MUPPY AND GERTRUDE

2008-01-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

well, I have already broken one of new year's resolutions to post more on my blog. ugh. its been hard because the camera is completely gone, therefore i havent had pictures to post, which is KILLING me, but whatever. we are getting a new one soon, so hopefully all will be well. the babies are doing super well- they were spoiled rotten at Christmas time, as usual. They have just been up to the usual. Hopefully next time I post I will have more photos to show off- see ya all later.

2007-12-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

we have been way too busy to do anything! here are our Christmas card pictures- one is serious, for family, one is silly, for friends (per Steve's request).

2007-11-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

hello there-
I have no pictures to post but i will let you know that we had a delightful holiday- i am still waiting for pics from my sister of thanksgiving with the puppies so hopefully those will be here soon. Steve decided to give the girls ham and i think they liked it but we did not enjoy the gas that soon ensued afterward. anyway, just wanted to let everyone know we are alive- soon i will have christmas card pictures and joy!

2007-11-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, I finally got fancy and got some neat pictures onto the computer... Our friend works at Petco and I broke down and decided to get professional Halloween pics of the dogs.... behold (ps. I made my costume and the puppies' costumes. I am a witch, Gerti is a goblin and Muppy is a jack-o-lantern as I assume this is not apparent to everyone):

2007-11-01T21:16:00.001-07:00

i know i mentioned in my last post that there was much cuteness to come to our blog in the form of photos (Halloween photos to be exact) but we haven't gotten the prints back from the photographer. yesterday was Halloween and we went to the Winchester Mystery House, a mere 6 hours away... oy. it was well worth the trip though, although we were all very tired today... including the girls. i'm sure they slept the entire time we were gone as we do not get many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. i felt really bad about leaving them "overnight" (for literally about 12 hours) but i knew it really wasn't that long. anyway, i could not live with myself if i did not acknowledge that today is the year anniversary of our little blog... delightful!

2007-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hi there everyone. Very very soon I will have captivating photos with which to amuse and show the Halloween spirit in my household.... Alas, not quite yet. BUT I do have some delightful news in that Gertrude ("Choo Chee") made it onto the Owned by Pugs calendar for 2008! She is in July! Check it out if you so desire (C&P for my computer lack of knowledge-ness). http://www.ownedbypugs.com/index.php/2008CalendarContest/calendar/july . Thats all for now- soon though- much cuteness is at hand!

2007-10-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

OKAY- right off the bat I apologize for not having updated in 30 million years. There has been some insane busy-ness in out household, what with Halloween and other holidays coming up. I have been working furiously on costumes for myself, my husband, and the ladies. Hopefully all that hard work and neglect of the blog will be worth the cuteness i hope to post later on in the month once Halloween rolls around. I have not been able to snap any particularly entertain photos of Muppy lately, but I have some pretty dern cute ones of Gertrude. The ones of her in a pile of laundry are just that- she was really comfortable there while I was getting ready for work one morning and I had to snap a couple of shots of her from far away and close-up. Delightful. The other sets of shots are of Gertrude being scared by Steve's R2D2 toy thingie that is voice activated. That thing freaks her out to no end. Thats it- we are alive and well, just buuuuuusy.

2007-09-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

howdy there folks... i just thought i would throw in a little update about le girls- they are doing marvelously, they made a new friend last night- i guess a couple of new friends... Maeby the chihuahua and Nermal the cat. i think Maeby liked them a little more than Nermal, but what can i say? i also just wanted to say hi to my puppy niece Tilly and let her know she is in my thoughts as she recovers from being spayed. i think she will do fine though. thats all for now....

2007-09-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

Well, just a little sort of update- it has been too much lately with school and work to really be able to update with any kind of regularity. The girls are obviously upset with the new school situation since they decided to eat one of my hardcover school textbooks as well as chew the crap out of my brand new binder. Grrrrg. Angry times. but, what do I expect since they are home alone so much... sigh. Some fun times as of late were labor day weekend where we went to see my dad, sister and her boyfriend and Tilly... plus my dad's Australian Terrier Spike. Also, we took a trip to the Petco and tried on a jack-o -lantern costume for Muppy, potentially for Halloween... Gerti might be a frog, but I can't find any frog pet costumes so I will probably have to get crafty and make one. None of this is written in stone yet though so we will see. We will all definitely be dressed up, but as to what as I am not completely sure. Here are some pics- the group ones are of the girls and my family on labor day, and there is one lonely one of Muppy is jack-o-lantern form... although she doesn't look too thrilled about it.

2007-08-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

hey there- nothing much new going on with the girls- we got a new auto and school starts this week so life has been a little crazy. just thought i would make a quick update- pics of gerti playing monopoly with steve and i and our friends richard and kristina. also gerti trying to be a hat. muppy is not pictured because she was feeling very unfriendly that night. i will try try to post more frequently, although with impending school i don't know how possible that will be.

2007-08-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hey there doodles- we made it back alive! Actually, we have been back for about a week now.... Had a ton of fun, spent too much money- you know how it goes. The girlies missed us something fierce but I think we missed them more, especially when we were at the train station and saw a really cute (better groomed) similarly colored shih-tzu that reminded me of Muppy.... So well behaved. sigh. Anyhow, the girls have been adjusting well- We also had the carpet cleaned recently so they have been a tad confused as to where all of their delightful smells have gone. Hopefully they don't go and create new ones.... Really, other than that, nothing much has been up. We resumed movie night on Wednesday, so Gerti and Muppy were stoked to see their pals. Gerti decided to get a little friendly with our friend Samantha's arm somehow. Don't really know exactly what she was doing or trying to accomplish. Sometimes she just works herself into a frenzy over trying to attack peoples' hands. Its weird....

2007-07-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

HEY-lo, this is sara again.... actually blogging from the san diego comic-con. I didn't want too much time to pass before I talked about Muppy's special birthday numero 2, which was on Wednesday... which happened to be the day we left on the train for san diego. Anyway, when i stopped into the 3 dog bakery, i also picked up some stuff for Muppy- a cute bunny rabbit toy with a similar design to Gertrude's birthday elephant, as well as a HUGE cookie.... i couldn't find anything with shih-tzu in the title like Gerti's pug-bug, but what can you do. The morning before we left I made sure to wish her a happy birthday before we left... and although i haven't found anything for them yet, maybe i will find some toys for them at the comic-con. I miss them super ridiculously much.... but we are having a LOT of fun. some highlights were meetin MST3K guys (yeeeees) as well as seeing George Romero, a hero of mine.... but the convention is still young. the other night we got to see the puppies via webcam at my in-laws' house, because i just plain missed the crap out of them. maybe we will do that again tonight.....

2007-07-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. Nothing too huge has been going on-I have been trying to take the dogs out for more walkies to wear them out a bit and give them more exercise (although they aren't really flabby or anything...). Yesterday was my day off so I met up with my friend Courtney for coffee at this hoity toity place near where we live called the Lakes. I have been there a few times with Muppy and Gertrude, and they seem to like it- sit in the shade and human-watch. Yesterday was particularly hot in Southern California where we live, so there was more sitting than walking, but it was still pleasant. Today I went back to work and saw a couple of REALLY cute Westies, one of which my co-worker might adopt. I love seeing puppies in the bank- it always brightens my day. And it just so happens i had my camera on me! So, those random cute white pups are them- not even named yet! Makes me miss Gerti and Muppy's cousin, Tilly.... sigh. Will report more later- Muppy's birthday is next week, on what happens to be preview night of the biggest dorkfest of the year in San Diego.... comic-con.

2007-07-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today is here! And you know what today is? My little pug baby's FIRST birthday! One year ago today she came in to this world, born to change the world! TURN THE BLOG WORLD ON ITS EAR!! Well, maybe not quite yet, but she has definitely improved my, Steve and Muppy's lives for the better! This week I was scheduled to be in training in sunny Pasadena, Ca, where there happens to be a Three Dog Bakery, which I heard a lot about about from Shelby's blog. So, I picked up some treats for Gertrude's birthday (and for Muppy's second birthday, which is on the 25th) and also a nice new elephant, because she loves her other smaller elephant, which we bought for her the day we got her. Among some of the CUTE snacks i got for the girls, there was a little lady-bug like cookie which i had to get for Gerti, as it is called a pug-bug, as well as some cute star cookies that were for Muppy so she wouldn't feel left out. Let me tell you, Gerti fell in love with that elephant the second I took it out of the bag, and seriously scarfed the ginormous pug-bug cookie. Muppy definitely seemed to enjoy the little star cookie too. I am so pleased that we (My friend and co-worker Janine who i carpooled to training with) went over there today on break! Definitely worth the look on my little birthday girl's face:). I will update more later, but i had to post some photos from the day!

2007-07-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

!happy belated 4th of July! hope everyone had a safe one. we didn't really do too much for our holiday. the 3rd was my mom's b-day, but steve and i had to work and knew we were coming out for the 4th, so we didnt get to see her the day of, but we did have guests over and watched all kinds of silliness. Gerti and Muppy have been really tired lately due to the HEAT (mid 90s into the 100s some days) so there really hasnt been that much activity with them. we took some really cute pics of them the other day just hanging out- Gertrude was even watching TV with us, sitting like a frog. for the 4th we went to my mom's house, but we forgot our camera so no pics of the day of. until next time, enjoy....

2007-07-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

ok ok ok- let me first start with an apology and a comment that June was a very busy month and nothing too exciting or amazing has really been going on with the puppies. Muppy got groomed (which she sorely needed) and Gerti- well, Gerti has just been Gerti. June was the month of our anniversary, so we went on a trip to San Francisco (very fun by the way) and the girls stayed with their grandparents for a couple of days. We had been busy planning that trip, and then towards the end of this month is our annual journey to San Diego for the comic-con (we are nerds). We go every year, and the dogs again get to stay with their grandparents. A couple of relevant events later this month are the 11th (gerti turns 1) and the 25th (muppy turns 2)! i haven't really decided what we are going to do to celebrate all this, but it will definitely bun fun and filled with more treats/toys for the puppers. maybe even a jaunt to the dog park. we will see. ARG!!! well, steve just caught muppy eating her own poop, so i guess i should get going. here are some pictures to tide everyone over- i promise to never go more than a month without posting ever again!

2007-05-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

hey there peoples. nothing new here at all- just thought i would share that gerti barfed this morning. hhheeeerrrg. muppy has also not so much been warming up to the neighbors. i am put my foot down and definitely taking them for more walks- for their health and my own. they are getting to the point where they run around the apartment all night and the bedroom all morning. not helping my sanity, for sure. i cant wait until we get a bigger place with maybe a bigger patio or even.... a yard! dream big, kids; dream big. anyway, it looks like that is going to be a longer process than we all thought, but when it happens, it happens. thats all for now. memorial day we are going to visit the families so gerti and muppy are going to have fun this weekend. that be all for now- more pics later on when i take them for walkies!

2007-05-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

sorry- i am the worst blog mom in the world, what can i say? lately i have been trying to get pics of gerti and muppy sleeping in the laundry, but every time i get up to get the camera they follow me and thus the shot is lost. speaking of LOST, tonight was lost night and i took a few cute pictures. the girlies were way excited for company (as always) and i snapped a few of them playing with our pal Mark. i think you might be able to see our friends Owen and Sarah in the background too preparing for the show to start... next week is the season finale and who knows what we will do with ourselves after that. Much fun though, i am sure...into the wee hours.

2007-05-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

hello everyone in the blogspace. it has been a little while since i posted about the girls- again with the hecticness. this weekend we visited family and they got to spend a lot of time with their couson tilly, the westie. i am actually at work right now, but i am so bored i thought i would make a little list of my favorite and least favorite things about the pups. here goes:

MUPPY- my likes
1. muppy is a loving dog to all of our pals
2. muppy is super cuddly- she does this thing where she rubs her face into your face, just like snuggling- its the funniest, cutest thing ever
3. she is really most of the time pretty mellow- she never bites unless she is playing around with gertie- this can make life much simpler.

GERTIE- my likes
1. gertie is loving to people, animals- anything. she is up for anything all of the time- pretty fearless
2. is gertie cuddly? yeah- 24-7 this girl loves to cuddle. she sleeps in the bed under the covers, if we are sitting she is sleeping on us, and for the most part, this is awesome.
3. gerti snores almost as bad as steve. it is the CUTEST! period.

MUPPY- my dislikes
1. muppy can be really snooty to other dogs and SOME humans. she still hasn't quite warmed up to our neighbors or their dog... sigh
2. can you say this girl like to bark? because she does. whenever she hears people passing the apartment, which is ALOT, she barks at them, which gets gerti worried and she starts to cry. we are working on this, but it gets a little old...
3. if muppy ever gets people food, even by accident, she thinks she can hold off eating and we will give her more (doesnt happen). this particularly happens when we visit family and they gove her treats. when we come home she thinks she is the queen of sheba and we will give in and let her have our dinner or something.... not good.

GERTI- my dislikes
1. i like that gerti is so playful, but sometimes it gets a little out of hand, she can get so riled up that she ends up getting crazy and trying to eat our hands. its a puppy thing, but i need my hands!
2. she always tries to follow me into the bathroom, and when i close the door on her she gives me this look of utter disappointment- like "why mommy, why?". same goes for when i leave for work. at least she doesnt cry like she used to.
3. again, when muppy barks, gerti proceeds to cry and it gets a little sad/annoying.

all that being said i still love my dogs as if they were my children... there are just some things i like more and others i like less and that is all....

2007-04-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

oh holy sweet jiminy- i am so glad i have some photographic evidence.... we were playing with the puppies and steve threw their froggie onto the dining table by accident... i mean, just barely hanging off- i had to take a pic of it, as shown above. :)

so, muppy wigs out because steve wont get it for her, and i also had to document her not being able to reach the little dangly legs- primadonna. so, steve finally got up....

and decided to give muppy and gertie an inflatable GLOBE, rather than giving them the frog... makes a lot of sense- since they dont have sharp teeth and claws and all (sarcasm...). hence:

no more inflatible globe. they put a hole in it pretty much immediately and are even more upset now- good job dad... it was pretty hilarious though while it lasted...

2007-04-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

so, i have been insanely bad this month posting about the pups- its just been a crazy month. we may or may not be relocating some time soon- we are going to try, but who knows- so the gears have been grinding on that one... we met our neighbors dog, Mitsu- such a cutie. Gertie really liked him a lot- even ran over into the neighbors apartment to play with him- lucky for her he is friendly, and our neighbors are great too. really, nothing else has been happening. we have been going down to visit family lately by the beach so they have been getting walks on the sand, enjoying every minute of it. i don't have any new pictures to post either, so this is more of a quick update to say we are still alive, sort of. i promise to post new pics soon though- in the meantime check out pugaday.com- they have amazing stuff on there. cuteoverload.com is what gets me through the day when i cant see my own pups.... sigh.

2007-04-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

well, it has been a long past couple of days. the girlies have been happy because Steve and i have been home sick with the PINK EYE. i go back to work tomorrow but steve still has a couple of days, so they have had so much company this week... other than that everything has been going really well. we get to take the girls to the petsmart tomorrow as it is time for more food and perhaps more treats and babies. because i have been so bored at home lately i have been taking cute videos of muppy and gertrude. i got one yesterday of gertie snoring like a bear- once i figure out how to post it i will because its too cute not to put up. here are some more photos from the last couple of days... sigh... pink eye...

2007-04-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

hello everyone out there in the blog-o-sphere... it has been really hectic around here, so i havent been able to post nearly as much as i wanted to. here are some new pics finally! gertrude turns 9 months old tomorrow- whoopie! for all you other pug blog trollers, i highly recommend www.pugaday.com. really awesome idea!!

2007-03-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

well, i have been a bad blogger mommy again. its has been crazy here though, so i forgive myself and i know the girls do too. big events in the last few days have been that Gertrude ate a bumble bee, and Muppy barfed for no reason. thats all the excitement there is... yeah. they only eat dry food, so they weren't affected by the recall (thank god), so that didnt contibute the Muppy's random barfdom. Steve got a new television (behemoth) and Gertrude has definitely taken a shining to it. we watched part of Happy Feet last night and she pretty much had a coniption fit. pretty hilarious. i am posting from work, so i have no new pics to post- maybe later!

2007-03-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

aw jeez- well, today was my day off, which means its my day to run errands. steve ended up home today too, conveniently, and we pretty much planned on relaxing and getting errands done. so, in the morning, we were sitting, getting ready to get going with the day, when gertrude decided to scare the crap out of us and have this weird reverse sneezing bit. we had never experienced her having one of these attacks (i mean, she kinda snorts whenever she drinks her water, but really nothing prolonged like this was) so we were REALLY freaking out- which got gerti and muppy really freaked out, which probably made everything worse... so, being the concerned individuals that we are, steve got on the internet and found out that its completely normal for pugs to have this weird hacking every once in a while, for maybe a couple of minutes max- that didnt mean we stopped worrying, and did everything we could find on the internet to help the situation- rubbing her throat, briefly covering her nose, lemon juice to break up the phlegm- and it still kept happening. she started getting really tired, which scared us even more, so we decided to call up a vet we had never been to (since our existing ex-vet really sucks). i mean, she had been snorking for about half an hour now, so we were really upset. he talked to the vet and they suggested doing more of the nostril covering business off and on... which, long story short, ended up working. she really scared the crap out of us though. even muppy was relieved! toward the end of the day, we watched casino royale on blu-ray, and gerti really enjoyed it. steve and i theorize she has a crush on daniel craig, but she isn't admitting anything....

2007-03-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

i have never seen a dog freak out like Gerti does when the vacuum comes on- its like a personal assault on her territory. first, she howls and freaks out, then she hides from it (which is what Muppy does the duration of the vacuum being on), then, she decides to attack it while running away from it at the same time. its weird, i know. every family dog i ever had never gave two thoughts to the vacuum, so its weird for me to witness. so, i snapped a few photos on LOST night while we were cleaning. i also got a couple of Gerti perched on the couch when she wants to see the people leaving, yet we wont let her near the door (usually we do let them hang out and follow people to the stairs, but paint was still wet, thus no puppies outside). ENJOY

2007-03-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

oh my sweet lord!! 2 posts in 2 days! unheard of. but we actually went out and did something today- we went out to meet Courtney and Naomi for coffee this afternoon. Too bad it was in the mid-90's today in southern California- oh well. they had fun, and had plenty of water, but they were exaughsted afterward for sure, and we were only our for a couple of hours. erg. they painted the floor outside our apartment so of course Muppy and Gerti ran out and got their feet in it- completely ignored the walking boards that are out there- oh well, theya re overdue for bath anyhow. anyway, without further ado, the pictures from this afternoon.

2007-03-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

finally we have actual pictures to post! yaay! investing in batteries is fun! no new news- just thought some new pics might be nice.

2007-03-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

so, i once again have made a liar of myself.... no new post this weekend, no new pictures because we are lazy. it was an evenful weekend though- my birthday was on sunday, and i worked, but we had a fun weekend with my family and in-laws. the girls were so excited to get out of the apartment alone-they were going to go on a walk on saturday, but it was insanely windy and i dont think it would have been too much fun. the girls have been in this really destructive phase lately... they ate schindler's list on friday night (took it out of the shelf, by the way) and have been getting at shoes like you wouldnt believe. Fortunately, the potty training seems to be coming back to them (they were getting pretty bad there to the point where we thought we were going to go back to the crate training). We still haven't met the neighbor's dog, although we hear it a lot. not much more to report- i swear i will put more pictures up SOON!! in more serious news, our pal, Zoe the Chihuahua has been under the weather lately- she has some sort of degenerative back disease that she is being treated for- which means bed rest for her for 6 weeks! but, it is a preventative measure, so it is worth it to be done- we are thinking of you Zoe and Lauren (mama of Zo-bo).

2007-02-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

hello everyone- it has been a while since i have posted anything about the girls- mostly because nothing too grand has been going on. we haven't been to visit our families in a couple of weeks, so thats something, and then Steve and my work schedules have been insane, so their has been some neglect going on and a lack of pictures... bummer. they have been painting our building (quite shoddily i must say) so the girls are pretty pissed off to hear painters there every day. hehe. also, our neighbors got a new dog (we knew they were looking for one) and although we haven't been introduced yet, we are all excited about meeting.... uh.... it. we hear it barking, we hear it crying- we just haven't SEEN it yet. The potential is just endless though. This weekend is my birthday so we should be doing things, hopefully including the puppies. we are going to Disneyland tomorrow with my sister and her boyfriend, so we can't take the puppies there... another day of neglect. but, what can you do? they will get extra lovings this weekend, i promise. no pictures today, but i thought it would be nice for a little update. I promise a post this weekend WITH pictures.

2007-02-20T20:05:00.000-08:00

hello everyone. this weekend was too short, even though it was an actual 2 day weekend for us.... Sunday we went down to see our families, and i took Gertrude to visit Tilly (i had a bad feeling about taking Muppy because of her unresponsiveness to Tilly- ie, she hates her)
and they played ALL DAY. Muppy took a walk on the beach with her grandpa in the morning and steve and i hung out with our respective families. Monday we were also down there and i could tell the girls were happy to be out. Steve's brother has a bird that Gertrude is facsinated with, and Muppy is terrified of- or should i say, wary of.... so it was cool to see them interact again- too bad i didn't take any pictures, but we were watching them like hawks so that Gerti wouldn't try to eat Echo (the bird) and Echo wouldn't try to eat Gertie's marble-like eyes. so much love. they weren't mean to each other or anything, just cautious- like in a weird stare-down. Of course when we got home we discovered that we were all out of dry food and didn't feel like going out again, so the girls had only wet food for the first time in their lives, and i think they enjoyed it thoroughly. tonight i got more of the dry stuff (and the kind of stuff we get seems to be ridiculously expensive for some reason because it is natural, good for the coat and skin stuff- nutro all natural), but i let them eat the rest of the can of the wet- hopefully they don't decide to be evil and picky and not eat their dry food. they'll pretty much eat anything though, so i'm not too worried about it. today, unbeknownst to us, the apartment and patio was painted, so i am sure the girls had a scary time with the painters, and the painters had a scary time with them. tomorrow we will make sure to CLOSE the door so they won't be harassed. also tonight Steve's pal Wytt came over to say hi and met Gertrude for the first time. she kept trying to eat him, but we wouldn't let her. here are a couple of silly pictures from the evening.

2007-02-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. its slightly belated, but oh well.... the girls got little treats, and a special visit from our friends Kit and Jenny for LOST night. they were super excited to see them, and it was pretty funny because Gerti and Muppy haven't seen Kit and Jenny in a couple of months- Jenny didn't expect to see Gertrude so big, so she was pretty surprised. Today i was off work, so the girls got a desperately needed bath, and later this evening our friends Sarah and Courtney came over for a long overdue visit to see the babies which pleased both dog and human alike. Lately Gertrude has gotten a lot thicker and definitely looking more pug-like, but still small for her breed and age, in my opinion. she definitely weighs at least as much as Muppy if not more. This weekend we are going down to visit our families, which the puppies always seem to enjoy- our families seem to like it too. Well, thats all for now. I am posting some pictures from last night (Valentine's Day) as well as from tonight's visit with Courtney and Sarah. Talk to you all later-

2007-02-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

hello everyone- it has been yet another uneventful week- the girls are doing really well. Gertrude is pretty much one hundred percent recovered from her spay surgery, so she is back to her old self hanging out and playing as usual. one thing i have noticed is that Gertrude's tongue that always hangs out (crooked jaw is what one vet said) hasn't done that since after the surgery. maybe they fixed it, or maybe she grew out of it, but either way steve and i really miss it. oh well... its more likely better for her this way anyhow. they are both getting baths this weekend because they are stinky. Muppy has been way more cuddly than usual lately. i mean, she has always been cuddly, but more so lately... maybe she has a guilty conscience. i can tell they are definitely going a little stir crazy in the apartment, so we are probably to have an outing relatively soon. The girls were REALLY happy to see our friend Mark on Wednesday night (LOST night) when he came by for a surprise visit (this time gertrude didn't decide to pee on the couch to welcome him, but she did decide to pee next to the couch where he was sitting. yum). plus both the puppies have severe fish breath from the fish oil i put in their food to improve their skin and coat... i have been really bad about brushing their teeth too. Muppy (surprisingly) takes it much better than gerti... i wonder if i can try to do that while she is sleeping (like i do to cut their nails. sigh). i encourage any and all dog owner readers of this blog who have isssues with brushing their dog's teeth to give me any tips they might have because the girls' breath seriously does offend. thanks. here are some classic photos of the babies and their furry relatives Tilly the Westie and Wellington the Maltese (FINALLY!- although sadly the camera seems to still be out of comission). we want to give a shout-out to wilson- hope you are feeling better soon and glad to hear you are safe and well! the puppies and steve and i wish you the best.

2007-02-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

hello there- the camera has been on the fritz lately (dead), so i am writing yet another post sans pictures. the girls have been fine- there is another meetup in a couple of weeks and we are looking for ward to actually going this time. Gertrude is healing well from her surgery, and playing and being good. Steve is being paranoid still about her (he seems to think she is swollen, which i really don't see. his overprotective side is shining through) but she really is doing great. she can't fit under our really low bed anymore (thank god because she used to get stuck there and would wake me up at 3 in the morning to get her out), nor the really low coffee table where she liked to hide from Muppy while they played. but she is still small for her age and being a PUG. last night we went out with my friend Courtney out to coffee and they decided to harass a pomeranian that was there. i am convinced Muppy was jealous of her fanciness. her owners were even french. they were nice though. any time i can get the girls out and about i do so. Gertrude nearly clotheslined herself with the extending leash, and me being the idiot i am was not watching. sigh. anyway, thats all for now. everything has been suspiciously quiet. i can tell they miss their cousin tilly and reading new posts on her blog (hint hint chloe). i will try to post more (with PICTURES!) later this week.

2007-01-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

hello out there in internet-land... no posts lately because it has been too crazy around here. the pug meetup unfortunately didnt happen because Muppy wasnt feeling too hot and we didnt want to go without her.... she is all better now, thankfully. The big news is that Gertrude got spayed yesterday! Poor thing- I was just happy to see her alive after the darn thing- i get so paranoid about pug things and being put under anasthesia because of her short snout and pinched nostrils. She was really tired when she got picked up (i was out and about so i got my sister's boyfriend Wilson to pick her up- thanks Wilson!!) and apparently had very little bladder control- was just peeing everywhere while she was asleep, and then once we got her home she was sleeping on my belly and peed on me too. today has been better though- i dont know if its because she was too tired to get up or not conscious of it, or if it has something to do with the estrogen levels and leaking (steve read that somewhere as we were freaking out about it). Muppy and Gertrude are both pretty pissed off at us though because we wont let them play- the damn surgery was yesterday for goodness sakes!! God forbid something happen to her stitches and there be more complications. so we might be a little protective but oh well.... Its funny because it really showed Muppy's true colors because she was so concerned when Gerti got home and didnt want to play- now we ALL know she loves her little sister. Until later, hope everyone is safe and happy!

2007-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

So... yeah- the dog park. both of the dogs decided to barf the day after the park visit, so either they ate something there that they weren't supposed to, OR they played in the feild with something on the grass (pesticide?). both of them barfed a couple of times and it was mostly saliva and some grass... My pal Lauren's dog, Zoe, didn't get sick at all, but she wasn't really as adventurous at the park as Muppy and Gertrude, so I don't really know what is going on. every other time we have gone they have been fine, so something must have been different. They recovered relatively quickly though, once whatever it was got out of their system... its been a pretty mild week otherwise. they were excited because for us, they have had a lot visitors this week- our friend Mark came out from Hollywood this weekend, and they REALLY love him, and then last night we had our friends Kit, Isaiah and Owen over for a late holiday soiree. i am posting some pictures of that... I can tell they are missing our extended families though. Lately we haven't been able to make as frequent of visits down the grade to my parents ' and steve's parents' place.... this weekend i work all day saturday, and sunday is the pug meetup, so we aren't going to be able to make it then either... Next weekend, hopefully.

2007-01-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

SO, Gertrude turned 6 months old yesterday- half a year. So, in celebration, today on my day off we went to the dog park with good ol' Lauren and Zoe the Chihuahua- a really sweet golden retriever showed up too. It was nice, because this morning the girls were particularly rowdy, and buy the time we came home we were all ready for a nice nap. Everything went really well at the park, except when we were cleaning up everything, Muppy and Gertrude (both off the leash because the park is pretty much completely enclosed.... PRETTY MUCH) went off on their own through the one ungated exit, and into some light traffic. I dont think i have ever run faster, and they both got scolded. THey usually always come when i call them, ugh. This weekend we are planning to stay home so it will be good for the puppies- we go somewhere almost every weekend and i think it takes its toll on them, as much as they love seeing all of our relatives as well... Next weekend is the pug meetup, which we are all excited about. Unfortunately now i can potentially work sundays too, so it will be even more random when we can go to the weekend meetups- oh well. One thing I forgot to mention is that i was scatterbrained this morning and forgot the camera for the park, but i have some pics from the earlier day of the puppies begging for some treats, just to prove that i feed them. thanks!!

2007-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

oh man- so i have been such a bad blogger mommy- it has just been to crazy around here. crazy good, but that still isn't any excuse for me to neglect my puppy blog. maybe that will be my new year's resolution- my post new year's resolution.... New Year's was really great- Muppy and Gertrude were pretty upset that i left them with their aunt Chloe, but i think they had mucho fun (maybe not muppy so much, but oh well). Gerti has been having some major potty training set-backs, since she really hasn't been going where she is supposed to either. Muppy has been picky in the eating department, but what else is new. Muppy and Gerti are very excited today because it is their cousin TILLY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! yaay!! Other than that everything has been going well around here. for some reason after the girls got home again after our little vaycay, Gertrude decided it would be okay to pee in the bed a couple of times. what can i say- gotta love them... Their allergies (to the insane dryness in So Cal to their SKIN) have been going relatively well too. they are on the nutro lamb and potato kiblle that is supposed to repair coats and improve skin. plus they are still on the fish oil, and we add a little bit of the bacon flavored sauce so that they (Muppy) stop being so darn food picky. Will update more later- i am getting more and more nervous by the day because it is getting ever closer to Gerti's spay date.... EEKK!!! anyone who reads this, i want you to think of her on the 30th of january especially.... :(. anyway to prove we are all still alive, here be some pics of the girlies.

2006-12-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

well, merry christmas and happy hannukah to everybody! i have been so bad about posting- its just been so insane, and will continue to be insane for a while. the girls didn't get what they wanted for Christmas, but their birthdays are about two weeks apart from each other in July, and i need to order those things on-line from New York (where Trixie and Peanut is located) and have them shipped out, so they will be stylin' then. although they did get a plethora of new toys and chewies in their stockings. christmas eve we went to my grandmother's house and they got to play with Wellington and their cousin Tilly. lets see.... Christmas day we were running around from family member to family member, so its needless to say we were all pooped- but had a fun time. my grandmother got them both little wardrobes for thier clothes, so i was pleased because they can actually use them.... Chloe (the girls' aunt) is looking forward to New Year's weekend, because she is going to be baby-sitting Muppy and Gertrude for that weekend. Muppy actually played with Tilly, a feat we have never been able to accomplish because Tilly is so rowdy, so that was another breakthrough. Other than that all is well. will try to post more later this week before we go on our mini-vacation (Disneyland!).

2006-12-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

so, we were very graciously tagged by Winston, which caught me off guard since i was pretty sure only tilly actually read my blog, so that felt good. Here's the christmas card photo. So anyway, to respond to the tag, Muppy and Gertrude both want the same 3 things this year:
1. A Boston Terrier sister (although I think thier dad would kill me and not be too amused by it- wishful thinking)
2. & 3. A pink polka dot collar and step in harness from trixie and peanut (for Muppy) and a purple polka dot collar and step in harness for Gertrude.
They both dont want almost the same things:
1. to start giardia medicine (a new surprise from the vets office!)
2. Gertrude's spay surgery (i just scheduled it for the 30th of January). Gertrude doesn't want it because, well, it sucks, and Muppy sure doesn't want it to happen because then Gerti won't be able to play with her for a while...
3. For gertrude, the heartworm medicine we gove her the first of every month. she used to love having it like it was a treat, but now its a struggle. for muppy, she doesnt want to get hair bows, since she always scratches them out, but she is definitely getting them for when we make the holiday rounds!
I am tagging: Tilly the Westie, Roy & Gwen, Zoe the Chihuahua, Jabba the pug and Jewel and Willow, the Shih-tzus.

2006-12-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

hey there everybody. sorry i havent posted in a while- the holiday season has been very hectic... but fun:). its our first christmas on our own and with 2 puppies. Gertrude was doing so well at housetraining last week, but this week everything seems to have gone out the window. we sent out our christmas cards and people liked them- i will post the picture from it soon. it was really interesting trying to get them to pose, and as you will see, they are kinda akward in the picture.... but oh well. muppy got groomed and it was beautiful and i will also post pictures of that... she scratched out her bows a couple of days afterward, so she isnt looking as glamorous, but it was nice while it lasted. nothing much else has been happening... just normal spoiled puppy stuff. i have their stockings all ready to go for christmas day, and walkies have been going on since gerti got her shots, so that has been pleasant too. one thing i will mention that was really adorable, was last night: we thought gerti was sleeping last night on steve and i when we were watching thx1138 on tv. well, in the movie, there are these robot cop things, and toward the end of the movie, they are after the title character. there is a chase scene, and gertrude jumps up and starts furiously barking at the screen! she was paying attention the whole time (which she often does i now notice more and more). from then on, whenever the shiny robot cops were on screen she would flip. such a cutie. will post more later.

2006-12-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

hi there everyone. It has been a kinda hectic weekend, by our choice, of course. it just seems like the days get shorter and shorter, which makes it hard to accomplish anything... but we did. Gertrude got her last round of shots on Friday and she is free and clear and ready to rumble outside. So, Saturday we went to a dog park very near to our house and had a lot of fun. Lauren and Zoe the chihuahua came too, and even though there weren't too many dogs there, we all had a really fun time. i was so impressed with Muppy being social with other dogs, it really made my weekend. Gerti is of course at her cutest when she is out playing, so that was fun too. Today, Sunday, we went into Oxnard to pick up a Christmas tree from my mom (and of course the puppies got to visit their cousin Tilly who lives there)- our first tree... it is so beautiful, i love it. we set it up when we got home, but were too tired to trim it. probably tomorrow night that will happen. i am posting some pics of the dogs at the park, as well as one from tonight of Gerti admiring the tree right after we got it set up.

2006-11-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

hi there- well, this weekend went smoothly enough. The girls always love visiting their grandparents, and we went down into Oxnard (to see the fam) this weekend because we had some post-turkey day events to attend. Saturday was one of Steve's cousin's quincinera's (sp?), and Sunday was a day to spend with my family.... Unfortunately the puppies could come to neither one of them. oh well. its just another Monday- although it has been rainy here and Gertrude HATES it, especially in the morning when i force her to wear a sweater because she shivers and it upsets me. Muppy doesnt like it either, but she has A LOT of fur so it doesn't really affect her as much. other than that, its been quiet at the apartment. i can't wait until this friday when Gerti will be done with her shots and can come on walks with Muppy and I. DOG PARKS HERE WE COME!!! i posted some pictures of what the girls have been up to tonight since Steve and i got home....

2006-11-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone... As i previously posted, i have pictures from today at my grandmother's house. it went really well... Well.... 2 things actually.... My sister, Chloe, couldn't make it because she was sick, therefore Tilly, my sister's Westie, also could not attend. Also, Muppy was a tad bit jittery in my mom's (new to Muppy) car- so when we got to Torrance she threw up a little.... But after that she was fine and dandy. They really had a good time with my grandmother (she LOVES them so) and all the rest of my relatives, and my grandmother's dog, Wellington the Maltese, whom we threw a tea party for a few weeks ago for his birthday. I got the both of them new dresses for the occasion and of course it was ridiculously adorable- and i think they had fun eating the random things i am sure my relatives decided to feed them, as well as getting to explore a new house and reuniting with Wellington. I am really happy because the other night i went out with my pal Lauren and her teacup Chihuahua Zoe, to get the girls their dresses for today, and Muppy really bonded with her (Zoe). Today she did splendidly with Wellington... THIS means a lot to me since before we got Gertrude my hubby and i didn't do such a good job of socializing her to other dogs, so to see her act in a friendly way with dogs other than Gerti was wonderful. The trip to the pet store was like torture for Gerti because she had to remain in her bag, since she doesnt get her last round of shots until next week (yaay!) and there were so many other dogs there that she just wanted to get rowdy with. i felt bad for her.... Today made up for it though. anyway, thats all i have to say for now. will probably post more about the babies later this week....

2006-11-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

hello there-
well, its been over a week since i last posted, and i apologiza for that. unfortunately this is the week that the long-awaited ps3 came out, and there has been a frenzy about it in my household from who else but my hubby steve. it is LITERALLY all he has been talking about for the last- oh.... i want to say week but i know it is more. anyway, he DID end up getting it (ordering it online, but that is much saner than waiting in line and risking getting shot or maimed) so all is right with the world and hopefully i wont have to HEAR about it anymore. anyway, this week again has been uneventful. muppy is still into her poo-thing. gerti barfed the other night, but i dont think it was anything serious as she has been acting normally otherwise. she has been really bad about going on her pads lately though, which has been driving steve and i insane, but we are just trying even harder to get her to learn. last night we went to petsmart because the puppies were out of food, and of course we ended up getting more than just that. Gerti has also been teething like gangbusters and chewing on anything she can- therefore we got her some (more) teethers. the last couple of days has just been waiting for steve to stop talking about and obsessing over the PS3. so, i am posting some pictures we took last night of the babies being sleepy and bored (like me) with me on the couch. nothing much else going on. i will probably post more after thanksgiving, since the puppies are invited to my grandmother's house (she loves them so much) for turkey day. much pictures to follow from the event.

2006-11-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

so, i have many cute new pictures from today and yesterday. Yesterday i was off work and steve was home sick, so i ran some errands, etc. even though he was sick, i made him come out with me because some of the errands were steve-related (guitar hero 2). We brought Muppy and Gertrude into town with us and since steve's car has little to no air conditioning, the puppies got hot. we had plenty of cool water on hand, of course, but these photos are the first we actually have on gert PANTING. and let me tell you, a pug panting, and GERTI a puppy especially panting is the cutest damned thing you will ever see. this is rare because even after playing with muppy, when muppy gets winded and is panting furiously, gerti never pants. so basically only the heat phases her. also TODAY steve gave them a bath, so there are pictures of gerti and muppy wet, although you can only really tell with muppy, who looks like a wet rat. everything else here has been good lately with the girls. Muppy has been really evil and been on some kind of poo-binge lately, which has been driving me insane, but today it has been a lot better. i made dinner tonight (spaghetti with veggie meat-balls) and gerti sat there the whole time waiting for me to drop something (such a smart girl). other than that, nothing. it is LOST night again tonight. i will be sure to post more about the babies later tomorrow.

2006-11-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

hello there again... it has been a lazy weekend for the puppies, although i have been hard at work making them (please bear with me) dresses to wear for the christmas photos we are going to send out in christmas cards. i basically finished them both a couple of days ago and have been really lazy posting. Every day Gerti is bigger and i am happy but it is so sad that her puppy time is going so fast. Muppy is all done with her medicine for intestinal parasites, and that all went pretty smoothly. Friday she decided to be finicky about eating it all right away, but i had all the time in the world since i had the day off of work to keep an eye on everyone. I xan't wait until Gerti gets older and has the rest of her vaccinations so that we can go out and visit other dogs. There is a pug meetup group around here in Thousand Oaks that I intend to visit once Gerti is safe from evil poopoo germs. anyhow, i wont waste any more time and i will post some pictures of the excapades of this last weekend!

2006-11-02T19:55:00.001-08:00

well, i promised i would post more pictures of the puppies, so hopefully these suffice. these are some of my favorites, although i do not yet have pictures from this past weekend, where we went to the pumpkin patch IN costume, and also a birthday tea party for my grandmother's Maltese, Wellington. all very cute, as you can only imagine.

2006-11-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hello again.
So, i am still trying to get used to all of this blogging stuff. Last night we had guests over for the usual LOST night, and Muppy and Gertrude were very happy to have more people in the apartment besides us(for more loving i assume). Gertrude is always happy to see our pal Jenny because Jenny is in love with Gertrude:). I think Muppy has more of a thing for Isaiah, who also came over last night and gives her lots of love. Whereas Kit, Jenny's husband, seems more wary of them and their evil intentions to distract our guests so Steve and I can pick-pocket them. i don't blame him:). This morning, Muppy got to start her final regiment of intestinal parasite medicine after a bout of terrifying sickness a few weeks ago, coincidentally around the same time we got Gerti. And of course, once we got Gerti's stool tested, she was the one with the internal parasite and had given it to Muppy. Hundreds of dollars later, mystery solved. But of course its a small price to pay to have both of our puppies healthy. Anyway, Muppy, who is normally a VERY picky eater, ate all of her food with the medicine mixed in with it this morning, which was a pleasant surprise to me and made life easier because if Muppy doesn't eat all of her food, Gertrude will finish it off, and I didn't really want to risk her getting sick from eating Muppy's medicine-food. It has been a complicated couple of weeks for my husband, Steve, and I, and these dogs. First, about a week or 2 after getting Gerti, we were visiting our in-laws (who think of Muppy as an almost literal granddaughter) and Muppy got VERY sick. she was vomiting and had bloody diareah, and we were terrified, being that in the year we have had her she has not as much as had a cold. the thing you have to know about Muppy, and when she is at Steve's parent's house, is that she does basically whatever she wants when she is there, and she is used to that. so at the apartment, she doesn't try to eat her own excrement, or Gertrude's, but at Steve's parents it is impossible to watch them the entire time, and we think she probably ate some of Gerti's leavings and got the "infection" or parasite and became gravely ill. A couple of trips to the vet emergency later, we decided to keep the 2 dogs apart until Muppy was feeling better. That next week it was time for Gertrude's next round of vaccinations, and i mentioned to the vet that she coughed in the mornings, but that i sort of assumed that it was normal as pugs are very.... i dunno- LOUD. snorty and snarfy and all that fun stuff. she was acting completely normal (for her) otherwise. Turns out Gertrude had a slight case of PUPPY PNEUMONIA and had to be nebulized and given antibiotics and all that fun and kept away from other dogs (so Muppy being at the in-laws was a blessing in disguise). Gerti's recheck was the following week, where they told me she had fully recovered (thank god), but that she had an intestinal parasite. more medicine and 5 days later, Gerti was parasite free and Muppy was good to go home too (we missed her so much- you have no idea). Muppy's parasite treatment was apparently different, as hers was a 3 day regiment, then three weeks medicine free, and now three more days of medicine. as i said, it was a complicated, but we are happy to have them back and be able to blog about them finally! yaay! i can't wait to see the both of them today after work, as they are the cutest things in the world. i tend to wake up early, definitely unlike my hubby, and when his alarm goes off they go running into the room and lick him to death. its the cutest thing EVER and i will have to get photographic evidence and put it in this blog. thats all for now. hopefully more pictures later.

2006-11-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hi there-
this blog is about the lives and adventures of Muppy, a shih-tzu puppy, and her sister Gertrude, a pug puppy. i just want to put a disclaimer out there right now that this is my first blog ever, i don't even use myspace, so bear with me. i only do this for the love of the puppies. anyway, many pictures and love are to come soon, once i figure this majigee out. thanks for reading.