Almost Christmas!

Since we stayed home this year, mom decided to make some goodies for the neighbors. We have a couple of new ones that we need to get to know better. And goodies go a long way to making nice with folks.

Banana nut muffins

Mint chocolate trees

These are kind of a pain to make with several sessions of chilling the dough but they turned out cute and delicious. 

Gingerbread

Can you believe mom's never made gingerbread cookies before? Her lack of icing skill is apparent (she told her coworkers that neighbor kids decorated them), but they are delicious! They even stayed soft. 

She's still baking today and will deliver these yummies later on. 

Our holiday foster pug Cosmo is here. 

Not sure how old he is, but he's pretty active still. He has some skin issues and has to have three baths while he's here! That's a lot of baths. Poor dude. He isn't itchy though so that's a good thing.

He has already made himself at home!

In sad news, mom's VHS tape of White Christmas has passed on. 

She got one more viewing out of it but then the VCR ate it. 

It served well for many, many years. Quite possibly more than 20.

The VCR then proceeded to eat Muppet Christmas Carol so it's probably time to dump that dinosaur. 

Both DVDs have been added to the Amazon wish list for next year. 

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! 

Cautiously optimistic

Well, Tallulah has been on Prozac for about six weeks now, and we think it's working.  We did one month at the lowest dose, then increased to 3/4 of a tablet daily. That seems to work for her. The low dose helped some, but she was still anxious.

How do we know it's working? Well, things that may seem small are really an improvement. Previously, if Isabelle tried to use the potty pad in the kitchen, Tallulah would lunge at her. Two days ago, Tallulah just barked and whined but didn't make a move to go after her. She's a tattletale, but we can live with that.

Tallulah would also go after Isabelle if one of the cats cried. This last time, Tallulah did run toward Isabelle but actually stopped short when mom started yelling her name. Didn't even touch her. That is amazing progress.

Tonight, we are pretty sure it's really working for her. The neighbor kept revving up his motorcycle. Now Petunia and one of the cats jumped every time, but Tallulah didn't. For a dog that jumped every time a car door slammed, that's pretty impressive.

And she can enjoy a bully stick without getting into a brawl.

Now, she'll probably stay on the leash for a while longer until we all feel she's really relaxed. We are taking in a foster pug a few days while his foster family goes out of town on Friday. That will test how well it is working. Taking in the foster isn't the ideal situation, but it has to be done. So on leash, she will stay.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Not much going on here

Mom has been such a slacker! Geez, can't a pug keep up with her blog? 

Anyway, we are sad that we won't be seeing our friends this year. No road trip for us. We haven't been home for Christmas in three years. Gosh, we've only been home for Christmas for two out of our entire six years! Mom is going to put up a little tree in the living room where the cats can't get to it. They like to knock the ornaments off. 

Fortunately, we are not getting the nasty weather that is hitting so many of you! We hit 80 degrees today, breaking a record. We expect rain and cooler temperatures, but no ice or snow! 

Stay safe and warm, friends!

Parade day!

We are on our way to the parade right now. Mom's terrible about getting pictures at the parade. It's dark. There's three of us to handle. Blah blah blah.

Plus it's supposed to be raining until right before the parade starts so we won't put on costumes on until right before we get going.

So, in case she doesn't get good pictures, here's Isabelle and her Jeep.

Remember, you can watch it live on WVEC.com. We are unit 25.

Parade prep

Modeling a lion collar for fellow pug marcher, Stella.

Zebra!

Petunia would not put her bully stick down for a picture.

Tallulah says, I can't believe you are forcing me to wear this collar.

Parade is Saturday, starts at 7 PM Eastern. You can stream it live on WVEC.com!

Be sure to check us out! A herd of zebras, a pug safari guide in a Jeep! Plus lots more jungle puggies!

Exam results

Mom got her exam results on Friday. Let's have a partial whoo hoo for her! She passed the two exams that were the weekend long papers. She did not pass the five hour one. 

So that means mom needs to study more and take it again when she's ready. She ordered a lot more books and will be meeting with some professors to get a better understanding of the material. 

While it would be awesome if she had passed all three, she'll take two out of three. These exams were brutal. She would have been really sad if she failed all three. This way, she'll have one area to focus on instead of many. 

So back to her staying put on the couch for hours at a time. We can live with that. 

Happy pills and other stuff

Tallulah went to the vet last night. She's been extremely anxious and lashing out at Petunia and Isabelle for a few months. After trying everything from rose quartz crystals to aromatherapy to herbal remedies, mom finally decided to try the pharmaceutical route. 

Mom prefers to do things as naturally as possible for her and for us. That's why we do titre testing instead of automatically vaccinating every year. But she realizes that if alternative therapies aren't working, then it's time to try a pill. 

So Tallulah is on Prozac now. We are trying it at the lowest dosage first for a month, then we will increase it if necessary for another month. Meds like this can be tricky so we may have to try a few different meds and/or dosages before we find the right fit for her. 

Miss T has always been an anxious dog and honestly has been a brawler with Petunia since she was six months old. But it's worse now. Fireworks and storms never used to bother her, but this summer was bad. And when she gets too anxious, she redirects that anxiety to fear aggression. Everyone has scars from that. It's no way to live. So we'll try some happy pills and see how it goes. 

In alternative therapy news, mom tried two new things she read about in the Whole Dog Journal. One is called EMT Gel. It's a topical gel to be used on wounds (say like from a dog fight!). It starts out sticky but then dries up. It's like a glue on the skin, so it's flexible. Mom likes this one. It's even safe for birds. It also works on nail quicks. It doesn't sting or stink like Liquid Bandage either. It isn't cheap like Neosporin, but so far, mom thinks it is worth it. She's used it a few times and only uses a smidge each time so it will last a long time. We will always keep a tube in our first aid kit. 

Photo from Amazon

The second thing was Wobenzym. It's a pill that humans or dogs can take. It's supposed to help with inflammation, digestion problems and healing among other things. Isabelle has been taking half a tablet every night to help heal her wounds and to try to ease her arthritis pain. We are using it as a preventative thing for the arthritis before the really cold weather sets in. We'll let you know how it works. Check out the October 2013 issue of the Whole Dog Journal for more info on these products. 

Photo from Amazon

Have you tried something new that works?