Dog – Page 5 – Not Content to Crawl

Doggie Eggstravaganza & Easter Weekend

Posted onApril 17, 2017September 11, 2017

Saturday (4/15) we met up with my friend K and her dog Teddy at Wilder Park in Elmhurst to attend their dog event that included an egg hunt, parade, etc. There was a kids’ egg hunt at 10 am with the dog event scheduled for 10:30 am. Street parking was completely full so we parked in the nearby college lot just a block from the park. I texted the location to K and with incredible timing she pulled into a spot just behind us in the lot.

By the time we made it to the specific location of the egg hunt it was just starting (two minutes early, according to our phones) so we missed out on that, although this nice woman each gave us one of her eggs which was filled with little dog treats. Immediately after the “hunt”, which lasted all of a minute, maybe two, they announced the winner of the costume contest. This was very confusing since the event supposedly just started not five minutes beforehand. If there was in fact a dog parade I have no idea where that was either. In addition, by the time we made it over to the sponsor tents most of them were either out of treats or packing up already to leave. It was very strange and I can’t help but think they started early and we were the only ones who didn’t know about it.

All that aside, it was still fun to see all the dogs and let Wookie socialize. She was pretty good with the dogs but not so much with people who all wanted to pet her because she’s so cute. We met a British man and his daughter who had two Yorkies from the same litter and spoke to them for awhile and then later on we met a woman and her boyfriend/husband (not sure which) with their cute Shih Tzu mix named Parker. She and I spoke at length about dog stuff. I gave her Wookie’s Instagram info and she started following her which is cool. I think it would be nice if we could someday get back together for a puppy play date but I’m not sure whether I should pursue that or not. Her little guy did like Wookie, though, even though she was pretty aloof toward him.

After most of the dogs were gone we went to Hamburger Heaven for lunch before parting ways. Joe and I dropped Wookie off at home, went to Costco for a few things, and I baked some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and made my homemade mac & cheese in preparation for Sunday.

Sunday morning (4/16) I tackled baking brownies and a carrot cake. I love love love the cake but every time I make it I remember why I only do so once a year – it’s very time consuming! It took even longer than normal this time around because Wookie threw up bile and afterwards kept coughing every so often like something was caught in her throat and I was very concerned. She did it multiple times in the morning and early afternoon but then it went away so I’m not sure what was going on. I’m a hypochondriac enough when it comes to my own health issues – I really don’t need her to have any since she can’t tell me what’s wrong. I checked around the house to see if anything was out that she could have gotten into but nothing looked out of place so I don’t know what the deal was. I had to check upstairs too since I decided earlier in the week to teach her how to use the stairs and she took to it after only one attempt! Had I known I would have waited a little longer to introduce them to her since now she takes every opportunity to run up them! She’s almost seven months old now so I wanted to ensure she wouldn’t be scared of stairs. Guess I shouldn’t have worried about that at all!

E let Joe know that he had a job interview at McDonald’s Sunday afternoon so he and his sister and ES arrived just after 3 pm instead of between 2-3 as originally planned. K brought homemade cookies which made Joe and I was excited until she later said they were leftovers that she had originally baked for the kids she takes care of at her job. *Sigh* I don’t think the kids realize that admitting they are “re-gifting” is hurtful. It would be nice if they actually brought us a gift that they specifically picked out and/or made for us instead of us being the afterthought. Maybe one day.

Anyway, other than that we had a nice holiday. Everyone enjoyed their Easter baskets, including Wookie (Joe and I exchanged ours earlier that morning).

After dinner we played a few games of Aggravation; it was cute how K suggested we play a few minutes before E also brought it up. Around 8 pm the kids left because E’s allergies were acting up and he was doing the driving. It was nice to spend the actual holiday with family even though I was exhausted by the time they left. I overdid it on the socialization this weekend and I feel like shit today even though I slept until 8 am.

Willowbrook

Posted onApril 10, 2017

Friday Brother B came over so we could spend some quality time together just the two of us. We went to a place in St Charles called Just Kabobs which I’ve been wanting to eat at again for awhile now, but with Wookie’s puppy classes tying up our Saturdays, and them being closed on Sundays, we just could never make it there. We both ordered the Greek Chicken platter which is delicious. You get half a chicken with Greek seasonings, tons of rice, two large potato wedges, a pita cut into four pieces and seasoned, and a salad for $7.11 (that includes tax). Other than the salad which is just ok I loved everything.

After lunch we went to Willowbrook Wildlife Center to take photos.

I knew Joe wouldn’t mind since he finds the place boring. I, on the other hand, would probably visit weekly if it was closer. My brother wanted to walk around outside first so we did that before heading inside to see all the critters, mostly birds. They have two pet rats in a Critter Nation cage but they put mesh over the bars so you really can’t see them which sucks. I miss having rats. I look forward to when Wookie doesn’t need so much supervision so I can get some rat babies.

On the way to Willowbrook we made a quick stop at Pet Supplies Plus so I could get an Easter cookie for Wookie, and then after we stopped at this other pet store where I bought another one. Good thing since the first one melted in the car and had to be thrown out. My brother did warn me but I thought it would be ok where I put it. I should have just carried it with me but I was worried it would crack. Turns out they are so hard that wouldn’t have been an issue. Oh well, lesson learned.

Speaking of Wookie, we have been giving her more run of the house. She can move between the kitchen and the living room freely when we’re home and downstairs to keep an eye on her. She likes plopping in front of the patio door when it’s open and just sitting there looking outside or chewing on a toy. It’s been nice the past few days which she’s been loving. She’s been good using her potty pad except on Friday when I accidentally left it behind the locked gate and she peed on the rug. Brian was here or otherwise I’d like to think she would have let me know. I ended up putting her in his lap which really helped her warm up to him. She’s not as friendly with males in general.

Saturday she finally graduated from her puppy training class! It really ended up being 8 weeks long due to skipping a week and then getting an extra class. I am glad to not have to do that every Saturday but I do think it’s helped Wookie with her socialization so I should probably take her there weekly just to walk around.

Before class we took her to get a free photo with the Easter bunny.

They take the photos on an iPad so they don’t come out that great, especially because they didn’t take into consideration the wide angle nature of the lens. Oh well, what can you expect for free?

It was driving me nuts that the photo wasn’t showing up in my email even though people were posting theirs all over Instagram. It didn’t occur to me until this morning that I have a filter on emails from Petsmart that go into a folder labeled Coupons. It had been there since just a few minutes after it was taken. Doh! I think I’ll post it on her Instagram account on Easter.

We were rather pooped after spending two hours at Petsmart but Joe washed both cars anyway which was nice. We also ordered some Chinese food which I had been craving all week. We got enough that it fed us for two dinners and today’s lunch so that’s not bad for $33.

Yesterday we tired ourselves out on two epic grocery shopping trips at Target and Meijer. We now have everything we need for Easter next Sunday because the kids are coming over. Can you believe it? This will be the first Easter ever that they’ve been over. I’m still shocked they said they were free since I assumed they spent it with their mom/grandma with it being a religious holiday. We don’t celebrate the religious aspect of it so we never asked to have that day with them when they were younger. I’m making ham and lots of sides (plus getting a rotisserie chicken from Costco for K since she doesn’t care for ham), carrot cake, brownies, and cookies since we’ll also be celebrating E’s birthday which was yesterday. I can’t wait to put together the kids’ Easter baskets. I will be making one for Joe and Wookie as well. Next weekend will be busy but I’m looking forward to it!

Two Puppy Classes & Roller Derby

Posted onApril 3, 2017December 21, 2020

Friday afternoon I took Wookie to Petsmart for her five-week makeup class since she missed it the previous Saturday since she was recovering from her surgery. Even though the store wasn’t as busy as on the weekends, people were interrupting our session which was a bit annoying. Wookie’s attention span wasn’t great either since she is obsessed with smelling everything in the store. Afterwards I stopped at Baskin Robbins to get some ice cream since they discount the scoops on the 31st of the month. They raised the price from $1.31 to $1.50, though. In addition to the three scoops of peanut butter and chocolate, I also tried chocolate hazelnut which isn’t great so I won’t be getting that one again.

I spent the evening watching YouTube videos and a show on Netflix since Joe was out for dinner with some former colleagues of his.

Saturday was supposed to be graduation day at the Puppy Training Class but we were informed it was pushed back a week since one of the dogs couldn’t make it. The trainer forgot to mention this on Friday which would have been nice since we had plans for Brother B and his g/f (R) to stop by and we could have skipped the class and met up sooner. Oh well. On the plus side we get an extra class for free.

Our company arrived just after 3 and Wookie warmed up almost immediately. It’s nice to see she’s making progress! I made Mexican Spaghetti for an early dinner and then we went to see a roller derby game at a roller rink nearby. It took awhile for us to even comprehend what was going on but after some Googling we could follow the game which made it more interesting. I liked the names the girls had, Gawd Jam It in particular. It was cool that they had affordable drinks and snacks available too. The rink was decorated for Easter so I cracked a joke about how egg-cellent it was and Joe and my brother groaned at me but R found it amusing. I knew there was a reason I liked her.

After the game we stopped at Taco Bell for a fourth meal (LOL) because my brother and I were craving nachos. The cheese at the rink wasn’t very good (my brother tried it with a pretzel) so we didn’t get any there. Oh, and I almost forgot – my brother won $100 in the 50/50 raffle so he came out ahead for the night. Ticket prices were only $10 per person, though, so I can’t complain. It was a fun outing overall and it was interesting to get a little insight into my brother when speaking to his g/f.

3-Day Weekend Roundup

Posted onMarch 19, 2017

Posting the weekend roundup today since I’m working Mon-Wed this week since Wookie’s spay surgery is on Thursday. It feels so weird only having three days off (I know, I know, cry me a river).

Friday (3/17) I took Wookie to the vet for pre-surgery bloodwork. Everything came back normal which is a relief. We ended up paying for a vet visit too since I had a couple of concerns including her increased itchiness, how she chokes on water sometimes or when she pulls on the leash, her vomiting bile overnight, and her having a possible ear infection. The vet spent a lot of time with me answering all my questions, and I learned that one of her ears was a little irritated so I’ve started putting in the medicine again. The vet also felt the itchiness could be diet related so we’re going to try a different food with beef or fish since she’s currently eating chicken. She also said it’s ok to free-feed Wookie to prevent the vomiting as long as we keep track of how much total she’s eating to ensure she doesn’t get overweight. In addition, the vet agreed that the new harness I bought is not good for Wookie – it’s too heavy and tugs at her neck which caused her to choke. It’s too bad since it’s actually really nice. She’s wearing it in this photo I took of her in the backseat of my car.

I also asked about clipping her nails and they said the groomer was available so they whisked her away to have that done. I have to admit, I’m not really happy with the results. She supposedly clipped and dremmeled them but they felt much rougher than the last time and the charge was $20 which is rather high for how quickly she did it. On the plus side I didn’t have to leave a tip since they included it on the overall bill which was $173 (yikes!), but that did include $80 bloodwork, $53 visit fee, $10+ toothpaste and toothbrush, and $12 to remove the hair from her ears.

I introduced Wookie to the new toothpaste and brush and she seemed to like them both much more than the vanilla mint toothpaste and finger brush I tried using before. I was actually able to get the brush, with paste, into her mouth and rub against her teeth a bit. I think with time it will be easier. She still has some baby teeth so I can’t give her any of the dental chews yet. I have 13 Greenies and one sample chew from the vet which I plan to use once the time is right.

I also made corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot like I do every St. Patrick’s day but I wasn’t really happy with the results. The corned beef didn’t fall apart like previous years so I took a picture of the kind we got so we don’t get the same type next year.

We also made a minty shake with peppermint schnapps but I wasn’t really impressed.

Saturday (3/18) morning we went to Target to take advantage of the sales on Easter candy so we can make baskets for the kids (and each other).

Wookie’s puppy training class was at 1 pm and she actually played with another dog this week! It was Stormy, the humper, which is funny to me. They only played for a couple of minutes but she was way more outgoing than she usually is so I’m happy to see her adjusting better.

Today (3/19) we ran a few errands, including dropping off the Amazon return (Wookie’s harness) at an Amazon locker in Caputo’s. Now we’re just waiting for E to arrive. He’s got some stuff going on with his ex so we invited him to come up and hang out. He’s been wanting to see Wookie again so it works out nicely. We plan on going to Half Price Books since they have a 50% off coupon even though Joe and I went earlier before we knew E was coming up. We’ll probably have some wings over at Bulldogs too since they are discounted on Sundays.

Red Lobster & Homemade Dog Biscuits

Posted onMarch 13, 2017March 13, 2017

Friday (3/10) evening we decided to finally use the gift cards my mom had given to us (one almost a year ago and the other last month) and went to Red Lobster for dinner for a nice date night. It’s a good thing we got there just after 5 pm because we had totally forgotten it’s Lent so the restaurant got packed quickly; there was a line out the door when we left.

We used to love Red Lobster but not so much anymore. I feel like the best items on the menu were removed and most of food is bland/mediocre with the exception of the sweet chili shrimp appetizer which we love. Compared to the wood grilled shrimp tacos I ordered which were meh (although they did taste better cold the following day). Although I will say the strawberry lemonade is pretty awesome. Joe accidentally ordered it thinking it was what he usually gets (nope, it’s the raspberry lemonade) but it turns out the strawberry lemonade is considered a premium drink so they charge $3 for it and there’s no free refills. I had a couple of sips and could see seeds in it so it’s probably not a powdered mix like the bottomless lemonades. Our bill after tip was around $56 – thank goodness we had $75 in gift cards. Overall I think I’d rather go there for lunch and just share two appetizers and some drinks. With what was left over from our cards and the balance from a different Darden card we’d probably have enough to do that one lazy afternoon.

Saturday (3/11) was Wookie’s 3rd puppy training class. Two of the people in our first class have seemed to permanently drop out since neither were there again (the golden retriever and shi tzu mix). Bums me out there aren’t more dogs for Wookie to socialize with, although we also had a 3 pm puppy orientation so she got to meet a small shi-poo named Abby whose poor owner really needed that class. She was letting the 10 week old dog just run around the house freely. Between myself and the trainer I think she walked away with some good information. The dog was just adorable but Wookie seemed scared of her which is hilarious since she’s a third of Wookie’s size. Wookie did have fun being chased by the lady’s two year old daughter, however. When we got home she passed out in her crate for over an hour due to all the excitement.

Sunday (3/12) we visited a new to us grocery store called Butera. It’s a little drive but not bad considering it was close to Meijer which we planned on visiting anyway. I had seen Butera’s sales ad on an app called Flipp and they had corned beef and cabbage on sale for a great price – $1.99 lb for the beef and $0.14 lb for the cabbage. We had to get some for St. Patrick’s day since I love making it in the crockpot. They had a bunch of produce on sale as well as beer so we got a lot of stuff there and then went to Meijer for the rest of stuff we needed. I bought supplies to make Wookie some homemade dog biscuits. I even got a $0.79 cookie cutter in the shape of a bone. Isn’t that adorable?

The rest of the day we lounged around watching tv and reading. Wookie took turns running around the living room and playing with her toys and napping in the crate we have in there for her. Also, Joe installed the new gate I ordered from Woot! for the kitchen. It was $36 with shipping.

We had been standing up part of the second playpen we had purchased and separated into two fences. The problem with that is we had to push stuff against either side to prevent her from getting out of the kitchen. Plus we tripped trying to get over it, so this is a much safer option for everyone.

Today (3/13) I slept in until 7 am and then made Wookie’s treats. Here’s a photo of them before going into the oven.

I think I cut most of them too thick but it’s kind of a pain in the ass rolling out dough! I don’t really do it often and believe it or not my arms are sore! That being said, they are a hit. Wookie liked the sample I gave her and started whining for more.

While the biscuits were cooling I emailed the vet to ask if I can take Wookie there for pre-surgery bloodwork before her spay in two weeks. After doing further research I decided it would be prudent to have it done even though the guy at the animal welfare league said it wasn’t necessary. Better to be safe than sorry! I’m already nervous about having to leave Wookie there all day. The vet understood my reasoning for going elsewhere for the spay and is fine doing the bloodwork portion. I am so relieved! I really like her but couldn’t justify spending $500 on Wookie’s surgery when it would be $140 at the welfare league.

I also called the insurance to find out why Quest Diagnostics billed me $100 for the blood work I had done a few weeks ago. Turns out they submitted it with the wrong coding so I should be getting a refund after the insurance re-processes the claim. I really hate Quest. I wonder if the insurance can tell me what it would have cost to go elsewhere. If it’s negligible I’d rather not go to Quest again.

Now I need to motivate myself to clean the upstairs and submit some rebates for the alcohol we bought over the weekend. It snowed overnight and there’s more snow on the way. I am not happy about that at all.