Gloria vs. the Pineapple

Some couples use marks on the wall to track their child's growth. We use pineapples. Sept. 27, 2009Nov. 29, 2009

Gloria vs. Higher Education

Gloria's a graduate!

Unfortunately I had to miss the ceremony due to work (7 am Sunday inventory - ick!), but Kyle gave me an update - reenactment and all, he even took plenty of pictures for me, which still have yet to leave his camera, however, when they do make it off the camera, no worries, I'll post them.

The ceremony consisted of three parts:
1. Final competition
2. Caps and diplomas
3. The group picture

Gloria's classmates were all little shih tzus and mini poodles - non herding dogs like G, obviously she had an edge. She lost by a treat the lay and stay competition (K was bribing her to stay with a treat and he dropped it - how was G supposed to resist an un-guarded treat next to her face?). However, she redeemed herself during the relay race. Her team was an entire leg in the relay race behind when her turn came up (she was last to go). She raced across the store, around the trainer (without once glancing at the toys), and skidded to a sit several feet past the finish line (she was too excited to stop at the finish line) - all before the owner of the last dog on the other team could get his dog to sit. She won the relay race for her team!! Her prize? Doggie doo doo bags (mom and dad were thrilled).

Then the dogs all put on little graduate caps (Yes, I have a photo. It's adorable.) and were given their diplomas. And finally, Gloria and her friends from class all took a photo together.

So now we're moving on to advanced training. It deals with distractions - it's going to be an adventure, that's for sure!

Gloria vs. the Loose Tooth!

Gloria lost her first tooth! We noticed she was very nippy Friday night, and Saturday morning two teeth were loose! They were gone by Saturday night, so I played tooth fairy and put a treat under the pillow of her bed. Of course she found the treat, then she spent the next hour noisely scratching at her bed trying to find the other treat. I guess she can count better than I thought, two teeth should equal two treats, right?

She was so disappointed when she didn't find one that she decided she was fighting with the bed and retreated to the couch. She hasn't slept in her bed again yet, I suppose she's still angry with it, for getting only one treat for two teeth!

Gloria vs. Halloween

Kyle's mom decided to visit this weekend and it was wonderful - Kyle was outnumbered 2 to 1!
Because of this, I finally succeeded in getting to play dress up with Gloria and the Halloween costumes at PetSmart.

Gloria Vs. Mommy & Daddy's Hobbies

I've never met any dog who needs attention as much as Gloria. She's discovered what Kyle and my hobbies are and it appears that she is trying to sabotage them so that we'll have more time to spend with her. See exhibits one and two below:

Exhibit 1: Gloria sitting on Kyle's xbox - effectively making him play with her instead of it.

Exhibit 2: Gloria with my running shoe, refusing to release it until I get her leash out as well.

Gloria vs. the Vet

One of my responsibilities as a puppymomma is to take my little girl to the vet every 4 weeks to make sure she gets all of her vaccinations. Today was one of those days.

As she's gotten older, she's gotten more of a personality, and one of her favorite activities of the day is her morning walk/jog with mom. She wags her little butt, runs over to me with my shoe (she can only carry one, since it's almost as big as she is), and sits like a good girl for me to put her leash on so we can go.
Today, she thought she was going on a normal walk when I got out her leash, she got a little confused when I took her a different direction than normal, and by the time I put her in the car, she was more than a bit suspicious. She's on set 3 of her vaccinations, she she's very familiar with the vet and what happens there. She is not a fan.

We pulled up to the vet, I tugged her out of the car, and we checked in at the front desk, with a shaking little Gloria. Vaccinations are 1/2 off on Saturdays, and the majority of the dogs there were little puppies who needed their shots just like Gloria (Although there was one poor dog who was rushed in with a gunshot wound while we were waiting. Only in LA.). Every time one went back and yelped when it got it's shots, Gloria would nuzzle closer to me and shake a little more. To say the least it was a little traumatic.

We got Gloria her shots and headed home (she was a good girl and didn't make a sound when the vet stuck her). Since then, she's been completely lethargic, sleepy, and malleable, most likely due to the combination of the stress of the visit and the shots themselves, so I took the opportunity to play with her and get some cute sleepy puppy photos. Enjoy!

Gloria vs. the TWO walk day

So Kyle and I accidently both took Gloria for 2 mile runs yesterday. This generally wouldn't be a big deal, but when your legs are seven and a half inches long and as skinny as a starving model's, 4 miles is a *lot* of steps.

Unsurprisingly, she was very tired last night (and this morning) so we took advantage of a sleepy puppy to get some cute photos.

I think somebody loves her puppydaddy.

Gloria loves to have her belly scratched, I guess this proves that even in her dreams she assumes the "please-rub-my-tummy" position. (She also wimpers in her sleep and "runs" in her sleep. It.is.so.cute.)

And I think somebody loves his puppybaby.

Gloria vs. the USC Rug

And the verdict is.... guilty as charged!!

Lately, a certain furry someone has taken to chewing on a certain USC rug. Kyle blames the Washington loss and claims she's a fairweather fan, but I have a darker (and better, most likely more accurate) theory. Gloria's hatred of USC goes a long, long way back (well, as far back as a 14 week old puppy's hatred can go).

You see, Gloria is an OHIO puppy. Her first action agaisnt the rug was a dump, taken directly in the middle. We/Kyle tried our/his best, but even our/his most stringent precautions couldn't protect the ill-fated rug. It's death was destiny. She would sneak in, undected (mostly) under my feet when I'd dry my hair to get a chew or two in, then later, she'd stealthily chase in after Kyle'd go in to brush his teeth, attacking the rug merely a foot away. So while Kyle thinks she's a fair weather fan, I think she's risking the skin off her back to save her family from the evils of the USC rug. What a brave and loyal puppy. I wonder when she'll go after the shower curtain....

Gloria and the T-Bone

Lately, steak has been significantly cheaper than chicken and someone has been enjoying it. The following photos are of a graphic nature and should not be viewed by the faint of heart. They are of Gloria enjoying her first t-bone.

She was actually really good when we first started taking photos, she was doing this super cute thing where she laid down with the bone and had both paws holding the top of the T with the middle sticking straight up in the air. Unfortunately, we missed that photo.

Gloria and the Popsicle

I came home from my first day of work to these two guilty faces:One had left a popsicle melting on the end of the counter and the other had greedily lapped up the puddle of strawberry popsicle while the unmelted portion dripped on her head.

She was absolutely covered, her paws, her face, her head and very sticky Needless to say a shower was in order. I suppose all is well that ends well, and my two loves were happy, both of them filled with strawberry popsicle.