so neglectfull...

I am sorry to the few that do read this blog for my lack of updates..... with school, a second job, regular job, and of course Maggie, I have little strength and energy left for an update on a regular basis, but I am going to try harder.I promise.

Where to start??

well Maggie is growing still, 50 lbs at her last weigh in at the vet and that was about a month ago. Why were we at the vet you ask? well we came home from work and when I went to pet the fur ball i noticed her eye was all red and goopey (it was REALLY gross) My first thought was that one of the cats finally caught her in the eye and she has a tear in it or something. I called the vet and they got me in that night. After some cookies and a very quick veterinarian with come green eye drops it was confirmed that there was no injury to the eye, but she had conjunctivitis....pink eye! A week of drops and she's cured. Her eye still looks red, but they are getting kind of droopy, so I think that is just the way they are going to be.

Her fur is changing like crazy! she is still the same color, but her tail is all frayed out like a retriever now and she is getting random long spots of fur on the back of her legs and on her chest. Her fur on her back is SO THICK and wavy, shes a water dog for sure.

She has been doing well with other dogs. Doggy day care has been great for her socialization. She does okay with humans, we are working on that. Looking to get her into obedience class, but honestly I just don't have the time. We have seen little to no aggression from her. When she has something in her mouth that she wants and we want to take away, she will growl, but no snapping or anything. Still need to nip it in the butt!

She is terrified of the soda can I filled with screws......it seems mean but if I shake it she stops dead in her tracks and puts her ears down. She is getting better with the cats. She still chases them but if we yell her name or stomp a foot, she will stop......well at least for a few seconds, but its a start! Here is a before of muttzilla....



this is from about 5 months ago...i will try to get a new picture of her tonight, but i just wanted to reminisce about how cute she used to be....

haven't had an update since June??

I will have to get everyone up to speed very soon! I just haven't had time, Maggie keeps me on my toes!! I pormise to have an update soon with some pictures of my little moose....that weighs over 45 pounds now......

Getting Fixed.

Maggie was spayed on Tuesday.........She was a sad sight when I picked her up from the SPCA. She still had the goopy stuff on her eyes, so it looked like she had been crying....I am telling you it was the sadest sight I have ever seen.There was kitties all over the place and she could have cared less. I took her outside and she wanted to get in the first car she came too.....I opened the door and she hoped in and that was it. She was out. She laid across the middle and put her head on my lap. We stopped and picked up Logan and his dad's and she was still unmoved. When we got home, she refused to get out of the car, Logan had to pick her up. As soon as she hit the ground, she puked twice. We took her inside and she got right up on the couch and slept. She eventually went into her crate on her own and slept most of the night.

The next day she was back to normal ;-) she wants to play so bad but we are trying to keep her calm, which for a 5 month old lab/retriever puppy, is near impossible!

This one is for you Paul...

Paul was kind enough to pint out that I have not updated my blog in about a month, so this one's for you, I hope you reading! ;-)

Maggie has had a hell of a month. The first is the runaway incident. Logan was up at his dad's working on our cabinets a few weeks ago and Maggie and I decided to take a Little walk. We got about 4 blocks away before tragedy happened. We reached a corner and as we got there a small child (about 7 years old) came flying down the sidewalk on a scooter and in his valiant attempt to dodge me and the dog, he crashed. When his scooter hit the ground it scared Maggie and she pulled the leash right out of my hand. She is generally a good walker and doesn't do a lot of pulling, so I wasn't expecting it. She TOOK OFF! there was no catching her. I was running and two guys at the end of the block joined in the pursuit. I got to the first corner and they she had gone up 9th Street (our street) but they lost her. I thanked them through my tears and kept running. I got to the house, and she was nowhere to be found. I was thinking to myself there is a puppy running the streets with a leash attached to her on a busy Saturday SOMEONE must be smart enough to put two and two together right? After about 15 minutes and a bought of hysteria, I called Logan. I did my best to sound calm, but I know he could tell I was freaking out, he told me to hang tight and he was on his way. About five minutes went by and I was walking around the house and talking to the gas station guy, asking if he had seen her, I heard it.....the sweetest whimper. I took off towards the back yard, and there she was. She had crawled under the one high spot in the fence (after crawling through something dead!) and had gotten her leash tangled around the lawn mower. I unwrapped her, called Logan, and brought her in the house.

She was visibly shaken by the whole ordeal. This was not a "ha ha I got away from you" the was a "crap...where did mommy go?" It took about 2 days to get her to get off the front porch again, and now after about 3 weeks she is getting back to normal. She still won't go for walks more than a block away, and she is a lot more skid dish when seeing people, but hopefully she will recover. Logan and I are working hard to have her overcome her fears. I don't want her to be a "Fraidy-dog" that we can't take anywhere!

Beautiful Saturday!!

It was SO NICE OUT!! We spent most of the day outside tinkering and getting the fence put up. Maggie spent some time outside with us...she had a fine time and I got a sunburn.

Just some pictures

Damn...she has the camera again......

Alright, she's not going to go away until I sit up and look cute...

CHEESE!!

Trip to see Grandma!

We headed up to Albany this weekend. Logan and My cousin Josh and some of his friends entered in a "Tough Mudder" event. (www.toughmudder.com) You should look into it and see what my crazy husband put himself through!! but he finished, I am so proud!

I spent Saturday night and Sunday with my mom. We went out to lunch, shopped a bit. It was a good time. WE tried to go to the Tulip Festival, but we drove around for an hour looking for a place to park and finally gave up. Next year we will plan better and get there earlier.

The trip up was pretty uneventful. Maggie really does well in the car, but she goes through stages.

Stage 1. Happy Dog - blissfully unaware of the 3 hour car ride ahead of her.

Stage 2. Restless dog - at this point she had climbed into the back window to lay down....

Stage 3 - Sleepy Dog (best stage!) This is what the majority of the car rides turn into. As long as she stays cool, she sleeps.

We Had a really good time and Maggie enjoyed herself as well, except for one small incident involving Merlin the Cat.

You see, Merlin is not a fan of Maggie. The last time they met, it went okay. Merlin let her lick him and what not and only swatted her once and she got the hint (she was also half the size last time) This time, he had no patience for her shenanigans. Merlin was sitting in the doorway minding his own business when Maggie saw him. She ran over but stopped right in front of him. They had a bit of a stare down. Merlin was hissing with his ears back the entire time, but I figured he is De-clawed, so he can't "hurt" her, and she really needs to get her but kicked a few times so she learns some boundaries. . Then she got really excited and started to get in her "playful stance" with her butt up in the air and what not. Then it happened. She let out a loud "BARK", and Merlin lost it. He lunged at her, body slammed her onto the ground and started pummeling her from both sides with both paws. Mom and I couldn't get to her fast enough, we were both going "OOO,OOO" and trying to get over to her. She was crying the entire time . I was a Little afraid that he was biting her because she was really carrying on, but after an inspection, she was no worse for the wear and may have finally learned to stop when the kitty says stop.

I would also like to report that we had NO POTTY ACCIDENTS THIS WEEKEND! She went to the door each time she had to potty. She also went to the door every time she wanted a "cookie"

She is getting much smarter too. This morning she did her normal routine is whimpering to get out of her crate. It was a bit earlier than normal, but I got up as her sleeping pattern is a bit off from the weekend away from home. Normally when I let her out she runs for the door. This time she jumped up on the couch and sat there looking at me as if to say "won't you join me?" I forced her outside and she did not go potty. when we came back in she got on the couch again. By this time I was going to have to get up and get ready for work in like 10 minutes anyway, so I caved and cuddled on the couch with her. Either she's getting smarter, or I am being trained.....

Vet Appointment

Maggie's Stats:

Weight: 16 POUNDS!! she has doubled in size in 3 weeks....
Heart: sounds good
Body: all the joints and bones and all that feel and look good
Nails clipped: DOES NOT LIKE THIS!

WE had a good trip the the vet. She is ship shape. She tried to play with a very scared looking Chiuaua in the waiting room...it did not go well. The resident cat at the vet came over to play with her though. Apparently this cat has "lived" at the office since she was a kitten and is now 16 years old, and NOTHING phases her. She just sat there and let Maggie climb all over her and lick her, I wish my cats would do that!

Potty training is going well. We haven't had any "accidents" in a few days while we are home, and she is generally hitting the potty pad when we are not home. She getting it, slowly, but I think she is catching on. We started giving her "cookies" when she goes piddle outside, and she had really gotten the message there. She actually stares at our pockets while she is going to make sure we are getting her cookie ready for her.....

A short update

My little Maggie slept through the night for the first time !! She took a nap around 8 pm, was up for an hour, went for a little walk and then I put her in her crate around 10 pm. I woke up at 5 before the alarm went off, and she was still sleeping in her crate! I was a little worried for a minute and thought she might be sick..but when the alarm went off so did she! Such a good girl!

We are working on the biting thing. I know, she's a puppy, and she is going to bite, but MAN she bites hard when she gets going!

I am going to try and get a video of her with the cats. The new thing is the cats get up on the edge of the bed, just out of her reach and stare at her, and it drives her CRAZY! she starts running around and barking at them, kind of like that little dog in looney tunes

Tonight we go to the vet for our next round of shots, I will post her stats as soon as I get back!

Appetite for destruction!

Well we have our first household casualty.....my blinds. She ate them while we were at work. I probably would not have noticed, accept she wandered over to them and started to eat them after we got home. I thought she was just sniffing, but then I saw this....


And so it begins........the chewing stage.....

best/worst toy....

This toy right here.....cost $.94 at Wal-mart. But it turns what is normally a sweet puppy into this....

It is a squeaky toy, which she loves. it keeps her occupied for long periods of time, but she gets so wound up when playing with it, it is almost hard to be in the same room! She turns into a little mini cyclone and goes bananas! so we only give it to her when we are not here, so she can keep herself occupado while we are at work.
Little miss Maggie is growing at an alarming rate! If you look at the first post, she is sitting in her bed and taking up just the corner...but now, she is turning into a little moose! I wanted a big dog and I am pretty sure I am going to get one!

Potty training is going pretty well. When we are home, she is really good about walking over to the door and whining to let us know she has to go out. When we aren't here is it is kind of hit and miss. Some days she will go on the potty training pad without indecent, other days she goes pretty much wherever she feels like. But we are getting there.

Maggie's first bath

Well, it's official, puppies stink. I don't care what anyone says, puppies do not smell good, they smell like the ass end of a skunk. Maggie's funk has impregnated our house and Logan (the OCD neat freak) can't handle it, so a bath became necessary.


She actually didn't mind too much. She was looking at me like I was a bit crazy the entire time, but she didn't fuss. Her fur is SO THICK! she definitely has that golden retriever look to her, such a pretty girl! And a few more picks.....

Maggie's first trip to the Vet

It went well. She didn't even flinch when she got her first shots! such a good puppy. She terrorized some cats in the waiting room, and got a dose of her own medicine when an INSANE little dog came in and was desperate to play with her, she was having none of it, she dove into my armpit.... She stole a chew toy from the basket, the ladies there were just smitten with her. All and all, she is a healthy girl. The Veterinarian said that she has very big paws and coarse fur........ and we should expect her to double in size in the next month...she weighs 8 pounds right now......oh boy.

The first encounter

AS some of you can imagine, the cats are not at all happy with the newest addition to the family. Chupa especially. Penelope has handled this ordeal surprisingly well! She even let Maggie get close enough to lick her......not wihtout a few slaps on the head (claws in for now) Here is a picture of them meeting for the first time: I would show you a picture of Chupa encountering her for the first time, but she seriously will not enter the same room as Maggie, which only makes Maggie want to play with her more....Its going to get ugly. I wish Chupa could understand me when I tell her to investigate the puppy now. She is only going to get bigger....and bigger....and more energetic....OY

The first post.

I named this blog "From the Door Knobs Down" after a quote form one of my favorite movies, Oliver and Company. In that Movie, Georgette the poodle declares everything from the door knobs down, belongs to her. With that in mind, Logan and I set off on our adventure into puppy parenthood. It all started a few weeks ago. A friend of a friend posted some adorable photos of puppies on there facebook page. I swooned, of course. But it was my husband that planted the seed of getting a puppy. HE inquired if any of them needed homes, and we found out they did. We went to see them, fell in love, and three days later brought home a bouncing baby puppy. What were we thinking you ask? I have NO IDEA! As some of you know, we also have cats. They are non to pleased with me at the moment, but slowly, they are getting used to having her around. But here she is!