What?!?! A Post?

Yeah, it's me. Although most everyone that comes on here has kept up with me, I thought I'd pop in and give this another try. My blog was killed off by the 420 character status update. I've been asked if and when I was returning to blogging, asked about the kids and how they're doing, asked about how my hair is now, but believe it or not, being asked about Badger is what brought me back.
He's doing much better, thank you. So, here's the story . . . he goes outside every morning and every evening to "do this business" and run around for a while. Last week, he came back in and was licking his paw and sort of limping. It didn't seem like a big deal because he got over it quickly. The next day, he was still licking so we went and got him some first aid stuff at the pet store assuming it was a little cut. He treated him and bandaged it up. The next morning we noticed blood on the bandage, so off to the vet we went.
So, you know how dogs have an extra little paw pad going up their leg? Badger nearly tore his off. (wince here) It seems like he got caught on something and pulled away. We don't know on what seeing as to how we hardly have anything in the yard, but he found a way. Anyway, he needed stitches and apart from having to wear a cone, he's a lot better.


Badger after getting home . . bandaged paw and still a bit sedated.


Badger's better now, but has to wear the cone of shame until the 16th.

So that's the news on my furry baby. Maybe soon I'll post about my human babies and what's been going on with us.

my furry baby

It's been a while since I've shared pictures of Badger. Here are some . . . .


A-ha! Badger caught on a couch. Big no-no.



Alec and Badger like to watch Dada leave to work each morning.



Badger likes lying down wherever there's sun. Except for outside, of course. If the sun is right on the stairs, then that's where he is.



Nap time.

OK, everyone say "aww". I love my puppy.

feeling: what's with this cold weather?
listening to: The Ting Tings (That's Not My Name)

chubby face

One of the first things Badger does each morning is go outside. He'll then scratch at the door when he's done and is ready to come back in. One morning last week, I noticed he looked a little weird a little while after he'd come back in. He was fine when he woke up, but at that time, his snout was looking like it was getting a little bump. I remember when I was a kid one of my dogs was bitten by some ants and the swelling reduced with milk. I thought Badger might have been bitten by an ant, so I gave him some milk too. The morning progressed, Brianna went off to school, Rodrigo left for work and I took Alec to school. As soon as I got back from dropping off Alec, I noticed that Badger had gotten worse. His snout was completely swollen. It looked all roundish like Snoopy. I immediately called the vet and was asked to take him in.
They took his temperature and vitals and everything looked good. It turns out that he either got stung by some sort of insect or maybe ate some insect. Either way, he got an allergic reaction and that's why he was all swollen. Badger wasn't telling us what had happened. : ) He received two shots and we were on our way. I love my vet and her whole staff. They were all kissing Badger and calling him "Chubby Face" trying to make him feel better. I'd be giving him treat as they took his temperature and when he got his shots. I think he likes going there because of all the attention and treats he gets. His tail is always wagging when we're at the vet's.
We had to give him Benadryl twice a day for three days after that and just monitor him to make sure he didn't have any reaction to the medication. By that afternoon, all the swelling was gone. I felt very relieved and I'm sure Badger did too. So, we had Benadryl for the kids at this time (the liquid kind) but we weren't prepared for Badger. I realized I have to prepare for him as well, so I'm putting together a Doggy First Aid Kit. My furry baby tends to get into more mischief than my two-legged kids, so I think this is a good idea. Now I just need to find the perfect box for it.



feeling: I know I'm going to be a wreck when I watch Marley & Me
listening to: U2 (Miracle Drug)

Badger vs. P@lin

I swear I didn't do this on purpose. . . . . .
We were watching the convention last week and S@rah P@lin was giving her speech. Badger's ears stood up. I guess something about her voice bothers him. She's been on everything, so Badger started growling when he'd hear her speak. Maybe he's tired of the repetition (rimshot). Anyway, he moved on to barking at the TV whenever she was on. I pounced on that right away. I'd see that he would start barking and I'd egg him on. I'd say "It's S@rah P@lin, Badger, go get her!". He'd go crazy running around, barking and growling. We kept on saying it whenever he'd be barking and praise him afterward. Yes, I'm just using the situation to amuse myself. So now he's actually barking and going wild at the S@rah P@lin command. It's been several days and it still works. I think it really sunk in. Brianna started adding "she eats moose and puppies", so I thought we should maybe stop. I haven't though, I just asked Brianna to stop saying that. Not that I'm putting eating puppies beyond Ms. P@lin, it's just that I don't want Brianna saying that at school or something. (Yes, of course I'm kidding. No, I'm not calling anyone a puppy eater). :P
Anyway, so I guess now Badger is sexist or something, no?

feeling: like I exploit my puppy
listening to: Cold War Kids (Tell Me in The Morning)

Badger by numbers

- 9: Number of pictures that I have of Badger with green or blue eyes when the flash hits his eyes. It seems that the red eye reducer doesn't work on these.


-1: Number of beds Badger has.

-0: Number of beds he actually uses to sleep on. He prefers to sleep under our bed.

- ?: Number of inches his snout has grown. I wish I would've measured because he's no longer the little short snouted puppy seen here:


- 1: Number of complexes he has. My puppy definitely has a Napoleon complex. He'll go upstairs to bark at passing cars & motorcycles. I'm convinced he likes to feel tall to do so.



- 8: Number of friends Badger made at puppy kindergarten.

- 1: Number of times I was knocked down by one of those friends . . . a 90+ pound Great Dane puppy.

- 2: Number of times I've punished the kids by sticking them in crates. Yes, I'm kidding. When we were doggy crate shopping, the kids were getting in the crates. Of course I had to take pictures. What can I say? My poor children have absolutely no toys and have to entertain themselves any way they can. :P



- 1: Number of tags with his name misspelled. "Badser" wears his dog tags all the time.

- About one million: Number of times Badger tried to take off his cone he had to wear after the neutering.


Random puppy cuteness . . . . .














Seriously, couldn't you just squeeze him. Awww, I love my third baby.

F*CK!!!!!!

Yeah, that's right. That's what I feel like yelling recently. Let me tell you why.

- Alec's tooth: He went to the dentist last week and was referred to a specialist because he has a pretty big cavity. He got scheduled for a pulpotomy and crown for late next month. I received a call yesterday from the dentist's office telling me that someone had cancelled and they could take Alec today. Of course I wanted to get it over with, so I said yes. Someone from the anesthesiologist's office called me later to give me the procedures as far as meals and such. They told me what he could and couldn't eat, drink and wear. We hung up. A few minutes later they called back saying that she'd forgotten to tell me I also had to take $750. WTF? Just like that she said it all casual-like. I told her I had already paid for half our cost at the dentist's office and she informed me that was just for the doctor. This was for the anesthesia. All in all I'd have to pay $954 for a baby tooth. Today. That's just what isn't covered by the insurance. I had to cancel for today and told them I'd call back. It just didn't seem right. I left with Alec to a pre-k picnic, practically got heat stroke then came back and started with the calls.
It turns out the insurance does cover for kids under seven but that particular dentist "doesn't bill to insurance". Again, WTF? I had to reschedule with another specialist but we only get two dentist visits each per year. That was two. This next one isn't covered, but the procedure will be.

- Badger: He got neutered on Friday. Friday afternoon he was sort of out of it. Saturday morning, the stitches started bleeding. Oh wait, I already wrote about that. So anyway, we have to keep him from jumping or running. The problem is, well, he's a frisky puppy. We were told we should keep him in his crate (which we did end up buying a short while before, by the way) as much as possible. I feel like a horrible puppy mom. Like I have a child in a cage. I know it's for his own good, but I hate having him in there for so long. We take him out frequently to "do" but each time he's out, he starts getting all crazy and jumping around. Oh, and he has that cone on his head which he hates. Poor thing. He must hate us.

- Me: I feel like I'm running around all the time. I need some "help me focus and give me energy" vitamins. Today I had some unexpected errands and I made a quick stop at the grocery store. I got home, placed the bag that had nothing but eggs in it on the kitchen island. It fell and the eggs broke. Because I am crazy or something, I decided not to waste some of the eggs that could be salvaged and bake a cake. I did. Then I get a call from Brianna at school asking where I was. I was late to pick her up. I thought her club meeting ended at 3:30 today when it really ended at 3:00. F*ck! I usually take about 5 minutes to get to her school but today I took like 30 seconds.

Ahh. . . . I need to take a deep breath.

feeling: overwhelmed
listening to: Alec talking, talking, talking and talking about Star Wars

my non-bilingual dog

Rodrigo to Badger: Outside, Badger? Outside?

me to Badger: Afuera, Badger? Quieres salir?

Rodrigo: maybe we should stick to one language with the dog.

me: What?!?!

Rodrigo: Yeah, I think we're going to confuse him. You only speak Spanish to him.

me: I do not.

- during this time, Badger went outside, did his business and came back to the door. We let him in.-

Rodrigo: Good boy!

me: Que bonito perrito!

Rodrigo: you see?

me: I guess. What can I say, I only speak Spanish mechanic and Spanish dog.

Rodrigo: groan

me (thinking) WTF? It's not like he's going to get confused on how to bark. Like he's going to be "Woof, uh, guau, uh . . woof, oh no!"

Today I realized that Badger really doesn't understand "afuera". He knows "outside", though. He especially knows and loves "good boy". Ugh. He now knows "sit" and "down", so I guess English it is. I really don't want to confuse him now that he had the hang of these commands. I guess I just hate being wrong.

feeling: como que ya nadie me va a entender en Espanol, ni el perro
listening to: The Shins (New Slang)

badger update

- Even though we've bought chew toys and chew sticks for Badger, he still loves chewing on everything. Mainly us. He got ahold of my cable for the camera and chewed through it. I haven't been able to upload any pictures. Even the one of the chewed up camera wire.

- The same day we got him, we got him a doggy bed. He's never once slept on it. Instead, he sleeps under our bed right under Rodrigo.

- He's pretty much gotten the hang of "doing" outdoors. I had friends suggest crate training, but for me, that seems a little mean. I know I have a bad notion of it because of one person I knew. She would leave her dog in the crate all day while she was at work, let it out for a couple of hours, then put the dog back in the crate for the night. I felt so bad for the poor dog and wondered why she'd have one in the first place. Anyway, that's what I associate it with. The way we trained Badger was just constantly taking him outside and praising him. He now goes and scratches the door when he needs to go outside. We're still on the praising and treats. He's also sleeping pretty much thought the night. Sounds like a baby, huh?

- The kids' new favorite store is PetCo. The one close to our house has a big display that looks sort of like a salad bar as soon as you walk in. There are boocoos of treats there, so the kids like picking them out for Badger. Right now he has some heart-shaped liver treats. Bleh. They also love that Badger can go there with us.

- This isn't related to Badger, but have you guys seen that super sad Pedigree commercial? Uh, I get all teary-eyed each time. Brianna started crying when she saw it. Ok, I need to go hug my puppy now.


feeling: horrible now that I saw that commercial again
listening to: The Shins (New Slang)

meet badger

When we first moved into this house, I started feeling that once again I was wanting to hear the pitter-patter of little paws. It had been so long since I'd had a dog. In fact, Alec had never even had one. We'd sort of looked into it, but for the kind of dog I wanted, the prices were outrageous! This past Thursday, I was browsing around classifieds (you know which "list" I just don't want searches to end up here) and I came across someone that was giving away puppies. Yes! Giving them away! I couldn't believe it. I thought it might be some sort of scam. Like some sort of psycho who lures women into his home with the promise of a free puppy. I called the number on there and it was a lady. Sure enough, she explained her situation. She and her family had just moved into town. They're renting a house and can't have pets. They had one dog and were going to give her away when they found out the dog was pregnant. She ended up having seven puppies, so needless to say, this family had to get rid of them pronto before the home owner found out.
So anyway . . . . long story to tell you that we got a new puppy! Hold your "awwwww" until you see the picture and until you read what happened next. We got him Thursday evening. Friday, Alec was playing with the puppy all day long while Brianna was at school. By mid afternoon, I noticed that Alec had a bad rash all around his eyes and forehead. His eyes were also very, very red. ARGH! I thought for sure he was allergic and we'd have to give away the puppy. What we did was go and buy some doggie shampoo and some of that allergen reducer spray. I also had to make sure that Alec was washing his hands each time I told him to. So far, it's been working. After Friday, he hasn't gotten the rash at all.
Now we're in the middle of house training. I feel like I have another baby. We've been getting up anywhere from 4:00 - 5:00 in the morning to take him outside. I've heard that those puppy training pads are a horrible idea because they then get used to going on a cushy surface. We've been taking him outside about a million times a day and it seems to be working. Wish me luck. Oh, his name is Badger. Here he is. . .