Bailey's first trip to the beach

Now that Bailey is FINALLY vaccinated, we finally got to take him to the beach for the first time a few weeks ago! Not that he really enjoyed it. There were tons of dogs there, most of them bigger than he is. Since he's not used to being around other dogs, he was pretty scared. Bailey doesn't like the water too much either (although I don't blame him... it was freezing cold!) All in all, we only stayed at the beach long enough to take some pictures. Bailey liked the car ride home (with his head out the window) MUCH better than he liked his first trip to the beach! Oh well!

Bailey is at the kennel!

Today Ryan dropped Bailey off at Snug Pet Resort, since we're leaving tonight for our Mammoth trip. Snug Pet Resort is owned by LaDanian "LT" Tomlinson, the star of the San Diego Chargers. Will Bailey get to play with Fendi and Gucci, LT's dogs? Only time will tell!

I can only imagine that dropping Bailey off at the kennel for the first time is somewhat like taking your child to their first day of kindergarten! I was so sad about it, yet Bailey couldn't wait to get started playing with the other dogs he saw there!

We will provide a full update upon our return!

Bailey, the surfer puggle

My mom gave Bailey a new t-shirt! It's a little snug (that's our big boy!) but he's oh-so-stylish.

The Meerkat!

We had a great time with our family during Thanksgiving. My dad made a new friend, whom he nicknamed a "Meerkat" because of his tendency to stand on his hind legs. Here, my dad is giving a stern talking-to to the mischevious meerkat...

Bailey, King of the Backyard

Bailey thinks he owns the backyard. It's definitely his favorite place to hang out. When he's not eating lemons and limes off the trees, "helping" Ryan do yardwork, or laying out in the sun, he's darting up the hill so we can't catch him. Here is a picture of Bailey, overseeing his domain.

Look how we caught Bailey last night!

Yesterday we had a small party at our house. About 6 of our friends came over for brunch and the Chargers game. Bailey loves meeting new people... but I guess we really tired him out yesterday!

Slow for the CONE ZONE

Bailey was not a happy camper on Friday. That's because we took him to get "clipped". Being that he is 5 months old, the time was right. I dropped him off at 8 am and we went and picked him up at 4 pm. I will spare everyone the details, but Bailey is recovering nicely. He's almost back to his hyper, crazy, silly self. Until his stitches are removed on Oct 17th, he has to wear this cone on his head. We can't help but laugh! It's hilarious! Poor Bailey.... he hates it!

Bailey and Daddy chillax...

So it seems like I could give Bailey attention all day long, play with him, feed him, take him on walks... but the SECOND that Ryan comes home, I'm chopped liver! It's the cutest thing to see Ryan walk by, with Bailey trotting behind him like his "little shadow".
Bailey loves his daddy!

Our little boy loves the outdoors

Bailey loves playing in our new backyard. We just got our yard sodded (is that a word?) and it's nice and soft for Bailey to play on. Unfortunately, he eats the grass a lot, but we figured he would. He eats just about everything else he can put in his mouth, so why would the grass be any different?

Bailey updates will be coming soon

So... for the 3 or 4 people that actually read this blog (haha) we have some new Bailey pictures coming soon. Our little boy is glad that he gets to spend a little longer as an "only child." Lately, he has been enjoying our new grass in the backyard... he loves laying out there in the sun. Now, if we could only get him to stop eating that grass....

It's exhausting being this cute...

Our naughty boy

We have so much fun with Bailey, he always keeps us laughing! Check out what happened when he got a hold of a roll of paper towels...

Such a naughty boy!

Our poor little latchkey puppy

Bailey isn't exactly enjoying being at home alone all day. Not that I blame him, but we really don't have any choice until he's housetrained. Plus, he chews everything in sight! Nonetheless, we feel so guilty about leaving him all day. Ryan has been going home at lunch to check on him, and he's usually howling away when he gets there. We have baby gates up to keep him in the hallway and give him space to run. Hopefully Bailey gets used to it soon enough... it breaks my heart to think about him!

More gratuitous Puggle Pics

More from this weekend. PS - just click on the pictures to see them larger or download them.

We survived our first weekend with Bailey!

...I say "we survived" because puppies are a HUGE challenge. We knew that going into it, but nevertheless we love having Bailey in our lives.
We went to pick up Bailey at 6 PM on Friday night. He did great during the car ride home. When we got home, he was very hesitant and shy... but that sure didn't last long! We gave him a tour of his new home, and we had to laugh when Bailey saw himself in our mirrored closet door! He was convinced there was another puggle in the house, and was pawing, licking, and whining at his own reflection. Too cute!
We learned very quickly that we need to watch Bailey's EVERY move! He seems to enjoy peeing on every rug in the house. Luckily, since we have hardwood floors, there aren't that many rugs to choose from... but he pretty much "christened" each one this weekend. Our solution was to roll them up and store them... now hopefully he finds the peepee pads and uses those instead.
Like most puppies, Bailey is a chewer. Although we bought plenty of chew toys for him, he seems to have a taste for shoes, slippers, rugs, electrical cords, plants, leaves, twigs, grass, fingers, ears.... pretty much everything!
Our first night went pretty smoothly. Bailey seemed to take to his crate pretty well, and he stayed there the entire night. We set up the crate on top of a hamper, so his crate was level with our bed. Whenever he whined, I would just reach out and put my hand in there so he would know I was there. I got up every 2 hours or so to take him out to go potty and then I couldn't get back to sleep... in fact, it was hard to get much sleep at all the entire weekend. (Bailey has a cold!) but we figure it's great training for our newborn!

More about Puggles

So it turns out that not many people know what puggles are. Many of my coworkers went "huh?" when I told them I got a puggle.

Puggles are 50% pug and 50% beagle and 100% adorable. Although they are not a registered AKC dog breed, they are really gaining popularity in the US as a "hybrid breed." Most puggles are either all fawn-colored or all black, but sometimes they can be multicolored or spotted (sort of like a beagle.)

Puggles usually have the leaner body of a beagle, and also the beagle's longer snout. This prevents them from having many of the breathing (and snoring!) problems that pugs have. (Trust me... a snoring pug can keep you up at night... my sister has one.) Puggles also have a beagle's long floppy ears, while they can have the brindled forehead of a pug. Their tails are usually longer, but they curl like a pugs.

Character-wise, puggles can take either the traits of a pug or a beagle. Both breeds are known to be great with children, which is obviously a major plus for us! Pugs are generally thought of as "lap dogs", while beagles are more active. Beagles can be howlers, so we're hoping our puggle does NOT get that trait!

Meet Bailey, our new puggle!

Monday morning Ryan emailed me a listing he had found on signonsandiego: puggles for sale! We have been waiting and planning for a dog for well over a year, and we had decided on the coming weekend to finally get one! The puggles were in El Cajon, and from the pictures they were totally adorable. The price was $575, and that included vaccines and microchipping.

So we drove out there at lunch to meet the puppies. Ryan had warned me ahead of time that I had to "control myself" and not get too attached. All I have to say is... YEAH RIGHT! Even as we drove up the driveway, we could see the adorable puppies.

After meeting with D'Anna the breeder, we went out to see the pups. There were 3 puggles available: a fawn male, a fawn female, and a black female. They were jumping all over the place and totally excited. Once we picked up the fawn male, it was all over. He's such a lovable guy... gave both of us kisses and loves to be held. It wasn't 5 minutes before we told the breeder "We'll take him!"

So tomorrow (Friday), after a long week of waiting, we will finally go pick up the little guy. How could you resist that face?