Happy Howl-idays!

Merry Christmas!!

Tax Breaks For Fido?

A new bill up for approval in the House would allow pet owners to deduct up to $3,500 for qualifying pet care expenses. May sound crazy, but considering the thousands we've spent on Charlie in vet bills, doggy daycare, and chewsticks in just his first year we're all for it!

A Year In The Life...

It's hard to believe it, but a whole year has passed since we adopted Charlie from the shelter August 11th last year. Thinking back, we have all come a long way since those first few weeks of panic and fear that we had no idea what we'd gotten ourselves into. The last year has definitely been a dog dog world, between failed crate training, middle of the night potty breaks, teething, obedience class, chewstick obsessions, dog parks and so much more. It has been a long learning process, both for Charlie and us, but well-worth it and we couldn't imagine our lives without him. Now we are at the doorstep of another year and another new adventure with the addition of a new baby coming shortly and we can't wait to see what's in store for our family.

Dogs and 2 Year-Olds

Interesting article about research suggesting that dogs have the same intelligence level as a human two-year-old.

"Like 2-year-olds, dogs can experience fear, anger, happiness and disgust (perhaps at a human's sub-par math skills), but not guilt. Humans don't feel guilt until about age 4, Coren said."

Vote for Charlie!!

Just entered the cutest dog competition, we think he's a shoe-in!

A New Hobby

Charlie's new favorite pastime: collecting socks.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Charlie!

While we don't know his exact birthday, we do know that Charlie was approximately 2 months old when we adopted him from the shelter in August last year, so odds are he was born sometime in June. We'll be celebrating this weekend with doggie frozen yogurt and a new toy!

And Baby Makes... A Full House

There's been a significant lack in posting, I know, but life in our household has been quite crazy the last few months. In January we found out we would be having a new addition to the family in the form of a baby, and as the baby's due date swiftly approaches we have been scrambling to prepare Charlie for his new housemate. Having been lax about keeping up with his training thus far, we have now ramped it up to a whopping ten minute session every evening, hoping that will start to help keep him focused and teach him to be a better listener in the coming months.

We also purchased "And Baby Makes Four: A Trimester By Trimester Guide to a Baby Friendly Dog" by Penny Scott-Fox, which suggests doing things such as playing a CD of a baby crying for four hours a day until your dog becomes immune to the sound and leaving baby scented items around the house. So far we have started with the crying baby CD, in my humble opinion however, four hours is simply too much for any dog - or human for that matter-  to have to listen to a screeching baby, plus he has done really well so far not paying it much attention at all, I guess we'll have to wait and see how he does with the real thing.