let's paw-ty...

the little girl that still looks and acts like a puppy turned 8 years old two weeks ago! ok, she may be a lot more grey on her body and have some grey in her eye lashes too and have some arthritis, but overall, she's just as spunky and full of energy as she was years ago.

i got a letter in the mail the other day from our vet that started with, "dear senior pet parent." way to make me face reality! chloe, you're the best gal i could ever ask for! 

my poor chloe...

as this post goes up, chloe will likely be in the middle of surgery. about a week ago, she peed in the house, which was totally weird, since she hasn't peed in the house since she was a puppy in the middle of house training.  a few days later she did it again, after just having been out for a pee two hours before. it wasn't until we had fresh snow on the ground and she was peeing on white (instead of grass or pebbles) that i thought i noticed a slight bit of pink at the end of her pee. when i saw it again, i knew i wasn't imaging things the first time. she was also trying to pee a lot, but with nothing coming out.

my parents came for a visit on saturday (4 days after the first house accident) and i told them they had better take her home and take her to the vet to see what's up. when my mom went to go check on her on lunch on monday, she found two stones in the house, presumably kidney stones. back to the vet she went and after an xray yesterday, the vet suggested surgery right away, as there 6-7 more stones still in her. and so here we are today.

she said that all should go well, and it won't be much worse for her than when she was spayed. afterwards, her diet will be changed and she'll be on some antibiotics for a bit. her stones will be sent off to see if they're hereditary or something else. 

i know she's a trooper and she'll be fine, but it still makes me so upset to think of the pain that she's probably been going through. the vet said there was nothing i could have noticed sooner, as dogs don't usually show pain, so that made me feel better. i'm also sad that i can't be there with her today, but i know she's in good hands.

*positive thoughts*

update: i received a call from the vet around 10am and all went well! she went back home to my parents' the same day, where she'll be recovering for a few days. she's a bit sleepy from some pain meds, but other than that, she's great! 

happy birthday little one...

my, my how time flies. my little baby is now 7 years old today! i really lucked out with this dog; she's the biggest people dog/cuddler/face-licker there is. i remember when i was searching for dogs years ago - i was looking at breeders, i was looking at the humane society, and i was even looking on kijiji. it was new years day i think, and i was browsing the local newspaper online and i saw an add for a dog that sounded like what i wanted (a yorkie, or a yorkiepoo), so i gave them a call. they wondered how i knew about it already, since it wasn't supposed to be in the printed paper until the next day when papers were back up and running. i guess it was my luck that it was online before it was in the paper because they said the next day they had multiple calls. i think it may have even been that same night that me and my mom went to go see her.

the couple was only a short drive from my parents and when we got there, i just remember seeing this little black bullet flying around the entryway and the hallways. the couple had gotten her while the wife was sick (not just flu sick) thinking it would help her and make her feel better, but the little one was just too much work. even though i could see what a little terror she was and that she looked nothing like what i wanted, i knew right away that i wanted her and i told them that. we went back the next night to pick her up and the husband was just a wreck, bawling so bad that he couldn't even come to the door. a few nights later, my parents even got a call from them saying that if we changed our minds, they would like her back. sorry, but no. she was ours now!

i had a heck of time training this darn dog. the puppy stage seemed to last forever, she chewed basically every cord in my apartment, multiple sandles, and hated being crate trained at night and during the day when i went out. but i kept it up, as i think crate training a dog is super important and worthwhile. over the years, she's totally calmed down (though she still has lots of spunk in her, especially for 7), and she's so well-mannered.

happy lucky number 7, chloe!

spa day...

back when we moved into this condo, i remember us being so excited about the amenities. but here we are, over a year later, and we have barely used any of them. normally when i bath chloe, i do so in our tub and it kills my back to have to bend over. and it's kind of a pain to keep having to fill up a big cup or jug to keep pouring on her. last night i decided to take advantage of the pet spa. yep, our building has one of those. i'm not really sure why i've never used it, but it made life so much easier.

"mom, don't leave me here."

"bored. are you done drying me yet?"

the 'spa'.

now i've got a fluffy, clean dog, and a back that doesn't hurt! let the bathtub be a thing of the past.

a dusting...

well, toronto has seen it's first bit of snow and i'm quite happy about it. i love the winter, the snow, the cold weather, the bundling up, etc. unfortunately, nothing has really stuck for too long once it hits the ground (even though saturday was an absolute whiteout and i felt like i was in a snow globe all day), but we're slowly getting there.

i think we're off to my parents this weekend where my will be baking away over 3 days. we'll only there on day 1 of 3, so we won't be heading back home with too many goodies just yet, but her christmas baking is just the best. bring on the #winterweight.

brace yourselves...

now that halloween has come and gone, we're sure to see an onslaught of posts about how to wrap a scarf 97 different ways and christmas decorations that have already been put up and gift idea lists, and oh, everything else winter/christmas related.
last weekend (november 2), i went to starbucks bright and early and i couldn't believe that all of the christmas stuff was out already. red cups and signs had thrown up all over the store. however, i can be easily persuaded and i ended up using my free drink to get an eggnog latte, and a grande at that. (it's definitely my favorite christmas drink, so, so yummy). i walked home, bundled up in my layers, holding that red cup, enjoying the quiet 8am streets, and thinking about the upcoming season.

drink up.

we also had to buy chloe a new winter coat this weekend since her old one doesn't fit her anymore (*ahem* a few too many treats from the grandparents when they watch her;)) we picked her this awesome 'canada pooch' jacket, complete with a fur hood and all, which you can't really see because she's quite long and fluffy herself right now. i may not have a canada goose jacket (i'm a north face girl), but we basically have matching jackets and it's awesome. 

she's just so cute :)

and when the snow starts falling and salt is on the ground, she's got her red boots that she's worn going on 6 years now. initially, they were pricey ($60 for dog boots?!) but when she wears them every year and they really protect her paws, and they're still in great condition, i can't complain. 

i mean, come on...

and there you have it, my first winter-ish post of the season.

saddle up...

on my way home from class on friday, i had to stop to get a new shower curtain at winners (which is the same as marshalls). i'm not one to veer off from the lists i make. say like, when we go to the grocery store, i have my list and i intent to stick to it, whereas dylan likes to throw things in cart and it makes my heart rate rise. anyways, i have my shower curtain in hand, and right where all the cash registers are, they have shelves of all the items that they want people to grab on the go. you know, like how grocery stores put magazine and chocolate bars? except here, it's nail polish, random snacks, old dvd's, and dog halloween costumes.

i was doomed. i had to get her something. i noticed the tulle was starting to fray at the bottom of the one i wanted so i figured what harm would it be to ask for a discount. it was only $12.99 to begin with, but the cashier said she could do it for $10. hey, sure! i was only expecting about $1 off. i got home, grabbed some scissors, took chloe into the washroom (because this was a surprise to dylan), cut the frayed ends off, and told her to go get dad. we had a good chuckle over her ridiculousness.

 cowgirl chloe! (ignore the bucket, dylan was cleaning)

 looking mischievous. and maybe slightly pissed.

 she's totally rocking that hat.

sharing some kisses.

she's just the best.

here she is 2 years ago as a bee. tell me you dress up your pets for halloween, too??
also, it's my mom's birthday today, and even though she has no idea this blog exists, happy birthday! :):)

on top of the world...

i feel pretty confident saying that this was a productive weekend. between a mexican dinner date night before dylan left for work friday night, spending saturday at my parents, meeting up for a coffee and a little shopping with daniela on sunday, i still managed to get a big chunk of homework completed! how's that for balancing work and play?!

 sangria, maragaritas, gaucamole; i'm ok waiting for my tacos when i have this in front of me.

 my parents went baking crazy on saturday; all homemade, down to the pumpkin lattes. (along with chocolate chip cookies not pictures because they're not pumpkin!) all 3 things shown taken from the pumpkin recipe booklet i mentioned and linked to here.

 a little belated birthday treat, which he got a bite out of before the picture :)

look at that tongue action. she was pretty excited. she's 6!

hope you had a good weekend, too! i just realized that the next few weekends are pretty much booked up. and then i have my week long break near the end of the month, so i'm basically just counting down to that.

6 years young...

happy 6th birthday to my sweet little girl! the sad thing is, she's not even here with me today and i'm really upset about it. i noticed a little mark on her late last week, so my mom came and picked her up and took her home to her vet (an hour away, where my parents live). turns out she had to get some medication and it's making her pee a lot (tmi?) and with me being gone all day, and dylan sleeping a good part of the day from nights, it's just not fair for her to be here for the week, until the medication is done. meaning, she'll continue to get lots of lovin' from my parents until we get her this weekend.

 moving on to happier, birthday things...

little baby! the night i brought her home; january 2, 2008. (3 months old)

as the years are passing, she's getting a lot more grey, including some white eyelashes, which makes me a little sad. but! for the most part, she's still the spunky little spitfire i brought home years ago who loves nothing more than cuddling up and being close to her mom. the love i have for this dog is just crazy and she's just the best!

happy birthday again little one :):)

could you take my picture...

i've survived my 3rd week and thank goodness for the weekend. now, only 11 more months to go ;) yesterday, dylan could barely contain his excitement when i got home from classes as he had just ordered the playstation + grand theft auto 5 combo and was ready to immediately go pick it up. needless to say, he spent the rest of the night playing it. my mom came over for a bit and she was watching him play and she was absolutely howling at the game and how violent it was. then he just started walking up to people, punching them and kicking them to get a real rise out of her. she thought it was hilarious. the things that parents get a kick out of, huh? ha

chloe doesn't look amused with us and would rather be napping or playing with her toys in the above pictures. but sometimes, you just have to bust out the front facing camera, and take some quality family photos. 

woofstock...

oh woofstock (note: there's music that plays on the site), how i love thee. north america's largest festival for dogs never fails to bring out the funny, cute, awesome, and weird dogs (and dog owners). there's vendors galore, usually with free stuff, talent shows, costume shows, wiener dog races and more.

brother and sister maybe?

we're off to a pretty happy start.

too cool for school. 

pack of wieners. 

look who it is! the real 'maggie' from the cesar dog food commercials and ads! (pic stolen from their facebook page)

chloe wasn't as excited as i was.

mom and her granddogger.

looks pretty comfy to me.

mohawks are cool.

i can't even handle the cute.

buying a shirt for chloe was not my idea, it was dylan's. i was opposed to it, and he insisted on it. but now on the rare occasion that she wears it, she can represent a small piece of me ;)

done for the day!

the free loot this year.

love the luggage tag from the cesar booth!

"are we done yet so i can dig in???"

previous years here.