Duke's First Day at Daycare

We have been talking about taking Duke to a Doggy Daycare for months, but just kept putting it off. Then we had a really bad day where he wasn't listening, being aggressive, and I just snapped. That was it. Something needed to change. We toured the daycare the next week and decided that it would be best if we waited until after the new year to send him, because there were over 100 dogs there due to the holidays and pet owners traveling! But now it's the new year and time to try daycare out!

Here's the cutie at 6:25am so excited to go for a ride {he loves being in the car}!

We were pretty nervous going in. We worried that we'd be wasting our money {$27/DAY!} if he didn't like it or slept the whole time. We worried that he'd be aggressive with another dog or worker {he isn't really aggressive... just rowdy}. But we knew we had to give it a shot. We wanted him to have the socialization and to get him out of crate on a day that everyone is away from the house for 7 hours.

So I dropped him off on my way to work one morning. And as soon as I got to work I pulled up the webcams and proceeded to watch him on and off for the whole day! Yes, I'm that person.

This is what my photos folder looked like...

In my defense Thomas couldn't watch so I was sending him a picture every time he did something different LOL From what I could see on the webcam he was loving it! He played with other dogs, was smiling {yes Keeshonds smile}, and when he was tired he laid down. I was so proud of him.

Thomas picked him up after he got off work and Duke was pooped. As soon as he got in the car he did this...

 

He even came home with this adorable first day card {which I'll be putting in his scrapbook... yes I'm making my damn dog a scrapbook.. WHO AM I?!}..

" I obey daycare rules pretty well except for some mounting of my new dog and people friends- oops"

That's funny that they mentioned that seeing as I WAS WATCHING the webcam when he decided it was a good idea to hop on the workers back {who was kneeling} and start humping her! I almost died of embarrassment. Only my dog....

For the next day and a half he was exhausted and it was glorious! The calmest I've ever seen him! And that my folks makes it worth every single penny. He'll definitely be going back :)

What's in Duke's Grooming Tote {WIMW Vol. 14}

I think it's pretty obvious how OCD/over-organized I am {or at least try to be} so it shouldn't be a surprise that I hated having Duke's items strewn all over the house. His brushes in the cabinet, his towel and shampoo in the bathroom, and his dental care items downstairs. It drove me crazy! So when I came across the Martha Stewart Grooming Tote I knew that I had found my solution! Not to mention it was on sale :) So here's a peak at what tools we use to keep Duke good looking and how we store them.

 Various brushes- grooming a Keeshond is no joke!

 Baby powder for those messy bums LOL

 Toothpaste and brushes.

 Towel, shampoo, and shopping bags which we use when we're brushing him to corral the fur.

This dog is so high maintenance ;)

I love having everything all together, being able to just grab the tote, and groom away! Eventually I plan to post our grooming process since we do it all ourselves.

Duke Lately

I realized that I haven't updated {in depth} on the four-legged child of mine in awhile so this post is long overdue. And he's changed quite a bit since that last post...

The biggest change I've noticed is that he's calmed down a lot. He might only be super hyper/crazy dog {especially if he hasn't been walked} for two hours out of the day as opposed to five or six. He still has his moments.. trust me, but he has gotten a lot better. It definitely makes life easier for us. We even let him sleep in our room {not in his crate!} the other night and he did amazing!

We now know what he likes/doesn't destroy in 24hrs in terms of toys. West Paw Designs have been a huge life {and money!} saver. He also loves these natural filled bones and will spends hours chewing/gnawing at them. We will always have at least one "in stock"!

    

He no longer eats with the Kong dispenser and is back to a regular bowl. He doesn't inhale food like he used to so we didn't see the point in still using the dispenser. His favorite treats are dog bones, frozen green beans, carrots, and peanut butter. He still is extremely {and only} motivated by food LOL

He's always been really good on his leash and going for walks. When we moved we stopped using his harness and now we're trying to use it again... big mistake. We don't need it for our daily walks, but when we're out in public {soccer games, festivals, ect} I'd like to have it on as added "protection." Now that he's full size and 45lbs he can pull me a little if he tries hard enough and it makes me feel a little uneasy when we're in populated areas.

T & I took him to the field last week for the first time in months! After "running away" a few times we really didn't trust him to ever be off of his leash when he's not in a contained area. But he just loves running in the field so much and it makes him so happy that we took our chances and tried again. Loaded with lots of treats and after one little scare {I really thought he was just going to bolt} he did great! It made us so happy to see him so happy and for him being obedient.

Now don't get me wrong there are still a lot of things we need to work on with him- jumping up on the counters/people {biggest thing!}, biting/tugging, getting too riled up, ect. But we understand that he's still only a puppy and these things take time... a lot of time.

He makes us smile every single day and we can't imagine our lives without him. He is definitely worth all those sleepless nights, cleaning up pee every 20 minutes, throwing away countless items, and the money we've spent on him. He is and always will be a member of our family.

 Freshly pampered- last Sunday we gave him a bath, trimmed his nails & feet hair, and cleaned his ears.

So there's a little update about the cutest pup you ever did see ;)

Fall Family Pictures 2013

Ever since we added Duke to our family I knew that I wanted to get professional pictures taken, but I also knew that we had to wait until he was old {and therefore calm} enough. So a few weeks ago we finally got them done! We used a photographer that graduated from my high school and had the pictures taken at Newburg Lake- the same place that Thomas proposed!

And I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! Duke did so well and I think we looked pretty good too ;) See for yourself...

Thursday Thoughts {Vol. 13}

I'm writing this post on Wednesday night, because come tomorrow {erm today} I'll be high as a kite. My surgery is scheduled for 8:45am so I'd appreciate any well wishes! I'm really hoping for a fast recovery.

• Was anyone else super disappointed with the Pretty Little Liars Halloween special? The hour just dragged and dragged on. And I'm not even remotely interested in Ravenswood. I hope that this episode was the last one where there's a cross over. I am really excited for it to come back in January and for the final book that comes out in December!
• I bought a fanny pack  wasit pack for walking Duke and my husband just about killed me. BUT.. the majority of the time I walk him alone, it's getting darker out earlier, and I never have any pockets for my phone. Which to me isn't very safe. So I started looking for a "fanny pack" that wasn't old lady looking and I found the perfect one on Zappos so of course I ordered it! And I love it! It can be worn as a cross body if desired and holds my phone, gloves, treats, and poop bags.
  

• Speaking of Duke I really need to write an update about how he's doing, what's new with him, ect. {it's on my long to do list for this weekend}. I've also started researching the Keeshond breed and learning all kinds of new things. I don't know why I had no interest in doing this before we got him. I think we were just too overwhelmed when we first got him and now that he's calmed down a lot we can finally work on new things. Including correct grooming, which is a whole other post. Keeshonds are a confusing breed ya'll.
• I've had to defrost/scrape my windshield twice this week! NOOOO I am not ready for winter. At all. This also means that I need to go buy a windshield scraper, because I don't have one for my car. I rather be spending my money on something else.
• Speaking of my weekend to do list I have a lot of blogging items on it that I'm hoping to cross off since I'll be a couch potato all weekend. Updating my labels, writing Duke's tab, editing my Bucket list tab, writing a bunch of posts, ect.
• I always have so many random things I want to put in these posts, but when I actually sit down to write them I forget. FAIL. Hopefully next weeks post will be more enjoyable.

Duke's First Birthday Recap

It's already been over a week since Duke turned a year old on October 4th so I figured I needed to get my rear in gear and recap his big day!

Thomas and I both worked crazy overtime the week of his birthday and that forced us to celebrate on Thursday, the night before his actual birthday, but I don't think he cared ;) I realize some people might think I've completely lost my mind {because lets be real this whole party was all me haha} but maybe I have...

Anywho, we had the party with my grandparents at their house and I'm glad they were such great sports! We started the party off with a "scavenger hunt" to find his presents aka new toys that were spread around the living room with treats.

Next we busted out the party hats and for the most part Duke didn't mind it!

 Duke and my grandma

 Love this one!

This one kills me... my grandpa is a funny guy!

And then it was time for cake! I ordered him a peanut butter cake from Three Dogs Bakery and it was a huge hit!

 Waiting so patiently..

 "OMG I'M SO EXCITED"

 His eyes kill me!

 Best picture of the night!!

"OMG SO GOOD!"

I think it's safe to say that Duke had the best birthday any dog could wish for! It's also safe to say that Papa thinks he's in charge of the rest.... not happenin' ;) Now I need to get crackin' on Duke's scrapbook!