Monster legs

This lovely photo was taken this morning, as Parker lay with his head under my bed and his legs sprawled out behind him (those things are LONG I tell you). Everytime he gets into this pose, it reminds me of an old post on my favorite pug blog.

Lately, he does this every morning while I'm getting ready for work. First he has to cruise around the rest of the apartment and get his nose into just about everything....then eventually he makes his way into the bedroom and decides to check out what's happening under the bed. Sometimes he just stays like this, without dragging himself all the way under. I don't really get that though? Is he just surveying his "kingdom"...? I wonder if he remembers being stung one time while he was under there. Who knows. From time to time I have to check under there to see if he's left any of my socks or underwear. Trust me, it happens.

I'm gearing up to get more serious about training. Parky has been acting up big time over the past couple of weeks and I need to get him back in line! Ugh.

I spoke too soon

Remind me NEVER to make any more comments about Parker behaving while I'm in the shower. OK? Thursday morning I exit the shower and see the Comcast remote control on the rug in the hallway outside of the bathroom. I'm not really sure why I took a moment to think about whether or not I had left it there...because that answer is pretty obvious.

I pick it up, look at it, and then look at my friend the MONSTER sitting innocently in the kitchen. (If I could read his thoughts at that moment, they would have been "mom, that was SO five minutes ago"), I then bring it over to him so that he remembers his handy work when I'm yelling at him...
Some of you are probably thinking, "gee, Kate, this sounds awfully familiar." For those of you who aren't, I draw your attention here.

I didn't have the heart to check and see if it worked before I left the house. I knew that if it didn't, the thought of having to wait to get a new remote before I could watch everything I had on DVR would make me want to chuck something off of my porch. Fortunately for Captain Destructo, it did work when I got home last night, and we were able to curl up and watch a few episodes of Glee.

Since I started watching Glee, I've noticed that Parker takes a particular interest in it. Usually he only watches TV with me when there's a dog on screen (Cesar Millan is his personal favorite), but there's something about this show that he finds interesting and entertaining. Last night while I lay on the couch watching an episode with Parker on my lap, I noticed that he stopped chewing on his rope to watch this scene with me. If only he was bopping his head along with the music, now that would have been fanpugintastic.

In other news, Parker spent last weekend at his buddy Bob's house and had a blast. It was a bit chilly on Saturday when they went out, so Parker wore one of Bob's jackets and apparently didn't want to ever take it off. When Martin went to put it on Bob the next day, Parker tried to wiggle his way in! So, now I need to purchase him one for the winter.

Tomorrow night we are off to a birthday pawty for his puggle friend Sophie. I will be sure to get some photos.

Ponkadoodle

Dad: "How's the little man doing?"
Me: "Oh he's good. He had a playdate last night with his friend Wilbur. He's a goldendoodle."
Dad: "Oh yeah, I think I've seen a few of those at the dog park recently when I take Parker. Tall? Lots of fur? What are they called again?"
Me: "Goldendoodles. Cross between a golden retriever and a poodle."
Dad: "Oh ponkadoodle."
Me: "No, GOLDENdoodle."
Dad: "Yeah, ponkadoodle."
Me: "Okay, yeah, sure. Ponkadoodle."

It's cold!

Is October in New England always this cold? And if so, how come I forget every year? I could see my breath at 6:45 am while I was out walking Parker. I ran into my neighbor Stacey who was walking her dog Wilbur and one would think that it was the middle of January by the way she was dressed. Priceless.

The good thing about Fall though is that I get great photos of the little monster...
I decided that a full blown halloween costume was cruel and unusual punishment for him, so I purchased a halloween shirt at Old Navy. I must say that he looks really cute and bad ass in it. There will be photos next week, not to worry. We headed out to visit Stacey and Wilbur the other night and Parker was wearing his shirt. Two NSTAR guys stopped us on the way to admire him and thought that his outfit looked smashing. (I was totally expecting them to make fun of me for purchasing a halloween t-shirt for my dog, but they must have partners who do the same thing.) Instead of being super gracious and appreciative, I snapped "AM I GOING TO LOSE MY POWER?" Because the thought of being home, alone, in the dark, freaked me out.

We're back

Dogs are adaptable. This is what I've always told friends who are going through major life changes. I'm sure that I've even said, "dogs are more adaptable then people, so don't worry." But when it's you and your dog, it's nearly impossible not to worry. Everyday I'm anticipating a change in his behavior...and I'm trying to appear happy and "normal" for him. I keep thinking back to the morning when I had to take him to Angell because he was foaming at the mouth and refusing to eat, and Nik kept saying "you MUST remain calm! He can sense your anxiety!"

So, this means that I have an adaptable dog who also picks up on all of my insanity. I'm screwed.

That said, he seems to be doing fine (aside from the peeing on the bed incident...and an infection in his face wrinkles which was/is really quite horrifying and disgusting), and is still happy with the little things, like our evening couch time. Now that the morning routine has changed, he's even behaving while I'm in the shower (knock on wood).

While I try to focus on me and figure out how to make positive changes in life to get me to a better place, I'm also going to spend a lot of time with my favorite monster. If nothing else, he's a great listener.