New House

Guess who finally got his bigger new home?? And its about time!!

Bus-y-ness

What a weekend! It all started on my way home from work on Friday. Due to the snow I drove Tim's current vehicle. As I was leaving downtown, I heard a snap or pop and all the gages went to max level. Then the power steering went out. (Ever driven without power steering? Just hope you have some muscles and you don't need to make too sharp of a turn.) Then after a while the gages all went to the lowest possible and the check gages light and battery light went on. Shortly after the battery power went down and down and down. I had called Tim after the power steering went out and told him I would be calling him soon because I knew I wasn't going to make it home. The vehicle finally died after about a 1/4 of the trip when steam came out of the hood and the power was pretty much gone (gone everywhere, wipers, radio, flashers, heat...everything!). I made some calls and finally called IDOT for tow help. They showed up 2 hours later. And let me remind you this was the day that it snowed like crazy. I had to sit in the cold car for 2 hours frozen almost. Tim showed up about 5 minutes before IDOT did. I almost cried when I saw him pull up behind me...I was so stressed and happy. Did I mention my phone was pretty much dead too? To make the rest of this story short, they towed Tim's car to the nearest exit (which was also a service station) and fixed the circuitine belt (which connects and controls all of the above problems). We picked the car up the next morning. But man, was it a horrible situation to be in!

We took Briggs to his first vet visit. He wasn't particularly fond of the doctor, but I don't blame him. He loved going to the vet though to meet all of the people and dogs. After the vet Briggs got to meet Maggie finally. We took him over to my parent's house to have him see my mom and dad for a second time, as well as Maggie for the first. They both did well. They greeted each other with tails up and wagging! My mom took him for a nice long walk while Tim and I went to go get our new phones. We were both overdue, but Tim more than I.

Next weekend Briggs get to meet Bruno, who I'm guessing will be his B.F.F. ;-) They have such similar personalities that I bet they will LOVE each other! I'm excited. I'll try to post pictures of that!

Progress

So, I guess its time for another update. Briggs is doing better. We plan on signing him up for obedience classes next week. He does really good with direction, so hopefully that will help in a lot of departments. I have many goals for him currently. Right now, I'd like him to become COMPLETELY potty/poopy trained. I'd like him to walk good on a leash (he's possibly the worst walker ever...). And I'd like him not to eat poo! Yes, gross, but its a puppy thing and we are trying to do all we can about it. But, I have made some training progress with him. He can sit and lay down. He could sit last week, but he does it even better now. He knows to sit when he's getting his leash on and off. So, I took a short video of his lay down. He's a goofball and a goober!

And since it won't let me do a YouTube video right now for some reason...here's the link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlscF_3B78E

Piddler on the Roof

So, per request I am adding an update complete with photos of the new pooch and possibly a video if my computer will allow. We've been having problems with it, so that's why I haven't posted much lately. A online scan revealed a virus...eek. I'm still trying to speed up the computer.
Our current difficultly is the potty training. I think he went potty in the house 4 times in one afternoon. It was incredibly frustrating. I guess the most frustrating part is the fact that you take him out and he doesn't go potty. Then you come inside and he goes on the carpet. What is even worse is when you take him out and he goes potty....and then he come inside and STILL goes on the carpet. We will have had him one week on Saturday night. I think he has come a long way.
A couple of things we've learned about him since we've gotten him:

1. He apparently LOVE ice cubes...cheap and easy (but okay for his puppy teeth?)


2. He is the biggest cuddler ever. Much more than any dog or cat I've ever seen. He's one of those careless splayers. His body just goes all over when he plops down. Head on your leg, but on your stomach, etc. When he gets back in from going potty before Tim gets up he goes and lays almost right on Tim's head and gives him tons of kissies when he comes back in.


3. He is a lap rider in the car. Not good. I got him a car harness tonight for the rides from now on.


4. His favorite toy is one that we already had for the cats. It is a cat puppet head that meows kids' songs. "Old McDonald" "London Bridge" He likes to squeeze it and make it meow. Kind of ironic, huh?

More to come when I find them out.

He's getting along alright with the cats. Russ is on a 'just don't chase me or touch me and we'll be fine' basis. They hang out in the kitchen together staring at me when I'm making dinner. Briggs and Bogey are....well, they are not there yet. It'll take some time still. Bogey still hisses at him constantly. At least now Bogey is coming out and at least looking at him and getting used to seeing him. They get there eventually I hope! And to leave everyone with some photos and a video.

Addendum

So to add more to the snippet posted yesterday. We've been looking for a dog for a really, really long time and we've both wanted one very badly. So, I began looking around online. At first I said we were getting a purebred beagle, then Uno won Best of Show at Westminster. Grr... I'm happy it happened, but I knew the prices would go through the roof. And I read somewhere (and didn't quite realize it before) that by adopting a shelter dog you make room for another dog that is going to be euthanized. That's what most rescues do. They rescue dogs from shelters. So, I began my search. I knew I wanted a beagle. Tim wanted more of a big dog. He was very hard to please. He said he would know if it was right when he looked at it. It was a very frustrating process. There were dogs that I LOVED that he didn't. So, I came across BREW. Beagle Rescue Education & Welfare. They take in beagles from shelters and from homes that can't keep or don't want them anymore. Briggs, for example, is from a litter whose mother was a BREW beagle. So, he was never technically a rescue dog, but that works better for us with the whole children aspect and the cats. BREW was EXTREMELY helpful and they will be a great resource and help in the future. So, our little man was named Simon. We renamed him to Briggs because he's a bulky, muscular, bulldozer of a man. Ironically enough, Tim knows the woman who fostered Simon. She lived in Pec, her dad was the basketball scorekeeper, and she is distantly related to Tim!! How funny is that!?! It's like it was meant to be. We are looking for a dog through this national adoption agency and we find a dog we love and he happens to be living in the Rockford area and the connection occurs. But, we've only had him about 24 hours. He's very difficult and LOTS of work. I know it will get better, it is just really hard right now. But every time I get angry and then I look at his face I can't be mad anymore!!

Bulldozer

I'll post more pictures tomorrow, but...here's a sneak peak. His name is Briggs. Tee hee!!!