The Case of the Couch Snuggler

I'm a dog.  Last week, it seems that someone broke into our house in the middle of the night!  I'm not sure how I missed the perpetrator, but when Alicia came downstairs in the morning, here's what the couch looked like:

Cushions, blanket and pillows askew.

Alicia tried to question me, but I was sound asleep, just like I was through the whole night...

See how tight my eyes are closed? I didn't see anything!

Wouldn't you know it, the "Couch Snuggler" struck again the next night:

Same destruction patterns.

Sadly, I slept through the home invasion again.  No witnesses.  No suspects.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, while Alicia was cleaning the closets, the "Couch Snuggler" struck again.  This time, Alicia was able to get a blurry photograph of someone leaving the scene:

Unidentifiable suspect.

Due to the poor quality of the photograph, it is unclear whether the "Couch Snuggler" is a cat or possibly even a cow.  One thing is for sure: I will keep a lookout to make sure he/she doesn't strike again!

What Happens When Molly Feels Abandoned

I'm a dog.  Last week, Matthew was travelling for work, so it was just me and Alicia.  Or really, it was mostly me!  All day long, Alicia went off galavanting (she claims it was "work," but I doubt it) and left me at home.  Thankfully, because I've showed her what a good girl I am, and because she feels guilty for leaving me in my injured state, she let me stay out of the crate.

On Tuesday, after a long day of no humans (okay, okay, the dog walker did take me on two 30-45 minute walks), Alicia decided she needed to go out for a few hours after dinner.  Here are just a few things I did while she was gone...

What it looked like before she left/after cleanup.

I took the unused poop bags out of the basket.

I ate the basket.

I ate a pillow.

A wide shot of my destruction.

Long story short: Alicia didn't go out any other night while Matthew was gone.

What You Kneed to Know

I'm a dog.  I love to play. All. The. Time.

But I haven't been doing too much playing lately. Nope.  And it's not because I don't want to play.  It's because Matthew and Alicia don't want me to play.  I keep bringing them toys and asking them to throw Mr. Squeaks and his squeaky family members.  They ignore me.  I try to run and jump around outside.  They pull my leash closer and say "No!" in a stern voice.  They've even stopped taking me to play with my friends and I haven't been to the dog park in weeks.

I don't like!

They say it's because of my limp.  You see, while they were away in China at the end of March, I was staying with Gerri.  At Gerri's I play approximately 23 hours a day, taking small breaks only to go to the bathroom, drink water and occasionally eat a bite or two of kibble.  There is no sleep.  I can't take a chance on missing out on some of the fun the other dogs are having. Anyway, it was while I was at Gerri's that I got hurt.  But it isn't her fault.

My 3-legged paw stand.

You see, it seems that I have a small tear in my cruciate ligament (that's like my doggy ACL).  After over a week of me limping and them hoping that rest would heal me (and it partially did), Matthew took me to the vet. I love going to the vet, so that part was great!  While at the vet, they fawned all over me and showered me with love and affection.  The vet told me that what Alicia calls my "rear passenger side" leg was swollen at the knee and that it was likely due to a tear in my cruciate ligament.  She sent me home with a prescription of Rimadyl (doggy ibuprofen) and recommended rest and a glucosamine supplement.  She also provided information about surgery.

Matthew and Alicia have been trying to do as much as possible to avoid having to go the surgery route.  I love taking my medicine (it tastes like liver!) and after a week of resting and meds my limp was gone!  Then on Saturday, I went crazy on my leash because I wanted to play with a dog.  I couldn't help it.  I'd been so good for a whole week! I had to play.  I re-injured my knee.  Oops.

Then I became really clingy.  And needy.  And Alicia broke down and let me snuggle with her on the couch. I couldn't believe it!

Then, on Sunday, while she was cleaning and organizing the bedroom closet, I took it upon myself to self-soothe by couch snuggling on my own.

Alicia was not a fan.

Anyway, I'm still limping and still acting very needy.  It's wearing Matthew and Alicia out, but I can't help it.  They made an appointment to see a specialist and we're going to look into surgery alternatives - having a man make a custom-fit leg brace that will keep me from further injury and allow me to heal - and otherwise thinking about proceeding with the surgery.  I'm still a puppy, so it's hard to force me to rest.  I don't like it.  I never complain about my knee, but I do limp a lot, and they don't like that.  They also don't like keeping me from having fun and not allowing me to play.

I'll keep you updated with my progress.  Hopefully I'll be back in action soon!

Gimme the Keys...

I'm a dog.

I'll drive!

A Little Bunny Told Me...

I'm a dog.

No, that's not what the little bunny told me.

The little bunny told me that you missed reading my blog.  So, I'm back, and here to bring you a recap of this puppy's first Easter!

I wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but last Friday morning, Alicia and Matt started packing up a bunch of stuff, including my crate and food.  I got very excited because I just knew that meant a car ride.  And I love car rides!

What I don't really love though, are long car rides.  And this was my longest yet; 5 hours!  When we finally got to Grandma's house I was ready to curl up and go to sleep - but not before chasing some cats, eating some cat food and eating and drinking everything that was left out in my Aunt Annabelle's food bowls.  Once I'd finished all of that, it was time for a nap.

Do not disturb.

I spent most of Saturday doing what I did on Friday night.  I also got into the cat poop.  I love cat poop just much as any other dog...maybe even more.  But it made me barf.  And made my butt not feel so good either. You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but I found some more cat poop on Sunday morning and after a tasty snack, proceeded to try to give Matt and Alicia kisses, and then threw up again.  Lesson learned: No more eating cat poop! (Yeah, right!)

Sunday was the best day, though, because the kids came over to play with me!  Nico, Alex and Makayla even brought me and Aunt Annabelle Easter presents.  First I played with mine...

It has a squeaker in the butt and one in the head!

Then, because Aunt Annabelle seemed to be too busy playing with the kids to play with her toy, I played with her toy too.  And since she didn't seem to mind (or maybe because she doesn't like confrontation), I kept alternating between the toys for the rest of my stay.

Playing with Annabelle's toy is even more fun than playing with mine!

The kids went outside to do an Easter egg hunt, but I wasn't invited.  I even helped Alicia hide the eggs earlier that morning, pointing out which eggs were too easy to find by picking them up with my mouth, occasionally rooting them out with my paws (when necessary) and trying to break them open.  She didn't seem to appreciate my help, though, and I think this is why I had to stay inside and watch the kids from the porch.

Watching egg hunts is boring.  Nap time!

Thankfully, the kids brought all the eggs inside, and once they ate the candy out of them, they didn't seem too interested in the plastic eggs.  Don't they know that the egg is the best part?

Nom-ing on an orange Easter egg!

But back to my nieces and nephews! I love my nieces and nephews.  They like to pet me and drop food on the floor and have faces at the perfect height for licking.  And they can be so silly! Kevin's kids - Ava, Connor and Sean - thought my crate looked like fun, so they took turns locking each other in it, and then they all jumped in together!  

Those silly kids think going in the crate is fun!
They can keep the crate, but I'm not giving up my bed.

Probably my favorite part of the weekend, though, was Sunday night, when an exhausted Annabelle shared her bed with me.  Normally, Annabelle gets up and goes to find another place when I come in the room looking to snuggle.  But either she was too tired to bother, or I'm wearing her down and she actually doesn't mind (enjoys?) snuggling with me.

She likes me! She really likes me! Or she was just too tired.

What a weekend!  I had so much fun spending time with my family and eating cat poop.  I can't wait until we visit Grandma's house again.

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!

My Evil Twin, Molly Maunute

I'm a dog.  A good dog.  Sure I don't always listen or do what I'm supposed to do, even though I know the rules.  But I'm a good girl.  I hear it all the time.  I'm pretty good at "sit," and have been steadily improving at "stay."  I'm awesome at "down."  I'm working on "rollover." "Paw" still doesn't make any sense to me.  And you're not likely to see me "play dead" anytime soon.

What I lack in following commands, I make up for in my sweet-as-sugar, eager to let-you-love-me disposition.  I can win over even the biggest skeptic in a matter of seconds when I put on my bashful face and wag my entire body.  Folks seem to especially love it when we make eye contact and I immediately sit or lay down - whether I'm in the middle of crossing the street, playing in the grass or strolling on the sidewalk - and wait patiently for them to walk over towards me, banging my tail and putting on my most adorable and innocent pit bull faces.  My cow spots don't hurt either.

When other dogs bark at me, I don't bark back.  I let them get it out of their system while I wait in play stance.  When they growl or snap (as yes, some dogs do when they meet a new dog), I just wait.  I give them every opportunity to love and never - not once ever - have I reacted in a manner that could even possibly be construed as negative.  It's just not my style.  I'm always happy.  Always loving.  I give dogs (and people) as much time as they need to love me.  And I never give up.  I'm still working on getting a neighbor dog, Kona Bean, to love me.  He's one tough cookie.  I'll break him...with LOVE!

From the positive reactions I get, you'd think I was one-of-a-kind.  But I recently learned that I have a twin.  An evil twin!  I learned about Miss Molly Maunute from a magazine we received in the mail.

Cover model Molly!

When Matthew first saw it, he said to Alicia "How did they get a photo of Molly? Did they take one at the vet's office?"  Alicia was giddy, but also confounded.  How did they get that photo of me looking so silly? The puparazzi must have snapped some shots on my last walk.  Then she looked again.  That wasn't me!  And the magazine cover wasn't even advertising me.  It was advertising Molly Maunute!

On closer examination, that's not me!
And my name is spelled wrong!

But these are some nice recommendations...

We discussed it as a family and decided that Molly Maunute must be my evil twin.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  Molly Maunute doesn't look evil.  And she isn't.  It's just that, compared to me, Mother Teresa is evil.  That's just what a sweetheart I am.