Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

Hopefully you were good and Santa brought you everything you wanted instead of coal.  Surprisingly Riggs did not receive coal but instead got a brand new bed which he proceeded to rub his face into.  I still think the little turd should have got coal but Mama is in charge of buying the Santa gifts.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

This stuffed animal drives us crazy.  When you squeeze him he makes this high pitch monkey scream which Riggs loves to squeeze over and over and over.  Hopefully he destroys this one quickly.

Baboo the monkey

Is Riggs the real Santa Claus?

As you all are well aware by now, Mama likes to dress poor Riggs up in ridiculous outfits during the holidays.  So it should be no surprise that she dressed Riggs in a Santa suit and placed him by the Christmas tree to take a picture for our Christmas cards this year.

So enjoy the photo below and feel sorry for the poor guy.  I also posted a video of this event to show that Riggs had no interest in getting his picture taken instead he was more interested in attempting to eat the Christmas tree.

Did a tornado hit?

I think I understand why Riggs' original owners named him tornado.  Even though we leave Riggs with a few toys when we leave for work he is obviously getting bored.  He has decided it would be lots of fun to tear his pee pad into a million pieces.  Luckily he is not eating it but is having loads of fun shredding the thing.  When we get home it looks like a tornado hit in his area.  There are pee pad pieces all over the place.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Go KU!

The best time of the year has returned; college basketball.  Riggs and I are ready to root the Kansas Jayhawks on to victory.

That is not your bed dork

Riggs that is not your bed dork.  That is your pee pad in case you need to go while we are at work.  So clueless buddy.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Who do we have in the toy chest today?

Buzz

Well his name is Buzz because he USE to have a buzz haircut but Riggs has already trimmed his hair down.

R.I.P. (Rest in Peices):
Tigger the tiger
Fred the bad cat


Catch the light

I needed a flashlight for something and when I shined it on what I needed to see, Riggs suddenly became curious on what the round white circle on the ground was.  So we had a little fun teasing the goofball.

Now the ears? What is next?

Welcome back everyone to the medical files of Riggs the pug.  As you know from the previous post we are still working on getting Riggs over his second instance of mange and now he appears to have an ear yeast infection.  Apparently this is somewhat common with pugs because of the way their ear canals are.  Ok buddy now hold still while I spray this liquid in your ear and rub it in.

So far I think Mama and Riggs have successfully got more of the solution on me than in Riggs' ears.  Between Riggs dodging left and right as she tries to get it in there and the times she does get it in there, Riggs immediately shakes his head and it is like a sprinkler went off.

Mange returns

Well lookie what reared its ugly head again.  The mange has returned for another round.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Are you starting to see how spoiled this dog is based on the number of stuffed animals he has.

Bruce the bat

Devil Dog

Halloween has arrived and unfortunately Mama is one of those people that likes to dress their dog up in a costume. Now imagine trying to get an 8 month old puppy to hold still while you try to dress him up in some ridiculous costume. Mama decided on a devil costume for the first year since Riggs appears to be quite the pain in the butt.

Of course once we get it on him, he is spinning in circles trying to pull the thing off. The greater challenge was trying to keep the horns on long enough to get some pictures of him. We took him to Petsmart for some Halloween costume contest and Riggs of course was running up and down the shopping isle.

Ready to cause some trouble

Raising holy hell

Devil Dog Riggs

Do you notice something about this Halloween costume contest?
That's right no guys.  What the hell am I doing here???

Little duckling following Mama

It has become very apparent who’s Riggs favorite.  When we are both at home Riggs follows Mama everywhere she goes.  He could be laying down sleeping but if Mama gets up and goes in a different room Riggs must follow.  It is like watching a little duckling following Mama duck.

Socks

Riggs loves to steal Mama’s socks.  He also has figured out where Mama stores her socks and unfortunately they are within his reach.  Luckily he does not chew them up and destroy them he just leaves socks all over the house.  If he is not off playing with one of his stuffed animals then he is on the prowl for socks.

Sh*tstorm Wednesday

The joys of potty training continue however for some reason every Wednesday lately we have gotten home to ummmmmm, I think Eddie Murphy's reaction in the video below says it best.

Sidewinder

While walking Riggs, we have noticed that he does not walk straight but instead walks sideways.  Sometimes we have a hard time figuring out if his head or butt is trying to lead the way.

Riggs vs. "The Pig"

Yes the time has come for the next fight to the death.  This time around it is Riggs vs. "The Pig".  Place your bets now and enjoy the show.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Welcome to the stuffed animal family Sally and Ducky #2.

Sally the seal

Ducky #2

R.I.P. (Rest in Pieces):
Froggie #2 (he seems to love frogs but they don't last worth a darn)

The cone of shame

Is it just me or does Riggs not look happy to be wearing "the cone of shame"?  It is for your own good buddy.  We don't want your stitches to get infected.  Frankly I don't think he really cares about that right now.

The day all dogs dread has arrived

Today was not a good day for Riggs.  Today was “snip snip” day.  Riggs got neutered.  Everything went well.  No complications with the surgery and he was his normal excited happy self when we came to pick him up.  If he is in any type of discomfort or pain you would not know it.  Although once we got home he did sleep the rest of the day.

Yogurt yummy

It was suggested that a little bit of yogurt is good to give to your dog to help keep yeast infections in the ears under control.  We figured what the heck, we will see if Riggs likes it or not.  We placed one tablespoon of plain yogurt on a plate and placed it on the floor for him.  Sure enough Riggs likes it.  He lapped it on up and had it all over his lower muzzle when he was done.

OCD

I am convinced our dog has OCD.  His most current obsession is going behind the TV.  I don’t know if he found a bug back there one day or just curious about all the wires but he will not stay away from the back of the TV.  We finally ended up having to build a wall on both sides out of various boxes to keep him out.

Lovely present

Riggs left a lovely present on the bed today, a pile of poo.  What the hell Riggs?

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Two new characters today. Say hello to Steve and Frank.  Why the name Steve you ask.  I have no freaking clue.  Vanessa just said "He looks like a Steve."

Steve

Frank

Also one more to add to the R.I.P. (Rest In Pieces) list:

Ducky 1 (duck)

Getting very sleepy

Must try to stay awake.  I think I can do it.

Just a little longer.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Would Carl Lewis be jealous?

I wonder if famous sprinter Carl Lewis would be jealous of Riggs' running form.  Any of you that watched the video Riggs vs. “The Bone” in last month’s post know already that Riggs has a very unique running style.  He sticks his butt way low to the ground almost to the point that he is dragging it when he takes off running.  It is the weirdest thing to watch.  If you have not seen the video yet, go back to the month of July and check out the post titled: Riggs vs. “The Bone”.

Is this working? Feel guilty yet?

I am sure most of you have probably seen the movie Shrek.  One of the characters “Puss in Boots” puts on this sad face with the big pouty eyes every time he wants someone to feel sorry for him.  Well Riggs does the same thing every morning we get ready to go to work.  Check out the two photos below and you tell me if you see any similarities.

Pill taking time

So today's challenge was getting Riggs to take his pills to get over the Mange he has.  So first we attempted to just feed it to him.  Yea riiiiight.  He just sniffed it and looked at us like “You’re kidding me right?”  Next we wrapped it in some lunch meat.  Failed attempt number 2.  He figured out the pill was wrapped in the lunch meat.  Let’s try some peanut butter.  Failed attempt number 3.  Zero interest in peanut butter.  Shoved it into some liverwurst and score!  Down the pills went.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Today we introduce you to Nemo who has since Sunday already lost both his eyeballs and has been sewn back together.

Nemo

R.I.P. (Rest In Pieces)

A couple of stuff animals have not survived long enough to introduce them to you during “Toy Chest – Tuesday.”  This video below pretty well sums up what he likes to do with his stuffed animals.  In this video you will see “Froggy 1” who takes the beating and you will see a green octopus on the floor as well that did not make it.  So rest in pieces poor stuffed animals of low quality.   You have not survived Riggs long enough to be in the spotlight.

Only Riggs would be excited to go to the vet

It is time to take Riggs to the vet to get his next vaccination shot and he is all excited to go.  You are the only dog I know of that gets excited to go to the vet buddy.  Such a strange dog you are Riggs.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Since Riggs is completely spoiled rotten and has so many stuffed animals, I have decided to have a “Toy Chest – Tuesday” post series. In order to get through the plethora of stuffed animals this boy has, I will introduce you to one of his partners in crime on Tuesday every month.

Today is an obvious named one and as you can see from the photo below he is already tore up pretty bad. Today we introduce: Garfield, my favorite comic and comic character of all time.

Garfield

Mange

Riggs has been itching and scratching quite a bit lately so we took him to the vet to make sure he does not have fleas.  He does not have fleas but instead has something called Mange.

Mange: is a class of persistent contagious skin diseases caused by parasitic mites.

Apparently he has the demodectic mange version.  Also called demodicosis or Red Mange, demodectic mange in dogs is caused by a sensitivity to and overpopulation of Demodex canis if the animal's immune system is unable to keep the mites under control.

The vet did a skin scrap and looked at it under the microscope where he saw the little mites.  Riggs immune system it appears is not developing as fast as he is currently and having difficulty fighting off these parasitic mites.  So home we are sent with pills to fight the battle of mange.  Oh joy.

Riggs vs. "The Bone"

We want video of the cute puppy!  Ok ok.  Enjoy Riggs vs. "The Bone".  Yes, that is me talking to Riggs in a very high baby talk voice.  If you only really knew how low my voice really is.  Enjoy everyone.

Up the stairs great, down the stairs not so much

We live in a two story townhouse.  Riggs caught on to the concept of going up the stairs pretty quickly.  However, coming back down the stairs is a different story.  From his view it must look pretty scary at the top of the stairs looking down I guess.
  
So we have the “cat stuck up in the tree” problem with Riggs now.  He will go up the stairs but when he is ready to come back down he will just stand at the top of the stairs and whine.  You can see him attempt to put a paw down the first step but he just does not have the courage yet to come down the stairs on his own.  This whole carrying you down the stairs is going to get old quickly buddy.

Road Trip

Now having a dog has made taking trips a bit more of a challenge.  We went and checked out some local boarding places to see what the conditions were like and did not get that warm and fuzzy feeling about leaving Riggs there.  We also looked into having someone watch him at their home and that was too expensive.  So we decided to take him with us on our annual road trip up north.

Each year Vanessa and I go visit some friends that are about 10 hrs north of us.  This was our first long road trip with Riggs.  He ended up doing great.  No accidents in the car or at the hotel we were staying at.  Why the hell can we not get him to do that at home yet?

Toy of choice: stuffed animals

Over the past month, we have tried various types of toys with Riggs.  Small tennis balls, knotted rope contraptions, rubber kong with peanut butter in it, etc.  It has become quite clear though the toy of choice... Riggs loves stuffed animals.  Over time you will be introduced to Riggs' stuffed animal friends because we give each of them a name. 

Today we would like to introduce you to someone you have seen in several pictures already.  Say hello to Mr. Cuddles.  As you can see he is already in pretty bad shape.  Nose already torn off and his eyes are in pretty bad shape as well.

Mr. Cuddles

Shots

Talking about a lot of shots a puppy has to get over the first several months.  Good grief.  Today the list of shots included:

• Corona Virus Vaccine
• Distemper Parvo DAPP Vaccine
• Leptospirosis 4-way Vaccine
• Rabies Virus Vaccine

Field trip to mama’s work

Mama took Riggs with her to work today.  It was a day full of sniffing, chewing his rawhide beef treat, sleeping (of course) and following anyone that got up out of their chair.

Riggs, why do you smell like dead fish?

Ugh!  What is that smell?  Why does it smell like dead fish?  If you happen to be a dog owner or more specifically a pug owner then you might know what we are experiencing right now.  Without making things too graphic here, that fish smell is from Riggs anal glands being full.

To resolve the issue the vet has to express the anal glands, which is kind of like getting your prostate examined which I am guessing is NOT fun.  Anyway no more fish smell now.  Now all I smell from Riggs butt is baby powder.

Neck cramp incoming

The title of this blog post and the picture below pretty well sums things up for today.

Are you sure we don’t own a cat? (Part 1)

One thing is very apparent.  Riggs does NOT like the water.  Giving him a bath in the tub today was a challenge to say the least.  Fortunate for mama, he is not big enough yet to be able to crawl out of the tub.  I could hear all sorts of commotion in the bathroom and took a peak in there to see what was going on.

After he was done and dried off, the door was open and he bolted out of there.  Riggs was running up and down the hallway over and over obviously throwing a temper tantrum.  Such a baby.

Everyone sniffing everyone’s butt

Today was Riggs first time at the local dog park.  We were curious to see how he was going to act around other dogs.  The dog park is really nice.  It is broken into two parts;  one section was for large dogs and the other for smaller dogs.  Riggs immediately made friends and was busy smelling all the other dogs’ butts.  He was the youngest one there so he loved all the attention he got from kids and adults alike.  Stayed for about an hour and he fell asleep in the car on the way home from his day of excitement.

Such is a dog’s life

Am I jealous you ask? Yes.  Riggs spends his day eating, chewing bones, playing with toys and best of all sleeping.  Man it must be so rough having a dog’s life.

My name is ...

Who would have thought we would have had such a difficult time deciding on a name.  We both agreed we did not want to name him a common dog name such as Bailey, Max, or Casey.  We also did not want to name him after famous pugs you have seen in movies such as Frank or Otis.  I am not sure if Mama was drinking one night or not but she came up with all sorts of names based on types of alcohols.  Ummm…no.  Our final decision did end up coming down between two movie character names, Riggs or Kato.

And the winner is, Riggs

Comfort

The howling/crying at night fiasco appears to be resolved.  Mama took one of her old t-shirts, sprayed it with some of her perfume and placed it in his crate with him at night.  Apparently having an object with a familiar smell close by helped comfort him.  I am just glad to be able to finally get some sleep now.

Waaaah!!! I miss my mommy

Yawn.  Yup the time of this post is correct folks.  It is night three with Tornado (yes, we still have not decided on a name but it is getting close) and it is 3:30 am and be glad you cannot hear the sound coming from downstairs.  Tornado is howling/crying up a storm down there.  Mama wants to let him sleep with us.  No freaking way.  Dog sleeps downstairs, we sleep upstairs.  I know I am such a mean Dada but he needs to learn.  Ugh!  That sound, make it stop!  Looks like another sleepless night in store.

What have we got ourselves into?

On the way home we stopped at our local Petsmart to pickup puppy survival guide materials.  The list consisted of the follow:

·         Pet crate

·         Gate

·         Bed

·         Pee pads

·         Toys and chew bones

·         Food

·         Treats

·         Poo bags

·         Collar and leash

·         Food & water bowls

·         and two books that in theory were to help us with our new bundle of joy but I am convinced they pretty well said “you are so screwed now dude”

As to be expected, everyone in the store had to stop by and oooh and aaaah over the new puppy and he loved all the attention.  We were checking out and I was talking with someone else in line and then I hear it.  The entire world froze like something out of the Matrix.  With a pleasant worried smile on my face, I ask the checkout lady to please repeat herself I don’t think I heard her correctly.  “No problem sir, your total comes to $186.54.”  Oh cr…

Tornado or Star

While our last attempt of finding a pug in the paper was interesting to say the least, we continued to keep an eye out in the paper and found another potential prospect.  We called the owners up and they said they had two left.  We headed over to their house and were introduced to Tornado and Star, two eleven week old male pug puppies.   Their mom was keeping a close eye on us as the two of them were climbing all over us like we were a jungle gym.  “Why don’t we get both of them” the wife suggest (gee, what a surprise).  I gave her the “there is no way in hell” look.  So now it came time to choose.  Both were full of energy and adorable, however Star sounded like he had some breathing issues. It is ironic but my B.S. degree from college was in Atmospheric Science, so fate it would seem was pointing us towards Tornado.  The owners were really helpful in answering our endless questions and gave us all sorts of goodies to go home with to start our new adventure as pet parents.

We knew that we were not going to keep him named Tornado but we had not decided on a name yet so for now Tornado it shall be.

Welcome our new addition to the family.
Born: March 5th, 2009
Picked Up: May 23rd, 2009

Did I just enter a scene from the movie Deliverance?

The task of finding a pug puppy was a bigger challenge than we expected.   We checked local pet stores, shelters and even went to a pet adoption expo at the local fairgrounds but ended up empty handed.  We had been checking in our local paper and the prices were all over the place.   We found one person that was selling one for $350 and gave her a call.  She sounded nice, so we got her address and decided to go check the little guy out.  As we were driving out there, the scenery changed from nice suburbs, to farmland, to “where the hell are we ville”.  We entered into the neighborhood and while the houses were not the best looking things in the world at least they all had roofs and cement driveways.  As we slowly drove down the street looking for addresses on the houses, we finally came to a stop on the street and looked at the house out the window to our right.  No kidding folks this house (errrr...motorhome?) was like something you would see out of the movie Deliverance.  We sat there for a few moments contemplating what to do.  On one hand we were thinking, “We need to save this puppy from this house.” On the other hand, we were wondering if anything was alive in there or if we would get out of there alive and god knows what condition that puppy would be in.  Sorry to say we did not go home with a puppy today.

The search begins

A month has passed since I told Vanessa the words she had been waiting to hear for years, "We can get a dog now."  The dilemma now was determining what type of dog to get.  I have always wanted to get a lab or golden retriever but unfortunately, we live in a tiny townhouse with no yard so a big dog was out of the question.  Vanessa and I were both in agreement that we did not want a dog that barked nonstop and we knew this was going to be a challenge, since most little dogs bark.   After several trips to Barnes & Noble and lots of research online it was down to two breed choices; pug or French bulldog.  I did not see the cuteness in the look of the French bulldog and the price tag for one was $1500 so that pretty much eliminated that dog from the list.  So in the end, a pug is what it was going to be.  Next step, find one.

Can we get a dog?

One question, five words long with a question mark at the end is where this adventure begins.  For the past several (and I do mean several) years the wife, Vanessa (aka Mama), has been asking me (aka Dada) this question "Can we get a dog?”  While I was not against the idea, I did not want to get one until we had the space and money to afford an addition to the family.

For six long years she asked and asked.  She tried everything she could think of to get me to say yes.  For her birthday in March 2009 she wanted to go to Epcot, so we packed up the car made the 90 minute drive and spent the day at the park.  During dinner at the Mexican restaurant we love in the Mexico section of Epcot I finally told her, "We can get a dog now."

What happened next you ask?  She cried.