Dog Drama!

Last Thursday we had dog drama because Arrow was supposed to get neutered but the vet forgot to tell me not to feed or water him in the morning. So when I arrived at the vet's at 7 am and they found out he ate breakfast, they cancelled my appointment. I had to take Arrow back home and was then late to work. While I was at work, the vet called and left a message and then I received a text from my husband. The text message said that Erik's dad was taking Arrow to the vet to get neutered at 1:00 and that Erik would go pick him up since I was going to be in a meeting. Apparently there had been an afternoon surgery cancellation and the vet felt bad about messing my schedule up, so they made room for Arrow. Now Arrow has to wear an e-collar (which won't stay as a cone so it looks like a cape) until this Thursday. We also cannot go for walks until Monday.

Since we are not allowed to go on walks I have been letting Arrow have more freedom in the back yard. The weather has been fairly nice so he behaves fine without me. However, yesterday he attacked a rhododendron bush and ate at least one leaf. Forty minutes later he was throwing up. I looked online and saw that rhodie leaves are toxic to dogs and can cause serious health problems like leg paralysis, slow heartbeat, and seizures! I called my vet and they told me to come immediately. Arrow was still vomiting so they gave him medication to settle his tummy, activated charcoal, and fluids. They also told me to watch for seizures and to keep him awake. If he gets worse they said to take him to the emergency clinic. Arrow was uncomfortable and bloated all evening. He wasn't allowed to have dinner so he got even crankier.

I am very pleased to say he is feeling much better today, but now has to be supervised whenever he is outside. Erik and I are hoping to beagle proof the rhodies this weekend. Boy, I never thought having a dog would be this much work! I'm just glad he seems to be worth it :)

Lincoln City Beach Trip Pictures

About two weeks ago Erik called me to see if I could meet him at the beach because the weather was beautiful! We were hoping to hike Cascade Head again but the trail sign said no dogs :( So we made our own hike along the water. Arrow loved the beach and we are looking forward to taking him there again.

He is such a cutie! This is my favorite picture of him :)

Spoiled Rotten

Now that we have started taking Arrow out and about it has become painfully obvious how spoiled rotten he is. However, I can come up with a reason (or excuse) for why we do what we do. For example Grandpa was teasing us for carrying Arrow to and from the front door. Well, we do this so on the way out he won't pee on the floor and on the way in we can wipe his feet before he tracks wet footprints around. But I thought about Grandpa's comment and when we got back to our house I decided to let Arrow go out on his own in the morning. What did he do? He ran into the living room and peed on the floor.

Living room stand off

Arrow also thinks that he belongs wherever Rilo goes. If she jumps on the couch he jumps on the couch. So far he hasn't figured how to get on the counter from the stairs or how to jump on the chair to get on the table but I'm afraid he will be able to do it soon.
Arrow also thinks he is a lap dog regardless of where your lap might be and my dear husband lets him up even if we are at the table!
He is pretty pathetic looking...


Arrow also loves warming up in front of the Cadette wall heaters. He looks like a little model :)
However we are not the only ones who spoil him. He is just too darn cute and most of the time very sweet. I think he has won over the hearts of Mom, Dad, David, and Jeremy (along with the kids in my class).

Jeremy and Arrow at Grandma and Grandpa's
David, Jeremy, and Arrow playing with pup who earned the privileged to go in the living room!
Arrow getting ready for a nap with Mom on the couch (where he was not supposed to be!)
But he is so cute and snugly :)

Arrow prefers napping with or on people. After making himself sick last weekend he snuggled up with my dad for a long birthday nap. They were pretty cute!

Erik and I came to the conclusion that we are perfectly fine with our spoiled rotten animals because in our mind they are not animals they are family which we love dearly.

Update on Arrow

Arrow is now fully recovered after scarfing down a large quantity of cat food at my parent's house Saturday night. Poor little guy. His stomach expanded like a balloon and he looked like a baby goat with huge, gurglely, dense, saddle bags. He fulfilled the expression "sick as a dog" Saturday night and all day Sunday.

Tonight was graduation night for puppy kindergarten. Arrow passed with a 75%. Unknown to us we were going to be tested one on one with the whole class watching. Arrow was called towards the end and by that time he was more interested in sniffing the floor and looking for treats than sitting and staying. Oh well, at least he passed! As it turns out he can't go on to novice obedience school because they have to be at least 6 months old and Arrow is only 4.5 months. I'll probably wait until fall before I enroll him again. That way it gives me plenty of time to practice and for him to mature.

More Arrow Pictures

Because he is so darn cute!

Watching TV with his daddy
Erik helping Arrow get ready for his first bath
Sweatshirt strings can be a life (or hand) saver!
Goofy little guy :)
Arrow's first snow (5:50 am) and he's not sure how he feels about it.
He loves it
and hates it!

Snow Day?

Well we have snow but no snow day. Instead we have a 2 hour delay which is less than helpful for me. That means I get to school at 10 and prep for an hour and then teach for an hour and then go home. Not to mention it is still snowing! I live lower down than a lot of folks and we have 1/4 to 1/2 an inch already. Oh well, it lets me do some updating. I realized that my last post was a month ago!

Arrow has grown so much and yet he is still so small! He will be 13 weeks old tomorrow. Last week Arrow received his second booster shots so he is now able to go on walks and socialize with other dogs. On Saturday Ed and Erin brought over their mini schnauzer who is very playful on her own turf but she wasn't too sure about Arrow. He leaped and jumped and raced all over the place, so excited to have a new friend. I think Marley will be more at ease during their next play date.

I took Arrow to my parents house on Monday (President's Day) where he cried and howled half of the way there. At first he was terrified of the Corgis but then he warmed up to them. Tilly and Taffy didn't seem to mind or care a whole lot about Arrow. They just wanted someone to throw the ball for them! Arrow sniffed all over the yard and vineyard. He even sniffed the goats! Timon didn't seem pleased about Arrow's visit inside the house but he doesn't seem pleased about anyone's visit. Arrow was so tired from his adventure that he slept the whole way home. Once again I think the next time he sees Tilly and Taffy he will be more playful (and hopefully a little bigger).

Arrow also went on his first walk on Saturday! Erik and I walked him up to the new schools above our house. He did such a good job! All the smells (and the poops) were very fascinating to him. We figured out that if one of us walks slightly ahead (usually Erik) than the other one can hold Arrow's leash and guide him. Arrow loves feet and follows the persons feet that are in front of him. This is much harder to do when it is one person (me). I took Arrow on a walk on Monday and he wove back and forth and back and forth tripping me. He also didn't know where we were going and would randomly run and stop. On Tuesday I took Arrow on a walk to another school and he ended up walking 1.66 miles! He was shivering, shaking, and soaked towards the end. But he did such a good job! Yesterday it was freezing, raining, snowing, and sleeting off and on so we did not go on a walk and today we woke up to snow!

If I thought it was hard taking Arrow out to do his business in the rain, taking him out in the snow is 10 times harder! He is cold and distracted. He pounced on the snow and then raced back to the house. He doesn't want his feet to touch the white powder. I put him back in the bathroom for now. The snow is still coming down in big beautiful flakes so I have a feeling Arrow will have lots of accidents in the house and no long walk today!

The good news is Arrow starts puppy kindergarten on Monday where he will learn to interact with other dogs and hopefully how to sit, stay etc. Maybe the instructor can give me some tips on how to help Arrow like being outside better!

The not so good news is there is a huge chance that I will not have a job next year. I went to the budget meeting Tuesday night with my friend and coworker Tonya, who is a second year teacher. Basically they are going to make a lot of cuts. Right now they are looking at reducing the amount of teachers 10 to 15%. Salem-Keizer is a large school district so that means cutting 250-400 teachers. Rumor is they are going to start with first year temporaries. In other words: me. With this many teachers getting cut and few retiring the chances are slim of jobs being posted. One of the only ways they would reduce the number of teachers they cut would be to have teachers agree to be compensated less. I really hope this is what they decide but I am not a single mom trying to put my kids through college. To sum it up the situation sucks. My job was the one thing I had here and if that gets taken away then I don't know what I'll do. I can't go to Newport because of Arrow. I guess it will be back to subbing unless a miracle happens.

This picture was taken at the budget meeting and is on the Salem-Keizer website. Kind of like a where's Waldo, only it is a where's Shannon. At least it is more proof that us first and second year teachers are involved and really care about what happens.
http://www.salkeiz.k12.or.us/content/superintendent-husk-gives-presentation-budget-committee

I took a couple of not so great pictures of Arrow in the snow before my camera died. I'll post them later. The snow has just about stopped. I guess I should take that little pup out again!

Sunny Sunday

Today was the nicest day we have had so far! What a great way to end January. Erik, Arrow, and I spent most of the afternoon outside doing yard work. All the trees are budded out and everything looks like it's coming back to life, but it is still January!!!

Arrow LOVED playing outside in the sunshine! He also liked helping Erik get some of the leaves off the patio. He has now explored all over the yard and really enjoys pulling weeds and munching on swiss chard and kale (both of which never died and is still going from spring planting!?!)

He ran, sniffed, and played until he fell asleep in Erik's lap outside. Here are some pictures from our lovely Sunday afternoon. Hopefully this beautiful weather sticks around.

One Week Later

We have had darling little Arrow for a week now and it has been one EXHAUSTING week! He is so cute but has so much energy. I like calling him a little mouth. I know beagles are usually referred to as a nose, but Arrow is a mouth. He usually has his mouth open and chomps on the nearest object (usually Erik or my hand). He also loves chewing on clothes, shoes, the oriental rug, the carpet, his bed, newspaper, and cardboard. We bought a bitter apple spray hoping to keep him from chewing on the rug. The first thing he did was go over and lick the spray. So...I don't think the spray will deter him from chewing.

It is hard work raising a little pup on your own but I finally got Arrow on a schedule:
Between 5:30-5:50 wake up and take Arrow out
5:55 feed Arrow
6:15 potty time
6:25 shower/get ready for work while Arrow hangs out in the bathroom with me
6:50 blow dry my hair (which puts Arrow to sleep! :))
7:10 eat breakfast
7:25 leave for work
Between 12:30 and 1 come home potty Arrow
1:15 try to eat lunch
1:30-2:45 play with crazy Arrow and try to keep Rilo and him from fighting
2:45 nap time :)
3:45 potty arrow
4:00-5:50 play and potty Arrow
5:50 dinner
6:10 potty Arrow
6:30 try to eat dinner
6:30 t0 8 play and potty Arrow
8:00 Arrow's bedtime
8-9 try to get some work done
9:00 my bedtime!

When I am home, I take Arrow out every hour to try to get him used to going out. He is doing a very good job of getting potty trained. The hardest part of the day is trying to keep Rilo and him separate. They are both so curious that they follow each other around and have to be in the same room. But that means that I have to watch them so closely. Rilo has claws and can swat hard, where Arrow has needle sharp teeth and plays rough. He is also only half the size of Rilo. Last night, Arrow was playing with a toy and Rilo was sleeping on the couch. Erik was across the room and I turned my back to check my work email when I heard Arrow squealing and yelping with Rilo on top of him. She didn't hurt him but she scared all of us. I can't wait until Arrow and Rilo get along better because right now the only room we can leave Arrow alone in is the bathroom.

Arrow

We named our puppy Arrow from Harry Nilsson's cartoon The Point. The dog in the cartoon was named Arrow. He was the greatest dog in the world and the Oblio, the boy's best friend. In the cartoon there is a song called "Me and my Arrow" and a line that says "Wherever we go people will know, it's me and my Arrow."

Erik is the only other person outside my family that also grew up watching the point. So we thought it was the perfect name for our new little puppy.

Arrow was such a good car rider! We started off the trip home from Southern Oregon with him in my lap, but he got a little restless. I decided to let him walk around by my feet but instead he cuddled up next to my feet and fell asleep. He slept on my feet for the 3.5 hours it took to get home. We stopped once to potty him but he had no interest.

When we got home at 5:00 he hadn't gone to the bathroom all day! We took him outside to try to get him to go, but I guess he was still too nervous. We are keeping Arrow in the bathroom and he is doing a very good job of using the potty training pad when he has to pee, we even got him to go outside. Going poo is a different story, but at least he is doing it in the bathroom only :)

Rilo is very curious about him. She stalks him all over the house and if Arrow gets to close she will hiss at him, but for the most part she is content with watching. When he barks at night she ignores him and still sleeps on the bed with me.

Arrow is a good sleeper. He woke up about three times in the night but each time he barked for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep again. He will play and play and then crash. He loves the Hedgehog that Grandma and Grandpa gave him, the polar bear and rope Noreen and Brian gave him, and the surrogate mama beagle that Erik and I got him. He curls up with his toys and goes to sleep.

We are enjoying having him but Monday is going to be a sad day. Erik and I will both be going back to work. Then I will have to juggle Rilo, Arrow, and my grading by myself. But I shouldn't be lonely!

And The Winner Is...

So my mom was right, it was hard to tell which puppy was which once we got there :) We purchased our puppy from GEM beagles in Eagle Point. The breeder had one female and four males. She was originally going to keep one of the males so we had a choice from the other three. However, once we got there she decided she really didn't need to keep one, so there were four darling puppies running all around. One had bigger bone structure than the rest, one was an escape artist, one was a ball of energy that loved Erik but was humping everything, and one was smaller than the rest and followed me all over wanting to give kisses.

It was a hard choice. The big one would have been a beautiful adult dog, perfect bone structure, great for showing. But we wanted a pet, not a show dog and he wasn't very interested in us. The ball of energy was adorable and really liked Erik but the breeder pointed out that he was a little trouble-maker and that scared us away. Then there was the sweet little one that followed me around... I was in love with him, but he did not have markings like the others. He was puppy number 3.

We decided he was the puppy for us! He loves us and follows us all over the house and yard. He wants to please. So the winner is... Puppy number 3!!!!