ShelterPups

I'm a dog.  And let's face it: I'm pretty cute.  The other day, Alicia found an amazing website called Shelterpups that sells stuffed animal dogs to raise money for animal shelters.  Even better, if you send them a few photos of your pup, they'll make a customized stuffed animal that looks just like you!  The website has tons of pictures of cute puppy dogs, but this article has some amazing photos that show just how life-life the stuffed animals are.

I figure that since I already asked Alicia and Matthew to get me a puppy or kitten for Christmas and they didn't do either, that I deserve one of these guys.  A $125 custom chew toy twin would make a great birthday present, and mine is coming up soon!

A Year in the Life

I'm a dog.  Can you believe that one year ago today (okay yesterday, since it took Alicia so long to get this up!), Matthew and Alicia adopted me from the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria and brought me to my forever home?  It's been a wild ride.

I went from a little 28 pound 5-month-old puppy to a 55 pound year-and-a-half old dog.

Taken on my second day at home.

Taken just last week.

I went from the "cone of shame" to my patriotic leg brace.

I went from hating my crate, to loving my crate, to preferring "my" chair.

I went from hating car rides to LOVING car rides.

I don't like!

You need a ride?

 I vacationed in Cape May, visited Grandma and Grandpa's house in Parsippany, visited the Giobbi side of the family in Lancaster, PA and even joined Alicia and Matt on an overnight to Maryland's Eastern Shore (where I ate the bedspread...oops).

My first taste of the beach.

Snuggles with Aunt Meghan and Nanna!

There's a cow in that barn, and I didn't like it.

I learned that I love children - especially the little ones that ride in strollers and always keep a stash of food debris on their faces and hands.  I learned that I hate delivery (mail, UPS, FedEx, furniture, etc.) people and also the garbage man.  I attack the mail every day just to prove it.

Hangin' with Mr. Connor.

Sniffin' around with Patrick's kids.

I love every dog I've ever met.  Even the ones that growl and/or bark at me.  Even the ones that are afraid of me or ignore me.  When they give me the chance, they love me too! Except Tonka.  He just thinks I'm too high energy and won't stand for my nonsense.  But I'll keep working on him!

Attacking my very best dog friend, Chili

I've had so much fun in my first year with Matthew and Alicia.  I can't wait to tell you all about the fun and adventures we have as time goes by.

Gimme the Keys...

I'm a dog.

I'll drive!

Puppy's First Snow!

I'm a dog.  As you may have noticed, I'm having Alicia catch up on some forgotten posts today.  Today was supposed to be a snow day, but nary a flake has fallen.  I was hoping to get some action shots of me playing in today's snow, but since there is none, we're going to take this post back to a Saturday in January when we did get snow.  Just a little bit, but enough for me to realize that I LOVE SNOW!

Snow is fun to sniff.

Snow is fun to eat!

Snow is fun to play with!

Did I mention that it's fun to sniff and eat? It is.

I spent all walks that day and the next sniffing, snorting, playing, and just having a ball in the snow.  It was awesome.  Snow has easily made its way onto the list of Molly Manute's favorite things.  My revised list looks something like this:

1. Going on car rides
2. Sleeping on my chair
3. Snow (eating, sniffing, playing, etc.)
4. Playing with my dog friends (especially Chili and Ovie, but also whoever is at the dog park)
5. Playing with Mr. Squeaks (original or replacements)
6. Playing in the ivy (I'll have to tell you more about this later)

So I would really like it if there was more snow.  Are you listening to me, weather? Snow!  Please snow!  Lots of snow!

Meet the New Squeaks, Same as the Old Squeaks

I'm a dog.  I'm a lucky dog. I have lots of great toys.  Toys that I like to chew and chase and chew and catch and chew some more.  My favorite toy is named Mr. Squeaks.  He blue spotted squeaky rubber octopus with tentacles that act like party blowers.  He was a gift from my dogmother Amanda.  Squeaks originally belonged to her dog, Lady, may she rest in peace.

Snuggling with Mr. Squeaks.

 

Anyway, I love Mr. Squeaks.  When Squeaks and I first met, I liked to nose him and carry him around by his tentacles, but his squeak frightened me.  Eventually I got used to his squeaking and came to love it.  I like to play fetch inside the house with Squeaks.  I also like to hold him by some of his tentacles and shake him around, beating my face with his tentacles.  Donna (Matt's mom), thinks this particular move is hysterical.  All of this rough-housing with squeaks has left him in bad shape.  By December, he lost all but two of his tentacles.  By the new year, he was down to zero.  A Squeaks without tentacles is a Squeaks without a squeak.  He is a Squeaks that I cannot toss around by his tentacles.  He is a Squeaks I must tear apart and destroy.

Me and Squeaks playing around.

Giving Squeaks a good shake.

Knowing how much I loved Squeaks, Matt and Alicia tried to find a suitable replacement.  They looked around at all the pet stores and pet aisles within stores searching for a new squeaks.  Nothing fit the bill.  Then, just days before Christmas, Alicia was on Amazon and found these guys.  They looked promising.  A ladybug and octopus were ordered and arrived just before Christmas, and made their way to my stocking.  On Christmas, I opened my presents.  I was immediately unimpressed.  These squeaks were smaller and had weak squeaks.  I rejected them outright.

Impostors known as Lady Squeaks and Squeaks Jr. 

Mr. Squeaks! Look! You've started a family!

Then Matt was doing some more research on Amazon and found him.  Mr. Squeaks! You've come back to me!  I love Mr. Squeaks. I didn't even notice that he magically got his tentacles back.  I treat him just like the original.  I've even pulled off two of his tentacles already!  Matt and Alicia keep stopping me from causing damage.  But I've seen behind the curtain.  I know there's a third Mr. Squeaks hiding in the cabinet, waiting to fill the role when I finally get the rest of those pesky tentacles off.

Three generations of Squeaks.

I can't wait to get my paws on Squeaks #3.

Bark! Who Goes There?

I'm a dog.  A guard dog.

When the weather's nice and Matt and Alicia leave the front door open wide with just the screen between me and the great outdoors, I like nothing more that to sit there and take in all the happenings.  You wouldn't believe how much action there is outside our front door!

Sometimes, squirrels run by and jump from limb to limb in the trees.  I do put on my best sit and watch them. I also occasionally bark at them if it looks like they're having too much fun and not including me.

I see you, squirrel!

I also like to watch the leaves fall from the trees.

But my most favorite of all is when people (and dogs!) come walking right in front of our house! I get up from my sit and wag my tail, hoping they're coming to pet me.  Sometimes they do.  Other times they just walk on by.

Oh, hello there!

Come over here and love me!

I think I've found a new favorite hobby.  Watch out rides in the car, you're in danger of being replaced.

Puppy's Got a Brand New Bone

I'm a dog.  Every day I get bigger and bigger.  It seems every time Alicia and Matt turn around, something that used to fit no longer does.  For example, I used to ride in the car in my car crate.  Now that I'm too big for the crate, they just lay a blanket (or my bed) down on the seat, and I ride along.

Today Matt decided it was finally time to put away my puppy Nylabone and get me something bigger.

Here's me and my Nylabone in the early days...

An older (and wiser?) me enjoying my good ol' puppy bone.
The new bone will wait...

Hmm...perhaps that puppy bone is finished and it's time to move on...

Claiming my new big girl bone!

So long little Nylabone!

My Favorite Things

I'm a dog.  A while back I posted about a few of my least favorite things.  I focused specifically on my strong dislike for all things car and crate related.  What a difference a month can make.  Now, not only do I love my crate so much that I'll stop in for naps throughout the day, but I also LOVE the car.  Why?  Because it takes me to all. sorts. of. fun. places!  Just today it took me to PetSmart.  But I'll talk about that later.

Right now I'm going to tell you about my Top 5 Favorite Things (in no particular order):

1. Car Rides
I love the car so much that if we walk by it, I stop by the rear door on the passenger side, just to let Alicia know I'd be happy to take a ride.  I've also started trying to run out in the road at passing cars, hoping they'll let me hop in.  Alicia does not like this new development.

2. My Crate
It's got my bed.  I love my bed.  Therefore, I love my crate. Enough said.

As Alicia would say: Snuggle-dy, Buggle-dy, Ruggle-dy.

3. Playing with my Dogfriends
There are two dogs (Chili, a pit bull and Buffy, a lab/something mix) that I play with regularly.  We have a lot of fun together because both of them are into my style of play: face and ear biting with jumping on one another and/or paw slapping.

(Man, I wish Alicia had a picture to put here!)

4. Playing Chase the Ball
You'll note that I didn't call this fetch.  That's because I don't fetch.  You throw the ball, I run to it, pounce, and capture it with my paws/mouth.  Then I trot off with it, ignoring any whistles, claps, commands of "Molly, come!" or any other indications that I should return it to Matt or Alicia.

Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm a puppy, man!

5. Morning and Evening Snuggles
Every morning and every night Matt or Alicia (sometimes both!) take a few minutes to snuggle with me.  I'm not allowed on the furniture, so they come down to the floor and call me over.  I snuggle right up in their laps and get pets and scratches and belly rubs and am told about what a good girl I am.

The snuggle tradition started my first night at home!

I'm a lucky dog!