Hot Dog!

Let it be known that I am NOT the one who purchased these costumes for D'Ogee...just in case anyone misinterprets me to be a crazy dog woman who's obsessed with dressing her pet up in ridiculous clothing all the time. I take no responsibility for these! It is entirely the fault of D'Ogee's nutty Aunt Joanna who felt compelled to purchase not one, but five silly costumes for him for Christmas. Okay...just because I made him try them all on for the family over Thanksgiving and am forcing him to show them off for friends as well, I'm still not to blame! It's the crazy aunt...I swear! :)
I think he liked this cowboy outfit better than the other one I got him....it does have a little cowboy on the back, after all. It seems to make him feel more authentic.

This royal costume seemed to be his favorite...or at least, the least humiliating.


I'm not so sure he was as thrilled about the pirate costume, although it is more manly than the bumble bee.....sometimes he's a little hard to read.

And other times, he makes a pretty clear statement. I'm guessing by the way he's holding his head down in shame, that he would rather watch the bumble bee costume burn than ever put it on again.



Okay...this is the best one of all....the Hot Dog. I've tried to convince him that he's just wearing a big heavy coat, but I'm not sure he's buying it. He won't move when I put it on him. He becomes as stiff as a board.
It's as if he knows there's a fake condiment on his back that makes him look edible to big dogs and humans. I think it confuses him. Would you know what to do if you were strapped between two puffy cotton buns? Sometimes, you just get caught off guard, ya know?

I Don't Believe in Pet Psychics

Back in January I blogged about a pet psychic who came to my house and did a reading on D'Ogee. If you recall, she said that he wanted a cowboy outfit. Well, since she was accurate about a few other things, I figured that my dog did indeed enjoy being dressed up and had a secret desire to be clothed in cowboy attire. I've always kind of kept my eyes peeled, just in case I happen to run across one. The other day as I was rummaging through the Halloween store, and I found it! I was so excited to go home and try it on him, hoping that it really would put a smile on his already happy face.
He humored me for a few minutes, but disappointingly, he was not thrilled by his little cowboy hat. This is him pulling on the hat and trying to chew the elastic off that went under his chin.

What a bummer! I guess I wasted 60 bucks on the pet psychic....either that or D'Ogee thought he would like a cowboy outfit, but realized upon getting one that it wasn't everything he had hoped it would be. It happens.

"Stud on the Range"

Home Alone

My roommate Keva is gone for the summer, which leaves just the three of us here at home...me, D'Ogee and Keva's cat Bridgette. It's a little lonely sometimes. They aren't the best conversationalists, but there is definitely a comfort in having their furry little bodies chasing each other around the house.
Animals are interesting creations. They say a lot about God's imagination and even more about his humor. For example, I would like to have been there when God instilled in the canine the desire, no, the uncontrollable urge to pee on everything it possibly can. Little D'Ogee can hardly contain his excitement when he sees me put on my shoes and pick up his leash. I used to think he was excited just to be walking with me, but now I know his enthusiasm to start peeing on every bush, mailbox, and lamp post far outways the thrill of walking with his favorite human being in the world. It's ridiculous, really. He's like a two year old. Instead of grabbing and clutching onto every toy that he wants to claim, he runs around lifting his leg as if to say, "...and that garbage can is mine, and that fence post, and that rose bush, and that tree...mine, all mine!" Even when he's fresh out of urine, he's still lifting his leg and going through the motions.

Silly dog.

Silly God.

The Merry Month of May

Wow...it's been a whole month since I've written anything. I guess I haven't felt much like writing lately, so I'll give you a brief run down of the significant moments of May 2008....maybe then you'll understand why I haven't written.

Earlier in the month, I tried waxing my own legs. I bought a kit from the beauty store. It sounded easy...heat up the wax, wipe it on your legs with the provided sticks, let cool and pull. I'm quite sure it was supposed to have ripped off in large chunks, but instead I ended up picking it off my legs bit by bit for about 5 hours. The next morning I woke up to my pajamas stuck to my legs. It took days before all of that wax was off my skin.

This picture doesn't give justice the damage done to my legs by that horrible wax. I looked like a leper. All of that just to save $20. Next time, I'm having the professionals handle it.



D'Ogee got his hair cut a couple of weeks ago. I remembered the pet psychic saying that he wanted his toenails painted, so.....

I'm positive that he's a happier dog because of it.

I finally went to visit my new home in Challis, Idaho, and I took my boyfriend Tyler with me to meet the family, which, by the way, I have never done before. I don't like taking boys I'm dating home because my relationships are so short lived. I never trust that they'll last very long, and so there's no reason to get my family's hopes up. Tyler was so eager to come, though. He got the weekend off of work without any convincing on my part. Maybe he was just excited to revisit his old stomping grounds where he spent the summers river guiding along the Salmon....maybe he was anxious to talk to my dad about renting some of his property to establish the guiding business he's hoping to start. I dunno. Maybe he really did like me enough to want to meet my family, but then changed his mind. It happens. We had a fun weekend together....took a drive to Stanley Sat morning, went horse riding, 4-wheeling, played with the family which he said he really enjoyed. Things seemed to be going well, but two days after we got home, we broke up. Damn.

This is how I want to remember him. I try to trick myself into thinking he wasn't really that cute. Marlo said he was kind of immature for me. I try to convince myself of that, too.

Unfortunately, this is how he really looks:

At least he was nice enough to come help me finish the invisible dog fence we started for D'Ogee. It took way more work than I originally thought. Had I had a professional put it in, it would have cost me over $1000. Ty saved me at least $900 by putting it in for me. How could I be mad at a nice guy like that?

The worst part was digging a tunnel underneath my driveway so we could run the fence wire through it in a pvc pipe. As you can tell, it was a very messy job.

The guy deserves some gold stars, wouldn't you say?

So, now I've been training D'Ogee to stay inside the invisible fence. He has to wear a collar that shocks him when he tries to cross it. I accidentally shocked myself when we were testing it out, and suddenly I had second thoughts about subjecting my little dog to that treatment. Tyler kept me reminding me that it would be better than having him splatted all over the road. I had to agree, so I've forced myself to teach him. He's only had to be shocked a couple of times now. He's a pretty quick learner much to my happiness. Now I understand when my dad used to say just before bending us over his knee to give us a spanking, "Honey, this is going to hurt me more than it will you!"

....And that's May in a nutshell.

There's Chocolate Under My Bed

I heard some weird noises coming from under my bed the other day. It sounded like a strange rat eating through my mattress, but no, it was just this rat ripping into a chocolate bar. Would somebody please tell D'Ogee that dogs are not supposed to eat chocolate?

Fortunately, I caught him in the act before he could tear the wrapper to shreds, devour the entire bar of chocolate and have a heart attack from pumping his little heart up with too much caffeine! Whew!

If it's not chocolate, it's the cat's treats. He hasn't quite figured out how to get into a zip locked bag, though.

Must be so frustrating for the poor little guy. He can taste those savoury salmon flavored bits of animal by-products and artificial ingredients through the bag. Yummy! Keep trying, D'Ogee.

Aghhh....Clean your room, D'Ogee! This is why I don't have kids.

Conference Sunday

I looooooove having a day every now and then to spend in my pajamas watching conference, eating with friends, and not doing anything else. I had to take D'Ogee for a 2 mile run this morning because he had A.D.D. all night and wouldn't let me sleep, so i made him run until every ounce of energy was squeezed from his little body. I should get a good night's rest tonight!

Other than that, I barely lifted a finger all day. Oh, wait, yes I did...just after 2 teenage boys came to my door offering to buff my hardwood floors for free because it was Sunday, and because they were introducing people to some Kirby product. They promised there was no catch and asked to come back in 15 minutes to get to work. Seemed innocent enough, so I agreed. Keva and I moved as much stuff out of the living room as we could and went back to her room to watch conference. Two hours later, they still hadn't shown! Darn kids. I knew there was something suspicious about them.

So, other than that, I didn't lift a finger all day, just lounged around watching conference and eating. I liked hearing President Monson speak for the first time as our prophet. He definitely seemed different than he was as an apostle. He's a good man. I look forward to hearing more from him.

Well, time to call it a night. My dog is peeved because I'm on the computer instead of devoting ALL of my attention to him. He hates the computer. It's late, and he's pawing on Keva's door. That's his way of threatening me. He's saying if I don't get off that damn computer right now, he's going to go snuggle up to Keva and be her pet. He's just bluffing, but Keva's trying to sleep.

Nite, Nite.

D'Ogee and the Cat Toy

My dog is having an identity crisis. He either learned to do this by watching the cat, or...he thinks he is one! Honestly, have you ever seen a dog play like this?

I've stopped feeding D'Ogee regular dog food. I can't stand the thought of feeding my dog animal by-products, which are the worst of the worst kinds of meat. Call me a freak, but I want my dog to be super healthy, just like me. So, I bought him Newman's Own organic dog food. He hates it. I'm so disappointed. :( I've tried several brands that I approve of, but every morning he runs past his bowl of food and on to the cat's left overs, taking the cans under my bed so he can lick clean every bit of processed, artificial ingredients.

So, the next step was to make my own dog food. I found a great recipe on-line. Apparantly, I'm not the only hyper-sensitive dog freak out there! He loves the dog food, and it's super good for him. Just in case anyone else has had the same dilemma with thier dog, I'm sharing the recipe:

2 lbs of organic meat, cooked.

2 cups cooked oatmeal

4-6 scrambled eggs

1 cup cottage cheese

Blend:

5-6 carrots

2 cups broccoli

2 cups brown rice

Mix all ingredients together. Sleep well at night. :)

Happy Easter

I love Easter. It's so much better than Christmas for so many reasons. For one thing, it's in the spring when everything is coming alive instead of in December which feels like the beginning of a long, painful death. Not only that, but the holiday itself is so significant. Not to undermine the birth of the Savior, but it wasn't his birth that saved us. It was the Atonement, and the day he was resurrected celebrates the fact that we will live again because of Him. It's such a happy concept, and I love having a day dedicated to remembering it.

I also love the fact that there isn't a lot of hype around Easter. You don't have to decorate your house or prepare a month in advance. You don't have to make candy for your neighbors, throw big parties, or worry about buying enough presents for other people. I didn't even spend the day with family or friends, and i don't feel guilty or sad about that. I had egg salad for dinner, and it wasn't even very good, but the point is Easter isn't emotionally tied to any of those things. Nobody worries about making sure all the poor families get enough in their Easter baskets so that they can have a good Easter. None of that matters. All that matters is that Christ died and was resurrected so that we can live again. Knowing that is all that we need in order to have a "good Easter".

Church was really nice today. We had 3 musical numbers in Sacrament Meeting, and they were beautiful. The Spirit was in my heart most of the day. I came home from church, cleaned the house, took a nap and then took D'Ogee to the park where I met a nice girl with the cutest little copper colored poodle. We sat by each other and talked while our dogs played. So many nice people and funny little dogs were at the park today. I really love having an in with the dog people in the community. Everyone's so nice to each other and open. Just because I have a cute dog, people assume I'm a nice person and they are friendly and talkative with me. I love it.

On another note, I'm still seeing Matt. The condensed scoop on him is that we really like each other, but he's not as ready for a relationship as I am. He's working on it by taking things slow, but I'm not so sure it's really moving forward. Our teacher in relief society today said that God answers our prayers in one of three ways. He either says 1: YES; 2: NOT RIGHT NOW; or 3: I HAVE SOMETHING BETTER IN MIND. I feel like I need to apply that to dating. Instead of trying to make something work or worrying about whether or not he's going to call me, I just need to trust God that he wants the absolute best for me, and if things don't go anywhere with Matt then He has someone better in mind for me. So, I'm going to take that approach, get really involved with my own life and let Matt decide if he wants to be a part of it. If he does, he'll step up to the plate and make it happen. If not, then God has someone better for me. I like that thought. :)

Under The Bed

My dog is snoring. It makes me laugh. He won't come out from under the bed. He eats the remains of the cat's food and then drags the can under the bed where he licks it clean and stashes it in his collection. He has quite the collection. Even though the cans are empty, he defends them from anyone trying to clean under the bed. There's a few other things under there, too...chewy treats like raw hide bones, greenies for his teeth, carrot tops and his stuffed turkey. Sometimes when I peak under the bed, I find a pile of shredded toilet paper that he's pulled from the garbage can. Why does he like to shred paper? I feel kind of sorry for the poor little guy when I reach the vaccum hose under the bed and suck up his coveted treasures. I'm violating his personal space, I know. He'll get over it. It's my bed, too.

Yesterday we went to an acupuncturist. Puppy's back has been hurting. I can tell because he hesitates when he jumps onto things. He used to jump on to my bed, but now he perches his front feet on the bed frame and asks me to lift him up. The acupuncturist stuck six needles in his back and massaged the muscles along his spine. He almost got bit when he hit a sore spot, but the old man's reflexes kicked in and he jumped out of the way just in time.
In his broken english, the chinese doctor told me how his friend's dog died and the whole family cried and cried. He thought it was funny that a family would get that attached to a dog. I told him I would cry, too. D'Ogee is my baby. "You don't have children?" he asked.
"No." I replied.
"How old are you?"
"Thirty-four."
"Why you don't have children?"
"I'm not married."
"What? You very pretty. Why you don't have husband?"
That's my cue to give my cutest giggle and make an excuse to leave. First, he informed me that women who have their first baby after thirty five are at risk of having a child with DNA problems. At least, I think that's what he said. He had a pretty thick accent.
Super, I thought, I don't think I'll be having a child before I'm 35. That would mean I'd have to get pregnant by April. I don't want to think about it.
I paid the good doctor $65 and took my puppy home to practice jumping on my bed.

Pet Psychic

I invited a pet psychic over today to get a reading on my dog. What an interesting experience that was. She sat down in my living room while I held D'Ogee on my lap, and for an hour and a half she relayed his thoughts to me. A lot of it rang true to me. Some of it I questioned, but according to the psychic my dog has a lot to say; the little jabber box. Here's what was on his mind today:

1. One of the first things he said was that he is getting much better food from me than he was with his previous owners. He has some stomach issues, but he feels better with the food I give him. I knew it would make a difference to give him quality food.
2. I'm supposed to give him a tablespoon of plain yogurt everyday to help his tummy.
3. He wants his toenails painted.
4. He's proud of himself for being a good watch dog. I need to tell him thank you when he's barking at people instead of hushing him. Then he'll be quiet. He likes to be acknowledged.
5. He's also proud of himself because he's so funny. He knows he makes me laugh all the time. He doesn't think the cat is very funny, though.
6. He's not jealous of the cat because he knows dogs are better than cats anyway.
7. He's trying to figure out a way to get the cat to play with him, but she isn't about to play.
8. He wants me to get another little dog so he can have a girlfriend that can be his pet.
9. He likes being my baby. He says it's ok to put clothes on him because then everyone says how cute he is. He wants a cowboy outfit. He doesn't want me to have any human babies because he wants to be the baby.
10. He must have seen someone fishing somewhere because he wants to see more of that. He wants to catch a fish. He also wants to bite a squirrel. He'd really like me to get a bowl of little fish and put it on the floor so he can look at it.
11. He worries about my health because he wants me to live a long time. He thinks I need to eat more protein and I need to take something for my stomach problems.
12. He loves the color of my hair. He thinks I'm very pretty.
13. He's worried about me leaving on a big trip somewhere (Costa Rica) because he's afraid of where he'll be left. I'm planning on leaving him with my mom on the farm. The psychic said he really likes my mom, but he's afraid she'll make him stay outside a lot and he's afraid of some big dogs around there. Mom and Dad don't have any other dogs, so I'm not sure what she's talking about. Maybe he's confusing the dogs for the cows!
14. His first owners were an older couple and he misses them sometimes, but he loves living with me and knows this is where he should be. He feels like his job is to help me mentally and emotionally and to protect me.
15. She sees me helping a whole bunch of children; maybe through dog therapy. I think I'll look into that. It sounds very fulfilling.
17. He says I'm a very good mom. He loves me very much.

OK, so with a dog like that, who needs a man? :)

Christmas 2007

Miraculously, I enjoyed Christmas this year. Maybe it was the meds I'm on that helped me take my energy off of my own troubles and put it to better uses. Perhaps it was because of my sweet dog who came home with me and got spoiled for Christmas. Or it could have been due to a conscience decision I made to stay focused on Christ this season and forego all of the needless shopping, decorations, and traditions of Christmas. I think it was a combination of all of that and maybe more. I can't say that I loved the holidays this year, but at least I can say that I didn't hate them and feel depressed! One step at a time........



For years, I've been wanting our family to do something special for someone else rather than spend excessively on each other. Thanks to my sister Marlo, I had the opportunity to participate in giving Christmas to a family that really needed it. It wasn't so much the presents they needed, but the feeling that people cared about them. I watched my dad dress up in his Santa costume and go knock on the door of this humble family. Although, he wasn't sure how he'd be received, he opened his heart to them and they felt it. They could hardly speak as we brought arm loads of presents and food into their front room. My dad was as choked up as they were, so the whole event was completed in near silence, but in awesome respect and love for each other. I felt the spirit of Christmas, as well as a great love for my family who I shared that special moment with. It always impresses me to see people reaching out to love their brothers and sisters in whatever way they can. I'm so grateful for people who take action. Thanks, Marlo, for letting us get involved.


Dad in his Santa suit. What a jolly old elf.





This is my dog's first jacket given to him by Marlo and her kids.

D'Ogee will stay dry in his raincoat thanks to Joanna.

And if he ever gets asked to the prom, at least he'll have something to wear.

Chelsee likes to make weird faces. For such a cute little girl, she sure can look scary!
What a ham. I pity the boy who messes with her!

Naughty, naughty dog!

Today was the first day I really wanted to spank my dog. I didn't, but it took me a little while until I wanted to talk to him again. He's becoming quite manipulative, the little stinker. Lately, he's been peeing on my floors and I know it's on purpose. I'm absolutely convinced of it because he had been peeing outside very well for the last few months, and I know he can hold it when he wants to. I think he's trying to communicate something to me, and I'm convinced it has something to do with me leaving him home alone or not giving him enough attention. Peeing in the house is his way of getting back at me. Ya, we're having a few little issues we need to work through. I've been putting his diaper on when I leave the house lately, just in case. It's usually dry when I come home.

This morning I had to rush off to church, so I threw the diaper on and ran out the door. Something inside of me made me a little uneasy, though. He wouldn't poop on the floor, I thought. (The diaper only covers his pee-pee, not his bum.) Well, I should have listened to that little voice and left him on the back porch. I walked in the living room when I got home and sure enough, there was dog poop on my rug. You should have heard the curse words! The reason I know he knew what he was doing was because whenever I come home, he races out from under the bed to greet me. He's soooo excited to see me, he can hardly see straight. This morning, however, he never came out from under the bed until I had it all cleaned up and went back to my room. Even when he did come out, he was pretty reserved. I know he was feeling guilty for being so naughty, but there was also a little part of him that felt satisfied in upsetting me.

I never knew dogs could be so jealous, resentful and manipulative! The little turkey.

He gets extremely upset whenever I pull out my lap top, too. He'll cuddle with me on the couch until I open it up, and then he jumps right down and goes over to the other couch where Keva is sitting...working on her own lap top. It's not the lap top itself he dispises, it's MY laptop and the fact that I'm not giving him my complete undivided attention. He used to just go sit over at Keva's feet, but now he'll jump right up on her and lay on her chest while she's typing. He refuses to do that with me! The funny thing is the entire time he's with Keva, he's eyes are glued on me as if to say, Hey, I'm not going to sit by you if you don't put that lousy thing away! I'll just sit by Keva because she loves me and I love her! Neener neener neener!

Ya, that's exactly what he's thinking.

Well, despite the fact that he's being a turd, I love the little guy to death. I'm definitely getting to practice disciplining with love. Certainly, these skills will come in handy when I actually have kids one day. What good lessons I'm learning! Now....how am I going to win this battle of the wills......???

The two cutest little creatures ever.

My niece's birthday party was Sunday night. Between her and my little dog, I don't know how much cuter cute can get. I didn't mean to monopolize all of her attention with D'Ogee, but she would've much rather played with him than open her presents. I actually hid him for a while so she could focus on her huge stack of gifts waiting to be opened. Being the only grandchild on either side of the family, she's one spoiled little girl, but so is my dog. It's hard to say no to such cute little faces. Don't you agree?