What did Santa bring me?

Christmas morning has arrived and Riggs must know as soon as possible what Santa brought him.

Oh boy what did I get?

Penny the penguin

Baby Jay

Fashion Model

Our friends up in Cleveland, TN sent Riggs a fashionable Christmas scarf.  Thanks Jenny & Spencer.  He loves it.

At least he is not eating the Christmas tree this year.

Run frog run!

Mama and I were watching television when we heard all this commotion going on in the kitchen.  We went to investigate and found that a little frog had made its way into the house.  Riggs kept trying to sniff the thing and it would leap up bumping into his nose and freaking him out.  Riggs started running around in circles with his butt low to the ground and then would come back trying to paw at the frog.  I finally intervened before he attempted to eat it.  Knowing our luck Riggs would be allergic to the frog.  Why not, he is allergic to everything else.

He recognizes his own kind

Now that it has finally gotten cooler outside we are back to taking Riggs to the dog park each weekend.  The last couple of weeks there has been another pug named "Bella" that has been there and you can tell that Riggs recognizes his own kind.

Say Cheeeese

Well if this is not an obvious sign of Mama turning us into the typical dog family, I don't know what is.  Last year for our Christmas card, we did the three photo slots style card and each photo was a different one of Riggs.  This year Mama wants to do a family photo for the card.  *rolling eyes*  Say cheese everyone, cheeeeeeeeeese *click*

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everyone.

Grandma & Grandpa are back

My parents have finally arrived back down in Florida for the winter and Riggs is VERY excited to see them.  All I have to say is "Grandma & Grandpa are coming over" and he leaps up and gets all excited.

Riggs is allergic to...

We finally got Riggs skin bacteria infection cleared up and today was allergy test day.  Part of Riggs's chest/stomach area was shaved and his skin was pricked with various different trees, grasses, weeds, molds & smuts, house dust mite, insects, and others.  Anything that registered a 2 or higher is considered to be allergic too.  As has been the pattern with Riggs since we first got him, he was allergic to almost everything.  He did best with trees and horrible with everything else.

• Out of 20 different tree species he scored 2 or higher on 9 of them
• Out of 5 different grass species he scored 2 or higher on all 5 of them
• Out of 9 different weed species he scored 2 or higher on 8 of them
• Out of 12 different molds & smuts he scored 2 or higher on all 12 of them
• Out of 5 different house dust mite he scored 2 or higher on all 5 of them
• Out of 4 different insects species he scored 2 or higher on all 4 of them
• Out of 3 others (cat, feathers, & wool) he scored 2 or higher on all 3 of them

What is the next step you ask?  Allergy shots for the rest of Riggs' life.  Apparently dogs can not build up as strong a resistance to stuff like humans can so the shots will have to be forever.  So today we got to learn how to give Riggs a shot.

To give a dog a shot you pull up the loose skin located right behind his head and stick the shot into the pocket of space made from pulling the skin up.  We will have to give him a shot once every 3 days which will spread out to once every 10 days and eventually to once every 20 days.  Total bill today: $824.78.

Riggs shaved chest/belly area.  The little line of dots is all the various needle pricks they did testing on the various allergens.

Clean the folds

Pugs have many folds in their face which is a perfect spot for eye gunk to run down into and get all gross.  This cleaning process would go so much faster if you would just hold your head still.  Do you want me to accidentally poke you in the eye buddy?  If you do not hold still that is what is going to happen.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Today's bundle of joy is...

Frank (from Men in Black)

Wash rinse repeat

So as much as Riggs hated baths before he really hates them now.  To get him over this skin issue we have to lather him up with shampoo and it has to stay on him for 10 mins.  After we rinse him off, we lather him up with conditioner and that has to sit on him for another 10 mins before being washed off.  You should see the strange looks we get when we take Riggs for a walk around the neighborhood to keep him distracted.  All they see is a dog that looks like he ran through a car wash and is covered in suds but did not bother to rinse off.

One by one upstairs they come

Riggs use to sleep downstairs until Mama nagged and nagged Dada to let him sleep upstairs in bed with us.  All of Riggs toys (I mean stuffed animals) were downstairs in a big pile.  Well over the past several weeks Riggs has been strategically bringing one stuffed animal upstairs at a time and before I know it the bedroom is covered in stuffed animals and nylabones.

Allergy Specialist

We have tried every test our primary vet and we could think of.  Four different food trials have been tried.  Two emergency vet visits.  The itching and scratching continues.  The vet has recommend we go see an allergy specialist.  We had our initial consultation today and the specialist feels pretty confident that she knows what is going on.  She says the allergies he has are most likely environmental and not due to food.  Currently Riggs skin is fighting off a bacteria infection due to the allergies and that needs to be cleaned up before they can do any type of allergy tests to find out what he is allergic to specifically.  So more medications, sprays, shampoo & conditioner to get his skin infection under control.  Total bill today : $452.33.

Riggs the pig?

Halloween has arrived.  If any of you remember from last year, Riggs was dressed as a devil.  This year Mama dressed the poor guy as a pig.  You can tell from the photos that Riggs does not enjoy dress up like Mama does.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Halloween is right around the corner so we got Riggs a new stuffed animal.

Casper the ghost

Rush to the emergency vet – Take two

Sigh.  Riggs had another severe allergic reaction tonight and had to be rushed to the emergency vet.  No vaccine shots were given so we have no clue what it was that caused the reaction this time.  Same symptoms as last time, rubbing his muzzle and snout, throwing up, really pale tongue.  Vet pretty much did the same treatment as last time.  This is even more frustrating now.  At least the first severe allergic reaction could possibly have been tied back to the vaccine shots but this time who knows what caused the issue.

Picky eater

Riggs is on another food trial.  This time it is rabbit and potato.  He must hate this food because he has gone almost two full days without eating.  So we decided to poor some carrot juice over it and add some peas and carrots.  He hates the food so much he spent the time and effort to dig through the food dodging the actual dog food and eating the peas and carrots only.  Ugh!!!

Do you have to lie right up against me?

Now that Riggs is sleeping in bed with us he has made it a habit of lying right up against one of us.  We have a king size bed so there is plenty of room but no he has to lie right up against our legs for some reason.  I typically change positions several times before I get comfortable and fall asleep so I constantly have to push Riggs out of the way so I can flip over.  Can you be any more suffocating dog?

Dead weight

Riggs falls asleep between 9 – 10pm each night.  I don’t go to bed till 11:30 each night and wake Riggs to take him outside one last time for the night.  Riggs is absolutely no help when it comes time to go out.  He just lays there stiff as a board hoping I do not see him and when I go to pick him up he make no effort on his part to get up.  He acts like dead weight.  Once I finally get him down on the floor then he will stand on his own (gee thanks for making the effort) and do a big stretch and full body shake. 

Great another snorer

Awesome, now I have two snorers to deal with in bed.  Mama snores and apparently Riggs snores as well.  Oh and Mama wanted me to be sure to write “Dada snores also.”  Can only imagine what it must sound like in our room once all three of us fall asleep. 

Too spoiled

Dear Whipping Boy (aka Dada),

Please come hold my bone so I can chew it without needing to make any effort to hold it myself.

Your truly,

The Master of the House (aka Riggs the pug)

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Betty the butterfly

Dada loses another battle

Mama has been “nagging” Dada for 6 months or more to allow Riggs to sleep upstairs in bed with us.  I have been adamant that he is to sleep downstairs in his own bed and not in bed with us.  Mama and Riggs have finally worn Dada down and now both turds sleeps in bed with me.

Fetch does not work this way

Riggs if you bring me a stuffed animal and I throw it and then you go get it you need to bring it back to me and let go so I can toss it again.  Riggs understands the concept of fetch just not the concept of letting go of it when he brings it back.  Instead he turns a game of fetch into a game of tug of war.  Playing tug of war with stuffed animals will not make them last very long but then again maybe you are wanting to play tug of war with them on purpose so you can try to get to the stuffing inside of them.

So passive for the first 15 seconds

Anytime Riggs meets a new dog for the first time, he ducks his head down in a very passive stance.  After about 15 seconds and he knows he is not going to be eaten by the other doggie then his tail will start wagging and he will zig zag back and forth wanting the dog to chase him.

He has been doing this at the park as well.  He is always trying to instigate another dog to chase him.  Of course if one of the other dogs does start chasing him he will run to Mama sitting on the park bench and jump up into her lap.  So Riggs you want the dog to chase you but then when he/she does you go running for cover by Mama?   That is not how it works bud.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Come one come all to see what comes out of the toy chest today.

Llyod

Phantom peeing

Riggs has a little friend in the neighborhood named Tucker.  Tucker is a male yorkie.  Riggs must have paid attention to how Tucker stands to pee and now is trying to copy him.  “Hey Mama & Dada check me out.  I pee like a big boy now.”  Obviously if you have been following this blog for awhile now then you know that Riggs does not do anything normal and this new peeing stance is no different.

Riggs now goes up to every pole, bush, plant, palm tree, whatever is around lifts his leg and pees......nothing.  That is right folks.  He does the position but does not actually pee.  He just goes through the neighborhood and does fake drive by pee stances on everything.  When he is actually ready to pee then he goes back into his normal weird squat with one leg sticking up and the other balancing all his weight.

Congratulations on making yourself even more odd than you already are silly.

Hurry up all ready

Riggs I am getting eaten alive out here and it is hot as crap.  Riggs knows when he is getting ready to be put to bed downstairs.  When I take him out for the last time for the night, he takes FOREVER to go pee.  I know that he has to be purposely delaying going so it drags out before I put him to bed for the night.  It is summer in Florida which means it is horribly humid and freaking hot even at 11:30 at night and the mosquitoes are feasting on me.  Go pee dang you dog!

Is Mama making Riggs gay?

It is bad enough Mama dresses Riggs up in ridiculous outfits during the holidays but now she has him watching showtunes!  I came walking upstairs and there laying on the bed was Riggs and Mama watching Hello Dolly.  Riggs was completely mesmerized by the TV.  I don’t know if he was just really into paying attention to the TV today or if it was the singing that caught his attention.

Snaggletooth

I have not been able to successfully get a shot of Riggs “the Snaggletooth”.  Every once and awhile when Riggs closes his mouth he appears to have a little bit of an under bite and a few teeth stick out on one side of his mouth.  He is too interested in wondering why I am crouching down with the camera and leaning towards him.

Dada having fun with the hose

Our little screened in porch was in serious need of cleaning so I dragged everything out and was spraying it down with the hose.  Riggs came up to the glass door to check out what was going on and I just could not resist teasing him with the water.  I know such a bad Dada.

Happy 4th of July

We are back up north for our annual Fourth of July trip to visit our friends.  Second year in a row of Riggs behaving in the long 10 hour car ride.  Mama’s friend made Riggs a patriotic bandana to wear on the 4^th.  He was a little sleepy from the Benadryl apparently since we took a picture just as he was doing a big yawn.  Took him for a nice long walk later that night when it was cool outside and he kept looking around in every direction at the sounds of fireworks going off.  He was not sure what to make of all of it.

Yaaaaawn!

Toy Chest - Tuesday

You would think that I would run out of stuffed animals to present to you guys on Toy Chest - Tuesday but there are still plenty to go on top of the new ones that get bought.  The stuffed animals are lasting a lot longer now so I have not had any R.I.P. (rest in pieces) animals to announce in a long time.  I think we have pretty much become experts on being able to figure out what stuffed animals will last over which ones he will destroy pretty quickly.  So today we introduce, Froggy #3.  Riggs loved the last two frog stuffed animals we got, but he destroyed them before we introduce them to you.  We finally found a frog that seems to be holding up much better.

Froggy #3

No I'm not Frank

Do you know how many times I hear, "Hey look, it's Frank from the Men in Black movie".  Way too many times folks.  Yes there was a pug in the Men in Black movie called Frank but no my dog is not named Frank.

Rushed to the emergency vet!

What a horrible stressful day today.  Riggs had to be rushed to the emergency vet tonight.  Earlier today was Riggs' yearly shots.  So we took him to his regular vet and dropped him off.  Unfortunately, we think our vet got a little behind and did not give him his shots till close to the end of the day.  We came to pick him up right as they were closing.  We were heading back to the car and could tell there was definitely something wrong with him.  Riggs started to throw up, his tongue got really pale and he was rubbing his face hardcore.  We could tell his muzzle and snout was all swollen.  Riggs was having a severe allergic reaction to his shots.  The vet was closed and told us we needed to take him to an afterhours facility (what the hell!).  We rushed over there, the poor guy was itching so bad and you could tell he was really nauseous.  The emergency vet gave Riggs a shot of a strong concentration of Benadryl and a steroid shot.  After about 30 mins, he looked much better.  Poor guy was wiped out and slept the whole rest of the night.

Nylabones

While Riggs is obsessed with his stuffed animals still, he loves Nylabones.  He will spend a good hour chewing on that thing.  It is really good for his teeth to keep them clean so we are thrilled he loves them.  Now if we can just get him to quit expecting us to hold it for him while he chews it.

Left, pause, back, right, up, back left again

We never taught Riggs to walk beside us which makes taking him for a walk to be a challenge.  This is how a walk with Riggs typically goes.

• Mama is to the left of me and Riggs is up ahead to the right of me
• Riggs then cuts across from right to left causing the leash rope to cross in front of Mama's path
• Riggs then pauses to sniff something or proceeds to walk behind Mama
• The leash rope is now across Mama and behind her
• Then I walk in front of Mama and back around her to untangle the leash rope
• Riggs will then head back up ahead of us to the right and start the process all over again.

Nosey butt

You may find this hard to believe Riggs but not everything is for you.  Anytime we come back from the store, pull something out of the bag and get the scissors out the drawer to cut the tag or ties off of something, Riggs gets all excited and assumes it is something new for him.  Oh boy you all excited?  Yes I got a brand new blender just for you.  Ummmm no buddy.

Good luck putting something on the ground to assemble.  Riggs is right up in your face standing in the way sniffing & licking everything.  Mooooove!

Watching Mama attempt to wrap presents is a treat.  Riggs is right there standing on the wrapping paper.  I am just here to help Mama.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Let's see today we have Pedro the porcupine.

Pedro

Indiana Jones is going to whip you

Every once and a blue moon Riggs will sit and watch what is going on the TV.  Today I was playing some Indiana Jones game on the Wii and Riggs was all into watching what was going on, so I figured I would have a little fun with him.

Riggs would move up to the TV screen and I would pull out Indy’s whip and crack it.  Riggs would immediately jump back and bark at the TV.  After a little while he would build up the courage to go back to the TV and “snap!”  You are soooo easy to tease Riggs and provide pure entertainment.  Where was the dang camera when I needed it.

Are you sure we don't own a "scaredy" cat? (Part 3)

Riggs continues to show patterns of being more of a cat than a dog.  First he hates the water, second he sheds a ton and now third he is scared of anything that is out of place or he has never seen before.  Oh no look out for that big green mean trash can on the side of the road.  Protect me for that pillow sitting in the corner of the room.  Yikes! What is that but a wind chime in the tree.  What to do with you, I just do not know.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Let me reach down in here and see what I pull up.  Aaaah yes, say hello to Mickey.  Mama picked this guy up while she was at one of the Disney theme parks earlier this month.

Mickey Mouse of course

Suck suck suck

Ok I have to know if anyone else has a dog that does this. Not sure if this is a pug thing or just another odd thing that Riggs does. Riggs like to suck on some of his stuffed animals. I am not sure how to describe this. On a few of his stuffed animals that have a big nose / face (e.g. Baboo, Stinky Nanners & Sunny), he lays down with the stuffed animal in front of him, grabs hold of the stuffed animals nose/face in his mouth and sits there and sucks on it for 30 mins or more. Check it out.

Nope. Cannot even pee normal

Riggs up to this point would not be known as your typical male pee’er.  He does not go up to the light pole, lift his leg and let it rip.  Riggs is a squatter.  Riggs would not be Riggs if he did not have his own style to peeing.  Even though he squats to pee, he has to lift one leg in the air and then squat as he does some circus balancing act on one leg.  As for his aim, he needs some work on that as well.  Every so often he will successfully pee on one of his front legs.

That explains all the hair loss

The allergy dilemma continues.  Still no signs of the itching going away and the post from a couple of weeks ago about the shedding is more than likely related to the allergies as well.  Riggs is now starting to show signs from the hair loss on his undercarriage area. 

We are starting to do some additional test to see if something else might be causing the issues.  Today we got his thyroid tested and that came back normal.  We have switched him to a different food trial as well.  Vet thinks it might be a protein based allergy so no meat products at all now.  Soybean and vegetables dry dog food.  I am sure that will be tasty.  NOT.

Drying off?

Riggs loves his carrots and can not wait to get one each night.  Before we give him one, we wash it off and cut off both ends and then hand it down to him.  I am not sure why but every time we give him one he shakes his head while it is in his mouth initially.  I don't know if the goofball is shaking off the excess water or what the deal is.

Beach bum

Today we took Riggs to a local beach that allows pets.  He was not really sure what to think of the sand at first.  He kept sniffing the sand and walking tenderly on it.  It was pretty hot that day so we tried to get him to go in the water but of course Riggs wanted nothing to do with the water and he would take off any time a tiny wave would crash down on the shore.  Such a wussy dog you are.

Let's go cruising but I want up front

Mama got a new car last weekend and we figured Riggs would love having the entire hatchback area to himself.  He could play with his toys, lay on his bed he got for Christmas, look out the window on either side.  But no, all he did is whine and try to crawl over the back to get into the backseat.  If you have him in the backseat with you then he spends the whole time trying to get into the front seat.  If you have him in the front passenger seat he spends the whole time trying to get in your lap in the driver’s seat.  Riggs do you understand the term suffocating?

Toy Chest - Tuesday

We have a pair of monkeys to introduce today.  Stinky Nanners and Sunny.

Stinky Nanners

Sunny

I'm free!

Apparently this morning after I had already left for work, Mama checked the front door to see if there were any packages.  At the same time Mama open the door some kid on a bike was riding by on the street and Riggs just HAD to go follow him.  Riggs went running out the front door after the kid on the bike.   Mama was still getting ready for work and was only in a bath robe at the time.  So she went out chasing after him at the same time trying to keep her bath robe from falling off.  She was screaming at the kid to stop on the bike.  Luckily someone in a car saw the commotion and got the kid to stop on his bike so Mama could catch up and snag Riggs.  Another fun morning with the little nightmare.

Are you sure we don't own a cat? (Part 2)

Hair is everywhere Riggs.  Pugs are short haired dogs and not supposed to shed but there is freaking hair everywhere.  Of course I would brush him but Riggs thinks I am holding the claw of death any time I get a comb next to him he freaks out and takes off.  What is the deal bud?  You shed more than most cats I know.

Happy 1st Birthday

Riggs turns 1 today.  Mama made a chocolate cake for the kids and adults and Riggs got a carrot and some wet vegetarian food, yummy!  Some family came over to celebrate and Riggs got some toy balls and of course MORE stuffed animals.

Wind gust = freak out

Riggs likes the wind up to a certain point and then he freaks out like the world is coming to an end.  As soon as the wind hits a certain speed he is not sure what to do and starts running around in circles and hopping forward and backward.  Any time he needs to go out to go to the bathroom, I pray it is not windy out or at least that he finds his spot and does his business before a wind gust comes around otherwise we will be out there for a very long time.

How many times do I need to tell you

Dear Mama & Dada,

How many times do I have to make this pathetic face every time you give me a bath before you get a clue and figure out that baths suck and I don't like them.

Yours truly,

Riggs

Open up and say aaahh

Now that Riggs is on a non protein based diet we can no longer wrap his pills in liverwurst.  Anyone that owns a pet can relate on how big a challenge it is to pry a dog's mouth open and shove a pill way back in his throat and get him to swallow it.  Some days are easier than others.  Of course the pill does not taste good so Riggs starts shaking his head and drooling at the mouth trying to get the gross taste out of his mouth.

What did you do!?!?

I guess it is my fault for leaving him unattended for too long.  I should have known something was up when it was too quiet.  I was upstairs messing around on the computer and Riggs was downstairs.  Like I had mentioned, I am convinced Riggs has OCD.  It felt way too quiet downstairs so I went to check on him and what did I find you ask?  It looked like a big ball of yarn right on the edge where the tile meets the carpet.  But oooh no that was not yawn, that was the actual carpet that Riggs has successfully pulled up and shredded.  So any visitors that enter our home will immediately get to see the lovely blemish he has left behind now.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Today from the Toy Story movies we introduce, Wheezy.

Wheezy

Play with the other dogs, not the humans

We attempt to take Riggs to the park every weekend that we can.  Here he can roam around and play with all the other dogs but does he?  Not really.  He spends his time sniffing every tree and fence post to inhale the lovely smell of pee.  He roams around the grass looking for any pile of poo that might have been missed.  If a person sits down on any of the numerous park benches in the park I hope you don’t mind a dog hopping into your lap because it is only a matter of time before Riggs works his way over to you and jumps up into your lap.  Riggs is more interested in the people and pee & poo smells then the dogs.  Go figure.

More meds, more attempts

Riggs' itching continues.  We have special shampoo and conditioner, hypoallergenic treats, wipes for his face and now he will be on Benadryl twice a day.  So far the food does not seem to be making a difference.  Poor guy, I cannot imagine being itchy all day every day.  At least he is not scratching himself so hard that he is making his skin raw.

Leaves blowing in the wind

I wish I had the camera with me today.  Riggs loves to chase the leaves blowing in the wind.  Living in Florida fall does not get here till January and so the leaves are falling off the trees and blowing down the street and Riggs takes off after them.  Although so many leaves are blowing he cannot decided on which one to chase.  He eventually catches up to one and grabs it in his mouth but then proceeds to drop it because another leaf went flying by him that he must pursue.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Can we please stop getting stuffed animals that make noises?  Welcome another annoying sounding animal to the mix.  This is Toro the cow that makes a moooooooo sound that Riggs likes to squeeze over and over.

Toro the cow

I didn't know we owned a rabbit

So with Riggs into his food trial now, we needed to figure out something we could give to him as a treat.  Most of the treats we found at the pet store were off limits.  The vet suggested carrots.  We got a bag of carrots and sure enough he likes them.  I am now just waiting for Riggs to grow some long pointy ears and a bushy tail.

Can we start the movie already?

Riggs likes to think he is “King of the Couch” and has found his favorite spot when it is time to watch TV or a movie.

Itchy & Scratchy

Riggs continues to itch and scratch himself nonstop.  He primarily scratches his black muzzle area.  We are thinking he might have a food allergy and the vet has recommended we start him on a food trial to see if he gets better.  So sorry bud no more tasty beef flavored dry dog food.  Sweet potatoes and veal instead.