What a good weekend!

Watson passed his 'Obedience 1' class at Zoom Room! Yes, he still has more obedience classes to go to, but we're so  proud of him. He even got to visit the dog park and make some doggie friends.

Watson with his "Certificate of Excellence" and my roses from Al!

Watson and friend checking out the little dog park, from the big dog park.

Al made some delicious stir-fry shrimp and I made a raisin-topped bread pudding with a yummy brandy sauce. Both were our first attempts and came out very well.
 

Baby Animals

Watson as a puppy maybe?

Since we adopted Watson as an adult dog, we always wonder what he would have looked like if we got him as a puppy. I'm
sure he would have been super cute because I have been around new born boxer puppies (parents' dog) who are uber-adorable. So I googled images to see if any of them would match up and here is my best guess .

My parents' boxer's pups... just a week old

This then led me to google several baby animals pictures and I had to share this site. It's perfect for when you want to keep saying  'Awwwwww' and actually contemplate hugging a bear or tiger. It also reminds me that I would love to have a hedgehog as a pet and that I've got to play with a little duckling, that we found lost at the pool. 

A box full of surprises!

I've been reading a lot about subscription boxes and realized there's a crazy, big market out there for every type of subscription box you can imagine - take a look at this fellow blogger's site dedicated to these specialty boxes, and prepare to be awed and also go shopping! Many of these are monthly subscriptions and really give you a nice surprise, because you normally don't know what you're going to get in them :) and often, forget when they're on their way.

I decide to try out a pet subscription for Watson and ordered a PetFlow.com 'Spoiled Rotten' box. I really loved the name, packaging and everything that came in it. I used the site coupon to purchase it at $19.99 and received a total of 6 items, valued at $47.94. Not bad even if I had paid the full price of $24.99. There was a very good assortment of  full size items. Included were a cute squeaky duck, special tummy treat and calming medicine for anxious or motion sick doggies.  Watson LOVES the grain free herring treats, and I love the peppermint oral spray to reduce his plaque and improve his breath, right after he eats them. 

I had also picked up a deal for a pet subscription box from Pawalla and finally ordered the first one when we got back from vacation. Here's the Pawalla mini box which included 2 sets of grain-free treats, an aromatic calming spray and a cute, red rope ball. With my LivingSocial deal I paid just $14.50 to try out the 2 mini boxes and received 4 items, valued at  $37.45. And even if I paid the full price of $20 a month for one box, it would be worth it. I really like the option to select the age and size of the dog from Pawalla, and even order a mini or large box depending on your budget or needs. And lastly, it's great that they have the same subscription choices for your cats. We don't want our feline friends to feel neglected.

What were they thinking?

So to some of you, it's no surprise that I subscribe to Groupon. But it's really quite surprising to see what people are (1) thinking (2) selling (3) buying? Really!? 

Banana bunkers

This may not seem that ridiculous because no one likes a bruised banana; at least I don't think so. But it's one of those items you add to your kitchen that is exclusive to one purpose and I'm more of a multi-use kinda gal.  Worse than a single use product is all the sexual innuendo you'll have to deal with, when your friends see you using one of these.

 




Finger food utensils 


There is a reason certain foods are called 'finger foods' or 'finger-licking good'. It's to EAT with your FINGERS! Can you imagine using this dinosaur teeth clamp looking thing to pick up your burger or fries?  I don't think so. And if you are you that lazy to go wash your hands after eating,  there is this miraculous invention called wet wipes, that mind you, is multipurpose.

Dog face masks

Seriously, who invented this? Dogs and all canines have been around forever without the need for human beauty products, much less a face mask. Whoever can have their dog sit still while they apply a face mask on them has either tranquilized their dog or their dog doesn't deserve to be called one. Just my POV.

Save the drama for yo mama - part 2

So if you've been reading, part 1 was all about the incident and immediate problems. I was hoping that would be it, but no, we had lasting problems which made it impossible to skip a part 2. 

The week after the first warning notice, we received a SECOND notice from Riata, saying that we had to get rid of Watson! Aaaaah! and that wasn't even the bummer, we had to do so in 24 hours, or they would come and take him or charge us per day he stayed on the premises. Now as conflicting as this is from the first notice, we investigated and found out that the upper management heard about it and they sent the eviction notice regardless of the first notice sent by the local management office. URGH! Talk about stress times a million! Also after a lot of calls we were able to board him with the Austin Boxer Rescue that we had got him from, until we decided what we would do next.

Yes, what were we going to do next??!? We still had a lease agreement till end of July, so we worked it out with the local office (who mind you, was on our side) and were able to break out of our lease early without any penalties. Then we decided to move to a house so that Watson would have a yard, but how were we going to find one in such a short time? After trying unsuccessfully to do it ourselves, we reached out to the realtor we met when we first moved to  Austin, Ms. Patti and she was just as motivated as us. We sorted through many listings and looked at houses every day and we were absolutely lucky to find one that we loved. So we put in our application and waited...

Doggie deals

I love a good deal and I would like to think most people do. I subscribe to probably every known Austin deals site online - Groupon, LivingSocial, MorgansDeals and more.

Anyway there was a great deal today for 15% off Livingsocial deals under $99, with the coupon code TAXDAY.  I decided that I would pick up the two-month Pawalla subscription for Watson. If you're not interested in a monthly subscription, there is also a deal for $30 worth of pet goods and food at PetFlow.com. Whichever one you choose, your dog (or cat) is bound to be spoilt rotten and happy!

Two months of surprises for Watson (and me too).

Save the drama for yo' mama - part 1

One thing I didn't want to do when I started this blog was be a complainer blogger, but of late, we've been put in a tight corner and I've been incredibly upset, stressed and livid all in the span of days. And since this drama is a part of my adventures in this place called 'life', here's how the story goes.

The incident: 
While I was walking Watson on leash, he was instigated by a neighbor yorkie (who at the time, we didn't even know was intact*) who walked underneath him and Watson ended up sinking his teeth into the smaller dog*. Unfortunate for the yorkie, his owner named him Turbo; had decided not to neuter him; and on top of it all, his owner thought it was adorable that Turbo acted like a big dog, barking at mostly anything that moved. Oh, I almost forgot, she was walking this ticking time bomb on a retractable leash in an apartment complex with practically 99% neutered dogs! You have to be absolutely stupid or naive to think nothing is going to happen.

The immediate repercussions:
Of course Turbo was in pretty bad shape as Watson showed him who was boss, all 10 times his weight, and from the vet report, crushed his shoulder, but as sorry as I feel for the little guy, I'm still quite angry with his owner. Not neutering is irresponsible and a recipe for disaster. Really, was she planning to breed him in an apartment complex? Really?!
And because the other dog was in such bad shape, we got a visit from Austin animal services and we had to put Watson under a 10 day house quarantine, which meant he was not to be off leash or meet any new people or dogs. Bummer, when his favorite past time is running. Next, we got a first strike notice from our apartment complex and if it happened again, we'd have to get rid of Watson. Yikes! we just adopted him and added him to our lease as 'our pet'.

*I was quite the mess as I couldn't understand why Watson would have done such a thing. We've taken him to dog parks, pet stores, farmer's markets and many restaurants and bars with nary an incident. Practically everyone who has met him knows him to be a docile, teddy-bear faced and lovable dog.  

Doggie play dates

Watson had an impromptu play date this past week and boy, was it drooly fun! My friend from work, Sharon brought her adorable English bulldog, Pancho over and we took the boys for a walk around the complex and they seemed to get along really well. The cutest was when both of them turned their heads at exactly the same time to look at the mechanical gates, opening and closing for cars. Pancho is the cutest, wriggliest bulldog I've met and was even more active than Watson. He's got a bit of boxer in him, so that's why he looks like a mini-Watson, jumps around so much and uses his paws to box!


Over the weekend, we also took Watson to the Doghouse Drinkery Dog park with our friend Antonio and his pug, Baxter. That was his first dog park outing and he had a blast! We were a little worried about leaving him off his leash, but he was really good and enjoyed sniffing around and playing with the other dogs. Some of his favorite friends were pugs and puppies, which makes me belive Watson thinks he's still a puppy! The best part, was that while he was running, we were drinking! And then when we came home, Watson was soooooo tired and passed out, the hubby and I were able to relax and have a lovely evening together.

Foster parents

Not only do we now have a dog in our lives but it feels like we're parents. Many of our friends call us dog parents and it sure feels like parenthood - a lesser social life, middle of the nights doodie duty, super early mornings and a sinful craving for caffeine. However, all the lack of sleep is negated when you look at your babe's cute face (on right), and get big spontaneous kisses and hugs.

We took Watson to PetSmart on Saturday morning and he was a hit! The staff, adults and kids absolutely loved him! He got treats from the employees and even personally fitted with some new threads (harness and leash) by Steven, who also got a lot of sloppy kisses. We got him this awesome dog pillow and it's one of his favorite things in our house, which isn't surprising considering he loves to sleep. Can I say Lazy with a capital 'L'?  And he's a snorer too!






Sharing the love

Today, we fostered a dog from the Austin Boxer Rescue. The dog's name is Watson and he is incredibly adorable, as you can see. The photos here are from the ride home. Watson was as excited as we were and kept looking outside at the houses and cars. Throughout the car ride, he was well-behaved and even took a nap on my lap, when we were stuck in traffic.  Awwww!

Both Al and I love dogs and have been wanting to get one for as long as we can remember. We had planned to do so last year when we were new to Austin as it's such a dog friendly city and we actually have more free time on our hands. We decided it was time this year and over the past couple of week's we've been contemplating between a dog and a cat, interviewing potential candidates too :) We went to a Boxer meet and greet last Saturday and after talking to a friend about fostering, we bit the bullet and sent in our form. Now, here we are with our handsome Watson and we're happy to say that we'll be helping him until he find his 'forever home'.