten a lot better at stuffing the Kong. 'Cause Emily can't get her goodies out. Sometimes she barks at it:

[Then she just whines at the food to come out]

She also tore a hole in her new beddy, and is bent on spilling its innards around the house. But they're okay.

[Still a cutey. But kind of hairy.]

[I can see you right there, Daddy!]

xxx

2009-06-11T13:05:00.005+02:00

Some of Emily's misdeeds are rated R to NC-17 that they never make it on the blog. You'd never guess, to see such a cute, innocent-face puppy.

She likes sneaking into the bathroom. The toilet brush is her buddy. But today, she was ripping up a package of my [bleep]s, and the adhesive part got stuck on her paw. She stomped around with it, and threw a right fuss when I tried to tug it off.

ETA. Ooops, she snuck out into the hall and did it again. 10 sloppy puppy kisses if you guess what she played with.

Busy Puppy

2009-06-08T18:15:00.007+02:00

[by Emily, the puppy]

Dear World,

Wow, what a busy day! I was such a good, hard-working puppy, too: I picked up IND paperwork and fried chicken for Mommy and Daddy, and came home to do two loads of laundry. Then I fixed Mommy's horrible chapter, and told her all my brilliant ideas for the new series she stole off Daddy. Of course, I couldn't type it up (because I'm just a little puppy), but Mommy has to do something to earn her keep, doesn't she? Lazy Mommy.

She must be the laziest Mommy in the world, but she's lucky she has Busy Puppy to take care of her. Mommy says I'm so hard-working, I must take after my Uncle Shaggy.

love,

Emily Puppy.

ps. What's Child Labor Laws?

Third Time's the Charm

2009-06-07T11:24:00.011+02:00

Emily's test driving her beddy for the third time (after peeing in it twice yesterday). I stuffed it in her crate to see if she won't wet it if it's the bed.

[Froggy had it coming. He looked at me funny, Mommy]

[ETA] Emily peed on her new fluffy bed for the THIRD time, which was in her crate this time. And 5 minutes after refusing to pee when I took her outside.

Oi oi. *mommy headaches*

Bed Hunter

2009-06-06T14:10:00.005+02:00

The great hunting dogs of yore have brought down mammoths and tigers. Emily attacks her new beddy:

What you don't see here: 10 minutes later, she christened it with pee. She's a classified hunter/pee-er.

[ETA] 5 hours after she'd peed in her new beddy, Emily got it back, freshly washed, then dried fluffy on the radiator. She enjoyed it for 5 minutes, after which she prompty peed in it again.

Mommy: OI!

The amazing flying puppy

2009-06-05T12:49:00.006+02:00

Evidently, Emily thinks removing her ovaries was meant to make her lighter for air travel.

When we came home, H.'s leftover slice of cake, sitting high up on the kitchen table, was GONE, and a doggy munch left on the rest of the pound cake. We can only assume that Emily learned how to fly.

(or she jumped on the chair, then up on the table, ate the cake, knocked a magazine to the floor, and jumped back down, innocently wagging her tail to greet us in the hall)

[Let her eat Cake]

- well, she'd already gnawed at it, anyway.

- and yes, she's eating pound cake, lying on Mommy's (faux) fur jacket, after she'd had 2 breakfasts already out of her Koryo celadon doggy bowl.

Post Surgery, Day 7

2009-06-04T15:00:00.005+02:00

A whole week has gone by since Emily got spayed, and the changes have been unexpected.

First, Emily peed on her two red sofa cushions. Then once on the floor. And did a poo, too. Goodbye perfect potty training.

Second, she's started BARKING at me, very loudly and persistently, to pay attention to her. Bratty Mc Brat.

Third, and she's gotten a lot faster too, running around like a scuttling crab.

Fourth, she flies in the face of authority and leaps up on the sofa and coffee table while I'M IN THE ROOM (instead of sneaking around to do it when I'm not).

All in all, the wishful thinking that she might get calmer: DASHED. Definitely not a slower dog.

Then again, the spaying coincided probably with the onset of puberty.