Movie Night with Friends

A friend of mine from work had said that she wanted to check out Snowflake Lane. I told her Joe and I were planning to go Saturday night, if her and her husband wanted to join us. She agreed. However, as Saturday evening progressed, so did the monsoon outside, so we decided it probably wasn't a good night to stand out in the rain. So, we invited them over to our place instead, and told them to bring their dog, Batman, to play with Jackson and Ava.

Usually Jackson is a little territorial with other dogs. We wanted to have the playdate, but figured we might be on edge a little bit, watching Jackson to make sure he behaved himself. But we were surprised with Jackson immediately started playing with Batman and SHARING his toys! We all had a fun and relaxing night. It was great.

Jackson, Ava, and Batman

Ava watching the action.

Hanging out.

Batman with Jackson's fish.

Saying goodbye.

Thanksgiving Fun: Dog Edition

We went to Wenatchee for Thanksgiving and yes, I literally have to divide my Thanksgiving post into two because I have so many pictures of the dogs. My cousin, Christi, recently got a new puppy and this was the first time Jackson and Ava were able to meet him. And he is cuuuuuute. I think Ava was jealous because she's always the cute one, but Bogey is frickin' adorable. And even smaller than Ava, so everyone finally could see how chunky Ava really is! He is a three-month-old Chiweenie (Chihuahua/Dachshund mix) and is tiny and full of spunk. He even got Ava to play a little bit, and we all know Ava doesn't play. :)

The moms with the pups. :)

Introducing Bogey to Jackson. Jackson scared him a bit at first, but then they got along great.

See? Bogey is already giving Jackson a little sass.

Bogey is still a puppy, so he sleeps a lot. He liked cuddling with his grandma. :)

Bogey: "What did you get to eat?? I want some!"

Ava cuddled up in a blanket, and Bogey settled in on the top bunk. lol

Cutest cousins ever!

My mom with her 'granddog'.

Aunt Kathy showing off Bogey's best feature - his ears!

Sharing laps...

We had such a great time! I can't wait to watch these three dogs grow up together!

First Trip Back to Magnussen

Since Joe had Monday off, and it was actually a rare sunny morning in Seattle, he decided to take Jackson to our favorite Seattle dog park - Magnussen. We used to go to Magnussen quite a bit when we lived in Seattle before, but hadn't been there since moving back. I admit I'm a little sad that I didn't get to join the boys, but I was happy they had such a great time.

Making new friends.

Taking a break.

Crashed out back at home.

Adopt a Shelter Pet Month: My Jackson

So, I mentioned before that October is Adopt a Shelter Pet Month and I told you a little about my adoption of Ava. Well, Jackson is a shelter dog, too, so here's his story!

Around the time I was fostering Ava, Joe moved out of his apartment and into a house with two other people who both had dogs. He started getting the itch right away. He was a dog owner before chiropractic school, but his beloved Rottweiler Buddha passed away.

We started talking about what kind of dog he thought he wanted, and the only stipulation he had was that he wanted the dog to be around 30 pounds. He also didn't want a puppy. So, one weekend we set out to look.

We drove all over the Portland area to a variety of different shelters we knew about. Every shelter had many adorable and deserving dogs, (I remember seeing a Bernese puppy and almost forcing Joe to adopt him, even though he wasn't an adult OR 30 pounds, haha) but none seemed to be 'the one.'

Each time we left with Joe just a little more disappointed.

When we left the last shelter, Joe was just so discouraged. He didn't want to stop looking, but we had run out of options. Seeing him like that was awful, so I traveled back in time 20 years and actually picked up a phone book. :) I found a couple more shelters we had no idea about and we headed to the first on the list - a shelter called Family Dogs New Life.

We flipped through their list of adoptable dogs and found a couple we thought we'd meet. They all looked pretty big, but we thought we'd look anyway. And we were right, the first two dogs that we met were big - in the 50-60 pound category. But then we met lucky #3. This dog came out full of energy, trying to run around the office with a huge smile on his face. Joe and I looked at each other in surprise - this dog was smaller than we imagined - just about 30 pounds! His name? Jackson!

We met with Jackson in a little room and he seemed really high-energy, but sweet. We took him out on a walk and he pulled and pulled and pulled. Seriously, that dog had energy. We brought him back into the little room and asked the coordinator if Jackson was good with little dogs (I had a inkling I might be adopting a little dog, heehee). The coordinator brought a dachshund in to test him with and Jackson was great. Score!

Joe wanted him, pure and simple. I hate to admit this, but I tried to talk him into 'sleeping on it'. "You don't want to jump into such a big commitment," I said. "If you still want him in the morning, we can come back and get him then."

Yeah, that argument didn't work. :) We took him back to Joe's house that day and Jackson settled right in!

Soon after adoption.

He helped us with fosters too! Here he is with Ava and foster Ducati.

And here's our boy today!

Jackson is seriously the BEST dog. He is so sweet and loving and always has a smile on his face. He is playful and loves his toys. His favorite place is curled up next to our feet or next to us on the couch. He's so smart and is so good at letting us know what he wants and needs. I seriously couldn't ask for a better dog.

Remember to choose adoption as your first option, or you could miss out on a fabulous dog like our sweet baby boy.

New Toy

One of my coworkers won a trip to a Dog Blogging conference in Denver called BlogPaws last week. While she was there, she met the owner of a company that sells dog toys. Stacy, my coworker, mentioned we had a blog and would love to do a review if the person was interested. Well, this week a HUGE box of toys arrived at work!

I was given "Sally the Beaver" to test with Jackson. (We ended up calling it Justin Beiber the Beaver and it was so funny to hear Joe call out to Jackson - "Where's Justin Beiber? Go get Justin Beiber!" haha) Little did we know that both Jackson AND Ava would love it!

The thing has 12 squeakers in it's body and then this honking sound for it's tail. The dogs loved it. Total toy test win. :)

New Vet

Ava needed her prescription refilled, so we were finally forced to find a new vet here in Seattle. I hate looking for a new vet, I stress so much about it. I have had some bad experiences, and with a 'special' dog like Ava, I have to be certain that if something flares up due to her condition, the vet will do all he or she can to help her. I had that in Cheshire (I told you about crying, yes crying, when I left my vet there, right? Embarrassing, but true.)

Anyway, usually I visit half a dozen vets in the area, tour their facilities, the whole nine yards before making a decision. Well, I didn't give myself enough time to do that, because Ava needed her meds. So, last Thursday, Joe took both dogs into Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, which was recommended to us by some people I work with.

Joe took them because it was his day off and I had to work. But he said that he was very impressed with the amount of time the doctor spent with Ava, looking her over and asking a ton of questions about her condition.

She spent about an hour with Ava, then checked Jackson over in about ten minutes. Ah, I love my mutt!

Two nervous dogs.

I hope this vet works out. I may go ahead and check out a few others, just to make sure.

Jackson at Work

Today is going to be a long day for the doggies, since right after work we are heading to Wenatchee. I looked at Jackson this morning and just started feeling bad - he is so patient with us, with everything we have going on, and never really complains that we aren't taking him on hikes or trips to the dog park at much as we have in the past.

I knew that one of the dogs that is normally in the office would be gone today, so I decided to test Jackson's 'work'-ability.

We arrived to work early, before the doors had even been unlocked, so he could get a sense of the place before all the commotion set in. I tossed his dog bed under my desk and took him out into our courtyard to pee. On the way to the courtyard he peed on a cubicle wall - great start!

He did okay when people started showing up, and even held his tongue when Ellie, our other resident dog, came into his new turf. There have been a few squabbles, which I expected, but he actually hasn't been too bad. He's settling in now and just hanging out under my desk, guarding all of the toys he can find.

And I feel good that at least he gets some solid attention today. Hopefully he'll be tired out enough for a good nap in the car on the way to Wenatchee tonight.

Jackson Received a Package

Last week I won this contest that @iLoveDogsInc was having on Twitter. Last night I got our prize in the mail! Well, I should say Jackson got HIS prize, because really I won it for him. The prize was a tennis ball, frisbee, lanyard, leash, vitamins, and a tote bag! (Well, the tote bag is for me!)

Checking out his winnings.

Looooving the tennis ball.

Thanks @iLoveDogsInc!!

Jackson's 5th Birthday

It's amazing to me that Jackson is already five years old! It doesn't seem like that long ago that I tried to convince Joe to 'sleep on it' when he said he wanted to adopt him. That was three years ago now, and thank goodness he didn't listen to me!

Jackson is a fabulous dog. He is such a lover and has such human expressions that every day Joe and I wonder what he could possibly be thinking. He's one of those 'dog's dogs' who sleeps by your feet as you are watching t.v. I just love it.

He had a really good birthday, starting with a special duck and potato breakfast.

Preparing breakfast.

Served on a pedestal. :)

He definitely enjoyed it.

I distracted Ava with pieces of apple.

Then came gift time! A brand new lamb toy!

For me??

*I loves it.*

Unfortunately, Joe and I had to go to work all day, so Jackson was stuck at boring home with his boring sister all day on his birthday. But we made up for it that evening with a trip to the dog park. And to make it even better, there were other dogs to play with already there!

Checking out the puppy Oliver.

Ava deciding if she wants to play.

*I guess this guy isn't too scary.*

Then we walked next door to watch Joe finish playing tennis. He was invited to a club and since he hasn't played in a while, decided to take the offer. I guess he got beat 6-0 and 6-1 and had to work for that 1, but he came home tired and happy and will be playing again next week!

*Dad's pretty good at this tennis thing.*

*Go Dad!*

It was a really fun night. We'll have to do it again next week!

Great Pictures of the Pups

I've been wanting to share these pictures for a while, but have been a little bit busy posting about the big move and getting settled in. But now things have slowed down a bit, and I know you all love seeing photos of the cutest members of this family!

Stuart took these pictures a few weeks ago while we were all hanging out at our friend Laura's house in Maryland.

Peek a boo!

"I wonder how I could sneak some of that wine..."

Man and dog. My two boys. *love*

"MY toy..." *cuddle*

Pit Stop in Wenatchee

Sorry for the lack of posting. We finally made it to our final destination and have been waiting for internet and for things to settle down a bit. But I have a few updates, so I guess I better start.

We crossed our final state line (into Washington) on Saturday, July 17th. We actually made it early in the afternoon, so I got to spend a lot of time visiting with my family. We basically just relaxed and enjoyed being out of the car all day Saturday.

Me and my dad in front of the sign my aunt made for our arrival.

The dogs got to run to their heart's content in my aunt's back yard, which they loved. They were very happy to be out of the car, too.

Once Ava got all her runs out, she was content to snuggle up again. Like always.

On Sunday my brother and sister-in-law invited us over for a pool party. My niece came over as well, with her fiance and their son, and we all had such a great time.

Me with my nephew Mason.

My niece and her family.

My brother, my older nephew, and my baby nephew.

Me and Mason.

After getting completely sun soaked, we made our way back to my aunt's and slept like logs! We woke up the next morning (Monday, the 19th) to head to Bellevue to pick up the keys to our new condo!